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!
Distorted Harmony – A Way Out (Album Review)
Flying low under the progressive metal radar last month was the new release, A Way Out, from Distorted Harmony, a band hailing from Israel. Despite…
Sinaya – Maze Of Madness (Album Review)
Arch-demons and flaming corpses adorn this maze. Though enjoying one of the most diverse metal communities in the world, there is a certain character of…
Kingcrow – The Persistence (Album Review)
It would be hard to overstate the importance of an album’s first track, which serves to not only give the listener a first taste of…
Lux Terminus – The Courage to Be (Album Review)
If one pays enough attention to social media in the progressive rock world these days, they might see a sort of civil war rumbling beneath…
The Pineapple Thief – Dissolution (Album Review)
If you’ve been waiting for a time to check out The Pineapple Thief, wait no more: Dissolution is the perfect entry point. Twelve albums in,…
UDO – Steelfactory (Album Review)
Much has been said lately on Sonic Perspectives about the efficiency and precision of German power metal bands. The recent releases of Primal Fear and…
Into Eternity – The Sirens (Album Review)
The long journey back from the seas of oblivion. The ancient proverb of it being impossible to step upon the same river twice, originally accredited…
Airrace – Untold Stories (Album Review)
Some perceptive individuals enter the realm of university academia and realize how it is largely an echo-chamber of self-indulgent silliness. There are few examples of…
Doro – Forever Warriors, Forever United (Album Review)
Physical Graffiti. Snow. The Astonishing. Quadrophenia. The White Album. The Wall. The Book of Souls. Pretty much every Ayreon release ever. What all of these…
A Dying Planet – Facing The Incurable (Album Review)
Troy and Jasun Tipton gained notice in the prog-metal world some twenty years ago as the driving force behind the Bay Area quartet Zero Hour,…
The Magpie Salute – High Water I (Album Review)
After the acrimonious split with his brother and Black Crowes band-mates, Rich Robinson has made a point of keeping the spirit of Black Crowes alive.…
Semantic Saturation – Paradigms (Album Review)
Think about how it feels when a musician leaves one of your favorite bands, or even worse, most of the band packs up and quits,…
Halcyon Way – Bloody But Unbowed (Album Review)
Atlanta. Known to those of us fortunate to live there as “Atlanna.” Known for the Braves, the 1996 Summer Olympics, the Coke Museum, a great…
Primal Fear – Apocalypse (Album Review)
On August 10th, German power metal outfit Primal Fear will deliver Apocalypse, the band’s 12th studio album released over its two decades of existence. The…
Plini – Sunhead (EP Review)
Australian instrumental guitarist Plini came out of nowhere in the past couple years fueled by comments from Steve Vai that with Plini, he “felt that…
City Of The Weak – Pulling Teeth (Album Review)
When the word “pop” is mentioned in any conversation these days, the forty-year-old me still thinks of some great artists of the genre that dominated…
Southern Empire – Civilisation (Album Review)
Sophomore albums often encounter the challenge of living up to their predecessor, but in some cases they actually surpass the debut. Such is the case…
Redemption – Long Night’s Journey Into Day (Album Review)
For all its intellect and adrenaline, metal is not generally known for being music’s most emotionally moving genre. While many prog fans would certainly point…
Ultra-Violence – Operation Misdirection (Album Review)
Setting heads a-banging to the Ludovico technique. Though often pigeonholed as a gimmicky metal expression obsessed with pizza and beer, thrash metal is as versatile…
Dee Snider – For the Love of Metal (Album Review)
For many of us, it seems like it was yesterday that Twisted Sister decided to hang up their boots, but it’s been almost two years…
Powerwolf – The Sacrament Of Sin (Album Review)
The dark liturgy of the Lycanthrope continues… The legendary creatures associated with classic horror cinema tend to have a common root in the land spanning…
Obscura – Diluvium (Album Review)
After almost forty years of listening to rock and metal, there have been many albums I’ve clicked with instantly, while others took a long time…
Mystery – Lies And Butterflies (Album Review)
For a band that originated over thirty years ago and has seen the comings and goings of three lead singers and countless band members, Mystery…
Michael Romeo – War of the Worlds / Pt. 1 (Album Review)
Symphony X has a nasty habit of taking an awfully long time to put out their next record. For the ravenous fan, the wait can…
Destinia – Metal Souls (Album Review)
Our regular readers will recall that we were recently impressed by the latest offering of Lords of Black due largely to the incredible vocal performance…
Mr. Big – Live From Milan (Album Review)
A live release from Mr. Big that wasn’t recorded in Japan seems a strange proposition, but it does happen, folks. Set for release on July…
RanestRane – A Space Odyssey – Part Three: Starchild (Album Review)
Fans of progressive rock music already have it hard enough as it is. The casual music listener already thinks we’re pretty snobby, a little elitist,…
Lucifer – Lucifer II (Album Review)
Straight out of the ashes of The Oath, Johanna Sadonis quickly regrouped herself with a new vision and fire that became known as LUCIFER. Birthed…
We Are Sentinels – We Are Sentinels (Album Review)
Think about the most innovative new act or album you have heard in music in recent years. Not much, right? The music of Nightwish, infusing…
Fates Warning – Live Over Europe (Album Review)
I will never tire of saying how lucky we are to exist in the same world as Fates Warning. A unit that routinely cranks out…
Bullet For My Valentine – Gravity (Album Review)
One of the most revered bands of the new generation, Welsh metallers Bullet For My Valentine have a new album in the oven, which is…
Graham Bonnet Band – Meanwhile, Back in The Garage (Album Review)
Graham Bonnet is seventy years old. This bears repetition. At the time of this publication, Graham Bonnet is seventy years old. This is important because…
Refuge – Solitary Men (Album Review)
Fewer things are more reliable in life than a German band playing old school metal. SCORPIONS, RUNNING WILD, ACCEPT and HELLOWEEN have had their occasional missteps…
Gruesome – Twisted Prayers (Album Review)
We’re now getting used to more creative forms of captivating the ever-dwindling metal audience: meets and greets, themed cruises, holograms, crowdfunding etc., anything is valid…
Rausch – Book II (Album Review)
Say this about Doug Rausch: he won’t put out an album until he thinks it is just right. His first effort – entitled Rausch – came…
Riversea – The Tide (Album Review)
Formed and still led by vocalist/guitarist Marc Atkinson and keyboardist Brendan Eyre, UK duo Riversea made quite a splash in the progressive rock community with…