EPICA – Omega Alive Universal [Livestream Review] (June 12th, 2021)
The concert as a grand spectacle and the sub-genre of symphonic metal are companions almost to the point of necessity, and have been since the…
Author Jonathan Smith
Jonathan Smith
Jonathan is a long time contributor to The Encyclopaedia Metallum website under the pseudonym hells_unicorn and has written for The Metal Observer on and off for the past 10 years. He was previously a lead guitarist in the Philadelphia-based folk metal band Frost Giant and played Dave Murray’s parts for the Philly-based Iron Maiden tribute band Tailgunner. He is currently the guitarist and principal songwriter for the nascent symphonic power metal project Ominous Glory.
Mr. Bungle – The Night They Came Home (Album Review)
No bungling to be found here. If Conan the Cimmerian’s life quest was to solve the riddle of steel, then the equivalent endeavor of the…
Evile – Hell Unleashed (Album Review)
Hell has officially boiled over. If there was one criticism of the thrash metal revival of the 2000s that continues to recur in both polite…
Desaster – Churches Without Saints (Album Review)
Thrash permeates the unrelenting blackness. There is something to be said for subtlety when it comes to extreme metal and the sense of horror it…
Rhapsody of Fire – I’ll Be Your Hero (EP Review)
A thunder clap before the mighty storm arrives. It is difficult to carry on even the shortest of conversations regarding power metal’s symphonic sub-style without…
Hellryder – The Devil Is A Gambler (Album Review)
The infernal casino is a heavy place. Sometimes old dogs like to revert back to old tricks, though in the case of Grave Digger front…
Bloodbound – Creatures Of The Dark Realm (Album Review)
Orcs arise from the decrepit depths. Popular fascination tends to follow bands that match a consistent yet novel style with a common lyrical trope. However,…
Burning Witches – The Witch Of The North (Album Review)
The coven summons a formidable frost. One could view the past year as lost time, as a bleak era where live music was few and…
Stormruler – Under The Burning Eclipse (Album Review)
Blackened flames scorch the sky. The U.S. black metal scene has long been the Rodney Dangerfield of its adopted sub-genre; it gets virtually no respect…
Cirith Ungol – Half Past Human (EP Review)
Lost treasures come to light. Over the past decade the metal scene has been fairly preoccupied with getting back to the good old days, which…
