Dutch natives, Epica are releasing their second EP – Epica vs Attack on Titan (Nuclear Blast) —based on the Japanese anime series Attack on Titan. The band recorded the EP last summer and released it in Japan last December. Now, the rest of the world will finally be able to get an earful of pure symphonic metal. Attack on Titan, the series, has seen a vast success since its release in 2009 and Epica have achieved a wonderful job on their covers of the Japanese comic series. Continue reading
Canadian power metal band Into Eternity shared a brand new song ‘Fringes Of Psychosis’, their first new music in over five years. The track features solos from ex-Megadeth guitarist Glenn Drover and vocal performances by Eyam vocalist Chuck Labossier. The song comes from their forthcoming new album, Sirens, due out on due out on August 3rd.Continue reading
In this edition of our Reviews Round-Up, our fearless Editor Steve Tovey takes on some new and recently released albums to see if they pass the smell test.
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If you break Exmortus down into its finer components they should really stand as one of the biggest bags of fun you can have on record. Take some Kreator style Thrash (paying particular attention to latter-day) with pure old school Heavy Metal love and even a dash of Power Metal and you should get the biggest grin and craving for cold beer. Should being the operative word, because latest album The Sound Of Steel (Prosthetic), despite having some decent moments, never quite seems to reach the levels of battle cry that is hoped for. Continue reading
Having spent more than two decades developing the Progressive Power Metal and conceptual universe of Ayreon, creator and visionary Arjen Lucassen recently celebrated the very best of his project by releasing a live album and DVD. The Dutch multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter spoke to Ghost Cult about the grandiose Ayreon Universe (Music Theories/Mascot Group).Continue reading
Although they’ve been around since 1986 (or 1972 if you wish to include their previous incarnation, Cacumen), German act Bonfire have always had to live in the shadow of fellow countrymen and hard rockers Scorpions and Accept. Even with fifteen studio albums to their name, plus numerous compilation and live releases, the band has only ever achieved a limited, but steady amount of success.
With decades of personnel changes, reunions, and legal wranglings behind them, and with only guitarist Hans Ziller remaining as the band’s original member (and even he left the band for seven years after being fired in 1989), Bonfire’s latest line-up still manages to deliver the goods with their new record Temple of Lies (AFM).
Opening with a short, narrated, introduction, the bluesy guitar and neoclassical piano of ‘In the
Beginning’ sounds like something Manowar would come up with if asked to produce a beer commercial. Next up is the title track, a great song powered by a strong riff, dominated by the high pitched wailing vocals of new frontman Alex Staahl, and containing a chorus of which many a European Power Metal band would be proud.
The Dokken-esque ‘On The Wings of an Angel’ and ‘Stand or Fall’ are a little lighter but no less catchy, and with a very eighties title for a very eighties song, ‘Feed the Fire’ is slow, but solid foot-tappy goodness. ‘Comin’ Home’ is standard power ballad material and probably goes on a bit too long, while ‘I’ll Never Be loved By You’ is a slightly heavier ballad with big eighties hooks and a pleasant aroma of Meat Loaf.
“You’ve been down this road before” sings Staahl on the faster paced ‘Fly Away’. Well, yes we have actually. Many times in fact, but it’s still good though. ‘I Help you Hate Me’ is a great little song with a headbangy, foot-stampy riff, but because of its reggae influence, automatically draws comparisons to the Scorpions’ superior ‘Is There Anybody There?’, and closing cut ‘Crazy Over You’ finishes the album in reasonable, but less than stellar fashion.
A worthy addition to the band’s back catalogue, Temple of Lies may not be Heavy Metal heaven, but it contains more than its fair share of highly creditable material and is certainly one of the strongest records the band has put out for many a year.
7.0/10
GARY ALCOCK
With previous vocalist Roy Khan firmly in their rearview mirror (the band’s former singer himself recently announcing a return to the music scene in a solo capacity after a break of seven years), Floridian Power Metal act Kamelot keep to their tried and trusted formula for latest release The Shadow Theory (Napalm). As well as being the band’s twelfth full-length studio album, their third with Swedish frontman Tommy Karevik, this release also marks the end of the line for long-serving drummer Casey Grillo, who left in February.Continue reading
If you are familiar with Ayreon, you will probably know that these collaborative works of music are the brainchild of the somewhat reclusive Arjen Anthony Lucassen, and are rarely – if ever – performed live. September 2015 saw the presentation of The Theater Equation, four shows in which the album The Human Equation (Inside Out) was performed in its entirety in front of a live audience. While this was a successful endeavour, we had been assured for years that there would never be a live ‘best of’ performance of Ayreon.Continue reading
In a lot of ways, no one in a band has more pressure on them night in and night out than a lead singer. In the case of Marc Lopes, he was bred for this job, being a veteran of several metal bands running the gamut of old school and modern styles. Marc recently put an album out with his band Let Us Prey, The Saint Of All Killers, and it just slays (imagine if Lamb Of God played power metal like Blind Guardian). He is also the lead singer for heavy metal legends Ross The Boss, bringing the music of Manowar and other RTB originals to the masses nightly. With new tour dates kicking off this week and new music on tap, Ghost Cult editor Keefy caught up with Marc at Fete Music Hall, in Providence RI where we talked about all of Marc’s bands, playing in front of 70,000 people at Wacken Open Air, the upcoming new Ross The Boss album, and the power of pizza! Photos and videography by Omar Cordy and Heather Wilkerson.Continue reading
OK, it’s time for a confession. Up until now (and with the Cardinal sin of not actually finding the time to hear a note) I have always thought of Tengger Cavalry (and perhaps overlooked them as a result) as simply a typical Folk Metal band. Maybe it is them being sold as having Mongolian instrumentation and influences, maybe it was album imagery evoking battles, insignia and even horses, or perhaps the band’s attire or a combination of, I’m not entirely sure, but with latest effort Cian Bi (Napalm), it only took a couple of songs in to prove just how wrong I was!The truth is Tengger Cavalry are a fascinating hybrid of accessible Metal elements with some, at times, pretty barmy delivery.Continue reading