Tag Archives: Fantasy Metal

Fer de Lance – Fires on the Mountainside (2025) – Review

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Fer de Lance - Fires on the Mountainside - Album Cover

Colossus whet our appetite. This was Fer de Lance‘s first entry ticket into the World o’ Metal. The RMR crew wasn’t mightily impressed but intrigued enough to let this one roar. The Hyperborean of 2022, their debut full-length record, truly got on our good side. One giant step up, a band seemingly on a firm path to Heavy Metal glory.

So, now, after some three years of deliberations, Fer de Lance send us their sophomore piece. And that’s always a particularly black rock in a molten ocean of metal to navigate around. So, let’s see how Fires on the … [...] Click to raid more!

Ancient Bards – Artifex (2025) – Review

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Ancient Bards - Artifex - Album Cover

Italy. An astonishing haven for all sorts of metal shenanigans found up and down the famous boot-shaped peninsula. The RMR crew found a full-blown panoply of metal delights, out of which Power and Symphonic Metal grab themselves an important chunk.

Around 15% of all Italian records covered since the zine’s inception wander about these two genres. Put differently, Power Metal has become one of the main staples of Italy’s cheesiest metal soundscapes. And RMR stepped right into it. Gunk or geekery? We might need some Artifex to pull ourselves out of this.

Ancient Bards‘ 2019 piece Origine didn’t quite … [...] Click to raid more!

Bloody Valkyria – In Our Home, Across The Fog (2025) – Review

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Bloody Valkyria - In Our Home, Across The Fog - Album Cover

Early 2025 seems to turn into the year of the Valkyries. The RMR crew already had some earlier. A flamboyant platter of moods and flavors served with an underlying vampiric Victorian flair. But here, things are moving seriously North. To the places where the sun either gets stuck in the sky for months or won’t shine at all. But it is also to places where true metal excellence happens more often than not.

So, the question here is: Will Bloody Valkyria and their somewhat unwieldingly structured piece In Our Home, Across the Fog really cut the dense Scandinavian mustard? There’s … [...] Click to raid more!

KingCrown – Nova Antlantis (2024) – Review

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KingCrown - Nova Atlantis - Album Cover

Power Metal is a scarce commodity over at RMR this year. Don’t ask me why, the crew here usually likes itself a lusty slab of juicy metal. But – alas – pickings have forever been meager so far.

But now, late in the year, KingCrown spake, and their voice is mighty. To the point that the old geezers over at the Review Desk suddenly got jolted awake by some earthquake, good ol’ Poseidon caused over on the Atlantic sea floor. Welcome to Nova Atlantis. Oh, and careful with that trident. Just sayin’.

Once Dream Evil‘s newest epos aired … [...] Click to raid more!