Tag Archives: Album review

Artist: Firewind Album Title: Stand United Label: AFM Records Date of Release: 1 March 2024 Four years may have passed since they released their self-titled ninth album in 2020 but, for Firewind, the reality is that very little has changed. Returning with the same line-up and the same, familiar musical output with their tenth release,  Continue Reading »

Artist: Job For A Cowboy Album Title: Moon Healer Label: Metal Blade Records Date of Release: 23 February 2024 I’ve written each of the four words independently hundreds of times. However, I never thought I’d ever put them all together in this order: Job For A Cowboy. When this ridiculously named band burst on to  Continue Reading »

Artist: Borknagar Album Title: Fall Label: Century Media Records Date of Release: 23 February 2024 For some reason, completely unknown to me at this point, ‘True North’ completely passed me by. Released towards the end of 2019, I can only assume that I took a temporary leave of my senses. Under any normal circumstances, new  Continue Reading »

Artist: Amaranthe Album Title: The Catalyst Label: Nuclear Blast Records Date of Release: 23 February 2024 I have followed the career of Amaranthe since the very beginning. As a writer for Powerplay Magazine here in the UK, I reviewed their early material, and interviewed the band on more than one occasion. At the outset, you  Continue Reading »

Artist: Farsot Album Title: Life Promised Death Label: Lupus Lounge Date of Release: 16 February 2024 For one reason or another, this is my first proper foray into the black metal/avantgarde world of Farsot and I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the Germans here. What little I’ve heard in the past failed to  Continue Reading »

Artist: Torchia Album Title: Arcane Magicae Label: Independent Release Date of Release: 9 February 2024 I knew I recognised the name when I saw it. I reviewed Torchia’s previous album, ‘The Coven’ back in 2020 but, aside from a faint recognition of the band’s name, I could remember precious little else. It turns out that  Continue Reading »

Artist: Chapel Of Disease Album Title: Echoes Of Light Label: Van Records Date of Release: 9 February 2024 I’m only reviewing this album because of one of those strange quirks of fate. On one of my infamous late-night voyages of discovery was sent down a different than expected path as I was too slow to  Continue Reading »

Artist: North Sea Echoes Album Title: Really Good Terrible Things Label: Metal Blade Records Date of Release: 23 February 2024 With it seemingly more and more likely that we’re never going to hear any new, original material from Fates Warning, fans of the much-loved and highly revered progressive metal band will have to look elsewhere  Continue Reading »

Artist: Ihsahn Album Title: Ihsahn Label: Candlelight Records Date of Release: 16 February 2024 I have spent several hours of my life listening to this new self-titled album, or should I say ‘double album’, from Ihsahn. However, it’s possible that I’ve spent even more time thinking about it, the music that appears on it, and  Continue Reading »

Artist: Sgàile Album Title: Traverse The Bealach Label: Avantgarde Music Date of Release: 19 January 2024 If you’ve ever wondered what the soundtrack might be like to accompany “a nomadic traveller in post-apocalyptic Scotland, trying to figure out his fate and facing the elements while travelling north, battling inner demons along the way”, then wonder  Continue Reading »