If you asked for an excitement check on a new Fellowship record, I'd roll a Nat20, I've loved this band ever since I first heard them so this review may be quite biased. In 2022 their D&D inspired grin inciting power metal was just the tonic needed after so much hardship and now two years later, they again shun what's happening in the real world for more fantasy metal, cosplay and quests of heroes.
So much of the PR around this band compare them to Twilight Force or Majestica but I'd have to throw my own influences in there. I think Fellowship, on this record particularly, have created a world where Blind Guardian, DragonForce and Sonata Arctica meet. That last one especially, due to the theatricality of Matthew Corry's voice, and the shifting style of their music. Eternity especially could have featured on Ecliptica, the fast pre chorus, the orchestras in the background it's all just so perfectly formed for fans of bouncy power metal.
It's full of drama, switching between poppy AOR on Dawnbreaker and neo-classical power metal on The Bitter Winds, the band bring in many traits of the music favoured by the Japanese market, (Victim) why not when a band like Fellowship will clean up in that market, much like Sonata have before them. Be it with the speedy King Of Nothing where Callum Tuffen's drums are blasty, Brad Wosko and Sam Browne (studio-only) trade off with shreds and solos. Or the anthemic World Ends Slowly again with a drum masterclass from Tuffen while the seasonal A New Hope gives Ed Munson's bass a workout.
What separates The Skies Above Eternity from it's predecessor is that there are more dynamics at play here, darkness and light but still a positive message telling you everything will be alright if you just believe and fight adversity. They have even decided on production that makes it feel like Ecliptica, it's a very specific late 90's early 2000's power metal sound born out of Finnvox Studios.
Closing with the orchestral Memories On The Wind which is a finale that incorporates melodies from the whole record but does sound a lot like Whitney Houston's One Moment In Time, The Skies Above Eternity is one of my albums of the year. A must have for fans of joyous heavy metal music! 10/10So much of the PR around this band compare them to Twilight Force or Majestica but I'd have to throw my own influences in there. I think Fellowship, on this record particularly, have created a world where Blind Guardian, DragonForce and Sonata Arctica meet. That last one especially, due to the theatricality of Matthew Corry's voice, and the shifting style of their music. Eternity especially could have featured on Ecliptica, the fast pre chorus, the orchestras in the background it's all just so perfectly formed for fans of bouncy power metal.
It's full of drama, switching between poppy AOR on Dawnbreaker and neo-classical power metal on The Bitter Winds, the band bring in many traits of the music favoured by the Japanese market, (Victim) why not when a band like Fellowship will clean up in that market, much like Sonata have before them. Be it with the speedy King Of Nothing where Callum Tuffen's drums are blasty, Brad Wosko and Sam Browne (studio-only) trade off with shreds and solos. Or the anthemic World Ends Slowly again with a drum masterclass from Tuffen while the seasonal A New Hope gives Ed Munson's bass a workout.
What separates The Skies Above Eternity from it's predecessor is that there are more dynamics at play here, darkness and light but still a positive message telling you everything will be alright if you just believe and fight adversity. They have even decided on production that makes it feel like Ecliptica, it's a very specific late 90's early 2000's power metal sound born out of Finnvox Studios.
Black Pyre - Blessed Brân, Son Of The Sea (Self Released)
Múr - Múr (Century Media)
To be seen on tour imminently alongside Wheel, there’s definitely crossover between this Icelandic band and the Finnish/British one. Singing in their native language, much like Sólstafir, there’s a rawness to the lyrics, captivating and emotive, the lack of comprehension ads something, it’s about the way they’re sung rather than what is being sung, you can interpret it how you like. Of course you can use google translate if you want to.
The singer Kári Haraldsson, has an adaptable voice, fragile cleans and tough growls both effortlessly supplied, he’s also the one that adds the synths/keytar to the record, giving tracks such as Messa its thumping industrial scope and some futuristic synthwave at the beginning of Heimsslit. There’s plenty of noise in the PR about Opeth, the “Opeth sound” (see my review of their new record for more info) is present on the record but I’d say there is much more of an influence from Devy when he’s Hevy, Swedish crunchers Meshuggah, French band Gojira but also the weirdness of The Great Discord, The Algorithm and Tardive Dyskinesia (who they sound a lot like).
That last comparison stems from Haraldsson’s virtuosity as a composer, wielding a synth as a means to create heavy dissonance, taking inspiration from his film/TV scoring background to create huge soundscapes such as Holskefla, a crushing chugger, the ominous riffs of guitarists Hilmir Árnason, Jón Ísak Ragnarsson and Ívar Klausen (bass) sent on their way by the militaristic drumming of Árni Jökull Guðbjartsson. This slow burn, steamrolling groove is a prominent feature of what Múr do, defying a lot of the characterisation journalists like to give, with just a focus on playing heavy music.
Asbjorn (aka William Takashi Philpot) chose to continue Black Pyre as a solo project after a short hiatus due to both him and drummer Dominus joined Welsh atmospheric black metal group Ofnus. Black Pyre was reactivated with just Asbjorn as the only member and he continues to tackle Celtic and British mythology with this new album Blessed Brân, Son Of The Sea. It’s a proper solo record with Asbjorn providing the throat shredding black metal screams, guttural roars and low doom spoken word, the expansive instrumentation which of course features tremolo picking and blastbeats but also synths, orchestrations, melodic lead breaks and a solo piano piece (Guinevere's Solace). He writes everything, mixed and mastered the record and did the art too.
A polymath who not only is musically gifted but has a love and reverence for the history of his home land. For those unaware this album revolves around “the mystical bard Taliesin, his journey through the ages” encompassing his journeys with Brân and Arthur much of the lyrical influence drawn from The Mabinogion and The Black Book Of Carmarthen. Is there such thing as educational black metal? Well Black Pyre, alongside Saor and Winterfylleth may all become part of this category. The myths, legends and folklore of this country lends itself to the spectral, otherworldly sounds of black metal. The record gets darker with Castle Dunnottar, a track with the aggression of the likes of Celtic Frost that’s simple but effective, adding a bit of thrash stomp at the end.
A polymath who not only is musically gifted but has a love and reverence for the history of his home land. For those unaware this album revolves around “the mystical bard Taliesin, his journey through the ages” encompassing his journeys with Brân and Arthur much of the lyrical influence drawn from The Mabinogion and The Black Book Of Carmarthen. Is there such thing as educational black metal? Well Black Pyre, alongside Saor and Winterfylleth may all become part of this category. The myths, legends and folklore of this country lends itself to the spectral, otherworldly sounds of black metal. The record gets darker with Castle Dunnottar, a track with the aggression of the likes of Celtic Frost that’s simple but effective, adding a bit of thrash stomp at the end.
The bulk of these stories comes on The Nine Sorceresses Of Annwn, Voyage To Avalon and Hy Bresail, it’s with these three tracks that the full range of Black Pyre’s musical palette is unveiled, huge haunting atmospheres, bittersweet melodies from the clean guitars, countered by the harsh vocals, the investigation of the sorceresses of Avalon, the journey of Arthur’s body to there to be laid to rest and the instrumental outro feels like a culmination of Taliesin’s story, giving insight into this figure who is important within several mythos.
Whether you want to dive into richly researched and evocative British/Celtic mythology or experience black metal that draws inspiration from several of its defined eras. Blessed Brân, Son Of The Sea is another fine example of one man black metal projects being more than just crappy production and the same hastily picked riff. 8/10
Whether you want to dive into richly researched and evocative British/Celtic mythology or experience black metal that draws inspiration from several of its defined eras. Blessed Brân, Son Of The Sea is another fine example of one man black metal projects being more than just crappy production and the same hastily picked riff. 8/10
Múr - Múr (Century Media)
To be seen on tour imminently alongside Wheel, there’s definitely crossover between this Icelandic band and the Finnish/British one. Singing in their native language, much like Sólstafir, there’s a rawness to the lyrics, captivating and emotive, the lack of comprehension ads something, it’s about the way they’re sung rather than what is being sung, you can interpret it how you like. Of course you can use google translate if you want to.
The singer Kári Haraldsson, has an adaptable voice, fragile cleans and tough growls both effortlessly supplied, he’s also the one that adds the synths/keytar to the record, giving tracks such as Messa its thumping industrial scope and some futuristic synthwave at the beginning of Heimsslit. There’s plenty of noise in the PR about Opeth, the “Opeth sound” (see my review of their new record for more info) is present on the record but I’d say there is much more of an influence from Devy when he’s Hevy, Swedish crunchers Meshuggah, French band Gojira but also the weirdness of The Great Discord, The Algorithm and Tardive Dyskinesia (who they sound a lot like).
That last comparison stems from Haraldsson’s virtuosity as a composer, wielding a synth as a means to create heavy dissonance, taking inspiration from his film/TV scoring background to create huge soundscapes such as Holskefla, a crushing chugger, the ominous riffs of guitarists Hilmir Árnason, Jón Ísak Ragnarsson and Ívar Klausen (bass) sent on their way by the militaristic drumming of Árni Jökull Guðbjartsson. This slow burn, steamrolling groove is a prominent feature of what Múr do, defying a lot of the characterisation journalists like to give, with just a focus on playing heavy music.
It’s difficult to fully describe the music of Múr, both heavy as lead but crystalline as glass, it’s a mass of thick grooves and vaporous atmospheres, a bit like Vola leaning more on the death metal side Múr’s debut record is one you need to hear. 8/10
Dead Posey - Are You In A Cult? (Self Released)
The LA based duo of Danyell Souza and Tony Nova combine gothic synth pop sensuality with 90's alt rock angst, coming face to face with sexism, oppression and religious dogma in their home state and the US in general. They came together with a goal to make music and nearly ten years later they have three EP's to their name and have played festivals and been featured in many movies and TV series.
So we get to their debut album Are You In A Cult? a blood curdling amalgamation of Garbage, Depeche Mode (Darkside) and Type O Negative, they owe much to the surrealist painters, gothic writers and true crime stories, lyrically inspired by political corruption, influences, fake news and more, Dead Posey take aim at everything they see as unfair, those who are unfit to given, or those who bend others to their will creating cults of personality.
Welcome To The Nightmare has thumping rhythms, Zombies is raging, C.U.L.T has some anthemic heavy metal from the likes of In This Moment, while Sorry I'm Not Dead brings some more 80's influenced thrust, that 80's influence continues on their cover of Blue Monday which gets a rocky make over.
Gothic, industrial modern metal Dead Posey will gain a legions of fans with Are You In A Cult? 8/10
Dead Posey - Are You In A Cult? (Self Released)
The LA based duo of Danyell Souza and Tony Nova combine gothic synth pop sensuality with 90's alt rock angst, coming face to face with sexism, oppression and religious dogma in their home state and the US in general. They came together with a goal to make music and nearly ten years later they have three EP's to their name and have played festivals and been featured in many movies and TV series.
So we get to their debut album Are You In A Cult? a blood curdling amalgamation of Garbage, Depeche Mode (Darkside) and Type O Negative, they owe much to the surrealist painters, gothic writers and true crime stories, lyrically inspired by political corruption, influences, fake news and more, Dead Posey take aim at everything they see as unfair, those who are unfit to given, or those who bend others to their will creating cults of personality.
Welcome To The Nightmare has thumping rhythms, Zombies is raging, C.U.L.T has some anthemic heavy metal from the likes of In This Moment, while Sorry I'm Not Dead brings some more 80's influenced thrust, that 80's influence continues on their cover of Blue Monday which gets a rocky make over.
Gothic, industrial modern metal Dead Posey will gain a legions of fans with Are You In A Cult? 8/10
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