Oryad – Sacred & Profane (2023) – Review

Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
Oryad - Sacred and Profane - Album Cover

I am going to be straight with you. I was ready to ditch Oryad‘s Sacred & Profane and send it down into the dreaded oubliette. The place at the RMR office tower without any chance for escape for delinquent records. Yet another Symphonic Metal piece with a classically trained female vocalist. Many of those already crossed our hawse to the point of symphonic overload. Been there, done that, got the wacky band shirt. Ain’t it, Nightwish?

And yet. Oryad‘s debut offering here seems to harbor more succulent details than meets the ear at first. Because you see, Sacred [...] Click to raid more!

Osyron – Momentous (2022) – Review

Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
Osyron - Momentous - Album Cover

Who can resist a record that features someone called Percival? We couldn’t. Promises of old lore with Peredur1 and King Arthur. Misty sagas of even mistier origins lost in the tunnels of time.

But that wasn’t the only attribute that lured us into faraway Canadian lands. It’s Osyron‘s feisty and harsh brand of Progressive Metal that piqued our attention, too. Same as a few other bands of similar ilk that crossed our hawse earlier this year.

Epic battles to rip the genteel Hakens of this world to shreds for sport or a band lost in that horrible labyrinth … [...] Click to raid more!

Patria – Hexerei (2022) – Review

Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
Patria - Hexerei - Album Cover

Would it be fair to say that the RMR crew likes its Black Metal as dark and ominous as the morning coffee? Indeed so. Or even blacker, if that can be had. Traditional, no-nonsense pieces usually find sustenance in the bosom of the RMR crew’s blackened souls. Those that stem from the harsh beginnings of a genre that was and often still is accused of devil worship and worse. And sometimes rightfully so.1 Yet, we’re not looking to find a copy/paste of Burzum or Bathory. It’s bands that spew their wares in a way to generate that sense of … [...] Click to raid more!

Paganizer – Beyond The Macabre (2022) – Review

Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
Paganizer - Beyond The Macabre - Album Cover

Rogga Johansson is probably one of the most prolific creators of heavy music out there. There’s a seemingly endless stream of Death Metal projects he’s calling his own or is involved in. And sometimes this makes me want to contact this guy to help poor old RMR figure out how one manages all that complexity without going insane.

And we have a confession to make. The RMR crew ignored former Paganizer records. Because of, you know, too much Rogga. And that can lead to total sensory overload and metallic depression. But here, the mighty review committee decided to give … [...] Click to raid more!