Author Andy Barker
It’s been five years since Canadian Metal band Gatekeeper hit the ground running with their impressive debut “East Of The Sun”, gaining much positive attention from all over the globe. They occupy that blurry Metal territory that some might call… Continue Reading →
I first encountering Finnish Melodic Power Metal band Excalion way back in 2007 with what I now know to be their second album (their first with Limb Music). It was a solid, decent album, with plenty of good guitar and… Continue Reading →
Twenty or so years ago, if you had a female singer and distorted guitars you were instantly just labelled Gothic Metal. Just as it seems to have been the trend over the last ten years or so to dub any… Continue Reading →
It’s taken just three albums for Frozen Crown to lift themselves undeniably into one of Italy’s best and highly regarded Power Metal bands. After a find-your-feet, yet still impressive debut, two more albums of fantastic songs driven by the dual… Continue Reading →
It’s all been rather quiet for a while from Greek Symphonic Metal band Enemy Of Reality. After releasing their debut back in 2014, their impressive follow-up “Arkhne” arrived in 2016, but since then a native language single a couple of… Continue Reading →
Swedish Melodic Heavy Metal band Rexoria are actually no strangers to the scene. With a consistent line-up since their inception back in 2016 “Imperial Dawn” is their third release on three different record labels. Each album has seen the band… Continue Reading →
As a damp frost gives way to lashing rain, driven by bitter gusting winds, a new day dawns with sluggish. reluctant light. Ever-increasing dark puddles reflect the leaden grey skies which are unrelenting, casting a dark shroud over the stark,… Continue Reading →
Manntra are a Croatian band who blend Industrial Rock/Metal with elements of Gothic Rock/Metal and hints of Neo/Traditional Folk, then deliver it with their own catchy Euro-Metal style. Unsurprising I suppose given that Manntra were formed just over 10 years… Continue Reading →
As regular readers will know, every December Ave Noctum’s contributors share their Top 20 albums of that year. So where are we in this year right now? First week in January as I write this and I’m confident that I’m… Continue Reading →
I was starting to despair. Here we are in December and I don’t feel that I’ve been treated to a truly unashamed, unapologetic, bombastic Power Metal album all year…although, now I think about it, Fellowship came pretty damn close, but… Continue Reading →
With a name like Virtual Symmetry and a twenty-minute opening track, you might hazard a guess that we’re in classic Progressive Metal territory here, and you would of course be right. But that also may be because you already know… Continue Reading →
Album number six for Judicator is quite an important one. OK, every album a band produces is important, but “The Majesty Of Decay” is the band’s first to be led solely by vocalist John Yelland after the departure of guitarist… Continue Reading →