Epica – Aspiral (2025) – Review

Epica - Aspiral - Album Cover

Over time, a whopping six of Epica‘s extensive arsenal of full-length releases, plus a handful of clips and other shorties, made it onto the RMR zine. And as our internal pecking order goes, this puts them on par with big players such as Within Temptation1 and – behold – Rotting Christ, no less. Meaning, this band is at the top of the RMR food chain as albums covered go. And no wonder, Epica constantly churned out good to great albums over the years with only few disappointments.

Staying true on a carefully charted Symphonic Metal course while … [...] Click to raid more!

Video: Epica play the Arcana Card!

Epica - Arcana - Video Cover

“Our very first single in two years…”, Simone Simons crooned some time ago. Not quite true, The Alchemy Project of 2022 came and went without much reverb out in the fan crowd. But I guess, she meant Epica-owned music following in the wake of the astonishing Omega. But one can never be quite sure.

So, lo and behold, a new video called Arcana appeared on our to-view list. The clip granting – to quote the label“…a glimpse into the band’s future music, coming in 2025.” Fair enough. Aspiral beckons you, that kind of thing.

Epica[...] Click to raid more!

Top Female Vocalists @ RMR! True talent at work.

Top Female Vocalists @ RMR - Female Metal Band

Over the years we covered a whole bunch of female interpreters that more or less prominently appeared on the RMR zine at some point in time. And this at a rate of some 25% of all reviews done to date.

Now, let’s be clear.

There will be no quota for anything on this blog, so don’t get your hopes up. We’re not going down silly road and die the painful death of fucking political correctness. Nor will there be any single-minded preference towards any type of interpreter on this blog.

We will – however – cover whoever in the world … [...] Click to raid more!

Kamelot – The Awakening (2023) – Review

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Kamelot - The Awakening Album - Cover

The perpetrators active in a mix of Symphonic and Power Metal often have trouble deciding which way to turn. Nightwish or – again – Epica are good examples, albeit that they tend more to their symphonic parts. Kamelot are another band where this rings pretty much true. The RMR crew was always impressed by the pretty flawless productions that this band projected into their various albums. And so far they shoved their Power Metal urges into the limelight more prominently than other intruding styles. But this may be about to change.

So, five years after The Shadow Theory, the … [...] Click to raid more!