Simon Bower

Rock/Metal junkie living in beautiful Anglesey.Love live music and have a musical taste which can go from Cannibal Corpse to Kate Bush in the blink of an eye.

Corpore – She Came Like A Hurricane

  The continual evolvment and progression of Metal in general, never ceases to amaze me, to such an extent, that these days, you need an abacus to count the number of genres and sub genres that exist. Therefore, when I read the term Modern Metal crossed with Hardcore and Electronic, …

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Messenger – Captain’s Loot

Germany’s Messenger return with an eight track album of original tracks and covers, delivered in the classic Heavy Metal style, and with the subtlety of a brick. For a start, Siegfried Schüssler has the most Metal of Metal voices anywhere on the planet, when this guy screams, windows shatter and …

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Heavydeath – Eternal Sleepwalker

This beauty has been out for a couple of weeks now but I just could not let it pass by without inking a few lines with the quill. Sweden has always produced cracking bands in the past, from all genres but Doom being my personal passion, I was drawn like …

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Lamentations Of The Ashen – Libertine Cyst

  American based solo project, Lamentations Of The Ashen return with a thunderous four track epic amalgamation of Funeral/Classic Doom and Black Metal that is as enjoyable as it is adventurous. One of the very few problems I have with the Black Metal genre in general, is that it can …

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Agatha – Gravis Atque Gravior

          I do not, as a rule, review albums that have been out for a considerable length of time, unless it is a classic Metal album from the distant past that is celebrating a milestone anniversary of course. However, in the case of Agatha’s “Gravis Atque …

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Hic Iacet – The Cosmic Trance Into The Void

    This debut full length album has been on my radar for some time, ever since I stumbled across the ‘Prophecy Of Doom’ 7” that surfaced a while back, I had been chomping at the bit to see whether this project could continue to evolve. A full blown band, …

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Nangilima – The Dark Matter

        As much as I love the whole Doom Metal genre, it has become somewhat of a musical minefield in recent times, I guess the price of an ever growing popularity status amongst the masses can only mean a plethora of new bands, eager to become the …

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Raunchy – Vices. Virtues. Visions.

        This release marks the bands sixth full length offering, and their first since signing to German label, Massacre Records. Couple that with the fact that the album is also the first to feature the vocal talents of Mike Semesky, and you immediately get the impression that …

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Cult Of Fire – Ctvrta Symfonie Ohne

    Iron Bonehead Records have an uncanny ability and knack in unearthing some really fantastic Black Metal bands from around the world, and none come better than Cult Of Fire from the Czech Republic. This two track E.P. is basically a celebration and homage to the composer Bedrich Smetana, …

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Liv Kristine – Vervain

      ‘Vervain’, heralds Liv Kristine’s fifth solo album release, and is, without doubt, the strongest yet. I’ve been of the opinion for a considerable length of time now, that Liv, in a vocal sense, is riding on the crest of a creative wave at this moment. Her work …

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Riwen – Riwen

    This is one of those three track E.P.’s that certainly leaves you clambering for more. As fast as a speeding bullet from the off, ballads sure are not the order of the day, with brutal riffs a plenty, over spilling with dynamic quality and precision, to get you …

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Latitude Egress – To Take Up The Cross

    Funeral Doom is one of those sub genres of Metal that I just absolutely love, an area of music that can stir such emotion, and not just in a depressive way either, indeed, despite the often harsh and dark subject matter of many a song in the field, …

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Rose Avalon – Northern Strengths

      ‘Northern Strengths’ represents Rose Avalons debut venture into the world of Symphonic Metal, not that you would guess mind, so accomplished an album, that you would swear the Barcelona quintet had been around for many a year. So saturated is the Female Fronted genre, that I approached …

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Alternative 4 – The Obscurants

Following on from debut album ‘The Brink’, Duncan Patterson and Alternative 4 return with not merely a follow up album but an engaging and thought provoking work of musical art. Forever associated with Anathema/Antimatter, Duncan Patterson truly nails it with ‘The Obscurants‘, a fine collection of emotional and yet quite …

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Heliosaga – Towers In The Distance

      Sometimes, it can be quite a tedious chore, trawling through mountainous seas of music that falls under the vague umbrella of Female Fronted Metal but occasionally, a little gem appears, shining from the gloom, and demanding of a closer inspection. Such a gem fell into my lap …

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Blood God – Blood Is My Trademark

      Sometimes, an album falls into your lap, that restores your faith in all that is Heavy Metal. Whilst it is always beneficial, and indeed, essential , for the music we love and worship to evolve and explore different avenues, sometimes, it is just great to get back …

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Edge Of Haze – Illumine

    Although the bands history and roots lie deep in the Doom Metal genre, Edge Of Haze have evolved and transformed into something much more melodic and progressive orientated, culminating in this glorious yet dark affair. Based loosely on the novel ’Escape From Camp 14’, the album has a …

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Novembers Doom – Bled White

      Three years have passed since the release of ‘Aphotic’, so I was really eager to see what latest release ‘Bled White’ had to offer. First thing to say is that the band have lost none of their burning passion and focus since the last album, indeed, if …

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