Paradise Lost – Medusa

After a most awaited “return to the roots” album with The plague within, it seems that Paradise Lost went all in into the world of gothic doom with a bleak and depressing Medusa. Apparently the fans weren’t the only ones over the moon with excitement as far as Beneath broken earth was concerned, but also the band itself, as Medusa picks up right where Beneath broken earth left us.

Lacrimosa – Testimonium

The last time I wrote about Lacrimosa, I was saying it's a band I have very mixed feelings about, that it has moments of brilliance and then moments where it loses me completely. Since then, I realised that Lacrimosa is an acquired taste, something that takes time to "get", but once you get it, it's hard to stop the admiration from pouring. So after falling in love with Hoffnung, I started going back to their old albums, started loving them too and now I'm just over the moon with happiness over how awesome Testimonium is.

Eluveitie, Evocation II

After the departure of almost half of the band and an Origins that was slightly less inspired than their previous albums, I was getting a bit worried about Eluveitie's future. However, if Evocation II proves anything, it's that there were less than zero reasons for me to worry, apparently these guys are some resourceful and determined artists. 

Iced Earth – Incorruptible

I never realised how much I was missing a straightforward badass heavy metal album until I listened to Iced Earth’s new release. Six years and three albums later after the departure of the iconic Matt Barlow, the band is still going strong and has managed to keep much of its original sound, without growing stale or boring.

Gojira, Arenele Romane, 04.07.17

I still have the chant of „GO-JI-RA GO-JI-RA” ringing in my ears. It was such a fun night, even though Gojira is not a particularly fun band (they’re more on the serious spectre). But more about that a bit later.

Firma – Descantece vol. II

I am so glad to see Firma back on track! After a rather long break, that many people thought was the end of this band, they came back in force with Descantece vol. I and I couldn’t be happier to know that it wasn’t a one time event and that they seem decided to regularly put out albums once more. So Descantece vol. II is out and it’s pretty much the same Firma we know and love and of course that makes me one over-excited fangirl.

Ayreon - The Source

I am the first one to admit I’m a giant un-objective Arjen fangirl and that I will be mega-excited about anything this guy puts out, no matter the label it’s under. Also that his “guess the vocalist” pre-album games on Facebook are the most effective teaser he could ever lay on me and the amount of amazing singers on this album alone would make me over the top excited, if there was any need for more of that. So now that we have established how long, unnecessarily detailed and completely biased and praising this review will be, away we go.

Doom over Bucharest III, Club Quantic, 29.04.2017

The third edition of Doom over Bucharest got us out of the house on a dark Saturday night and took us to our favourite concert location, Quantic pub. It was the same as always, space, air, beer, relaxed people, the female singer of Clouds sitting on our table during the previous acts and most people not realising it's her until she got up on the stage, some drunk dude from the audience getting on stage during the show and no one even batting an eyelid, just waiting for the song to end so he'll get down on his own... must be a club concert. 

Pain of salvation - Entropia

Since this has been a slower month in terms of albums I'm truly interested with, I'm going to share some thoughts about my new-found love, Pain of Salvation's Entropia. I guess it's no secret by now that In the passing light of day brought back a severe POS obsession, so I've been listening and listening and listening ever since, and so I discovered that there was one album that I was missing, and that was Entropia. 

Firma, Hard Rock Cafe, 10.03.2017

Oh God I love this band! When I was in high school, I used to have a giant crush on Rocca. Fast forward 15 years and I still have a giant crush on Rocca....'s voice. I always enjoyed Romanian alternative rock and I love most of the classics of this genre, but Firma always has and always will hold a special place for me. And as it is with most local bands, up until last night, I still hadn't seen them live, for some strange reason. 

Jethro Tull, Sala Palatului, 21.02.2017

Exactly how badass can a dude with a flute be? The answer was found the other night at Sala Palatului, where Ian Anderson showed how one can carry a concert with nothing but a truckload of talent. 

Pain of salvation – In the passing light of day

Every once in a while my ears and my soul are lucky enough to be graced with an album that I instantly love and that I keep loving more and more with each listen. In the passing light of day is one of those rare records. Pain of salvation have always been an emotionally intense and compelling band, but with this record it seems like Daniel poured even more of himself than usual. After his brush with death due to a very aggressive bacteria and the subsequent recovery, he created a sort of concept album based on that experience and the turmoil he went through and this naked vulnerable reflection of himself into music is absolutely fascinating. Overall it’s a more aggressive album (what some have called “return to the roots”), but at the same time it’s more intimate and the calmer moments have a special gentleness.

Epica - The holographic principle

After the nuisance that their previous album turned out to be, I was determined to stay away from this band. However, I made the mistake or reading and most of all trusting the reviews and gave it a try. I lost an hour of my life, I gained some laughs... I suppose it’s a decent trade in the end. I won’t be repeating the experience any time soon, though, as it seems that Epica fans have a short memory and keep saying that the current album is the best of their career, where they show maturity and creativity and some other stuff they’ve never actually shown, on this album or anywhere else. I expect the next one will also be praised as the peak of their career, just like this one and the previous and the one before that, and it will still be the same pretentious crap that they always put out. Heh...

Sirenia - Dim days of dolor

After Morten discovered (or better said rediscovered) his talent on the previous album and I noticed that since they have a good songwriter now, all they need is a good singer, it seems like decided to fully upgrade themselves and replaced Ailyn with someone who actually knows how to sing. The result? An honourable album that makes me glad I didn’t give up on this band.

Dark Tranquillity - Atoma

I’m not generally a fan of melodic death metal, nor of genres that rely almost exclusively on harsh vocals, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t come off as the most knowledgeable person in this matter. However, Dark Tranquillity is one of the few bands of this genre that managed to get me hooked, as it doesn’t display any of the traits that usually put me off it. It’s a special brand of melo-death, a more mellow and atmospheric one, with less aggressiveness and more melody and emotion.