REVIEW : SINHERESY -- Domino (2017)

Sinheresy is a metal band that originally was formed back in 2009 and since its creation it buit a strong reputation around its name. With already two albums on their sleeve, "The Spiders And The Butterfly" and "Paint The World", Sinheresy returns with a brand new opus which is entitled "Domino".

REVIEW : LEAVES' EYES / Fires In The North (EP, 2016)

German Symphonic metal band Leaves' Eyes is gonna release this November its brand new EP with the title "Fires In The North".

REVIEW : ELEVENTH HOUR / Memory Of A Lifetime Journey (2016)

Eleventh Hour was originally founded in 2014 by guitarist Aldo Turini. Aldo wanted to express his musical ideas and Eleventh Hour is the vehicle for his ideas to come true. He arranged all the songs and he wrote the orchestral parts with Giuseppe Carella making the final result very peculiar and musically challenging.

REVIEW : After Apocalypse / “After Apocalypse” (2015)

After Apocalypse was 'born' on July 2014 by the opera singer Elena, rhythmic guitarist Seba and clarinetist Varghar. By the end of the same year, the line-up was completed by drummer Al, lead guitarist Zendra and Megres on bass. The band wanted to create a solid symphonic metal sound with a fresh approach, mixing elements from the entire range of metal (gothic, doom, death, folk, black), following each member's musical tastes.

REVIEW : DARK MOOR / Project X (2015)

In 2013, DARK MOOR released a really brilliant record, "Ars Musica", that impressed me with the first spin and left me hungry for more. It was an album that combined perfectly the melodic hard rock/metal sound with progressive rock filled with beautiful melodies, great symphonic parts and heavy guitars. Nowadays, the band is back with a new effort, "Project X" and its ready, once again, to make an impression with its unique sound.

REVIEW : SINNERS MOON / Atlantis (2015)

Sinners Moon was founded by guitarist & composer LukeN in 2010. After the addition of singer Martina, LukeN started to work on a few songs, in 2011. Again, there were a few line-up changes and in 2012 they started to rehearse new songs along with some older stuff and they made few shows with line up Andrea - vocals, Derick - growl, Jarthuusen - keyboards, LukeN -guitars, Viktor - Bass & Matej -drums.

REVIEW : WHYZDOM / Symphony For A Hopeless God (2015)

This is the third album for the French Symphonic metal band of Whyzdom. "BLIND?" in 2012 was a really very interesting album that included some excellent tracks in it combined with powerful performances, solid guitar work and very good arrangements.

DELAIN / The Human Contradiction (2014)

"The Human Contradiction" is entitled DELAIN's brand new effort. The band with its latest release left us a sweet taste but also a promise for bigger things in the near future. The fact is also that all these symphonic metal bands are trying very hard to balance between metal and pop metal. This new one, in my humble opinion, has it all!

ETERNAL SILENCE / Raw Poetry (2013)

To be honest here, the name of Eternal Silence was completely unknown to me till a friend of mine, Giulio Capone, who is, also, a guest musician on this album, introduced it to me. From a research that I've made, I found out that Eternal Silence started in 2008 with the founder members Marika Vanni (vocals) and Alberto Cassina (guitar). After a few months, Alessio Sessa (bass) and Mario Dama (guitar) joined the team while in 2009 it was time for Davide Massironi (drums) to be part of Eternal Silence.

HOLY SHIRE / Midgard (2014)

Holy Shire is a new bee in the melodic symphonic metal scene. The band was formed in 2009 and since then Holy Shire performed many shows in their home country. They, also, recorded a 6-track EP demo and developed a very unique sound with the addition of a flute and two female singers to the line-up.

EVENOIRE / Herons (2014)

Evenoire's debut album, "Vitriol" in 2012, was a fine piece of symphonic/gothic metal stuff that included some really amazing performances, a tight musicianship and a bunch of some very good songs. And, if "Vitriol" was centered on “water” themes, this new album focuses on “fire” and all those mythological creatures that represent it.

ASTRAL DOMINE / Arcanum Gloriae (2014)

Founded in 2011 by music composer an lyricist Luca Gagnoni with the intent of creating epic, powerful music with a peaceful message, Astral Domine have signed a deal with Bakerteam Records for the release of their debut album ‘Arcanum Gloriae’. Produced by the band itself, with mixing and mastering duties held by Andrea De Paoli (Labyrinth, Vision Divine) at Multimedia Sound Studio, ‘Arcanum Gloriae’ features special guest appearances by renowned singers Fabio Lione (Rhapsody Of Fire, Vision Divine, Hollow Haze) in the song ‘Where Heroes Die’ and Giuseppe “Ciape” Cialone (Rosae Crucis) on the song ‘Falsi Dei’. Inspired by fantasy themes and landscapes, Astral Domine’s music is perfectly depicted by the ‘evocative album artwork, which recalls the epic scenery of the Game Of Thrones series.

NIGHTWISH / SHOWTIME, STORYTIME (2013)

Nightwish is a superb band with or without Tarja! There is no doubt 'bout that. It is, also, a great band with or without Anette Olzon, there is also no question about that either! This time, this great band is back to the music scene with a new live album/DVD and a new vocalist, the well-known Floor Jansen from After Forever.,

RHAPSODY OF FIRE / DARK WINGS OF STEEL (2013)

Rhapsody Of Fire is the Italian power metal act that started its career back in the 90's as Rhapsody with the album "Rhapsody". Their "Legendary Tales" in 1997 made a huge impact to the metal world and received some great reviews and set them as one of the top power metal bands in this particular scene.

SORRONIA / WORDS OF SILENCE (2013)

Sorronia is a new female-fronted symphonic power metal band and "Words Of Silence" is entitled its debut opus. The album's sound is a mix of symphonic metal stuff with a strong dose of hard rockin' riffs, big melodies some Gothic pinches but, also, some newer power metal elements as well!

Magion / A Different Shade Of Darkness (2013)

Magion is a female symphonic power metal band, with a lot of Gothic elements, from The Netherlands and "A Different Shade Of Darkness" is called their second release. The album was mixed and produced by Chris Vrij and mastered at FineTune Studios in The Netherlands by Peter van ‘t Riet, who has delivered excellent work in the past for After Forever, Epica, Ayreon, Symphony X and many others. The artwork is created by Jan Yrlund of Darkgrove Graphic Design Studio in Finland.

INFINITA SYMPHONIA / Infinita Symphonia (2013)

Following the success of their previous album, "A Mind's Chronicle", in 2011 the band is releasing its brand new self-titled release. Infinita Symphonia has its roots in the classic melodic power/symphonic metal sound with some hard rock or even 'modern' rock pinches as well. In this album, we, also, have the participation of the legendary shouter Michael Kiske on one song, "Fly".

DARK MOOR / ARS MUSICA (2013)

Dark Moor is another band that I totally ignored its existence so far. From the promo pack that I received, I read that Dark Moor is a symphonic power metal band and "Ars Musica" is its brand new opus. I, also, have to admit that over the last years I discovered some excellent new-old symphonic/power metal bands and for that reason I was a bit curious what to expect from this one.

HEIMDALL / AENEID (2013)

Veteran power metallers Heimdall are ready to come back with their fifth album eight years after the release of their latest effort ‘Hard As Iron’. The band was reunited for a series of live shows at the beginning of 2012, adding new members to their ranks and with a renovated energy that led to the writing of new songs. ‘Aeneid’, this is the confirmed title of the new album, it is a monumental concept based on the epic masterpiece by Virgil, consisting of 12 tracks that combine classic heavy metal, melodic power metal but, also, some symphonic passages as well.

DOWNCAST ART / FORBIDDEN MEMORIES (2011)

The journey of this Croatian Symphonic Metal act began years ago, in 2005, and after a few years of activity the band was formed into a productive union which eventually resulted in finishing their first album Forbidden Memories, in autumn 2011.