Review Roundup

Having been quite unwell lately, I haven't been producing as many reviews as I used to, and also, as you can see, this blog has been a tad bit neglected by me, too.  But I do have some reviews to share that I haven't yet posted here, so let's get to those.

1.  Perhaps the most highly anticipated album of the year for me this year was the new Dawn of Destiny release, Praying to the World.  I am happy to say that it is fantastic!  I even like their new vocalist, Jeanette! I reviewed it for Sonic Cathedral here.

2. SinHeresY's EP, The Spiders and the Butterfly.  Great metal from Italy, where a lot of fantastic metal is coming from these days.  Italy seems to me to be the newest metal powerhouse, which is great if you think Lacuna Coil is sliding down the tubes.  SinHeresY is a dual male & female fronted band and their EP is very promising.  I find myself going back to it again and again.  Again, I reviewed it for Sonic Cathedral, here.

3. If you haven't heard Akoma, Denmark's awesome symphonic metal band with a killer vocalist, you should definitely check them out!  I've been a fan for a while now, and they released a new EP this spring called The Other Side.  Check my review of that on Sonic Cathadral here.

4. I co-wrote a review of LA-based symphonic metal band Ashentide's EP here on Sonic Cathedral.  A very promising start from a young band with a lot of talent!  The EP is available for a free download from the band's site.

The next reviews are all from Black Wind Metal.

1. As Winter Falls' EP, available for free download from the band's site, was a nice surprise.  Hailing from Slovenia, this is as talented quartet, and my review of the EP, Road to Nowhere, is here.

2. Maltese metalers Rising Sunset were kind enough to send me a copy of their new CD, Equinox.  It was a little bit not my cup of tea lyrics-wise, and this caused some conversation in the comments.  Musically, it wasn't bad, though.  That review is here.

3. Switzerland's 69 Chambers released Torque this spring and I reviewed it here.  Again, not exactly my cup of tea.

4. Opera Diabolicus - awesomesauce!  I loved this CD, entitled +1614.  I couldn't say enough good things about it.  You can read my gushing about that one here.

5. Pythia's The Serpent's Curse was a great surprise for me since I found their previous CD milquetoast.  I really enjoyed this new CD, though, and that review is here.

6. From Nancy, France, Fenrir is a female fronted folk metal band, and I reviewed Echoes of the Wolf here.

7. I even did a review of a male fronted power metal band from Cyrpus, Winter's Verge.  Pretty good stuff, too.  That one is here.

8. Huntress is a band making a lot of waves on the scene these days and one that is gaining a lot of popularity through it's seemingly endless touring.  I almost got to see them at Paganfest in Seattle, but was sick so I couldn't attend the gig.  But I was particularly interested in seeing them.  Their CD is fun, though not exactly my cup of tea vocally or stylistically.  But I loved their song "Eight of Swords".  That review is here.

That's it for now!  Enjoy!

Review Update

Busy times for us all here, but I have been keeping up my reviewing gigs with both Black Wind Metal and Sonic Cathedral.  Here is as summary.

For Black Wind Metal:

Epica's Requiem for the Indifferent
Amberian Dawn's Circus Black
Shear's Breaking the Stillness
Evenoire's Vitriol (the best of the bunch; it's really excellent & I highly recommend it!)
Effloresce's Coma Ghosts
Silent Opera's Immortal Beauty (the worst of the bunch; at 1/5, it's my lowest rating ever)

For Sonic Cathedral:

Lyriel's Leverage (awesomesauce!)

Reviews Update and New Finds

I've come across some great shit lately, and some not so great shit, but I'm always game for new stuff no matter what!  So here is an update of some of my reviews that are appearing on other sites.

On Black Wind Metal:

• Beyond the Bridge's The Old Man and the Spirit.  Excellent stuff!  Progressive metal from Germany, featuring both a female and male vocalist.  I'm not the biggest prog fan ever, but I was really blown away by this this.  What a great find!
• the not-so-fabulous sophomore album by Voices of Destiny, Power Dive.  Ugh.  Not great, IMO, but others may really dig it.
• German power metal outfit Elmsfire's Thieves of the Sun garnered a rave review, as did Italians Setanera's EP, Spettralia.

Upcoming on BWM I have Meden Agan's Erevos Aenaeon and Lacuna Coil's Dark Adrenaline (ugh).

And over at Sonic Cathedral, I have a review of Battle Beast's Steel. 

Some Reviews

I've done a lot of reviewing for other sites recently, and as they are published I'll share the links here.

For starters, however:

Trillium - Alloy on Black Wind Metal (this is Amanda Somerville's new metal project)
Narwhal Tusk - In Despair on Black Wind Metal (excellent Russian symphonic power metal)
Ancient Bards - Soulless Child on Sonic Cathedral (another excellent band from Italy)

Upcoming: Voices of Destiny, Meden Agan, and Setanera on Black Wind Metal, and Battle Beast on Sonic Cathedral.

Great Finds

This last week has been great in terms of discovering new bands.  I'm lucky to write for two web zines so I not only find out a lot from my fellow writers, but I also have access to promo copies of new albums, which is a lovely bonus.

Band #1 I've discovered recently is Arven, and their debut album Music of Light.  I just did a review of it for Sonic Cathedral and you can read it here. This almost all-girl band (the only male is the drummer) has some great material, and I totally recommend them if you like melodic, sort of medieval-y, sort of folky metal with great lyrics and catchy songs.

Another band I got really excited about is Weeping Silence.  Hailing from Malta, this Gothic sextet is really, really good.  I reviewed their most recent offering, Theatre of Life on Black Wind Metal, here.  I love Gothic metal and this album is a great example of what this genre is really about, which is not poppy, watered down crap.  WS is currently working on another album due out in 2012.  Can't wait!

From Greece, we have Meden Agan.  This is impressive stuff - symphonic power metal with a real opera singer, not a popera singer.  It's moody, it's bombastic, it's rich - it's fantastic stuff.  Singer Iliana, who is, like, 21, is an amazing vocalist with pipes along the lines of Chiara Malvestiti of Crysalys: powerful classical soprano sound that is just beautiful.  I highly recommend checking them out.  You can read a review of their album Erevos Aenaon on Sonic Cathedral here, written by my colleague Doctor T.

Narwhal Tusk is from Russia.  I'm in the process of tracking down a copy of their CD, but they do have four songs available for free download on their Reverbnation page.  I love what I've heard so far and look forward to hearing more.

That's all for now!

Coronatus's Terra Incognita Review...

...Is now up over at Sonic Cathedral's web zine.  This is the German band's fourth album with yet another vocal line-up, and it seem that this time they got it right because this is a really strong album.

The review is here.

Echoterra Review

Echoterra, symphonic power metal from the States featuring ex Visions of Atlantis front woman Melissa Ferlaak, is releasing their new full length album, Land of the Midnight Sun, on October 17.  As a reviewer for Sonic Cathedral's web zine, I was fortunate enough to get an advanced promo copy of the CD to review, and you can read my review up on the zine here.

Some News & A Review

This week I applied for and accepted a position with Sonic Cathedral as a reviewer. SC an organization I've been getting CDs from for quite a while now and I've discovered a lot of new female fronted bands through them.  They have a web zine, in addition to all the other things they do, and my CD reviews for SC will be appearing there.

First up, my review of the new Sarah Jezebel Deva release, The Corruption of Mercy.  You can read it here.  As you can see, I really loved this CD, and thought it was a great step forward for SJD in the evolution of her sound and solo career.  Check it!

Sonic Cathedral Interviews Imperia's Helena Iren Michaelsen

If you happen to be an Imperia fan, Robin from Sonic Cathedral had an opportunity to interview Helena Iren Michaelsen and you can read that here.  It's a great interview and Helena had a lot of interesting stories and insights to share. Definitely worth a read.