German gothic rock quintet Lord of the Lost certainly have their very own sound somewhere between electropop, industrial rock and black metal. Despite these significant genre variations, the songwriting remains somehow catchy, fluid and logical while the band's concerts are particularly energetic. Blood & Glitter is the band's eighth studio record already and comes along as a surprise release that was only announced a few days before it saw the light of day. In addition to this, the record was released right between Christmas and New Year's Eve which could have meant commercial suicide since many potential fans were on holiday and couldn't purchase this record right away. However, this courageous release strategy paid off as the record was the very first in the band's career to be propelled to the first position of the album charts. This goes to show that Lord of the Lost have become more than talented youngsters in the gothic scene but have actually achieved mainstream success and can now be considered seasoned veterans.

What about the music? Does the group from Hamburg live up to its hype? The short answer is: yes, it does. Blood & Glitter might be the greatest album the band has released thus far and is a promising indicator for future endeavorments. The band finds the perfect balance between melodic elegance and gritty aggression on this output. This is perfectly exemplified in the opening title track ''Blood & Glitter''. The song has a few faster and meaner sections flirting with extreme metal territories but the chorus is graciously melodic and the piano work particularly elegant. The most amazing thing is that this song clocks in at just below three minutes without any second of redundant boredom.

While the title song finds the perfect balance between extremes, Lord of the Lost like to push things into different directions on this output. ''Leave Your Hate in the Comments'' criticizes social media madness and sounds as pissed off as its song title. The track is aggressive, direct and fast as its message leaves a lasting impression. The quintet has also invited numerous guests to perform on this output. Marcus Bischoff from progressive melodic death metal group Heaven Shall Burn adds much liberating grit to ''The Future of a Past Life''. Andy LaPlegua from aggrotech legends Combichrist performs some creative outbursts on ''Reset the Preset''.

Lord of the Lost however also embrace their catchy, melodic and smooth side without ever sounding exchangeable, predictable or shallow. ''Leaving the Planet Earth'' is a wonderfully atmospheric pop tune with a futuristic vibe that would fit onto the soundtrack of any science-fiction video game. ''Forever Lost'' is a heartfelt ballad with wonderful vocal lines that you won't forget anytime soon upon first listening to them. A huge surprise comes with Roxette cover song ''The Look'' featuring famous German pop singer Blümchen who contrasts Chris Harms' low vocals with youthful dynamics and makes this version of the tune as great as the catchy original song which is a stunning achievement.

This wild ride is over after thirteen good to excellent songs and a perfect running time of fifty-one minutes. You can't help but desire to push the repeat button right away. The greatest thing about this output is that it even grows with every spin and should appeal to a wider audience than ever before. Several songs on this output should make it onto the playlists of several gothic and even regular discotheques around the world. If you have discovered Lord of the Lost recently, perhaps because they were one of the opening acts on Iron Maiden's most recent world tour and received very positive comments from band leader Steve Harris, then you should start your discovery of this band right here and right now. Lord of the Lost's Blood & Glitter is an outstanding last hurrah of the year 2022, so make sure to check it out!

Final Rating: 85%

Norwegian industrial gothic metal quartet Gothminister has been around for two decades and counting and has just released its seventh full length effort Pandemonium five years after its last output The Other Side. The new record offers a short overture and ten full songs for a concise running time of forty minutes. The album has certainly been worth the wait and turns out to be one of the greatest releases in the band's career.

The opening "Abgrund (Abyss)" oozes with gloomy keyboard sounds and comes around with a spooky quote by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. Title track "Pandemonium" offers simple but energetic industrial metal soundscapes with loud guitar sounds and thunderous rhythm section while the programming offers apocalyptic soundscapes with uneasy orchestral sounds and urgent choirs. This song is quite ambitious, complex and imaginative as it might need a few spins to unfold. Once this has however been achieved, the title track stands the test of time as one of the greatest in the band's career. It was rightfully chosen as title track and first single and the accompanying music video is visually stunning and should please anyone sympathizing with gothic culture.

The highlights don't stop here. "Kingdoms Rise" flirts with Neue Deutsche Härte sounds in the key of Oomph! and Rammstein as it finds the perfect balance between stoic guitar riffs and cold rhythm section on one side and slightly warm keyboard passages and dark but comforting vocals on the other side. It doesn't come as a surprise that Gothminister has been receiving positive critical acclaim for many years in Germany.

"Norge" on the other side honours the band's country of origin. The song is a rhythmic stomper that invites to dance while the melodic guitar play and keyboard sounds make for a longing and almost romantic atmosphere. This song might be the record's hidden gem as it turns out to be quite a grower.

The album never declines in quality and ends on a high note with "Mastodon" which turns out to be one of the most creative tunes on the record. Dark whispers, restrained black metal shrieks, low clean vocals and additional female backing vocals take listeners on an epic voyage. The musicianship varies from moody electronic elements over industrial metal guitar play to dramatic symphonic metal passages. It might take some time for all these elements to blend together and grow on listeners but the song gets more interesting with every single spin and turns out to be the best tune on this output along with the great title track.

At the end of the day, Gothminister's Pandemonium should certainly appeal to fans of gothic rock and industrial metal. Every song on this output is at least decent with several ones being great and two turning out to be shining highlights in the aforementioned genres. Since the band's visual concept has also always been quite fascinating, one can't wait to listen to the new material in concert next year. Perhaps the time has come for Gothminister to release a live album next. Let's wait and see while listeners should keep enjoying Pandemonium time and again.

Final Rating: 80%

Only six months after its twelfth studio record Unlimited Love that featured seventeen new songs plus one Japanese bonus track, American crossover quartet Red Hot Chili Peppers comes around with another seventeen tunes plus extra song from the same recording sessions half a year later. The band's thirteenth full length effort has the beautiful title Return of the Dream Canteen and features a quite eclectic cover artwork going back to the style of the band's early years. In my humble opinion, the quartet would have been better off releasing three outputs with twelve songs each in three consecutive years but perhaps the band wants to focus on celebrating its fortieth anniversary in style next year. Let's take a closer look on these eighteen new songs clocking in at seventy-nine minutes.

Let's start on a positive note. The album's production is dynamic, organic and rich as producer Rick Rubin and the four musicians have been cooperating successfully for more than three decades with the odd exception of The Getaway which was also the band's weakest record thus far.

The new album includes a massive hit with bouncing, catchy, funky, joyful and rhythmic opener "Tippa My Tongue" that was rightfully chosen as the record's first single and graced with a creative music video fans desire to watch time and again. This tune might be the band's greatest track since the best cuts from I'm Beside You released a decade ago.

The record features several other minor highlights that will please fans of old age and younger audiences alike. "Reach Out" is a wonderful combination of bouncing, cool and melodic vocal lines and some heavier instrumental work in the alternative rock refrain that should work amazingly in concert.

"Eddie" is a soulful ballad with a wonderful guitar solo honoruing late Eddie van Halen. This song takes all the time to build up a nostalgic atmosphere before culminating with John Frusciante's greatest work in one and a half decades. The track clocks in at five and a half minutes and doesn't feature one single unnecessary second.

"Bella" is a danceable, melodic, uplifting tune that seems to go by much faster than its running time of five minutes. Perhaps I'm biased since I met a lady with the same name last spring who left a significant impression upon me but this track might be this album's hidden gem and has grown on me with every spin.

"The Drummer" is the record's second and last single and has taken some time to leave an impression. This song is a little bit shorter with just over three minutes and comes around as danceable and melodic tune. However, the song has a slightly more melancholic note enhanced by strong lead vocals, moody synthesizers and warm backing vocals. This song certainly has grown on me the most.

"Bag of Grins" is once more a wonderful combination of the band's mellow and melodic side as well as the group's heavier alternative rock tendencies. The song feels like a smooth rollercoaster ride and comes along with a memorable chorus that once again grows with every spin.

As you can read, several songs on this generous output need some time to grow. The opener is an instant classic but the other tracks need some more patience to unfold their full potential. This certainly isn't an album you can just listen to as background music on Spotify as such a procedure wouldn't do the material any justice.

The record's main issue however is that many songs just won't grow - not after one spin or five or even a dozen. Especially the record's second half rushes by in a blur and won't leave much of an impression at all. This album doesn't feature any stinkers but a lot of unremarkable tunes that one could rightfully call filler material. Despite having the band's greatest tune in at least a decade on it, this album has so many prolonged hollow passages that it has to go down as one of the least convincing records in the band's extensive career. I would only put chaotic debut album The Red Hot Chili Peppers and mellow misfire The Getaway below this release.

Return of the Dream Canteen is satisfactory for newcomers who want to discover the different soundscapes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's also decent enough for fans of old age such as myself who have been listening to this band for more than two decades now as I'm writing down these lines. Occasional listeners however won't get enough from this album to be fully satisfied as there is just too much filler material to be found. Filler material by the Red Hot Chili Peppers still sounds better than fresh material from most other funk rock bands but one can't ignore the band's massive back catalogue and its numerous excellent songs that haven't aged one single bit.

Ultimately, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Return of the Dream Canteen is a good to very good alternative rock output from an objective perspective but a slight disappointment if compared to the band's discography. If the best five or six tunes from Unlimited Love and Return of the Dream Canteen had been put together, then the band would have released one of its greatest records ever. As it is now, both albums feature shining highlights, numerous decent tunes but also quite a lot of fillers. Give this album and its immediate predecessor a few attentive spins on Spotify before purchasing both releases blindly on reputation alone.

Final rating: 73%

Dear readers,

My retrospective of the year 2022 continues with my updated and final selection of its twenty greatest records. This playlist offers one track per album for a total running time of one hour and forty-five minutes. The covered genres are alternative rock, folk rock, gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal, melodic death metal, pop, power metal, progressive metal, progressive rock, symphonic metal and thrash metal. The artists and bands included here come from Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany, India, Japan, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Click on the following link and enjoy this diversified retrospective: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0SgSuhHU72TSd4pmHxQVRc 

1. Arjen Anthony Lucassen's Star One - Lost Children of the Universe (taken from the album ''Revel in Time'')

2. Voivod - Synchro Anarchy (taken from the album "Synchro Anarchy")

3. Amorphis - Seven Roads Come Together (taken from the album ''Halo'')

4. Megadeth feat. ICE-T - Night Stalkers (taken from the album "The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!")

5. Scorpions - Rock Believer (taken from the album "Rock Believer")

6. Therion - Lunar Coloured Fields (taken from the album "Leviathan II")

7. The Hu - Bii Biyelgee (taken from the album "Rumble of Thunder")

8. Billy Talent - Forgiveness I + II (taken from the album "Crisis of Faith")

9. Queensrÿche - Sicdeth (taken from the album "Digital Noise Alliance")

10. Kreator - Hate über alles (taken from the album "Hate über alles")

11. Ghost - Kaisarion (taken from the album "Impera")

12. Avantasia - Welcome to the Shadows (taken from the album "A Paranormal Evening with the Moonflower Society")

13. Girish and the Chronicles - Primeval Desire (taken from the album "Hail to the Heroes")

14. Edenbridge - At First Light (taken from the album "Shangri-La")

15. Sanhedrin - Code Blue (taken from the album "Lights On")

16. Arch Enemy - The Watcher (taken from the album "Deceivers")

17. Placebo - Beautiful James (taken from the album "Never Let Me Go")

18. Voodoma - Sandman (taken from the album "Hellbound")

19. Nemophila - 炎天 - Enten - (taken from the album "Seize the Fate")

20. Cocco - Koi Kogarete (taken from the album "Prom")