The Viking in the Wilderness - reviews and news

(31:08; M&O Music) Track list: 1. Fractured 2:56 2. On Coming Storm 3:31 3. Ground 4:15 4. Devils Den 4:26 5. The Machine 4:12 6. Valhalla 4:41 7. Strong Arm 3:15 8. Deep Within 3:52 Line-up: Matt Wiggins - vocals Jason Trevino - bass Joe Hawkins - guitars Cody Hellion - drums US band Deep Within have been active in one form or another for at least a decade from what I can see, but they have taken their good time to develop their craft prior to hitting the recording studio. Following an initial single released a few years back, the band is now out with their debut album "Deep Within", which was released by French label M&O Music. In terms of metal traditions, this is a band that I by and large would place inside of an alternative moniker. Not because I find this album to be all that similar to alternative metal bands as such, but rather because the more inclusive spirit of the songs in sum makes this an album with a bit of an alternative scope. Those fond of groove or...

(32:33; Art Safari) Track list: 1. Hollow Ground 3:40 2. Rat Race 3:31 3. New Dark Age 7:45 4. Nothing 2:12 5. Ocean of Fears 3:43 6. Fall 11:42 Line-up: Antti - vocals, guitars, organ, percussion Eetu - bass, percussion, vocals Tuomas - drums, percussion, vocals Finnish band Black Spy has been around since 2007 according to their biography, but as a recording unit it would appear that they didn't get active until a few years back, with just a single and an EP to their name prior to 2023. But at the end of 2023 they released what appears to be their debut album, "Songs of Dissonance", through Finnish record label Art Safari. Where Black Spy actually resides in terms of style and orientation comes across as a bit of a moot point judging from the contents of this album, as the dominant style elements on this album are just about evenly divided between post-punk and noise rock. The melody lines, general mood and groove in particular contain elements of the former, while the ...

(53:34; Fantai'Zic Productions) Track list: 1. Insanity 5:05 2. White Words 4:24 3. Strings on Your Arms 3:29 4. The Juggler 4:44 5. All You Can See 4:52 6. Siamese Versality 4:22 7. Sharpest Cards 4:03 8. Fortune Teller 4:38 9. Casanova 3:23 10. The Sideshow Attraction 3:49 11. Wooden Horses 4:47 12. Take Me 5:58 Line-up: Romuald Carre - drums Claude Colmars - guitars, vocals Benoit Guillot - vocals Matthieu Morand - guitars Julien Skorka - bass, vocals French band Dusk of Delusion started out back in 2016, and they have been a steady provider of their specific variety of metal since then. As of 2023 the band have released three full length albums and two EPs, all of them through the French label Fantai'Zic Productions. Their debut album "(F)unfair" dates back to the spring of 2018. In the metal universe there are many bands that play around with different style elements in order to create something unusual, some taking a more expressive and unusual approach while ot...

(19:38; Fastball Music) Track list: 1. Room to Breathe 3:58 2. Kingdom 3:56 3. Your Chains 3:57 4. Afterlife 3:28 5. Twisted Love 4:19 Line-up: Dan Byrne - vocals Veit Schlembach - drums Dani Davies - guitars Christian Buchberger - bass with: Michael Wagner - guitars Vinnie Colla - bass Jona Raischl - keyboards German band Bad Rain have been around for a few years by now, formed after the members past bands disbanded sometime around 2018 if I have understood matters correctly. This year they have readied themselves for the recording part of their career, and following a couple of initial singles they are now out with the EP "Room to Breathe", which was released through German label Fastball Music. And this is quite the vitamin pill of a production. While the band describe their music as hard rock, I am one of those slightly older guys that can recall when music of this kind was still referred to as heavy metal. The truth of the matter, at least as far as I'm concerned, is...

(21:19; Fantai'zic) Track list: 1. 04-06-2080 0:56 2. Bone Meal 3:59 3. The Hemicycle 4:32 4. Bloks 4:30 5. Breaking the Wall 3:22 6. Floating Blossom 3:58 Line-up: Jean-Gabriel Bocciarelli - guitars, vocals Natan Gengenbacher - drums, percussion Benoît Guillot - vocals Matthieu Morand - guitars, synthesizers, keyboards Julien Skorka - bass, vocals French band Dusk of Delusion have been around since 2016 of thereabouts, and have been a consistent unit in terms of creating and releasing new material during their career so far. Three full albums have seen the light of day since the band started, and an additional two EPs have seen the light of day during their run too. The most recent of these EPs is called "Try Your Freedom", and was released through French label Fantai'zic in the fall of 2023. The cover art pretty much states that this EP is a tie in with the band's previous studio album "COrollarian RObotic SYStem", and presumably it is the continuation...

(49:20; Echozone) Track list: 1. Transform the Urge 4:15 2. Hunting a Ghost 5:36 3. Frozen People 6:26 4. Hayley 4:58 5. Deadly Cure 5:24 6. Tyrants 5:49 7. Cold 6:47 8. Don't Lose Yourself 4:20 8. Smalltown Boy 5:45 Line-up: Chris N - vocals Patty J - instruments German band Seekers Are Lovers appears to be a fairly recent addition to the German music scene, with the band starting out back in 2020 and with an initial EP released back in the spring of 2021. "Nephentes" is their debut album, and was released through German label Echozone in the fall of 2023. I will readily admit that the landscapes explored by this band aren't ones I'm intimately familiar with, although I have listened to quite a bit of music related to the material that is present on this album. I guess electronic rock is an appropriate manner in which to summarize this production as a whole, although in this case this tradition is explored with a distinct nod back towards the 1980s. The songs we ...

(39:34; Physico Records) Track list: 1. Chairman 3:32 2. Two of a Kind 3:33 3. Let Your Love Come Down 3:19 4. In the Night 5:10 5. Think I'll Stay in the City Tonight 5:06 6. After Dawn 3:46 7. Empty Heart 3:41 8. I Still Love You So 3:21 9. Our Love Will Last 3:54 10. Close Enough to Know 4:12 Line-up: Kenneth Roy - vocals, drums, percussion, keyboards, synthesizers, melodica, effects Doctor Ryman - guitars, drums, bass, arrangements, effects with: Baron Chase - bass Richard Howell - saxophones, arrangements Geechi Taylor - trumpet Danny Armstrong - trombone Veteran US artist Kenneth Roy has been around for the last three decades or thereabouts, but as I haven't been able to trace just how many albums he has released over the years I don't know how productive he has been over the years. The album "Chairman" dates back to 2020, and appears to be the most recent of his excursions as a solo artist. I was fairly impressed with this album when I gave it a more superf...