Rating: 9/10 Release: 8 September 2023 Label: Independent Evilon (a portmanteau of “evil” and “Avalon”) is a Swedish band calling themselves folk metal. Typically, I’ll open these reviews like “BandName is an n-member band of SomeGenre”, but it seems the band is restructuring and some folks have departed. At the … Continue reading →
Rating: 10/10 Release: 29 September 2023 Label: Metal Blade Records The Irish band Primordial are back with their tenth full-length album on Metal Blade Records. The Irish band has 32 years of career, full of albums, hits and tours. This follow-up to 2018’s “Exile Amongst the Ruins”, “How It Ends” … Continue reading →
Rating: 8/10 Release: 17 November 2023 Label: Independent Cabrakaän is a five-member symphonic folk metal band from Toluca, Mexico… just outside of Mexico City in the heart of what was once the Aztec empire. This is where they draw a lot of inspiration for their songs. Aztlán is their third … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 20 October 2023 Label: Mighty Music Sylvatica is a four-member Danish melodic death metal band, and Cadaver Synod is their third full-length album. They’re a band I’ve heard of but never found time to sit down and give them a listen, and that was a huge mistake. … Continue reading →
Rating: 7/10 Release: 8 July 2023 Label: Independent / Bandcamp Zeitgeist is a solo act out of Nancy, France, as far as I can tell, and La voie de l’Atlantique (“Way of the Atlantic”) is their second release. It’s a guitar, drums, a keyboard and vocals, and the sound is … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 16 September 2023 Label: Independent Toter Fisch, German for “Dead Fish” is a five-member folk / death metal band out of France. I was excited to give this a listen based on the epic band logo and great album art alone, and I found out quickly: however … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 18 August 2023 Label: Napalm Records The Icelanders Skálmöld are back with “Ýdalir“, released after five years. In this album the sextet was inspired by old Icelanders, such as the poem “Grímnismál“, adapting them in a way never heard before. In “Ýdalir“, moreover, they manage to sound … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 4 August 2023 Label: Running Wild Productions Nemoreus is a six-member Austrian folk-metal band who probably don’t even need this amount of introduction. I wrote the review for Chapter One, and I’d recommend going back and reading it first. The folky, plaintive, flutey, minor-key metallic goodness continues … Continue reading →
Rating: 9/10 Release: 16 July 2023 Label: Independent Flor De Loto (“Lotus Flower”) is a five-member Peruvian prog-metal band. Their bandcamp page at the time of writing says they’re “what would have happened if Iron Maiden met Jethro Tull in the ruins of Machu Picchu”, and that’s close, but this … Continue reading →
Rating: 8.5/10 Release: 18 August 2023 Label:Reaper Entertainment The Finnish band Valkeat released their second full-length album “Fireborn”. This new full-length, a very complex and well layered one, is a sort of guide that will lead listeners to a new era of Finnish modern folk and symphonic metal, succeeding quite … Continue reading →
