Black Moth - Condemned to Hope (2014)

Originating from Leeds in the UK, Condemned to Hope is Black Moth's second album and what an amazing album it is right from the start to the very end without ever faltering one bit. It's been an incredibly long time since I've heard a rock album as accessible, raw, intense and addictive as this. 

Black Moth's music is hard to define. The band successfully mixes sludge metal and doom elements with alternative/indie rock. The bass and drums create a solid base that gives the band depth and intensity. The guitars roar with a straight rock edge and Harriet's vocals tie everything up with a raw and honest voice that instantly hooks you in. 

I bumped into this band by accident and now I simply cannot stop listening to this incredible album. Condemned to Hope is an absolute treasure of an album, one that feels raw, honest and above all incredibly inspired. 

Highlights: The whole bloody album!

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Opeth - Pale Communion (2014)

Opeth's Pale Communion is an outstanding album. This is progressive rock of the highest order with a perfect mix of progressive rock, 70s style and a little dose of folk. 

The album follows the style of Heritage and Damnation. It's clear right from the start that Mikael Akerfleldt has placed emphasis on melody and the album is filled with beautiful, poignant and memorable moments. 

Highlights: the last two songs of the album, Voice of Treason and Faith in Others.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Unisonic - Light of Dawn (2014)

Light of Dawn is Unisonic's second full-length album and the band returns with their brand of hard-rock and power metal perfected with just a bit more heaviness and bite.

The album opens with an orchestral intro that teases some of the melodies in the album. This is followed by Your Time Has Come, a power metal song that sounds instantly familiar, fast, heavy, bright and with a memorable fist in the air chorus. In fact, Your Time Has Come is the best classic power metal song I've heard in a very long time. I have no doubt that it's going to become a classic for me.

The best news, though, is that the album is filled with excellent songs. This is an excellent release with no fillers and every single song deserves to be there. As it should be expected of the band, there are some straight forward hard rock moments, some quieter and melodic moments, but the new degree of heaviness in this release adds to the mixture and propels the band to new heights.

The band sounds tight and with a release like this they're clearly making a statement that they're serious as a band, this is not a 'side project'. The guitar work is excellent, the bass and drums provide a great rhythm section and Michael Kiske's voice sounds as glorious as ever. 

For fans of classic power metal, this is a flawless release that I just can't stop listening.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

sleepmakeswaves - Love of Cartography (2014)

Originating from Sydney, Australia, Love of Cartography is sleepmakeswaves' third album. Their style could be broadly described as post rock with very strong guitars and attitude. 

The album opens with Perfect Detonator. The guitars roar creating a solid wall of noise but the song also contains very playful melodies. The contrast between the hard guitars and the post rock style melody is perfect. Right from the very start, this song makes a statement: This is post rock of the highest caliber with roaring guitars. The band manages to create an album that is uptempo, often sitting in the border between rock and metal but is still filled with beautiful melodies and cinematic moments. A hard combination to make but one that sleepmakeswaves manages to create seamlessly.

Other songs to highlight, are the more cinematic and sweeping Traced in Constellations, the progressive and epic How We Built the Ocean and the utterly powerful Your Time Will Come Again; a song in two parts that lures in with gentle intimacy to then explode in your face. 

The guitars are hard and in your face, the melodies are beautiful and the electronic arrangements work to great effect, enhancing the songs but not detracting from them. This is an excellent release for those who like post rock with attitude. Simply brilliant.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

You can buy the album from the sleepmakeswaves Bandcamp here

Ancient Bards - A New Dawn Ending (2014)

Originating from Italy, Ancient Bards is a power metal band with a distinct Italian sound: symphonic and epic. But this is not a generic band and A New Dawn Ending, their third album, stands out as one of the best in its genre.

The album opens with the traditional intro which is followed by A Greater Purpose, an outstanding song that can be seen as a declaration of intentions and sets the bar incredibly high for the rest album. The best news is that, the rest of the album doesn't disappoint and keeps up the high standard set from the start. The album also offers a couple of grand songs, The Showdown, just under thirteen minutes, and the title track A New Dawn Ending which goes over sixteen minutes. Fortunately, the band doesn't get lost in the magnitude and scope of the music. Despite the symphonic epic bombast, the songs sound fresh and tight. All the fat has been trimmed and only the best parts have made it to the album.

I honestly can't highlight favourite songs, there's only two that fall a bit short, all the other tracks are absolute killers. It's refreshing to listen to a female voice in a straight forward power metal style and Sara's vocals are incredibly powerful. She commands the band with energy and delivers outstanding vocals.

Overall, this is an outstanding power metal album with an epic symphonic bent that I can't stop listening to. An absolute burst of energy that confirms Ancient Bards as one of the best in the genre right now.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Gamma Ray - Empire of the Undead (2014)

Gamma Ray have been around for a long time and Empire of the Undead is exactly what you would expect from the band. Fast, heavy, epic and melodic, power metal. Whilst many bands have moved away from power metal and changed their styles, Gamma Ray have always stayed true to themselves. This is a band with very little evolution over the years but one that always delivers consistently.

The album opener Avalon is a perfect example of what Gamma Ray do best. The song is epic, perfectly built with a slow introduction that builds up into a half tempo majestic part with an excellent chorus. Half way through, the song increases the tempo and moves into power metal territory. Hansen has always known how to create songs like this and he nails it, once more. The song is perfectly built in terms of music contrasts, rhythm changes and story telling. 

From then on, the album is quite varied, showcasing the different sides of the band. It's hard to pick favourites but apart from Avalon I would highlight, Hellbent, a furiously fast song with shades of Judas Priest. Born to Fly and Master of Confusion, halfway through the album with a lighter and more melodic tone. And I Will Return, a song that moves into Gamma Ray's epic melodic territory again and leaves you wanting more.

Overall, Gamma Ray has delivered another great album. Their style of power metal, with little sprinkles of speed, thrash and progressive metal, is fast furious and melodic. They know how to have fun but also how to be aggressive and epic. Another great album from this band that, as always, is an absolute pleasure to listen to again and again.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Xandria - Sacrificium (2014)

Originating from Germany Xandria has been around since the late 90's and has delivered great albums. Unfortunately, they have always remained in the shadow of other symphonic metal bands and the last few years they've had problems retaining their vocalist. Thankfully, this album will put all those things in the past. 

Sacrificium is an excellent symphonic metal album from start to end. In fact, the first thing that struck me when listening to it was how consistently good the album is. There are no real stand out songs as they all complement each other and create a whole. The album is symphonic but the band has a very present and heavy sound. The music is epic in scope but the songs are tight. The album is varied and show many shades but it always feels coherent. 

Xandria have managed to create an excellent album. I honestly can't stop listening to it. One of my favourite symphonic metal albums for a very long time.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Anathema - Distant Satellites (2014)

Distant Satellites is Anathema's tenth studio album in a long career that has seen them evolve from doom metal to uplifting progressive rock with an ever present touch of melancholy. Whilst the previous two albums showed a considerable progression in their sound, Distant Satellites feels like a distillation of their sound since 2001's A Fine Day to Exit at the same time that it takes another bold step forward.

The band continues their journey into minimalism, something that's even more prevalent than in their previous two albums. The sound and arrangements have been stripped down and the structure of songs follows a driven crescendo more akin to post-rock music. The album opener is a prime example of this, The Lost Song Part I is a song that builds and builds in a clear progression until it completely explodes. It's very post-rock but it's also very much what Anathema has been doing for a while now. 

The album uses symphonic elements creating atmosphere and beautiful calm passages to great effect. Some of the guitar work harks back to A Fine Day to Exit, for example in Dusk (Dark is Descending), and some of the more ambient and electronic moments bring A Natural Disaster to mind, but Distant Satellites brings all these elements together with a more assertive, dressed down approach than ever and a more electronic sound that brings Radiohead to mind (something that was already present in parts of A Natural Disaster but it's more present than ever here).

Distant Satellites works best as an album. It's the whole experience rather than a collection of songs. Songs like Anathema and The Lost Song Part III are best experienced and understood in the context of what has come before. Having said that some highlights include the album opener The Lost Song Part I, a classic Anathema song that starts quietly, grows in power and explodes into an incredible wall of sound; the atmospheric and gentle Ariel and the darker shade that The Lost Song Part III (you can listen to the track below). 

But the last two songs in the album deserve a special mention. The title track, Distant Satellites, is an eight minute bold song that is jam packed with atmosphere, electronica and symphonic elements. It feels like this driven and fascinating song breaks with the past and presents a new Anathema. A feeling that continues with the closing track Take Shelter. It opens with a very quiet atmosphere and Vincent's fragile and hauntingly beautiful vocals then grows into an upbeat second half with electronic drums, leaving the listener with a powerful uplifting sensation. Both songs sound like Anathema but offer a new sound, a new side to the band, perhaps a sign of things to come, and they're my favourite songs.

The band has changed dramatically from their early years. Anathema has evolved from dark into light but there's still a strong sense of power, doom and melancholy even in their most uplifting moments. Distant Satellites is their tenth album and it successfully distills everything Anathema has been working on since A Fine Day to Exit at the same time that it takes a bold step forward. 

Perhaps some people will not be receptive to what Distant Satellites has to offer wanting the band to go back to what they were doing 15 to 20 years ago but that's their loss. I can't stop listening to this album and Anathema present once again what will surely be one of the best albums of the year.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Please note, an interview to lead singer Vincent Cavanagh will be posted soon. This will be the very first interview for this blog, with many more to come - I hope! 

Vanishing Point - Distant is the Sun (2014)

Originating from Melbourne, Australia, Vanishing Point are now a veteran band with this their fifth release and, after a long hiatus, they're back with Distant is the Sun, an excellent album that builds on their past sound and expands it to fuller, more epic music. Vanishing Point have always stood out to me as a band that right from the start sounded unique, like no other. They've evolved across albums, expanded their sound while staying true to themselves and Distant is the Sun is the next assured step in their discography.

The album opens with an intro that leads into King of Empty Promises, a song that mixes perfectly their classic mixture of melodic metal, with a little dose of power metal and progressive flourishes. It's obvious from the very start that the band has made an effort to incorporate a fuller orchestral sound with great arrangements that add texture to the songs, making this the most epic sounding Vanishing Point album to date.

The guitar work, as it should be expected from VP, is top notch. The guitar solos are perfectly measured and the progressive flourishes always keep the songs interesting. Silvio Massaro's vocals sounds as solid as ever, with a great mix of powerful high vocals, heightened by a good use of harmonies and a good deal of emotion in his voice.

I can't really say which songs stand out as every single one of them speaks to me in different ways, but at the moment, I would highlight the opener King of Empty Promises, the fast and hard hitting Circle of Fire (with guest vocals by Tony Kakko from Sonata Arctica), the incredibly infectious When Truth Lies, the more expansive and classic VP sounding Pillars of Sand and the powerful Walls of Silence.

Vanishing Point's greatest achievement, to me, is that the band always sounds fresh, melodic, easy, catchy, but it's at the same time creative, full of twists and unafraid to take risks. Overall, Distant is the Sun is an outstanding album for fans of melodic, progressive and power metal. The songs are fresh and catchy but at the same time display enormous complexity and depth. It's too early to say this will be the metal album of the year for me but (though I would love to be surprised) it will be very hard to top this one.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

††† Crosses (2014)

This album by Crosses gathers all the songs from their previous two EPs plus five new ones, that would've made the third EP. Presented all together here they form an excellent debut full length album that despite it's nature (three EPs in one) sounds cohesive.

The album opener This is a Trick gives a very good indication of what this album is about. This is dark electro rock, with soothing soundscapes, a touch of retro electronic sounds and a little dose of rock. From then on, the album dances between more electronic beats, straight pop melodies and more driven rock moments.

Most people will come to listen to this album for Chino Moreno, from Deftones, and his vocals are the central driver of this album. His excellent vocal range and silky vocals are used to incredible effect but there's are also new shades to his voice here, at times sounding very positively uplifting and pop. 

The album presents a great collection of songs and it's hard to choose stand outs but I would like to highlight the chill out and beautiful Trophy, which is followed by delicious pop song The Epilogue and the rockier Telepathy.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Trivium - Vengeance Falls (2013)

Trivium is now a veteran band and this album shows that they mean business. While the metalcore elements are still present the band has left the style behind and present a new album that pushes them forward and into new territories.

Vengeance Falls is a great metal album and the band shows a more melodic and groovier side while still sounding incredibly epic. The production is brilliant, the guitar work is excellent and Heafy's vocals are better than ever. He has clearly evolved as a singer, with more tones and textures. 

The best thing about Vengeance Falls is that it sounds lean and epic at the same time. The songs are tight but not dressed down. Rather, Trivium has managed to expand their sound and keep all the best bits in one small package brimming with powerful metal. 

Overall, this is an absolute killer of an album.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Within Temptation - Hydra (2014)

The veteran Dutch symphonic metallers return with Hydra, their sixth album. After experimenting with a concept album and releasing a series of 80s and 90s pop covers reworked to a Within Temptation style, their new album is a more straight forward offer that comes with a few surprises and bridges old and new.

The album opens with Let Us Burn, an excellent song that immediately reminds the listener why WT became one of the biggest symphonic metal acts. The song delivers all the trademarks of the band with an epic grand sound and Sharon's soaring vocals. From then on, the album never lets down delivering a great collection of tracks that show the band's diversity from the fast and heavy Dangerous to the poppy and beautiful Edge of the World. 

Apart from Let Us Burn, I would highlight the fast paced Dangerous, the catchy duet with Tarja on Paradise (What About Us?), the mellow Edge of the World and Silver Moonlight showing the band's heavier side.

All in all, I wouldn't say this is WT's best album but it delivers a great collection of tracks that proof they still haven't lost their touch to create memorable, catchy and fist pounding songs and builds a bridge between their old sound and new modern tendencies.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

The Exploding Boy - Four (2013)

Originating from Sweden The Exploding Boy plays a mix goth pop, new wave and post punk that sounds straight from the 1980s but Four is not pure nostalgia, it actually presents a great collection of tracks. 

It's actually hard to pick highlights as the every song is memorable in its way. The album opener Cracked/Reasons is an excellent  post punk song that has nothing to envy to the greatest tracks and is followed by another assured effort entitled Street Cliche with a more synth oriented sound. From then on the album is quite diverse from The Cure-esque moments to a touch of Killing Joke here and there and a little dose of The Chameleons (one of my favourite all time bands).  

Other highlights include, the catchy and up tempo Dark City (Pt. II), the more straight forward and rockier Shadows, the synth heavy post punk Always and the utterly beautiful Get It Out.  

Overall, Four is a great album that sounds like it was made in the early 1980s and what a joy it is to listen to it now!

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Fates Warning - Darkness in a Different Light

Fates Warning is a band that's been around for lots of years. They've released great albums in the past and, thankfully, after a long silence they've released Darkness in a Different Light, demonstrating again that they're an excellent progressive metal.

The best thing in the album is that every song is memorable. The riffs are dark and heavy but perfectly balanced with clean melodic guitar lines. Acoustic guitars are used wisely. Also, Fates Warning manages to create progressive metal that is concise and to the point. Even the fourteen minute closing track feels like it has been well trimmed. 

The album opens with One Thousand Fires, hands down one of the highlights of an incredibly solid album. Other, personal, highlights include Into the Black and the epic Yet It Moves. But every song here is excellent.

I can't say that it's their best album. I don't want to get into that kind of argument but I'll certainly say that this is my favourite Fates Warning album by a mile. An outstanding metal album that I can't get enough of.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Alter Bridge - Fortress (2013)

Fortress is darker and heavier than their previous efforts but still remains true to the Alter Bridge sound. The band has released good albums before and, although I'm sure some will not agree, this time they've nailed a perfect album. 

There isn't much to say about it. This is a perfect hard rock, heavy metal album. Powerful riffs, memorable choruses, excellent guitar solos and outstanding vocals that show a big and emotive range. The songs tap into the classic style of the genre whilst still sounding contemporary and new. In many ways it feels like the band knew they had nothing else to prove and couldn't care less about conforming to musical styles; alternative rock, hard rock, metal, whatever!

The only criticism (if that) is that the album is too consistently good and no songs stand out. In fact, Cry of Achilles is such an incredible song that nothing else tops it. The album doesn't get better but it doesn't get worse either. Every single song here is a killer. My highlights would include, Cry of Achilles, Addicted to Pain (see the video below), Calm the Fire, Cry a River and Fortress.

This is an album that I can't stop listening to and I know I'll come back to again and again; an absolute delight.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Placebo - Loud Like Love (2013)

Placebo's seventh album will probably not make new fans and may disappoint some old fans but the album is refreshingly good, updating the band's sound, heading into a new direction, whilst remaining true to Placebo. The band has matured, it has softened but there's plenty to like here.

Album opener Loud Like Love is classic Placebo and it's a brilliant and catchy song. Too Many Friends is a beautiful piece of pop-rock music. Other songs worth mentioning are A Million Little Pieces, Begin the End and album closing Bosco. But the best song in the album must be Hold on to Me. Stuck towards the middle of the album, it shows the more introspective and mellow sound of the band and it's a resounding success; beautiful and uplifting. 

Overall, this is a solid effort from Placebo. Some songs offer more of the same and the feeling that you've heard this before but better creeps in. It must be said though that the album have no fillers. No song is a waste. I can't see myself fast forwarding any track, not now and not in the future.

Best of all though, the songs mentioned above are real standouts and point to a new direction; a band that is at its best when it gets introspective with a more mature, mellow, gentle and uplifting sound.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Ministry - From Beer to Eternity (2013)

Ministry are back again. The band seems to have more false endings than Peter Jackson's The Return of the King, but with an album like this, you will hear no complaint for me. From Beer to Eternity is quite simply the most varied album Jourgensen has put together under the Ministry name and it's superb.

The opening track Hail to His Majesty (Peasants) paves the way for what's to come. This is a more experimental Ministry that's not afraid to mix lots of elements in one song. Overall the album has a dirty sound, with dark sleaze grooves, electronica, incursions into reggae/dub and the pounding guitars that have become their trademark. 

It's hard to pick songs as the songs are very varied and this is an incredibly solid album. My personal favourites are, the Filth Pig era sounding Permawar, the angry brutal Fairly Unbalanced (a kick in the balls directed to Fox News) with The Horror as a dub-like epilogue, the surprising Lesson Unlearned and the two epics at the end (Thanx But No Thanx and Change of Luck) which make use of reggae and middle eastern sounds. 

Mike Scaccia, a long time guitarist for Ministry and according to Jourgensen the driving force behind the sessions that became this album, died three days after the recording sessions were done. It was left to Jourgensen to cobble the sessions together into a presentable form. I have to say that Mike Scaccia would be proud, this is Ministry at its best, unexpected, experimental, hard hitting and dirty.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks (2013)

Trent Reznor decided to resurrect NIN and Hesitation Marks is the result. Some fans may not be pleased by the new direction but it stays true to the NIN sound and at the same time goes in a completely new direction for the band.

The sound is decidedly electronic more than it has ever been since... well, since NIN's first album Pretty Hate Machine. The anger and abrasive heavy guitars are mostly gone here. 

This is NIN at its most dressed down, lean and minimalist. Of course, there's still plenty of complexity in the songs and layers of sounds and beats, but in general this is a very lean and often pop oriented album. Having said that, all the NIN trademarks are still present and the atmosphere is still oppressive.

This is a bold new direction for NIN and Hesitation Marks is an incredibly beautiful album, whether it's the incredibly addictive Copy of A, the dark and heavy beats of Came Back Haunted, the upbeat and poppy sounding Satellite, the album offers plenty of textures and colours, with one great song after the other.

But as usual with NIN, Hesitation Marks is more than a collection of great songs, it's a coherent and cohesive album that is as fascinating as some of the best work Reznor has done across the years.

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Tarja - Colours in the Dark (2013)

Tarja is back with a new album and a very strong album it is; but it won't please everyone. The songs move between straight forward symphonic metal, with progressive rock touches, a dash of electronica arrangements and pop sensibilities. Tarja's voice is warm, soothing, commanding and strong and she sounds great.

Depending on how you look at it, this is Tarja's fourth album (if you count her Christmas CD) or third (personally, I wouldn't count the Christmas album) and it feels like she's finally set herself free of people's expectations and is having fun exploring new sounds and textures. This is her more experimental album and it works.

Stand out songs include, the bombastic album opening Victim of Ritual, the straight forward and pop sounding 500 Letters, the crowd pleaser Never Enough and the stirring grand melodies of Deliverance. 

I should also mention Mystique Voyage a song that reminds me of Sarah Brightman and will probably go under the radar for most Tarja fans but I found really beautiful and the closing track Medusa which is probably too long and sweeping for metal fans but I found captivating.

Overall Tarja delivers a great fusion of symphonic bombast, progressive rock, pop sensibilities and a heavy metal sound. The songs are not as accessible as her previous two albums and there's a cloak of heavy darkness all throughout the album but this is a more mature sounding Tarja, with a more experimental sound and it works. 

Rating: Heavy Rotation

Sirenia - Perils of the Deep (2013)

Sirenia has been around for a long time. In fact, Sirenia main man Morten Veland was one of the founders of Tristania. The band has been too unstable in terms of band members and singers and this has affected their output, but this is the third album with singer Aylin and it's a killer. 

The album opens with a beautiful intro playing on classical music, opera and gothic sounds. The second track is Seven Widows Deep (see the video below), which is one of the highlights of the album and is a perfect example of all the best Sirenia has to offer. Brutal riffs, soaring vocals, strong harsh vocals, choral arrangements and symphonic flourishes. The song is heavy, dark and strong but also melodic and beautiful.

This is Sirenia's most varied album. It harks back to the sound of their older albums but also explores new ground. Ditt Endelikt fo instance is a surprisingly straight forward and uplifting rock song with catchy hooks and licks and Morten Veland singing clean. On the other hand Stille Kom Doden is a twelve minute long song with an assured doom tone that also delivers the most beautiful melodic passages of the album. 

Both Morten Veland and Aylin have obviously worked incredibly hard the last two years. The songs are top notch and Aylin's voice has grown enormously. This is a killer album that should make Sirenia fans happy but will also hopefully propel the band to the next level. They certainly deserve it. 

Rating: Heavy Rotation