ALBUM REVIEWS
If you’re looking for aggregated album reviews from our seasoned music specialists, including our own score offering at a glance how the album fared, this is the right destination for you. Album reviews certainly still matter to artists, writers, and publicists, as they are the ones dealing with them every day, but does the average listener still pay attention? Well, we sincerely hope you do... Dive in!
Nektar – The Other Side (Album Review)
The first wave of prog-rock sometimes proves surprisingly tenacious. When a band reaches the 50 year mark, any remaining original members are inevitably reaching their…
Wormhole – The Weakest Among Us (Album Review)
Samus crushes the Mother Brain again. While the previous decade saw a fair number of older stylistic expressions of metal continue to bask in the…
Annihilator – Ballistic, Sadistic (Album Review)
2019 was a very prolific year for thrash, with excellent releases from Flotsam and Jetsam, Overkill, Destruction, Exhumer, and Death Angel. The first year of…
Revolution Saints – Rise (Album Review)
They say the third time is the charm, and if the boys in Revolution Saints manage to be even more charming than in their successful…
Marko Hietala – Pyre of the Black Heart (Album Review)
Marko Hietala, easily one of the most distinctive voices in metal, has had a storied career in music that’s seen the Tarot boss take the…
Bill Bressler – Normal Boy (Album Review)
Now that we’ve wrapped up our Best Of lists for 2019, we decided to start the progressive rock crusade of 2020 with one release that…
Odious Mortem – Synesthesia (Album Review)
Say what you will about death metal, but it’s one of the most unforgiving styles of rock music out there today. Where other popular styles…
Rat King – Vicious Inhumanity (Album Review)
Vicious is quite an understatement. Endless debates could be had regarding what truly constitutes the furthest fringe of extreme metal, but there is a pretty…
Horned Almighty – To Fathom The Master’s Grand Design (Album Review)
In a truly diverse melting pot of stylistic daring, “To Fathom the Master’s Grand Design” is an authentic display of musical inspiration taken from around…
Svarttjern – Shame is Just a Word (Album Review)
In an age where the word “reinvent” is heralded among the newest pioneers of metal, there has been something dark growing in the misanthropic cesspool…
Victorius – Space Ninjas From Hell (Album Review)
Something strange happened on the way to Algalord. Sure, parody and gimmickry have been around for ages in metal (especially thrash metal), but not as…
Brothers Of Metal – Emblas Saga (Album Review)
Thor swung his hammer and lightning filled the sky with a tremendous roar. A storm had arrived, one inspired by the timeless and enchanting allure…
Apocalyptica – Cell 0 (Album Review)
For a band to strike truly genre-transcendent acclaim, they must have some combination of technical skill, universal appeal, and an inescapable, magnetic allure. This is…
Rage – Wings of Rage (Album Review)
Ever since the split with guitarist Victor Smolski five years ago, Rage founder/bassist/vocalist Peavy Wagner has been on a mission to take back his band.…
Sons Of Apollo – MMXX (Album Review)
If I was elected Prime Minister of Metal Country, one of my first acts would be to pass a bill to ban the term “supergroup”.…
Flaming Row -The Pure Shine (Album Review)
About a year-and-a-half ago, I asked Martin Schnella if he was going to be doing any electric Prog albums. “No.” No hesitation, no obfuscation. “No.” …
Blackthorne – Blackthorne (Album Review)
Brevity is the only option. The hardcore scene tends to play by a different set of rules than their metal counterparts, most notably in how…
Illdisposed – Reveal Your Soul For The Dead (Album Review)
An interesting blend is revealed. The prevailing attitude since melodic death metal first hit the mainstream in the late 90s thanks to the seminal offerings…
Randy McStine – Idle (Album Review)
If there’s an adjective that describes Randy McStine, it isn’t idle. But if there’s an album that does describe Randy McStine, it’s “Idle”. McStine has…
Deep Purple – Live in Rome 2013 (Album Review)
Oh look… Yet another live album from Deep Purple. If I seem a little less than enthused, it’s surely due to the fact that more…
Edge Of Forever – Native Soul (Album Review)
Recently, we had the pleasure of reviewing a new project by renaissance man Sascha Paeth, and we were pleased to see a release from his…
Crystal Eyes – Starbourne Traveler (Album Review)
If you ever get lost in the sea of “crystal” acts (Crystal Eyes, Crystal Tears, Crystal Viper, Crystal Ball, Crystal Castle, Crystal Lake, Crystal Sword….need…
Cannabis Corpse – Nug So Vile (Album Review)
Death metal’s jokesters strike again. Phil Hall, perhaps best known by his humorous stage alias Land Phil, has managed to keep himself quite busy of…
Mats Leven – Skyblood (Album Review)
Imagine, if you will, the doomed maiden voyage of Titanic, moments after being mortally wounded by an iceberg in the night. Suppose then, that there…
Nightwish – Decades: Live in Buenos Aires (Album Review)
Not to boast, but I hopped on the Nightwish train pretty early on. I’ve owned my first-run vinyl LPs of “Oceanborn” and “Angels Fall First”…
Marbin – Strong Thing (Album Review)
Countless bands have struggled to translate the power of their live show onto a studio recording, often resorting to apologies about their studio discography by…
Running Wild – Crossing The Blades (EP Review)
Just over three years since the release of the last full length release “Rapid Foray” in 2016, German pirates Running Wild have returned with the…
Strigoi – Abandon All Faith (Album Review)
The crusty exploits of a death/doom icon. Few names are more synonymous with death/doom than that of Paradise Lost, and not simply due to them…
Sun Of The Dying – The Earth Is Silent (Album Review)
For all that find beauty in darkness and comfort in the dark shroud of sorrow, Sun Of The Dying is sure to please with their…
Cattle Decapitation – Death Atlas (Album Review)
“The near future of the entire human race is at stake…” Cryptic transmissions in myriad languages crackling across an echoing electronic backing track. An album…
Molly Hatchet – Battleground (Album Review)
Some would say that Southern rock is a dish best served live, even decades after the well-worn genre was at its peak. The first eras…
In Continuum – Acceleration Theory – Part II: Annihilation (Album Review)
“The only word is love, an infinite loop in continuum.” This line, taken from the track “Annihilation: The Mothership of Light”, may hold a clue…
Metal De Facto – Imperium Romanum (Album Review)
Ensiferum bassist Sami Hinkka side steps (but not too far) from his main act to co-found the exciting new power metal act called Metal De…
Avatarium – The Fire I Long For (Album Review)
Born from epic doom laden mastermind known as Leif Edling, Avatarium sprung on the scene in 2013 with the self-titled debut, the band immediately seized…
ADE – Rise Of The Empire (Album Review)
Among the screaming and the shredding, metal proves itself to be a distant cousin of the oral tradition time and time again. Tales of wars…
Leah – Ancient Winter (Album Review)
Set adrift in a Celtic dream. The name Leah should be a familiar one in symphonic metal circles, especially for those who have frequented social…