Posts Tagged ‘Symphonic Metal’
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › M on Tuesday, September 12th, 2023
Mortem Obscuram initially got on my radar with their debut Eradication of the Human Endeavor back in 2021, a solid if unspectacular release of blackened/symphonic technical deathcore/death metal. It was OK, but I really didn’t give it that much attention, post-release. But boy, with The Wretched Divinity, they certainly have not gotten on my radar- […]
Tags: 2023, Deathcore, Erik T, Mortem Obscuram, Review, Self-Released, Symphonic Metal, Technical Deathcore
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › G on Tuesday, September 5th, 2023
When I heard Japan’s Imperial Circus Dead Decadence‘s 殯――死へ耽る想いは戮辱すら喰らい、彼方の生を愛する為に命を讃える――。 last year, it ended up being my second favorite album of the year. It was the utterly bonkers love child of Sigh, Cradle of Filth, and an anime soundtrack, and I thought I’d never hear anything quite like it ever again. I was wrong. Enter Countrymates […]
Tags: 2023, Erik T, Galundo Tenvulance, Melodic Death Metal, Review, Spiritual Beast, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › 012, Reviews › S on Thursday, August 24th, 2023
As the days and months and years keep piling up, it’s become more clear to me than ever that the idea of growing “mature with age” can mean two very different things: There’s the literal, more widely recognized notion where time and experience allows you to take stock of the things that actually matter in […]
Tags: 2023, Gothic Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Progressive Metal, Review, Sanguine Glacialis, Self-Released, Steve K, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › A on Monday, October 24th, 2022
When you run the risk of being simply known as “the band that Will Ramos of Lorna Shore used to sing for”, you’d better deliver on your album that you recorded after Ramos’s departure …. And Boy to A Wake in Providence respond and let the blackened deathcore world know they are NOT simply going […]
Tags: 2022, A Wake In Providence, Blackened Deathcore, Deathcore, Erik T, Review, Symphonic Metal, Unique Leader Records
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › D on Thursday, August 25th, 2022
You’d think an epic, symphonic death metal band named after Icarus’s father would deliver a Greek mythology-based album. But what we have here is a concept album about Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated, 1845 artic expedition where two ships, Erebus and Terror, and their crews of 129 went missing (also the loose basis of the excellent […]
Tags: 2022, Daidalos, Erik T, Extreme Metal Music, Melodic Death Metal, Review, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › X on Monday, August 8th, 2022
In my ongoing quest to discover symphonic death metal of any sort here in 2022, I’ve stumbled across some awesome, obscure stuff this summer alone, like Japan’s Imperial Circus Dead Decadence ( whose 殯――死へ耽る想いは戮辱すら喰らい、彼方の生を愛する為に命を讃える―― might be my album of the year- which was just going to be too much of a challenge to review/type), The […]
Tags: 2022, Erik T, Melodic Death Metal, Review, Self-Released, Symphonic Metal, Xaon
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › F on Tuesday, July 26th, 2022
Listen, when it comes to power metal, like my porn tastes, I have very specific, odd niches that I enjoy. For some reason, I skip right past the ‘normal’ power metal like Primal Fear, Firewind, Hammerfall, Iced Earth and such and dive headfirst in with unfettered glee into the uber cheesiest, symphonic cosplay-loving, LARPing, cape-wearing […]
Tags: 2022, Erik T, Fellowship, Power Metal, Review, Scarlet Records, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › I on Tuesday, July 12th, 2022
You have to admire the balls on the PR company that sent out the email for the promos for Imperious, the debut album from Colorado duo Inexorable…”For Fans Of: Dying Fetus, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Dimmu Borgir and Children of Bodom“. Fucking hell!!!!!!- Sign me up! Admittedly, the bait and switch worked on me. Hook, […]
Tags: 2022, Death Metal, Erik T, Review, Sliptrick Records, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › H on Thursday, June 23rd, 2022
So a handful of excellent blackened/symphonic deathcore (or whatever you want to call it) releases have come out in 2022 to basically keep fans satiated until Lorna Shore drop Pain Remains later this year; Shadow of Intent, Hurakan, Downfall of Mankind, Worm Shepherd (who will somehow be releasing a second album later this year…) to […]
Tags: 2022, Blackened Deathcore, Deathcore, Hanging The Nihilist, Self-Released, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › H on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2022
France’s Hurakan (the Mayan god of wind, storm, and fire?) has apparently undergone a bit of rebirth from their first two more brutal death metal/slamming death/tech death albums, which feature songs titles like “Brutal Slamming Shit”, “Intergalactic Moo Moo Imperator”, “Xenometh” and “Transdimensional Whorehouse Spaceship”. They have changed logos, and now jumped on the more […]
Tags: 2022, Blackened Deathcore, Deathcore, Erik T, Hurakan, Lacerated Enemy Records, Review, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › D on Monday, February 28th, 2022
I last heard this Seattle band back in 2016 when I reviewed their second self-released EP, Enduring Creation. However, I wasn’t sure what label they would fit on and what the audience was for their very heavily keyboard-drenched form of technical black-ish metal. Well, 6 years later we have our answer with a match made […]
Tags: Erik T, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, The Artisan Era, The Devils of Loudon
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › C on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2022
I had to check and see if this second album from Spain’s customed troupe, Crusade of Bards wasn’t on Napalm Records a few times, just to be sure. They have ‘that ‘ sort of sound with symphonic, female-fronted operatic bombastic, gothic-tinged metal, and a few heavier elements (gruffs death metal vocals etc) sprinkled in here […]
Tags: 2022, Crusade of Bards, Erik T, Power Metal, Review, Rockshots Records, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › W on Monday, January 24th, 2022
I’m pretty new to Wilderun’s form of symphonic classical, folk, and progressive, heavy metal/death metal smash-up, with the reissue of 2019s Veil of Imagination being my first exposure to the band to which I then picked up their more folk-tinged prior records. I described the band as a mix of Opeth, Dream Theater and Blind […]
Tags: 2022, Century Media Records, Erik T, Melodic/Progressive Death Metal, Review, Symphonic Metal, Wilderun
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › W on Monday, January 17th, 2022
Symphonic or blackened deathcore blew the fuck up in 2021. Though it was certainly a thing before 2020, After the success of Lorna Shore‘s Immortal in 2020, the genre simply exploded with already established and new bands like Mental Cruelty, Shadow of Intent, Sin Deliverance, Dead World Reclamation, Darker By Design, Carnifex, Assemble the Chariots, […]
Tags: 2022, Deathcore, Erik T, Review, Symphonic Metal, Unique Leader Records, Worm Sheperd
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › S on Monday, September 20th, 2021
Very late last year, I was introduced to Boston’s Seven Spires, with their second album, Emerald Seas, and immediately fell in love with them, largely due to vocalist Adrienne Cowan (who surprisingly used to be the keyboard player for deathcore act, Winds of Plague). Her range and power on songs like “Bury You” , “Succumb” […]
Tags: 2021, Erik T, Frontiers Records, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, Review, Seven Spires, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › W on Tuesday, July 13th, 2021
I’ve interviewed Alestorm twice over the years, both at this very site. And in both interviews, legendary Brit fantasy metal act Bal-Sagoth comes up as a huge influence on Alestorm’s Chris Bowes. Now, he developed that influence a little bit in his power metal outfit Gloryhammer, but I’ve been waiting for him to truly flesh […]
Tags: 2021, Erik T, Napalm Records, Review, Symphonic Metal, WizardThrone
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › M on Thursday, June 10th, 2021
In the promo materials, Mental Cruelty is described as “haunting death metal.” As I’ve yet to be visited by any ghostly apparitions, I call shenanigans! However, when it comes to what style of music these dudes play, it’s more along the lines of symphonic brutal blackened deathcore. Think somewhere along the lines of Lorna Shore, […]
Tags: 2021, Deathcore, J Mays, Mental Cruelty, Review, Symphonic Metal, Unique Leader Records
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › P on Thursday, May 20th, 2021
“Impressive…most impressive.” These words from the dark Sith lord himself, Darth Vader, are what rang through my mind upon my initial experience with Bloodtide Rising, the sophomore full-length album from North Carolina’s Xael…okay, I’m full of shit. What I really thought was, “Fuck me, this is some kick ass shit!” And it is. I mean […]
Tags: 2021, Death Metal, Kristofor Allred, Pavement Entertainment, Symphonic Metal, Xael
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › D on Thursday, May 13th, 2021
Remember the movie rule of 2? (i.e Armageddon vs Deep Impact) that so often applies in music? So I recently discovered two US symphonically laced, shreddy, tech death/deathcore/metalcore/melodic death metal /The Artisan Era core bands and the same time. First is Tempe, Arizona’s Dead World Reclamation, and their second album, Aura of Iniquity, and second, […]
Tags: 2021, Dead World Reclamation, Review, Self-Released, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › D on Thursday, April 15th, 2021
Well, here is something fun in 2021 I was not expecting. Hailing from Stavanger Norway Deception play a hybrid stay of technical, melodic death thrash. As crazy as this sounds. Picture Yyrkoon mixed Darkane. Originally called The Art of Deception, The Mire is Deception’s third full length. Clocking in at over 47 minutes these guys […]
Tags: 2021, Deception, Melodic Death Metal, Nick K, Review, Rob Mules Records, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › S on Friday, March 26th, 2021
I was late to the Stormtide party as I didn’t hear this Aussie Fantasy metal act’s 2016 debut, Wrath of an Empire until 2020. But When I finally did stumble across it, I very much enjoyed the band’s Asian/Far East inspired take on melodic, symphonic death metal, imbuing an mix of Amon Amarth, Stormlord and […]
Tags: 2021, Erik T, Melodic Death Metal, Metal Hell Records, Review, Stormtide, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Frontpage Feature, Reviews, Reviews › M on Monday, March 15th, 2021
We’re at a point in metal’s history where a band reaching the 30-year mark isn’t the rarity is once was. Still impressive! Especially considering the core makeup of Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro, keyboardist Pedro Paixao and lead guitarist Ricardo Amorim have been together for very nearly all of it (bassist Aires Pereira has even been around […]
Tags: 2021, Dark Metal, Gothic Metal, Melodic Metal, Moonspell, Napalm Records, Steve K, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › I on Thursday, March 11th, 2021
So far in 2021, there’s been some excellent symphonic metal from power metal band Dragony, stalwarts Epica, the orchestral bombast of Abstrakt, the majestic Utbyrd, the epic tales of Aussies Stormtide, the reformed Phlebotomized, the avant garde chaos of Exanamis and aa few others as well. One such band is Belgium’s InHuman, who were formed […]
Tags: 2021, InHuman, Progressive Death Metal, Review, Self-Released, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › S on Friday, December 4th, 2020
I rather enjoyed the debut from Israel’s Scardust, The Sands of Time. It was a more progressive, Dream Theater tinged, complex take on the standard Delain/Epica style of female-fronted symphonic metal. It was highlighted by guitarist Yadin Moyal, vocalist Noa Gruman and young keyboardist/orchestral arranger, Alex Nichola. And once again on another concept/story themed metal […]
Tags: 2020, Erik T, M-Theory Audio, Power/Progressive Metal, Review, Scardust, Symphonic Metal
Posted in Reviews, Reviews › A on Wednesday, October 21st, 2020
Ok fuckers, get your pitchforks out, it’s female-fronted metal time. It’s been well documented in these pages that my guilty pleasure is peppy, bombastic female-fronted metal. From long time stalwarts Epica to Delain and newcomers like Scardust and Moonlight Haze, I’m a sucker for a catchy chorus and pretty voice. And one of my favorites, […]
Tags: 2020, Amaranthe, Erik T, Nuclear Blast Records, Review, Symphonic Metal