Kamelot are a band not aversed to a concept record, they released a fair few in their time, the storytelling and thematic aspects suiting the dramatic and theatrical and cinematic sound the American symphonic metal band have been the forefathers of for thirty years now.
Their new album is set within the walls of Ravenhill Asylum, during the Victorian-era, the former cathedral is now a place where these dark, compelling stories unfold. The long time line up of founder Thomas Youngblood (guitars), Oliver Palotai (keys), Sean Tibbetts (bass), Alex Landenburg (drums) and Tommy Karevik (vocals) are well gelled now, each virtuosos in their own right.
They give Kamelot their signature style of melodic, progressive, power and symphonic metal, that is crafted into the anthemic tracks you hear here and across their discography, all made to sound huge by producer Sascha Paeth (alongside additional guitars) and mix/master extraordinare Jacob Hansen, bringing the full force of this record to your ears.
The title track is massive, euro metal gallops and colossal choruses, these returning on The Sleeping Mind (Orphic Paradigm), while on the other side of the Kamelot songbook there's drama on Kaleidescope, balladry on Cassandra’s Disease while there's Celtic tones on Ivy, My Dear and Enigma (Think Of Me).
Dark Asylum features a host of guests, as many Kamelot records have in the last, it's become something if a calling card for the band, usually giving harsh vocals or as duets between different characters and that doesn't change in Dark Asylum as they have some old and new joining them.
These include the current Miss World Chile, Ignacia Fernández of Decessus, Visions Of Atlantis singer Clémentine Delauney, both featuring on the anthemic Sanctuary, however on the dramatic One Last Masquerade the unmistakable tones of Avantasia/Edgy genius Tobias Sammet.
There's also violin from Lea-Sophie Fischer of Eluveitie and evocative additions from Rannveig Sif Sigurðardóttir and Sólveig Sara Leupold on the Icelandic folk of Beneath The Moon (Tunglið), all these guests bringing their own unique sounds to the record adding positively to the overarching story.
Kamelot bring so much experience that the chances of any weakness are very low, and yet again they create another exemplary symphonic metal record. 8/10
When we talk about the US thrash scene we often mention the 'Big Four' but Germany too has it's own 'Big Four' usually Kreator, Sodom, Destruction, and Tankard are the bands peirll include but I would say there's a very strong argument to replace one of them with Exumer.
They are a German thrash band that formed in 1984 however perhaps their excluding factor was that they broke up in 1991, however after reforming in 2009 they released their third record in 2012 and now in 2026 they bring us Death Mask Messiah their fourth full length since reforming.
Produced by Dominic Paraskevopoulos (Kreator, Caliban) and mixed/mastered by Arthur Rizk (Soulfly, King Diamond), Death Mask Messiah is a record with aggression flowing through it, while their albums post reforming have seen them attempting to sound like a modern band with original thrash roots, this new record steios back some of the modernity, opting for head banging thrashing.
It's definitely their most 80's sounding material, although with modern production, it still has a rawness that comes from the new rhythm section of Alex Voss (bass) and Jerome Reil (drums) who set a youthful pace for guitarists Marc B and Ray Mensh to try and match on Serpents, Frozen Ground and Fratricide.
With this muscle behind him, Mem V. Stein's vocals are still strong as ever, probably more versatile now than they were in the 80's, as he sings of misinformation, the Waco Siege and all manner of ideological, political and environmental (Ravishing Waste) ideas. He's joined by Nasty Ronnie of Nasty Savage on a cover of that bands song Unchained Angel.
Death Mask Messiah is the sound of thrash band who are resolutely in their second life and proving that they should no doubt have the same reverence as their fellow Teutonic Thrashers. 8/10
Audrey Horne - Achilles (Napalm Records)
Norwegian heavy rockers Audrey Horne are band and all is right with the world, myself and a former contributor to this publication have been big fans of the band for a number rof years now, always excited when a new record of there's drops. One hasn't dropped once 2022's Devil's Bell, due to guitarist Ice Dale being needed in Enslaved is assume but now they launch their eighth record, Achilles but like there titular inspiration will it have a fatal flaw?
Well we're into a good thing with the Title Track as Dale and Thomas Tofthagen let the retro rock riffs do the work as they bring some Zeppelin inspiration (you can probably guess the track from the riff) to start the album strongly.
We take a journey into the strutting twin harmonies of the 80's with In The Eye Of The Hurricane, the choppy guitars that remind me of Rudolf and Matthias, the rhythm section of bassist Espen Lien and drummer Kjetil Greve, bring the groove, pace and power to Vampires, which has to be a lost Maiden song right?
Lipen also takes lead vocals for Lizzy-like strut of God Damn Beautiful, giving the triumphant tonsils of Toschie a rest, though he again shines like always, perfecting a balance between some of the best heavy rock singers from the 70's and 80's, (with a lot of Glenn Hughes) and it's this understanding and love of these classic bands that make Audrey Horne such a fun listen.
It's never a copycat, it's a jukebox of rocks best bands but on original songs that could have come off their definitive albums, each captured the way they sounded at their very best. Even their balladry on tracks such as Pretty Little Lies feels authentic and never saccharine, as they storm through tracks such as Running Through The Night which puts Deep Purple with The Sopranos in glorious union.
Audrey Horne never fail to make me smile and always make me bang my head, probably the best classic hard rock band out there today. Fatal flaw? Not on this Achilles, just rock n roll that could launch a thousand ships. 9/10
Static Abyss - The Dying Hunt (Peaceville)
Autopsy offshoot Static Abyss are now on their third studio album and thereby dispel any notion of this being just another vanity project outside of Greg Wilkinson and Chris Refert's "day job" in the US death metal legends.
Static Abyss are not a death metal band, not a death metal band in the traditional sense anyway. If you've heard their previous two record the you'll know they're a doom band that adopts the evil, unnerving sound of death metal.
On third record The Dying Heat, which is the first not to have a rapid release. Their previous two albums had a year between them, this one has has a bit more of gap but still has urgency, they've enlisted Necrot's Chad Gailey on the drums, keeping up their tradition of having death metal musicians as part of the band.
With the doom tag stretched by the opening track Skull Blasted, it's with Lobotomized At Last that they slow at the end finally adding the doom to death which continues on the ominous title track. Static Abyss though never get too far away from their history as even when they slow things down it's not for too long.
No 20 minutes funeral dirges here, just some glacial frost and chilling grooves such as Bleeding In The Fog and Nowhere Forever that joins the blizzards such as Wall Of Delusion and Once A Corpse (Always A Corpse), none of the cuts going longer than five minutes but packing in riff after riff.
Static Abyss' third album isn't a huge step in any evolutionary direction, it's just more death doom from these scene veterans. 7/10
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