Arka'n Asrafokor - folk 'n' groove from Togo

Arka'n Asrafokor

Dzikkuh

July 19 2024

The ten songs in 45 minutes by this band from Togo, in western Africa, herald further steps their in bounce-and-mosh interpretation of folk'n'groove that they officially began in 2019, when some audiences noticed their debut album Zã Keli. This 2024 sophomore work takes grooving heavy rhythms and puts them in a variety of tempos, vocals and percussions for an active, energetic production. The main rhythms work with mosh pit or physical motion vibes, making the music fun that way. Don't sit still, the band would prefer that the audience stand up and dance, mosh or move in some way. Fortunately, given that moshing or chugging grooves could eventually wear out their welcome, if they get boring and repetitive, the band does a good job of spicing up the songwriting. One way that audiences are kept on their toes are the percussive beats besides the regular, normal drumming. Of course, you will feel the expected barrage-attack drumming, but there are additional percussion sounds taking place that are new for the listeners. For example, there is percussion accompanying the usual hard drumming throughout the album, adding a fun, cheerful element to the ground-and-pound drumming. Another aspect that really adds personality to the music is the use of multiple vocal styles. The growl-scream that is so common can get old real fast, especially when there is very little personality and it just sounds like "some fat guy shouting from the belly." I certainly don't like generic "fat beer-belly dude-shouting" vocals, especially if that is all there is. Here, in contrast, there is melodic singing, and other melodic vocals to go with the normal shouting. There are some smaller things going on, like some rapping in some segments, although it is more like "sing-rap," if you will. Morever, check out the guitar melodies going on, too, so it is not all just chugga, chugga, chugging along. Sometimes they hit some thrashy riffs, and at other times they break out some leads or melodic licks. Overall, audiences will detect fun or catchy aspects to the album, upbeat vibes, and also good grooves for physical motion for when it's time get off your chair and get moving.

ARKA'N ASRAFOKOR - Final Tournament (Official Music Video)

ARKA'N ASRAFOKOR - Walk With Us (Official Music Video)

ARKA'N ASRAFOKOR - The Truth (Official Lyric Video)

ARKA'N ASRAFOKOR - Angry God Of Earth (Official Visualizer Video)

https://www.facebook.com/arkanasrafokor

InnerWish - some videos from the 2024 album Ash of Eternal Flame

I missed the boat on this album. I was listening to the music and was thinking that the songwriting quality and production is good. I do not remember being too familiar with their music. It turns out that their album Ash of Eternal Flame released on November 8th, 2024 is their sixth album. According to Metal Archives, they actually began in 1995 in Greece! They have released albums in 1998, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2016 and 2024. Therefore, I am wondering if other supporters of melodic bands might enjoy this band. In my opinion, the songs are memorable. I think audiences that like singing and rocking songs may like it, too, but of course you never know. If that is the case, maybe start with these videos and see what you think. Perhaps you might be pleasantly surprised!

INNERWISH - Higher (Official Music Video)

INNERWISH - Sea of Lies (feat. Hansi Kürsch) (Official Music Video)

INNERWISH - Soul Asunder (Official Lyric Video)

INNERWISH - Cult Of The Blind (Official Visualizer Video)

https://www.facebook.com/innerwishofficial/

Ex Deo - Roman Empire-themed neosymphonic extreme metal

Ex Deo

Year of the Four Emperors

Reigning Phoenix Music

10 January 2025

In their early days the Canadian band Kataklysm (1991-present) was impossibly fast, brutal death grind with the deranged growling of Sylvain Houde (from 1991 to 1998), like on their 1992 demo or their blazing 1993 EP, which are unhinged exercises in the extremity of the time. After three demos, two EPs and four albums, album number five, in 2001 Epic (The Poetry of War) saw them keeping the speed and heaviness, but by that time they had hit upon a more melodic approach, while still retaining extreme drumming, blasting, heavy riffing, and vocals, now done by bassist Maurizio Iacono. That particular album also had Roman Empire-themed lyrics, probably influenced by the tremendously successful 2000 movie Gladiator. Striking while the iron was hot, the band had another album in 2002 called Shadows & Dust, which begins with a speech from the movie Gladiator. This was a productive period for the band, as they also had albums in 2004 and 2006. They have continued putting out albums in regularly throughout their history, even nowadays, but it does seem like around that time they were making albums at a faster pace.

Anyway, in 2009 Kataklysm vocalist Maurizio Iacono came out with a new solo project called Ex Deo, a Roman Empire-themed neosymphonic, melodic extreme sound, as if to say that, for him, the topics of the Roman Empire had not been exhausted and wanted to do more in that direction. Fast forward to 2025 and this EP right here. The EP comes after four previous albums, continuing their established sound. Nowadays the solo project has become a second band for the members of Kataklysm, given that all the members of Kataklysm also work on Ex Deo. Lyrically, the title "Year of the Four Emperors" is a reference to the year 69 AD, with governors and military commanders seeking to become the top-dog dictator, only to be overthrown by an equally violent, greedy and corrupt top-dog in succession (hence the name of the four songs): Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. The EP continues with the formula of Ex Deo: neosymphonic, catchy, groove-oriented pompous extreme metal.

If you are a student of history or if you have an interest in the history of the early Roman Empire, maybe read this brief Wikipedia summary for the context of the power struggles between these aspiring dictators to be recognized as all-powerful emperors.

"The Year of the Four Emperors, AD 69, was the first civil war of the Roman Empire, during which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. It is considered an important interval, marking the transition from the Julio-Claudians, the first imperial dynasty, to the Flavian dynasty. The period witnessed several rebellions and claimants, with shifting allegiances and widespread turmoil in Rome and the provinces.

In 68, Vindex, legate of Gallia Lugdunensis, revolted against Nero and encouraged Galba, governor of Hispania, to claim the Empire. The latter was proclaimed emperor by his legion in early April. He was notably supported by Otho, legate of Lusitania. Soon after, the legate of a legion in Africa, Clodius Macer, also rebelled against Nero. Vindex was defeated by the Rhine legions at the Battle of Vesontio, but they too rebelled against Nero. Finally, on 9 June 68, Nero took his own life after being declared a public enemy by the Senate, which made Galba the new emperor. However, Galba was unable to establish his authority over the Empire, as several of his supporters were disappointed by his lack of gratitude. He especially adopted Piso Licinianus as heir (Galba was childless and elderly), instead of Otho, who, it had widely been assumed, would be chosen. Angered by this disgrace, Otho murdered Galba on 15 January with the help of the Praetorian Guard, and became emperor instead. Unlike Galba, he rapidly earned considerable popularity, notably by bestowing favours and emulating Nero's successful early years.

Otho still had to face another claimant, Vitellius, who had been acclaimed by the legions of the Rhine on 1 January 69. Vitellius won the First Battle of Bedriacum on 14 April, defeating the emperor. Otho took his own life the next day, and Vitellius was appointed emperor by the Senate on 19 April. The new emperor had little support outside of his veterans from the German legions, though. When Vespasian, legate of Syria, made his bid known, he received the allegiance of the legions of the Danube as well as many former supporters of Galba and Otho. After his acclamation in Alexandria on 1 July, Vespasian sent his friend Mucianus with a part of his army to fight Vitellius, but the Danubian legions commanded by Antonius Primus had not waited for Mucianus and defeated Vitellius' legions at the Second Battle of Bedriacum on 24 October. Vitellius was subsequently killed by a mob on 20 December. Mucianus arrived several days after and swiftly secured Vespasian's position in Rome (Primus had acted independently from him).

The death of Vitellius did not end the civil war, as the Rhine legions still rejected the rule of Vespasian and the new Flavian dynasty. Some Batavi provincials led by Civilis had fought them since Vitellius' acclamation. In 70, the new regime finally won the legions' surrender after negotiations, mainly because they lacked an alternative to Vespasian. Later, the new regime distorted the events—especially through the writings of the historian Tacitus—in order to remove the embarrassment of having relied on the Batavi to fight Roman legions. The Batavi were therefore said to have revolted against Rome, and the events dubbed the Revolt of the Batavi."

EX DEO - Vespasian (Official Lyric Video)

https://www.facebook.com/exdeo

Metal of Honor Worship - lyric video from new Christian metal project

Here is a lyric video that I came across the other day. I do not have any additional information, besides the following information that is available on their website. I don't remember ever hearing about this project before. Apparently, this is their first song. Fans of melodic metal with Christian-themed lyrics may find this project very interesting. Check it out and see if you like it.

Launched in 2024, Metal Of Honor is a passionate Worship Metal Project initiated by Maurice Lefeu, also known as Mauce. Our mission is to deliver high-quality worship songs to the Christian metal community, infused with the heavy metal style we all love.

We understand the diverse preferences within the heavy metal scene—whether you enjoy fast, brutal, melodic, or technically complex sounds. Our goal is to create arrangements that are not only engaging and singable but above all inspire listeners to worship God. At its core, this project is all about glorifying Him.

Mauce is crafting these arrangements, primarily featuring fresh takes on well-known Christian songs and hymns reimagined in a heavy metal context. We’re also excited to collaborate with guest vocalists to enhance our songs even more. No AI generated music, this is the real thing.

Our first song will be released soon, featuring one of the top Christian metal vocalists, so stay tuned for updates on that!

As this project is both time-consuming and costly—especially for our debut song—we are seeking support from the community to help cover expenses for hiring vocalists, a producer, and a lyric videomaker. To assist with this, we’ve set up a GoFundMe fundraiser (link at the bottom of this page).

Your support—whether through prayer or donations—is greatly appreciated. Thank you for joining us on this journey, and God bless!

Metal Of Honor - YAHWEH Will Manifest Himself, feat Michael Drive (Barren Cross) - Lyric Video

https://metalofhonorworship.com

Moonlight Haze - Italian melodic band announces new album "Beyond" for 2025

Italian melodic metal band Moonlight Haze has announced a new album scheduled for 2025. Below is the announcement. In the meantime, check out some of their previous music and see if you like their energy!

Moonlight Haze will release the new record “Beyond” in springtime 2025 through Scarlet Records.

Lead by sensational frontwoman Chiara Tricarico (currently live member of Avantasia and special guest on the “Highlights From The Revenge Of Odysseus” 2022 Manowar EP), Moonlight Haze has joined forces with extraordinary producer Sascha Paeth (Avantasia, Kamelot, Beyond The Black) for their upcoming fourth studio album – expect nothing but sheer metal excellence.

Moonlight Haze has also renewed the contract with Scarlet Records, the record label that launched their career in 2019 – with over 5 million streams accumulated so far, a firm partnership forged in the stars and destined to the moon!

«We’re very looking forward to showing you what we’ve been working on during the last couple of years! We were beyond excited to be working with the legendary Sascha Paeth on the production of our fourth album and now we’re very happy to reveal we'll be joining forces with Scarlet Records once more… It's gonna be huge!»

(Chiara Tricarico - Moonlight Haze)

MOONLIGHT HAZE - It's Insane (Official Video)

MOONLIGHT HAZE - The Rabbit Of The Moon (Official Video)

Druparia - classic-sound melodic death metal from Ohio, U.S.

Druparia

The River Above

27 December 2024

Right quick here, this album will be out in the next day or so. I have been listening to it, and I think perhaps fans of classic-sound melodic death metal may really like this band. This will be their debut album of 11 songs in 52 minutes. Right now on Bandcamp they have only one song available, but I’ve been listening to the entire album, and the songwriting and sound quality is worthy of your time, in particular for fans of melodic death metal. This band is from the Cleveland, Ohio area, and it looks like the musicians have been or are in other bands in that region of the United States. I don’t remember for sure, but it looks like none of those bands are familiar to me. Perhaps their experience explains the higher caliber of their debut album: the growling and the guitar riffs are classic-style melodeath, with an abundance of guitar melodies, while the rhythm section stands out as being creative and active. You can hear a bunch of little details happening with the bass and drums. Nice work. Anyway, this entire thing will be available very soon to hear for yourself. Maybe put it now on your agenda for Friday?!

Seven Kingdoms - Can you resist singing along?!

Seven Kingdoms

The Square

Reigning Phoenix Music

8 November 2024

1. The Square 04:12

2. Through These Waves 03:32

3. Wilted Pieces 03:44

4. The Serpent and the Lotus 04:03

5. Kyrie (Mr. Mister cover) 04:15

This five-song, 19-minute EP should be the most fun if you enjoy feel-good melodic songwriting. In my experience, the time of duration works to maximum benefit because you get the sense that there is no filler and the five songs go by in a jiffy. The guitars and keyboards make the songs attractive to the ear immediately. It makes one want to go back and "hear this part over here" and "that segment there" repeatedly, which is entirely possible without any difficulty or worry, given the manageable duration. The icing on the cake is the singing. Wow. The singing and the music together make this EP such a worthy enterprise. I have heard this EP so many times that I cannot count at this point. Never once have I gotten bored with any of the songs, whether it is the four originals or the cover. Fans of sing-along classic rock, heavy metal and power metal may be shocked at how good Seven Kingdoms (Florida, U.S.) sounds.

SEVEN KINGDOMS - The Square (Official Video)

SEVEN KINGDOMS - Wilted Pieces (Official Video)

SEVEN KINGDOMS - Through These Waves (Official Music Video)

SEVEN KINGDOMS - Kyrie (Mr. Mister Cover)

seven kingdoms album the square (ep) full 2024

https://www.facebook.com/SevenKingdomsOfficial

[For your information, here is the video of the 1985 original version of "Kyrie."]

Mr. Mister - Kyrie

Athena XIX - prog metal featuring Fabio Lione (Rhapsody of Fire, Angra, Labÿrinth, Vision Divine)

Athena XIX

Everflow Part 1: Frames of Humanity

Reigning Phoenix Music

6 December 2024

Fabio Lione, who for two decades fronted Italian symphonic power metal band Rhapsody, began his metal music career with this band in 1991 and left in 1993. In 2024 the new album, I would say, is traditional prog, with groove and experimental elements, an interplay between musicianship with contemporary songwriting and uses of technology. The album begins with "Frames of Humanity," which sounds catchy, but the techno-dance music at the start of the second song, "Legacy of the World" seems like a different genre altogether: a hybrid of prog, groove, robot metal and techno while still melodic. The third song, “The Day We Obscured the Sun,” confirms the hunch: there is quite a bit of groove, chunky songwriting. Or, take song number six as an example: "The Calm before the Storm" almost seems like it will launch into an industrial groove; it’s a semi-industrial rhythm topped with melodic singing. This song could have easily been turned into something much weirder, but the band is careful to keep things within reason.

Of course, there is melody here with Fabio on vocals. The vocals remain melodic throughout. There is a ton of experience within this band. They could have made a normal prog album and it would have been just fine. Instead, they have taken some chances trying out some elements from outside of metal, and in the process have made something less typical, a bit more difficult, but still melodic, for audiences that look for albums that are a bit more adventurous. Will one listen be enough for the songs to be understood? No, but prog audiences sometimes like a bit of challenge anyway. Ok, well, here’s a challenge.

ATHENA XIX - Frames of Humanity (Official Music Video)

https://www.facebook.com/Athena.Band.Italy/

Marrowomb - new extreme metal from Chicago primed for 2025

Although the full album Phisenomie does not come out until February 21st, 2025, Marrowomb is not waiting around, sitting on their rocking chairs on the front porch, holding on until the new year arrives before getting the ball rolling. They have one song ready right now for your examination and it is called "Vicarious Visage.” The track is a no-intro, headbanging rocket of energy. The speed and style of the drumming is black metal, while the heaviness and growling point to death metal for 3:35 seconds, when a slow heaviness shows up to create some major midtempo rhythms that could make a crowd move in unison, shaking the security barrier or the walls. Marrowomb is extreme metal from the Chicago area, mostly informed by black and death, by multi-instrumentalist Frank Lato, who, according to Metal Archives, has worked with Polyptych, Endmember and Headshrinker. Frank does guitars, bass, vocals, synths/programming, enlisting Kevin Paradis on drums.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558761150437

Impellitteri - for fans of shred guitar

Long-running shred artist Impellitteri (U.S.) put out a new album on November 8th, 2024. The name of the album is War Machine and it features the combination of heavy metal and guitar wizardry for fans of the traditional and classic styles. The discography and history goes all the way back to the 1980s, and then continued actively through 1990s and into the new century. Especially for fans of serious guitar in the style of traditional/classic heavy metal, the new Impellitteri album is a good place to start. Here are some videos from the new album. Hear for yourself and see if you enjoy the shredding!

Impellitteri - "Out Of My Mind (Heavy Metal)" - Official Music Video

Impellitteri - "Power Grab" - Official Video

Impellitteri - "Wrath Child" - Official Video

Impellitteri - "Hell On Earth" - Official Video

Tungsten (melodic metal from Sweden) - official music videos

Check out these videos from Swedish melodic band Tungsten. In 2024 their fourth album The Grand Inferno came out on November 8th. These videos are generally accurate as representations of their feel-good style of music. The band features former HammerFall drummer Anders Johansson and his two sons Karl and Nick, with Michael Andersson on vocals. Andersson was the singer for prog power band Cloudscape (1992-2017). Tungsten is not a prog band, but the singing style fits the music of Tungsten, which is based on heavy metal, classic rock and power metal, and just generally melodic metal.

TUNGSTEN - Blood Of The Kings (Official Music Video)

TUNGSTEN - Vantablack (Official Music Video)

TUNGSTEN - Walborg (Official Music Video)

https://www.facebook.com/tungstenband/

Liminal Shroud - a call going out to a particular audience

Liminal Shroud

Visions of Collapse

Willowtip Records

5 July 2024

Expect a challenging listen in the genre of progressive extreme metal, mostly within the parameters of black metal. I'm not going to lie to you, this is an album (five songs in 44 minutes) that takes time. I have heard it enough times that most recordings start to make fuller sense, but not this one. Yet, this is on purpose by the band. Four of the songs range from nine to eleven minutes. Especially if you enjoy black and prog metal, the songwriting may really appeal to you if you are looking for music that requires extra focus to be understood. Thoughtful audiences that are looking for music based on skill and vision, and not instant gratification, are the ideal listeners. The band wrote this music for themselves, but they also wrote it for you, and they are looking for you, the thoughtful audience. It is not experimental music. It is black metal, but the type that emphasizes the music itself, without the commercial or attention-getting clichés. Astronomy and existentialism are probably the most important concerns in the lyrics, which are largely impersonal or devoid of egocentric declarations. While some may interpret the lyrics are depressing and the music as too complex, uncommercial, aloof or unmemorable, with this third album the band is completely aware of those criticisms, but they do not care because this is not music for the masses, anyway. It is not ear-friendly music, but that does not mean that it is not skilled or crafted with attention to detail. Quite the contrary.

https://www.facebook.com/liminalshroudofficial

Misanthropy - things are about to get ugly

Misanthropy

The Ever-Crushing Weight of Stagnance

Transcending Obscurity Records

13 December 2024

This particular Misanthropy from the Chicago area (as opposed to a handful of other U.S. bands with the same name, according to Metal Archives) has come a long way. If one listens to their debut album from 2015, it does not sound like the same band, when they were something like a thrash growl punk band obsessed with sharks and nachos. Here are some ideas for listening to the new music of their third album. First, don't let the cacophony distract you, which is difficult to do. This is technical, dissonant, brutal death metal. It's noisy, chaotic, ear-splitting horrific sounds from beginning to end. Second, try to hear the music beyond the noise of farm animal jazz from Mars.

If you are able to make it past the noise, then the fog will lift, and you will hear music hiding behind the hideous barrage. It's jolting, horrid music for sickos. It is unmelodic, self-indulgent, brutal tech-prog metal. It is a fun, engaging listen if you like challenging crossword puzzle extreme metal with many fun details behind the wall of brutality. The first song features warped Frankenstein funky jazz metal chops in a cloud of growling and blasting. The second track throws down some dissonant grooves, while the third track hits on some all-out blasting bursts of speed with some downtuned thrashy riffs to get a mosh pit going. The fourth song busts out some slamming riffs with some sideways math and pinch harmonics (?!). The fifth song explores something like dissonant doom math groove (what.exactly?). The sixth song has some subtle monk-like chanting with high shrieking with guitar work for which I needed to open my algebra book to look up some of these equations. Before I know it, I am on the last song, for a total of 44 minutes of string bending capriciousness. On the seventh song, one guitar is effectively attacking the other, and the two guitars are orchestrating a collision of notes spiraling into each other. Just like that, the puzzle ends. Did the album even make sense? Not at all, but sit up, chin up, shoulders back, pay closer attention. Run it back. This time, try to focus harder. The headache that the album has caused shall be cured with repeated listens. Keep going. This yellow brick road is pretty wobbly, but the dizziness can be fun.

Among These Ashes - The Undertow (Official Music Video)

Among These Ashes is a band from Michigan, United States. Their sound is mostly is a groove-based, thicker brand of heavy metal with melodic singing and lots of melodic guitar, too. They may be as heavy as thrash, but do not limit themselves to that style. They have melodic guitars like traditional heavy metal, but use the chunky grooves a lot more. Their second album is called Embers of Elysium and it was released on December 6th, 2024. On drums they have Kyle Wagner [Boreworm, Carnis Immortalis, Nethergate, Pyrrhic, ex-Fortress, Immaterium, Stank, Introvert (PA) (live)]. On guitars they have Richard Clark (Abboud, Clark Country Drifters) and Dylan Hamann (Variform). Their bassist is Kane Bochatyn (ex-At Death's Behest, ex-Salvation's End). Jean-Pierre Abboud [Syrinx, Traveler, ex-Borrowed Time, ex-Funeral Circle, ex-Shadow Self, Abboud, Torn From Stone, ex-Finality, ex-Gatekeeper, ex-Crimson Shadows (live)] takes care of the vocals.

Among These Ashes - The Undertow (Official Music Video)

https://amongtheseashes.bandcamp.com/album/embers-of-elysium

Violet Eternal - things are about to get pretty

Violet Eternal

Reload the Violet

Rockshots Records

3 May 2024

This power metal album features the voice of Italian singer Ivan Giannini [Artaban's Redemption, Derdian, Heavy Generation, Ivan Giannini, ex-DarCloud, ex-Elegacy, ex-Ivory, ex-Airforce (live)]. The instrumentation is the work of Jien Takahashi (Heaven's Tragedy, Majustice, Stormheart), a Japanese guitarist with whose work I am not familiar and whose entities have demos and/or a debut album, but no sophomore albums yet, which is also the case for this project here, Violet Eternal. The singing is traditional power metal high-note vocals throughout and has no growling or extreme screaming. It is meant to be beautiful singing, which also turns out to be the case for the guitar work: very melodic, catchy and lots of shredding. These elements, the singing and guitar playing, really shine together on here. Then, when considered with the good songwriting, it all makes for a beautiful and pleasant listening experience for fans of melodic music based on classic rock and heavy metal. Metal Archives shows that there are several guests contributing some keyboards, guitars, bass and drums on the recording. The drumming sounds programmed and it contributes nothing in particular to the enjoyment of the music, but I do not know the actual details of it, I’m just going by what it sounds like to the ears. On the other hand, the songwriting itself should be provide plenty of entertainment to fans of this genre.

VIOLET ETERNAL - Under the Violet Sun (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555241974232

Shadows Fall - In The Grey (Official Music Video)

U.S. metalcore band Shadows Fall (1995-2015, 2021-present) has a new video. Some people on their team (video producer? video director? the band?) decided that they would make a video in which you are unable to see much of what's going on in the video. What a strange choice: to make the video difficult to see and render it unwatchable. This is a good example of metal bands sabotaging themselves so that the music will have as little success as possible and make it unattractive to potential listeners and viewers. Here is another metal band working hard to make their music not fun.

Shadows Fall - In The Grey (Official Music Video)