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

The Pineapple Thief - Magnolia (2014)

Magnolia is The Pineapple Thief's tenth album and the first one in a long career to move to a more concise straight rock (though still containing progressive elements).

The album presents a good mix of moody alternative rock with an occasional metal edge and gentle, soothing melodies that evoke great emotion and beauty. Nevertheless, the album is at its best in the more rock oriented tracks.

Overall, this is a bold step away from their more expansive progressive sound and into more straight rock territory. Magnolia is a great rock album with beautiful melodies.

Highlights: Simple as That, Alone at Sea, Coming Home, The One You Left to Die, Sense of Fear.

Rating: Good Vibrations

Rise Against - The Black Market (2014)

The Black Market is an excellent punk-rock, melodic hardcore album that packs a punch but also offers a good amount of hooks and melodies with a more introspective angle than in the past.

Overall there's a lot of emphasis on melody. The songs are really catchy without ever falling into disposable pop-punk and the harder, faster side of the band in the past shining through at some points, like The Eco-Terrorist in Me. The Black Market is a really solid album from a well oiled, seasoned band with some stand out songs.

Highlights: The Great Die-Off, I Don't Want to Be Here, The Black Market, The Eco-Terrorist in Me and Awake Too Long.

Rating: Good Vibrations  

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