Author Andy Barker
What a fantastic form of music Metal is! Come on – Tell me another form of music other than Metal where an Argentinian band can morph together a German band (Running Wild), a British band (Skyclad), a Finnish band (Finntroll)… Continue Reading →
A new Epica album is an event. The band put in so much time, thought and effort to write and record it that I feel a comparable amount of time, thought and effort needs to go into reviewing it. So… Continue Reading →
Still keeping alive the fine tradition of German Power/Heavy Metal are Iron Fire…from Denmark. Well, it’s near enough, and they are no strangers to the scene either, this being their eighth full-length studio album and first for Crime Records. The… Continue Reading →
2014’s “Hymns For The Broken” was a very important release for Evergrey. They nearly called it quits, but managed to find the inspiration and desire to carry on…and then delivered what was probably their best and most complete album to… Continue Reading →
Much of the criticism I’ve seen leveled at Running Wild’s last two albums (post the ill-advised “That’s it, I’m not doing Running Wild anymore, that’s yer lot, farewell, I’m outta here…” statement of a few years back) is that they… Continue Reading →
We live in confusing musical times. Bands change styles without warning, key members leave, two bands even exist at the same time with the same name. Familiar, dependable bands can become a disappointment and yet other unexpected artists surprise and… Continue Reading →
Consisting of some seasoned musicians from Boston USA, Worshipper unleash their debut having only been formed for a year or so. And an impressive debut it is starting with it’s interesting cover art, which is very non-committal as to the… Continue Reading →
To say Vicious Rumors are back implies they have been away, which in fact they haven’t. So I’m not saying it. Vicious Rumors have never split up y’see, though for some of those years since their impressive debut back in… Continue Reading →
Ah Finland, nobody does Dark Metal quite like Finland. Nobody seems to cram in so much atmosphere, melancholy and lets face it, down-right despondency as the Fins manage. And I love them for it. Throes Of Despondency…sorry…Dawn like to supplement… Continue Reading →
With every release it astounds me even more how effortlessly Equilibrium straddle that gap between Pagan/Folk Metal and Melodic Death Metal whilst always staying so unique. Years ago it was a sizeable void between the two styles before Equilibrium bridged… Continue Reading →
Anyone who read my review of Witherscape’s debut (rattling around elsewhere on Ave Noctum) knows the respect I already had for Dan Swanö as a musician, vocalist, producer and all-round smart-arse, but it was on that debut that he teamed… Continue Reading →
So when a bassist from Devin Townsend’s band gets together with a guitarist from Into Eternity, it’s a pretty fair bet that project is going to lean towards the progressive. And Canada’s Third Ion are certainly of the progressive metal… Continue Reading →