by Sebastian Kluth
After more than thirty years Overkill still stand tall and haven't changed a bit. They are as hungry and wild as in their early years and after the brilliant thrash metal revival that was "Ironbound", the Americans deliver another genre highlight only...
Seraphim are a very solid symphonic metal band from Taiwan that focuses on strong and very professional female lead vocals as well as some death growls, many guitar harmonies and solos and only a couple of keyboards to focus on a rather vivid sound that...
I have never been a big fan of Rhapsody Of Fire because I thought that their early works included to many fast and hectic tracks and a lot of useless bombast and silly orchestrations. On "Triumph Or Agony", the Italians reduced their speed and focused...
With “Death Magnetic”, Metallica heavily tried to satisfy many fans from the old days that were disappointed with the more experimental records the band had done before. This album goes back to the thrash roots of the band and could have been the successor...
Disillusion is one of the best albums of Loudness and a pioneer work in the whole Asian metal scene. After a solid first strike and two records that copied too much the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, Loudness deliver an album filled with catchy and...
With their very first EP, the French Canadian band Rusted deliver a strong old school heavy metal records about the usual topics such as making party, living your life in pure freedom and being tough rockers. The pictures in the booklet prove that these...
This is the second part of my little review series: Movies that are way better than you expect. "Steel trap" seems at first sight to be another ordinary psychological thriller or slasher movie in the shadows of the great "The cube", "Mind Hunters" and...
This album got quite a load of negative reviews. I can understand some of the reasons. First of all, the artificial drum sound always quite sounds the same and is a quite negative factor for the dynamics of the songs. The vocals sound as if the band recruited...
Manowar have always been a controversial band because of their primitive lyrics, exagerated bombastic sound experiments and a ridicolously martial image. Even though the band’s last entirely convincing record was “Kings Of Metal” that came out almost...
After the stunning first full length record "Shade Of Fate", the Bulgarian progressive metal band Pantommind didn't only try to copy its first album but tried out a couple of new things on this second album. While this progression seems very positive...
After three very good releases with the charismatic new singer Tomi Joutsen, Amorphis release their opus magnum of this new era in form of this record. This record doesn't introduce many new elements but it is able to catalyze the forces of the band in...
The record of the band Onmyo-Za attracted me because of the stylish band photo, the unusual cover artwork and many positive experiences with diversified, stunning and sometimes surreal Japanese metal bands from classic groups such as Loudness or X Japan...
Albiorix Requiem is a quite atmospheric doom metal band from Japan with some tiny but interesting gothic elements in their sound. Dreamy and fairy background choirs supported by hypnotizing keyboard sounds meet tribal drums, slow but heavy guitar riffs...
After so many positive comments and favorable reviews about the last two Accept records in the entire metal scene I decided to try out the two new albums starting with their newest one which is Stalingrad. After several tries, I realize that the metal...
I must admit that I have always hesitated to check out the music of Varg Vikernes and Burzum. I simply can’t ignore the fact that he is a criminal mind that has burnt several churches, murdered his ancient band mate and promoted strange racist opinions...
Blaze Bayley has always been one of my favourite singers with his authentic, dark and perfectly imperfect voice that helped him to create a couple of pretty solid records with Wolfsbane, later on with the British heavy metal legend Iron Maiden and lately...
For many years, Metallica didn't release any live release but during the last years, they even release too many DVDs, Live EPs and similar stuff and it's hard to point out which of all those releases is worth to be purchased and which one is not. Even...
Patommind are a very calm, chilling and talented progressive rock or metal band from Bulgaria and I stumbled over their two albums by pure coincidence. The band sounds a little bit like early Dream Theater and also reminds a little bit of Yes or Pendragon....
Screaming Savior are a quite talented and intriguing symphonic black metal band from Shanghai that deliver a strong output with this little EP that contains three regular tracks and two instrumentals that show how detailed and rich the band's compositions...
After an already promising first strike, Vektor make another step forward with the release of their second professional full length output. The band focuses even more on their technical qualities and a strong progressive touch in their music that have...
Elysian is a promising death metal band from Australia that stands out for its melodic and progressive approach. The band creates plenty of great floating vibes thanks to an excellently unique guitar sound. Just the somewhat melancholic opening of "Conquest"...
Darkane from Sweden play a quite interesting mixture of modern death metal passages and pitiless thrash riffs with a dark and desperate vibe that could also please to gothic metal fans. This variety means that this kind of music may be worth your attention...
Tang Dynasty are often cited as one of the first Chinese metal bands that ever existed and they are even less respected than many of their exotic brothers in arms like Aria or Loudness. When I first stumbled over the band and discovered that the band...
This live record from the Germa heavy and power metal band Powerwolf came as a special gimmick added to the April issue of the German Metal Hammer in a jewelcase with a small four page booklet. With a running time of forty-six minutes, this surely is...
The young Canadian band Mongol delivers us a quite mixed bag on their debut release “The Altan Urug”. First of all, we have many amazing folk elements in the songs. The banjo play for example is very well employed in a couple of songs and not an instrument...
