Tag Archives: Symphonic Metal

Oryad – Sacred & Profane (2023) – Review

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
Oryad - Sacred and Profane - Album Cover

I am going to be straight with you. I was ready to ditch Oryad‘s Sacred & Profane and send it down into the dreaded oubliette. The place at the RMR office tower without any chance for escape for delinquent records. Yet another Symphonic Metal piece with a classically trained female vocalist. Many of those already crossed our hawse to the point of symphonic overload. Been there, done that, got the wacky band shirt. Ain’t it, Nightwish?

And yet. Oryad‘s debut offering here seems to harbor more succulent details than meets the ear at first. Because you see, Sacred … [...] Click to raid more!

Kamelot – The Awakening (2023) – Review

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
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!

Dismal – Via Entis (2023) – Review

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo

One of the major stepping stones to a great record is a pristine production. No friggin’ doubt about it. But methinks that a number of bands didn’t quite catch that one yet. And when this juicy little detail is overlooked, then lackluster things like this one and this one happen. And that’s often a pity. Because all the good ideas are usually right behind the curtain, only they won’t quite come out and shine.

And these records often feel like a confused circus hiding its very own performers. So, what’s it gonna be with the folks over at Dismal? … [...] Click to raid more!

Fortis Ventus – Vertalia (2022) – Review

Posted on by — Leave a reply
Listen on Apple Music
RockmusicRaider - Spotify Logo
RockmusicRaider Review - Fortis Ventus - Vertalia - Album Cover

Symphonic Metal. A genre that many pronounced dead and gone, yet you’ll still find tons of bands tilling these very same fields. In truth, the genre’s heyday was in the early ’00s, up to the early ’10s. After that, too many clones and soundalikes appeared on that limited territory. So much so, that today even the biggies of the genre experience identity crises that make some of them increasingly reluctant to go for innovation. And so, some cling to their past successes instead.

This – in return – leads to brutally bland material. Reheated all over again, with huge loads … [...] Click to raid more!