Rating: 3/5
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Sure, venture for the finest hooks possible, but know what you’re searching for, and “Red Silent Tides” may not be the best place to troll.

Rating: 3.5/5
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As of this post, Crystal Viper hold the top slot with NWoTHM emerging from Poland in the 21st century.

Rating: 4/5

I have now heard the album many times and I like it more with each listen. “For Aeons Past” is closer to the Scar Symmetry sound that so many of us grew to love, much closer than that band’s first post-Älvestam output, “Dark Matter Dimensions”.

Rating: 2.5/5

Big Ball is a German band that has a very, very strong AC/DC influence in their sound. At first, I thought that they were a glorified cover/club band but after a few listens, it may be fair to say that they just enjoy aping the AC/DC sound in more of a manner of tribute than out-right ripoff.

Rating : 4/5

Destruction is a dominating top predator that still sounds hungry as a ferocious upstart eager to earn its place. For those who have yet to experience the German gargantua live, consider this an invitation.

The North American release of “Festival” is only a week away!

The best German power metal band named after ‘a spontaneous group discussion to produce ideas and ways of solving problems’ (so says my computer’s dictionary) are back! Twenty years and eight albums later, they have solidified as premier leaders of the genre.

Doro – “Fear No Evil” released February 3, 2009 on AFM Records Though the German siren has been proudly belting out power metal for over a quarter century now (as evidenced in the track “25 Years”), her voice has aged well. You can hear how she is adept at both gritty battle calls (the lead track, which brings to mind her original band, Warlock), and tender croons (5, which is also sung in her native tongue). The album fails to succeed as a whole because she is all you hear half the time, as her band is buried in [...read more]