The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(44:25, Hobby Horse Records) Track list: 1. Hvor Intet Ikke Høres 5:53 2. Hertil Og Lidt Længere 2:23 3. Du Vokser Sidelæns Ind I Mig 2:03 4. Ting Vi Kunne Have Fragtet 3:04 5. Lene Flytter Muren Med Sin Volvo 1:22 6. Mellemtidskrig 7:31 7. Fynd & Klem 1:23 8. All You Need Is Less 4:19 9. Charlie Følger Efter Mig 5:38 10. En Kortvarig Mobilisering Af Kropslige Resourcer 1:06 11. Fråds 1:34 12. Jeg Vil Bo Der Hvor Æblerne Er Sure 3:21 13. Født I Egen Krop 2:46 14. Tak For Lige Nu 2:02 Line-up: Anne Efternøler - trumpet Thomas Morgan - double bass Anders Christensen - double bass Richard Andersson - double bass Danish artist Anne Efternöler and her band Lige Börn first appeared back in 2022 with their self-titled debut album. All of the musicians involved are well known artists in their own right, and what sets this venture apart from many others is the line-up, consisting of band leader Efternöler on trumpet and her backing band consisting of three bassists. Now in the spring of 202...

(37:31; Heartbeat Rhythm Productions) Track list: 1. Heartbeat Drumming [Bellmund Session] 37:31 Line-up: Manuel Pasquinelli - drums, percussion, drones Switzerland based drummer Manuel Pasquinelli has been an active musician for a good number of years, with the drums as his chosen instruments. Currently he is a member of a small handful of bands, with Sonar perhaps being the most well known, Akku Quintet also being a band known by many and with Schrödingers Katze as the final of his currently active bands. This year Pasquinelli is out with his first proper solo album. It is called "Heartbeat Drumming [Bellmund Session]", and is an improvised live in studio performance that clocks in at a little bit shy of 38 minutes. This is a bit of a minimalist creation, where the main instruments are drums and percussion, with an ambient floating synthesizer presence that complement the rhythms. The improvisation ebbs and flows between various patterns with the synthesizer drones fluctuat...

(57:02; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Bete De Cirque 6:03 2. Defier Les Dieux 4:26 3. Reves D'Enfant 5:27 4. Bionic 6:37 5. Ibidem 6:37 6. L'Effrontee 6:11 7. Lettre A Ma Vie 6:38 8. Diane 5:42 9. Dante ( Ankou, Le Retour) 9:21 Line-up: Luke Skywam - guitars Cweety Trash - vocals French band Lady Ahnabel started out back in 2018, and presumably with a certain pandemic slowing down the development of the band a little prior to and following the release of their debut album "Vertuose" back in 2021. The band returned with the EP "My Taylor Is Rich" in 2023, and then signed with French label M&O Records for the release of their second studio production. Released now in the spring of 2025, this album is called "La Bionique". Good, old heavy metal is what this band has to offer. In many ways a traditional album, where the band looks back to 80s NWoBHM and early power metal first and foremost, and mix and blend traditional heavy metal elements in with...

(42:26; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Swinging 4:09 2. War 4:22 3. Toxic Dependence 4:51 4. Fall 3:51 5. Train to Nowhere 3:18 6. Paradise 4:21 7. Run 4:24 8. Call My Name 4:41 9. The Light 4:01 10. You Will Never Know 4:28 Line-up: Holger Terhorst - guitars Alex Scherz - bass Nick Antonelli - vocals with: Sven - drums German band The Light was formed back in 2024, and it seems the band has been rather busy ever since they were officially formed. Now in the spring of 2025 they have signed up with German label Fastball Music, and their debut album "The Light" has subsequently been made commercially available. It is a steady going variety of heavy metal we get on this album, and while the style and sound explores rather familiar waters most of the time this is also one of those albums that should have a broad and wide general appeal. Those fond of the good, old guitar riff being placed squarely in the limelight in songs that explore a landscape rather thoroughly will feel righ...

(43:25; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Stormy Seas 1:51 2. Imperial Machine 3:16 3. Dark Rainbow 4:17 4. The Wanderings of Ulysses 6:29 5. Argonautica Part I 1:29 6. Ruins of Troy 5:30 7. Medusa's Speech 1:13 8. The Curse of Medusa 4:12 9. Argonautica Part II 3:43 10. The Oracle 5:25 11. Sparta and Athens 4:22 12. Argonautica Part III 1:38 Line-up: Chris Techritz - guitars Franz Herde - vocals with: Tom Brenneis - bass Marc Nickel - guitars Alex Kreuch - keyboards Jimmy Konsta - guitars Oliver Holzwarth - bass Trina Deuhart - voice Spider the Akronaut - bass German band Kryptoportikus started out back in 2023 or thereabouts, with guitarist Chris Techritz and vocalist Franz Herde as the permanent members of this creative unit and guest musicians filling in for the recording sessions. "Dark Rainbow" is their debut album, and was released by German label Fastball Music in the spring of 2025. This is a good, old fashioned heavy metal album of the kind that we saw quite a few ...

(37:25; Dione) Track list: 1. Astrolatry 7:28 2. Black Discord 3:16 3. Prometheus, Thou Absorbing the Starlight 4:36 4. Project Zero 4:03 5. Hesperia Planum 3:28 6. Lament of the Forgotten 5:46 7. Solar Apex (The Visceral Ode to Beta Herculis) 2:58 8. Contemplating Space and the Pearllike Miasma 5:50 Line-up: Krystian Lukaszewicz - vocals, guitars, bass, piano with: Robin Stone - drums Polish project Dione is the creative vehicle of composer and artist Krystian Lukaszewicz, and in essence this is a one man band as far as permanent members go at least. This venture kicked off back in 2023 with the EP "Cosmosphere", and now in 2025 the debut album "Astrolatry" has been self-released by the artist. It is a little bit of a lo-fi sounding venture into the extreme metal realm we have here, with the main man handling all technical aspects of the album itself in addition to the vocals and the greater majority of the instrument roles. Very much a self made creation in other ...

(53:10; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Shuddap 3:40 2. Invitation 3:35 3. Fake 3:51 4. Just a Song 3:30 5. Fading Love 4:13 6. Rage Intro 0:59 7. Rage 3:35 8. Cruisin II 3:43 9. Illusion 3:45 10. Creeper 4:27 11. Stormbringer 3:50 12. Lover's Lip 3:19 13. Inferno 3:35 14. A Man 3:25 15. Relief 3:43 Line-up: Olav Däumling - vocals Seraina Schöpfer - vocals Christoph Teuschel - guitars Fred Jacobssen - bass Sebastian Lanser - drums Switzerland based project DerHerold is the creative vehicle of artist, composer and vocalist Olav Däumling, and while this venture didn't officially launch until 2024 it seems apparent that this is a creation that has been in development for quite some time. This spring the first in a series of three planned concept albums was released through German label Fastball Music. The name of this first chapter is "Arcanum I - Rage". This is an artist that appear to have a great and passionate love for the music of the 1980s in general and heavy metal...

(39:05; ΠΚmusic) Track list: 1. Anapolo 4:39 2. Behind Closed Doors 6:07 3. Introversion 5:38 4. Love Song 4:41 5. Dragonfly 6:29 6. Poni Tis Panayias 5:23 7. Departed 6:08 Line-up: Maria Manousaki - violin Dimitris Verdinoglou - piano Michael Evdemon - bass Alekos Roupas - percussion with: Christos Rafalides - vibraphone Ziv Ravitz - drums Andreas Polyzogopoulos - trumpet Thomas Meleteas - oud Stratis Skarakis - vocals Petros Klampanis - bass Kyriakos Stavrianoudakis - lute According to the artist home page, Maria Manousaki is a mainly US based artist, but also an artist that appears to be at home on more of a globetrotting scale. But while her stated main residence is stated as being in the US, for my sake at least I do get the impression that this is an artist whose soul resides in Crete to a great extent. With numerous involvements in the cultural scene of Crete over a substantial amount of years. As a solo artist, Manousaki released her first album back in 2020. And five years lat...

(25:54; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Dans La Gueule 2:04 2. N°1 3:41 3. Ecchymose 3:17 4. No Man's Land 3:49 5. Git Gud Scrub 2:39 6. Toxiq 3:50 7. Le Paradis 3:01 8. Shrapnel 3:33 Line-up: Cristobal Aliaga - bass Didiel Aliaga - drums Diego Aliaga - vocals with: Vikie - vocals Kourros  - vocals French band Karavane has been around in a few different forms ever since they started out back in 2020, with the threesome also releasing their debut mini-album back in their formative year. The band has been affiliated with French label M&O Music ever since they started out, and now in 2025 the current incarnation of this band have released their second mini-album "Thousand Yard Stare" through that label. I'm not at all as well versed in nu-metal and rap metal as I probably should have been, hence I'll probably bring a few oddball references to the table here. But I know what I like at least, and I appreciate a lot of what this band has up their collective sleeves. W...

(38:35; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Shattered Lands 4:17 2. Forgotten Sun 3:57 3. Rise From the Ruins 3:40 4. We Are 5:14 5. Lavender Turned into Ashes 2:21 6. How Far 5:46 7. Primordio Solis 2:47 8. Behind the Gate 3:20 9. D'ocre et de sang 3:36 10. The Calling 3:37 Line-up: Paul Gonzalvez - vocals, guitars Michael Jarrie - vocals, bass Pablo Malbec - guitars Antoine Dineur - drums French band Areis was formed back in 2019 or thereabouts, and one year later they signed with Italian label Wormholedeath for the release of their self-titled debut album. Since then the band have moved back home, so to speak, and have signed with French label M&O Music for the release of their second studio production "The Calling". I guess that this is a band that many will file somewhere inside of the extreme metal category, as these guys opt to include quite a few elements from this tradition into the landscapes they explore. But this isn't a purebred extreme metal venture, but r...