It has been a crazy summer for me, with three great summer festivals in a row, lots of work and almost no extra time for the website. I have now recovered from Wacken Open Air and should be back in review-mood soon.


To/Die/For - IV
To/Die/For continue their catchy gothic-drenched heavy rock. It is not yet on the same level as the fantastic Jaded, but it is a solid album with several ear hangers. I simply love the atmosphere and the voice.

X Japan - Blue Blood
Were Edguy inspired by X Japan when they wrote the ending of Land of the Miracle? Or how about Helloween and I Can? Does anybody else hear the similarities? Anyway, X Japan has become my most interesting revelation in several years and this is another album filled with aggressive metal, beautiful melodies and a ton of energy. It takes time to get into their music but your patience will be rewarded.

Redemption - the Fullness of Time
Album of the Year so far, no doubt about that. This one simply keeps growing and it is now up there with the best progressive Metal discs of the past several years.

Eagles - Hotel California
Bought this old one a few months ago and it finally got time in the cd player, only to stay there. I guess most people have heard the song Hotel California, but the album contains a whole range of great songs. Everything from beautiful ballads to more rocking tunes are here. Just really great music.

Shadow Gallery - Room V
I recently purchased the special Edition of the album and it is still a winner. The extra material is pretty cool and is starting to convince me to check out Pink Floyd soon.

Manowar - Hell On Earth Part IV
A DVD that delivers in every way. This one manages to raise the bar on the already awesome Hell On Earth series. Full review is coming.

Nevermore - This godless endeavor
I'm still getting into this one. Real heavy and very interesting.

Avatar - Beyond the doors of the pit
I found this bootleg of demo recordings at a vendor at Wacken Open Air. It is a pretty cool collection with mostly ok sound quality. It's pretty fun to find riffs and passages which were later used in various Savatage songs. There are a few far out songs on this one.

Savatage - Sirens
Check out the review.

Written by Steen
Monday, August 15, 2005