Rating: 4/5
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To me, stoner rock conjures images of desert scenes and/or longhaired dudes with auto fetishes. Norway’s Lonely Kamel aims to change your perception with plenty of slow, smokey riffs from frigid northern fjords.

Rating: 4/5
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Cheers to Falkenbach for creating yet another great album that stays true to their unique sound.

Rating: 3/5
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With mixed emotions on initial spins, I decided to give “The Rise of the Heraldic Beasts” a shot while test-running my recent NES purchase of Rampart ($4 CIB!), just so I could really get medieval on this album. You see, Jaldaboath alternately calls their music “Hammering Heraldic Metal”, Crusader-core” or “Tumultuous Teutonic Templar Thrash” (according to Encyclopaedia Metallum) and like one of their main influences, Monty Python, it’s all very silly.

Rating: 3/5
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Let’s get this out of the way: the album title is contrived overwrought silliness, as is the artwork. But do the Danes have the music to match? This is their sixth try in a decade, and while they appreciably stay on the darker side of power metal, I seldom seek them out. I actually wish “Metalmorphosized” was composed the way it’s titled, because the tunes themselves are underwrought.

Rating: 3.5/5
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Anyone into classic power metal—or… well… “Braveheart”—should enjoy this album. Grave Digger are not a band to be ignored, even with (and due in part to) their 30 years of burying the naysayers (pun? intended?). My only suggestion for future albums is to opt for actual instruments instead of relying so heavily on H.P.’s keyboards.

Rating: 4.5/5
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It sounds as if Monster Magnet is trying to get back to their roots and they pulled it off well. If you like the Riotgod album and enjoy bands such as Kyuss and Knut, you’ll appreciate this.

Rating: 4/5

“Ascending in Triumph” starts off strong and only really starts to get repetitive with three of the last four songs. It is certainly an album that you’d want to listen to from start to finish, and a Best of 2010 pick!

Rating: 2/5

Altogether, “Mulmets Viser” is impressive considering the circumstances. I can see a lot of rising potential with this group in albums to come. Cheers!

Rating: 3.5/5

Heidevolk is still a solid band that I’d recommend to just about anyone, but they didn’t reach their full potential with this album.

Rating : 4.5/5

These guys really got everything dialed: the tone, the interplay, the lack of pretense. You can enjoy Karma to Burn on small speakers or huge; as background music or consumed by headphones; with joint, chillum, or straight (no chaser). However you take ‘em, they sink to the bone.