Within Temptation - Resist

Hydra was severely disappointing, I don't think I could name more than one track from it, nor reproduce anything other than "faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster". And it wasn't (just) the fact that they abruptly turned pop, it was mostly the shallowness and repetitiveness of it all, there just simply wasn't anything to grasp on. Even Sharon was generic and bland for the most part, and I have no idea how you can take one of the most recognisable voices in the genre and do that to it. For this reason, I wasn't particularly interested in their new release, Resist. But because it's been a quiet season and because I didn't have anything to lose other than an hour of my life, I decided to give it a listen and I'm kind of glad I did. Not because it's a masterpiece or anything, but because it erased a bit of the sour taste Hydra and their live performance at Artmania left for me a few years ago.

Bucovina - Septentrion

Bucovina is not necessarily the most complex band in the world, but everything they write is so fluid and harmonious, with a good flow and most importantly, it gives me such a good feeling. I'm always enjoying myself when I listen to them, and Septentrion makes no exception. 

Conception, My dark symphony

This is going to be a short review, for an equally short release. I don't normally listen to EP's (I prefer to wait for the full album), but considering there doesn't seem to be a full album in sight and this is the first Conception release in 21 years and that the wonderful Roy Khan came out of the hole he's been hiding in for the past 8 years, I feel like this deserves my attention.