Cemican – U k ‘u’ uk’ankil Mayakaaj (2025) – Review

Cemican - U_k’u’uk’ankil_Mayakaaj - Album Cover

The Mexicans of Cemican1 are a weird bunch. They deliver a mix of harsh Death Metal and contemporary interpretations of long-gone South American (or Mayan) folk. Ritualistic meditations of the kind we usually hear from Northern Europe.

It appears that the Yucatan is the band’s preferred playground. An area, yours truly here knows pretty well. Extensive travels through dark jungles fondly remembered and a gazillion stoneheaps duly visited. But I digress, this would be fodder for a travel blog, not this zine. Back to Cemican, ’tis a band with a strange addiction to Mayan ideology, worldview, mysticism, and … [...] Click to raid more!

Testament – Para Bellum (2025) – Review

Testament - Para Bellum - Album Cover

It’s almost funky to see how the n00b carousel over at the RMR office tower is starting to spin. Testament started their career in 1987, and boy, were we young then. This is a band of true heavy music pioneers, and they’ve been at it ever since, serving the sick urges of generations of metalheads.

So, here’s a band that – yet again – never even appeared on RMR’s roster. But there’s a first time for every act in this world, and that makes them a n00b over here. So, without judging their past, we’ll see what these greybeards will … [...] Click to raid more!

Elettra Storm – Evertale (2025) – Review

Elettra Storm - Evertale - Album Cover

After all that galivanting about old records and esoteric undercurrents, it’s time to speed our metal up once more. Power Metal is on the menu, and it’s the Italian kind that took our fancy this time. And methinks they make them en masse over there, furnished ready to go with some built-in stereotypes already blearing. Fast, furious, but also easily recognizable.

Elettra Storm is the band’s name, and their 2024 record, Powerlords, must have sailed right past our review pipe. The act seems to be in a rush, too. They came into being in 2023, and already Evertale, … [...] Click to raid more!

Dawnwalker – The Between (2025) – Review

Dawnwalker - The Between - Album Cover

Perhaps it was destiny that David Gilmour knocked at RMR’s steely gate late at night this fall and – to everybody’s surprise – garnered a review. For a solo piece he released in 2024, no less. So, the crew here basked in the creamy, warm light of smooth groove and established alt-rock with a flow addiction for a long while.

Fast forward to reality, and Dawnwalker just appeared on our radar. Again? It sounds like the Review Desk just did a piece on them – last year. And indeed so. The psychedelically tainted The Unknowing hit in 2024 and garnered … [...] Click to raid more!