First let’s review the meaning of the word ‘macabre’, which means ‘having the quality or having a grim or ghastly atmosphere’. It also emphasizes and symbolizes the details of death.
Importantly, it may not mean that one condones the act of murder or violence.
It's fair to say that over the last few years, in the underground rock scene, that there is a renaissance underway; an undercurrent that is undeniably gathering an increasing tangible momentum.
Clear evidence of this is the soaring, heart-felt majesty that is Ashen Reach's debut long-player 'Homecoming'.
On November 6th 2020, Fates Warning will release their much anticipated 13th studio album, Long Day Good Night, on Metal Blade Records.
This should be an easy endeavor for a band that has been around since 1982, and Fates Warning has mastered its craft.
Finally, someone got it 100% right! Not only does this album demonstrate the strength of the human spirit, but the instruments speak of pain, struggles, growth, perseverance, and about moving on.
Each song is a brilliant soundscape of controlled emotion, which is ironic since we have very little control over our lives, generally speaking.
Ah, Chile, ‘The country of poets’. In September 2020, this Chilean Melodic Heavy Metal band released their lyrically magnificent debut album The Mirror Star through Frontiers Music Srl.
James Robledo (Vocals) takes the lead on this album, as his vocal range is reminiscent of Ronnie James Dio and encapsulates the spiritual aura of Jon Bon Jovi.
Everything that Black Stone Cherry do makes it seem that, even above the music itself, family always comes first.
That sense of belonging has drawn in an ever-growing number of fans since the Kentucky natives first hit the road in 2001 and seen them packing out arenas all over the world.
Although there are only four songs in this EP entitled Despicable, it is anything but.
These songs could be used as instructional teachings in five metal genres/styles: melodic death metal, metalgore, heavy metal, melodic metalcore, and black metal.
First impressions count. None more so than when a band releases their debut album, this one time shot at blowing the doors off that will either see you heading to the heady heights of success or dejectedly back to the rehearsal room, figuring if you’ve chosen the right career path.
Judging by the strength of this first full-length release, Millie Manders And The Shutup are looking at a future of sold out tours and their faces peering from posters on the walls of thousands of bedrooms.
I have been looking forward to the release of King King’s 5th studio album ‘Maverick’ after seeing the band live on numerous occasions over the last few years, always enjoying the energy they bring to the music together with the ability to hook a crowd in through huge chorus’s and soul soaring riffs.
So how does it fair with the new line-up including Alans big brother the incredibly talented Stevie?
Pallbearer carries with it lots of accolades: 2014 Best New Music by Pitchfork Magazine, topped Decibel’s Album of the Year List, I Saw the End from the album Heartless debut at #187 out of #200 on the Billboard Top 200 and #42 on Billboard's Top Current Albums, and ranked Stereogum’s 50 Best Albums of 2017, featured in NY Times in 2017 by Cultural Critic David Rees pointing out the band’s widening appeal, and they were also awarded 2017 Metal Hammer Golden God Award for Best Underground Band.
Let's get right to it. There is a review out there that stated that no two songs on this album sound the same.
There is an element of techno combined with two vocal types, screams and a more fluid vocal tone accompanied by dual guitar work and traditional metalcore bass and drums.
Oft-considered amongst Hollywood rock royalty, riotous sleaze insurgents LA Guns came spitting and snarling out of that infamous Sunset Strip scene of the mid 80s that also bore Guns n' Roses, Motley Crue, Poison, Ratt et al.; their illegitimate kith and kin.
The Guns' initial releases – 88's eponymous debut, 89's 'Cocked & Loaded' and 'Hollywood Vampires' two years later – achieved a relative degree of success but always in the shadow of the aforementioned; more princes less kings perhaps.
Over the course of six albums Amaranthe have struck out on a path that is most decidedly their own.
Along with BabyMetal, there are various bands on the planet who could splice two utterly seemingly incongruent genres into one glorious whole but with their mix of almost ‘Eurovision’ style pop with raging slabs of the heaviest of metal they’ve found a winning formula.
Launching into pandemic-ridden 2020 rock behemoths Deep Purple have conjured up an absolute aural delight with 'Whoosh!' their 21st studio release that is a most welcome distraction from current events.
Some three years since 'Infinite', their last recorded offering, Purple have returned to the limelight with a strong justification and a clear confidence in their material.
Enslaved has produced 15 full length in-studio albums, and the most recent is Utgard, which is a compilation of 9 extremely different songs that take the listener into various atmospheric landscapes aka ‘soundscapes’.
In mid-2019 Armored Saint announced that it had begun writing their 8th studio album, Punching the Sky (Metal Blade Records), to be released in October 2020.
John Bush, lead vocals, has stated that quality over speed is more important when it comes to spitting albums out quickly.