Album Reviews


Review Of Denmark Power Metal Gods: Iron Fire, ‘Among The Dead’

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Due out this Friday, September 16th from Demark’s premier Power Metal outfit Iron Fire is their release of Among the Dead. After sixteen years and seven albums, the authors of Power Metal’s cult classic Thunderstorm, On the Edge in 2001, Speed Metal inspired Revenge in 2006, Blade of Triuph (2007), To the Grave in 2009, Metalmorphosized (2010) and Voyage of the Damned in 2012 still have the hunger they had back at the turn of the millennium until today. After a number of line-up and sound changes over the years, original founding members Martin Steene on vocals and bass and Kirk Backarach on guitars are joined again by their original drummer Gunnar Olsen who rejoined the band back in 2015 after a fifteen year hiatus and are going back to their roots. The resulting CD is exceptionally good Power Metal that will be felt everywhere when this beast drops!

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Review Of Source’s ‘Return To Nothing’; Tour Schedule

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Produced by Scott Wilson, Sound Engineering by Jesse O’Brien, art by Sarafin Concepts

Release Date:

23 September 2016

Tracklist:

“Forgiveness”

“Memories of Yesterday”

“The Essence”

“The Word ‘Source’”

“Return to Nothing”

“Complaisance”

“Consumed”

“The Serpent”

“Quadrant”

“Veil of Doubt”

I am truly honored to be able to review what I would consider one of the best albums I have had the pleasure of listening to this year, bar none. Little did I know then just how significant my first State of the Art choice for Colorado would have on me some six months later. This gem has had me enthralled and engaged from first listen to, hell, I don’t know, a 100 or more times now. I know it inside and out; musically and lyrically and it never ceases to move me, often to tears, even to this day. It almost feels like it has become part of me now. An old friend that shares a little piece of my soul. I’ll stand today on my original statement of Return to Nothing being damned near perfect. I have seen Source play live (great show!), hung out with them, talked and joked with them offline, interviewed its members Ben Gleason, Dan Crisafulli and Georges OctoBous and would consider all three friends through their music and as individuals on a personal level. All of this from simply choosing to write about Source in my freshman days with the MN staff. An amazing privilege to have this platform from which to share my passion for music, especially from bands as good as Source.

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Dinosaur Pile Up ‘Eleven Eleven’ Review!

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Dinosaur Pile Up is one of those bands that straddles not one but several genres. They have a unique blend of sounds that make them one of the most appealing up and coming bands in today’s music scene. The band formed in 2007 in England and quickly released their debut My Rock ‘n’ Roll EP in 2008. Dinosaur Pile Up’s newest album ‘Eleven Eleven’ is about to release on August 26th via SO Recordings in the U.S. and Europe. The album is the follow up to 2013’s ‘Nature Nurture’ was released in 2013. The new album was produced by Tom Dalgety (Pixies, Killing Joke, Opeth, Royal Blood). A video for the title track “Eleven Eleven” has been getting tremendous amount of attention. The band is playing two huge American festivals this year. One being the inaugural Houston Open Air in Houston, Texas on September 24th and Louisville, Kentucky’s Louder Than Life festival on October 1st. Along with those slots the band also has 7 other American dates before they head back the UK for another tour through Europe.

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Review Of Sabaton’s Masterpiece: ‘The Last Stand’

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Sabaton is:

Joakim Brodén: vocals and keyboards

Pär Sundström: bass and backing vocals

Chris Rörland: guitar and backing vocals

Thobbe Englund: guitar and backing vocals (recently replaced by Tommy Johansson )

Hannes van Dahl: drums

Rob Halford: guest vocals on “All Guns Blazing“

Recorded April – May 2016, Abyss Studios, Sweden

Peter Tägtgren: Producer

Sabaton’s eighth album “The Last Stand” was recently released on the Nuclear Blast record label and sets a new standard for Progressive Power Metal. This is another of Sabaton’s signature, history based concept albums and does not disappoint. Intelligent, well thought out and brilliantly written, “The Last Stand” is a formidable album following the critic and fan acclaimed “Heroes” in 2014. This is growth in a very positive direction.

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Review Of Medevil’s Killer Debut ‘Conductor Of Storms”

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Conductor of Storms

Medevil. Chilliwack, British Columbia’s favored Metal sons and top six finalist in the 2015 Wacken Metal Battle Canada are about to drop their debut release of Conductor of Storms. We recently got our grubby paws on this beast and it has impressed a number of us here on the MN staff. Never heard of them? Let’s start with introductions…

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Fifth Freedom “Heartbreak & Hellfire” Review!

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Photo Credit: Sugar Skull Photography

Photo Credit: Sugar Skull Photography

A few months ago I let you know about a band that is bringing good old fashioned rock n roll back to its rightful place at the top. Fifth Freedom call Portland, Maine home, but their roots are most certainly in the South. The band has the type of guitar work that will bring you to your knees. The term “Fifth Freedom” is a permit to disregard to any law to accomplish the mission, and that’s exactly what the band does. Regardless what is popular the band has set its sights on their sound, put their hearts into it and journeyed forward. As a listener and fan I’m already thankful for what they have done for music. They are already reaping the rewards as they have an incredible fan base both in their home state and across the country. The band recently released their sophomore record “Heartbreak & Hellfire”, a follow up to their self-titled debut from 2014. The album was recorded with Jon Wyman at The Halo Studios and mastered by Grammy Award winning mastering engineer, Adam Ayan and the renowned Gateway Mastering Studios in Portland, Maine. The songs on the album are a window into frontman Alan Jones’s soul. The heart wrenching and powerful lyrics play right along with the bluesy American rock n roll sound they have so gracefully created. Continue reading →

Review Of ‘No Lives Matter’ By Napalm Strike

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Napalm Strike came to the attention of our staff recently after the release of their latest EP, No Lives Matter on June 15th. I took one listen to the release and snapped it up before anyone else could stake claim on the review of this ass-kicking, Thrash release.

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DEATH WILL TREMBLE “Mona” Review & Stream!

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Modern music and fans are always racing to put a title on a band. Genres and sub-genres have run rampant. Sometimes a band comes along and refuses to be tagged as one specific sound. Let me introduce you to DEATH WILL TREMBLE. They are a band that melds together a handful of elements from various genres. It’s impossible really to wrangle them into one specific category or two for that matter. I simply like to refer to their style as creative. Lots of bands attempt to create a whole new sound that hasn’t really been heard before and fail miserably. DEATH WILL TREMBLE call Austin, Texas home. The musicians that make up the band have played in various projects in the past. You can hear the chemistry within the band, breaking ground and musical barriers isn’t easily done and the band has already made amazing strides. Continue reading →

Flaw “Divided We Fall” Review

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Flaw is one of the legends as far as Kentucky metal bands go. They put the Bluegrass State on the map for something other than country when they hit the airwaves in the late 90’s thru early 2000’s. Their last major release was 2004’s ‘Endangered Species’. The band has been back together and playing some live shows over the past couple years and we even got a taste of the new album pretty early with “Bleed Red”. At the Louder Than Life festival in 2015 we had a chance to speak with the band about the upcoming album and music in the current era. Singer Chris Volz and guitarist Jay Daunt both stated that rock and metal was on a 10 year cycle and that it was time for popularity to sway back towards rock rather than pop. After hearing the latest record by the band ‘Divided We Fall’ not only do I agree that rock is making its way back but I believe Flaw is leading the way. The new album will be released via Pavement Music. The album was recorded with Rick Lander (Dead Horse Trauma, Under Pike Skies) at Crisis Lab Studios. The album is the monumental comeback record we have all hoped for. It was always FLAW fans’ connection to their songs that carried the band on.  “We would not be where we are today without our hardcore fans,” says Volz. The Flaw Family is the motor that drives the band and this album will just double the size of that family once it’s released. ‘Divided We Fall’ is scheduled to hot stores August 19th. Make sure to pick the album up directly from the band on their upcoming tour with Dope and Motograter, or pre-order here.   Continue reading →