The Halo Effect emerged in 2020, formed by five former members of In Flames: Jesper Stömblad (guitars), Mikael Stanne (vocals), Niclas Engelin (guitars), Peter Iwers (bass) and Daniel Svensson (drums). Their mission was clear from the outset — to return to the roots of melodic death metal, the unmistakable Gothenburg sound they helped define. Days of the Lost proves they’ve done exactly that. What the band...

The Devils of Loudun, a symphonic and melodic death metal outfit from Seattle, Washington, step confidently into the spotlight with Escaping Eternity, their long‑awaited full‑length debut. Though the band previously issued a pair of EPs, this release marks their most ambitious and fully realized statement to date. The lineup includes members of the technical death metal group Aethereus, and that pedigree shows—though here, technicality is channeled through a far...

I don’t listen to black metal nearly as often as I did 15–20 years ago, but every so often an album emerges that demands attention. Tales of Othertime, the latest offering from Denver-based Stormkeep, is one of those rare records. Firmly rooted in the symphonic and orchestral wing of black metal, Stormkeep draw heavily from the Norwegian greats in terms of atmosphere and musical language. Lyrically,...

Over the past couple of decades, extreme metal has splintered into a dense thicket of subgenres, and even seasoned listeners can struggle to pin down where certain bands belong. Pathology, however, has long been rooted firmly in the brutal end of the death metal spectrum, more precisely, the slamming brutal death metal niche. Yet their last few releases have hinted at a shift, and The Everlasting Plague makes that...

Massacre’s story stretches all the way back to Tampa, Florida in 1984, when the band emerged during the formative years of American death metal. After a handful of demos in the late eighties, their debut From Beyond finally arrived in 1991. Yet despite a career spanning more than three decades, Resurgence marks only their fourth full‑length album, a testament to a history marked by long pauses and constant line‑up...

A View From the Top of the World, Dream Theater’s fifteenth full‑length album, arrives with a striking cover that nods subtly to Norwegian landscapes. As is often the case with these prog‑metal veterans, the record demands several listens before its layers fully reveal themselves, and this time was no exception. One of the first things that stands out is the production. To my ears, this may...

Norwegian death metal stalwarts Blood Red Throne return with their tenth full‑length album, Imperial Congregation, released through Nuclear Blast Records. While the band remains firmly rooted in the old‑school death metal sound that has defined their career, three elements in particular make this record stand out. First, the production is markedly stronger than on previous releases, its cleaner, heavier, and far more dynamic. Second, the songwriting...

Philadelphia‑based progressive death metal outfit Burial In The Sky showed plenty of promise on their first two full‑length albums, but they hadn’t quite reached their full potential. Their third release, The Consumed Self, is a different story entirely. This time, the band delivers an album that feels sharper, more confident, and far more fully realized. The production is a major leap forward, clean, powerful, and professional,...

This album may have been out for a few months already, but it only recently landed on my radar and it certainly deserved a closer look. Warrior Path, the Greek heavy/power metal project founded by guitarist Andreas Sinanoglou, returns with The Mad King, a release that showcases a remarkably strong lineup. For this album, Sinanoglou has teamed up with multi‑instrumentalist and producer Bob Katsionis (a familiar name in the...

More than 45 years into their career, Iron Maiden show no signs of slowing down. I caught their performance at Trondheim Rocks in 2018, and it remains one of the most memorable concerts I’ve attended. Now, six years after The Book of Souls, the band returns with their seventeenth studio album, Senjutsu, an ambitious, 82‑minute epic that leans heavily on long‑form songwriting, with three tracks stretching beyond the ten‑minute...