Tag Archives: progressive power metal

Artist: Manticora Album Title: Mycelium Label: Mighty Music Date of Release: 26 January 2024 On paper, Manticora are a band that I should thoroughly enjoy. The Danes have been around seemingly forever – well, since 1996, so the healthier end of thirty years – with ‘Mycelium’ being their ninth full-length release in that time. I  Continue Reading »

Artist: Anubis Gate Album Title: Interference Label: No Dust Records Date of Release: 2 June 2023 If you’re anything like me, you’ll have your preferred styles of music that you always gravitate towards. Within the amorphous heading of ‘metal’, the possibilities are almost endless, and I will flit from one style to other on a  Continue Reading »

Artist: Beriedir Album Title: AQVA Label: Rockshots Records Date of Release: 21 January 2022 It was the rather striking cover artwork that drew me in to this album, but it was the music that made me stay and ultimately pen this review. I’ll always be someone who takes notice of the imagery and if it  Continue Reading »

Artist: NorthTale Album Title: Eternal Flame Label: Nuclear Blast Date of Release:  12 November 2021 I came into this review with very low expectations. I have to be really in the mood for a blast of Euro power metal exuberance, but in an effort to listen to as much music as possible before putting together  Continue Reading »

Artist: Simulacrum Album Title: Genesis Label: Frontiers Music Date of Release: 12 February 2021 Riding high on the crest of a wave of enthusiasm and inspiration, I am delighted to bring you this review for a new discovery. The band are called Simulacrum, meaning ‘an image or representation of someone or something’, and they are  Continue Reading »

Artist: Labyrinth Album Title: Welcome To The Absurd Circus Label: Frontiers Records Date of Release: 22 January 2021 Despite a lengthy hiatus a few years ago, Italy’s Labyrinth are one of those bands that has seemingly been around forever, has a very loyal fanbase, but has never really broken into the full-beam limelight. And it  Continue Reading »

Artist: Pyramaze Album Title: Epitaph Label: AFM Records Date of Release: 13 November 2020 When I reviewed Pyramaze’s previous release, ‘Contingent’, I remarked that I felt underwhelmed and didn’t initially rate the melodies on offer across much of the record. I ended up giving that album a score of 9.25. This time around, I can  Continue Reading »

Artist: Manticora Album Title: To Live To Kill To Live Label: ViciSolum Recordings Date of Release: 28 August 2020 ‘To Live To Kill To Live’ is the anticipated follow-up to ‘To Kill To Live To Kill’ which sees the light of day almost exactly two years after its partner album was released. The eagle-eyed amongst  Continue Reading »

Artist: Dyscordia Album Title: Delete / Rewrite Label: Road Mark Productions Date of Release: 7 January 2020 The glut of new releases in January is relentless and so, occasionally a few will slip through the net. Fortunately, a direct email from a PR agent specialising in Benelux bands has led me to catch one album  Continue Reading »

Welcome to day three of my half-year round-up of the best music released during the first six months of 2018. If you missed the previous parts of this mini-series, you can read them here: The best of 2018 so far – Part 1 The best of 2018 so far – Part 2 However, essentially, this  Continue Reading »