Napalm Records

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Alestorm - Voyage of the Dead Marauder (2024)

    cover

    There is nothing like starting the day with some lighthearted and silly Pirate Metal, thankfully, Alestorm has been feeding our cravings for over 15 years. With “Voyage of the Dead Merauder”, the band unleashes five extremely playful and hilarious tracks of their signature music. The band has constantly polished their sound over the years and have gotten their craziness to a science, with all tracks being funky, funny, and expertly crafted and executed.

    Opening with the EP title track, we get a very lively Folky piece, featuring Patty Gurdy on the hurdy-gurdy and vocals. This track has a big Eluveitie vibe, however, the band’s pirateness is nicely embedded into the piece. Up next we have the superbly silly “Uzbekistan”, a tale of pirates in a landlocked country. This is a quite hilarious and well crafted piece with the band’s signature tempo changes and crazy festive heabanging/moshing passages.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Dragonforce - Warp Speed Warriors (2024)

    cover

    Needing no introduction, Dragonforce has been delivering waves of high-octane Power Metal over the years with a high emphasis on flair and technical brilliance. With “Warp Speed Warriors”, the band returns with their playful and superbly catchy style to deliver ten tracks and nearly 50 minutes of expertly crafted epic music filled with soaring vocal arrangements and technical wizardry.

    Opening with the engaging “Astro Warrior Anthem”, we quickly get Herman Li and Sam Totman racing off with soaring guitar leads alongside Gee Anzalone’s tight drumming. Thanks to Marc Hudson’s soaring lead vocals, tracks like “Power of the Triforce”, “Kingdom of Steel”, and “Burning Heart”, nicely have that superbly epic and intense vibe that is the signature style of the band. Filled with intricate details and a crystal clear production, all songs in this release are an aural experience on their own.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Suldusk - Anthesis (2024)

    cover

    Hailing from Australia, today we have Suldusk and their sophomore release “Anthesis”. Marking a transition from a Folk sound to Dark Folk with Blackgaze, Progressive and even some Doom influences, this release unleashes nine tracks of sublime music filled with raw emotion and mystery. For fans of more modern Post-Black Metal releases with a melancholic edge, this release will certainly catch many by surprise and take the scene by storm.

    Opening with the solemn “Astraeus”, the band quickly changes gears with the brutal initial onslaughts of “Verdalet”. Once the band settles in more melancholic territories, their stylistic duality is masterfully revealed. Emily Highfield’s vocals are just the right amount of sweet and mysterious to carry a very lush instrumentation including dramatic violins and intricate guitar melodies.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Persefone - Lingua Ignota: Part I (2024)

    cover

    After their very impressive 2022 release “Metanoia”, expectations were sky-high from Andorra’s Persefone. Since that release, the band went through a major change, losing vocalist Marc Martins Pia. However, one would imagine with the main core of the band that this EP, “Lingua Ignota: Part I” wouldn’t be too far from a departure from their original style.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Exit Eden - Femmes Fatales (2024)

    cover

    Oozing catchines and Symphonic power, today we have Exit Eden and their sophomore release “Femmes Fatales”. Being seven years in the making, this release delivers twelve tracks, six originals and six covers, all spanning almost one hour of superb music. Particularly catered for fans of Female-fronted Symphonic Metal, this release showcases the vocal talents of Clémentine Develay Thieux (Visions of Atlantis), Marina La Torraca (Phantom Elite), and Anna Brunner. With each one bringing their own uniqueness to highly dynamic and engaging music.

    Alternating one original song and one cover song, the release opens with the captivating energy of “Femme Fatale” and as it blends into the brilliant Pet Shop Boys cover of “It's a Sin”. While Amanda Sommerville is no longer with the band, Clémentine, Marina, and Anna do a great job in keeping things quite diverse and engaging and it also allows the listener to focus even more on what each brings to the table.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Therion - Leviathan III (2023)

    cover

    Finishing up their Leviathan trilogy, today we have Therion with “Leviathan III”, an excellent release that continues the band’s legacy as one of the premiere Symphonic Metal acts. Featuring eleven tracks and 52 minutes of superbly catchy music, this release is more than just another Therion release with plenty of memorable moments and unique songs.

    Opening with the magic of “Ninkigal” and the musicality of “Ruler of Tamag”, we are treated to the band’s brilliant mixture of heavy distorted guitars alongside lush orchestrations and choir arrangements. We particularly enjoy how songs like “An Unsung Lament” have that classical vibe with excellent vocal arrangements while still keeping things heavy and catchy. Many bands that attempt the genre over do it with overbearing symphonic elements, but Christofer Johnsson and company make balancing styles look easy.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Nervosa - Jailbreak (2023)

    cover

    Unleashing one of the most intense and crushing Thrash Metal releases of 2023, today we have Nervosa and their latest opus “Jailbreak”. Prika Amaral and company return with a vicious vengeance and deliver over 45 minutes of crazy fast and extremely crafty music, filled with epic riffs, blistering drumming, and hellish vocals. Perfectly balancing an old-school Thrash vibe with a modern and clean production, this album sounds like a million dollars while beating the listener into submission.

    Opening with the thunderous “Endless Ambition”, the band means business from the start. Filled with fast Thrashy riffs alongside crushing drumming, and Prika’s aggressive vocals, this track nicely sets a high-octane tone that is greatly amplified by intense pieces like “Suffocare”, “Ungrateful”, “Seed of Death”, and the blistering album title track that fires on all cylinders. The band perfectly brings an element of melody and explosiveness to the genre that only a handful of bands can deliver, as heard on “Sacrifice” and “Behind the Wall”.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Shining - Shining (2023)

    cover

    As polarizing of a person as Niklas Kvarforth is, his music is always full of raw and unadulterated emotion. With Shining’s self-titled release, the band continues its path of decadence into weirder and equally disturbing territories. With a (mostly) new line-up that includes additions such as Nick Barker on drums, Alex Friberg on bass guitar, and Charles Hedger on guitars, this album delivers over 50 minutes of chaotic and yet masterfully constructed music.

    Opening with the powerful “Avsändare okänd”, we get that slow and atmospheric pace that the band has mastered, with a mixture of harsh snarls, clean vocals, and furious onslaughts of harsh brutality. The dark vibe that the band has been creating over the years, is perfectly encapsulated in the lush “Snart är dom alla borta” with its jazzy undertones and dramatic lead guitars.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Crypta - Shades of Sorrow (2023)

    cover

    Following up an epic release such as “Echoes of the Soul”, is a hard job, luckily for us, Crypta manages to not only match the intensity but also surpass it with the killer “Shades of Sorrow”. Featuring 13 tracks and over 50 minutes of high-octane music, the band keeps leveling everything in their path to greatness.

    Leading with the pummeling “Dark Clouds” after a short intro, we are instantly incited to mosh and headbang with the blistering guitar work of Tainá Bergamaschi and Jéssica Falchi. Chuggy riffs, crafty drums, and hellish vocals mark tracks like “Poisonous Apathy”, “The Outsider”, and “Stronghold”. All filled with intense tempo changes and waves of old-school DM mixed in with epic melodies and throbbing bass guitar lines.

    • Posted By: Dark Emperor
    • Comments: 0

    Before the Dawn - Stormbringers (2023)

    cover

    Opening with the title track, the band immediately creates a splash with ravaging and superbly catchy guitars alongside Johannes Andersson’s characteristic snarl and thumping bass guitar lines. Quickly creating that heavy and yet melodic bombastic vibe, the band’s firing on all cylinders as things get catchier and darker with the playful “Axis Mundi”.

    Setting a mysterious and yet engaging modern vibe with the opener “The Dawn”, the band really sets back into their heavy and yet very melodic ways with “Destroyer”. As always, Tuomas and Juho Räihä are experts in creating catchy and engaging guitar driven melodies. However, the clean vocals are just not really ideal. Don’t get us wrong Paavo Laapotti is a good singer, but not the Before the Dawn singer we expected. I know we are a bit biased as we are huge Eikind fans, but always have an open mind. We like Finnish mopey vocals, like Mikko Heikkilä and Tuomas Tuominen, but these just don’t do it for us.That being said, we'll just focus the rest of the review on the music and harsh vocals.

Pages

Recent Image Galleries