GRAUZEIT – Antagonist review

 GRAUZEIT – Antagonist

Independent

http://www.facebook.com/Grauzeit

GRAUZEIT is a trio hailing from Hamburg, Germany and “Antagonist” is their fourth EP that came out about two years after their previous work. This EP contains three songs that showcase the ability of the band to compose and deliver mesmerizing, enchanting music.

OUTLOUD - Destination: Overdrive (The Best of OUTLOUD) review

OUTLOUD - Destination: Overdrive (The Best of OUTLOUD)

Rock Of Angels Records

https://www.reverbnation.com/outloudtheband

Usually we consider best of releases as a move from a label to earn some more bucks from bands that are considered successful. Personally, I am not against such releases because many times in my life and especially if the band has released many albums they have given me the opportunity to learn about it and even gather the band’s discography after that. OUTLOUD from Greece are without a doubt a band that has impressed us with its releases so far which include three full length studio albums, a single and an EP. So, their label thought it was time to release a best of and here we are…  

NULL’O’ZERO – The Enemy Within review

NULL’O’ZERO – The Enemy Within

Rock Of Angels Records

http://nullozero.com/

In our days it is really impressive how quickly the bands are formed and release album. I think that it has to do with the quality of the musicians we have and the evolution of technology which has reduced the cost of the production of an album and in general has made the life of musicians easier. NULL’O’ZERO were formed in 2012 in Athens and after an EP in the same year, now they release their debut album with the title “The Enemy Within”.

CHRISTFUCK – Hellgoat Militia review

 CHRISTFUCK – Hellgoat Militia

Mercyful Hell Prods / Hellraiser Producciones

www.facebook.com/goatmetal666

It’s a given fact that the Greek metal scene has improved immensely this last decade and it gives birth to quality bands that can easily compete with foreign, even famous acts. In the past the Greek scene was dominated by extreme metal bands… nowadays we see groups from all metal genres, but still the extreme metal scene is prevailing over everything else.

MESSENGER - Starwolf - Part II: Novastorm review

 MESSENGER - Starwolf - Part II: Novastorm

Massacre Records

http://www.messengerband.de/

MESSENGER I think is a living proof of what determination and love for metal music can make you achieve. They started back in 1990 with a different sound (more hard rock based), but after a couple of releases they moved to the fields of heavy/power metal. For many years they moved on the underground but they have managed to ink a contract with a label that has a long history in the metal scene. The most important thing though with MESSENGER is that they evolve their sound in each album they release without losing their heavy/power metal identity.

LACUNA COIL - Dark Adrenaline review

 LACUNA COIL - Dark Adrenaline

Century Media Records

https://www.facebook.com/lacunacoil

This one I actually got after “Broken Crown Halo”, their newest because I really enjoyed the music on that one. Here, there's maybe a little bit less of Cristina, but it's still a quality album altogether. I'd say this one is a mix between alternative/gothic metal all into one. I don't think that I'm misinformed in assessing that for this one, what matters as always are not just the lyrics, but the music. I can't say that this is overly heavy guitar-wise, though I do think that they tune uniquely to maintain the "metal" sound, but the tempos here aren't fast at all. My belief is that they never really want or wanted to sound overly heavy, they're more attuned to a quest of epic glory. The music here exemplifies that.

FORBIDDEN SEED – From Sand to Eternity review

FORBIDDEN SEED – From Sand to Eternity

Rock Of Angels Records

https://www.facebook.com/Forbidden-Seed-1458862664337259/timeline

In my town, Thessaloniki, we don’t have many heavy and power metal bands especially if you compare them with the bands of extreme metal. The few ones though that we have are really good. So, I was happy to see that a new band from my town that moves in the power metal genre has released its debut album entitled “From Sand to Eternity”. Actually as the band states this is an effort that started 10 years ago and finally they see all their efforts justified in their debut album.

WITCHFIELD – Sabbatai Zevi review

 WITCHFIELD – Sabbatai Zevi

Black Widow Records

http://myspace.com/witchfield

Doom metal from Italy… This is how most websites categorize this band and although the description is true, it’s not entirely accurate… WITCHFIELD was formed approximately a decade ago by Thomas Hand Chaste, in fact this is his side project, and “Sabbatai Zevi” is their sophomore release coming about six years after their debut, “Sleepless”. 

NORTHWINDS – Eternal Winter review

 NORTHWINDS – Eternal Winter

Black Widow Records

https://www.facebook.com/northwindsdoom

NORTHWINDS must be one of the oldest French bands since they were formed in 1987 under the name R.I.P. and continue their path up to now. They are one of those hidden gems that aficionados of the style mainly know and it’s a real shame cause they deserve both our support and recognition since they know how to write killer music.

HEADLESS CROWN – Time for Revolution review

 HEADLESS CROWN – Time for Revolution

Massacre Records

http://www.headlesscrown.com/

Revolution is a strong word; a word that means innovation or a fight against compromise. If you want, though, to be truly revolutionary you must have knowledge of the past, keep the good things and transform them into something new and vivid. I think this is what these guys from Switzerland wanted to do when they started back in 2011 and now after some lineup changes and many efforts introduce us their debut album and let us judge if they have revolutionized the metal sound.

Evil Lucifera - Arise ( Sepultura cover ) Video

PULSE – R – Across the Sky review

 PULSE – R – Across the Sky

Qua Rock Records

http://www.pulse-r.it/

Our fear about insects is something instinctive. Even the bravest of us might get scared by some kind of insect or at least feel disgust. The cover of PULSE – R which depicts an insect as we see it through a microscope shows us that they are impressive in their own way. So the message is clear, don’t judge anyone and anything only by their appearance.

Miltos Marathon "Greek feel"

TULSADOOM Interview

1. 1.     Hello. How are you? How are things in the TULSADOOM camp?
   Rick Thunder: Ahoj! Things are quite well at the time. We released our new album “Storms of the Netherworlds” a while ago and we are now in the process of writing some new stuff.

MEPHORASH – 1557: Rites of Nullification review

 MEPHORASH – 1557: Rites of Nullification

Odium Records

https://www.facebook.com/Chaliceofthagirion

When you do this for a long time and by this I mean listening to albums and presenting them, it’s difficult to get overly excited and enthused, because over the years you’ve had the chance to listen to hundreds of releases. So, I don’t think I need to state and underline any further how stunned I was when I listened to “1557: Rites of Nullification”. We all know that Sweden has one of the best and most dynamic metal scenes in the world and has been producing gems nonstop, but still when you come across such a great band you feel like a teenager first discovering the depth and beauty of metal music.

JOHN DALLAS – Wild Life review

 JOHN DALLAS – Wild Life

Street Symphonies Records/Andromeda Dischi

https://www.facebook.com/John-Dallas-1712090355681829/

John Dallas is the artistic name of a musician from Italy who hears in the name Luca Stanzani. John was and still is a big fan of the good old hard rock and rock sound and his first professional steps were under the band named PRESIDIO who later become AFTERLIFE. “Wild Life” is his first personal work. So let me tell you a few things about it…

DEATH DIES – Legione review

 DEATH DIES – Legione

Black Tears of Death

https://myspace.com/deathdies

I have to be honest with you… This is the first time I come across this band and it’s a real shame cause they prove to be worthy of our attention! The good thing, though, is that this first acquaintance with them comes with a compilation CD celebrating the band’s 20^th anniversary so I’m, in a way lucky, because I’m given the chance to listen to some of their best compositions.

RED MORRIS – Lady Rose review

 RED MORRIS – Lady Rose

Independent

http://redmorris.jimdo.com/

It is obvious that in our days musicians of every kind of genre are trying to find inspiration from the 70’s and the 80’s. I had, though, made some thoughts if the same exists in the classic rock sound. RED MORRIS come to answer this question with their album entitled “Lady Rose”. Red Morris is a guitarist who was born in 1966 and from his childhood has discovered that music fascinates him and especially the rock genre. After playing with so many cover bands he decided to create something of his own and the result of this is this album which I am more than happy to present to you.

HUMAN FORTESS to release "Thíeves Of The Night" in March!

German epic melodic metal band HUMAN FORTRESS delivers another strong album, titled “Thieves Of The Night”, on March 18th. Two years after the group had returned to the style of their successful first releases from the early 2000’s with “Raided Land” – and also introduced new vocalist Gus Monsanto (ex- Timo Tolkki’s Revolution Renaissance, ex-Adagio) - HUMAN FORTRESS continue right where they left off. Songs such as the catchy title track, power metal hymns („Rise Or Fall“, „Vicious Circle“) or the slightly modern - but not less epic- „Thrice Blessed“ will amaze every fan of the Hannover-based band. But “Thieves Of The Night” additionally could appeal very well to worshippers of Virgin Steele’s 80’s/90’s classic releases, Kamelot and Avantasia.

CELLAR DOGS – Jackhammer review

 CELLAR DOGS – Jackhammer

Independent

http://www.cellardogs.bandcamp.com/

CELLAR DOGS were formed in 2012 in Athens and their musical style can be tagged as heavy rock with lots of grooves. “Jackhammer” is the title of their debut album which they have released on their own and it doesn’t leave you with any questions of what exactly they want to do with their music.

BREATH AFTER COMA – Breath after Coma review

BREATH AFTER COMA – Breath after Coma

Independent

http://www.breathaftercomaband.com/

In 2013 in Athens is when and where this band started. As they state in their bio they started to jam and they wanted to create a rock sound that would be purely organic with no effects and would be a medium to tell their stories and communicate with people around the world. “Breath after Coma” is their debut EP and the result of the effort that started a couple of years ago. So, let us see what these guys have to offer us.

SUN, RAIN IN LIFE – 96/4 review

SUN, RAIN IN LIFE – 96/4

Independent

http://sunraininlife.com/

In the 90’s the grunge rock sound knew great success all over the world. It was a genre that started back in the mid 80’s in the United States from musicians that wanted to play something different from classic rock, heavy metal and punk rock. I think the album that brought this genre to people’s attention is the one entitled “Nevermind” and was released by NIRVANA. It is obvious that people back then wanted to listen to something that was more radio friendly and yet dark and revolutionary and I think these were the elements they found in this genre. SUN, RAIN IN LIFE from Greece now were formed back in that era under the name TEENAGE ANGST and now under a new band name they release their debut album which I am about to present to you here.

BEORN – Time to Dare review

 BEORN – Time to Dare

Sound Age Productions

http://beorn-metal.com/

The release of a debut album is something that every band dreams to achieve. It is an album of long effort which lets us witness the talent of the band, its influences and inspiration. BEORN from Russia were formed in 2008 and after the release of a single in 2012, on October 30^th 2015 they have finally released their debut album entitled “Time to Dare”. This is the album I am about to present to you in the next few lines…

SYNAXARIA - Sadness of Memories review

 SYNAXARIA - Sadness of Memories

Independent

https://www.facebook.com/synaxaria/timeline

SYNAXARIA is a Greek word and it is something that we meet in the Orthodox Christian Church. In simple words they are books that include the life of saints. This word gave inspiration to Dzmitry & Natallia Kramoushchanka to name their band which started back in 2010. Initially the band was playing industrial metal (have this in mind), but they decided to change their musical style and this change reflects on their album entitled “Sadness of Memories”.

:TWINGIANT: – Devil Down review

:TWINGIANT: – Devil Down

Medusa Crush Recordings

http://twingiant.com/

Well, I am not an expert on what exactly stoner metal is and I don’t think that anyone can tell you exactly since like all the other genres of hard rock and metal music, it has variety. However, the main element of this genre is the mixture of the 70’s rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock and heavy metal elements given though in a modernized and heavier sounding way. TWINGIANT from Phoenix Arizona (U.S.A.) is a representative of this kind of sound and “Devil Down” is their sophomore release. So let me tell you a few things about it…

CRIMSON DAY – Order of the Shadows review

CRIMSON DAY – Order of the Shadows

Iron Shield Records

http://www.crimsonday.com/

If you are in a constant search for traditional heavy metal, then the northern part of Europe can be your metal Eldorado. This time we will go to Finland and meet the new band with the name CRIMSON DAY. These guys are introduced to us through their debut album under the title “Order of the Shadows”.  Which are my impressions from their debut release? Well keep on reading and you will find out.