After knowing how good the first album was, I was very keen to hear this one before interviewing Niclas a little while back. To say I was impressed is an understatement.
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Sweden's GRAND MAGUS are back with a new album, 'Sunraven'. If you're a fan of Classic / Doom Metal you know you are in for a treat from the first notes of the first track, 'Skybound'. These guys have been around for a while, and it shows.
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FLOTSAM AND JETSAM have GOT IT GOING ON. This album kicks serious butt. You need to hear this album. You need to crank this sucker up loud. You need to not give a damn about offending anyone. You will be doing a public service.
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I've been waiting for this album's release so I can sing it's praises. This takes me back to the classic mid-to-late 80s. The songs are energetic and well paced, the vocals are great and understandable, the guitar work is on-point.
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This is probably the most diverse Black Metal album I have ever heard. Not so fast blackness, screamed vocals, intertwined with haunting piano and acoustic passages that belies the blackness of most of the rest of the album.
It is a trip.
It is a trip you should take.
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Okay, so this is full-on. NECHT are an Epic Black Metal band from Canada. Their album, 'The Prophecy Of Kamifor' is an excursion into a dark world by being pummelled repeatedly by epic tracks, all done with good sound quality, by the way.
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' Okay, so this is out there. I don't even know where to begin to describe this. Press release quote-
'The band’s music combines elements from 90’s death/black metal, 70’s prog rock and 90’s psychedelic rock. In one phrase, Octoploid has been described as “70’s death metal'.
You owe it to yourself to check it out.
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THE ETERNAL's latest album is 'Skinwalker'. It's an hour long soundscape into a dark metal world. Sure, watch the music videos, but do yourself a favour and sit yourself down and listen to the whole album. You WILL be rewarded.
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Sweden's WORMWOOD, purveyors of fine Melodic Black Metal have done it again. Their latest release, 'The Star' is 47 minutes of melancholic metal that'll take you places. All killer, no filler.
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UNLEASH THE ARCHERS don't muck around. The new album is 'Phantoma'. They have upped the game from the previous album , 'Abyss' and decided to smash us and also present a few new cards in the deck.
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The latest RIOT V album, 'Mean Streets', is an absolute belter. Rhythm section is rock-solid, guitar work is top notch and the vocals are crazy, with the effortless power of Todd Michael Hall. Check this puppy out.
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ACCEPT are back with 'Humanoid', an album full of songs that flow along nicely with the sing-along-while-punching-the-air choruses we've come to know and love. Guitar work is excellent and tastefully executed, with a bit of wah-wah, as you would expect. There's something here for all fans of Traditional Metal.
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Australia's own WITCHGRINDER played here last weekend on the album launch tour for this album. The sheer quality of the show led me to check this album out and here we are. It's heavy, it's brutal, but there's more to it than that. I haven't heard something like this from an Australian band before.
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SONATA ARCTICA‘s new album, ‘Cold Clear Beyond’ is a ripper. From the first notes of the album’s opener, ‘First In Line’, (the lead single) you know that the band are charging right ahead, and you are coming along, whether you want to or not. Great songs just keep coming. This album just wants to be listened to again and again.
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Adelaide's own EMERGENCY RULE have just released an album, 'The King Of Ithaca'. Check it out. You will realise you have missed this sort of sound. All the band's great original songs that they've been playing for a while have been captured in the studio . The tracks are 'bottled lightning' as it were. They sound so good, they come across on the album so well.
STRIKER's new album 'Ultrapower' seems to have taken up where the previous album left off. I think the band raised it a notch, a bit faster in places, a bit heavier, a bit of a nod to their thrashier roots while still maintaining that over-the-top fun edge.
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Sweden's SORCERER return with 'Reign Of The Reaper', a worthy successor to 2020's 'Lamenting Of The Innocent'.
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WAYFARER are a band from Denver, Colorado, that play a unique brand of Metal. The new album is 'American Gothic'. It's full of cool, 'moody' riffing, with a 'Western American' ring to it, aggressive vocals, and great songs. Great music for the highway. It's on heavy rotation here.
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KK Downing's band, KK's PRIEST have released a second album, 'The Sinner Rides Again', and the band has stepped it up from the last album in my opinion. The riffs keep coming, songwriting is better, 'multi layered' Ripper is in top form, and the album chugs along nicely.
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Denmark's finest, MERCENARY, are back with a new album, 'Soundtrack For The End Times'. All the trademarks are there, crushing riffs, melodic clean vocals, occasional brutal unclean vocals and the sublime guitar work of Martin Buus, reason enough to check it out right there.
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ELEINE are a ‘Dark Symphonic Metal’ band from Sweden. The last album, ‘Dancing In Hell’ was excellent and the follow-up, ‘We Shall Remain’, has cleared the high bar set and raised it a few notches. Songwriting is top class, the song groove along nicely. The vocal melodies are beautiful, there’s even a melody reminiscent of the late 60s on the title track. Not repeating anything, just something to take you back. See if you can pick it. This band stands out from the rest of the Symphonic Metal crowd. If you’re after something a bit different in that regard, check this album out.
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STRAY GODS are the band featuring Bob Katsionis, who you may recognise from seeing him in FIREWIND for many years. An amazingly talented man, putting his talents to good use here. A talented band surrounds him and they ROCK.
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JOEL HOEKSTRA'S 13 have a new album out called, 'Crash Of Life'. It's Melodic Hard Rock of very high order. Girish Pradhan (of Girish And The Chronicles) is handling lead vocal duties, and the band is a who's who of elite musos, so why not check this album out pronto.
The mighty FIFTH ANGEL return, flying the flag with 'When Angels Kill', a double length concept album full of top-shelf METAL.
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BUCKCHERRY are one of those bands that keep working hard putting out rocking albums. 'Vol. 10' came out the other day and is a good solid album of hard hitting rockers. 'You wanna party? Then get on the bus and let's go'. It's good time party stuff and they do it well.
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ELEGANT WEAPONS is a band put together by Richie Faulkner of JUDAS PRIEST.
The debut album, 'Horns For A Halo' has just been released and what a fine album it is too.
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IMMORTAL have been through a few changes and had a few quiet periods over the years, You can look up the history yourself, but what you can also do is listen to this album. The new album is ‘War Against All’. This is killer. Check it out.
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I received a suggestion to check out ‘FIRES IN THE DISTANCE’ . I was unaware of them. This album gave me many ‘Holy Crap’ moments upon hearing it for the first time. My suggestion is you check this band out as well. You can start right here.
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The Finnish masters, INSOMNIUM have graced us with another album. I’ve only listened twice so far but I like what I hear. Fave song, ‘The Unrest’. Get into it.
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URIAH HEEP have been around the block once or twice but still deliver.
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IDLE RUIN are a 3 piece blackened thrash/death outfit from Brisbane and their latest release, ‘The Fell Tyrant’, is a real piece of work. It hits you hard, REALHARD, from the outset and does not let go.
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Okay, so this thing is huge, heeyuuuge. You know the story of Judas, but do you really?
If you’re after sunsets and walks along the beach, go somewhere else. This is the graveyard at night, a cold, dark, foggy night at that.
Symphonic Metal from Bulgaria that doesn’t sound like they’re trying to sound like they’re from Finland. Big win.
How does a HELLOWEEN album that has the whole Pumpkins United lineup sound? Well, pretty much exactly how you would expect it to sound.
Thrashers FLOTSAM AND JETSAM knock it out of the park, and then burn down the park.
