The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(41:12; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. High and Above 4:01 2. Room to Breathe 3:57 3. Louder Than Words 4:05 4. Chasing the Sun 4:32 5. Kingdom 3:57 6. Your Chains 3:57 7. Afterlife 3:34 8. Twisted Love 4:20 9. Heartattack 3:48 10. Black and Gray 5:00 Line-up: Zoran Misic - vocals Veit Schlembach - drums Dani Davis - guitars Adnan Basic - guitars Chris Buchberger - bass with: Michael Wagner - guitars Vinnie Colla - bass Jona Raischl - keyboards, organ David Bertok - piano, keyboards Germany based band Bad Rain is a recent addition to the German rock scene. Initially a solo project, this venture soon turned into a proper band and in the fall of 2025 they released their debut album "Louder Than Words" through German label Fastball Music. This is one of those bands that know their way round 1970's hard rock extremely well I would imagine, and have opted to give this classic sound a little bit of an update and makeover. Pulling it a bit closer to the post-millennium era in te...

(45:26; Echozone) Track list: 1. Quiet Pulse 5:25 2. Weight of You 3:47 3. Pleasures 4:19 4. Rooftops of Zion 4:01 5. Song From the Abyss 3:24 6. On Your Own 4:31 7. Awakening 4:12 8. Distant Call 4:40 9. Open Skies 3:48 10. Fire 4:32 11. In the Silence of the Night 2:47 Line-up: Yen Anetzberger - vocals Ingo Hannen . bass, synthesizers, guitars Arndt Bander - guitars Ben Overmann - drums German band Dead Bees in Bourbon seems to be a fairly new formation in the German rock scene, with the band starting their Facebook page as recently as 2024. Following an initial EP the band released their debut album "Crystals" in the fall of 2025 through German label Echozone. It is a dark and dreamladen landscape we are transported into on this occasion, where barren and majestic arrangements exist side by side in songs where the mood and atmosphere often strikes me as being perhaps a bit more otherworldly sounding than strictly dreamladen, and with a bit of a haunting quality being commo...

(53:41; Echozone) Track list: 1. Save Your Soul 4:57 2. Life and Lies 4:26 3. Une Cité Sans Gaieté 4:13 4. Le Compromis 4:09 5. Ciao Ma Belle 3:33 6. You Will Find a Way 3:32 7. Une Cité Sans Gaieté [Electro] 4:06 8. CJB25 3:17 9. Elise 3:46 10. Rêve 3:35 11. In the Name Of (v3.0) 3:25 12. Take a Vow 4:16 13. Save Your Soul [The Mental Club Mix] 6:26 Line-up: Richard Abdeni - instruments, vocals Marilyne Jallad - vocals US based venture Apres La Nuit has been releasing material at a steady pace ever since their initial EP "Mon Amour"  that appeared back in 2021, and as of 2026 this project has a total of 9 releases to their name. The most recent of these is the full length album "Aller-Retour", which was released through German label Echozone in the fall of 2025. If there is something that can be called industrial synth pop, then I suspect that this album comes pretty close to it at times. Where the synth pop as well as the industrial elements, while toned down, are...

(50:27; M&O Music) Track list: 1. The Beast Is Back 4:53 2. First Believer 4:07 3. Zugzwang 5:35 4. Legacy 4:36 5. Pogo 3:57 6. Tired 5:50 7. Fate 4:04 8. Lucifer 6:50 9. Mary Celeste 4:28 10. Carousel 6:07 Line-up: Guillaume Hesse - vocals Michel Erhart - guitars Thomas Haessy - guitars Pascal Husser - bass Christophe Brunner - drums French band Syr Daria was formed back in 2007, and just about every fourth year since then the band has been ready with a new studio production. The album "Dark Carousel" dates back to the fall of 2025, is the band's fourth studio album, and was released through French label M&O Music. In terms of sound, mix and production, this is an album that gives me that charming underground feel. Kind of an updated variety of the sound I recall hearing on the album's by bands back in the 1980s that signed up for the independent metal labels at the time. Such as Mausoleum, Neat Records and others of a similar nature. The music itself also co...

(12:23; Big Bad Wolf Records / Metalization / Headbangers Records) Track list: 1. Nakam 3:02 2. New Day Next Punch 2:51 3. Fine Without You 3:17 4. Bomb Squad 3:13 Line-up: Dirk Draaisma - guitars Lars Draaisma - drums Herman Mulder - bass Ferdinand Wanders - vocals Dutch band Zubzero has been around for around a quarter of a century at this point, and probably merits a description as veterans due to that. So far in their career they have released one full length studio album and a number of singles and EPs from what I can see. The EP" Frostbite" dates back to 2023, and was released through the labels Big Bad Wolf Records, Metalization and Headbangers Records. While I see this band being described and defined in a few different manners, with thrash metal and metalcore being used most often, for my sake I find the music they explore to be of a slightly different character. At least as far as the material on this EP is concerned. I would say that the material here is a blend of...

(46:06; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Illusion of Time 3:08 2. Glitch 4:40 3. We Are 4:07 4. Samsara 5:40 5. Monsters 4:46 6. Echoes 5:08 7. Crossroads of Time 4:54 8. One Last Breath 4:42 9. Apocalypse 4:37 10. Live to Die 4:24 Line-up: Adrien Alvarez - vocals, guitars Sacha Guitteny - guitars Alex Bonnet - drums Jay Balcou - bass French band Lethernal Utopia were formed back in 2023, and following some initial single releases the foursome released their debut album "Illusion of Time" through French label M&O Music in the fall of 2025. It is an intriguing take on the heavy metal style we get in this case, provided by a band that appear to know their way around balancing contrasting elements in an efficient and interesting manner. The compositions tend to come across as both powerful and majestic in scope, but also with a firm drive and an ongoing elegant feel, with more grim sounding elements having important roles throughout. The ongoing elegance and flow comes by way o...

(37:20; April Records) Track list: 1. Yacumama 4:17 2. Duele 4:21 3. Out in the Woods 6:00 4. Give Peace Another Chance 3:02 5. Lampuki Bite 4:04 6. Guirca 3:12 7. El Zorro 5:05 8. Vals Ajillo 3:07 9. Tumbleweed Turnpike 4:12 Line-up: Emil de Waal - drums, percussion, vocals Niclas Knudsen - guitars, talkbox Jens Berents Christiansen - synthesizers, Wurlitzer, 303, percussion, various electronic devices Anders Stig Møller - bass, synthesizers, vocals, various electronic devices with: Claudia Rodriguez Ahlfors - vocals Stine Grøn - vocals Danish band Kalaha was formed back in 2014, and in the decade and a bit since their formation they have released new studio material at a steady pace, with more than half a dozen albums to their name as of 2026. Their latest studio production appeared in the fall of 2025. This album is called "Guirca", and was released through Danish label April Records. It is quite the playful affair this one, and the band moves around quite a bit in terms o...