Serenity - Nemesis A.D (Napalm Records) [Matt Bladen]
Wait, wait, hang on. Georg Neuhauser and Marco Pastorino are now in the same band? Colour me excited, even if Pastorino is playing guitar, his addition as a backing vocalist is worth celebrating alone, though of course he's just a good of a player as he is singer. In another underpants messing moment Roy Khan (Conception/ex Kamelot) features on a track. Marco now makes Austrian symphonic metal band Serenity a dual axe wielding band, while the additon of Khan will get the hearts racing of Serenity/Kamelot fanboys like myself.
This is their first studio offering since 2022's live album Memoria and after the now de riguer intro track, The Fall Of Man gets the album going with that fiercer double guitar chug, of course emboldened by the orchestrations that are so typical of Serenity, The End Of Babylon giving that perfect example of what Serenity do. The Fall Of Man is also the track that features Roy Khan, Serenity hitting heavy and hard here from the off, showing that they are indeed back in business, orchestal swells and metallic gallops galore. Marco and long term axeman Christian Hermsdörfer are a glorious union to feature on top of founder member Andreas Schipflinger's resolute and muscly drumming, locking in tight with the bass of Fabio D'Amore who takes the proggy rhythm changes of the cinematic eight minute ballad Reflections (Of AD) in his stride.
Again history is the big theme of this record, I mean it has to be when your singer is a Historian and Ethnologist, this time the focus is on painter Albrecht Dürer (The Leonardo Of The North) who was a major part of the German renaissance. Due to their admiration and respect for Dürer, Ritter, Tod Und Teufel (Knightfall) features lyrics in German for the first time, again brought with a pumping symphonic metal thrust. With the two faster paced tracks opening Soldiers Under The Cross, has slow Medieval sounding intro into a marching chug as Sun Of Justice brings classic sounding European power metal speed.
With a double strike of Crowned By An Angel and The Sky Is Our Limit, Nemesis AD closes with a full orchestral version of The Fall Of Man as a neat bonus. It's another brilliant album for anyone who enjoys this symphonic style. Serenity continue to be one of the figureheads and Nemesis AD is the testimony. 8/10
Angra - Cycles Of Pain (Atomic Fire Records) [Richard Oliver]
When I was first getting into power metal one band that flew onto my radar and blew me away were the Brazilian band Angra. The mix of epic power metal combined with progressive songwriting, traditional instruments and symphonic soundscapes grabbed hook, line and sinker immediately and I have been a huge fan of the band since. Cycles Of Pain is the tenth album from the band and the third from this third incarnation of the band.
Cycles Of Pain is an album born from pain, challenges and adversity with founding member Rafael Bittencourt sadly losing his father, the tragic death of original Angra frontman Andre Matos as well as the pandemic and other setbacks putting the future of the band at risk. The emotions and frustrations from the five year period since previous album Ømni very much drive the album and the songs within and the band sound more driven and impassioned than they have in a good while. From the more emotionally driven and introspective songs such as the title track and the Tides Of Changes duo which comfortably sit alongside speedy power metal anthems like Ride Into The Storm and Generation Warriors.
Cycles Of Pain is an album born from pain, challenges and adversity with founding member Rafael Bittencourt sadly losing his father, the tragic death of original Angra frontman Andre Matos as well as the pandemic and other setbacks putting the future of the band at risk. The emotions and frustrations from the five year period since previous album Ømni very much drive the album and the songs within and the band sound more driven and impassioned than they have in a good while. From the more emotionally driven and introspective songs such as the title track and the Tides Of Changes duo which comfortably sit alongside speedy power metal anthems like Ride Into The Storm and Generation Warriors.
It really is a varied bunch of songs such as the nod to the band's Brazilian roots in Vida Seca which has vocals in their native Portuguese provided by Brazilian artist Lenine whilst the prog elements of the band shine bright on Faithless Sanctuary and the band showcase their classically influenced and operatic side on album closer Tears Of Blood which features guest vocals from Amanda Somerville.
The band’s strength and passion come across not only in the songwriting but in the performances with incredible guitar work from Rafael Bittencourt and Marcelo Barbosa whilst bassist Felipe Andreoli and drummer Bruno Valverde manoeuvre the twists and turns of the songs in fantastic style. When Fabio Leone first joined the band in 2013 I wasn’t too convinced having known him from his time in Rhapsody but here he puts in one of his all time great vocal performances and he will absolutely wow you with his vocal gymnastics throughout Cycles Of Pain.
Angra are a band that have some truly incredible albums in their back catalogue but have also been an incredibly consistent band. This third incarnation of the band has really hit their stride on Cycles Of Pain and it is the strongest Angra album for many many years. Quite possibly their finest since the sublime Temples Of Shadows in 2004. The range and diversity in the songwriting ensures that this is an album which will not bore you and if anything this album sounds so damn good that the time flies by whilst listening. There has been some astonishingly good power metal in 2023 and Cycles Of Pain is right up there at the top. 9/10
The band’s strength and passion come across not only in the songwriting but in the performances with incredible guitar work from Rafael Bittencourt and Marcelo Barbosa whilst bassist Felipe Andreoli and drummer Bruno Valverde manoeuvre the twists and turns of the songs in fantastic style. When Fabio Leone first joined the band in 2013 I wasn’t too convinced having known him from his time in Rhapsody but here he puts in one of his all time great vocal performances and he will absolutely wow you with his vocal gymnastics throughout Cycles Of Pain.
Angra are a band that have some truly incredible albums in their back catalogue but have also been an incredibly consistent band. This third incarnation of the band has really hit their stride on Cycles Of Pain and it is the strongest Angra album for many many years. Quite possibly their finest since the sublime Temples Of Shadows in 2004. The range and diversity in the songwriting ensures that this is an album which will not bore you and if anything this album sounds so damn good that the time flies by whilst listening. There has been some astonishingly good power metal in 2023 and Cycles Of Pain is right up there at the top. 9/10
Hermano - Only A Suggestion: Remixed/Remastered (Ripple Music) [Rich Piva]
Hermano is awesome. This is an established fact. Their three-album run is near perfect and extremely underrated. We all know the voice, John Garcia of Kyuss fame, and how influential everything he has done in the stoner/desert rock genre. That is why it is so important for more people who love the genre to hear this stuff. Which is why it is so cool that Ripple Music is going to be remixing, remastering, and repressing all the discography as well as releasing new music, but starting with the untouchable Only A Suggestion. Did I mention that f-ing Ty Tabor mastered it? I mean what more can Ripple give us that is cooler than this?
If you are not familiar with John Garcia’s work, then I am not sure why we are even talking. Hopefully you have heard of Kyuss, and you can start there as a reference point, but the songs from Hermano are more straightforward three-to-four-minute stoner rock rippers. Every single one is killer on Only A Suggestion. I mean the riffs, the guitar tone, of course the vocals, and now it sounds even bigger and fuller. The remastering is subtle enough that it doesn’t change any of the awesomeness of the original, but the sound is crisper and bigger than the first mastering. The vinyl pressing is even better than I could have hoped for, as it is one of the best sounding records that I have heard in a very long time.
Just listen to Alone Jeffe and find me a better song that has been released any time recently from all aspects of what you want from stoner rock. I mean Senor Moreno’s Plan? Come on. I dare you not to listen to this then have it on repeat for multiple times after. Take that description, and make it even sound better than how we remember the original. That is the genus of what Tabor’s mastering, and the mixing of David Barrik, brings to this project.
If you asked me for a perfect stoner rock record this would be one of the ones that I would say off the top of my head, and now, somehow, it is even better after Ripple got their hands on it. Highest of recommendations for anyone who loves rock to check this out. The top of stoner rock, now even better. 10/10
Strigoi - Bathed In A Black Sun EP (Season Of Mist) [James Jackson]
I’m a Paradise Lost fan, having listened to them since discovering Icon, an album now celebrating its 30th anniversary; despite that I’ve not heard anything by Strigoi, Paradise Lost guitarist, Gregor Mackintosh’s blackened death metal side project.
In some way it’s a return to the early days of Paradise Lost when they had more of a death metal influence than they currently have, Paradise Lost have always written for themselves, making the album they want to make and as a driving force behind that it’s easy to see how Mackintosh can step away from the more melodic elements of doom and into something more extreme.
There are obvious similarities between the two bands, the main riff to opening track Bathed In Black Sun wouldn’t seem too out of place on anything PL could release, if anything a slightly cleaner production and the balance of clean/growled vocals that Nick Holmes performs and this could be a Paradise Lost song. Not a bad thing in any shape or form, though it does leave me wondering - what’s the point to a side project if it sounds the same as your main band.
The Grotesque puts that question to one side, well actually it takes that question and beats it to a bloody pulp with a really ugly stick, this is death metal as advertised, as is the 43 second long Beautiful Stigmata; I’ve not hidden my love/hate relationship with death metal, as I recently said in another review I am more than happy to be proven wrong but I find very little to differentiate between one band and another when it comes to death metal and if you put these two tracks with any other from the sub genre, I’m sure I’d find very little to distinguish them from the rest.
As I understand it, Strigoi was borne from the ashes of another side project Vallenfyre, which (again as I understand it) was borne from the passing of Mackintosh’s father; Vallenfyre had ran its course but that need to write something far more raw than PL.
A Spear Of Perfect Grief has more of a Thrash feel to it at times, far more rhythmical than the assault of guitar and drums found on the previous two tracks. Closing track The Consent Of Misery has a similar feel to it….. initially, it soon dips into familiar death metal territory before closing out at just over a minute and a half.
Of the tracks on offer here I only really took to one, the title track, the one sounding closest to the doom metal that I know Gregor Mackintosh for and honestly the more death metal influenced tracks of Paradise Lost are the ones I avoid the most. One for the diehard PL fans that’ll buy anything that the band touch no matter the quality or those that like their death metal raw and overly familiar. 4/10
If you asked me for a perfect stoner rock record this would be one of the ones that I would say off the top of my head, and now, somehow, it is even better after Ripple got their hands on it. Highest of recommendations for anyone who loves rock to check this out. The top of stoner rock, now even better. 10/10
Strigoi - Bathed In A Black Sun EP (Season Of Mist) [James Jackson]
I’m a Paradise Lost fan, having listened to them since discovering Icon, an album now celebrating its 30th anniversary; despite that I’ve not heard anything by Strigoi, Paradise Lost guitarist, Gregor Mackintosh’s blackened death metal side project.
In some way it’s a return to the early days of Paradise Lost when they had more of a death metal influence than they currently have, Paradise Lost have always written for themselves, making the album they want to make and as a driving force behind that it’s easy to see how Mackintosh can step away from the more melodic elements of doom and into something more extreme.
There are obvious similarities between the two bands, the main riff to opening track Bathed In Black Sun wouldn’t seem too out of place on anything PL could release, if anything a slightly cleaner production and the balance of clean/growled vocals that Nick Holmes performs and this could be a Paradise Lost song. Not a bad thing in any shape or form, though it does leave me wondering - what’s the point to a side project if it sounds the same as your main band.
The Grotesque puts that question to one side, well actually it takes that question and beats it to a bloody pulp with a really ugly stick, this is death metal as advertised, as is the 43 second long Beautiful Stigmata; I’ve not hidden my love/hate relationship with death metal, as I recently said in another review I am more than happy to be proven wrong but I find very little to differentiate between one band and another when it comes to death metal and if you put these two tracks with any other from the sub genre, I’m sure I’d find very little to distinguish them from the rest.
As I understand it, Strigoi was borne from the ashes of another side project Vallenfyre, which (again as I understand it) was borne from the passing of Mackintosh’s father; Vallenfyre had ran its course but that need to write something far more raw than PL.
A Spear Of Perfect Grief has more of a Thrash feel to it at times, far more rhythmical than the assault of guitar and drums found on the previous two tracks. Closing track The Consent Of Misery has a similar feel to it….. initially, it soon dips into familiar death metal territory before closing out at just over a minute and a half.
Of the tracks on offer here I only really took to one, the title track, the one sounding closest to the doom metal that I know Gregor Mackintosh for and honestly the more death metal influenced tracks of Paradise Lost are the ones I avoid the most. One for the diehard PL fans that’ll buy anything that the band touch no matter the quality or those that like their death metal raw and overly familiar. 4/10
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