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Power Paladin – With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel
Not only was this the very first 2022 album I heard, it’s also likely to be one of the very best. It’s been a sort-of painful and lengthy journey for the Icelandic power metallers, involving a name change and lots of waiting…but by jove was it worth it! The most fantastically titled album in recent memory, With The Magic Of Windfyre Steel combines the best parts of pompous symphonic power metal a la Rhapsody with trad elements of Iron Maiden or later Saxon to create a joyful gem that almost everyone should enjoy. Choruses are enormous and catchy; orchestration is grandiose but not intrusive; sound effects provide cheesy ambiance and atmosphere; and the mix is utterly glorious. That artwork is absolutely unbeatable, too.
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Infected Rain – Ecdysis
Despite facing stiff competition from many different angles in what’s been a bumper edition of a calendar month, the album I’ve been coming back to most frequently is Infected Rain’s wonderful fifth full length. The band confidently and maturely develop their signature variety of metal, drawing ever wider from a pool of industrial, death and groove metal aspects while simultaneously folding their love for ethereal electronica even deeper into the deep, mesmerising riffs of their guitarwork. Eclectically gifted frontwoman Lena Scissorhands continues to bring her trademark vast range, firing off a barrage of vocal stylings as only she really can, varying constantly from monstrous harshes, introspective cleans and machine gun rapcore barks all the while flowing over the immensely complex, ever-changing instrumentals with enormous skill. This is a fabulous album for fan or new initiate alike, and one that again reinforces that Infected Rain are not to be slept on.
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Abyssus – Death Revival
Digging back through the years to a time when death was morbid thrash with grisly vocals, Greek quintet Abyssus launch into their sophomore album with very clear influences and very awesome effect. Early Obituary and Death fans will prick their ears up fastest, but the massive riffs of songs like “Genocide” will lay claim to the heart of almost any extreme metal listener. A relentless success.
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Magnum – The Monster Roars
Will humans ever be immortal? While scientists scuffle around trying to find an answer to the age-old question, a bunch of UK hard rockers have already figured it out. With a career spanning over 50 years (yes, that’s half a century, folks), Magnum have just released their 22nd studio album, The Monster Roars. It’s a magnificent record and once again a powerful reminder of the infinite class of the British combo. Tony Clarkin is an unstoppable songwriting machine, capable time and time again to pen magniloquent songs that are rich of sophisticated arrangements and catchy melodies, without sacrificing power and bite. Pieces like “Remember”, “All You Believe In”, “I Won’t Let You Down” or “Walk the Silent Hour” are all quintessential gems of melodic symphonic rock. Elsewhere the album rocks harder, with ballsy pieces like “No Steppin’ Stones” and “That Freedom Word”. And – speaking of immortality – what about singer Bob Catley? The guy may be 74-year-old, but his voice is truly ageless and, like good wine, keeps getting better and better with the years. If you are a fan of melodic/symphonic hard rock, your Album of the Year has been released already in January.
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Wilderun – Epigone
Wilderun continue to improve themselves with each release. Veil of Imagination was a mind blowing experience. Suddenly they went from really good folk metal to full orchestral arrangements and getting Jens Bogren to mix for them. Epigone turns everything up a notch. The production is somehow even better, and while I think the album as a whole is slightly less balanced than Veil, I think the songs themselves are more memorable. Sure there’s no Far From Where Dreams Unfurl, but personally I think Passenger is better. This album was definitely made more for prog fans than power metal fans like the last album, so I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people who like Veil more. Here I just think the songwriting has improved and their ability to play with extended song forms and the very weird chordal structure just sounds amazing to me, it’s kind of jazz fusion in a way and I absolutely adore it. In my review I gave it a 10/10 and I stand by that.
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Lalu – Paint the Sky
So I had listened to Lalu’s 2013 effort Atomic Ark, which was interesting, but I wasn’t particularly thrilled by it. Well throw all that out the window, this time they got Damien Wilson (possibly my favorite singer in prog) and Paint the Sky just has a very different attitude. It’s light and happy, it’s got some of the best drumming I’ve heard in a prog album like this for a long time. There’s jazzy sections, there’s a song that reminds me of Threshold, Chosen Ones is just catchy as hell. The guest musicians are just perfect. We get Simone Mularoni, Steve Walsh, LOTS of Jens Johanson and freaking Jordan Ruddess. This is a super group of prog fanatics and their enthusiasm for the genre shows at every step of the way. This is going to be in my top ten for 2022 I can feel it, prog fans go and get this album NOW.
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