If you like gothic or symphonic metal, then ‘Sacrificium’, the sixth studio album from Xandria is a must have. Despite a change of vocalist, Manuela Kraller has been replaced by Dianne Van Giersbergen who also sings in Ex Libris, who’s Dutch, but no family of Anneke Van Giersbergen. It is clear that Dianne has been inspired by Tarja, and also that founder and composer Marco Heubaum has gotten some inspiration by listening to Nightwish.
Naming your band Valley of the sun can only mean that we’re talking Stonerrock. Valley of the sun hail form Cincinnati, and Electric Talons, is their first full length.
The very young Tampere, Finland-based label Saturnal Records suddenly appear out of the blue with some highly interesting releases; On Death’s Wings by Blood Red Fog and HellSpirit with Dawn Under Curse will be the first releases, available as from May 26th on, and at the end of July one can expect Anticipation For Blood Leveled In Darkness by super-group Voodoo Gods.
To say this album contains some of the best Dio songs would be an understatement. ‘Stand Up And Shout’, ‘Don’t Talk To Strangers’, ‘Holy Diver’ to name but a few of his own songs. Besides those there are also Black Sabbath covers, like ‘The Mob Rules’, ‘Children Of The Sea’, and finally also a Rainbow cover ‘Man On The Silver Mountain’. This is, of course, no more than logical, since Ronnie has been the frontman in all of those bands.
Second release of COC after a while on hiatus whilst Pepper Keenan is living it up with DOWN… I ‘ve been listening several times to this album and unfortunately I cannot get myself to really appreciate it.. Production wise it’s obvious that together with Pepper also a decent recording budget went… (it’s really a shame how Reed Mullin’s drums are sounding like a someone hitting cardboard boxes and sheetmetal whatevers instead of his well known hammering …. ).
I plead guilty your honor… I once bought a copy of Chicago’s ‘17’ album, an album that was released in 1984. Once in a while when going on holidays with the car, I take this album with me, because it’s still some sort of rock album, and my wife likes it a lot. But that album was and has for a long time been the only Chicago album I ever listened to.
A HILL TO DIE UPON, describe themselves as a blackened deathmetal band, I can add to that that they are a Christian Blackened deathmetal band, and even in today’s scene that’s still a rather the exception to the rule.
This Modern Metal act comes to us from Douglas County, Colorado, where brothers Matt (vocals) and Andrew (guitar) Whiteman have been training from tender youth to approach the making of music in an as professional possible style.
(read with exhalted voice) Guess what? I somehow got it in my head to make the introductory words to this review, as if it were a nature documentary. Wanna indulge me? Okay then... (now read on with a semi-deep, moody, but captivating, dramatic voice – Richard Attenborough-style, perhaps?) Situated at about equal distances (that being around 65 km) from Nottingham in the SW, from Hull in the NNE, and from Sheffield in the WNW direction, is the community known as Lincoln, in the English province of Lincolnshire.
Japanese promos, part 3 (for previous episodes, check my reviews of the Aggressive Dogs EP and the Gunship666 full-length), and yet again a change of pace: leaving behind all Hardcore pretenses, and going for an internationally tainted modern Hard Rock sound with added Dance elements through the inclusion of lavish synth sounds...here's Loka from the town of Sekagaya!
