Following 2005’s ‘Beyond the shadows’, Dark Illusion is back with their 2nd CD ‘Where the eagles fly’. For those who are unfamiliar with the debut – Dark Illusion plays 80s-inspired heavy/power metal, with a few passages into hard rock, and their vocalist is Thomas Vikstrom, who is known for his part in Stormwind, Candlemass and others. This 2nd CD is very much like the debut, so those who have the debut, know that nothing has changed too much, as far as both the style of the music and the vocals Continue Reading

Yep, the many major progressive metal fans that have been raving about this CD for the last few months were right…

I don’t really consider myself a progressive metal fan since I only dabble in the genre, so I passed on getting into Seventh Wonder when they first entered the metal world. I barely gave their debut ‘Become’ and 2nd CD ‘Waiting in the wings’ a glance as they were released, but after seeing tons of praise for their 3rd CD ‘Mercy Falls’, I decided to head off and do some serious and attentive listening of samples. Something about what I heard was calling for me to give this band a chance, so I quickly grabbed all 3 of their CDs, with my fingers crossed Continue Reading

It’s a normal thing to see bands change their style. From Metallica and Anthrax years ago, to Stratovarius and Edguy more recently. These are just some quick examples, but I bring this up because a lot of the more popular power metal bands have changed their style in 2007. Examples would be Labyrinth going almost pure progressive, Twilightning going hard rock, Sonata Arctica going experimental, and even Kamelot has changed their style this year (2007) with their latest CD, ‘Ghost opera’ Continue Reading

Back in 2005 I purchased and reviewed the debut EP ‘Dreamworld’ from the female fronted symphonic power metal band Operatika, and I was expecting to see their first full-length CD ‘The calling’ in 2006 or 2007, but it isn’t until now (2008) that it ended up being released. The band was able to sign with the popular Italian label Scarlet Records though, so it will receive proper distribution, and as I was expecting, it was well worth the wait! Continue Reading

Many of you know that I’m a big fan of Amberian Dawn’s debut ‘River of Tuoni’, which I reviewed last year. Containing influences from early Nightwish (both musically and vocally), as well as other female fronted bands, it’s simply a CD that’s suited perfectly to my tastes. So I’ve been greatly anticipating the release of their 2nd CD ‘The clouds of northland thunder’, and not surprisingly, I like it even more Continue Reading