Album Reviews

Germany’s Powerwolf has been on a solid run since its inception and for the past two decades the band has become a force in modern metal arena, “Wake Up the Wicked” is yet another energetic release from these lads. Their infectious enthusiasm for mixing symphonic and power metal is captured on each of their albums starting from the classic 2007 'Lupus Dei' album to 'Sacrament of Sin', Powerwolf’s sheer consistency seems to be restored with that kind of zeal, you can hardly find in today’s bands. The dynamic formula of the quintet showcased the most impressive quality, however, Powerwolf hardly strayed from its power metal standards offering the trademark themes of lycanthropes and dark creatures from the gothic myths.
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The music of the Belore has a palate of epic and rich folk elements that reminds me of bands like Sojourner and Caladan Brood. Though the theme is rather in the same nature as fantasy music, each song is hypnotically mesmerizing and layered with gentle riffing and drums. The third full-length album “Eastern Tales” was released on April 5th, 2024, via Northern Silence Productions, and gives us the latest creativity from the French duo Aleevok (all instruments, vocals) and Charlie Videau (drums). I came late into this band, just two years ago when I became familiar with them through their sophomore release 'Artefacts'.
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Swedish black death metal band Vanhelgd released its sixth full-length album 'Atropos Doctrina' on July 12, 2024 via Dark Descent Records. The primary inspiration of the quartet is a knack for molding dark death metal with some parts of doom metal. This has carved out some of the best combinations of black and death metal music in the recent years. Throughout the years Vanhelgd has been consistent with its approach and has been one of the strongest acts to rise from Sweden. Now after six years of silence the band unleashes its evil pandemonium with much anticipation from fans of the genre.
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I've known Orden Ogan for quite a few years, but lost track of them in recent years, so with the release of their new album it's now high time to get back to this band.
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Dyscordia, a melodic metal band from Kortrijk, Belgium, has released their fourth album 'The Road to Oblivion' on April 17, 2024. Dyscordia has earned their spot on the line-up of bigger festivals like Summerbreeze over the years. This year they get to play a massive hometown show opening Alcatraz festival in August, one of Belgium's top metal festivals. Let's check out the new album!
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From the ancient Norse and Viking myths, the international pagan black metal trio Árstíðir Lífsins, which translates to "Seasons of Life", have been one of the few bands to dive into Icelandic literature and medieval history. Musically Árstíðir Lífsins songwriting and composition have deepened with time and the sixth album “Aldrlok” released via Ván Records on May 31st, 2024, marks a significant innovation for the band.
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Among the most revered doom metal acts in the sub-genre is the Russian epic doom metal band Scald. Formed in 1993 by bassist Velingor and was joined by other members still present in the lineup, such as drummer Ottar and guitarist Harald. The band released its demo “North Winds” a year later, the inspiration to Viking and epic metal did not halt the band from creating a masterpiece in 1997 with the first full-length album “Will of God Is a Great Power” was regarded as one of the best epic doom metal albums in the era of 90s, and this because their vocalist Agyl (a.k.a. Maxim Andrianov R.I.P.) who gave an unforgettable performance, sadly the singer died before the release of the album.
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Bordeaux-based symphonic black metal outfit Seth has returned with their seventh grand opus entitled 'La France des Maudits', out via Season of Mist since July 14th, 2024. The French sextet is fronted by the original members Heimoth (guitars) and Alsvid (drums) with as returning members, notably Saint Vincent (vocals), Drakhian (guitars), Pierre Le Pape (keyboards) and Esx Vnr (bass) as they continue to define their sophisticated craftsmanship.
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Denmark and Türkiye might not have so much in commen, except then perhaps for the death metal band Hyperdontia. The four-piece group is comprised of Mathias Friborg (guitars, vocals), Mustafa Gürcalioğlu (guitars), Tuna (drums) and Malik Çamlica (bass guitar). 'Harvest of Malevolence' is the third album out via Me Saco Un Ojo Records and Dark Descent Records in the band’s discography and can be regarded to be just as brutal and filthy as the 2021 sophomore 'Hideous Entity'. Hyperdontia became one of the staples of the Danish underground scene with bands like Phrenelith and Chaotian. Needless to say, they have upped their slab of death metal.
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Four years ago, Swedish melodic black metal band Kvaen took the underground scene by storm with the release of the debut full-length album 'The Funeral Pyre'. Multi-instrumentalist Jacob Björnfot transcended his work on the follow-up album 'The Great Below'. And now he returns with the third album The Formless Fire' which features a respected session guest musician within the Swedish black metal scene such as Sebastian Ramstedt (Necrophobic, In Aphelion), alongside Fredrik Andersson (Amon Amarth, A Canorous Quintet) as the new drummer.
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