Power metal pioneers Helloween are back with their sixteenth album, their first with the Pumpins United line-up featuring Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske back in the band. Was it worth the wait? Continue reading
Tag Archives: Michael Kiske
Avantasia – Ghostlights
Sometimes I get the feeling that Tobias Sammet just doesn’t care much for Edguy anymore. Whilst the last few albums were okay at best, he seems to save his best material for Avantasia these days. And again, Edguy’s last album pales to 2016’s Ghostlights. Continue reading
Unisonic – Light of Dawn
Back in 2011 when it was announced that Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen would reunite to form a band, expectations were high from the get-go. Ultimately, Unisonic‘s self-titled debut album fell a little short of greatness, but showed a lot of promise all the same. 2014’s Light of Dawn finally makes good on that promise.
Avantasia – The Mystery of Time (2013)
Avantasia’s The Metal Opera, released all the way back in the dark age (2001), is still one of my favourite modern power metal albums. Edguy frontman Tobias Sammet managed to capture just about anything that makes Teutonic power metal into such a joy (the rolling double bass drums, the epic choruses, the choirs, the optimism), got a few if not all of my favourite vocalists of the time and released an absolutely smashing record. Deciding that enough wasn’t enough, der Tobi released a follow-up the next year, an album much in the same vein, featuring largely the same cast. After that, everything changed. Continue reading
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