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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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. The Edge of Darkness 04:33 02. Hunter and Prey 04:33 03. Into the Light 04:24 04. The Beggar’s Last Dime 05:43 05. Empty Hollow 06:20 06. Strings to a Web 03:54 07. Fatal Grace 01:21 08. Connected 02:54 09. Empty Hollow 01:51 10. Saviour of the Dead 05:45 11. Hellgirl 04:13 12. Purified 03:48 13. Through Ages 02:06 14. Tomorrow Never Comes 03:41

Some of you may have noticed that the song ‘Into the Light’ was played in the 49th episode of the podcast. This song is in fact the first single of Rage’s brilliant new album ‘Strings to a web’.

Strings to a Web is astonishingly Rage’s 20th album and by God they still know how to write an amazing album. The album is made up of high soaring guitar solo’s, wild moving synthesized keyboard parts and a Power Metal style of sing along choruses. Everything you could possibly want and more from a power/symphony metal record can be found on this album.
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01. Flaming Flowers (Send in the Clowns) 03:10 02. I See 03:01 03. My Canvas, My Skin 03:18 04. Ride On 02:53 05. Until You Find Me 04:15 06. Satellite Children 03:33 07. Bleeding 03:10 08. Origin 04:03 09. Stranger In You 03:01 10. You Get So Alone 03:36 11. MIA 05:28

‘Soul for Sale’ doesn’t present what I would call the greatest first impression. Finnish “rock and roll machine” Soulcage choose to open their debut album with “Flaming Flowers (Send in the Clowns)”, and indeed a sort of group-vocal harmony cry of “Send in the clowns!”. For one enormously cringe-induced moment, I was worried that they really had. I’m not averse to a slice of cheese with my metal, but “Flaming Flowers” is…it‘s…it‘s not even good cheese. Something like old-school Sonata Arctica or Rhapsody, that’s good cheese; an aged camembert, perhaps. By comparison, this is more like that hellish cheese-in-a-can you get in America. It’s Cheez Whiz.

However, with your expectations firmly fixed at absolute zero, Soulcage cunningly flip the script and proceed to actually be quite good. From the piano harmony leading “I See”, things proceed in an altogether more pleasing fashion; “My Canvas My Skin” is actually a very good song, despite the lyrics verging back toward “processed dairy product” territory - you can certainly tell why it was released as the album’s first single. Soulcage exhibit musicianship and an ear for both riffs and harmonies that saves this album and indeed their music from the predictable tedium of the lyrics.
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01. Raised on Rock 03:58 02. Sting in the Tail 03:12 03. Slave Me 02:45 04. The Good Die Young 05:14 05. No Limit 03:22 06. Lorelei 04:32 07. Turn You On 04:23 08. Sly 05:16 09. Spirit of Rock 03:42 10. The Best is Yet to Come 04:32

The power-metal junkie’s darkest fear has been confirmed; Scorpions are retiring. After one last album, they’re going to bow out to the world with an epic tour spanning five continents. What is power metal going to be, without Scorpions?! I’m not dealing with this well, I’m still early in the grieving process…so as an opening thought, I’m going to quote one of the lines Scorpions use to close the album. “How can I live without you?/ You’re such a part of me/ and you’ve always been the one/ keeping me forever young/ …and the best is yet to come”.

I was actually a little afraid going into this album, because I knew, I knew it was to be their last - and I don’t want Scorpions to retire. Maybe it’s just me - it took me two days to pluck up the courage to watch the last episode of ‘The Wire’, because I just didn’t want it to be over…well, I got the same feeling with this album right before I hit ‘Play’. “Raised on Rock” is the perfect song to dispel such negative thoughts, though - regardless on your feelings for Scorpions or their demise, I dare you to be a heavy metal fan and listen to that opening riff without cracking a big cheesy grin.
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01. My Heart Cries Out For You 04:44 02. Dark Journey 04:52 03. Land Of Street Survivor 04:17 04. Pay the Price 03:27 05. Destiny’s Call 04:54 06. Evil Masquerade 05:04 07. Running Out Of Time 04:35 08. Spellbound 04:37 09. Only The Strong Will Survive 03:29 10. Epic 04:38

‘Where the Eagles Fly’ and indeed the band responsible, Dark Illusion, inspire a strange conflict within me. I’m almost perfectly evenly divided between two opposing forces, and I really can’t decide which side of the fence to fall on. To that end, I’m going to do something a bit fruity and effectively write two reviews of this album. Each side will make their case, and I’ll leave it down to you, the reader, the civilian jury, to decide who wins. To start with, here’s the case from the prosecution, led by the part of me that’s an angry misanthropic shit of a man.

I don’t want this to turn into a philosophical debate about the nature of creativity and originality, but let’s face it, your classic melodic power metal isn’t a genre steeped in fresh ideas and innovation. Dark Illusion are a perfect example of this. I mean, to start with the first thing you saw up there, all of the songs are just named after the most-repeated line in the song. The album itself is named after a line from the chorus of the first song. They didn’t even have enough inspiration to come up with a couple of extra words. What makes it even worse is that all of said lines are pure cheesy filth as well.
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01. We Are the Undertakers 3:20 02. Halloween 3:43 03. Bless the Beast 3:46 04. Girls Made of Heavy Metal 3:07 05. Louder 2:48 06. Metalwar 3:45 07. Wreck of Society 4:38 08. The Bitch Is Back 3:04 09. Got the Devil in Me 4:23 10. Heavy Metal Man 3:37 11. Pain in the Ass 3:48

There are two distinct flavours of female fronted bands. Firstly are the operatic, symphonic and gothy bands where the purpose of the singer, as well as high pitched warbling, is to float around the front of the stage – making any red blooded men in the crowd dribble.

The second kind are the ones who take the fight right to their male counterparts – with just as much (if not more) confidence, power and attitude. The self styled queen of metal, Doro has been doing this for years, mixing it with the big boys – and more often than not – putting them to shame. But now, it seems she may have to fight to defend her crown at the top of the metal heap.

Hysterica are an all female metal powerhouse. Fronted by lead singer Anni De Vil [oooh you see what she did there?] they play their own brand of sleazy metal with some style. They claim to be inspired by the gods of heavy metal – namely Judas Priest.
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01. My Queen Of Winter 04:14 02. More Than Friends 04:19 03. Oceans Of Regret 06:20 04. Gather The Faithful 03:50 05. Into The Blue 04:25 06. Dawn Of Solace 04:18 07. Thorn In My Side 04:07 08. Morpheus In A Masquerade 06:50 09. Stolen Waters 04:34 10. Elegantly Broken 02:46

Supergroups. They’re a bit of a mixed bag; for every Cavalera Conspiracy or Hellyeah, there’s an Audioslave or a Zwan. Cain’s Offering are the Finnish power-metal supergroup; former Sonata Arctica guitarist Jani Liitmatainen joins forces with Stratovarius vocalist Timo Kotipelto and Wintersun bassist Jukka Koskinen. The lineup is filled out by drummer Jani Hurula and keyboardist Mikko Härkin, who was also briefly in Sonata. Given Timo’s prior commitments with Stratovarius (who released their twelfth album in the summer) they haven’t actually performed live together yet, existing in essence as a studio project. It’s a testament to the ability and professional nature of the band’s members that they don’t allow this to adversely affect them to any great extent, still managing to come out sounding tight and unified on record.

Musically Cain’s Offering generally manage to find just a bit more of an edge than recent offerings from Sonata or Stratovarius, although the symphonic bent of the latter’s music still manages to creep in. I say “creep”, it basically batters the bloody door down. I’m going to attempt to stop the comparisons to the band’s ‘parent’ groups there, however, and judge them on their own merits, although it may prove difficult to review a Finnish power metal album without making reference to some of its most eminent exponents.
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01. Everything Fades to Gray (Instrumental) 03:07 02. Deathaura 07:59 03. The Last Amazing Grays 05:40 04. Flag In The Ground 04:09 05. Breathing 03:55 06. Zeroes 04:24 07. The Dead Skin 06:15 08. Juliet 05:59 09. No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart 04:33 10. As If the World Wasn’t Ending 03:49 11. The Truth Is out There 05:04 12. Everything Fades to Gray (Full Version) 04:30

I feel I should warn you right from the start, it’s completely impossible for me to write an objective review of a Sonata Arctica album. I’m really, really biased. I absolutely adore this band; they were my first metal band, I was instantly converted courtesy of “The Cage”. I spent about a year trying to learn the keyboard solo from that song, and I formed my first band almost entirely in tribute to the song ‘Fullmoon’. Going to see them live was like a religious experience, and their DVD ‘For the Sake of Revenge’ is like some kind of musical pornography to me. I only tell you all of this so that you won’t take it lightly when I say that their new album, ‘The Days of Grays’, is absolutely fucking dreadful.

To be fair, things have changed a bit in the world of Sonata. Founding guitarist Jani Liitmatainen was sacked on the tour for previous album ‘Unia’ when it emerged that he was in trouble with the Finnish authorities for not turning up for national service, and replaced by Elias Viljanen. Singer Tony Kakko has stated in interviews (including one with Ragnarok Radio…) that if the band didn’t change something in their music, in the way they did things, they would have broken up. This was ominous enough, but then keyboard player Henrik Klingenberg came out saying that the new album would “definitely not [be] a back-to-the-roots album with fast power metal”. Which didn’t exactly fill me with confidence, being as I feel Sonata are at their best when playing fast power metal; to my mind, the two are one and the same, basically synonymous. You do have to salute them, to an extent, for having the bravery to make a change; many bands are happy to just keep on churning out the same songs album after album, without ever trying to evolve or do something different. So yeah, it’s good in a way that Sonata have tried to mix things up a bit, but at the same time I really wish they’d changed into something that’s actually good.
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01. Prelude for Vendetta 1:26 02. Euphoric Dream 5:02 03. Greed & Vanity 4:16 04. Like Warriors 4:44 05. Autumn Leaves 4:06 06. Feared by Dawn 4:53 07. Lord (of This Kingdom) 5:00 08. New Sin 5:27 09. Dark Emotions 5:16 10. Fading Away 3:59 11. Legacy of Hate Pt.3 14:06 12. Gates of Tomorrow 5:16

It’s a tough life being the power metal guy at Ragnarok: being forced to listen to cheesy songs about dragons and waving your sword in the wind. [Glares at Manowar before feeling intimidated and running away] Fortunately, every so often I come across something which puts a big cheesy grin on my face.

Vendetta is the fourth studio album from Finnish six-piece Celesty. It kicks off with the power metal staple: the orchestral intro. This is a wonderfully dark and powerful introduction which gives me the same tingling feeling as The Ecstasy Of Gold at the beginning of Metallica’s S&M. It leads seamlessly into Euphoric Dream: a blasting track which is a statement of intent as well as a stonkingly fast tune with a crushing rhythm section, slick lead guitar and keyboard work harmonising with the orchestra and choir as well as the excellent singing of frontman and vocalist Antti Railio.
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