EHFAR - Everything Happens For A Reason (CD Review)

EHFAR – Everything Happens For A Reason

01. Shout My Name
02. Night After Night
03. A Man Behind The Mask
04. Dead End Track
05. Once Upon A Time
06. Someone Save Me
07. Victims
08. Masters Of Hypocrisy
09. Losing You


Titta Tani (Vocals)
Emiliano Tessitore (Guitars)
Matteo Dondi (Bass)
Andrea Gianangeli (Drums)

With conflicting information as to who exactly is playing on this album and a lack of any detailed information in the press release I am just going to assume that the given band members (as listed above) were also on the album.
I say that because from the brief press release it implies a different set of musicians.

Formed as a solo project for song writer, drummer and singer Titta at the beginning of the year in Italy.
He wanted to create his personal project as a way of bringing you in a journey into his deep thoughts.
Titta decide to invite guitarist Emiliano Tessitore to lay down “stunning solos and amazing rhythms”.
Acoustic guitar was provided by Alex "Lex" Tricarico.
Bass was recorded by Alberto Rigoni and drums recorded by Denis "Denzi" Novello.
Oliver Hartmann of ‘Avantasia’ joined Titta on the song ‘A Man Behind The Mask’.

Now the only reason I accepted this promo from their record company was because the words Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin were very much at the top of the information, at least they got that bit right, though they could have mentioned that Titta also played in ‘Daemonia’.

Anyway enough of my grumbling about poor press releases and let me hit the play button.

Quiet a mix of styles, the opening track is fairly standard ‘Power Metal’ plenty of technical stuff going on and harmonic vocals.
Track number two ‘Night After Night’ is altogether a much darker affair, near industrial/gothic metal in fact, growling vocals and heavy drums really drive this one.

After this we seem to return to this melodic power/progressive metal meets bon jovi sound, plenty of quality playing and very rich in production, but honestly not my kinda music.

I am disappointed I was hoping for something a bit darker, an albums worth of ‘Night After Night’, would have been just perfect.

Rating 5/10
For Fans Of:  Avantasia, Ashent, Kamelot, Mob Rules, Symphony X

Armageddon - Eternal Mystery Rediscovered (CD Review)

01.Appearing
02.No Advice
03.Curse of Black Swan
04.Black Swan Rider
05.Magic Star
06.Sarabanda
07.Heavy Metal Symphony
08.No Advice  (Short Version)
09.Funeral March (Sarabanda 2015)
10.Heavy Metal Symphony (Short Version)
11.Mordor (Live)

Milos Krsmanovic (Lead Vocal)
Vanda Marijanski (Mecosopran)
Marko Skendzic (Tenor)
Zeljko Andric (Bass-Bariton)
Vladimir Zorijan (Bass Vocal)
Djordje Letic (Guitars/Keyboards/Vocals/Narration)
Zoran Drazic (Electric & Acoustic Guitar)
Nebojsa Bjeletic (Bass)
Milos Marceta (keyboards)
Tara Kerac (Drums/Growls)

ARMAGEDDON is a band from Novi Sad and are among the veterans of the local Heavy Metal scene in Serbia. The band was formed in 1987, and it is the creation of the solo artist Djordje Letich, who is also active in other bands on the scene, with the band Tornado being the most significant among them. ARMAGEDDON has existed for many years as a one-man band, while Djordje Letich, in the manner of true virtuoso, was combining elements of Heavy Metal sound with other similar and not so similar musical streams, examining the possibilities of complex styles and incorporating them together.
In its long history, until recently, ARMAGEDDON never set foot on the concert stage! Their performance at Exit 2012 was the exclusive live appearance of the band. Later, in December2012, the band held its "Doomsday Concert" which live recordings are the backbone for this new, currently issued album.

"Eternal Mystery - Rediscovered" is truly a "Heavy Metal Symphony" featuring Opera singers from the Serbian National Theatre of Novi Sad and a full string quartet that guide the listener through a musical journey, about the Secret of Life and Death. A highlight of the album is the live bonus track "Mordor" with which displays the full power of this now 11 musician outfit called ARMAGEDDON.
ARMAGEDDON's "Eternal Mystery" was originally recorded 25 years ago and this upgraded album entitled "Eternal Mystery - Rediscovered" is a special anniversary edition. ARMAGEDDON are considered to be one of the first Sympho Power/Prog Metal groups in the region of Europe. The original album was recorded in very poor conditions, on only 8 channels, by analog equipment. This new modern "Rediscovered" version of the album was rerecorded and remixed with additional recordings on 128 channels!

After the spoken introduction we move into the melodic almost iron maiden-esque style of power metal with 'No Advice' and just a single male vocal.

'Curse Of Black swan' is just another spoken piece, but with added f/x, this goes into 'Black Swan Rider' which turns out to be a rather good 70's sounding pomp rock song, a sort of proto power metal.

If the last one was 70's then this one seems to be late 60's, 'Magic Star' has the right vibe for classic hard rock, good vocal backing and some great guitarwork are only slightly spolied by a pretty poor drum sound.

'Sarabanda' is a full on classical symphonic piece and then comes 'Heavy Metal Symphony' a totally stunning 27 minutes of pure rock opera.
From the spoken intro into its speed metal riffs it just soars through the speakers, then come the numerous timing changes, seemingly throwing in every style of rock and metal it can, even some dark and doomy parts. Later we get some folk and pure classical as well.Fantastic!

After the edits and other extra tracks we finally get 'Mordor' another stunning and all too short symphonic rock masterpiece.

Rating 9/10
For fans of: Rainbow, Therion, Dream Theater, Lucifer, Saturn

Borealis - Purgatory (CD Review)

01.Past The Veil
02.From The Ashes
03.The Chosen One
04.Destiny
05.Darkest Sin
06.My Peace
07.Place Of Darkness
08.Welcome To Eternity
09.Sacrifice
10.Rest My Child
11.Purgatory
12.Revelation

Matt Marinelli (Vocals/Guitar)
Mike Briguglio (Guitar)
Sean Werlick (keyboards)
Jamie Smith (Bass)
Sean Dowell (Drums)

Starting out in 2005, Canadian band Borealis wasn't supposed to sound as it does today. The first songs and live performances were done with a female opera singer. It was quickly realized that the possibilities were limited following that path, so they set out to find the right sound. During their search, enough songs were written to record an album, but there was no luck finding a singer, until they realised their guitarist could sing!

With their new singer and an arsenal of songs, Borealis entered the studio, and after a long and endlessly drawn out time, World of Silence was unleashed. Having played locally with Kamelot, Epica, and Sonata Arctica with nothing to sell, patient fans were elated to finally get their hands on the album, and Borealis played a packed show with Edguy to support it.

Musically Borealis leans towards the power metal sound, not too far removed from a band such as Evergrey or even Savatage in their prime, but also the more progressive bands like 'Vanden Plas' or 'Dream Theater' springs to mind here and there.

Well lets start on a positive note, the intro IS included as part of the first song, so thats a couple of rating points already, but then the first 3 songs are pretty much straight forward power metal, not quite as annoying as the european stuff but not far behind.

Track 4 'Destiny' kicks off with a solid and heavy riff, some great technical drumming and good use of keyboards, yes its symphonic, especially when the vocal and piano replace the rest of the band, but when it comes together, this one turns into a pretty solid song.

They seriously drag this down with the next song 'Darkest Sin' an acoustic ballad, this has no place anywhere in modern metal music at all.

The rest is back to the "slightly less annoying power metal" style, though they do throw another damn ballad in for some strange reason.

So bar one track this is yet another average metal by numbers album, that seems to be on the increase at the moment.

Rating 5/10
For Fans Of: Evergrey, Nickleback

Albatross - Fear From The Skies (CD Review)

Story 1: Children Of The Cloud
01.Intro - Advance
02.The Raptorsville Fair
03.Jugglehead The Clown
04.Children Of The Cloud
05.Outro - Fold

Story 2: The Assassin's Flight
06.In The Lair Of Dr.Hex
07.A Tale Of Two Tyrants
08.The Empire Of Albatross

Dr. Hex (Bass)
Biprorshee Das (Vocals)
Vigneshkumar Venkatraman (Guitar)
Nishith Hegde (Guitar)
Varun Singh (Guitar)
Jay Thacker (Drums)

Mumbai-based traditional heavy metal quintet Albatross formed in 2009 and are a band that combines bone-chilling stories with bone-crushing metal. The band started out as the solo project of bassist Riju Dasgupta (Workshop, Old Monks) who wanted to marry his love of literature with his other love: metal.

Later on, a lineup of like-minded musicians was standardized and Albatross was born. The band released the critically acclaimed 'Dinner is You', a concept EP about cannibalism and the Kuru disease, which was mastered by Grammy nominated Swedish producer Andy LaRocque from King Diamond, in September 2010.

In 2012, Albatross released ‘The Kissing Flies’ EP as part of a split CD with American doom metal band Vestal Claret to critical acclaim. This EP features contributions from famed luminaries such as Niklas 'Viper' Stalvind (Wolf), The Demonstealer (Demonic Resurrection) and Murari Vasudevan (Rat King).

Albatross has supported legendary bands like Kreator and Wolf in the recent past and besides being a regular in the Indian live circuit did a successful three-city tour of Australia in 2013.
Since then they have been working on their debut album.

Are you sitting comfortably? then lets begin with our first story, and yes the intro starts us off with a spoken story and then 'The Raptorsville Fair' starts and it sounds like something from Nightmare Before Xmas, a very theatrical vocal over some silly fairground style rock music, then a more technical progressive metal sound kicks in, but it returns to that strange but quite awesome other style.

'Jugglehead The Clown' is more traditional heavy metal, pounding drums and maidenesque guitarwork and a more "serious" vocal, very rhythmic and catchy.

Next up is 'Children Of The Cloud' this one throws everything in from prog, death and thrash metal, lots of intresting timing changes and a fantastic vocal performance that ranges from Bruce Dickinson to Dani Filth!

The story ends on the outro with some church bells and a bit more story telling.

So from what appeared to be a light hearted first story the next one seems to be a bit darker, 'In The Lair Of Dr Hex' has this slow powerchord driven rhythm and more vocal gymnastics, the quality of the guitar solos matches anything any euro power metal player can offer, very very impressive.

The pace picks up with 'A Tale Of Two Tyrants' and once again it is the vocalist that takes centre stage here, another stunning and diverse performace from dark bass to near soprano, all over solid heavy power metal.

Opening with some beautiful acoustic guitar comes our final piece 'The Empire Of Albatross', this one is very much influenced by Iron Maiden, but this has some very good modern elements in the mix, as ever the vocalist does what he does best and also tells us a little bit of a story as well.

Rating 10/10
For fans Of: King Diamond, Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Dream Evil, Iced Earth

Desert - Never Regret (CD Review)

01.Chasing The Prey
02.Assassins Fate
03.Son Of A Star
04.The Wolfs Attack
05.Never Regret
06.The Road To You
07.1812
08.Flying Dutchman
09.Final Journey
10.Imperial Eagle
11.Invincible

Alexei Raymar (Vocals)
Sergei Metalheart (Guitar)
Max Shafranski (Guitar)
Sergei Dmitrik (Bass)
Oleg Aryutkin (Keyboards)
Assaf Markowitz (Drums)

Guests
Ralf Scheepers (Vocals)
Infy Snow (Vocals)
Alex Zvulun (Guitar)
Merry Ann Genin (Violin)

Desert are a Dark Epic Metal band from Israel formed in 2002, since then they have expanded their musical palette mixing in some darker colors to go with power and epic metal.
During those years were released 2 EP’s: “The Way To Honor” 2004, “Prophecy Of The Madman” 2006 and one full length studio album "Star Of Delusive Hopes which was released in early 2011 by the Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records .
The album was recorded and produced by Nick Savio (Hollow Haze, White Skull) at Remaster Studio in Vicenza (Italy). Mix and mastering were done by Andy La Roque – a legendary guitarist of King Diamond at Sonic Train Studio in Varberg (Sweden). The internet single "Lament for Soldier's Glory", featuring a guest performance by Joakim Broden, the lead singer of 'Sabaton'.
On the waves of successful “Star Of Delusive Hopes” on 2012 the band started the pre-production work of the second full length album, later named as “Never Regret”. The album was produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Alex Zvulun at A.G. Studio in Tel-Aviv. As for previous album the cover artwork was done by a great Brazilian artist Jobert Mello – well known by his work with numerous bands including 'Primal Fear' and 'Grave Digger'.
Ralf Scheepers, a legendary voice of 'Primal Fear' has also contributed his voice to one of the tracks on the album alongside some other guests.

It may be well played but an intro is an intro and as with most intros it goes right into the first song 'Assassins Fate' so why not just have it at the beginning of the song?
Right so onto the song, its Power Metal, but with a difference, this one has more layers to it, a strong drum driven track, great harmony with both keyboards and backing vocals, clever little timing changes and a proper guitar solo.
The lead vocal style reminds me of Snowy Shaw, big, powerfull with plenty of range.

'Son Of A Star' is a slow and pounding anthemic piece, another superb vocal delivery, some Maidenesque guitar work and a great little keyboard hook.

A dark and moody start with church organ starts up and then 'The Wolfs Attack' builds into a full on metal attack, such is the style of this one that at times it has more than a touch of the legendary Crazy World Of Arthur Brown about it, add to this some shout it out loud backing vocals, a real stand out song.

Has to be said that 'Never Regret' is a very commercial sounding song, another stunning vocal delivery with a harmony line reminiscent of Lacuna Coils version of Depeche Modes 'Enjoy The Silence'and brilliant keyboard work all making for an intresting mix of symphonic rock and Rammstein.

A near ballad next with 'The Road To You' this one is quite operatic thanks in part to a stunning female vocal performance half way through, the music itself sounds almost cinematic in its execution.

I was wondering if '1812' may be a take on the classical masterpiece, but this is another symphonic/power metal song, hyper drumming over laid back keyboard and atmospheric guitar work, oh and lets forget that evil sounding bassline.Yet again we are treated to another passionate and powerfull vocal that hits every high note with perfect pitch.

Time for some folk rock as the violin starts off 'Flying Dutchman' and this one fits the genre "Battle Metal" with its high octane mix of epic sing-a-long vocals and solid riffs, this one "Sails" along and then gets into that classic folk rock rhythm with a stunning mix of violin and guitar.

Another cinematic intro and 'Final Journey' bursts into life before going all quiet with a simple vocal over piano which then picks up into a faster paced piece, more of that solid basswork is present here as well as that epic vocal performance.

A military trumpet (well keyboard to sound like one) and a snare rhythm to match leads us into 'Imperial Eagle' a few seconds shy of eight minutes this one really fits the term "Epic", i've said it before and i will say it again this one has some killer basswork going on and that Snowy Shaw/Till Lindermann style of singing is just to die for.Thrown into the mix are some sound samples of swords, i mention this because for some reason they really stick out as a way of underlining the theme of the piece.

Finally 'Invincible' the same way as we started, a style of music played with total precision and understanding.

Rating 10/10
For fans of: Snowy Shaw, Tristania, Therion, Dream Evil, Orpheus Blade, Synkvervet, Rammstein

Guest Vocalist Infy Snow

Sacred Blood - Argonautica (CD Review)

01.Legends Of The Sea/The Epic Of Apollonius
02.Hellenic Steel
03.Hail The Heroes
04.Legacy Of The Lyre
05.To Lands No Man Hath Seen
06.Call Of Blood
07.O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)
08.Friend Or Foe
09.Enchantress Of The East
10.The Golden Fleece Pt1
11.The Golden Fleece Pt2


Epeios Phocaeus (Vocals)
Polydeykis (Guitars/Keyboards/Flute/Accordion)
George Karahalios (Drums)

Greek band formed originally under the band name "Sacred" in December 2003.

The following year they record their first self financed demo cd titled “Clash of The Titans”. The demo included four tracks in the music direction of heavy/power/epic metal and got some very encouraging reviews from the underground heavy metal scene.

The band started working on some ideas and they composed 10 tracks that musically drew on some folk elements from the Hellenic and Celtic music heritage and lyrically they refer to the heroic sacrifice of 300 Spartan and 700 Thespian warriors, eventually released in 2008 'The Battle Of Thermopylae:The Chronicle' under the new band name Sacred Blood.
In 2012 the band released a concept album about the deeds of Alexander the Great, called 'Alexandros' and was hailed as one of the best albums of the year.

Played this one through, it is an epic piece of work, cannot fault it's production and musicanship one bit.
That this is a trio is something to be admired, they have created an album that bands with seven or eight members couldn't compete with.

So what can I say, stunning mixture of symphonic and power metal, elements of folk and good old heavy metal, hell even some progressive rock in the mix.

Got to pick a couple out, because they are a little different, firstly 'O'er The Tomb (Beyond The Pillars Of Heracles)' a brilliant celtic folk song, traditional instruments used to perfection, stunning vocal delivery, simple almost understated yet this song just has that special something, not an electric instrument in sight, then when the backing vocals come in complete with feamle voices, oh just wow!

At the other end of the musical spectrum comes 'Enchantress Of The East' a full on speed metal piece, extreme drum patterns, Dio (esque) vocals, clever orchestration, brilliant backing vocals, scathing guitarwork.

Then to wrap this up a two parter with 'The Golden Fleece' starts off with full orchestration, then some normal vocals, but its when the drum starts that the atmosphere begins to build, a female voice speaks (not sure what as its in greek) but it really adds something till the full chorus harmonys come in, this is then topped off with 6 minutes of epic power metal, riff loaded and more clever timing changes that flow into folk rock and mini ballads and full blown metal.


Rating 10/10
For fans of: Dream Evil, Achilla, Elvenking, Northland, Lyriel

Valor - The Crown & The King (Single Review)

01.The Crown Of Evermore
02.The King

Vaggelis Krouskas (Vocals)
Chris Remoundos (Bass)
Spyros Soldatos (Guitar)
Vasilis Kourkoutas (Guitar)
Thanasis Lois (Keyboards)
Andritsos Thodoris (Drums)

Greek epic/power metallers formed in 2002 return with a special limited edition 7” single titled “The Crown and the King”.

Side A features a brand new track (“The Crown of Evermore”) taken off the band’s upcoming album and Side B features a cover of the Accept classic “The King”.

Limited to 250 copies, the 7” single will be released on March 5th.

'The Crown Of Evermore' starts with some nice keyboard playing then joined by the rest of the band, fast drums and some epic guitar playing go to create what I can only describe as an 80's sounding power metal band who grew up on Rainbow.

'The King' is a slightly more commercial sound with a slight nod to Iron Maiden lurking.

Quite typical of power metal but fortunatley not the kind of overblown rubbish we tend to get forced to listen to these days.

Rating 7/10
For fans of: Helloween, Rainbow, Kilmara, Wolfpakk, Edens Curse

Mors Principium Est - Dawn Of The 5th Era (CD Review)

01.Enter The Asylum
02.God Has Fallen
03.Leader Of The Titans
04.We Are The Sleep
05.Innocence Lost
06.I Am War
07.Monster In Me
08.Apricity
09.Wrath of Indra
10.The Journey
11.The Forsaken

Ville Viljanen (Vocals)
Mikko Sipola (Drums)
Teemu Heinola (Bass)
Andy Gillion (Guitar)
Kevin Verlay (Guitar)

Melodic death metal band formed in Finland in 1999, this is their 5th album.
As seems to be the norm these days we start with an intro, pointless as ever as this leads straight into track 2 'God Has Fallen'.
This is melodic death metal with a definate power metal influence, to be fair the only "Death" element here seems to be the gruff vocal delivery, aside from that this is heavy drum driven power metal full of clever riffing.

'We Are The Sleep' starts with a synth techo pulse and then proceeds into near symphonic territory until that vocal comes in and destroys that nice vibe.
Full of power and speed with melodic hooks and maidenesque guitarwork.

The next song to leap out to me is 'Apricity' starting with melodic keyboards (Though would like to point out that the record company bio doesn't tell who the musician is) the song then moves into a Scorpions like heavy ballad, this is a really nice interlude of melody and precision playing.

'The Journey' has all the qualities of an anthemic battle metal song, pounding drums and shout it out and sing a long vocals.

The last song 'The Forsaken' seems to manage to throw everything from melodic piano to full scale was care of heavy riffs and that ear crushing pedal work from the drummer.

I like this album, its "Power Death Metal" which is the perfect combination of the two genres!

Rating 8/10
For fans of: Iron Maiden, Children Of Bodom, Matron, Sylvatica, Xenochord

Bloodbound - Stormborn (CD Review)

01.Bloodtale
02.Satanic Panic
03.Iron Throne
04.Nightmares From The Grave
05.Stormborn
06.We Raise The Dead
07.Made Of Steel
08.Blood Of My Blood
09.When The Kingdom Will Fall
10.Seven Hells
11.When All Lights Fail

Patrik Johansson (vocals)
Tomas Olsson (Guitar)
Henrik Olsson (Guitar)
Anders Broman (Bass)
Fredrik Bergh (keyboards)
Pelle Akerlind (Drums)

Swedish power metal band formed in summer 2004 by Tomas Olsson and Fredrik Bergh. Quickly they recorded a demo and got a contract for Europe and Asia instantly. The debut “Nosferatu” was released in 2006 to critical acclaim. Consequently they played shows with bands like Sabaton, Arch Enemy, Pretty Maids and Evergrey. But 2006 was also characterized by line-up changes which didn’t pass unnoticed, particularly as singer Urban Breed left after the tour to focus on his solo project.
But soon Michael Bormann (ex-Jaded Heart) was found to fill the gap and so the second album “Book Of The Dead” was recorded and released in 2007. But shortly after the release, it became obvious - Michael´s other obligations did not leave him enough time for him To play the already booked shows they could convince Urban Breed to return to the band. And it became more than some gigs. Urban stayed for another tour supporting HammerFall and recorded the next album "Tabula Rasa“ with the band on which more modern and hard elements have been added to their sound. Numerous festival shows as well as another tour with HammerFall followed.
But in 2010 the band parted ways with Urban Breed again. On their search for a new vocalist the remaining members luckily found Patrik “Pata” Johansson (Dawn Of Silence).

Oh here we go again another pointless intro, so i'll skip that and move to a song, now i dont like power metal but this is pretty good, the song 'Satanic Panic' does a pretty solid Iron Maiden impression but then moves more into Accept terrotory with some vocals that Rob Halford would be proud of.
It has a huge chorus as well !

Now 'Iron Throne' has more than a touch of Therion about it mixed in with some pretty hyper speed metal drumming.
Same for the next track as well, but 'Stormborn' is a bit on the epic ballad side and not for me.

The rest of the album is more or less what i said for track one (proper).
So then a power metal album i like!!!

Rating 8/10
For Fans Of: Iron Maiden, Hammerfall, Judas Priest, Accept, UDO

Kilmara - Love Songs & Other Nightmares (CD Review)

01.Fantasy
02.Devils Eye
03.The Break Up
04.Cold Rain
05.Believe
06.Nothing To Me
07.usual Strangers
08.Alpha
09.Insomnia
10.Play To Win
11.Time Flies

Christian Wolfgang Kohl (Vocals)
Jonathan Portilo (Guitar)
Kike Torres (Guitar)
Raúl Ruiz (Bass)
Javi Morillo (Drums)

Guests:
Pilar Villatovas (Vocals on 'Fantasy')
Dave Imbernon (Keyboards)
Kaleb (Violin)
Roland Grapow (Backing Vocals)

Formed in Barcelona, Spain in 2003 as 'Jadde'.After releasing their first demo, they recruited vocalist Christian “Wolf” Kohl and then changed their musical direction and name.

Their influences range from the DiAnno-era Iron Maiden to Savatage as well as power and prog rock/metal.
Kilmara’s debut release 'Hunting Dreams' was a strong performance despite having a few obvious flaws like any new metal band would. However, overall it was a strong, respectable and honest effort that was enough to leave some anticipation and curiosity for the next release 'Dont fear The Wolf'.

In November of 2010, Kilmara signed with U.K. label Rising Records who then re-released ‘Don’t fear the wolf’ worldwide in early 2011.
This release was followed by numerous tours and also some line up changes, then work began on this latest release

First off - Hooray! no intro, just straight into the music.Its a drum driven rocker as well, nice vocals and a guest death metal style vocal from Villatovs, put me in mind of 3 Inches Of Blood, it has that classic euro metal feel but with edge.

'Devils Eye' keeps the pace going, plenty of punchy riffs with a solid vocal performance and again very much driven by the drum rhythm, throw in a screaming guitar solo and so we are 2 out of 2.

Now before power metal got all technical and full of overblown guitar and keyboard rubbish, it was a genre that took elements of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and was good to listen to, now this song 'The Break Up' has all the hallmarks of proto power metal circa 1984, it has the melody and hooks and vocal style down to perfection.No surprise that this is released as the first single.

Rain effects and a slow moody riff greets 'Cold Rain' add to that some near spoken vocals and this one is creating quite an atmosphere, the chorus breaks it up well and adds another well produced layer.

Oh no acoustic style guitar playing and some gentle tapping of the cymbals, please dont be a ballad!
Well have to say 'Believe' is a borderline power ballad and yes, okay, its well played with nice backing vocals and the solo towards the end does lift the song, but no not really my thing.

The horror of the previous track is laid to rest with 'Nothing To Me' a real mid 80's sounding heavy metal song, pounding drums and superb riffs with a powerful vocal from "Wolf" who manages to blend agression, menace and harmony in the space of a four minute song.

The opening to 'Usual Strangers' does slightly remind me of something by Armoured Saint, they soon nail their own style on this though.

'Alpha' has an almost folk metal riff and drum pattern running throughout, blended with mainstream power metal and some high pitched vocal screams.

Some technical elements of the drum/guitar give this a real punch, reminiscent of Fear Factory at times 'Insomnia' a balanced song between harmony and agression.

'Play To Win' runs along at a solid pace for a few minutes then changes the timing for the guitar solo and the second half of the song moves dangerously close to that power ballad again!

The final song 'Time Flies' starts with some great piano playing, but the song doesn't seem to go anywhere until a couple of minutes in when the guitars kick in and the keyboards start to get symphonic.
Some clever multi-tracking on the vocals and another great solo bring the song and the album to a close.

Rating 8/10
For fans Of: Helloween, Dream Theatre, Savatage, Evergrey, Helstar, EdGuy, Edens Curse

Vengeful Ghoul - Timeless Warfare (CD Review)

01.Chained Freedom
02.The Sovereign Place
03.Ruthless Crow
04.My Crowded Solitude
05.Under Control
06.Schaukelstuhl
07.Search For Apeiron
08.Fire & Spell
09.Timeless Warfare

Emre Kasapoglu (Vocals)
Ozgur Nair (Guitar)
Senem Undemir (Guitar)
Volkan Beykoz (Drums)
Gorkem Buyukesmeli (Bass)

Formed in 2005 in Istanbul, Turkey by Senem and Emre, they took their style of power/thrash metal and started to play live, soon after they cut their first demo.
Whilst most bands will pay for studio time, the band decided to build their own studio in which to continue recording and 'Ruthless Crow Studios' was the result and also the title of track three from this their debut album.

Machine gun fire effects are used to introduce 'Chained Freedom', starts off as a mid paced thrasher before moving more in Painkiller era Priest metal, and boy has that vocalist got some style!
At times this borders on Power metal, but manages to stay away from the endless guitar twiddling that that genre tends to offer.

The next few songs follow the same pattern then we come to 'My Crowded Solitude', a very simple guitar riff with a powerful vocal delivery to start with but you can feel that the song is building, and 2 minutes in the song explodes into riff heaven.
Then the pace changes again, a lot more agressive with some very heavy drum work.

The oddly titled 'Schaukelstuhl' is sung in german and sounds like a Rammstein ballad!
The song does not fit on the album, but it does stand out and is very well put together, even the keyboard sound is authentic.

'Search For Apeiron' offers up some old school thrash riffs, with some unusual timings from the drums, some serious multi on tracking on the vocals, and a strange solo thrown in that sounds almost out of tune, that all helps however to create the albums second stand out track.

The doom laden 'Fire & Spell' brings back that early 80's sound of Mercyful Fate, a brilliant track, superb guitarwork and that vocal is outstanding.Plenty of timing changes thrown in to keep the song fresh and exciting for a great 7 minutes!

'Timeless Warfare' manages to switch seamlessly between two styles, the first is a traditional thrash chord structure and then old style speed metal, throw in another great vocal performance, a riff heavy solo some pounding bass playing and you have another outstanding song!

You know the first 5 tracks were really good, but it is the last 4 that really stand out for me and have to say again that the vocals are just amazing!

Rating 10/10
For fans Of: Mercyful Fate, Accept, Judas Priest, Opera Diabolicus

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Human Fortress - Raided Land (CD Review)

01.Raided Land
02.Child Of War
03.Wasted Years
04.The Chosen One
05.Shelter
06.Gladiator Of Rome (Part 2)
07.Dark Knight
08.Prelude
09.Pray For Salvation
10.Evil Curse
11.Restless Souls
12.Under Siege
13.Guard The Blind

Gus Monsanto (Vocals)
Todd Wolf (Guitar)
Volker Trost (Guitar)
Andre Hort (Bass)
Dirk Liehm (Keyboards)
Apostolos Zaios (Drums)

The beginnings of HUMAN FORTRESS reach back to 1997, when the Hard Rock band “Timezone” was founded in the Hanover area, which later should change their style towards Melodic Metal and rename to HUMAN FORTRESS. After a first demo, which was very well received in the underground, several contract offers came up so the band signed with Limb Music. The debut album “Lord Of Earth And Heavens Heir” was released to critical acclaim in 2001, followed by “Defenders Of The Crown” two years later. With several line-up changes (most significantly ex-Galloglass vocalist Carsten Frank replacing Jioti Parcharidis), the band’s third album “Eternal Empire” was released in 2008. Despite the album’s qualities, the down-tuned guitars, more modern overall approach of the material and the shouting of Frank were a departure from the epic melodic sound that HUMAN FORTRESS were known for. Shortly after the release of “Eternal Empire”, the band split. But at the end of 2008, original members Wolf, Trost, Parcharidis and Zaios started planning to resurrect HUMAN FORTRESS. In 2009 Jioti Parcharidis left the band again for medical reasons. It took a while to get together a stable line-up again, which was found by the addition of Dirk Liehm (keyboards), Andre Hort (bass) and Brazilian master vocalist Gus Monsanto (ex-Timo Tolkki’s Revolution Renaissance, Adagio).

And here we go again another slab of generic euro power metal, not the usual high speed guitar-fest but the melodic stuff with orchestration and "nice" keyboards.
If thats yur bag then this is pretty good stuff, well executed, ticking all the boxes as it goes along, if on the other hand you want something that stands out and that trys to push the genre further, then give this one a miss.

Rating 5/10
For Fans Of : Kamelot and all the other bands that sound like this!

Edens Curse - Symphonies Of Sin (CD Review)

01.Symphony Of Sin

02.Break The Silence

03.Evil & Divine

04.Unbreakable

05.Fallen From Grace

06.Losing My Faith

07.Rock Bottom

08.Great Unknown

09.Turn The Page

10.Sign Of The Cross

11.Wings To Fly

12.Devil In Disguise

13.Where Is The Love?

Nikola Mijic (Vocals)

Thorsten Koehne (Guitars)

Paul Logue (Bass)

Steve Williams (Keyboards)

Pete Newdeck (Drums)

Formed in 2006, EDEN'S CURSE have risen from their humble beginnings as an internet studio project to a full blown touring outfit with four studio albums and several tours behind them.

"Symphony Of Sin" is their first fronted by new Serbian vocalist Nikola Mijic and former Dragonforce and Powerquest keyboarder, Steve Williams, alongside founding members Paul Logue, Thorsten Koehne and Pete Newdeck. 

This album carries on where their last album "Trinity" left off with the band delivering arguably their most consistent collection of melodicyet-thunderous songs to date. Opener and title track 'Symphony Of Sin', clocking in at just under the 8 minute mark, features the epic sonic wall of a 46 piece orchestra, soaring vocals from Mijic and topped off with razor sharp riffing from Koehne. 

'Evil & Divine', which the band will release a promo video for, is a sumptuous moody-yet-melodic pot boiler and has "live classic" stamped all over it, whilst the heartfelt 'Unbreakable' sees the band step into the uncharted waters of Pop Metal. It has hooks galore, a radio friendly chorus, yet somehow effortlessly manages to retain the powerful sound.

All in all pretty good, not the greatest power metal album ever made, but certainly not the worst.

Rating 7/10

For fans Of : Firewind, EdGuy, Queensryche

Sinner - Touch Of Sin 2 (CD Review)

01.Born To Rock
02.Comin’ Out Fighting
03.Bad Girl
04.Knife In My Heart
05.Concrete Jungle
06.Don’t Believe A Word
07.Shout
08.Germany Rocks
09.Danger Zone
10.Emerald
11.Blood On The Sand
12.Lost In A Minute
13.Masquerade
14.Heat Of The City

Mat Sinner (vocals/Bass)
Alex Beyrodt (Guitar)
Christof Leim (Guitar)
Alex Scholpp (Guitar)
Andre Hilgers (Drums)

Guest Musicians

David Readman (Voodoo Circle, Pink Cream 69)
Erik Martensson (W.E.T.)
Diego Valdez (Helker)
Tom Naumann (ex-Primal Fear).

German hard rock band who formed in 1982 by future Primal Fear bassist Mat Sinner, are about to release a very special new piece of work: titled "Touch Of Sin 2" (in a nod to SINNER's 1985 album, "Touch Of Sin"), the album includes 11 re-recorded versions of the best songs from the band's early years.In addition, the 3 brand new songs “Blood On The Sand”, “Heat Of The City” and “Don’t Believe A Word” round off the album in a perfect way.
Commented Mat Sinner: "When we were younger and new to the music business, we were proud to be part of the Noise Records family and to get the chance to sign a contract with them. Reading this contract so many years later, you can't but shake your head in disbelief and wonder what must have possessed us. The exclusive rights to the recordings have since been bought and sold numerous times with the effect that none of those who owned them has ever had any relation to either the production itself or to how it was created.

"Today, the older SINNER songs still enjoy great popularity within the scene. We continue to play them live, even though the CDs aren't available any longer. It is Universal who owns the albums at the moment - but does not distribute the CDs. Therefore, they're to be held responsible that CDs from this era can only be purchased at exorbitant prices. Unfortunately, the musicians and songwriters involved have no means of dealing with the matter - our hands are tied.
"When I offered to do a remix on several songs for a best-of album, I was told that the original tapes have mysteriously disappeared and were probably burned in an 'accidental' fire. That much about the pearls of our past.

Well cd reissue problems aside, the idea of doing a 'Best Of' is often a cop out because fans already have everything, so the record company hit on the idea of getting bands to record one or two new songs for said release, these usually get released as singles, so technically you dont have to buy them.

So Sinner re-record their hits and add a few new songs, seems like a slighty better option, often gives bands a chance to correct the sound or do a better solo etc.

Certainly nice to hear a few of these tracks again, i had long forgotten about this band to be honest, seem to recall seeing them with celtic frost and helloween about 27 years ago maybe longer.

The new songs fit in well and have the bonus of being recorded with some special guests, roll on 'Touch Of Sin 3 - The Live Recordings'.

Rating 7/10

For fans Of : Primal Fear, Helloween, Wolfpakk, Accept

Wolfpakk - Cry Wolf (CD Review)

01.Moonlight
02.A Matter Of Time
03.Dark Revelation
04.Cold Winter
05.Palace Of Gold
06.The Beast In Me
07.Wakken
08.Pressure Down
09.Run With The Wolf
10.Cry Wolf
11.Kid Raw

Mark Sweeney (Vocals)
Michael Voss (Vocals)

Guest Musicians :

Vocals: Amanda Somerville (Kiske/Somerville), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), Göran Edman (Ex-Yngwie Malmsteen), Johnny Gioeli (Axel Rudi Pell, Hardline), Doogie White (Ex-Rainbow, Michael Schenker), Tony Mills (Shy, TNT), Blaze Baley (Ex-Iron Maiden), Piet Sielck (Iron Savior), Jean-Marc Viller (Callaway)

Bass: Mike Winkler (Session Musician)

Guitars: Kee Marcello (Ex-Europe), Mandy Meyer (Krokus, Ex-Gotthard), Roland Grapow (Masterplan), Martin Rauber (Top4tea)

Keyboards: Don Airey (Ozzy, Deep Purple), Tony Carey (Ex-Rainbow, Planet P)

Drums: Gereon Homann (Eat The Gun), Brian Tichy (Whitesnake /Ozzy), Hermann Rarebell (Ex-Scorpions), Roland Jahoda (Ex-Paradox, F.U.C.K.)

Voss and Sweeney wrote all the songs together (bar 1 cover version) and were responsible once again for production, mix and vocals. The process of creating “Cry Wolf” held many personal highlights for the WOLFPAKK leaders, one definitely being the participation of iconic keyboard player Tony Carey, keyboard player for none other than Rainbow. “It was just unbelievable to have the great Tony Carey on our album”, Sweeney reflects. “The man is a legend and was part of the line-up which recorded Rainbow’s “Rising”, one of the most important albums in rock history. Now, doing a cover version of a track from this very album with Tony playing keyboards, is something very special. And the fact that he likes our cover version of “Run With The Wolf” a lot, makes us extremely proud”.

All star albums rarely deliver a real quality, this one manages to retain the same sound throughout musically and the guest vocals do not detract or distract.

Essential its classic old school power metal, but without that "widdley widdley" shite guitarwork that always ruins a good tune!

Heavy drums and plenty of powerchords keep this one firing until we hit track 4 and a pretty naff ballad called 'Cold Winter' but everything gets back on track even the cover is okay (doesnt try to be the original) and then we hit 'Cry Wolf' an epic 10 minute work out from acoustic intros, background fx and vocal samples into full blown symphonic power prog metal heaven!

Rating 9/10

For Fans Of : Iced Earth, Kamelot, Epica, Primal Fear

ORDEN OGAN & MOB RULES (Promo CD Reviews)

ORDEN OGAN

German melodic metal band formed in 1996 came to the attention of the masses in 2004 when they released their first EP 'Testominium AD'.

Sice then they have forged forward creating their own style and trying wherever possible to advoid many of the genre's given musical cliches.

That said the promo disc i have to review tends to fall into very obvious cliches of european power metal, yes the vocal performance is quite outstanding, but the music is high spped technical power metal as personified by awful bands like Dragonforce and like that band its is all "Very clever" and well produced but actually is cold and empty without any soul.

So track one 'The Things We Believe In' starts with folkish acoustic guitar then moves into typical drum and guitar riffs, again what stands out is the vocal delivery which is faultless while the backing vocals and chorus is pure 'Turisas'.

The video is your typical "Post Apocalyptic" theme the only difference being snow instead of fire, nothing to get excited about.

The second track 'To The End' has a touch of the Megadeths about it, which is probably why Dave Mustaine likes the band and is tweeting about them.

So all in all a bit dissapointing, basically boring and unoriginal music BUT superb vocals!

RATING 3/10

For Fans Of : Blind Guardian, Dragonforce, Rhapsody.

MOB RULES

Another German band, Mob Rules formed in 1994, drawing on diverse influences from traditional metal to progressive rock and named after a Black Sabbath album.

'Ice & Fire' apparently was inspired by the story of abducted Columbian politcian Ingrid Betancourt' and the music was clearly borrowed from Metallica's 'One'.
Another shining example of BORING and pointless music.

Whats worse is that the album version is 7 minutes long (Another nod to Metallica then???)

RATING 0/10

For Fans Of : COLDPLAY

Edens Curse - Time To Breathe (Single Review)

EDEN’S CURSE are delighted to announce Italian vocalist Marco Sandron as the new voice of “The Curse” with the release of their brand new single and promotional video “Time To Breathe”.

Sandron previously sang for Italian Progressive Metal act Pathosray, who released their self-titled debut in 2007, and their sophomore release “Sunless Skies” in 2009. That same year he also contributed lead vocals to French Symphonic Metal outfit Fairyland’s “Score To A New Beginning” album.

“In true Eden’s Curse fashion, we found Marco on the Internet. I was browsing through various videos on You Tube, related to some of my favourite singers, and I found a cover he recorded of a Symphony X song and simply I was blown away!” said bassist Paul Logue.

“I just had to find out more about him. I then discovered he sang for Pathosray and managed to track down their albums, and I found his vocal performances on those records staggering. I managed to track him down on Facebook and made contact and I was delighted to receive an instant reply. We began the audition process and eventually I flew out to Italy at the beginning of January to meet and record with Marco and conclude the deal” carries on Logue.

Keyboard player Alessandro Del Vecchio, who mixed and mastered the new single, added “Marco’s mix of clean, aggressive and high-pitched tones instantly turned me into a fan of his vocal abilities. He has an outstanding talent in his craft and his technique is brilliant. He has the pipes to sing whatever he wants and whatever we ask him. I'm totally satisfied with our choice. Marco really deserves to have his voice heard and I believe Eden's Curse is the band with which to make this happen”.

The band return in style, showcasing Sandron’s sumptuous vocals and the continuation of the signature Eden’s Curse sound, with the release of their brand new single “Time To Breathe” which has been made available as a free download.

Accompanying the single release is a brand new promotional video, which was filmed at Sky Park in Glasgow, Scotland, at the end of January with Simon Jake Gillespie of Music Video Scotland in the Director’s chair. “It was imperative to us that not only did the fan base get to hear what Marco sounded like, but also what he looked like fronting Eden’s Curse” explained Logue.

The band are also thrilled to announce, not one but two, festival appearances, when they play PPM Fest in Belgium on Saturday 7th April alongside Accept, Sonata Artica and Evergrey and then Dokkem Open Air festival in Holland on Saturday 30th June alongside Arch Enemy and Jon Oliva’s Pain, meaning the new look Eden’s Curse line up is only seven weeks away from performing live together for the first time.

New boy, Sandron, could not hide his delight “I'm very proud to be the new singer of Eden's Curse! This band is great. The guys are simply awesome and a very talented group of musicians. There are no egos, just respect and true collaboration and we are working together simply to reach our one true goal – creating great music! I simply cannot wait to rock some stages and meet the wonderful Curse fan base that the guys tell me so much about, as well as completing songs for our new album. Yes, I'm very excited because the new songs we are writing are very powerful, melodic as hell and typically Eden’s Curse”.

A great track full of melody and that classic euro power metal touch.

To download the new single “Time To Breathe” for free, watch the promo video and for an extensive news update including quotes from the entire band, visit the Official Eden’s Curse website at : http://www.edenscurse.com

“Time To Breathe” is also streamed on the band’s Soundcloud page – where it is available for free download as well:
http://soundcloud.com/edenscurse/edens-curse-time-to-breathe

Rating: 7/10

For fans Of: Firewind, Queensryche, EdGuy

STU

Iron Mask - Black As Death (CD Review)

01.From Light Into The Dark
02.Black As Death
03.Broken Hero
04.Feel The Fire
05.Genghis Khan
06.God Punishes, I Kill
07.Rebel Kid
08.Blizzard Of Doom
09.The Absence
10.Magic Sky Requiem
11.Nosferatu
12.When All Braves Fall

Mark Boals (Vocals)
Dushan Petrossi (Guitars)
Vassili Moltchanov (Bass)
Roma Siadletski (Vocals/Shouts)
Mats Olausson (Keyboards)
Ramy Ali (Drums)


From the beginning passion always was the driving force for Belgian guitar master Dushan Petrossi. In the slipstream of his symphonic metal band Magic Kingdom, Petrossi followed his neo-classical influences with IRON MASK for 10 years now. All the dedication he put into the band finally resulted in the band becoming the more successful of the two.
Especially in Japan they are is hailed as one of the best neo-classical power metal band for years now, but also the following in Europe is steadily increasing.

This development surely will continue with the new (fourth) album "Black As Death“. Even more: the perspective for IRON MASK is very promising and it´s likely that the band will advance to the next level of popularity.
Their new vocalist ex-Yngwie Malmsteen frontman Mark Boals was chosen by Petrossi.

'From Light Into The dark' quickly sets the tone with great acoustic guitar and melodic electric guitar, leading in to powerhouse drumming for 'Black as Death'.
It continues in this vein till we hit 'Feel The Fire' which has more high pitched vocals, agressive drumming and screaming guitar work.
All goes well till we get the awful power ballad 'Magic Sky Requiem', but fortunatley the rest of the album returns to generic power metal with that symphonic touch that helps lift this album (slightly) above the average.

Rating : 7/10

For fans of: Firewind, Dio, Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen, Rainbow