Something of a Swedish power metal supergroup Sacred bring us their debut album Fire To Ice. Inspired by the classic metal bands such as Maiden and the legends of the power metal scene such as Hammerfall, this has everything you could want from a band in the power/classic heavy metal sound. Anthemic songs about fantasy battles, historical themes (The Flying Dutchman) and a cover of Queen Of The Reich (featured as a CD bonus track), Sacred are another excellent band from Sweden.
Driven from the opening track by dual harmony guitars, soaring vocals and muscular rhythms, utilising the bass as a lead instrument as much as the guitars. Those rhythms do their best impression of Magnum on the epic On The Verge Of Becoming A Shadow, with a walking bassline creating an anthemic sound. While Caught In A Snowstorm is bit like Swedish band Armory in its Neo-Classical pomposity. Sacred draw from the top tier of classic/power metal and as such have produced something similar to their influences
Performed with skill, produced well and featuring the exact sort of melodic metal you'd want from a Swedish power metal act, Fire To Ice is a debut album that may be difficult to beat this year. 9/10
Blacksun - Karma Somnium (Self Released)
Owing influence to bands such as Queensryche or Kamelot, Blacksun are veterans of the Greek scene being formed in 1993. Now of course there have been trials and tribulations, the band really started getting going with recordings in 2008 shifting members but still led by guitarist Minas Papadopoulos they have been pretty established since 2015 so we have come to their new album Karma Somnium their second full length album. So an established band, with a long tenure finally having the musicians to deliver his vision.
So what is that vision? Well on Forever Lost there's the shifting rhythms and dramatic vocals that are very reminiscent of Queensryche, the whole album leaning on cinematic orchestrations and speedy synth rundowns Light Remains. Even when they get heavier with tracks such as Till The End, the vocals from Manos Xanthakis (Ocean's Edge) on the lower end but putting in drama and pathos on You Are Me, a piano based ballad that is directly from the Kamelot songbook featuring some haunting female vocals.
Melodic but heavy, progressive but powerful Karma Somnium is a complex record but one that's extremely entertaining for fans of melodic power metal. 8/10
Raging Fate - Mutiny (Stormspell Records)
Swashbuckling heavy metal from Sweden as Mutiny, the third album from Raging Fate is a a record built to carry out sea battles with. Obviously with such lyrical content and speed metal/power metal fury they can be compared to Running Wild, Blazon Stone and ever Grave Digger. So Raging Fate are band from Sweden but sound German.
Teutonic riffs are driven by band founder Mattias "Matte" Lövdal takes vocals/bass/guitar he's the anchor point of the more mid-paced rockers such as Horror Movie Mania or the full bore In Darkness And Sorrow which has a galloping fade out. Mutiny is all about speed, most of the record runs at full bore, though Raging Fate also work well when they slow with Powder And Flame.
Raging Fate are Under Jolly Roger with Mutiny, heavy metal inspired by the privateer era, influenced by multiple German bands. 8/10
The Cimmerian - An Age Undreamed Of (Hyborian Rage Records/BVR)
Praise be to Crom as we have more sludge/doom/thrash inspired by the works of Robert E Howard. This trio from L.A plays fuzzy, distorted doom that is inspired by High On Fire and lets face it Conan.
Ferocious chugging riffs, raw vocals and aggression two thirds of the band are part of a crossover thrash group and there's quite a bit of thrash influence in this record reminiscent of Venom at times but mostly David Gein has Matt Pike's shirtless guitar playing down to a tee.
David Morales is the pace setter no matter whether it's fast or slow he brings power from behind the kit, the thick sludgy bass from Nicholas Rocha just as dirty as his vocals. If you like High On Fire or Conan you'll dig The Cimmerian. They don't do anything you won't have heard before but they do it well. 7/10
Performed with skill, produced well and featuring the exact sort of melodic metal you'd want from a Swedish power metal act, Fire To Ice is a debut album that may be difficult to beat this year. 9/10
Blacksun - Karma Somnium (Self Released)
Owing influence to bands such as Queensryche or Kamelot, Blacksun are veterans of the Greek scene being formed in 1993. Now of course there have been trials and tribulations, the band really started getting going with recordings in 2008 shifting members but still led by guitarist Minas Papadopoulos they have been pretty established since 2015 so we have come to their new album Karma Somnium their second full length album. So an established band, with a long tenure finally having the musicians to deliver his vision.
So what is that vision? Well on Forever Lost there's the shifting rhythms and dramatic vocals that are very reminiscent of Queensryche, the whole album leaning on cinematic orchestrations and speedy synth rundowns Light Remains. Even when they get heavier with tracks such as Till The End, the vocals from Manos Xanthakis (Ocean's Edge) on the lower end but putting in drama and pathos on You Are Me, a piano based ballad that is directly from the Kamelot songbook featuring some haunting female vocals.
Melodic but heavy, progressive but powerful Karma Somnium is a complex record but one that's extremely entertaining for fans of melodic power metal. 8/10
Raging Fate - Mutiny (Stormspell Records)
Swashbuckling heavy metal from Sweden as Mutiny, the third album from Raging Fate is a a record built to carry out sea battles with. Obviously with such lyrical content and speed metal/power metal fury they can be compared to Running Wild, Blazon Stone and ever Grave Digger. So Raging Fate are band from Sweden but sound German.
Teutonic riffs are driven by band founder Mattias "Matte" Lövdal takes vocals/bass/guitar he's the anchor point of the more mid-paced rockers such as Horror Movie Mania or the full bore In Darkness And Sorrow which has a galloping fade out. Mutiny is all about speed, most of the record runs at full bore, though Raging Fate also work well when they slow with Powder And Flame.
Raging Fate are Under Jolly Roger with Mutiny, heavy metal inspired by the privateer era, influenced by multiple German bands. 8/10
The Cimmerian - An Age Undreamed Of (Hyborian Rage Records/BVR)
Praise be to Crom as we have more sludge/doom/thrash inspired by the works of Robert E Howard. This trio from L.A plays fuzzy, distorted doom that is inspired by High On Fire and lets face it Conan.
Ferocious chugging riffs, raw vocals and aggression two thirds of the band are part of a crossover thrash group and there's quite a bit of thrash influence in this record reminiscent of Venom at times but mostly David Gein has Matt Pike's shirtless guitar playing down to a tee.
David Morales is the pace setter no matter whether it's fast or slow he brings power from behind the kit, the thick sludgy bass from Nicholas Rocha just as dirty as his vocals. If you like High On Fire or Conan you'll dig The Cimmerian. They don't do anything you won't have heard before but they do it well. 7/10
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