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Tag Helloween

Loch Vostok – Opus Ferox II – Mark of the Beast (ViciSolum Productions)

This band has always appealed to my senses, and so it was with great excitement that I received this one. Exciting is a good word to describe Loch Vostok’s music but then it is many things: heavy, progressive, epic, catchy,… Continue Reading →

Midnight – Hellish Expectations (Metal Blade)

I wrote a review a week or so ago which took me back to listening to Speed Kills as a teen. Well here I am again back in the audio time machine thanks to the one-man maniac project that is… Continue Reading →

Iron Savior – Firestar (AFM)

It seems like just last year that there was an Iron Savior album released…and it was, but that was re-recorded versions of some of their older tracks whereas this is a shiny new offering, the first since “Skycrest” in 2020…which… Continue Reading →

Kerrigan – Bloodmoon (High Roller)

German Heavy Metal styled band Kerrigan came to my attention during times of lockdown and an online music platform. Their demo was released as vinyl and cassette versions through another record label. Kerrigan are two musicians, Bruno Schotten handles the… Continue Reading →

Ifryt – Pluca (Godz Ov War)

A conundrum in three parts. When something is described as “Avant-Garde” alarm bells ring.  Are there going to be nose flutes and field recordings? Ancient Sumerian death rites mixed with Russian Drum and Bass. Ah who am I kidding I… Continue Reading →

Rage and Fire – The Last Wolf (No Remorse)

With a dense sound of a typical Running Wild release, Rage and Fire are similar in style to the likes of Manowar, the aforementioned (mid-Period), Ironsword and an easy lazy one, Manilla Road. So you have a flavour straight away…. Continue Reading →

THEM – Fear City ( Steamhammer/SPV)

It’s 1981. Over 120 years ago the warlock K. K. Fossor and the witchfinder Peter Thompson did battle in the town of Hemmersmoor and we were left in a situation where Fossor had managed to resurrect his daughter but it… Continue Reading →

Grave Digger – Symbol of Eternity (Rock Of Angels Records)

I have a love/hate relationship with bands like Grave Digger, or indeed their contemporaries such as Running Wild, Blind Guardian and Helloween. On the one hand, the soaring, epic imagery conjured in their songs is hard to ignore, causing even… Continue Reading →

Spheric Universe Experience – Back Home (UPRISING! Records)

I am old enough to remember that “Back Home”, the title of this album, was the title of the 1970 England football team’s song. There ends the connection. Slightly more recently, it was in 2009 that I heard French progressive… Continue Reading →

Helloween & Hammerfall – Manchester Academy 4/5/22

My recent trips to Manchester have been relatively trouble-free journeys, but the plague of peak time traffic reared its ugly head with vengeance for this trip to catch veteran German speed/power metal act Helloween and the highly influential and successful… Continue Reading →

Trick Or Treat – Creepy Symphonies (Scarlet Records)

It’s almost 20 years now since Italian Power Metal band Trick or Treat came into existence, united in their admiration for a certain iconic Pumpkin-brandishing German Power Metal band. “Creepy Symphonies” is the band’s sixth album, and their second in… Continue Reading →

Serious Black – Vengeance Is Mine (AFM)

Serious Black are back once again and for those who have read my previous coverage of their releases, you know that I consider this band a formidable force in the European metal scene. They have the history and pedigree of… Continue Reading →

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