SDMETAL's album reviews slice through the core of metal's darkest masterpieces!
Artist: Seven Kingdoms Album: The Square Genre: Power Metal Release Date: November 8, 2024 For longtime fans of Seven Kingdoms, myself included—who’ve been on this epic journey since The Fire Is Mine—it’s impossible to approach any new release without sky-high expectations. The band’s signature blend of power, precision, and technical brilliance has consistently placed them…
“A Thousand and One Nights – Chapter 1,” the latest from Letallis, is an engaging maze of moody metal that should go over quite well when looking to sate those Opeth fans hungry for more.
Artist: Deicide Album: Banished By Sin Genre: Death Metal Release Date: April 26, 2024 Metal bands will often walk a tightrope: uncommon enough is longevity, and relevance is something very few manage. And, as always, there’s the rarest of exceptions that prevail not just against time but over their genre. Hailing from the bowels of…
Artist: Pentagram (Chile) Album: Eternal Life of Madness Genre: Death Thrash Metal Release Date: April 26, 2024 From the deep heart of Santiago, the legendary death-thrash colossus Pentagram (Chile) unleashes their latest saga, “Eternal Life of Madness.” Since their inception in 1985, Pentagram (Chile) has stood as a monolith of chaos and raw power, evoking…
Artist: URAGH Album: Maelstrom Genre: Metalcore / Progressive Metal Release Date: April 19, 2024 Seldom does an album navigate through the deep ocean of modern metal, which is able to sound as aggressive sonically as it is profound thematically. The Dublin quartet URAGH does just that with their debut album, “Maelstrom,” set for digital release…
Nocturna returns with a hauntingly beautiful exploration of duality on their sophomore album, “Of Sorcery And Darkness.” Fronted by the captivating vocal duo of Grace Darkling and Rehn Stillnight, the album blends intricate melodies with powerful vocals, crafting a symphonic metal masterpiece.
Planted in 2020, TÝR’s collaboration with the Faroe Islands Symphony Orchestra blooms on “Battle Ballads,” a symphonic metal masterpiece. This album transcends Viking Metal’s boundaries, weaving its raw energy with majestic orchestration. “Hammered” exemplifies this evolution, launching from guitar riffs into vibrant, multi-layered complexity. From anthemic tracks like “Unwandered Ways” to the poignant “Torkils Døtur,” TÝR showcases their storytelling and musicianship, intertwining orchestral arrangements with tales of heroism and emotional depth. Don’t miss TÝR live at San Diego’s Brick By Brick on April 17th to experience the power and beauty of “Battle Ballads”!
Invincible Shield, from Judas Priest, is an immense success in a long line of monumental successes for the band; this album, famously, marks its birthplace as from the nineteenth studio. Co-producing once again is Andy Sneap, blessed with the magic touch that helped the group’s last effort, 2018’s acclaimed Firepower, along with co-production on the…
Artist: Vesperian Sorrow Album: Awaken The Greylight Genre: Symphonic Black Metal Release Date: April 26 2024 On the grand pantheon of symphonic black metal bands, few have carved as distinctive a niche as Austin, Texas’ own Vesperian Sorrow. Delving even further into the cosmic and gothic territories which have defined their very personal niche within…
Raymond Melendez