Richie Kotzen of The Winery Dogs and Adrian Smith of Iron Maiden have been friends for many years and have finally decided to release an album together. The project is blandly entitled Smith/Kotzen and so is the record. The duo has released three singles in the past three months and the full length effort has now seen the light of day. The duo offers nine blues rock songs with a total length of forty-seven minutes.

The most outstanding element about this album is obviously the guitar play. Especially the melodic, mid-paced and playful solos stand out. The rhythm section is serviceable but rarely outstanding. The shared vocal duties are also decent but not charismatic enough to leave a mark. The songwriting shows a few interesting ideas. ''I Wanna Stay'' is a melancholic ballad. '''Til Tomorrow'' could be decsribed as a moody power ballad with a few minor progressive rock influences that unfolds very coherently in almost six entertaining minutes. ''Scars'' is on the catchier side despite its length and comes around with a solid chorus. ''Running'' includes some vibrant rhythms that occasionally break out of the mid-paced patterns and offer some dynamic developments.

At the end of the day, this album is mostly interesting for blues rock and hard rock fans. It will certainly please guitar players who can learn a thing or two while listening to the experienced two veterans. The songwriting offers enough changes to remain interesting. The vintage production recalls genre releases from the seventies and eighties. However, the old-fashioned album doesn't exploit its full potential. Several songs sound somewhat exchangeable. The rhythm section is average at best. The vocals fail to impress. Adrian Smith's previous project Primal Rock Rebellion with its only studio album Awoken Broken was much more exciting, experimental and heavy. The Smith/Kotzen project sounds decent but isn't anything to write home about in my book. It just isn't my cup of tea.

Final rating: 70%

Vengeful Specter is a Chinese blackened folk metal quintet from Guangdong Province that has just released its first eponymous full length effort. It features five regular tracks and an instrumental interlude with a total running time of thirty-six minutes.

Most songs start with enchanting folk harmonies and sound elements recalling battle scenes or elements of nature. After about a minute, the songs evolve into unleashed black metal territory. Blistering drum patterns, low bass guitar sounds and mean guitar riffs dominate along with passionate shrieks. Despite all the furious madness, the songs still offer enough variety with rhythm changes and melodic passages to remain entertaining from start to finish.

My personal highlight on this output is ''Rainy Night Carnage'' that opens with atmospheric sounds of rain and thunder. Chinese flute sounds blend in harmoniously before the extreme metal elements unfold menacingly after two minutes. The tension erupts soon into cold riffs and throaty screams but the diversified rhythm section keeps the songwriting department on an almost progressive level. The middle section brings back the folk harmonies intertwined with frequent rhythm changes that make the song sound like a musical rollercoaster. After about five minutes, the black metal eruptions fade out and give the atmospheric sound samples the occasion to shine next to the folk instruments. This moment of tranquility however only lasts a few seconds before a fierce guitar solo introduces a vibrant finish where passionate black metal elements collide once again with stunning folk melodies.

At the end of the day, Vengeful Specter's self-titled debut album should please black metal and folk metal fans alike. The band's combination of unchained black metal elements with traditional Chinese folk sounds and atmospheric sound samples recalling elements of nature transports listeners to an intriguing world to escape their everyday lives. This almost cinematic record finds the perfect balance between moments of tranquility and unleashed extreme metal outbursts. Chaos and harmony collide in equal parts. The intelligent songwriting sounds as if this band had been around for decades. It wouldn't be exaggerated to say that Vengeful Specter is one of the most promising groups in the contemporary extreme metal scene. This record deserves all the praise it has gotten so far and is even worth more attention.

Final rating: 90%

Ulthima is a Mexican-Finnish melodic death metal sextet that has been around for eleven years but only just released its debut album Symphony of the Night. The record doesn't only convince with a colourful, imaginative and memorable cover artwork but with a balanced mixture of energy and melody that recalls groups such as Children of Bodom and Omnium Gatherum.

The highlight of the album are the playful neoclassical keyboard sounds that should not only appeal to melodic extreme metal fans but also to power metal aficionados. The melodic guitar play blends in nicely and supports or duels the keyboard sounds dynamically. The songwriting convinces most in the band's calmer and longer tunes that take their time to craft enchanting atmospheres and melancholic melodies.

A definite highlight on this release is the mid-paced ''Daughter of Twilight'' that crafts folk-inspired keyboard melodies and competent melodic guitar leads intertwined with a dynamic rhythm section and energetic harsh vocals. The song recalls elements of melodic extreme metal bands such as Amorphis and Eternal Tears of Sorrow.

The closing title track ''Symphony of the NIght'' is by far the longest track on this output and ends the record with dreamy keyboard sounds and warm lead guitar melodies that meet fast galloping rhythm guitar riffs, drum patterns and bass guitar passages. The song has a cinematic and symphonic note that unfolds dynamically through six diversified minutes without ever losing its guiding line.

There are only a few minor issues with this promising debut album. The band's music doesn't sound quite unique yet as it recalls some of the aforementioned groups and the sextet should attempt to find its own niche on upcoming records. The songwriting is at times a little bit exchangeable as especially the shorter tunes are hard to distinguish from one another. The harsh vocals sound decent but don't offer much diversity in form of more aggressive screams or growls or a few clean vocal passages here and there. Perhaps an occasional guest vocalist could add some diversity to the songwriting department in the future.

In the end, Ulthima's Symphony of the Night should please fans of melodic death metal with an atmospheric note. The sextet recalls numerous Scandinavian bands that rose to fame in the late nineties and early years of the new millennium. Since groups such as Children of Bodom are now gone, it's great to see new bands keeping the spirit alive. However, Ulthima still needs to finetune its songwriting in order to craft its very own identity.

Final rating: 70%

Batushka brought a breath of fresh air to the extreme metal genre six years ago when it combined atmospheric black metal soundscapes with Orthodox chants and imagery. The group split up into two distinct bands and released two good albums that couldn't quite reach the status of the original record. This version of Batushka followed that up with a decent extended play and a good average live album. This is now followed up with yet another extended play that marks another step down the ladder. Царю Небесный is still slightly above average but the group's style starts getting a little bit old.

One major issue is that this extended play rarely mixes black metal passages and Orthodox chants on a balanced level. ''Письмо II'' for instance is a blistering black metal tune with stoic drum patterns, down-tuned guitar sounds and desperate screams that is missing the mysterious atmosphere that made the original group so unique.

''Письмо V'' on the other side entirely focuses on the atmospheric side with mantra-like female chants, slow guitar sounds and mysterious whispers. One expects the song to pick up some energy, grit and speed but that never happens. The track only adds mantra-like male chants but plods along without any other changes for three and a half minutes.

The closing ''Письмо VI'' clocks in at seven minutes and seems to indicate some progression on paper. The song indeed has some changes as it starts with throaty harsh vocals and discordant guitar sounds before slowing things down and presenting minimal guitar work. However, the transitions seem abrupt and sound like a poor man's attempt at copying the shifts from heavy passages to relaxed parts as observed in Opeth.

In the end, Batushka's Царю Небесный is a slightly above average atmospheric black metal extended play. Despite a few decent tracks here and there, this release can't compete with the balanced mixture of atmospheric black metal and Orthodox chants that made debut record Литоургиiа so innovative. Batushka should either go back to its root to reconnect with the creative genre mixture that made it stand out or opt for a new creative style. Царю Небесный is torn between those two extremes and lacks coherency and consistency. At the end of the day, this album is only recommendable for collectors and die-hard fans of the different Batushka incarnations.

Final rating: 55%

Don't worry, Japanese Folk Metal isn't as unimaginative as its genre specification, band name and album title might suggest. The sextet from Tokyo and Yokohama plays an entertaining mixture of folk metal and melodic death metal that recalls European bands like Ensiferum and Finntroll. The record comes around with guest singers, occasional electronic music elements and shifts between mellow extreme metal passages and simplistic drinking tunes.

On the positive side, this surprising, quirky and inspired record certainly sounds entertaining from start to finish and offers numerous intriguing soundscapes to discover over and over again. The catchy, energetic and melodic opener ''Ōeyama no Tsuki'' doesn't only represent the band's broad musicianship best but also qualifies as most coherent song on the album. The additional female vocals in the playful ''Sengoku Aika'' mix drinking anthem with contemporary idol pop music. ''Ryugu Drinking Party'' lyrically and musically recalls Alestorm and might work better in concert than in its studio version.

On the negative side, this release is missing a clear guideline. Even without its guest vocalists, the band meanders confusingly between mellow clean vocals and low harsh vocals. The music varies from extreme metal over folk metal to elements inspired by idol pop and electronic music. The album is too short to give listeners the occasion to figure out what this band actually wants to sound like. Seven songs with a running time of only twenty-six minutes is also everything but value for money.

In the end, the eponymous debut album by Japanese Folk Metal is only interesting for fans of folk metal bands from Alestorm over Ensiferum to Finntroll. The group shows some promise in its overwhelming diversity but lacks depth to exploit its potential. The final result sounds entertaining while it lasts but fails to leave a deeper impression. It's the kind of music to listen in the background at a party. You might nod or whistle along to some tunes but won't remember any of them the next day. My suggestion would be to skip this short release and check out the group's next record instead.

Final rating: 65%