Shining has always been a most creative, experimental and open-minded extreme metal project by extroverted, intense and unpredictable mastermind Niklas Kvarforth. Only the structure on the self-titled album follows the band's previous releases with six songs, including one instrumental cover track sitting in fifth position. The final result clocking in at fifty minutes should not only please black metal fans but should appeal to anyone desiring to discover profoundly atmospheric soundscapes including acoustic, electronic and even sacral elements.

A first outstanding highlight on this wonderful release is ''Snart är dom alla borta'', a surprisingly calm, dreamy and eerie epic with low clean vocals that show a completely new side of the group. This song invites to dream yourself far away, purify your soul and spark your imagination. Extreme metal has rarely sounded as appeasing as in this memorable track.

Another song that courageously breaks genre boundaries is ''Fidelis ad Mortem'' with its sacral chorals on the thin line between mystery and tranquillity. This track features lead guitar tracks by fellow Swedish musician Andy LaRocque who has been experimenting with occult sounds in legendary heavy metal band King Diamond for almost four decades. This collaboration fits perfectly, adding exciting new soundscapes to Shining's discography while presenting a welcome challenge for the veteran guitarist.

One more track that deserves attention is short instrumental cover song ''Åttahundratjugo'' that is technically appealing, soothingly calming and creatively playful. This song by French composer and pianist Erik Satie offers a welcome moment of respite by the end of an adventurous record.

Closing epic ''Den permanenta sömnen kallar'' offers everything fans would like to get from an atmospheric black metal epic. The song clocks in at almost eleven minutes. The track's blistering passages are cold, evil and relentless. The tune's calmer moments are appeasing, imaginative and soothing. The clean vocals by the band leader are enjoyably comforting, soothing and warm. The transitions between the different passages are fluid. Time goes by much faster than anticipated and once the song is over, you can't wait to listen to the whole record time and time again.

The record's organic, rich and vibrant production blends in wonderfully and makes the material even stronger in its individual songs as well as in its complexity as a whole body of work.

In my humble opinion, Shining's twelfth studio record is one of the very best extreme metal releases of the year. Numerous extreme metal records have been released around the same time such as new offerings by bands like Uada, Dying Fetus and Cryptopsy to only name a few and while all these records have their very own strengths, Shining's self-titled output plays in a league of its own. Anyone who is willing to take the time to appreciate atmospheric metal music should give this release a few well-deserved spins and support the artists by purchasing this output.

Final Rating: 90%

Earthshaker is a Japanese heavy metal band that has been around for an incredible forty-five years and that has now released its twenty-fourth studio record in forty years. The five members are all in their sixties now and while the youthful grit might be gone, the passionate spirit is still alive and kicking. This particular record should appeal to fans of traditional heavy metal, tight hard rock and even adult-oriented rock.

The vibes of the eighties are appropriately honoured in melodious opener ''儚き夢よ'' that comes around with mid-paced rhythm section, memorable guitar melodies and dreamy keyboard sections. The catchy, melodic and uplifting vocals shine in the strong chorus. Uncompromising heavy metal fans might perhaps find this opener a tad bit fluffy but if you don't mind a more melodious take on the genre, you're in for a pleasant ride.

''HEY! Mr. JOKER'' increases the energy, provides positive vibes and quickens up the pace. This heavy metal anthem finds the perfect balance between grit and melody and gets to the point in three and a half tight minutes. If this song had been released forty years ago, it would be considered a classic nowadays. This style has lost none of its charm and qualifies as this record's greatest tune.

Earthshaker also shows a weakness for ballads and power ballads on this record as it features three songs of these genres. The Japanese quintet might not sound as dramatic as X Japan or as passionate as Loudness in these categories but they still deliver very solid material. ''点と線'' is the best of the bunch and qualifies as a cleverly written power ballad that changes, develops and intensifies through almost six highly entertaining minutes. This song is a grower and deserves several spins from its listeners.

At the end of the day, Earthshaker's 40 doesn't reinvent heavy metal but pays tribute to the vibrant genre that made these five musicians rock stars in their country forty years ago. This record here is charming, entertaining and nostalgic without ever sounding bland, repetitive and uninspired. The aforementioned songs are very good indeed and the rest of the material qualifies as decent which means that there are no stinkers to be found on this output. The old-fashioned, organic and warm production blends in perfectly. If you are willing to go on a nostalgic ride back to the heyday of traditional heavy metal, Earthshaker's 40 would be a very fitting choice.

Final Rating: 70%

Many of the most innovative metal bands in the world have their roots in the vast extreme metal genre. Such is the case of Amorphis and Therion but also Hungarian avant-garde project Thy Catafalque. While the project's last few records combined symphonic structures with psychedelic rock and a healthy dose of folk music, the project's eleventh studio record Alföld overall aims for a simpler approach and goes boldly back to mastermind Tamás Kátai's black metal roots.

Don't be fooled by the cover artwork that would easily fit on a singer-songwriter record or a jazz album. Opener "A csend hegyei" opens without any overtures and unfolds as slightly underproduced mid-paced timeless black metal stomper that surprises in its simplicity. The track list consisting of nine tunes and a running time just shy of forty-four minutes further underlines the record's focused approach.

However, Alföld is obviously more than some exchangeable black metal revival album. The keyboard sounds in "A földdel egyenlő" evoke an eerie, mysterious and occult atmosphere that can be observed on almost every single release by Thy Catafalque.

Epic title track "Alföld" ambitiously breaks the nine-minute mark and combines blistering drum play with discordant guitar solos and unholy symphonic elements. If Batushka still made decent music, then the smoother parts of this song would fit splendidly on one of its new outputs.

While extreme metal enthusiasts and fans of Thy Catafalque's early years might celebrate Alföld's partial return to the roots, fans of the project's more recent outputs might feel slightly underwhelmed. This record might need a few spins to grow and is missing outstanding experiments, grandiose ideas and courageous songwriting.

At the end of the day, Thy Catafalque's Alföld is a welcome gift to fans of the project's extreme metal roots while still employing a few contemporary soundscapes in form of acoustic guitars, female guest vocals and symphonic arrangements. However, the final result isn't as powerful as the material of the early years and isn't as refined as the project's highly recommended most recent outputs. The project's eleventh full length effort is for avid collectors and faithful fans. If you are new to Thy Catafalque, you should rather start your discovery with recent live record Mezolit that summarizes the group's diversified soundscapes best. If you absolutely want to go for a regular studio album, then give wonderful predecessor Vadak a chance.

Final Rating: 70%

Høstsol is an international black metal group, consisting of singer Niklas Kvarforth from Sweden, guitarist Cernunnus from Norway, bassist Kalmos from Finland and drummer Rainer Tuomikanto who is also from Finland. The band's debut full length effort L​ä​nge leve dö​den translates to Long Live Death. It includes five songs clocking in at an impressive and appropriate forty-five minutes. The effort has been mastered by renowned Swedish legend Andy LaRocque who has been involved in occult heavy metal pioneers King Diamond for nearly four decades.

The five songs included her all follow a very similar formula. They open with atmospheric, eerie and mysterious instrumental sections that would fit wonderfully onto soundtracks for horror movies, series and video games. These extended ambient sections surround inspired atmospheric black metal songs. The drum play is versatile, not only aiming for speed but rather for rhythm and also employing percussion creatively. The bass guitar is a little bit buried in the production but manages to provide some sinister oomph. The guitar play is overall mid-paced and has a cold and desperate tone as is fitting for the presented genre. The vocals are emotional and performed with much conviction, offering the cherry atop the cake. Pointing out any specific songs wouldn't serve much purpose since the five songs sound rather similar to one another, fluidly transition into one another and form a sum that is greater than its parts. This album is therefore best enjoyed from start to finish without any breaks and the different tunes shouldn't be taken out of their context to be put into some vapid playlists.

The record's only significant problem is that the employed formula is always the same. The five songs recorded here sound exchangeable. Genre fans won't get any negative or positive surprises here. Once the record has ended, atmospheric black metal fans will have been thoroughly entertained but might not be able to recall any song in particular. This listening experience invites for further replays but also points out the rather conservative songwriting that prevents this project from getting further attention.

At the end of the day, Høstsol's L​ä​nge leve dö​den is a very good record for fans of contemporary atmospheric black metal as well as those who appreciate the four versatile musicians and the one great producer involved in the creation of this piece of art. Anyone else can however skip this output entirely without any regrets as there are much more charismatic, influential and unique black metal albums out there.

Final Rating: 70%

Ever since Timo Tolkki left power metal giants Stratovarius under dishonourable circumstances a decade and a half ago, the talented guitarist and songwriter has been unable to adjust and be involved in stable line-ups and projects. Instead, he is still known as the former member of Stratovarius and has now released an acoustic album, consisting of eight Stratovarius songs, one solo song and three old bonus tracks. The original versions of the songs here are eighteen to twenty-nine years old. The final result is an extremely lame attempt to grab some cash from faithful fans and indicates yet another nadir in the guitarist's long career. The only fate worse than releasing Renaissance Acoustica would be joining a tour with Paul Di'Anno and KK's Priest.

The nine new acoustic songs might sound barely tolerable if you are not familiar with the original material. If compared to the dynamic power metal songs from the nineties and early years of the new millennium, these reinterpretations here sound like boring, lukewarm and tired lullabies lacking creativity, energy and relevance. The acoustic guitar play is average at best and shows how even the guitarist's remarkable skills have decreased in recent years. Singer Alessandro Conti is also a debatable choice for the first nine songs. When he sings in a natural tone, he sounds like any excheangeable European power metal vocalist from the early years of the millennium. As soon as he tries to hit the higher notes, the singer however struggles notably and sounds painfully strained. Opening tune "Winter" is particularly difficult in that regard as Alessandro Conti can't compete at all with original singer Timo Kotipelto. When competing with legendary power metal veteran Michael Kiske in the new version of "Key to the Universe", said difference in quality and style becomes even more obvious. It doesn't help at all that Timo Tolkki decided to include the original version of the song as a bonus track as well as a two-decades-old collaboration with Within Temptation's powerful Sharon den Adel on "Are You the One?" and an instrumental tune entitled "Lord of the Rings" from Timo Tolkki's very first solo album. A simple greatest hits record would have been a much more appropriate choice in this regard.

Few positive elements can be pointed out about the release. The production of the acoustic songs is of an average quality, managing to sound organic without developing any magical sparks. The song selection walks off the beaten path, ignoring beloved singles and fan favourites and opting for forgotten deep cuts instead. The cover artwork is truly beautiful and honestly the greatest thing about this unnecessary release.

This completely overlooked release has been ignored for all the right reasons. The new acoustic songs are bland and the three bonus tracks don't fit in with the concept of this album at all. It would be a much better choice for fans of Timo Tolkki to give his old solo albums and Stratovarius records a few more spins than wasting fifty-one minutes on this tame coaster or frisbee. Here's hope that Timo Tolkki, whose albums have meandered significantly between many terrible outputs and a few unexpected highlights, will come to his senses and put his creativity, energy and time into a refreshing new project instead of living in the past and always being categorized as the former weird member of a once-legendary European power metal band. I certainly wish Timo Tolkki well but Renaissance Acoustica represents several steps in the wrong direction.

Final Rating: 30%