The Reticent – On the Eve of a Goodbye (2016) – Review

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I love Progressive Metal. This is where metal meets the grey unknown. Far, far away from the ‘established’ legions of bands. Those that seemingly always want to produce more of the same. 

Of course, Progressive Metal covers lots of sins and it takes a lot of musical skills to produce good content. On the other hand, the style is usually also an indicator of much creative energy at work. Of that urge to go the extra mile.

Now, a large crowd out there professes that their forte lies in the progressive nirvana of the metal universe. Many of them strum a few djents, madly hit the percussion, howl weirdly around the stage and call this … [...] Click to raid more!

Insomnium – Winter’s Gate (2016) – Review

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It was one of those metal moments! Winter’s Gate, Insomnium‘s 7th full-length release finally arrived at my doorstep. And what do I find? One 40-minute monster track.

Come again, they did what?

What on earth are they noodling about? With trepidation, we think back to similar attempts made by the likes of Pink Floyd and others way back in time, when monstrous, rambling concoctions were fashionable.

And not many protagonists – with some laudable exceptions – pulled these offerings off well enough to really impress the audience ever since.

Let’s be honest. 

So, here I sat wondering what disaster loomed ahead in this new record. [...] Click to raid more!

Sojourner – Empires of Ash (2016) – Review

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Picture this: A kiwi band from Dunedin in New Zealand, now based in Scotland (of all places), sporting a Swedish frontman from Malmö. Meet Sojourner and their debut full-length album Empires of Ash.

Their tune is something like Jethro Tull got married to Clannad (ok, not metal, I know) and then met Ashbringer. All that jazz placed into a landscape reminiscent of Caladan Brood and Summoning combined.

So, what empires await thee?

If you are looking for something to tell you what dwells on the disk, just check out the album cover first. But the album is not that predictable after all. [...] Click to raid more!

Darkend – The Canticle of Shadows (2016) – Review

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Ah, the devil communicates in Italian. How very fitting. Black Metal moving closer to Rome, spiked fists and all. But then Darkend are speaking in tongues on The Canticle of Shadows – many tongues.

Mixing English with Italian, French, and Latin into the fray. A real tower of Babylon, but what else would you expect from the devil? Right? 

Dissonance at every corner, monologues, and a weird Lovecraft-esque type of nightmare Black Metal of the melodic kind. Some of that stuff is very reminiscent of the liturgical Batushka, keeping you unhinged like Myrkur or Saille at every turn of [...] Click to raid more!