God Dethroned have had 29 years already to refine their sound and I can tell you they’ve been doing that well. Eleventh album Illuminati, which is coming out in just a week, proves the band is still staying true to its roots but at the same time once again expands and builds upon the foundation..
Quel Che Disse Il Tuono – Il Velo Dei Riflessi (AMS Records)
...a positively delicious album brimming with the treasured hallmarks of the genre... There's just something about Italy. The depth and importance of Italian contributions to progressive music over the last fifty years is impossible to overestimate. The romance and tradition of the old world imbues the Italians' music with unparalleled richness and flavour that has..
Emerald Shine – Misty Tales
Here at Velvet Thunder, we’re always on the look-out for “The Next Big Thing” – so here’s introducing Emerald Shine, a band from Northern Moravia in the Czech Republic who fuse the power of metal music with the distinctive sound of a harp, violin, recorders and tin whistles! Whether you call it Metal Folk or..
STOMB – From Nihil
It's a new decade, and French Modern Progressive Metal band STÖMB are keen to enter it with a fresh sense of purpose...and a new studio album to be released on 31 January. The quartet have also been tagged as being an instrumental post-djent quartet. For the uninitiated, post-djent is a heavy metal subgenre that recently..
Mindless Sinner – Poltergeist (Pure Steel Records)
Mindless Sinner is a Swedish heavy rock band with a history that goes back to the '80s and they released three albums before disbanding in 1990. They briefly reformed between the years of 2001 to 2004 and then they got back together again in 2014, playing the 2015 Keep It True XVIII festival which was..
Hot Breath – Hot Breath
What do you call a new release that's halfway between a CD and an EP? This is the debut production from Hot Breath, another hard-hitting foursome from Gothenburg, Sweden. Six tracks long, giving you a shade under 24 minutes, so it'll be interesting to see how its priced. But that apart, it's great rock and..
Grand Royale – Take It Easy
Now then, a new Scando Rock album with a difference! You could be forgiven from several recent reviews and interviews that virtually the entire rock scene in Scandanavia, and certainly in the hotspots of Stockholm, Goteborg and Jonkoping in Sweden, was sort of "newer wave Power Pop". These guys in Grande Royale stand out from..
Witchtower – Witches’ Domain (Unsilent Tombs Records)
70% Maiden, 10% Angel Witch, 10% Mercyful Fate and 10% something of their own – this is the easiest way to describe the sound of Spanish old-schoolers Witchtower. Their debut EP from 2013 Return to the Witches’ Castle was praised and promoted by Fenriz on his radio show and deservedly so. Almost 7 years later,..
Märvel – Guilty Pleasures (The Sign Records)
A name new to me but Märvel is a Swedish high-energy rock band and they seem to have a slightly warped view of the Universe and a definite liking for enjoying themselves. They have a very American vibe to them too which can probably be ascribing to soaking up far too much American culture when..
War Dogs – Die By My Sword (Fighter Records)
Formed in Alicante in 2015, this is the accomplished debut album by the Spanish heavy metal band War Dogs. They line-up with Alberto Rodríguez on vocals which he supplies in English but with a rather delightful Spanish inflection with the hard working and riff hungry twin guitarists of Eduardo Antón and Enrique Mas and the..