Heavy metal

New Releases

New Release Highlight: Traveler – Traveler Review

One of the best feelings as a music enthusiast is seeing a band you really enjoy finally make the leap from a demo to a debut album. Sometimes the result is as astounding as Eternal Champion and other times it’s not such a smooth transition. There have been many demos to capture my attention in recent years, but few have completely enthralled me like Traveler’s 2018 demo. Barely half a year later and they’ve already pulled together a full length debut set to drop on Gates of Hell Records. This begs the big question – does the debut live up to the hype of the demo? The short answer to that is YES. ABSOLUTELY YES.

By Marco, ago
Relisten

Relisten: Briton Rites – For Mircalla Review

Cauldron Born – Born of the Cauldron is perhaps the best 90s US power metal release there is. It’s a truly harmonious blend between Fates Warning and Helstar with incredible riffs, vocals, and a fine mix of the aggressive and progressive styles of USPM. So what happens when Howie Bentley, the mastermind behind this standout USPM release, decides to try his hand at what is essentially the polar opposite – old school traditional doom metal. Very few musicians are able to traverse multiple genres, but what we have here is quite honestly my favourite modern Traditional Doom album and a release that not only pays respect to the masters of Doom and Old School Heavy Metal but truly stands alongside them as an equal.

By Kaelrok, ago
Guides and Primers

Thunder in the East: A Guide to Japanese Heavy Metal in the 80s

Starting with the late 60’s and early 70’s, the Japanese were absorbing the hard rock and folk rock happening in the West and releasing their unique takes on it. This continued through the rest of the 70’s until Japan become a common Asian fixture among big world tours towards the end of the decade. Scorpions, Judas Priest, and Van Halen played there to sold out crowds, and you can only bet there was an entire scene full of metal bands inspired by these that developed soon after.

By crucervix, ago
New Releases

New Release Highlight: Metal Inquisitor – Panopticon Review

It’s late January and the year is just starting to warm up. We’re finally starting to see labels hit their release cycle and break the resounding silence that comes with the start of a new year. One of the first releases of 2019 that I’ve been anticipating is Metal Inquisitor’s fifth studio album, Panopticon. It’s been five years since their last album, but Metal Inquisitor have shown remarkable consistency over the years and that’s exactly what we get here.

By Marco, ago
New Releases

New Release Highlight: Sabire – Gates Ajar Review

It’s been a while since I’ve been so genuinely confused and pleasantly surprised by a band, yet here I am. Very late in December, and well after my end of year round up, my friend messaged me a link to a freshly released EP from a new band called Sabire. The aesthetics were a little odd and the band claimed to be ” Pure Concentrated ACID METAL”. Now if there’s anything I’ve learned in my time in metal it’s that random made up genre tags are usually a bad sign, but one listen is all I needed for the doubt to melt away. The music on Sabire’s Gates Ajar speaks for itself and clearly I’m not the only one entranced by it – under two weeks of debuting and the band is already playing at Keep it True 2019.

By Marco, ago
Classics Appreciation

Classics Appreciation: Riot – Thundersteel Review

Music can mean drastically different things to different people, but in general it’s safe to say that we tend to attach an emotional connection to the music we listen to. For me, there’s a handful of albums that I find myself leaning on over and over again throughout the years. Whether I’m in a rough patch of life or whether I’m just mindlessly staring at my collection unable to determine what I should listen to, it’s these handful of releases that I rely on for their sense of familiarity, and above all, for their unwavering quality. Over the years I’ve increasingly found myself turning to Riot’s Thundersteel to fill this vital role in my listening.

By Marco, ago