One of the nicest guys I came in touch with in 2014 must be Canadian musician Myrtroen. ‘myrtroen’ is the Norse spelling of this guy’s great grandfather’s name when the latter moved over from Norway to North America (first the U.S., then Canada; Myrtroen still lives in Canada); we’re talking about more than a century ago – but this isn’t a etymologic essay, so let’s continue with the merits of the guy behind Avitas.
Absolutus are an act from the French-speaking part of Belgium (Liege, to be more specific), known for their releases with Latin titles. They have been extremely silent for more than seven years, but now they did return with their second full length, called Pugnare In Iis Quae Obtinere Non Possis. It was recorded at the Blackout Studio and it has a total running time of thirty three minutes. And I can, and will, be very limitedly focused right here.
Moscow-based Ephemeral Ocean are quite a young band, formed in 2013. In April 2014 the band self-released a demonstrational MCD / EP, Honour In The Mask, and after some line-up changes, they did enter the studio again to record their debut full length. The result, by the way, was mixed and mastered at the famous Priority Recording Studio by nobody else but Esoteric’s Greg Chandler (!).
Despite about eight years of existence, Ukrainian outfit Sidus Mortuorum has been low-productive in releases. After a demo in 2009, they came up with their debut album Endless Funeral (Nocturnus Records, 2010), and a second one in 2012, called Coffin Slaves (independently released the digital way) – oh yes, there was a single in between both albums.
It seems that once again, Stratovarius has managed to deliver us a good album. Their 16th studio
album so far, since their formation in 1984. They did a tour to promote this new album, which also
brought them to Belgium, at the Biebop.
They still play power metal, but it seems they have gone back to their earlier sound. This also implies
you don’t have to expect new gimmicks on this album, it’s good, old fashioned Stratovarius stuff, with
the o so familiar Timo Tolkki vocals., which you either hate, or love. And once again I’m flabbergasted
When Maëror Tri decided to split up almost two decades ago (and still my tears haven’t completely gone yet), two of the members, Stefan and Martin (aka Baraka[H] and Glit[s]ch), decided to continue their collaboration under the moniker of Troum. ‘troum’ is an old-Germanic word for ‘dream’ (Traum in modern German), and they did choose this moniker specifically to focus on the experiences of the past, knowing that there will never be a return.
Rein were (I use ‘were’ instead of ‘are’, for the band disbanded after the release of their sole full length album, which this review will deal with) – so, they were a five-piece from the Auvergne-region in France, focusing on the heritage of Pan-European tradition(s) and the glory once floating over European soil.
I was totally blown away two years ago when Nebular Winter Productions’ owner Nasos introduced me to Morar. They did debut with the five-tracker Chants Of Ossian, which did stand for fabulous Nordic-styled Epic Black Metal with a Norwegian touch of superiority and grandeur. Check out the review I wrote for that EP, posted on September 21st 2014.
Faunus Amadeus Loki is the artist’s name of New York born guy John Donadio, who runs the Volk Lore Music collaborative.
Despite having some earlier releases on different labels, I hadn’t heard of Milwaukee-based project Climax Denial before.
