Your first thought upon having listened to Turisas2013 in its entirety for the first time, might very well be, “what the bloody hell just happened?” Then again, if you’re familiar with the Finnish folk metal band, chances are that it’s a feeling you have come to expect when listening to a Turisas album for the first time. I know I have, and I’m still flabbergasted whenever I first lay ears on what Mathias “Warlord “ Nygård and his band have in store for us. The only thing is, with Turisas2013 it started sooner than normal, with the announcement of the album title, which is, we can fairly say, crap. When the band released For Your Own Good as a streaming track in advance, however, I was quite ready and set for disappointment. Continue reading
Category Archives: RP
Powerwolf – Preachers of the Night (2013)
After peaking at number one in Germany’s album charts, and having heard a few snippets here and there, I was quite curious as to how Powerwolf’s brand new album had turned out. I’ve been following the band since their sophomore effort Lupus Dei and was blown away by both Bible of the Beast and Blood of the Saints after that, so the prospect of a new Powerwolf album was already an exciting one. So, is it as good as the last two albums? Let’s find out. Continue reading
[Live Review] King Diamond at 013 Tilburg
It’s been a while since we last saw King Diamond in the Netherlands. Of course, the master of metallic horror has been out of the game for quite a while, following back pains and finally multiple heart attacks back in 2010. Last year though, King finally made a triumphant return to the stage, frequenting the bigger festivals out there and apparently making a huge impression. An appearance in a Dutch venue was also long overdue, and August 6th saw King finally return to the stage in the Lowlands (not counting the Belgian Graspop festival), in a quite fully packed 013 in Tilburg. Continue reading
Orphaned Land – All Is One (2013)
It took Orphaned Land eight years from El Norra Alila to get to 2004’s masterpiece Mabool. After that, they took another six years to arrive at The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR in 2010. When you do the math, you might come to think there is something off with this three year gap between ORWarriOR and the brand new album All Is One. I’m glad to announce that All Is One is a great album, although I definitely have some niggles about it. Let’s talk about those for a minute. Continue reading
[Live Review] Roger Waters – The Wall in Gelredome Arnhem (2013)
You’d be hard pressed to leave an integral performance of Pink Floyd’s The Wall and not be impressed. Not only by the music, which is of course excellent, but perhaps even more by the sheer spectacle of the show and the ultimately very left-wing, anti-war statement that it is, or at least has become over the years. Because The Wall, both as a concept (the idea of building a huge wall between the audience and the band famously sprouted when Waters spat a fan in the face out of annoyance) and a narrative, is as relevant today as it was back in 1979. Continue reading
Oliva – Raise the Curtain (2013)
Savatage is dead, long live Savatage! That´s about the gist of how I have been feeling on the subject for the past twelve years. After the quite passable (but not brilliant) Poets and Madmen, the curtain fell for the American band, which all but continued as the travelling Christmas troupe Trans-Siberian Orchestra, of which there are now two versions touring the United States in December, raking in the dough for messrs O’Neill (for many still the reason behind Savatage’s demise and Oliva. Continue reading
Liquid Casing – A Separate Divide (2013)
Somewhere in the murky depths between jazz, prog rock and post-punk, we find the Texan-based outfit Liquid Casing, who have just released their brand new effort A Separate Divide, a thought-provoking musical work about borders and illegal immigration. It’s a difficult topic to make a concept album about, and one deserving an intricate, well thought out sonic frame. Now, many things can be said about A Separate Divide, but an easy album, this is not. Continue reading
Chthonic – Bú-Tik (2013)
It seems Taiwanese metal sensation Chthonic are finally getting somewhere. All of a sudden, the band seems to be everywhere, with not one but three video clips and a virtual omnipresence on the internet. Of course, that all depends on where you’re surfing, and I’m quite certain the mainstream music scene still hasn’t heard of the band, but within the much more niche metal world, there is certainly a buzz. And rightfully so, because Bú-Tik has turned out to be a very, very good album. Continue reading
Sounds from the Dark Side top albums of 2013 (until now)
Hi folks, we’re almost halfway through 2013 and that’s why is time to give you a short overview of our favorite albums to this day. Continue reading
[Live Review] Iron Maiden – Maiden England Tour 2013, Ziggo Dome Amsterdam
There is no other metal band quite like Iron Maiden. The British heavy metal institution is still going strong after almost forty years, counting from the very early days, and the band is showing no sign of slowing down quite yet, touring ferociously still, alternating between album promotion tours and classic era themed tours. Like this Maiden England Tour being based on the late eighties’ 7th Tour of a 7th Tour, and the Somewhere in Time Tour before it (that one based on the legendary World Slavery Tour). Continue reading
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