It’s been yet another great year for album releases, and sadly I did not have the time to review or listen to them all. So
Category: album review
The Ferrymen – A New Evil
The Ferrymen once again have released their own brand of heavy metal onto the world in the form of A New Evil, combining fantasy, motivational, and lost love themes with hard hitting metal and slower, ballad-like sections. With the addition of Ronnie Romero’s outstandingly powerful vocals, it’s a formula that just can’t go wrong!
Forlorn Hope – Over the Hills
Chris (vocals, rhythm guitar) is a Peninsula War enthusiast, and you can definitely hear that in the lyrics. I have even learned a bit of history, including what a “Forlorn Hope” is! Forlorn Hope have their own sound, and it’s damn good. I’m hoping to hear a lot more from the band in the future, and I wish them the best of luck for going far in their music careers!
Forgotten North – Kinder Des Zorns
Forgotten North are definitely a band that would appeal to a lot of different people, and I would highly recommend to anyone interested in folk metal, or German music in general.
Wind Rose – Wintersaga
Wind Rose have capitalised on the aspects of their previous successful tracks and created an album based on those themes. With two tracks I don’t think I will ever get tired of (Drunken Dwarves and Diggy Diggy Hole), and the majority of the album being absolutely spot on!
Grimgotts – Dragons of the Ages
Far from their Harry Potter themed power metal (which I am still a little disappointed they abandoned), I feel like Grimgotts have a potentially great future as a band together. They have their own take on power metal which is reminiscent of the Swedish power metal scene with bands such as Dragonland and Bloodbound springing to mind, but they add their own twist with the nautical themes which don’t dive straight into the pirate metal trope.
Sellsword – …Unto The Breach
Band: SellswordAlbum: …Unto The BreachRelease Date: 3rd August 2019Record Label: Unsigned I’ve known Sellsword as a band and friends for a number of years now,
Sabaton – The Great War
Just when I thought Sabaton couldn’t get any better, they go and release The Great War, which is myh album of the year so far! I cannot wait for their Bloodstock and Wembley performances over the next few months.
Gloryhammer – Legends From Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex
I absolutely love Gloryhammer, and music like this never fails to bring my joy on a sad day. Gloryhammer have stuck to their core style, harking back to elements and melodies of previous tracks, as well as bringing a new and exciting installment to their sage to save the Kingdom of Fife and the mighty City of Dundee.
Amon Amarth – Berserker
Amon Amarth have successfully managed to try something new whilst still holding true to their roots and previous records. They have got the right balance between maintaining their sound while keeping it fresh, and that, in my opinion, is not always an easy thing to do, particularly for a band such as Amon Amarth who have such a distinctive sound and image.
Månegarm- Fornaldarsagor
Once again, Månegarm have produced another fantastic album. It’s new and fresh while still being true to their signature style. I hope that I am able to catch them live again very soon, as I am sure a lot more UK fans are!
Warrior Path – Warrior Path
I do hope that there will be more from Warrior Path, there’s a lot of potential for this new project to go a long way.
Æternal Requiem – RISE
In terms of genre and composition, this album does exactly what it says on the tin, there are power and folk elements, as well as some more traditional heavy metal elements in there too. I just feel like this would benefit a little more from some good mastering and increase in the audio quality.
Eluveitie – Ategnatos
The composition and quality of the tracks are fantastic, it is difficult to fault the individual tracks. There can be a danger that there can be too many songs, just to put out as much material as possible to “make up” for the time between albums. Sadly I feel that Eluveitie might have fallen foul a little of this, but that does not diminish from the quality of the individual tracks themselves.
Bloodbound – Rise of the Dragon Empire
The album is good, solid power metal which I really enjoy, and is something that caters to those who also enjoy the more serious power metal as well as the cheesier side (which I do). I’ll definitely be adding this new album and Bloodbound’s back catalogue to my music rotation.
Vanir – Allfather
Vanir are definitely a band I should have taken the time to listen to earlier. I really enjoyed this album, and I look forward to getting a chance to give their back catalogue a proper listen.
Atorc – Under The Raven Banner
There is a lot of potential in Atorc, I just feel that they need to iron out those few creases before they can truly launch into the more international folk metal community.
Dwarrowdelf – Of Dying Lights
There is clearly a lot of thought and creativity that goes into creating a Dwarrowdelf album, and for anyone that is a fan of atmospheric black metal, I would definitely recommend keeping an eye on what Dwarrowdelf is up to in the future.
Sorcières – Sombres Danses
Sorcières are able to create an atmosphere with their music already, and the ability to keep one repeating melody throughout a track is not something that you see very often nowadays, and I really enjoy it. I look forward to hearing what more Sorcières are able to bring to life in the future.
Waylander – Ériú’s Wheel
The album takes you on a journey through the pagan year, and each track feels like it is reflecting the festival it tells the tale of.
Ostara Metal 