This is the debut album from Italian power metal band Alterium.
Brought to us be ex-members of Kalida and Kaledon, Of War and Flames contains 42 minutes of engaging and well-delivered power metal material, (including a Sabaton cover). Continue reading “Alterium – Of War and Flames (Review)”
This is the tenth album from Greek heavy/power metal band Firewind.
Brought to us be current and ex-members of bands such as Dream Evil, Kamelot, Nightrage, Ozzy Osbourne, Firewind bring a lot of talent and experience to the party. Across 43 minutes they deliver ten tracks of classic metallic songcraft, (one of which is a cover song). Continue reading “Firewind – Stand United (Review)”
Welcome to my annual attempt to make sense of the ridiculous amount of good metal albums out there, awaiting discovery by intrepid metal explorers.
2023’s best of list has been one of the more difficult ones to put together, placing-wise, which is one of the reasons that I’m posting it later than I usually do. Even more so than normal many of the slots are interchangeable, and I especially struggled with positions two-nine – if such a thing were possible, they all deserve to be higher! In the end I decided to stop overthinking it and go with my gut, but the usual caveat of these lists being very subjective and subject to change depending on mood, feelings, etc. is larger than normal here.
There are some notable acts missing form the below. Not because they’re not worthy of inclusion, but because there are only so many spaces to be had. In fact, I almost ended up limiting this list to 20, rather than the now-customary 30, as I found it really difficult to know who to include and who not to. In the end I went with the standard 30 so that I could promote a few extra bands, as they absolutely all deserve it.
As for the top position, I wasn’t expecting it to be filled by a band I’d never heard before, playing a style that I don’t listen to as much as I used to. However, I suppose after last year, I shouldn’t have been too surprised.
I do hope you enjoy this list and find some new music to obsess over. Like always, thanks for your support if you have ever visited this site before, and here’s to a great 2024 for as many of us as possible. Continue reading “Wonderbox Metal End of Year List – Best Metal of 2023”
This is the second album from Greek power metal band Sacred Outcry.
Featuring the ex-vocalist of Lost Horizon and Heed, Towers of Gold boasts 55 minutes of Grade A material. Taking a heavy metal approach to power metal, Sacred Outcry take elements from both and fuse them into something really quite special. Continue reading “Sacred Outcry – Towers of Gold (Review)”
This is the third album from Xoth, a death metal band from the US.
Exogalactic can be thought of as a sci-fi-themed tech death album that’s spliced with black and thrash metal elements. Across 39 minutes Xoth impress with their exuberant delivery, especially as it’s backed up by some serious musical chops. Continue reading “Xoth – Exogalactic (Review)”
This is the debut album from Finnish black metallers Moonlight Sorcery.
Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle contains 44 minutes of symphonic melodic black metal. However, beneath this simple description hides a deeper truth, that Moonlight Sorcery offer more than just black metal to enjoy here. Continue reading “Moonlight Sorcery – Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle (Review)”
Aortha is a metal project based in Norway, and this is their debut album.
To best explain who/what Aortha is, let’s turn to the promo blurb – “AORTHA is new metal project/band founded by Predrag Glogovac . He was guitar player from known metal band in ex.Yugoslavia called MONOLIT which was active from 1988-1992 until war broke in country and band ceased to exist. Reunion in 2006-2008 and one fine album released on One Records from Belgrade «Arcana Balkanica» in 2008. Predrag has played in Norway with some known metal musicians for years. In 2020 with a lot of unreleased music and songs he started to gather old friends & musicians for project and album you have in hand is born.” Continue reading “Aortha – Monolit (Review)”
This is the fourth album from Noveria, a progressive power metal band from Italy.
Containing 108 minutes of material, The Gates of the Underworld is a feast of music for fans of luscious and rich progressive power metal. As a rough guide, think of a mix of bands such as Threshold, Evergrey, and Pagan’s Mind. Continue reading “Noveria – The Gates of the Underworld (Review)”
Forged in Black are a UK heavy metal band and this is their third album.
I thoroughly enjoyed 2019’s Descent of the Serpent, so it’s good to have some new material from Forged in Black. Across 42 minutes the band once again unleash a torrent of quality heavy metal on the world in the shape of Lightning in the Ashes. Continue reading “Forged in Black – Lightning in the Ashes (Review)”
This is the seventh album from Scar Symmetry, a melodic death metal band from Sweden.
The Singularity Phase II – Xenotaph is a big album that’s bold and ambitious. but has the skill and ability to back up its vision. Mixing together melodic death metal with heavy and power metal, this is a feast of metallic fun for any fan of this sort of music. Continue reading “Scar Symmetry – The Singularity Phase II – Xenotaph (Review)”
