Power Metal

Elvellon – Ascending in Synergy Review

By Kenstrosity on May 16, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 33 comments

“As I’ve mentioned a few times during my tenure, fem-fronted symphonic power metal was my gateway into the metalverse. Bands like Nightwish, Epica, pre-Hydra Within Temptation, and Neverworld’s End-era Xandria, among many others, were my favorite things in the world for many years. Even today, the style still holds a crucial place in my rotation. Unfortunately, very few breakout acts in the last decade made a mark in the scene. Two names in particular who buck that trend come to mind: Connecticut-based Dialith and the subject of today’s piece, German five-banger Elvellon.” SYNERGY SYSTEM.

Unleash the Archers – Phantoma Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on May 10, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, 129 comments

“After a two-part series where we saw Immortal converge through trials and tribulations, this year’s Phantoma tosses us into the future (12089, specifically) where AI rules supreme. Presumably inspired by the new wave of AI technologies out there, Unleash the Archers taps into those influences to create a hypersonic sci-fi soundtrack filled with a smattering of synthesized guitar leads and heavy keyboard action to deliver the power metal version of Skynet.” Archers in the machine.

Balance of Power – Fresh from the Abyss Review

By Steel Druhm on April 18, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, 18 comments

“It’s strange when a band you like goes into an extended period of inactivity. You miss them for the first few years and get impatient for new material. After 4-5 years though, you move on and eventually give up on hearing more from them. Stranger still is when a band that put you through all that abruptly returns some 20 years later with a very different sound. This is the experience I’ve had with the U.K.s Balance of Power.” Out of balance.

Thornbridge – Daydream Illusion Review

By Eldritch Elitist on April 2, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, 43 comments

“I love Teutonic power metal. I love how basically every band sounds like Gamma Ray or Blind Guardian in varying degrees, as well as their wocalists’ perpetual inability to pronounce the phoneme v. There’s a comfort to be found in the formula; lucky me, then, that Germany tends to produce a greater ratio of quality power metal bands than most other regions. Thornbridge is a prime example of such quality.” Unweash the wengeance!

Glyph – Honor. Power. Glory. Review

By Holdeneye on April 1, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, 46 comments

“Made up of current and former members of Skelator, Greyhawk, Gatekeeper, and Ravenous, Glyph brings together some of my favorite traditional/power metal musicians from recent years as they throw their hat into the space fantasy ring. Very much channeling Gloryhammer, Glyph shows shades of Sabaton and Alestorm as they offer up some simple modern power metal.” Power is as power does.

Leaves’ Eyes – Myths of Fate Review

By Twelve on March 21, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, Symphonic Metal, 27 comments

“Symphonic metal is a tricky genre to review; it is, at this point, so steeped in clichés that critiquing it for leaning on clichés is itself starting to feel like a cliché. Ever since Nightwish lobbed Once at the masses, it’s been easy to feel like everyone else is trying to do the same thing. Sometimes it’s effective, and sometimes you’re damaging your fist on a completely intact and rather thick layer of ice. For Leaves’ Eyes, who have been around for over twenty years now, I get the sense that the goal is consistency.” Do the Eyes have it?

DragonForce – Warp Speed Warriors Review

By Eldritch Elitist on March 20, 2024 in Reviews, Power Metal, 70 comments

“We’ve all had that moment when we hear a new single from a band we love and think “well, maybe that’s just the worst song from the album!” In the case of “Doomsday Party,” I could not afford DragonForce and Warp Speed Warriors such optimism. Sure, Napalm Records releases are often heralded by absolute stinkers in an apparent gamble at mass appeal, but with the British power metal wanksters’ ninth record arriving on the heels of what was easily the band’s worst showing to date, my thin hopes for a makeup album quickly disintegrated.” Dragon, why do you cry?

AMG Goes Ranking – DragonForce

By Eldritch Elitist on March 19, 2024 in AMG Rankings, Blog Posts, Power Metal, 74 comments

Before the review of the new Dragonforce platter hits, the power nerds at AMG wanted to nerd out with a ranking of their noddle-fests. We let them for some reason.

Stuck in the Filter: January’s Angry Misses

By Kenstrosity on March 11, 2024 in Stuck in the Filter, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Folk Metal, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Melodic Black Metal, Melodic Death Metal, Metalcore, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge, Stoner Metal, Symphonic Metal, Technical Death Metal, 75 comments

It’s becoming apparent that our filtering systems work quite well! The crew has done a fine job pulling filth from the workings and releasing the pressure to the system. A second too late and the toilets would have backed up.

Myrath – Karma Review

By Kenstrosity on March 6, 2024 in Reviews, Folk Metal, Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal, 67 comments

“Alright, earMUSIC. We have to talk. It’s important to know that Myrath is one of my favorite bands on the planet. I’ve been listening to them for well over a decade now, so every time the Tunisian five-piece announces a new album, my rapt, anxious anticipation skyrockets. Frustratingly, since the announcement for sixth LP Karma dropped, album leaks and fake release dates ran amok and led hopeful fans like me to dead Spotify links and rampant misinformation. The repeated PR foibles alone were enough to make me worry that the album wouldn’t be any good. Then, to top it all off, you hand us stream promo? Very naughty! But, that’s okay. All is forgiven because god damn was Karma worth it in the end.” Forgiveness and my wrath.