Reviewed: [May 2021] Released [2021 Century Media Records] Rating [4.5/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson No strangers to grand thematic works, Italian tech deathsters Hideous Divinity do something more along the lines of a conceptual short story with their latest effort, the LV-426 EP. The band spin an “Aliens”-inspired yarn chronicling the…
Album Reviews
Stranger Vision – Poetica
Reviewed: May, 2021 Released: 2021, Pride & Joy Music Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Erich POETICA is the debut album from Italian melodic metal band Stranger Vision. Drawing lyrical inspiration from science, literature and poetry while boasting guest performances from Zachary Stevens (Savatage, Circle II Circle, Archon Angel), Alessandro Conti (Trick Or…
Ringarë – Thrall of Winter’s Majesty
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, Amor Fati Productions Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: Kira Levine Haling from Sweden / USA, Ringarë are an ambient black metal band who formed in 2004 (as Ringar) from the ashes of Troglodytic. Thrall of Winter’s Majesty is their second full-length record. A statement from their current…
Suter, Paul, (ed.) HM A-Z (Book Review)
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 1985 , Omnibus Press Rating: 3.5/5 Reviewer: JP The quest. As many of our regular readers may know, I’d stated on a number of occasions our goal is to review every single book about Hard rock and Heavy Metal. Sometimes I have to dig really deep…
Mephisto – Pentafixion
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, WormHoleDeath Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Demitri Levantis Gothic black metal is, in my eyes, one very underrated sub-genre and whilst some of the biggest names in metal like Cradle of Filth carry gothic elements, it’s bands who combine gothic metal and black metal well with overarching…
The Almighty-Welcome To Defiance
Reviewed: May, 2021 Released: 2021, Cherry Red / HNE Records Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP There are a handful of Hard Rock bands that have enough fire-power, grit, sleaze, and balls to be easily accepted into the Metal community. I don’t think the band would care one way or the other…
Rebirth – Storm
Reviewed: April, 2021 Released: 2021, Independent Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Cristóbal Torres Rebirth is an aging gothic metal band born deep in the depths of Milan, Italy in the late 1990s. He debuted at the beginning of the millennium with two demos: SECRETS (2000) and SERENADE (… FOR MY PRINCESS) (2000).…
Lost Division – Cuts and Scars
Reviewed: May, 2021 Released: 2021, Inverse Records Rating: 2.5/5 Reviewer: Rebecca Bush Founded in Oulu, Finland in 2015, Lost Division released their first single ‘Wish You Were Dead’ in 2018, before swapping singers and beginning their journey to compose their debut album which was recorded back in 2020. Without knowing…
Varas-Diaz, Nelson-Acts Of Resistance (DVD Review)
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, Black Chango Films Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP Dr. Nelson Varas-Diaz is widely recognized as the world’s foremost expert on Latin American Metal and he has been busy since we last checked in. This month I’m reviewing two things that have his fingerprints all over them…
Obsolete Theory – Dawnfall
Reviewed: [May 2021] Released [2021 My Kingdom Music] Rating [3.5/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson There are dynamics aplenty in the epic bluster of Italy’s Obsolete Theory. The band go from zero to 60 and back again as they trudge and sprint through stretches of doom/Goth metal punctuated by fits of death…
Millstone – Isle
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, self-release Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: Kat Knite Isle is the newest release from Siberian metal collective Millstone, each song on the album winding and moving to the beat of its own drum while existing cohesively and potently within the groove/death-metal universe. Written by Ivan Scherbakov and produced by…
Steel, Jo-Killer Magazine #1 (Magazine review)
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, Indie Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP In the eternal war against crappy music, every army needs it’s foot soldiers and it’s leaders. Joe Capitalicide is one of those leaders. This guys does it all, a true Metal warrior. Artist in such bands as Iron Dogs, Expunged,…
C., Hermann- Black Metal Media 1992-1994 (Book review)
Reviewed: May 2021 Released: 2021, Lohengrin Productions Rating: 4/5 Reviewer: JP It’s not too often I’ll buy a book I can’t really read but in this case I made an exception. I’ll explain more in a moment. Black Metal Media is a hard cover, coffee-table book that is not really…
Christian Liljegren – Melodic Passion
Reviewed: May, 2021 Released: 2021, Melodic Passion Rating: 3/5 Reviewer: Jack Merry With 35 years as a hard rock/metal singer and nearly 40 albums worth of experience, Christian Liljegren has established himself as one of the most productive metal musicians on the metal scene. His debut solo project, released under…
Devoured – The Curse Of Sabda Palon
Reviewed: [May 2021] Released [2021 Vrykoblast Productions] Rating [3.5/5] Reviewer: Peter Atkinson Indonesian death metallers Devoured have a long history with not a whole lot to show for it. The band formed in 1998, but didn’t release their debut full length The Lost Kingdom until 2012, after a series of…