RockmusicRaider’s Intermittent Best of… – Tome II

It for sure feels like a gazillion months since I first wrote the Tome I Best of earlier in 2015. But we are only a few months down the road and already a new one is due.

Eventful was the time: From flamers attacking us with comments displaying a level of stupidity I never thought possible, to full-blown hacker attacks on the site, one total breakdown of the site with subsequent reloading and salvaging the server contents. This last one was quite heavy, barely avoiding losing months of writing.

Wondrous things were happening, too!

For example, Anneke van Giersbergen almost jumped onto the hood of [...] Click to raid more!

Kamelot – Haven (2015) – Review

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RockmusicRaider Review - Kamelot - Haven - Album Cover

Kamelot! The name sends you echoes of mystical events way back in time. To King Arthus’ court of the round table of valiant knights. An epic era much shrouded in fabulously famous legends of all kinds. And here we are expecting something stellar around these lines. Metal at its best.

And I am getting something that somehow sounds like it, but it just does not quite feel right. Epica made the same mistake lately with their 2014 disc The Quantum Enigma – the overdone turkey one, with too much gravy. Too much over-compressed bombast, too many instruments to play … [...] Click to raid more!

Blynd – Liber Sum (2015) – Review

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Blynd - Liber Sum - Album Cover

Picture this: The genteel nation of Cyprus. Loads of Souvlaki, Tzatziki, Mediterranean Salad, and some local wine on the side. Lazy drives around the countryside with visits to beaches and places unknown. Boat rides and snorkeling tours. Nice, gentle music, warm winds caressing your skin. Drinks at the bar with sunburned friends, hot chicks, and all. Well, there you go, Liber Sum (I am free in Latin), you will think.

Sound good? Vacation needed? Liber Sum?

And now this: Harsh, pitiless metal sounds assaulting my ears out of my headphones, no clean singing allowed. Genteel little nation in the midst of the ocean? Nope. Come again! 

Growly greetings from the metal [...] Click to raid more!