Eldritch Elitist
There is a youthful earnestness to Crimson Shadows’ music that has become increasingly difficult to come by, and the fact that they have picked up exactly where they left off a decade ago with a record this good speaks volumes of their enthusiasm in being true to themselves and the music they love.
10mo
II is such an impressive evolutionary leap for Cruce Signatus that even its micro adjustments impress. That each track now naturally blends into the next, eschewing the debut’s odd fades to total silence, is nearly as strong a signal of this project’s growth as its bold leaps into unprecedented emotional territory.
1y
The en-beefening of the band’s sound on Cosmicism grows more pronounced with Kadath; a riffier, more technically immediate record, and as large of an evolutionary step as one might expect following a lengthy gestation.
1y
This record doesn’t just confirm that Fellowship’s initial success was anything but a fluke; it assures me that they both understand and have preserved what made them so special in the first place.
1y
This is the first Legendarium record that I can easily recommend to basically any appreciator of traditional and melodic metal, and one which I anticipate being the ideal foundation upon which to further refine and propel their sound.
1y
After living with this album for some time, I came to the realization that Burning in Celestial Poison feels closer to the Black Curse imprinted in my mind following their debut than the Black Curse presented on that debut.
1y
It doesn’t reach its full potential for its entire runtime, but when firing on all cylinders, More Insane excels at grabbing the elements that make Undeath great and pulling them in unexpected and thrilling directions.
1y
Warp Speed Warriors is the most I’ve enjoyed a DragonForce record upon release since Maximum Overload dropped a full decade ago, and it pains me that I can’t further embarrass myself by granting it a higher score.
2y
Fun at the expense of all trends. Showdown’s crisp soundscape is a reflection of the revelry that permeates its songwriting from top to bottom, an addictiveness further bolstered by its brisk thirty-eight-minute runtime.
2y
The Awakening is a decently produced piece of modern power metal, glossy and bombastic without being blindingly synthetic, and largely devoid of irksome electronic elements.
3y
The Saberlight Chronicles finds success not in turning the genre on its head, but in fusing the best aspects of the modern power metal scene into a potent, maximalist brew.
3y
So few albums operate so bombastically or with such attention to detail, and far fewer manage both simultaneously.
3y
As a celebration of death metal – and as a celebration of its own gloriously unfettered existence – It’s Time… to Rise from the Grave is in a class all its own.
3y
Mega Colossus describes their sound as “adventure metal,” and while it really boils down to a hybrid of traditional, power, and thrash metal, I don’t find this descriptor kitschy or deceptive.
3y
Tales of Othertime is, truthfully, a fairly straightforward melodic and symphonic black metal record. Yet it’s so exceedingly rare for such a boilerplate record in this genre to captivate me on this level that I can’t deny that Stormkeep has created something truly special here.
3y
Truth be told, this was a tough write-up, but only because the entire record ended up being so engaging that delving too deeply into its mechanics would have undermined its listenability.
3y
Who knows in which new directions this coming decade’s versions of Ulcerate or Horrendous will innovate the genre, but to remain forever relevant, all Black Curse will ever need to be is Black Curse.
3y
From Hell with Love’s production is similarly starved for breathing room, sticking close to the standard, bombastic Nuclear Blast power metal sound. The record is far from unlistenable; just polished to a sugary, chrome-like sheen, the sonic equivalent of staring directly into the sun.
3y
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