Apocalyptica, Shadowmaker

I took some time off Apocalyptica lately because the few songs I heard from their last albums didn’t make the best impression, but this week I became curious to see what they were up to. So I found out that they now have a permanent lead singer, that they’re still pretty much on the same path they started with Worlds Collide and that their new album makes me a sad camper. Shadowmaker could be easily split into three: Apocalyptica, Nickelback with cellos and Nickelback without cellos, and don’t ask me how you can have an Apocalyptica song without cellos, because I haven’t figured that out yet, it’s like having a Van Canto song with guitars.

Kamelot, Haven

After a transition album with a new lead singer and after hearing what wonders said new lead singer can do with his voice in Ayreon, I was pretty curios about what Haven would bring to the table. Sadly the answer was “the same old potato salad, with some dressing on the side to make it seem like it’s another dish”, if you want to remain in the culinary scene...

Romanian Rock Meeting, Arenele Romane, 14-18.05.15

Romanian Rock Meeting started as a Blind Guardian concert plus some opening bands, became a festival with a second day (actually first) of concerts in Club Colectiv and then again changed and became an opportunity to promote the young(er) Romanian metal bands as the access was free in Club Colectiv. I really respect Maximum Rock for all their work on the metal scene in Romania, their events are always well organised, they have their annual contest for young metal bands which they later try to include in the larger concerts as opening acts and they generally have a professional attitude all around and seem to be doing things because of a real passion, instead of doing them simply for the money, so I always attend their events with positive expectations.

Sirenia, The seventh life path

First of all, what is it with these number titles? At sixes and sevens, Nine destinies and a downfall, The 13^th floor? And what is it with this ridiculous obsession with the number “seven”? (no, I’m not going to start listing all their seven-containing titles, that would take more time than I care to invest)

Gentle Storm, The diary

Being a huge fangirl of Arjen and of Anneke and being delighted by their live show I attended a few weeks ago, you can imagine how excited I was about their new project, Gentle Storm. The diary is a beautiful spread of forces, with emotion and complexity, wonderful vocals and a captivating story, as Arjen always manages to create, but as amazing as certain parts are, there are other moments where the album falls a bit short (sometimes in surprising areas).