Symphonic Metal

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    Our Dying World - Hymns Of Blinding Darkness (2022)

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    Constantly evolving, American outfit Our Dying World returns with their latest release “Hymns Of Blinding Darkness”, with an engaging Symphonic/Gothic Metal sound. While not extremely polished and still a bit rough around the edges, this outfit delivers nearly 40 minutes of exciting music showcasing good skill and promising songwriting abilities.

    After setting the mood with the opener “Ars Moriendi”, the band unleashes “Everything We Know Is Gone”, a track that has a Dark Lunacy vibe, with additional Power/Symphonic Metal elements in the relentless guitar work and keyboards. This style works very well for the band as they deliver engaging songs like “Under The Hunter's Blade”, “Survivor”, and “Path Of The Nomad”.

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    Saphath - Ascension of the Dark Prophet (2022)

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    Creating a very unique mixture of Black/Death/Gothic Metal, today we have Russia’s Saphath and their debut full-length release “Ascension of the Dark Prophet”. Delivering over 44 minutes of music, the ten tracks in this release nicely blend elements from bands like Behemoth, Moonspell, Epica, Dark Tranquillity, and creates a very bombastic and engaging listening experience with tons of hidden details to discover.

    Opening with the lush “Children of the Night”, the band delivers vibrant guitars alongside a mixture of aggressive vocals and crafty tempo changes. The music is heavy, but with enough room to incorporate melodic passages and fierce guitar solos. This more melodic and bombastic nature comes front and center in pieces like “Outcast of Eden”, the gothic “Darkness Unleashed”, and the Moonspell-esque “Broken Mirror”. All tracks blend their influences quite well, and still manage to deliver a certain modern Metal edge as shown in “The Daughter of Ice Pains”.

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    Moonlight Haze - Animus (2022)

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    Fronted by the charismatic Chiara Tricarico, today we have a superbly bombastic release filled with Symphonic/Gothic and Power Metal elements titled “Animus”. As the third full-length release of Moonlight Haze, the band shows maturity and refinement in their style, delivering almost 45 minutes of catchy and engaging music

    Opening with “The Nothing”, we instantly get that lush and explosive vibe of bands like Nightwish, Visions of Atlantis, Epica, etc. However, what sets the band apart is Tricarico’s vocals and their own dynamism as shown in the dreamy “It’s Insane”, “Kintsugi” and its lush choral arrangements, and our personal favorite the cinematic “The Thief and the Moon”.

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    Nightland - The Great Nothing (2021)

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    With the barrage of promos we get each month, it is easy to lose track of under the radar releases that are quite interesting. Luckily for us, Nightland’s latest album “The Great Nothing” popped in our queue and hasn’t left after more than a dozen spins. Mixing Progressive elements with a Symphonic Death Metal core, this release unleashes over 47 minutes of highly polished and very engaging music that will appear to fans from bands like Sculptured, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Septicflesh, and Arcturus.

    The release opens with the crafty “The Conjunction of Benetnash” and its intricate guitar lines paired with dramatic choral arrangements. This opener sets a very intriguing mood as the band’s sound is still yet to fully unravel. With a more mellow approach “For Once My Name” introduces a nice mixture of harsh and clean vocals, having a very epic feeling, a bit like bands like Arcturus, but with a cleaner and more ethereal purpose.

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    Catalyst Crime - Catalyst Crime (2021)

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    Thanks to technology, bands like Catalyst Crime can ‘easily’ come together featuring an assortment of musicians around the world. Featuring members of bands like Xandria (drummer Gerit Lamm), Pyramze (keyboardist Jonah Weingarten) alongside Zoë Marie Federoff (ex-Insatia), this outfit delivers a very bombastic and explosive combination of Symphonic/Gothic Metal with cinematic elements, creating a very immersive and highly enjoyable release.

    With nearly 50 minutes of explosive music, the band quickly sets a lush and bombastic vibe with the opening intro. The band’s power-ballad game is strong as “Projection Of My Mind” nicely starts with a piano passage and explodes into a superbly catchy piece with killer keyboard solos and guitar solos, distinguishing them from the pack. The album’s first standout piece has to be the memorable “Condemn Me To Chaos”, a track that will sound quite familiar but will take you a bit to realize that it has the same melody as “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak but with some twists and turns.

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    Wizardthrone - Hypercube Necrodimensions (2021)

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    Unleashing one of the most over the top and yet brilliant Symphonic-whatever-Metal releases, today we have Wizardthrone and their debut full-length release “Hypercube Necrodimensions”. Featuring members from bands like Alestorm, Nekrogoblikon, Gloryhammer, and Æther Realm, this band creates a very explosive and lush Metal sound with tons of wacky influences and over the top orchestrations. Imagine Gloryhammer, Æther Realm, with a dose of Children of Bodom and Obscura, and you can almost approximate what this band sounds like.

    The release opens with the ravaging “Black Hole Quantum Thermodynamics”, perfectly blending dramatic orchestrations with heavy melodic guitars and a crafty use of harsh and clean vocals. The mood is set very epic from the start, and it never lets go as we can hear in the immersive “Frozen Winds Of Thyraxia” and the playful “Incantation Of The Red Order”, both tracks filled with killer guitar leads and well crafted tempo changes.

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    Imperia - The Last Horizon (2021)

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    As one of the first impressive singers in the early days of Symphonic/Gothic Metal, Helena Iren Michaelsen has always been one of our favorite singers since her days in Trail of Tears. Unleashing a double album with Imperia, we are treated to over 72 minutes of lush Symphonic Metal with “The Last Horizon”. With tons of different elements ranging from rock to folk, this release has certainly something for everybody.

    Opening with the lively, “Dream Away” sets a very epic and engaging vibe that is further developed and enhanced with killer songs like “Starlight”, the Doro-esque “To Valhalla I Ride”, and the explosive “Flower and the Sea”. Featuring dramatic arrangements, heavy riffs, and crafty atmospheric elements we are instantly attracted to dynamic songs like “Blindfolded” and “Only A Dream”.

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    Epica - Omega (2021)

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    Unleashing one of the most explosive and bombastic releases of 2021, today we have Epica and their latest opus “Omega”. Featuring over 70 minutes of music, this release capitulates on the band’s experience, execution, and expansive sound to deliver their strongest album to date. With all of their signature elements taken into a new level, this release is exactly what all fans are expecting.

    After setting a magical and mystical tone with the opening intro, the band’s explosive sound in “Abyss of Time - Countdown to Singularity” perfectly delivers their well-balanced bombastic sound with rich classical arrangements and crushing distorted guitars. One of the band’s virtues is how they can create very playful tracks while pitting the sweetness of Simone’s vocals against Marc’s growls and aggressive riffs, as crafted in “The Skeleton Key”.

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    Everdawn - Cleopatra (2021)

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    Hailing from the USA, today we have Everdawn and their lush Symphonic Metal sound. In “Cleopatra”, the band delivers eleven tracks and over 48 minutes of majestic music that could be comparable to any of the European heavy hitters for the genre. Featuring Mike LePond (Symphony X) on its ranks, this band is a new blank slate spawning from Midnight Eternal. Filled with crafty ideas and dramatic arrangements, this release is of high quality and great entertainment value.

    Opening with the heavy hitting “Ghost Shadow Requiem”, the band sets a very regal and engaging atmosphere thanks to the lush keyboards and intricate guitar work. Vocalist Alina Gavrilenko does a great job delivering remarkable vocal melodies from the opener, and as the band unleashes unparalleled catchiness and craftiness in pieces like “Stranded in Bangalore”, “Cleopatra”, and the mysterious “Your Majesty Sadness”.

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    Sirenia - Riddles, Ruins & Revelations (2021)

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    Being one of our favorite bands we might be a bit impartial, but Sirenia keeps getting better and better with time. Unleashing over 50 minutes of superbly bombastic and explosive Symphonic/Gothic Metal, “Riddles, Ruins & Revelations'' is probably our favorite album from the band. All of the eleven tracks in this release are superbly crafted, making them highly memorable and intoxicating.

    Opening with the absolutely brilliant “Addition No. 1”, the band instantly delivers waves of lush symphonic arrangements, heavy distorted guitars, and one hell of a brilliant hook, reminding us of the song “Wicked Game”. If the opener was not epic enough, the dramatic introduction of “Towards an early Grave” gives a certain dance/techno vibe mixed with the band’s signature aggressive and yet very melodic riffs.

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