#saxon — Public Fediverse posts

I love album art you can hear, and fittingly, Coffin Hunters’ Cosmic Dawn churns with a groovy, psychedelic fusion of hard rock and heavy metal that spills off the cover. Plus, how can I resist a sassy reaper rooted in a strawberry-lemonade backdrop featuring a gateway to an alternate dimension? Cosmic Dawn is Coffin Hunters’ third album in under a decade, and on their previous LPs the Los Angeles foursome dispensed reliable earworms with a rockin’ retro swagger. On Cosmic Dawn, the crew adds a healthy dollop of synth into their formula and dips their toes into acid rock waters. With a new twist on Coffin Hunters’ recipe, is this the Cosmic Dawn of a triumphant new era?

While it’s clear that influences play a pivotal role in Coffin Hunters’ sound, it’s just as clear that the band works to establish an identity all their own. Debut The Fire Knight leaned heavily into throwback, traditional heavy metal and saw Coffin Hunters embracing bass-forward boogies and monster grooves that conjure the likes of Saxon, Jag Panzer, and Iron Maiden. Follow-up Wake the Dead shed the raw edges of The Fire Knight and adopted slicker riffs and a more polished production, even adding touches of southern flair recalling Molly Hatchet and some punchy bassmanship that reminds me of Mike Dirnt’s 90s Green Day contributions. On Cosmic Dawn, Coffin Hunters push their boundaries even further, fusing the synth stylings of The Doors and Uriah Heep into their collective personality and capping it with Floydian psychedelia. The sum total is an intriguing melting pot that incorporates seemingly disparate ingredients into a surprisingly cohesive dish.

Over the last decade, Coffin Hunters has retained their core contributors while exploring ever-expanding shades of hard rock and heavy metal. Other than replacing original drummer Jorge Guzman in 2020 with Brennan Kunkel, Coffin Hunters boasts remarkable lineup stability, and you can hear the effortless give and take during their well-crafted arrangements. Guitarist Eric Harriman’s fuzzy crunch strums and swirls around Brian Crites’ bass, which punctuates compositions with often understated yet always alluring performances, particularly on “Skeleton Key” and the title track. Keyboards round out Cosmic Dawn’s instrumentation, making an indelible mark as they imbue each song with hooks embedded so deeply and central to the album’s character (“Isle of the Dead”) that I marvel how Coffin Hunters wrote two albums without them. Vocalist Sean Rivera delivers a solid performance as well, guiding listeners through the album’s eight tracks with his steady croon.

Although Coffin Hunters nails most songwriting elements on Cosmic Dawn, evaluating the album in its entirety reveals a few cracks. Foremost is the lack of songwriting dynamics, as pacing and tempo consistency keep Cosmic Dawn’s forty-three minutes within too narrow a band and inhibit Coffin Hunters’ adventurousness. To be fair, “Last Nail in the Coffin” supplies an early downshift in pacing; however, it’s not enough to combat the uniformity that permeates the rest of the album. Even though most songs radiate head-bobbing energy on their own, strung together they too easily pass by in a pleasantly tame blur. Injecting a show-stopping moment or two that stretches the even-keeled energy into peaks and valleys would go a long way towards reinforcing Cosmic Dawn’s impact. Also, while Rivera’s vocals serve the music well enough, they tend to be a bit one-note and lack the bite of earlier albums. Exploring other styles, resurrecting The Fire Knight’s vocal grit, or bringing in a guest vocalist for a song or two would further aid Coffin Hunters in tackling Cosmic Dawn’s homogeneity.

In the end, Coffin Hunters winningly conjures the echoes of earlier generations. Their commitment to bringing the past into the present reminds me of what I love about Lynx’s Trinity of Suns and, to a lesser extent, Chalice and Owl’s releases from earlier this year. Unfortunately, Cosmic Dawn sticks too closely to its core sound over its runtime, leeching memorability through the back half. Even so, Coffin Hunters wholehearted embrace of keyboards is cause for celebration, as they add delightfully retro textures and cement a gnarly identity for the band. With a stronger emphasis on songwriting and performance diversity their next time around, Coffin Hunters might just strike gold.

Rating: Good
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Bitter End Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: July 17th, 2026

Crying Steel can arguably claim to be one of Italy’s first heavy metal bands, with roots running all the way back to 1982. They didn’t drop their first album until 1987, and it took them until 2007 to release a follow-up, but true steel never rusts. I became aware of them when I reviewed 2018s Stay Steel, and I was entertained by their 80s-centric metal sound. It’s taken them a lot of time to unleash the next beast, but fifth album, Agent Steel, is finally ready to rumble. Since their last outing, well-traveled vocalist Tony Mills (T.N.T., Siam) sadly passed away, and now Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli assumes mic duties. Guitarist JJ Frati is also absent, so there’s a lot of change in the air at Camp Steel. You know what hasn’t changed? Their love for the color purple and crap-tastical album art, and their commitment to creating hard-rocking 80s metal that sits somewhere between vintage Saxon and Krokus, with a splash of hair metal for bonus flair points. That should make for a spicy metal meatball, right?

The Crying Steel formula is a simple and time-honored one. Write a few burly riffs and base an anthemic 80s-style metal/hard rock tune around them with over-the-top vocals as the exclamation point. Opener “The Arrival” sets the stage nicely via meaty riffs with Hammerhead soaring over the top like a young Biff Byford with a slight Ripper Owens infection. The man has pipes and an enormous Italian accent, and luckily, he knows how to avoid chronically oversinging and stepping on every moment. It also helps that the band peppers the lyrics with steel this, steel that in true Manowar fashion. As Agent Steel unfolds, you get variations on this theme with a big dose of hard rock undergirding the writing, along with a decent ear for hooks. “You Got the Look”1 is rowdy and pretty silly, and I love how Hammerhead makes the chorus sound like “You got the LUKE!” “Under Cover” sounds like early 80s Saxon with a glossy makeover, “To Remember” is a balls-to-the-walls rocker with relentless Grave Digger-style riffs paired with a hair metal ethos, and “Coming Home” feels heavier and just cooler with added oomph in the riffs/vocals and a memorable chorus to boot.

The album wraps with Crying Steel trying their hand at a Primal Fear-style Euro-power burner on “No One’s Crying,” and to get the point across, they bring Ralph Scheepers himself in to do guest vocals. It’s the most aggressive song on the album, and Ralph completely steals the show. It makes you wish the band would dial things up like this more often. Not everything works so well, though. ESL mega-disaster “My Heart Steel Rocks” is a hugely awkward attempt at stadium metal that veers close to Manowar-levels of macho self-aggrandization. It’s entertaining but also awful. Another ESL faceplant hits with “Queen of Grinder,” and I don’t know what it’s really about, but it leaves lots of room for hilarious interpretations. The song itself is just okay. At a trim 41 minutes with all tracks in the 3-4 minute frame, the writing is tight, and hooks are plentiful across Agent Steel. It’s an easy listen, even if the overall style can feel very dated, and at times, corny.

Franco Nipoti and new axe Paolo Nocchi are the lifeblood of the Crying Steel sound, pumping out an endless string of 80s-centric riffs to anchor the songs and keep your head bobbing. I appreciate that they keep enough heft in the guitar sound to give things a decent edge, and they know how to write good leads and shred when needed. They paint with every color of the 80s and induce nostalgia at every turn. Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli does a fine job rocking a high-pitched nasally delivery that could become really annoying, yet he manages not to grate on the nerves much, and his performance adds an extra jolt of energy to the material. The biggest weapon in the band’s weapon kit is the ability to write memorable retro metal tunes that get by on excess when they can’t with mere nuance. This stuff is just too fun to resist, even when things get a bit too cheese-heavy.

Agent Steel is another successful journey into the past by a crew of metal lifers who keep going regardless of the scant recognition they receive. I hope Crying Steel are well-regarded back home, because they bring the cheddar surplus while defending the faith in all things olde and metallic. I admire that. Keep those iron tears falling like purple rain, boyos!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy
Websites: cryingsteel.com | facebook.com/cryingsteel | instagram.com/cryingsteelband
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

Crying Steel can arguably claim to be one of Italy’s first heavy metal bands, with roots running all the way back to 1982. They didn’t drop their first album until 1987, and it took them until 2007 to release a follow-up, but true steel never rusts. I became aware of them when I reviewed 2018s Stay Steel, and I was entertained by their 80s-centric metal sound. It’s taken them a lot of time to unleash the next beast, but fifth album, Agent Steel, is finally ready to rumble. Since their last outing, well-traveled vocalist Tony Mills (T.N.T., Siam) sadly passed away, and now Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli assumes mic duties. Guitarist JJ Frati is also absent, so there’s a lot of change in the air at Camp Steel. You know what hasn’t changed? Their love for the color purple and crap-tastical album art, and their commitment to creating hard-rocking 80s metal that sits somewhere between vintage Saxon and Krokus, with a splash of hair metal for bonus flair points. That should make for a spicy metal meatball, right?

The Crying Steel formula is a simple and time-honored one. Write a few burly riffs and base an anthemic 80s-style metal/hard rock tune around them with over-the-top vocals as the exclamation point. Opener “The Arrival” sets the stage nicely via meaty riffs with Hammerhead soaring over the top like a young Biff Byford with a slight Ripper Owens infection. The man has pipes and an enormous Italian accent, and luckily, he knows how to avoid chronically oversinging and stepping on every moment. It also helps that the band peppers the lyrics with steel this, steel that in true Manowar fashion. As Agent Steel unfolds, you get variations on this theme with a big dose of hard rock undergirding the writing, along with a decent ear for hooks. “You Got the Look”1 is rowdy and pretty silly, and I love how Hammerhead makes the chorus sound like “You got the LUKE!” “Under Cover” sounds like early 80s Saxon with a glossy makeover, “To Remember” is a balls-to-the-walls rocker with relentless Grave Digger-style riffs paired with a hair metal ethos, and “Coming Home” feels heavier and just cooler with added oomph in the riffs/vocals and a memorable chorus to boot.

The album wraps with Crying Steel trying their hand at a Primal Fear-style Euro-power burner on “No One’s Crying,” and to get the point across, they bring Ralph Scheepers himself in to do guest vocals. It’s the most aggressive song on the album, and Ralph completely steals the show. It makes you wish the band would dial things up like this more often. Not everything works so well, though. ESL mega-disaster “My Heart Steel Rocks” is a hugely awkward attempt at stadium metal that veers close to Manowar-levels of macho self-aggrandization. It’s entertaining but also awful. Another ESL faceplant hits with “Queen of Grinder,” and I don’t know what it’s really about, but it leaves lots of room for hilarious interpretations. The song itself is just okay. At a trim 41 minutes with all tracks in the 3-4 minute frame, the writing is tight, and hooks are plentiful across Agent Steel. It’s an easy listen, even if the overall style can feel very dated, and at times, corny.

Franco Nipoti and new axe Paolo Nocchi are the lifeblood of the Crying Steel sound, pumping out an endless string of 80s-centric riffs to anchor the songs and keep your head bobbing. I appreciate that they keep enough heft in the guitar sound to give things a decent edge, and they know how to write good leads and shred when needed. They paint with every color of the 80s and induce nostalgia at every turn. Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli does a fine job rocking a high-pitched nasally delivery that could become really annoying, yet he manages not to grate on the nerves much, and his performance adds an extra jolt of energy to the material. The biggest weapon in the band’s weapon kit is the ability to write memorable retro metal tunes that get by on excess when they can’t with mere nuance. This stuff is just too fun to resist, even when things get a bit too cheese-heavy.

Agent Steel is another successful journey into the past by a crew of metal lifers who keep going regardless of the scant recognition they receive. I hope Crying Steel are well-regarded back home, because they bring the cheddar surplus while defending the faith in all things olde and metallic. I admire that. Keep those iron tears falling like purple rain, boyos!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy
Websites: cryingsteel.com | facebook.com/cryingsteel | instagram.com/cryingsteelband
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

Crying Steel can arguably claim to be one of Italy’s first heavy metal bands, with roots running all the way back to 1982. They didn’t drop their first album until 1987, and it took them until 2007 to release a follow-up, but true steel never rusts. I became aware of them when I reviewed 2018s Stay Steel, and I was entertained by their 80s-centric metal sound. It’s taken them a lot of time to unleash the next beast, but fifth album, Agent Steel, is finally ready to rumble. Since their last outing, well-traveled vocalist Tony Mills (T.N.T., Siam) sadly passed away, and now Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli assumes mic duties. Guitarist JJ Frati is also absent, so there’s a lot of change in the air at Camp Steel. You know what hasn’t changed? Their love for the color purple and crap-tastical album art, and their commitment to creating hard-rocking 80s metal that sits somewhere between vintage Saxon and Krokus, with a splash of hair metal for bonus flair points. That should make for a spicy metal meatball, right?

The Crying Steel formula is a simple and time-honored one. Write a few burly riffs and base an anthemic 80s-style metal/hard rock tune around them with over-the-top vocals as the exclamation point. Opener “The Arrival” sets the stage nicely via meaty riffs with Hammerhead soaring over the top like a young Biff Byford with a slight Ripper Owens infection. The man has pipes and an enormous Italian accent, and luckily, he knows how to avoid chronically oversinging and stepping on every moment. It also helps that the band peppers the lyrics with steel this, steel that in true Manowar fashion. As Agent Steel unfolds, you get variations on this theme with a big dose of hard rock undergirding the writing, along with a decent ear for hooks. “You Got the Look”1 is rowdy and pretty silly, and I love how Hammerhead makes the chorus sound like “You got the LUKE!” “Under Cover” sounds like early 80s Saxon with a glossy makeover, “To Remember” is a balls-to-the-walls rocker with relentless Grave Digger-style riffs paired with a hair metal ethos, and “Coming Home” feels heavier and just cooler with added oomph in the riffs/vocals and a memorable chorus to boot.

The album wraps with Crying Steel trying their hand at a Primal Fear-style Euro-power burner on “No One’s Crying,” and to get the point across, they bring Ralph Scheepers himself in to do guest vocals. It’s the most aggressive song on the album, and Ralph completely steals the show. It makes you wish the band would dial things up like this more often. Not everything works so well, though. ESL mega-disaster “My Heart Steel Rocks” is a hugely awkward attempt at stadium metal that veers close to Manowar-levels of macho self-aggrandization. It’s entertaining but also awful. Another ESL faceplant hits with “Queen of Grinder,” and I don’t know what it’s really about, but it leaves lots of room for hilarious interpretations. The song itself is just okay. At a trim 41 minutes with all tracks in the 3-4 minute frame, the writing is tight, and hooks are plentiful across Agent Steel. It’s an easy listen, even if the overall style can feel very dated, and at times, corny.

Franco Nipoti and new axe Paolo Nocchi are the lifeblood of the Crying Steel sound, pumping out an endless string of 80s-centric riffs to anchor the songs and keep your head bobbing. I appreciate that they keep enough heft in the guitar sound to give things a decent edge, and they know how to write good leads and shred when needed. They paint with every color of the 80s and induce nostalgia at every turn. Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli does a fine job rocking a high-pitched nasally delivery that could become really annoying, yet he manages not to grate on the nerves much, and his performance adds an extra jolt of energy to the material. The biggest weapon in the band’s weapon kit is the ability to write memorable retro metal tunes that get by on excess when they can’t with mere nuance. This stuff is just too fun to resist, even when things get a bit too cheese-heavy.

Agent Steel is another successful journey into the past by a crew of metal lifers who keep going regardless of the scant recognition they receive. I hope Crying Steel are well-regarded back home, because they bring the cheddar surplus while defending the faith in all things olde and metallic. I admire that. Keep those iron tears falling like purple rain, boyos!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy
Websites: cryingsteel.com | facebook.com/cryingsteel | instagram.com/cryingsteelband
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

Crying Steel can arguably claim to be one of Italy’s first heavy metal bands, with roots running all the way back to 1982. They didn’t drop their first album until 1987, and it took them until 2007 to release a follow-up, but true steel never rusts. I became aware of them when I reviewed 2018s Stay Steel, and I was entertained by their 80s-centric metal sound. It’s taken them a lot of time to unleash the next beast, but fifth album, Agent Steel, is finally ready to rumble. Since their last outing, well-traveled vocalist Tony Mills (T.N.T., Siam) sadly passed away, and now Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli assumes mic duties. Guitarist JJ Frati is also absent, so there’s a lot of change in the air at Camp Steel. You know what hasn’t changed? Their love for the color purple and crap-tastical album art, and their commitment to creating hard-rocking 80s metal that sits somewhere between vintage Saxon and Krokus, with a splash of hair metal for bonus flair points. That should make for a spicy metal meatball, right?

The Crying Steel formula is a simple and time-honored one. Write a few burly riffs and base an anthemic 80s-style metal/hard rock tune around them with over-the-top vocals as the exclamation point. Opener “The Arrival” sets the stage nicely via meaty riffs with Hammerhead soaring over the top like a young Biff Byford with a slight Ripper Owens infection. The man has pipes and an enormous Italian accent, and luckily, he knows how to avoid chronically oversinging and stepping on every moment. It also helps that the band peppers the lyrics with steel this, steel that in true Manowar fashion. As Agent Steel unfolds, you get variations on this theme with a big dose of hard rock undergirding the writing, along with a decent ear for hooks. “You Got the Look”1 is rowdy and pretty silly, and I love how Hammerhead makes the chorus sound like “You got the LUKE!” “Under Cover” sounds like early 80s Saxon with a glossy makeover, “To Remember” is a balls-to-the-walls rocker with relentless Grave Digger-style riffs paired with a hair metal ethos, and “Coming Home” feels heavier and just cooler with added oomph in the riffs/vocals and a memorable chorus to boot.

The album wraps with Crying Steel trying their hand at a Primal Fear-style Euro-power burner on “No One’s Crying,” and to get the point across, they bring Ralph Scheepers himself in to do guest vocals. It’s the most aggressive song on the album, and Ralph completely steals the show. It makes you wish the band would dial things up like this more often. Not everything works so well, though. ESL mega-disaster “My Heart Steel Rocks” is a hugely awkward attempt at stadium metal that veers close to Manowar-levels of macho self-aggrandization. It’s entertaining but also awful. Another ESL faceplant hits with “Queen of Grinder,” and I don’t know what it’s really about, but it leaves lots of room for hilarious interpretations. The song itself is just okay. At a trim 41 minutes with all tracks in the 3-4 minute frame, the writing is tight, and hooks are plentiful across Agent Steel. It’s an easy listen, even if the overall style can feel very dated, and at times, corny.

Franco Nipoti and new axe Paolo Nocchi are the lifeblood of the Crying Steel sound, pumping out an endless string of 80s-centric riffs to anchor the songs and keep your head bobbing. I appreciate that they keep enough heft in the guitar sound to give things a decent edge, and they know how to write good leads and shred when needed. They paint with every color of the 80s and induce nostalgia at every turn. Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli does a fine job rocking a high-pitched nasally delivery that could become really annoying, yet he manages not to grate on the nerves much, and his performance adds an extra jolt of energy to the material. The biggest weapon in the band’s weapon kit is the ability to write memorable retro metal tunes that get by on excess when they can’t with mere nuance. This stuff is just too fun to resist, even when things get a bit too cheese-heavy.

Agent Steel is another successful journey into the past by a crew of metal lifers who keep going regardless of the scant recognition they receive. I hope Crying Steel are well-regarded back home, because they bring the cheddar surplus while defending the faith in all things olde and metallic. I admire that. Keep those iron tears falling like purple rain, boyos!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy
Websites: cryingsteel.com | facebook.com/cryingsteel | instagram.com/cryingsteelband
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

Crying Steel can arguably claim to be one of Italy’s first heavy metal bands, with roots running all the way back to 1982. They didn’t drop their first album until 1987, and it took them until 2007 to release a follow-up, but true steel never rusts. I became aware of them when I reviewed 2018s Stay Steel, and I was entertained by their 80s-centric metal sound. It’s taken them a lot of time to unleash the next beast, but fifth album, Agent Steel, is finally ready to rumble. Since their last outing, well-traveled vocalist Tony Mills (T.N.T., Siam) sadly passed away, and now Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli assumes mic duties. Guitarist JJ Frati is also absent, so there’s a lot of change in the air at Camp Steel. You know what hasn’t changed? Their love for the color purple and crap-tastical album art, and their commitment to creating hard-rocking 80s metal that sits somewhere between vintage Saxon and Krokus, with a splash of hair metal for bonus flair points. That should make for a spicy metal meatball, right?

The Crying Steel formula is a simple and time-honored one. Write a few burly riffs and base an anthemic 80s-style metal/hard rock tune around them with over-the-top vocals as the exclamation point. Opener “The Arrival” sets the stage nicely via meaty riffs with Hammerhead soaring over the top like a young Biff Byford with a slight Ripper Owens infection. The man has pipes and an enormous Italian accent, and luckily, he knows how to avoid chronically oversinging and stepping on every moment. It also helps that the band peppers the lyrics with steel this, steel that in true Manowar fashion. As Agent Steel unfolds, you get variations on this theme with a big dose of hard rock undergirding the writing, along with a decent ear for hooks. “You Got the Look”1 is rowdy and pretty silly, and I love how Hammerhead makes the chorus sound like “You got the LUKE!” “Under Cover” sounds like early 80s Saxon with a glossy makeover, “To Remember” is a balls-to-the-walls rocker with relentless Grave Digger-style riffs paired with a hair metal ethos, and “Coming Home” feels heavier and just cooler with added oomph in the riffs/vocals and a memorable chorus to boot.

The album wraps with Crying Steel trying their hand at a Primal Fear-style Euro-power burner on “No One’s Crying,” and to get the point across, they bring Ralph Scheepers himself in to do guest vocals. It’s the most aggressive song on the album, and Ralph completely steals the show. It makes you wish the band would dial things up like this more often. Not everything works so well, though. ESL mega-disaster “My Heart Steel Rocks” is a hugely awkward attempt at stadium metal that veers close to Manowar-levels of macho self-aggrandization. It’s entertaining but also awful. Another ESL faceplant hits with “Queen of Grinder,” and I don’t know what it’s really about, but it leaves lots of room for hilarious interpretations. The song itself is just okay. At a trim 41 minutes with all tracks in the 3-4 minute frame, the writing is tight, and hooks are plentiful across Agent Steel. It’s an easy listen, even if the overall style can feel very dated, and at times, corny.

Franco Nipoti and new axe Paolo Nocchi are the lifeblood of the Crying Steel sound, pumping out an endless string of 80s-centric riffs to anchor the songs and keep your head bobbing. I appreciate that they keep enough heft in the guitar sound to give things a decent edge, and they know how to write good leads and shred when needed. They paint with every color of the 80s and induce nostalgia at every turn. Tiziano “Hammerhead” Sbaragli does a fine job rocking a high-pitched nasally delivery that could become really annoying, yet he manages not to grate on the nerves much, and his performance adds an extra jolt of energy to the material. The biggest weapon in the band’s weapon kit is the ability to write memorable retro metal tunes that get by on excess when they can’t with mere nuance. This stuff is just too fun to resist, even when things get a bit too cheese-heavy.

Agent Steel is another successful journey into the past by a crew of metal lifers who keep going regardless of the scant recognition they receive. I hope Crying Steel are well-regarded back home, because they bring the cheddar surplus while defending the faith in all things olde and metallic. I admire that. Keep those iron tears falling like purple rain, boyos!

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy
Websites: cryingsteel.com | facebook.com/cryingsteel | instagram.com/cryingsteelband
Releases Worldwide: June 26th, 2026

After removing my clothes, I wade into the promo sump. Yes, nakedness is advised for such a foray, as any loose material can get you ensnared by the bog’s filtration and disposal machinery or by the foul denizens that reside within the sludge. I enter herein with a single purpose in mind: to find a promo that will restore my credibility as a reviewer, if I ever had any to begin with. Since my return to the hall, I’ve written 3.5 after 3.5, and I am in search of something that will bring my average down before I am made to “non-suspiciously” disappear again. I reach down and grasp a promising prospect. Pieces of congealed n00b meat and 16-year-old promo remains fall from the cover, revealing a band name that sounds like some guy’s last name and a photo of several dudes in various tough-guy poses. I smile, allowing myself to hope that I’ve found what I’m looking for. Further investigation reveals Rozario’s Northern Crusaders to be a 50-minute-long heavy/power metal album, and I tell myself that this has 2.5 written all over it. Yep, this’ll do.

My confidence grows when I see that these Norwegians have picked the album’s first two songs as singles. “Fire and Ice” starts things off with some energetic power metal-infused heavy metal that brings Dream Evil immediately to mind. After a huge earworm chorus and some killer riffing and leads, the song winds down, and I’m horrified to realize that I’ve been involuntarily smiling and headbanging the whole time. Fear not, I say to myself. The next single can’t be as good. “We are One” takes the momentum of the opener and runs with it. I hear Brainstorm. I hear Dio. I hear more Dream Evil. I hear an even bigger chorus. Shit.

Not to worry! I’m sure they’ve simply stacked the singles at the front because they’re the best tunes. A qualitative drop-off is sure to come! Just as those foolish words finish leaving my mind-lips, “Down Low” slaps me across the face with a down-tuned chug that I didn’t see coming. This PED-enhanced version of Rozario, also seen on “Sleepless” and “Betrayed,” fits the Brainstorm mold alluded to above, and even ventures towards Mystic Prophecy levels of heaviness. “Crusader” and “Die Like Warriors” both see the band putting their Saxon pants on, their quality daring me to add them both to my “SWOARDS” playlist of battle-ready metal.

I finish Northern Crusaders for the first time and am surprised at just how fast the album’s 50 minutes flew by. I play it again. I like it even more. I am totally fucked. Sure, I can look across the album’s track list and pick out two songs that I don’t absolutely love (“Coming Home” and “The Warning”), but they’re still good songs whose place in the runtime almost totally mitigates any potential impact they could have had on the overall flow. I’m rather pissed that singer David Rosario puts in a journeyman performance with his weathered voice, and I’m even more upset that he’s filled his near-eponymous band with so much talent, particularly on guitar. The duo of Stein Hjertholm and Taran Lister has filled these tracks with muscular riffs, beautiful leads, and face-melting solos, and this is a huge reason that Northern Crusader feels so effortless and easily replayable. Even the production is fantastic. Gah! What a catastrophe!

It’s now been several weeks since I plucked this from the sump. As I put the finishing touches on the review and prepare to enter the final rating, I am suddenly aware of a presence in the room with me. I look up from my laptop screen to see 3.5 glaring at me with a sinister smile on its face. “You couldn’t live with your own failure,” it says. “Where did that bring you? Back to me.” I type the score, realizing it is futile to resist, fully aware that I’ve made the mistake of judging Rozario’s Northern Crusaders by its cover. I slam my computer screen down, stand up, and walk away, naked and full of shame.1

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pride & Joy Music
Websites: rozarioofficial.com | facebook.com/rozarioband
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

Banshees

A banshee (Bean si in Modern Irish & ben side, in Old Irish, meaning “woman of the fairy mound,” or “fairy woman”) is a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member. She usually does this by screaming, wailing, shrieking, or keening. Keening is a traditional form of vocal lament for the dead in the Gaelic Celtic tradition. This is known to have taken place in Ireland & Scotland.

Banshees are strongly associated with specific Irish families. The belief is that the banshee is a family spirit attached to a particular lineage. Her mournful wail/cry is heard only by family members as a warning of an imminent death.

Another of the banshee characteristics is their unwavering attachment to certain Gaelic families such as the O’Neills, O’Brians, O’Connors, O’Grady, & Kavanaghs, among others. Some traditions hold that the banshee is the ghost. This is perhaps a mother of a famous poet/singer from the family who died tragically. In this sense, she’s an ancestral spirit tied to the bloodline & the land.

She appears or is heard only to mourn & warn the family of an impending death. Often before anyone has received news of it. This direct, specific role makes her an inherently familiar guardian or omen for that clan/family.

They aren’t family pets, the banshees presence is a known, if terrifying, part of the family’s history & destiny, linking her fate to theirs across generations.

A banshee is an autonomous entity, a powerful fairy-woman (bean sidhe) or ghost, isn’t under the control of any living person.

Sometimes she has long streaming hair, which she may be seen combing, with some legends specifying she can only be keen while combing her hair. She wears a gray cloak over a green dress. Her eyes are red from continual weeping. She’s sometimes dressed in white with red hair & a ghastly complexion.

In Ireland & parts of Scotland, a traditional part of mourning is the keening woman (bean chaointe), who wails a lament. This keening woman may be a professional, in some cases. The best Keeners would be in high demand.

Irish legends talks about a lament being sung by a fairy woman, or banshee. She would sing it when a family member died or was about to die. Even if the person had died far away & news of their death hasn’t come yet. In those cases, her wailing would be the 1st warning the household had of the death.

The banshee is also a predictor of death. If someone is about to enter a situation where it’s unlikely they’ll come out alive, she’ll warn people by screaming/wailing. This gives rise to the banshee also being known as a wailing woman. The banshee was also linked with the death coach. The banshee is said to either summon the death coach with her keening or travel in tandem with it.

When several banshees show up at 1 time, it usually indicates the death of someone holy or great. The story sometimes tells that the woman (though called a fairy) was a ghost. She’s often a specific murdered woman, or a man who passed away in childbirth.

In some parts of Leinster, she’s referred to as the bean chaointe or ban nigheachain (“little washerwoman”) or nigheag na h-ath (“little washer at the ford”). She’s seen washing bloodstained clothes or armor of those who are about to die.

In Welsh folklore, there’s also a similar being known as the cyhyraeth. The cyhyraeth gives a disembodied moaning voice before the person’s passing.

Some sources suggest that the banshees Laments only the descendants of pure Milesian stock of Ireland. The Milesians were the final race to settle in Ireland. The original belief appears to be associated with a number of ancient Irish families. According to tradition, a banshee wouldn’t lament or visit someone of Saxon or Norman descent or those who came to Ireland later.

Most, not all, of the last names associated with banshees have the “O” or “Mc/Mac” prefix. That means people with the last names of Goidelic origin. This means a family native to the Insular Celtic lands. Rather than those of the Norse, Anglo-Saxon, or Norman.

There are some exceptions to the banshee lore. A banshee may lament a person who’s been gifted with music & song.

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Mit dem Besuch auf Muskelrock in Schweden haben @Spitzbuebin und ich uns ein kleines Träumchen erfüllt.

Einziger Nachteil: Unsere Messlatte für Festivals hängt jetzt einen ganzen Meter höher.

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Mit dem Besuch auf Muskelrock in Schweden haben @Spitzbuebin und ich uns ein kleines Träumchen erfüllt.

Einziger Nachteil: Unsere Messlatte für Festivals hängt jetzt einen ganzen Meter höher.

Alle Eindrücke hier: https://andwil.de/weblog/muskelrock-2025

#metal #muskelrock #festival #electriceelshock #seax #helvetesport #templar #saxon #ambush #bronze #agusa #covenjapan #tonnerre #ridersofrohan #stallion #enforcer #castlerat #sabbat #midnatt #sanhedrin #airraid #smoulder #metalucifer #savagemaster

Mit dem Besuch auf Muskelrock in Schweden haben @Spitzbuebin und ich uns ein kleines Träumchen erfüllt.

Einziger Nachteil: Unsere Messlatte für Festivals hängt jetzt einen ganzen Meter höher.

Alle Eindrücke hier: https://andwil.de/weblog/muskelrock-2025

#metal #muskelrock #festival #electriceelshock #seax #helvetesport #templar #saxon #ambush #bronze #agusa #covenjapan #tonnerre #ridersofrohan #stallion #enforcer #castlerat #sabbat #midnatt #sanhedrin #airraid #smoulder #metalucifer #savagemaster

Mit dem Besuch auf Muskelrock in Schweden haben @Spitzbuebin und ich uns ein kleines Träumchen erfüllt.

Einziger Nachteil: Unsere Messlatte für Festivals hängt jetzt einen ganzen Meter höher.

Alle Eindrücke hier: https://andwil.de/weblog/muskelrock-2025

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