Tag Archives: Island Metal

Arrayan Path – The Marble Gates to Apeiron (2020) – Review

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Surprise reigned supreme at the RMR office suite when we discovered all those pretty sturdy bands that roam the limited reaches of the island of Cyprus. Lots of Power Metal, Thrash, and some genuine Punk Rock already crossed our hawse over the years. And that’s pretty wild. All that makes me wanna go visit there and mingle with the metal crowd a bit. But – alas – I can’t these days.

Arrayan Path1) suffered our scrutiny for some time now. The band, led by the Leptos brothers, that churns out these spiffy refrains just fascinates us. And still … [...] Click to raid more!

Cult of Lilith – Mara (2020) – Review

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I don’t like tech death very much, I don’t like the mayhem it creates, and I don’t like the lack of coherence it usually engenders. Good dissonance is distinctly different and just screaming your way through a complicated mush of styles often leaves many of these bands on the road to perdition. A desolate place where only an imbibed few will utter the praise they crave.

Because their style – like it or not – will never hit those large fan crowds. And besides, just showing your wares as a tech master will only soothe the souls of nerds, those … [...] Click to raid more!

Winter’s Verge – The Ballad of James Tig (2020) – Review

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Sometimes these metal-coated ears of the RMR deck crew need a reprieve. A more melodic approach to things will be in order. And if there is some cheese to go with that, then so be it. It will be like some sort of a gooey bandaid, a bit sticky but part of the soundscape.

So, we were glad that Winter’s Verge just sailed by with their new concept album The Ballad of James Tig.

Usually, any band name that starts with Winter tends to emerge from the reaches of the upper North. But here, these folks hail from Cyprus … [...] Click to raid more!

Tyr – Hel (2019) – Review

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It is true. These guys have an ego bigger than the tiny Faroe Islands, where they hail from. The swagger they deliver their fare with continues to astonish me. But what can you do, when warrior blood flows in your veins.

Right? 

Hel, the newest record of Tyr, feels, as if the beer-swirling folks of Alestorm moved North, and grew some muscle and real beards. And Amon Amarth should be ashamed of themselves, they just got keelhauled by some trve Vikings. Or at least by the remnants of the descendants, or something. 

Or is it that Tyr worship … [...] Click to raid more!