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Artefacts - 2024 - The Titan Chronicles Part II: Lucius

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(75:15; Anti-Hero Records) Track list: 1. Gods and Mortals 3:47 2. Nephereth 7:46 3. The Tower of Irth-Anshar 7:18 4. Dragonfall 13:18 5. Her Brine Embrace 5:54 6. The Path of No Return 12:40 7. Augur the Age of Darkness 11:09 8. Corruption (Glory for the Fall) 8:06 9. For the Dead and the Undying 5:17 Line-up: Siegfried Mercelis - keyboards Niklaas Reinhold - vocals, choir Gert Sergeant - drums Tom Everaert – bass, choir Tom Leemans – guitars, choir Erik Vanhauwaert - guitars with: Bram Dewachter - guitars, choir Tim Van Doorn - guitars, vocals Lucinda Dewachter - vocals, choir Dennie Grondelaers - vocals, choir Sjoera Roggeman - vocals, choir Peter Theuwen - vocals Hilde Konings - choir Ludwike van Kalmthout - choir Evy Verbruggen - choir Barbara van der Waerden - choir Robbert Bakker - choir Frederik Markusse - choir Siegfrid Mercelis - choir Gideon van Wingerden - choir Onno pels - choir Frank Lycops - choir Sam Vos - choir Belgian band Artefacts has been a feature in the Belgian m...
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Painted Scars - 2024 - Kintsugi

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(24:12; Painted Scars) Track list: 1. Glow in the Dark 3:20 2. Won’t Give Up! 3:49 3. Knock Knock 5:31 4. Liquid Gold 3:17 5. Freedom 3:26 6. Life and Alive 4:49 Line-up: Jassy Blue - vocals Kevin de Brouwer - guitars, vocals Yannick Rottiers - guitars Jens Van Geel - bass Bram Vermeir - drums Belgian band Painted Scars appears to be a fairly recent formation, with the band establishing an online presence in the summer of 2023. One year later the band were ready with their debut EP "Kintsugi", which was self released in the summer of 2024. This is a band that I suspect will be regarded as more of a metal band by some older listeners, and probably a bit more of a hard rock band by many that are a bit younger. A band firmly placed on the border between hard rock and heavy metal if you like, making use of elements from both traditions in a few different manners. The vocals is a bit of a defining feature of this band. Not that having a female singer is that exceptional, but it is...
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Arbor - 2024 - Arbor

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(43:55; P k music) Track list: 1. Polygonal 4:24 2. Fundamental 6:37 3. In Shambles 5:35 4. Sketch 5:12 5. Counterfactual 5:27 6. Blues 4:29 7. Dream Machine 5:43 8. Nicotine 6:28 Line-up: Michalis Tsiftsis - guitars Yiannis Vagianos - bass Yiannis Papadopoulos - piano Nick Thessalonikefs - drums Greek band Arbor is, from what I understand, a fairly recent unit, a quartet of like-minded people that founded a band for, among other reasons, mutual ecological concerns. Using music as their tool to share their concerns about topics in this category as well as, to quote the booklet that follow this CD, to celebrate the enduring resilience of nature through their music. "Arbor" is the band's debut album, and was released through the label P k music towards the end of 2024. Jazz is the field this foursome have chosen to explore, and they venture into this landscape in an instrumental manner. The piano and the guitar are the clear lead instruments here, usually alternating in hav...
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Harmonize Oracle - 2024 - Before the Oracle

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(28:26; Harmonize Oracle) Track list: 1. Chained Spirit 4:05 2. Phoenix 6:17 3. Crawling Among Shadows 9:27 4. Shield Wall 4:05 5. Another Holy War 4:32 Line-up: Not stated Cypriot band Harmonize Oracle started out back in 2012, and used the band name Harmonize for the first decade and a bit. They released their first full length album "Warrior in the Night" under that name back in 2020 as a matter of fact. Now they band have returned with the band name revised to Harmonize Oracle, and the self released mini-album "Before the Oracle". The contents of this production is one new song, one song from their debut album, and a total of three cover songs to boot. And from this handful of compositions, it is their new song that impress me most. From a more atmospheric laden opening that reminds me ever so slightly of Iron Maiden and on to a big, majestic metal tune with orchestral overlays and rich guitar backing that combines into a compelling whole that have a little bit ...
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Trank - 2024 - The Maze

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(44:38; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Adrenalin 3:25 2. Twenty First Century Slave 4:10 3. Queen of the Broken 3:50 4. Evolution 4:03 5. Chameleon 4:13 6. Pray for Rain 3:38 7. Hey You 4:28 8. Miracle Cure 4:49 9. Boys (Eyes on the Road) 3:51 10. Seven Veils 3:34 11. The Morning After 4:37 Line-up: Arnaud Bled - bass Johann Evanno - drums, programming, vocals Michel André Jouveaux - vocals, keyboards, programming Nicolas Raymond - guitars David Spatola - guitars, keyboards, programming, vocals with: Julien Boucq - guitars Multinational band Trank appear to have been formed sometime around 2016, and came to some prominence back in 2021 when they released their debut album "The Ropes", which was later reissued in a deluxe edition too. Now in the late fall of 2024 the band has returned with their second album "The Maze", which was released through French label M&O Music. I see that the label has chosen the heavy alternative rock designation in order to classify th...
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Aboutmeemo - 2024 - Zugzwang

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(45:08; Aboutmeemo) Track list: 1. A Life Against 3:28 2. Live in Denial 3:36 3. Lack of Passion 3:50 4. It Ended Up Like That 3:50 5. Heaven Mania 3:26 6. Distractions 3:54 7. Feel Safe Again 3:44 8. Song for No One 3:07 9. Another Sky 4:17 10. Hooded Man 3:38 11. Immigrant Lament 4:16 12. Passive Aggressive Scammers 4:02 Line-up: Aboutmeemo - vocals, bass, guitars, keyboards with: Nicola D'Amato - drums Stefano Mancini - drums Ireland based artist Aboutmeemo have been releasing solo material for the better part of a decade by now, releasing his first album back in 2016 and an EP that appeared in 2019. His second full length album "Zugzwang" was originally scheduled for a late 2023 release, but a change of management and labels saw the album release pushed back to the late fall of 2024 and now through Italian label Sorry Mom!. This review is based on the promo distributed in 2023. I guess that the best general description of the music we get here will be classic rock, an...
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Exa - 2024 - Left in Shards

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(36:47; Exa) Track list: 1. Return to Madness 3:44 2. Under His Eye 3:27 3. Dead Child Eyes 4:48 4. Hire to Fire 4:50 5. Mind Free 3:18 6. Left in Shards 4:38 7. Witch Hunt 3:12 8. Cease to Exist 4:07 9. Circadian 0:51 10. King Terror 3:52 Line-up: Leon - drums Tom - vocals, guitars Tamino - bass Hans - guitars German band Exa have been around for a decade or thereabouts at this point, with the band being formed while the members were still fairly young from what I understand. They released their initial debut EP back in 2018, and have released a few singles and one full length album following this. At the start of 2024 they were ready with their second studio album, "Left in Shards", which was self released by the band. While this is a recent band formation with fairly young members, this is a band that appear to know their way around music from yesteryear. Thrash metal being the name of the game here, and the description classic era is a bit of a defining one to use for the...
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