Nazghor – Seventh Secular Crusade (2022) – Review

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Well, who ever said that Black Metal oughta sound like those old masters down to the monotonous vile rasp and underground sound from back in the ’90s? Right, nobody. Apart from some purists perhaps that may still populate the smelly underbelly of the mighty metal multiverse.

But I daresay, variety is sorely needed in this bloodied realm of undead things and unspeakable horrors. A genre that adores its traditions and doesn’t take well to change. Even if some veterans made laudable efforts to the contrary without leaving their sacred grounds of long-gone times.

But there’s more on offer. The Swedes … [...] Click to raid more!

Iron Kingdom – The Blood of Creation (2022) – Review

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Whoa, these guys will be up against some stiff competition. 2022 has been a pretty good year for Heavy Metal over at the RMR office tower. And as always, some of the material was excellent and some parts less so. That said, however, some of this year’s output wasn’t quite pvre heaviness anymore. In other words, contaminations from other genres crept in. Albeit sometimes to great effect, so it’s not all bad. But still, we seem to have trouble these days keeping to the spirit of the ’70s and ’80s, a time when the NWoBHM1 was in full … [...] Click to raid more!

Vermilia – Ruska (2022) – Review

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The Pagan World of Metallics is vast. You get all sorts of street performers with scant knowledge of the good ol’ times when Gaia’s forces were – supposedly – in charge. Often they wear strange rags, holler incomprehensive screechy monologues, and stomp weirdly around the stage.

In their defense, there’s little scientific wisdom available to back things up. And even that is often clouded by the mists of time to boot. Modern-day sages just don’t have enough data to go by, even if considerable progress has been made over the last few years. So, much is open to sometimes wild … [...] Click to raid more!

Splintered Throne – The Greater Good of Man (2022) – Review

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The RMR crew has a weakness. It’s not going after everything ancient mariners did for once, old pirates included. But it’s definitely lusting after the good ol’ and long-lost world of traditional Heavy Metal. And come to think of it, both are actually connected in some way. This was a time when metal wasn’t splintered into a gazillion fiercely defended fiefdoms. But it just came as a monoblock, kind of the counterweight to the almighty Hard Rock thing. Metal souls easily served, right? This is what turned those music halls into sweaty cauldrons, believe it or not.

And all that … [...] Click to raid more!