A few years ago I discovered the folk metal genre.  A variety of bands ranging from death to black to cultural and traditional metal were using these influences.  I got hooked, whether bands were using the influence sparingly or full-fledged the variety of sounds became addictive to me and most of all these bands put […]

I will always have love in my heart for Melodic Death Metal. Hand on heart, I’d have to say that Melodeath is the one metal subgenre, more than any other, that most aggressively grabbed my attention and made me fall in love on first listen. Soilwork’s A Predator’s Portrait, In Flames’ Clayman, Dark Tranquillity’s Damage […]

With some promotional tag lines stating this was ‘Extreme Finnish Symphonic Metal’, I grabbed this promo right away as anything symphonic’ gets my attention, and I had never heard of this band before, so a new find in the genre is always a positive. And I’m glad I did, this is really good stuff. The […]

When listening to the debut from Greece’s Caelestia I’m reminded of a release I covered earlier this year; Dysrider’s Bury the Omen . Big, polished, modern take on melodic death metal, both using operatic female and gruff male vocals and both heavy on the synths and orchestration. Where Caelestia add something is a more Gothic metal vibe with […]

On paper, Khroma might not sound that awe-inspring as they route heavier grooves through industrial and electronic synapses, dedicating most of their time to the pummeling mid-paced groove rather than any sort of delicate melodies or touchy feelings. Sure, ‘this’ has been done before. Hell, probably multiple times at varying degrees of success. And at […]