Bloodbound "War of Dragons" Review

                Power Metal and dragons go together like peanut butter and jam and Bloodbound are showing this off to the fullest extent with their newest release “War of Dragons” released through AFM Records. Without a doubt, this is the definition of Power Metal, as “War of Dragon” takes you on a fantastic fantasy journey through time and space to show you the war of dragons.

                Kicking off with “Battle in the Sky” and “Tears of a Dragonheart” you get a very quick grasp of what this album with be like. Fast paced, impressive riffs, consistent and impressive musicianship with awe inspiring solos and of course, the majestic voice of Patrik Johansson. The opener “Battle in the Sky” is fairly straight forward, doesn’t toss you any curve balls and just kind of allows you to get use to what Bloodbound are here to do, take you on a journey and shred. Much like the track before it, “Tears of a Dragonheart” is much of the same, an introduction to the other part of Bloodbound. The side that instead of being straight of Power Metal, packs more of a punch, has more of a Speed Metal backing to it and the solo in this song shows it all, making the one in “Battle in the Sky” look like something a child would play.

                Instrumentally and vocally this album is impressive, beginning to end, it was unexpected to say the least. While Power Metal isn’t all that easy to find the exact bands that influenced them, there was one stand out song on that album that had a very Judas Priest vibe in the style it was written and the way it was done, specifically vocally. “King of Swords” is very reminiscent of “All Guns Blazing” off of Judas Priest’s album “Painkiller”, the vocals kick off with such sheer power that they almost sound harsh, like they’re about to belt out some crazy Death Metal vocals, before leading into something more similar to the rest of the album, while still maintaining Power and Speed.

                To round up everything stated above, this is a Power Metal album for anyone who’s a fan of Power Metal, the musicianship is incredible, the production is top notch and everything is mixed in so well that it doesn’t feel like anything is overpowering anything else, while still being able to hear every aspect of the album, which is where a lot of bands of every genre fail. If you’re a Power Metal fan, or you’re looking for a place to start, this is it. Bloodbound blew all expectations out of the water with “War of Dragons”.

100/100

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Interview with Torsten Wolf, Dirk Liehm and Gus Monstanto of Human Fortress

         Upon the new release of "Thieves of the Night", Torsten Wolf, Dirk Liehm and Gus Monstanto from Human Fortress took a moment out of their busy schedules to talk with us about the album, touring and maybe even a secret got shared, check out the video below!






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Rhapsody of Fire "Into The Legend" Review

We are going to change our format here starting with the always reliable Rhapsody of Fire, beginning now bands will be marked out of 100 points. Rhapsody of Fire know how to draw anyone’s attention. Like stories? Here you go! Like insane solos? You got it! Fan of orchestral music? Look no further. Every band has a breaking point though, they always release a bad album and as of 2013 with “Dark Wings of Steel,” Rhapsody of Fire hadn’t, so maybe this time around you shouldn't hold your expectations so high for 2016s “Into The Legend”?

                Our story begins with the 3 minute instrumental intro “In Principio,” well maybe instrumental isn’t the way to think about it as there are choir vocals to help to song along but before you know it the song breaks into our first actual onslaught, ”Distant Sky.” Right off the bat you’re hit with a guitar solo, the kind that will put “Eruption” to shame before being welcomed by Fabio Lione’s voice that matches pitch with everything so perfectly soaring above all the sounds and singing so clearly. The chorus of “Distant Sky” shows off how harmonies between the guitars, orchestration, choir and Lione’s vocals can send chills straight down your spine and following the second chorus comes and even greater guitar solo!

                The title track “Into the Legend” begins with a folk orchestration sound before a chugging riff begins with choir vocals and finally speedy riffs and Lione’s vocals follow. Rhapsody of Fire is one of the few bands I’ve found who can use a pre-chorus very well in their songs and know when it works, with “Into the Legend” Lione’s vocals get gritty and aggressive over a darker riff before breaking into how they will go into the legend, convincing you that the character will become a legend. “Winter’s Rain” has one of my favourite intros to a song ever with a tapping riff that plays quickly up the scale and continues throughout the song with Lione singing his heart out. The pacing of this song is perfect and the orchestration reminds me of Nightwish.

                “Shining Star” is the slow song of the album, slowing everything down immensely with acoustic guitars, sad orchestration and Lione sounding like he’s about to cry, this is the kind of song you could put on a radio station or in a movie and someone would shed a tear. “Shining Star” does something that most fail to do for me in metal album, it draws me in. I can feel it, this song has emotion, where most bands that put slow songs in completely ruin the tempo of the album, this song is welcome and is a nice break, hell live this song may even make me shed a tear, it’s beautiful.

                On the other hand we have “Rage of Darkness” back up to speed, laughing and mocking you for slow dancing with the girl beside you. The main part of this song that made it memorable for me was the solos, man the solos, Alessandro Sala playing a bass solo, followed by a guitar solo that copies what was just played, then back to bass and an insane guitar solo and to round it out, a keyboard solo. Everyone gets their time in the sun with this song and if any this song should become a live staple just because of the amount of noise I can picture the crowd making as this section begins. To close out the album is the epic 17minute “The Kiss of Light,” which takes aspects from throughout the entire album, rounds them together bundled up tight and shows you how an epic should be done.

                Everything in this album blew me away, the pacing, the super sad slow song, the orchestration work, it’s a special album. It’s been a long time since I sat down and really enjoyed a new Power Metal album, but Rhapsody of Fire absolutely killed it with "Into the Legend," but don’t just take my word for it, pick up the album through AFM Records, it’s 67 minutes of outstanding musicianship, perfect harmony and face melting solos.

100/100