Gotthard – #13
This album may not be a blockbuster, there has been many Gotthard albums like it before and there probably will be more. But hell, it is obvious that these guys still know their craft and know it well.
Author: Anton Stenlund
Harem Scarem – Change The World
I enjoy it all the way, but can’t really find any new classics to shake my foundations. It’s just all right, basic nice rock music without any big flaws. Which of course isn’t bad at all, really, just not that extraordinary.
Burning Witches – Dance With The Devil
Burning Witches new album Dance With The Devil provides a non stop tour de force of classic but still modern sounding heavy metal. There is a hell of a lot of Saxon on this album, among with some Judas Priest, Manowar and Tygers of Tan Pang.
The Night Flight Orchestra – Aeromantic
They are always close, but never crosses the line to complete greatness entierly. But if you are a fan and think the previous albums are that good, Aeromantic is truly the album for you!
Delain – Apocalypse & Chill
So after all, I really do like this album! But at the same time, I can still miss those walks through the woods with hobbits and elves that the symphonic metal scene used to give me.
Archon Angel – Fallen
Fallen passes through and sounds good and decent, but then it fades away and I can’t remember that much about it at all. After four spins, there are no songs I can hum along to and few titles I recognize when I take a look at the song list. I think that says quite a lot.
Anvil – Legal At Last
The riffs are crisp and forceful, the refrains are catchy, the sound is heavy… everything works great! If I were to pick on one thing it would perhaps be that no songs are really massive. They are all “really good”, which of course isn’t bad either, but it keeps me from giving a higher point.
Lordi – Killection (A Fictional Compilation Album)
To make it even more entertaining, the concept of a greatest hits album puts each song in certain time period and musical orientation, like the 80’s AOR tune Like The Bee To The Honey, with synthezisers and saxophone and everything, or disco inferno Zombimbo, which I Was Made For Loving You similarities I think Gene Simmons easily could sue them for.
Rage – Wings Of Rage
I can’t say this for sure, but I have a feeling that the absence of long time member Victor Smolski plays a part in all this. Since his departure in 2015, the idea of Rage as an experimental act has gone down the drain and Peavy Wagner seems to only be interested in making classic metal.
English works better into the whole band soundscape: Interview with Marko Hietala
That I blame my father, he got me hooked to that when I was a kid. He had a shit load of albums! From jazz to irish folk stuff, and Beatles, Elvis…
Marko Hietala – Pyre Of The Black Heart
Like most solo debuts, Pyre Of The Black Heart takes a big step from the main bands Nightwish and Tarot, but also feels like a natural progression of Hietalas musicality.
British Lion – The Burning
This is… very okay. I like all the songs, but I don’t love any of them. I like the sound but don’t love it. You get the idea.
Reaching out with new music is difficult but not impossible: interview with Phil Lanzon
Having been a key member of Uriah Heep more than 30 years; a solo career was not...
Magnum – The Serpent Rings
There are many really good tracks and a lot of emotion and strength throughout The Serpent Rings. Just listen to the emotion in the title track or the subtle 80’s keyboards in The Great Unknown… It’s beautiful!
The Who – Who
But the production is a real downer. It feels mixed through a modern filter with autotuning and all that crap that makes modern day albums sound so boring. My god, couldn’t they let Daltrey sing his stuff without “making it better” with a computer?
Dan McCafferty – Last Testament
This is a mellow album with a lot of slow songs and melancholy moods. But it’s also a warm album with a lot of heart and uplifting folk music elements from the singers scottish heritage. It feels genuine and it feels good.