The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(17:45; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Midnight Hunter 4:41 2. Steelbladed Avenger 4:12 3. Midnight Hunter (Instrumental) 4:42 4. Steelbladed Avenger (Instrumental) 4:10 Line-up: Kai Hagemann - vocals, keyboards Zacharias Drosos - guitars Nino Helfrich - guitars Thies Jacobsen - drums with: Rich Gray - bass German band Inner Axis have a history that goes back to the late 1990's, at first operating under the moniker Midgard, but then switching to Inner Axis in 2008. Since then the band have released two full length albums. This year they are out with the double single "Midnight Hunter / Steelbladed Avenger", possibly in advance of a third full length studio production. Both tracks document a band that has a firm foundation in more traditional varieties of heavy metal. An energetic variety of 80's heavy metal may arguably be a foundation here, with tight and energetic runs and surges with more of a power metal expression used liberally in both songs as well as a slightl...

(39:00; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Serial Killer 5:47 2. Eye for an Eye 5:46 3. Antihero 5:34 4. Prior 2:49    5. Scream for Me 5:47 6. Unforged 4:44 7. Fight for Your Life 5:03 8. I'm Away 3:30 Line-up: Chrys - vocals Thommy Scar - guitars Mika Alva - guitars Chris Anthrope - bass Nico Alva  - drums German band Unforged was established as recently as 2019, and have obviously had the major part of their band development so far while the historical pandemic have made such undertakings a tad more problematic than usual. This fall the band was ready with their debut album "Eye for an Eye", which was released through German label Fastball Music. While I see the band are self-described as a modern metal band, I would beg to disagree ever so slightly in that regard. To my ears at least this debut album has a distinct retro feel to it, of the kind that begs for a Bay Area reference. Or, in other words, I regard this album as one exploring a rather classic variety of thr...

(64:12; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Stay Free 5:30 2. Danger Zone 3:56 3. You Never Know Why 5:12 4. Behind the Clouds 6:28 5. Magical Touch 3:37 6. Steelheart 4:55 7. Soultrail 5:23 8. Breakout 4:36 9. Fire & Soul 7:51 10. Out of Control 4:30 11. Believe 5:32 12. 100 Mann und ein Befehl 2:50 13. Xmas Is Special 3:52 Line-up: Guido Stocker - guitars Ela Sturm - vocals Danij Perl - bass Christian Antwerpen - drums with: Rolf Munkes - guitars Hermann Focke - drums JoJo Brunn - keyboards German band Bodyguerra has a history that goes back to 2010 from what I can see, and they released their debut album "Freddy...Nothing as It Seems" back in 2013. Some years down the line a new version of the band was formed, now opting for the slightly revised band name Guido Stoecker's Bodyguerra. Come 2021 and they are ready with the second Bodyguerra album "Fire & Soul", which is set for an October release through German label Fastball Music. While one might get the i...

(34:42; Exile on Mainstream) Track list: 1. Get the Guns 4:15 2. Listen 3:46 3. The Enemy 4:35 4. Push 3:23 5. Buried Under 3:26 6. Boys and Girls 3:24 7. Saturn 3:56 8. Dark Night 4:27 9. Own 3:30 Line-up: Jonah Matranga - vocals Marlon King - guitars Nick Hannon - bass Mitch Wheeler - drums Stevie B - drums Blake - electronics UK band Sons of Alpha Cenaturi have clocked in a good 20 years of activity, with a handful or so of albums to their name so far. "Push" is the name of their latest studio album, which was released through German label Exile on Mainstream Records in the summer of 2021. It is a difficult to define variety of hard rock that this latest incarnation of Sons of Alpha Centauri has to offer this time around. Tight passages with atmospheric laden elements live side by side with harder, more majestic as well as gnarly and dirty guitar riff driven escapades, with some songs and passages closer to being a hard but elegant take on post-punk, while other creations ...

(46:18; Matt Steady) Track list: 1. The Roamer 3:56 2. Hello Old Friend 3:29 3. Theory of Ruins 5:26 4. The Green Man 3:58 5. Buen Camino 3:45 6. Long Road Home 3:57 7. Funny Old World 4:54 8. Grist for the Mill 3:24 9. The White Cliffs of Dover 6:09 10. Hazel of the Rocks 3:02 11. Wayfaring Stranger 4:18 Line-up: Matt Steady - vocals, instruments with: Indigo Steady - vocals Eleanore - vocals Terl Bryant - percussion Sam Jefferson - guitars Steve Fletcher - keyboards Serena Smith - violin Phil Harris Stuart Wood UK artist Matt Steady is a fairly unknown quantity to me, but he reached out to me one day - on Twitter I believe - and offered to send me a promotional copy of his album "The Echoes Remain". An offer I obviously accepted. It would appear that Matt has been quite the productive artist for the past five years or thereabouts, with a steady stream of studio albums as well as a live album being released between 2016 and now. The album I received is actually a compilation...

(42:31; Norske Albumklassikere [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. Obsession (5:59) 2. Dance (2:08) 3. Chant! (My Timbre Is Versatile) (4:25) 4. Keine Angst (5:03) 5. Dissolve (3:06) 6. Depart (3:06) 7. Arbeid og Fritid (2:54) 8. The Darkest Night (6:00) 9. Branca (3:37) 10. Location (6:13) Line-up: Helge Gaarder - vocals, piano, programming, percussion, synthesizer, bass, effects with: Jörn Christensen - guitars Kristin Kopperud - vocals Kjell Fosstvedt - drums, percussion Viggo Vestel - guitars, percussion, piano, harp Erik Aasheim - percussion, vocals Paul Austad - bass, vocals Brynjulf Blix - synthesizer Sven Kalmar - drums Bygg Band - tape effects Björn Pettersen - bass Ola Snortheim - drums Mari Wendelboe - strings Karin Westrheim - saxophone The late Norwegian artist Helge Gaarder is possibly best known for his tenures in the bands Kjøtt and Cirkus Modern in the early 1980's, but he also found the time to record and release his only solo album in the period when he was active in...

(39:23; Norske Albumklassikere [2021 Edition] ) Track list: 1. The Good the Bad and the Ugly (3:45) 2. Monsterdance (3:45) 3. Another Story of Love (4:31) 4. Swingtime (3:13) 5. The Track (3:38) 6. Mr. Brown (4:06) 7. Mountains (4:17) 8. Born to Rock (3:09) 9. Sacred Alibi (3:44) 10. Fade Away (5:15) Line-up: - Harald Dose - vocals - Geir Emanuelsen - bass, vocals - Stig Theo Eriksen - drums, vocals - Erlend Ottem - guitars, vocals - Bård Torstensen - guitars, vocals with: - Rock 'n Rolf Pedersen - harmonica - Lina Narjord - violion Norwegian band Theo had a career as a recording band that lasted from 1982 until 1989, with a few different line-ups of the band in those years as well from what I understand. "The Good the Bad and the Ugly" was their third and final album before the band went into hiatus as far as recording material is concerned, and was originally released through the label Veps Musikk in 1988. The album was reissued through the series "Norske Albumklas...