01. Dark Frozen World 02:12 02. Sea of Fate 04:49 03. Crystal Moonlight 04:25 04. Reign of Terror 06:52 05. Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio 06:26 06. Raging Starfire 04:56 07. Lost in Cold Dreams 05:14 08. On The Way to Ainor 06:59 09. The Frozen Tears of Angels 11:17

It’s been far, far too long since there was a new Rhapsody of Fire album. Something like four years, even, since the Italian masters of epic power metal brought out new material. So it’s with no little expectation that the musical world greets ‘The Frozen Tears of Angels’, the band’s eighth album - but boy, is it worth the wait.

Just to clear up any lingering confusion, Rhapsody of Fire are in fact the same band as Rhapsody, who brought us madcap epic/speed metal classics such as “Knightrider of Doom”, “Dawn of Victory” and “Dargor, Shadowlord of the Black Mountain”. Starting with 2006‘s ‘Triumph or Agony’ album, they’ve had that “of Fire” appended to their name due to “trademark issues”, which hasn‘t confused anyone whatsoever… Since then, however, the band have had an enforced absence from music following yet another copyright battle, this time with Man’O’War bassist Joey DeMaio and his Magic Circle Music label…so it’s really only now that Rhapsody of Fire, freshly signed to Nuclear Blast, have been unleashed upon the musical world.
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The sacred grounds of Donington Park are opened once more for Download Festival 2010. The sun is shining, the beer is flowing and Nottingham mentalists Lawnmower Deth (5/5) are getting the party started with some comical thrash silliness. A crowd-surfing race to the back of the marquee and back is truly a wonderful sight to behold, as is a conga line instead of a circle pit and a giant rabbit throwing out carrots. Of course, these antics are interspersed with anti-seminal tracks including ‘Watch Out Grandma, Here Comes A Lawnmower’ and ‘Satan’s Trampoline’. This is the sort of thing you want at a festival; a band who are enjoying themselves as much as the punters. Meanwhile, metalcore brutes Killswitch Engage (4/5) tear shit up on the main stage, vocalist Howard Jones sounding as well and as on-form as he did before his recent absence. Their dedication of ‘Holy Diver’ to the late great Ronnie James Dio is one of those classic, spine-tingling Donington moments. Coheed And Cambria’s (3/5) set is less memorable, but Sideshow Bob… erm, Claudio Sanchez guitar-smashing antics make it worth watching alone. Them Crooked Vultures (1/5) prove to be as dull live as they are on record, falling into pretentious jam sessions and lazy songs that don’t live up to their subheadliner position. Perhaps it’s just a case of bad booking, as they were only ever intended to be a side project, but the biggest WOW-factor about them remains that they feature a man who played on ‘Stairway To Heaven’. And even that doesn’t help much. Bullet For My Valentine (2/5) aren’t much better; their crowd is more loyal and appreciative, but these sub-par metal songs aren’t wholly memorable. But do you know what is memorable? AC/DC (5/5) at Donington. The show features the same setlist and spectacle as their last tour, but that one is now seeing these antics – a giant inflatable Rosie, a Rock ‘n’ Roll Train smashing through the stage and the unstoppable Angus Young soloing tirelessly from a raised platform – at the definitive location, at the Mecca of Metal, makes it a breath-taking, truly inspiring performance.
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01. Don’t Stop the Sandman 02. We Will Kickstart Your Rhapsody 03. Crazy Girl 04. Voices in the Jungle 05. Here Comes the Fool You Wanted 06. Shook Me Like a Prayer 07. Straight to Rock City 08. Prayin’ for a Sweet Weekend 09. Heaven and Heaven 10. Breakin’ the Love 11. I Love Sugar on Me 12. Round and Separated 13. Dreaming of a Whole Lotta Breakfast

‘OHHHHH YERRR’ says I as the opening track ‘Dont Stop the Sandman’ flies through the speakers at 300mph, hitting the listener directly in the face. Rock Sugar, in my eyes, are a very comical band rather than metal. Can you really imagine Metal and Pop combining as one to make awesome music? Not really, but it works. You’ve got everything on this album - From Ozzy to Bon Jovi, Motley Crue to Queen and even KISS to Journey. You are sure to have one hell of a good party when listening to this album.

I am a true metal head/mosher, whatever you want to call it, but from the moment I put Reimaginator on I was truly blown away at how much fun and how party pop like it is. It’s true when I say that all the musicians in Rock Sugar can play their instruments, and can play them bloody good. The album is filled up with thirteen excellently constructed and well played tracks which get the listener jumping up down to the crazy metal beat-downs while singing like a drunk to pop hits. Absolutely EPIC!
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01. Samadhi Prelude 01:27 02. Resign to Surrender A New Age Dawns Part IV 06:19 03. Unleashed 05:48 04. Martyr of the Free Word 05:03 05. Our Destiny 06:00 06. Kingdom of Heaven A New Age Dawns Part V 13:35 07. The Price of Freedom Interlude 01:14 08. Burn to a Cinder 05:41 09. Tides of Time 5:34 10. Deconstruct 04:14 11. Semblance of Liberty 05:42 12. White Waters 04:44 13. Design Your Universe A New Age Dawns Part VI 09:29 14. Incentive 04:14

Design Your Universe is the fourth studio release from Dutch symphonic metal sextet Epica. Released in 2009, Design Your Universe sees Epica take a slightly darker path than in previous releases: the growls are more frequent and the black metal shredding and blast beat drums are more pronounced. Fans of the traditional Epica sound need not despair though as front woman and operatic mezzo-soprano Simone Simons remains centre stage, defying the black metal onslaught with mighty lungs and melody at the forefront. This blend of heaviness and soaring melody has set Epica apart from many of their contemporaries in the crowded European symphonic/gothic metal genre and Design Your Universe sees them tighten their grip on the symphonic metal crown.

Recorded in early 2009, existing members Simone Simons (vocals), Mark Jansen (guitar), Yves Huts (bass), Ariën van Weesenbeek (drums) and Coen Janssen (keyboards) were joined by new lead guitarist Isaac Delaheye, replacing Ad Sluijter who departed in 2008. Former God Dethroned axeman Delahaye has to wait until after orchestral and choral prelude Samadhi to make his presence felt. The ‘proper’ album opener Resign to Surrender continues the choral theme for a time before blasting into some top quality black metal riffage. Full synthesised orchestration battles for dominance with super energetic and tight drumming, pummelling bass work and seven string guitar shredding as well as Jansen’s backing snarls and Simons’ ethereal voice. Delaheye’s black metal influence resurfaces from the wonderfully melodious noise in a blistering solo and crunching lead guitar parts. The technical guitar work: stringskipping, sweeps and diminished arpeggios show off yet another weapon in the Epica arsenal.
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01. Ghost Town 04:56 02. From the Abyss 04:25 03. Creating Our Machine 02:53 04. Blood on Wood 03:26 05. In A World So Cruel 03:31 06. Manifestations 03:06 07. Voices Within The Walls 03:48 08. The Darkest Eyes 03:37 09. Fear In The Sky 05:43

Hey, remember that guy Richard Christy? Used to be the drummer in Death and then Iced Earth, before effectively dropped off the metal radar and went off to be a celebrity on the Howard Stern Show in the USA? Well, he’s back. Charred Walls of the Damned is Christy’s heavy metal supergroup, and after almost five years away from music, this self-titled debut album provides a pretty strong reminder of the man.

Of course, it’s a risky business, the Supergroup - they often fail to live up to expectations, and inevitably fall apart when the parent bands have reunions. Attempting to break this trend by working not only with the very best, but with former band-mates, Christy has brought along former Iced Earth colleague Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, who really begs no introduction. Just in case you need one, though, he used to be in Judas Priest too and currently tours with Yngwie Malmsteen. Yeah, he’s quite good.
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01. Birth 6:11 02. You Better Be Dead 3:43 03. Quake 5:46 04. Redemption 4:42 05. Mute 3:42 06. Pyroclastic Storms 4:36 07. Deceived 4:12 08. Demonride 3:23 09. Hate 4:29 10. Tears 2:20

Here’s a question: what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the term ‘metal’?
a) A chemical element, compound, or alloy characterised by high electrical conductivity.
b) Some chaps with terrible hair-dos, wearing spandex pants stuffed with socks and strutting to squealy guitars.
c) RAAAAARGH, RAAAAARGH, RARARARARARRRGHH, CHF-CHF-CHF-CHF-CHF-DM-DM-DM-DM FWWWWOOOOOOAAAAARRRRGGGHHH.

If you picked C, then you might enjoy Sweden’s Igneous Human, and their debut album ‘Pyroclastic Storms’. The stereotypes that people have about metal – you know, those ‘it’s all just noise!’ and ‘you can’t even understand what they’re saying!’ ones – are pretty much spot-on when it comes to this band. But hey, that’s never stopped metalheads enjoying this style before. The problem with ‘Pyroclastic Storms’ is that… well, it’s just not as good as other similar offerings out there.
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01. Holy Smokes 03:42 02. Fast Women 03:21 03. The Long Arm of the Law 02:26 04. Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow 05:03 05. Runnin’ Reds 02:46 06. Medium Rare 02:58 07. Brohemoth 06:28 08. Half Past Haggard 03:10 09. Wizard Island 05:09 10. Tremors 03:54 11. Old Habits 01:43

Barn Burner hail from Montreal, Canada, and the first hint about their music comes from the fact they refer to it as “Bongtreal”. Way to peg yourselves in the stoner metal bracket, guys. The hairy four-piece formed in 2007 and were gigging up a storm all across North America until they caught the attention of Metal Blade records, who signed them up for the release of their debut album ‘Bangers’ in 2009. Well, international re-release, technically, but let’s not get bogged down in semantics…that certainly wouldn’t be the Barn Burner spirit.

Yup, Barn Burner are definitely stoner metal, as is kind of underlined by song titles like “Holy Smoke” and “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow”, but there’s something a little bit NWOBHM about their high-speed dual-guitar assault. It’s kind of like Fu Manchu meets Iron Maiden, which (for me, at least) is about as tantalising a mix as you could come up with.
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