Author Andy Barker
Sweden knows how to do retro-rock. It knows how to do so many great forms of rock and metal too of course, but when you stumble across a really cool, authentic hard rock band, encapsulating the exact vibe of what… Continue Reading →
No, I haven’t already reviewed this album two years ago, that was the similarly titled “To Kill To Live To Kill”, the first part in a two part concept spread over both releases (hence the familiar album name). Manticora, who… Continue Reading →
Vanishing Point are actually no strangers to the Melodic/Progressive Metal scene, with their debut emerging all the way back in 1997 – a slightly more progressive offering than what followed. Signing to LMP in 2000 and releasing 2nd album “Tangled… Continue Reading →
This is actually the fifth outing for American Power Metal band Judicator, a band formed around the core of guitarist Tony Cordisco and vocalist John Yelland who, as legend has it, met eight years ago whilst waiting to get into… Continue Reading →
Branded as Epic Folk Metal, Ensiferum’s journey has indeed been epic. And it gets more epic with every album – as time dictates it should. The band are the embodiment of epic, their music, lyrics, image – all epic, and… Continue Reading →
Divine Weep initially formed as a Black Metal band over 20 years ago, but after a couple of demos things went rather quiet for a while until the guitarist and drummer regrouped with new members and within a few years… Continue Reading →
Varus released their debut back in 2014 but aside from re-recording a track in the meantime not a lot has been heard from them since. But with a bit of a line-up shuffle and a new-found energy, this Symphonic Folk… Continue Reading →
May 2020 has been quite a progressively influenced month for me on Ave Noctum. It all started with the unique melancholic progressive flavourings of Green Carnation, Thoughts Factory were next with traditional Progressive Metal, Horisont came at it next, chucking… Continue Reading →
Horisont are a band I have had the pleasure of seeing grow and develop into a diverse and unique act over the last 10 years. I actually purchased their debut at the same time I got fellow retro Swedish band… Continue Reading →
With the cover art and a name like Thoughts Factory, it was always going to be a bit of a surprise if this German band turned out to be brutal Death Metal. Nope, Progressive Metal of a high standard is… Continue Reading →
It was a sad day back in 2007 when Norwegian Metal band Green Carnation decided to call it a day. No-one before or since has ever truly captured their progressive avant-garde dark metal style in the same way, yet bowing… Continue Reading →
The release of a new Nightwish album is always a focal point in the Symphonic Metal calendar. Well, they don’t happen very often nowadays do they? Incredibly this is only the second Nightwish studio album to feature fantastic vocal powerhouse… Continue Reading →