Category Archives: Bands O P Q

Overtures – Artifacts (2016) – Review

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Looks like the Mediterranean is fertile ground when it comes to metal of all kinds. You got the island folks on Cyprus going strong, at least one very good one dwelling in Portugal. 

But then there is a very important community down South in Italy too. Overtures being one of them and they are rocking away from Gorizia, right on the border with Slovenia. The band is now ready to open the doors on their newest and third full-length studio album Artifacts. To me, this is – not quite surprisingly – about the most mature album they produced so … [...] Click to raid more!

Phantasma – The Deviant Hearts (2015) – Review

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To ease my Death Metal injured ears somewhat, I started listening to some loftier and softer stuff. And stumbled across a band called Phantasma belting out a seemingly Nightwish-esque tune on an album called The Deviant Hearts.

The fact that Charlotte Wessels (Delain) is the female front on this project really piqued my interest right away. After all, she can truly sing and is one of the most respected professionals in the genre. 

Interestingly, the project actually features three core band members. The remaining two: Georg Neuhauser (Serenity) and Oliver Philipps (Everon). And they harmonize really well, … [...] Click to raid more!

Paradise Lost – Draconian Times (1995) – Review

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The 5th studio album Draconian Times of British metallers Paradise Lost takes off to somewhere. Only we are not sure where this is all going. The tune they present often sounds like Heavy Metal, as in Metallica of the Load era during the mid-’90s, albeit at a slower pace of sorts. And this makes me wonder where the real Doom Metal element escaped to.

Further, for a doom album proper, the style thrown at us is almost too lively. So here we have a record that moves down this Gothic Metal road that became more and more important in the late ’90s and early ’00s. Draconian Times is – in this sense – a strange animal … [...] Click to raid more!

Paradise Lost – The Plague Within (2015) – Review

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One thing is clear: The 14th studio album The Plague Within of the long-standing band Paradise Lost has its moments. Total, stellar Doom Metal moments like Beneath Broken Earth for instance. Offering a meatier Black Sabbath-style tune that is actually pretty good with a (very limited) solo to boot.

And there are other moments, like Cry Out, which give you hope that this is actually getting somewhere. Only to find out that this track is actually at the end, instead of somewhere else. Even if this piece of work feels like some ’80s Hard Rock or early Heavy Metal production gone Death Metal … [...] Click to raid more!