Reviewed: January, 2021 Released: 2020, Outsider Music Records Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Erich Rob Gravelle is the guitarist for Canadian band Ivory Tower, who last released the album UNITY in 2018, which was reviewed by Metal-Rules. Sometimes in life, we all want a do-over on something. It could be something as…
Album Reviews
Royal Orphan – Royal Orphan (6 song debut E. P.)
Reviewed: December, 2020 Released: 2018, Independent Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Cristóbal Torres Royal Orphan is a duo formed by Joey Migz on drums and Brendan Kelly as the multi-instrumentalist man, as he is in charge of bass, guitar and vocals. Originally from Long Island, New York, this project is one more…
Abyssal Frost – Antarsia
Review Date: January 2021 Released: 2020, Independent Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: RC2000 From Atlanta, Georgia (with roots in the North Carolina death metal scene) comes the independently-released EP from Abyssal Frost entitled ANTARSIA. Their Bandcamp page has the description “A voyage of doom and terror set sail into the Abyss…” which…
KONQUEST – THE NIGHT GOES ON
Reviewed: 27.12.2020 Released: January 8th, 2021 Iron Oxide Records Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Dennis It is not my everyday business to review a record that is, literally, the first of a brand-new record label. Said label is Bart Gabriel’s (Gabriel Management, Skol Records, producer, manager etc) Iron Oxide Records. Konquest is…
ALITOR – II
Reviewed: Jan 2021 Released: 2020, Ragnaröck Records Rating: 5/5 Reviewer: Dennis I reviewed an awful lot of music this year only to almost miss one of the best Thrash Metal outputs of the year. The record of the Serbian Thrash band Alitor is simply named II. Alitor was formed in…
Sylent Storm – The Fire Never Dies
Reviewed: January, 2021 Released: November 27, 2020 Stormspell Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: The Elitist Metalhead The New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, affectionately known henceforward as the NWOTHM, has really taken off. I’m not really getting the criticism of a lot of the bands that “they lack originality.” I actually…
KILL CITY – LAST MAN STANDING
Reviewed: 29.12.2020 Released: 2020, self-released Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Dennis Kill City is another great example for hard rocking classic style Heavy Metal from South America. Kill City hail from Equador, a Country with 269 339 residents as of 2020. Equador is the country of Cuisine like: Arroz con menestra y…
Eoront – Gods Have No Home
Reviewed: January, 1, 2021 Released: November 6, 2020 Drevo Music Rating: 4.5/5 Reviewer: The Elitist Metalhead I first heard Siberia’s Eoront back in the summer of 2017 when I ran across their sophomore release, ANOTHER REALM. They play a melodic, atmospheric black metal with some rather tasteful folk elements thrown in.…
Hell Riders – First Race
Reviewed: Jan. 2020 Released: 2019, Volcano Records Rating: 3 of 5 Reviewer: Cristóbal Torres Hell Riders is a novel group born in 2017. Their history is curious because, with just a few demos, they achieved a record contract for the release of their debut album: First Race, which was released…
Begräbnis – Izanaena
Begräbnis – Izanaena Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Weird Truth Productions Rating: 2/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz I’m not really sure what’s happening on IZANAENA, but I think I like it? Japan has long been a creative nexus for all things musically extreme. Be it the mighty metal shred of Loudness,…
Voivod – Lost Machine-Live
Voivod – Lost Machine-Live Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Century Media Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Aaron Yurkiewicz THE WAKE was the album that reignited my love affair with Voivod. My first guitar instructor (Joe Antares, love you dude) hated me because I begged him to teach me songs from DIMENSION…
Bloodletter – Funeral Hymns
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2020, Napalm Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Rossy Maguire Bloodletter hails from Chicago, Illinois. A city that has a turbulent past and that has been home to a booming rock and metal-scene ever since the 60’s up to now. A shared love for metal brought these four…
Altered Dead – Returned To Life
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Memento Mori Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Kira Levine Five years after their self-titled debut, Canadian old-school death metal duo Altered Dead have Returned To Life with their sophomore full-length, which will see its initial physical release through label Memento Mori. A doom-esque introduction announces “Mental Suicide”…
Hell-Born – Natas Liah
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Odium Records Rating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Pete Mutant Polish death metal act Hell-Born have returned with their 6th full release, nearly 13 years after 2008’s ‘Legacy Of The Nephilim’. A bit of a hiatus for the band came to an end as we have recently been…
Yoth Iria – As The Flame Withers
Reviewed: January 2021 Released: 2021, Pagan Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kira Levine Founded by two ex-members of Rotting Christ in 2019 (with Jim Mutilator being an original member), Yoth Iria are a black metal band hailing from Athens, Greece. After releasing three-track EP Under His Sway less than a year…