Kari Rueslåtten – “Time to Tell” (2014)

Label: Despotz Records

Review by Alessandra Cognetta

Kari Rueslåtten is back with a new album, “Time to Tell”, after a long break from music that started back in 2005. It’s an all-acoustic album and, as Kari herself stated, it goes “back to the core of songwriting”. The announcement was preceded by the release of a cover song, “Why So Lonely”, whom many of you will remember as one of the early masterpieces by the doom metal band The 3rd and the Mortal. Kari worked with Nightwish mastermind Tuomas Holopainen on the acoustic rearrangement and the result is a song that manages to sound fresh and original while still retaining the nostalgic feeling of the “old days”.

The album starts off with the title track, a perfect set up for the rest of the “story” we’re going to hear. Continue reading »

Nervosa – “Victim of Yourself” (2014)

Label: Napalm Records

Review by Tony Cannella

Nervosa is an all female thrash metal trio from Brazil. They’ve already been receiving some pretty positive buzz based on their initial 3-song demo released in 2012. Now the band is ready to unleash their debut full-length, “Victim of Yourself” via Napalm Records. Amidst all the female fronted symphonic, folk and power metal it seems like the thrash metal genre has been left behind, well Nervosa is about to change all of that. “Victim of Yourself” is definitely an old school thrash metal record, but having said that, it sounds pretty damn fresh. “Victim of Ritual”features 11-songs and 46-minutes worth of whiplash inducing, hair whipping thrash metal. The songs are aggressive, relentless and brutal. From the opening intro into “Twisted Values” the band strikes hard and fast with a ferocity that is infectious. Continue reading »

Noora Federley – Seremonia

Interview by Crix

Seremonia is heavy psychedelic rock band from Finland. After their last released “Ihiminen” we have the opportunity to interview with the singer Noora Federley that is ready to take us into the dark with her music.

Hi, and thank you!

It all happened pretty fast even though the idea for Seremonia had been in our minds for longer. We’ve known each other for years, but this was a completely new line-up. We just wanted to play this kind of music, and luckily Svart Records wanted to release our first album “Seremonia” in 2012. And a lot of nice things have happened since then.

Delain – “The Human Contradiction” (2014)

Label: Napalm Records

Review by Tony Cannella

The Dutch Symphonic metal band Delain returns with their fourth full-length album “The Human Contradiction”. This is the follow up to their excellent “We Are the Others”. After that album, it was interesting to see how they would follow what many consider to be their best album. Would they be up to the task? Well, the answer is a resounding yes.

The opening track, “Here Come the Vultures” is a wonderful way to start. It begins with a haunting intro before transforming into a bombastic metal track and Charlotte Wessels is fast becoming one of my favorite singers. “Your Body Is a Battleground” is even more awesome than the previous song. Continue reading »

Anette Olzon – “Shine” (2014)

Label: earMUSIC

Review by Tony Cannella

The much anticipated debut solo album from Anette Olzon is finally here. Of course Anette was previously the lead singer for a little band called Nightwish for two albums and prior to that she fronted the AOR band Alyson Avenue. She started working on this solo album while she was a member of Nightwish, so it has been several years in the making. Not knowing what to expect, I was quite excited when this album came my way  having been a fan of her work with Nightwish and Alyson Avenue. Would she continue the musical path set forth by Nightwish or revisit her AOR roots ala Alyson Avenue? Continue reading »