Sonata Arctica - The ninth hour

Sonata Arctica is a band I have a rather complicated relationship with. I love a lot of power metal bands, but all of them are the ones that somehow break the boundaries of this genre and also use symphonic or progressive elements. At the opposite poles are the artists that rely on the same tractored riff, ridiculously long and artificial guitar solos and have this rather dumb (or shallow, to put it more mildly) musical positivity on top of lyrics that usually refer to dramatic themes. Sonata Arctica is both of those bands, depending on how the Sun shines on Jupiter or something, because one moment it can bore me to tears and the next it's so nice and lovely. And then it has Tony...

Doom over Bucharest II, Club Quantic, 26.11.16

After not catching on quick enough that the first doom-themed festival in Bucharest will be sold out weeks before the show, this time we decided to buy tickets so far back that we weren’t even sure who was playing. We saw A dream of Poe there and it was enough.

Opeth - Sorceress

After two reviews full of superlatives for Heritage and Pale Communion, I guess it's finally time to tone down a bit the Opeth fangirlism for Sorceress. It doesn't mean that Sorceress is a bad album, Opeth could make better albums than 80% of the music that's out there in their sleep, I think they're incapable of writing a bad record. It's just that it's not as brilliant as some of their previous works. What can I say, they set high standards for themselves... Then again, this being Opeth, I might change my mind after a few more spins, it seems that no matter how many times I listen to their albums, there's always more to discover and more to love.

Orphaned Land & Amaseffer - Kna'an

Ah, they’re still fine! After an All is one that made me wonder if they aren’t placing their ambassadorial role above their musicians’ role and especially after the departure of Yossi, their main composer, I was starting to get a bit worried about Orphaned Land’s future. Fortunately, this new album is here to erase all my doubts and put my mind to ease, as the lovely Israelis put out yet another great record. And while it's a collaboration and not their sole work, I do count it as an Orphaned Land album because their print is undeniable. I can't say I'm very familiar with Amaseffer so I'm not sure how much they bring to the table, but most of the songs are typical OL and have everything I love them for. There are some innovations and departures from the style we know them for, but from what I know of Amaseffer it doesn’t sound like them either, so I suppose it’s just a natural progression from both bands together, not just influencing one another. In any way, with just one unfortunate exception we’ll talk about later, it sounds very good.

Warrel Dane, Hard Rock Cafe, 13.09.16

“Just let us play the fucking song!” Ah, Warrel, such a treat! When he announced that he will play the full Dead heart in a dead world album, I expected emotion, angst and a heartbreaking burden. We got that alright, but we also got a very positive and jovial Warrel Dane. For a man who sings about despair and madness, he really doesn’t take himself very seriously, and it was exactly this unexpected combination that made the show enjoyable. But let’s start with the beginning.

Sabaton, The last stand

This summer was pretty disappointing in terms of new records and good shows, so I took a break because there was nothing I was interested in writing about. But it seems like autumn is starting in a promising way and just looking at the upcoming releases makes me twitch with joy. First stop - Sabaton.

Grand Magus, Sword Songs

Take charge and commaaaaaand!!! That would be Grand Magus in a nutshell.  A band with clear connections and respect towards the past, whether we’re talking about the Black Sabbath-like doom of their first few albums, or about the Iron Maiden-inspired heavy metal of their current albums, they are definitely a sight for sore eyes (a sound for sore ears?) in the world of contemporary metal. With a constancy and balance that few of the lesser known bands have been able to achieve, Grand Magus are like a train that doesn’t slow down or stop, in their career in general, and on this album in particular.

Crematory, Monument

Crematory’s new album Monument has been advertised by the band as a return to the roots, with a heavier and darker sound than on the last few albums. Now, I admit that I haven’t been paying much attention to their newer albums and the Crematory I’m familiar with is the older one, so I can’t quite make the comparison, but to my ears it doesn’t sound as heavy and as dark as what I was used to. I guess they have to say stuff like that to market the album, so I take it with a grain of salt.

Stelele Rock-ului Romanesc, Arenele Romane, 16.04.2016

This Saturday was a good day to be a fan of Romanian rock and metal, as the „stars” of the genre gathered to Arenele Romane to entertain the fans and prove once again that Romanian rock is not dead (it’s cute that from time to time a group of artists and/or promoters feels the need to do that, even though we all clearly know it’s not dead, judging by concert attendance in general). Anyway, I’m not complaining, the more the better.

Van Canto, Voices of fire

Ah, Van Canto, never change, no matter what countless of random people on the Internet tell you.

Signed,

Random person on the Internet

Oceans of slumber, Winter

Oceans of Slumber were already a promising band with their debut album Aetherial, but when they uploaded the videos with their new singer, Cammie Gilbert, I simply fell in love (and had the Candlemass cover on repeat for a few days). It was a bold and unusual decision to change their male lead singer with a female one, but I think they made an excellent choice, since Cammie is fantastic. Her voice is deep, soulful, sensual and full of personality and versatility. Also, she saves puppies in her free time (truly, she’s a volunteer for a wildlife protection center and since I have a soft spot for people who love animals, it makes me appreciate her even more).

Myrath, Legacy

I like and respect Myrath a lot. There may be tons of bands in their part of the world that sound like that, but along with Orphaned Land, they are the only band I know to become somewhat big using such a huge influence from a culture that isn't exactly prevalent, neither in Europe, nor in metal. And you know how I feel about band with folk elements, especially when they're not playing folk-metal per se. So naturally, I was curious to hear their new album, especially since it's been some time since the previous one.

Bucovina, Nestramutat

Incape intr-o vorba - Even though it has become quite the cliche to have an epic spoken or orchestral intro, I’m still a sucker for this kind of calm, yet thundering and dignified voice that narrates epic stuff