#scarlet-records — Public Fediverse posts

When last we saw Sweden’s Evermore, they arrived within these halls, wielding a platter of power metal that was as muscular as it was melodic. The songs on 2023’s In Memorium hit me right in the feels, the crunch of its guitars hit me right in the nuts, and overall, I really enjoyed the record and its beefy, Avantasia-with-the-fat-trimmed-off vibe. While I had some issues with the vocal performance on In Memorium, I saw enough potential in Evermore to be legitimately excited when I saw the promo for follow-up Mournbraid splash into the sump. Once again sporting a be-womaned cover, said promo touts a “sound made of aggressive guitar riffs, soaring epic vocals, and unforgettable hooks—all amplified by a massive, neat production.” It’s a bold claim, but can the music live up to it?

It doesn’t take long for that question to be answered. On first proper track “Underdark,” Evermore sounds heavier than ever and hookier than one of those full-body Velcro suits that sticks you to the wall. In the review for In Memorium, I pointed out that that album’s lead single recycled elements of an Amon Amarth song, and interestingly enough, I can make a similar claim this time around, albeit with even more brutal source material; both “Underdark” and its preceding instrumental intro seem to rehash a melody from The Lion King soundtrack. But no worries! Once again, the pieces work so well together to kick things off that I can’t even be mad.

If you’re like me, when you saw the color palette used for Mournbraid’s cover art, you expected the music to take a turn for the darker, and if you’re like me, you were right. Each iteration of Evermore gets heavier, while still residing squarely within the confines of “melodic power metal,” and they are undoubtedly at their best when they lean into that heft. The more aggressive tracks, like “Mournbraid,” the aforementioned “Underdark,” “Ravens at the Gates” (whose melo-death riffing places the emphasis on ‘At the Gates’), and my personal anthem for 2026, the Dream Evil-esque “Armored Will,” are Evermore’s sweet spot, and they are only made more powerful by Mournbraid’s stellar production—I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a guitar tone this mighty.

But the deliciousness of the beef makes the blandness of the more subdued side dish all the more glaring. Plopped right in the middle of Mournbraid is “Oath of Apathy,” an unfortunately titled, 7-minute slog of emotion that fails to grab my heartstrings and pulls the emergency brake on the album’s momentum. I won’t count closer “Old Man’s Tale” against Evermore since it’s labeled as a bonus track, but it suffers the same fate, even if it did manage to bring a tear to my eye once when I realized that I am officially the old man in the tale. Fortunately, every other song here is a banger, so I found it relatively easy to overlook this one blunder, although it did keep me from whipping out and slapping down my 4.0.

With Mournbraid, Evermore did just about everything I asked them to do. The vocals seemed to work much better this time around, the band dialed up the heaviness, and that guitar tone, oh God, the guitar tone! These guys have struck the perfect balance between savory and sweet in the world of power metal, and not even a mid-album detour from said balance could keep me from enjoying the hell out of this record. Greatness is coming for these guys. I can feel it in my old bones.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Website: facebook.com/evermoremetal
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

Once again, I return to my roots. That opulent, gem-encrusted egg from which my metalhead nascency spawned, symphonic power metal. Cloaked in velvet drapery as I return to these cobbled alleys I used to haunt, those early years steeping in Nightwish, Leaves’ Eyes, Epica, and Xandria wash over me, evoking a nostalgic bliss. Enter Greece’s Mystfall and their sophomore effort Embers of a Dying World. Relatively fresh on the scene, and competing with newer champions like Elvellon or Dialith, do Mystfall have what it takes to make waves?

If nothing else, Mystfall have two big things going for them: a (relatively) meaty guitar tone and the most convincing death growls and blackened rasps in the genre right now. Thanks to a moderately-better-than-industry-standard mix and master, you can clearly hear the bass guitar thundering underneath lush strings and prominent choirs as well. These are items that countless acts in this space neglect or shortchange, but not Mystfall. Thankfully, those items don’t detract from the usual suspects. Operatic mezzo-soprano lead vocals, heavily accented; hooky verse work and soaring choruses; galloping drums and brisk pacing; rich orchestrations; the gang’s all here, and in fine form for the most part. And, in another unexpected breath of fresh air, Embers of a Dying World clocks in at a tidy 38 minutes, with the longest song just barely brushing past five minutes. It seems that on paper, Mystfall fully understood their assignment and gave me everything the world needs in a modern symphocheese record.

Embers Of A Dying World by Mystfall

In practice, Embers of a Dying World acquits itself quite nicely as well. Enlisting the help of studio bassist and harsh vocalist Stelios Varotsakis was an inspired choice, as his counterpoint on both instruments elevates everything it touches (“Embers of a Dying World,” “Fading Memories”). It is my assertion that Mystfall make him a full-fledged member of the band immediately. However, his contributions aren’t so astounding as to distract from Marialena Trikoglou’s siren song, Aris Baris’ chuggy riffs, or Dimitris Miglis’ expressive percussion. Hints of old school Epica melodies (“Crimson Dawn,” “Echoes of Arcadia”), Leaves’ Eyes/Xandria adventurism (“Whispers of the Tempest,” “Guardians of the Earth,” “Cosmic Legends”) and Nightwish double bass bounce (“Sleeper in the Abyss”) coalesce into a fun variety of moods and motifs, all smartly woven together to allow each performer their spotlight. With such a bizarrely tight runtime, Embers of a Dying World is also ridiculously easy to spin multiple times in one session, assisting greatly with long-term memorability.

Unfortunately, Mystfall still struggles to find a distinct identity in the homologous plague the symphonic power metal scene perpetuates. While crafting an enjoyable album that is undoubtedly fun and wholly engaging, its similarity to those bands that originally forged the style is undeniable and obvious. Partly due to the strict and restrictive nature of operatic singing techniques—and the physiological difficulties that committing to that style poses to the exploration of any other kind of singing—Marialena’s technically competent performance here lacks impact and power when pinned against singers who can and do work in multiple disciplines (Simone Simons, Floor Jansen, Veronica Bordacchini). On the instrumental front, Aris Baris’ riffs rarely venture outside of the conventions long upheld in this field, often allowing the orchestrations to take point when leading melodies or initiating motifs. Even the dramatic orchestrations lack the showstopping quality they could have if they were either recorded with a full orchestra or more unique in composition or arrangement.

As a result, Embers of a Dying World feels misplaced in time. Were it released in 1996 or thereabouts, it would’ve constituted an instant hit, a direct competitor to the pack leaders at the time. In 2026, it’s one in a million, albeit better made and brilliantly edited. As maligned by songwriting issues and stylistic banality as symphonic power metal often is, competing for acclaim and attention in that crowded place requires a fierce, striking showing. Mystfall have everything they need to make that showing, but Embers of a Dying World falls just short of that elusive threshold. That said, I’m impressed with it enough to wait avidly for what Mystfall might come up with next!

Rating: Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: mystfallofficial.com | facebook.com/mystfallofficial
Releases Worldwide: March 20th, 2026

When it comes to the vast pantheons of mythological figures, Aeon Gods is clearly interested in the most powerful. Their 2024 debut album, King of Gods, expounded upon the mighty deities of Mesopotamia with plenty of power metal bombast. Now, less than 18 months later, this German five-piece turns their attention to ancient Egypt. Specifically, Reborn to Light orbits the sun god Re (more commonly known today as Ra). The first half recounts Re’s nightly voyage into the underworld and his battles with the giant snake Apophis, then the latter half describes Re’s disagreements with humankind, which lead to his eventual departure at the hands of an unbelieving population. Let’s examine this latest offering and weigh its worthiness.

Reborn to Light may be about a sun god, but Aeon Gods is more similar to the moon reflecting the light of many important power metal forebears. The predominant style is an anthemic blend of Gloryhammer and Sabaton. As expected, the music is big and dramatic, seeking to replicate the larger-than-life storytelling of Brothers of Metal, though with much more of a symphonic slant than folk. Aeon Gods stops just short of going full-blown symphonic power metal like Dragony, sticking closer to acts like Twilight Force or Freedom Call, which garnish with keyboards more judiciously. Organs and choirs at times recall the theatricality of Powerwolf. Pretty much all the main hallmarks of the genre are present on Reborn to Light.

Reborn To Light by Aeon Gods

Overall, Aeon Gods are blessed by their devout worship of these groups. Most immediately noticeable are the sharp, memorable choruses (charismatically delivered by Alex “Sol’Ra-tu” Hunzinger), as well as the bounteous guitar shredding (courtesy of Robert “Abzu’Kean” Altenbach and Nino “En-Atum” Helfrich). Reborn to Light embodies its concept unexpectedly well, being enhanced considerably by a lyric sheet (and a casual Wikipedia perusal about Egyptian mythology). The bulk of the record paints a vivid cycle of blazing sunrise (“Birth of Light”), tranquil twilight (“Barque of Millions (Amduat pt. I)”), a valiant battle (“Soldiers of Re (Amduat pt. III)”), and the inevitable victory of the sun (“Reborn to Light (Amduat pt. IV)”) again. In many important respects, Aeon Gods stacks up well against the genre greats.

On the other hand, this side-by-side comparison reveals a few qualities in which Aeon Gods is lacking. While Sol’Ra-tu has a solid singing voice—some listeners will appreciate that he avoids the typical shrill upper ranges—it isn’t always strong enough to carry the music on its own, particularly during the slower parts like quasi-ballad “Barque of Millions (Amduat pt. I).” The guitarists prove their mettle with their soloing during the bridges of most songs, but there are few notable leads that might have given the vocals a boost. Anja “Su’en-Chel” Hunzinger’s keyboards are more impactful, injecting a triumphant oomph to the chorus of “Reborn to Light (Amduat pt. IV)” and an awe-inspiring tone to “Blood and Sand (Re’s Dying Reign pt. II).” Finally, while Aeon Gods rejects bloat, Reborn to Light does not deviate at all from the standard pop structure, which gives each song a measure of predictability despite the variety in the compositions.

Imperfections notwithstanding, Reborn to Light is a great implementation of tried-and-true musical formulas. It’s executed very well, and should be a pleasantly familiar—albeit safe—experience for many power metal fans. I would, ideally, like to see Aeon Gods apply their abundant talents to more daring songwriting and let the guitars and keyboards share a bit more of the melodic load. Reborn to Light is a sizable step up from Aeon Gods’ debut, showing they are on a clear upward trajectory. I look forward to the day when Aeon Gods ascends to the echelons of full-fledged godhood.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: scarletrecords.bandcamp.com | aeongods.com | facebook.com/AEONGODS
Releases Worldwide: February 20th, 2026

Brutal cold envelops the building as my minions scrape through ice and filthy slush to find even the smallest shard of metallic glimmer. With extensive budget cuts demanded by my exorbitant bonus schedule—as is my right as CEO of this filtration service—there was no room to purchase adequate gear and equipment for these harsher weathers. However, I did take up crocheting recently so each of my “employees” received a nice soft hat.

Hopefully, that will be enough to tide them over until the inclement weather passes and we return to normal temps. Until then, they have these rare finds to keep them warm, and so do you! REJOICE!

Kenstrosity’s Knightly Nightmare

AngelMaker // This Used to Be Heaven [November 20th, 2025 – Self Released]

I’ve been a fan of AngelMaker’s since their 2015 debut Dissentient. The grossly underrated and underappreciated Vancouver septet are a highly specialized deathcore infantry, with their lineup expanding steadily over their career in concert with their ever-increasing songwriting sophistication. Unlike the brutish and belligerent debut and follow-up AngelMaker, 2022’s Sanctum and new outing This Used to Be Heaven indulge in rich layering, near-neoclassical melodies, and dramatic atmosphere to complement AngelMaker’s trademark sense of swaggering groove. With early entries “Rich in Anguish” and “Haunter” establishing the strength of both sides of their sound, it always surprises me how AngelMaker successfully twist and gnarl their sound into shapes—whether it be hardcore, blackened, or melodic—I wasn’t anticipating (“Silken Hands,” “Relinquished,” “Nothing Left”). A rock-solid back half launched by the epic “The Omen” two-part suite brings these deviations from the expected into unity with the deathcore foundation I know AngelMaker so well for (“Malevolence Reigns,” “Altare Mortis”), and in doing so secure their status as one of the most reliably creative deathcore acts in the scene. Nothing here is going to change the minds of the fiercer deathcore detractors, but if your heart is open even just a crack, there’s a good chance This Used to Be Heaven will force themselves into it, if not entirely rip the whole thing asunder. My advice is simply to let it.

This Used To Be Heaven by AngelMaker

ClarkKent’s Sonic Symphonics

Brainblast // Colossus Suprema [November 11th, 2025 – Vmbrella]

A debut album five years in the making from a band formed in 2015, Colossus Suprema is the brainchild of Bogotá, Colombia’s Edd Jiménez. Jiménez turned his passion for and training in classical composition towards his symphonic progressive act, Brainblast. With Bach as an inspiration, Brainblast’s brand of technical death metal has the grandeur of Fleshgod Apocalypse, the speed of Archspire, and the virtuosity of concert musicians. Jiménez’s classical training shows — the compositions have an orchestral feel, only played at insane energy levels. The speed, the depth, and the breadth of the instrumentation are sure to leave you breathless. Nicholas Le Fou Wells (First Fragment) lays down relentless kitwork with jaw-dropping velocity, while Eetu Hernesmaa provides technical fretwork that’ll similarly leave you awestruck. He delivers sublime riffs on “Relentless Rise” and a surprising melodic lead that steals the show on “Unchain Your Soul.” Perhaps most prominent is the virtuoso play of the bass from Rich Gray (Annihilator) and Dominic Forest Lapointe (First Fragment) that is omnipresent and funky on each and every song. To top it all off is the piano (perhaps from Jiménez), giving the music some gravitas with the technical, concert-style playing. This record is just plain bonkers and tons of fun. Given this is the debut from a young musician, the idea that Brainblast has room to grow is plenty exciting.

COLOSSUS SUPREMA by BRAINBLAST

Gods of Gaia // Escape the Wonderland [November 28th, 2025 – Self Released]

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the next SepticFlesh release, Germany’s Gods of Gaia have got you covered. Founded in 2023 by Kevin Sierra Eifert, Gods of Gaia is made up of an anonymous collective from around the world, contributing to a dark, heavy, and aggressive form of symphonic metal. Their sophomore album, Escape the Wonderland, features a collection of death metal songs with plenty of orchestral arrangements that add a dramatic flair. Along with crushing riffs and thunderous blast beats, you’ll hear choral chants (“Escape the Wonderland,” “Burn for Me”), bits of piano (“What It Takes”), and plenty of cinematic symphonics. SepticFlesh is the obvious influence, but the grandiosity of Fleshgod Apocalypse flares up on cuts like the dramatic “Rise Up.” The front half is largely aggressive, with “What It Takes” taking the energy to thrash levels. The back half dials down the energy, even creeping to near doom on “Krieg in Mir,” but never pulls back on the heaviness. Cool as the symphonic elements are, the riffs, blast beats, and brutal vocal delivery are just as impressive. Make no mistake, this is melodic death metal above all else, with symphonic seasonings that elevate it a notch. Just the opposite of what the record title suggests, this is one wonderland you won’t want to escape.

Escape the Wonderland by Gods of Gaia

Grin Reaper’s Frozen Feast

Hounds of Bayanay // КЭМ [November 15, 2025 – Self Released]

Two-and-a-half years after dropping debut Legends of the North, Hounds of Bayanay returns with КЭМ to sate your eternal lust for folk metal.1 Blending heavy metal with folk instrumentation, specifically kyrympa2 and khomus,3 as well as throat singing, Hounds of Bayanay might sound like a Tengger Cavalry or The Hu knockoff, but you’ll do yourself a disservice by writing them off. Boldly enunciated, clarion cleans belt out in confident proclamations while grittier refrains and overtones resonate beneath, proffering assorted and engaging vocal stylings. Rather than dwelling overlong in strings and tribal chanting, the deft fusion of folk instruments with traditional metal defines Hounds’ sound and feels cohesively integrated on КЭМ, providing an intimate yet heavy backdrop to a hook-laden and alluringly replayable thirty-nine minutes. In addition to the eclectic folk influence, there’s a satisfying variety of songwriting from track to track, with “Ardaq,” “Cɯsqa:n,” and “Dɔʃɔrum” exemplifying the enticing synthesis of styles. More than anything else, Hounds of Bayanay embodies heart and fun, warming my chilly days with a well-executed platter of Eastern-influenced folk metal. Don’t skip this one, or the decision could hound you.

KEM by Hounds Of Bayanay

Blood Red Throne // Siltskin [December 05, 2025 – Soulseller Records]

I’m shoving up against the deadline to wedge this one in, but Blood Red Throne’s latest deserves a mention, and bulldozing is just the sort of thing you should do while listening to BRT’s brand of bludgeoning, pit-stomping romp. Back in December, the venerable Norwegian death metal act dropped twelfth album Siltskin, maintaining their prolific and consistent release schedule. In addition to their dependable output, BRT stays the course with pummeling, brutish pomp. In his coverage of Nonagon and Imperial Congregation, Doc Grier drums up comparisons to Old Man’s Child, Panzerchrist, and Hypocrisy, and while I’m not inclined to disagree on those points, I’ll add that Siltskin also harkens to Kill-era Cannibal Corpse in its slick coalition of mid-paced slammers, warp-speed blitzes, and fat ‘n’ frolicking bass. Add to that the sly, sticky melody from the likes of Sentenced’s North from Here (“Vestigial Remnants”), and you’ve got a recipe for a righteous forty-five-minute smash-a-thon. Blood Red Throne’s last few records have been among their best, which is an incredible feat for a band this far into their career. While Siltskin doesn’t surpass BRT’s high-water mark, it keeps up, and if you’re hungry for an aural beatdown, then Blood Red Throne would like to throw their crown into the ring for consideration.

Siltskin by Blood Red Throne

Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu // Immortality [December 17, 2025 – Bang the Head Records]

I am woefully late to the charms of Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu, a Japanese death metal outfit prominently featuring slap ‘n’ pop bass. Had it not been for our trusty Flippered Friend, I might have continued this grievous injustice of ignorance, but thankfully, this is not the timeline to which I’m doomed. Immortality is Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu’s seventh album, and those who enjoy the band’s previous work should remain satisfied. For new acolytes, Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu grasps the rabid intensity of Vader and Krisiun and imbues it with a funky edge. Meaty bass rumbles and sprightly slapped accents, provided by bassist/vocalist Haruhisa Takahata, merge with Kouki Akita’s kit obliteration to establish a thunderous, unrelenting rhythm section. Atop the lower end’s heft, Keiichi Enjouji shreds and squeals with thrashy vigor and a keen understanding of melody. First proper track “Anima Immortalis” even includes gang intonations that work so well, I wish they were more prevalent across the album. The sum total of Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu’s atmosphere is one of plucky exuberance that strikes with the force of a roundhouse kick to the dome. Had I discovered it sooner, Immortality would have qualified for a 2025 year-end honorable mention, as I haven’t been able to stop spinning it or the band’s prior releases.4 Though I’m still in the honeymoon phase, I expect this platter to live on in my listening, and recommend you not miss this GTK killer like I almost did.

Thus Spoke’s Random Revelations

The Algorithm // Recursive Infinity [November 21st, 2025 – Self Released]

I’ve been a fan of The Algorithm since the early days, back when their electronica-djent was almost twee in its experimental joy, spliced with light-hearted samples. Over the years, Rémi Gallego has tuned his flair for mesmeric, playful compositions to develop a richer, more streamlined sound. Recursive Infinity continues the recent upward trend Data Renaissance began. With riffs and rhythms the slickest since Brute Force, and melodies the brightest and most colourful since equally-prettily adorned Polymorphic Code, it’s a cyberpunk tour-de-force. The wildness is trained, chunky heaviness grounding magnetic melodies (“Race Condition,” “Mutex,” “By Design”), dense chugging transitioning seamlessly into techno (“Advanced Iteration Technique,” “Hollowing,” “Graceful Degradation), and adding bite to bubbly, candy-coloured soundscapes (“Rainbow Table,”). The skittering of breakbeats tempers synthwave (“Endless Iteration), and bright pulses wrap cascading electro-core (“Race Condition,” “Mutex”) and orchestral melodrama (“Recursive Infinity”). It’s often strongly reminiscent of some point in The Algorithm’s history, but everything is upgraded from charming to entrancing. This provides a new way to interpret Recursive Infinity: not just a reference to an endless loop in general, but to Boucle Infinie (Infinite Loop)—Remi’s other musical project—and by extension, The Algorithm themselves. Yet he is still experimenting, including vocoder vocals (“Endless Iteration,” “By Design”) for a surprisingly successful dark-Daft Punk vibe in slower, moodier moments. With nostalgic throwbacks transformed so beautifully, and the continued evolution, there’s simply no way I can ignore The Algorithm now. And neither should you.

Recursive Infinity by The Algorithm

Owlswald’s Holiday Scraps

Sun of the Suns // Entanglement [December 12th, 2025 – Scarlet Records]

Bands and labels take heed—We reserve December for two things: Listurnalia and celebrating another trip around the sun. It is not for releasing new music. Yet this blunder persists, ensuring we inevitably miss gems like Sun of the Suns’ sophomore effort, Entanglement.5 The record dropped just as the world was tuning out for the year, and it deserves much better. Building on the foundation of their 2021 debut, TIIT, the Italian trio has significantly beefed up their progressive death formula. Mixing tech-death articulation with deathcore brutality, Entanglement ensures fans of Fallujah will feel right at home with its effervescent clean melodies and crystalline textures. Francesca Paoli (Fleshgod Apocalypse) returns to provide another masterclass behind the kit with rapid-fire double-bass, blasts, and tom fills, while guitarists Marco Righetti and Ludovico Cioffi deliver cosmic shredding and radiant solos that are both technical and deliberate. While the early tracks lean into Fallujahian songcraft and Tesseract-style arpeggios, the album shines brightest late when the group largely sheds its stylistic orbit. “Please, Blackout My Eyes” pivots toward a majestic Aeternam vibe with ethereal tech-death incisiveness, while “One With the Sun” and “The Void Where Sound Ends Its Path” hit like a sledgehammer with Xenobiotic’s deathcore grooves. Though Luca Dave Scarlatti’s vocals lack differentiation, the sheer quality of the compositions carries the weight, proving Sun of the Suns are much more than mere clones.

Entanglement by Sun Of The Suns

Elettra Storm – Evertale Review

By ClarkKent

Italy has a well-established power metal scene, particularly the ostentatious Rhapsody of Fire and the dazzling Frozen Crown. Looking to make a foothold in this scene is Elettra Storm with the release of their sophomore album, Evertale. While it may look like a strange word for those not fluent in Italian, Elettra comes from the Greek mythological figure, Electra/Elektra. It also serves as a root word for electricity, which helps explain both the odd-sounding band name and the storm surrounding the head of the woman on the cover. This quintet isn’t looking to reinvent the cheese wheel; they just want to write some catchy songs and give their lead singer, Crystal Emiliani, a chance to show off her pipes. Do they have that spark to set the power metal world on fire?

While people like to tease that Wilderun is Disney metal, if Disney were to actually sign a metal artist, they would likely sound like Elettra Storm. They straddle the line between power metal and hard rock mixed with some pop. They don’t quite bring the dance vibes like Battle Beast, but their power metal also isn’t as aggressive or hard-hitting as Frozen Crown. Guitar riffs and drum beats are relatively muted, though not without a lively energy, as Elettra Storm largely plays it safe instrumentally. Instead, they rely on the strength of their frontwoman, and Emiliani delivers. She channels a mix of Disney-friendly pop artists from Idina Menzel to Celine Dion. On “Blue Phoenix,” I half-expected Emiliani to break out into “Let it go” when she buoyantly sings the refrain “And rise again,” while “Secrets of the Universe” has a moment where her voice briefly brought me back to that titanic hit from decades ago.

For power metal of this caliber to work, the choruses need to be catchy, but on this score, Evertale is a mixed bag. It’s not that the choruses are a miss, but that they’re often forgettable. It doesn’t help that the lyrics tend to be convoluted. On “Hero Among Heroes,” Emiliani sings “Hero among heroes / Rise the sword up in the sky / Strong of arm and mind”—this ESL tendency hampers catchiness. Evertale also suffers a general lack of hooks. For the most part, riffs are bland, standard rock fare, and melodies are nil. Opener “Endgame” has some hooky synths, but Elettra Storm rarely returns to them on the rest of the record. “Master of Fairytales” also shows potential when it opens with energetic blast beats and a decent chorus, but the song drops that energy the rest of the way. “Blue Phoenix,” on the other hand, is proof they have the capability of writing really good power metal. It has Evertale’s most creative riffs, a consistent level of energy, and a chorus that soars in a dazzling display like the mythological bird. In the end, Elettra Storm could learn a lot from studying stalwarts of catchy power metal like Unleash the Archers.

Elettra Storm actually feels most at home on the lone track that’s geared more towards pop than metal: “One Last Ray of Light.” This tune eschews the usual power metal trappings of noodly riffs and high energy. It features a piano and what sounds like a mandolin playing a lovely melody.1 Then the chorus hits and the real magic happens. Emiliani’s voice rises to a beautiful lilt as she belts out the catchiest chorus on Evertale. The song is a certifiable banger, and it is also where Elettra Storm sounds most comfortable. Between this and “Blue Phoenix,” Elettra Storm have it in them to write some great power metal—if only they could apply these successes to the rest of Evertale.

The end result is an album that is pleasantly bland, with tracks ranging from forgettable to slightly above average, as well as a couple that are quite good. I won’t deny that I sometimes find myself whistling a random tune like “Judgment Time” while I’m out and about. Evertale hits that sweet spot between power metal and adult pop/rock where it could find an audience in either genre. Elettra Storm provides an electric vocalist, a little bit of guitar noodling, and radio rock song structures that make it a pleasant in-the-moment listen. But the record fails to take many risks or hit many of the highs the genre is capable of. Instead, it plays things a little too safe and doesn’t quite live up to its elettra-fying name.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: October 24th, 2025

#25 #2025 #BattleBeast #CelineDion #ElettraStorm #Evertale #FrozenCrown #HardRock #IdinaMenzel #ItalianMetal #Oct25 #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #RhapsodyOfFire #ScarletRecords #UnleashTheArchers #Wilderun

Glasya – Fear Review

By Twelve

It’s been a fair minute since Glasya last graced these parts. The Portuguese symphonic power metal band first appeared in these halls in 2019 with their debut, Heaven’s Demise. I was personally not impressed, I’m sad to say—it offered little in the way of originality, and my feeling was that Glasya sounded like a hodgepodge of their contemporaries. Still, the band is one of genuinely talented musicians, and I believed at the time the project had promise. Six years later, they’re onto their third full-length, Fear, and I couldn’t help taking a look, curious simply to know if Glasya has come into its own in 2025.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Fear still sounds like it’s been influenced by the same bands that have been influencing symphonic power metal for the last two decades. My promo sheet even informs me that the music is ideal for fans of Nightwish, Epica, and Visions of Atlantis. So straightaway, you have a good idea of what you’re getting: big orchestrations, operatic flourishes, more focus on keys than guitars. Songs are upbeat, choruses are big, and Eduarda Soeiro’s vocal performance is impressively grand. But I can’t claim Glasya has no clear identity anymore. The fast pace (see “Hunt of the Haunted” and “In Debris”) reminds me of Silver Bullet, and there’s definite aggression to the guitars (Hugo Esteves and Bruno Prates) that gets the head nodding early and often. Davon van Dave’s orchestrations are both more elaborate and dialled back, making them feel better merged with the music. On Fear, Glasya sound more confident and more self-assured than I’ve heard before, and it’s a great change from their debut.

Fear is a concept album that follows a woman confronted by and overcoming her fears, and, unexpectedly, it’s here that I start to find fault. The decision to embed a narrative into the music is a fine one, and one Glasya have employed before, but there are two particular elements of Fear that detract from the experience for me, both of which seem to point back to it being a concept album. The first is the voice acting. Eleven of Fear’s fourteen songs begin with between five and thirty seconds of story in the form of voice acting. Talented musicians our singers may be, but these segments feel cheesy and forced, at best breaking the flow of the songs and at worst being an active distraction. The penultimate scene, in “The Ultimate Challenge,” introduces a new character who heroically sacrifices himself for our protagonist in a moment that could be moving were it not so jarring—or confusing.

The second is the length. With fourteen songs, Fear clocks in at sixty-six minutes, a mighty length that makes the back half feel tired. There just isn’t enough variety in the sound to justify so much music. Further, songs like “Stuck in a Cobweb” feel longer than they need to be, with interludes that slows down otherwise bombastic tracks to enunciate narrative lyrics. For the first half of Fear, I find I’m really enjoying myself, but after a while, the intricate keys start to sound the same, the exciting riffs blend together, and no matter when you check the runtime, there are still somehow five tracks to go. The back half isn’t bad by any stretch—”In a Flooding Room” and “The Cold of Dark” are a particularly effective duo—but it feels weighed down by itself. As it runs on, I notice that Antonio Durães’s bass and Bruno Ramos’s drums are too quiet to lift up “The Ultimate Challenge.” I get to “The Confrontation” and feel like I’ve heard its riff somewhere before. It’s a real shame, too—alone, the material is strong, but it feels like Glasya made decisions in service of their concept that bring the experience down.

There is a very strong 40-minute album in Fear. In fact, if it simply ended with “Rescue,” I think it would be a much better experience. That’s a hard thing to write—we love “less is more” at Angry Metal Guy, but I’m still sad to say that I could have given Glasya a higher score if there was just less of Fear. As is, I can only say that it is an improvement from Heaven’s Demise, that I will be coming back to some isolated tracks, and that I am still eager to hear what this band does next.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: scarletrecords.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/GlasyaOfficial
Releases Worldwide: October 24th, 2025

#25 #2025 #Epica #fear #Glasya #Nightwish #Oct25 #PortugeseMetal #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #SilverBullet #SymphonicMetal #VisionsOfAtlantis

Terra Atlantica – Oceans Review

By Kenstrosity

I had almost forgotten about German four-banger Terra Atlantica since I last covered them five years ago. Once my memory refreshed, I recalled what compelled me to snag Age of Steam in the first place: my love for steampunk. Far from the most dedicated—and perhaps even farther away from the best—piece of media based on that universe, Terra Atlantica nonetheless did sound appropriately grounded in a world propelled by superheated water. But their songwriting was too inconsistent to make a big splash with this sponge. With follow-up Oceans in tow, is their hope that Terra Atlantica will hoist my sails properly this time?

With a new lead guitarist, Terra Atlantica finds themselves armed with a more folk-driven base that sends their sea-faring stories even further into open water than ever before. Veering into jaunty pirate metal territory, Oceans boasts a wide variety of baubles and decorative deviations scattered around their cookie-cutter power metal foundation. Terra Atlantica’s unusually reedy vocals carry over from the last record, evoking a certain Muppet-y personality that I don’t hate, but which many could. Canned strings and horns make a resurgence as well, pushing Oceans deeper into symphonic territory. In short, Oceans is as cheesy a power metal record as can be without being Fellowship, only without even half the songwriting acumen.

In fact, songwriting is Oceans’ greatest downfall. Numbers that could’ve been great on their own merit find themselves stranded by downright infuriating choices. The greatest offenders are “Hoist the Sail,” ruined almost immediately once Terra Atlantica cribs the legendary “The Rake Hornpipe” for an overlong bridge and solo; and overblown closer “Oceans of Eternity,” which once again copies and pastes more than one segment from a piece of well-known classical music1 to pad its runtime without doing anything meaningful with them. Outside of those rage-inducing moments, though, there’s still very little substance to Oceans. Due to its dogged reliance on basic genre building blocks and banal lyrics, Oceans is effectively wall-to-wall tropes and fairytale pirate stereotypes (“Back to the Sea,” “Where My Brothers Await,” “Land of Submarines”).

Indeed, Oceans reminds me of a metallized The Muppet Treasure Island soundtrack, minus that masterpiece’s compositional excellence. Nonetheless, flashes of brilliance give me some hope that Terra Atlantica have the potential to write showstoppers worthy of positive comparisons to that iconic OST. “Raven in the Dark,” for example, might be the album’s strongest whole song, pumping a stadium-ready melody and boasting a sticky chorus and fun hair-metal solo. “Caribbean Shores,” too, maximizes its fun factor with a novel bit of tropical songwriting not often heard in power metal, unless you are Twilight Force. Additionally, I do appreciate the injection of real heft and a vaguely thrashy personality in “Turn of the Tide.” If these novelties and convincing attributes were integrated more successfully into a greater portion of Ocean’s runtime, the record would feel quite a bit different than what metal fans have been taught to expect from the symphonic power scene.

Unfortunately, Terra Atlantica only reinforce what metal fans learned to dread. To wit, a dearth of musical creativity in relation to material density, an overt abuse of classical standbys in the place of what should be original material (or at least a creative use of reference), and clear and present stereotyping in writing, theme, and lyrical content. What little hints of potential Terra Atlantica leave for listeners across Oceans’ relatively tight 49 minutes do not make up for the burden of uninspiring, sometimes outright annoying, material offered. Steer clear of this if you know what’s good for you, lads!

Rating: Bad
DR: 5 | Format Reviewed: 320 kb/s mp3
Label: Scarlet Records
Websites: terra-atlantica.de | facebook.com/terraatlantica
Releases Worldwide: September 26th, 2025

Show 1 footnote

1. We all know each of these melodies well, and I am almost completely sure they’re Mozart, but I cannot for the life of me find the name of the composition they’re from. ↩

#15 #2025 #Fellowship #FolkMetal #GermanMetal #Mozart #Oceans #PirateMetal #PowerMetal #Review #Reviews #ScarletRecords #Sep25 #SymphonicMetal #TerraAtlantica #TwilightForce

Interview with Fellowship’s Matthew Corry and Callum Tuffen

By Eldritch Elitist

Anyone who knows me will know that I attended 2024’s Mad With Power festival in Madison, Wisconsin for one reason: Fellowship. While the opportunity to engage in lowercase fellowship with various friends and colleagues was enticing, I also couldn’t pass up the opportunity to experience the Fellowship: England’s rapidly up-and-coming power metal band, and an act that has been very special for me since their earliest days, performing their first-ever show in North America. Likewise, I wasn’t about to miss my chance to sit down with Matthew Corry (vocals and lyrics) and Callum Tuffen (drums and songwriting) and pick their brains about what makes Fellowship tick. On the day prior to this interview, I was fortunate enough to witness the band debut three new songs alongside the cover art and tracklist for their upcoming sophomore record, The Skies Above Eternity, which gave us much more to talk about than I had anticipated.

I was escorted backstage to meet Matt and Cal (by none other than Ty Christian, vocalist of Lords of the Trident and founder of Mad With Power), and was genuinely surprised to find that Matt, the little hobbit man who lives in my phone and sings directly to my soul through my earbuds, is basically as tall as I am – and I’m 6’3”. He and Callum greeted me as warmly as one might expect from a band famous for songs of camaraderie and self worth. When I told Matt that he and I had spoken on occasion through Twitter DMs, he responded with a delightfully genuine “Oh, right! Eldritch Elitist!” in what might be the highlight of my tenure at this blog. We then shuffled into a small, hot interview room; what follows are Matt and Cal’s own words, lightly edited for the sake of clarity and flow. I began by asking Matt and Callum how they came to headline an overseas festival with nothing but a debut LP under their belt.

Callum: “I spoke with Ty a bit about this. They like to bring in the bands that haven’t really “made it,” so I think that’s part of it. We’ve known Ty for quite a while, and he’s probably one of the most supportive guys in power metal today.”

Matt: “From what I’ve heard, a couple of years ago, shortly after our Fellowship EP first came out, people were already trying to get Fellowship over here. They saw Ty as “the method” for getting Fellowship over here within a couple of years, as opposed to having to wait five or six years for us to get big enough to be viable. They just kept poking Ty, and Ty, being the wonderful human that he is, said ‘you know what? Let’s try it.’ He emailed us and asked ‘are you guys up for it?’ And hell yeah, we were up for it!”

Callum: “I always had this fear that it wouldn’t actually happen, but here we are.”

Ty himself had actually covered Fellowship’s “Glint” on Lords of the Trident’s YouTube channel, long before they had signed to Scarlet Records or recorded their first LP. Matt has a small cameo in that video, so I’m curious whether that video happened before talks began for Fellowship to join the Mad With Power roster.

Matt: “Yeah, that was way before. After ‘Glint’ came out, Ty messaged us, initially saying how much he loved the song, and if we would mind if he did a cover of it. I sent him some files and he did the cover, which blew us away. I think that was the first…”

Callum: “It’s just crazy good, isn’t it?”

Matt: “Yeah, so good, and it was the first sort of ‘proper’ vocal cover of any of our stuff – which is difficult stuff. So there were immediately ‘buds for life’ kind of vibes. And then he started talking about the New Wave of Nice Metal Buds, which is so our vibe: positivity, support, all that jazz. And after that, I did a little opera video with him, for fun, and I got to show my cat to the internet. Around a year later, he emailed us saying ‘it’s time.’”

The New Wave of Nice Metal Buds that Matt refers to is Ty’s code of conduct, by which the festival is operated. It was created to promote kindness, inclusivity, and mindfulness within the Mad With Power community, and applies to the bands and fans therein. While it’s difficult to say whether this code of conduct is responsible for the festival’s atmosphere, it should be noted that the Mad With Power experience is indeed one of utmost positivity. In other words: The vibes are on point.

Since Fellowship’s inception, I’ve found it remarkable how well they balance their atmosphere of utmost sincerity against the cheese and excess of power metal, especially when similar bands – most notably Twilight Force – conduct themselves as if they are “in” on a shared joke with their audience. Cal and Matt had clearly considered this contradiction, as it stems from their unique songwriter-lyricist partnership.

Callum: “So… When I say Twilight Force is a huge inspiration for me, they’re not the only ones. In power metal, yeah, of course, they’re an inspiration for me. But I take a lot of inspiration from other bands. I don’t know if you’d pick up on the influence from our songs, but there are elements from bands like early Avenged Sevenfold, and a lot of older pop stuff, like Elton John and ABBA. I try to get across that it’s never meant to be ‘jokey,’ but at the same time, I wanted to make people feel happy, the way that kind of music makes me feel. All I can do is put out the best stuff I possibly can, that makes me feel good, and hopefully, it comes across that way to everyone else.”

Matt: “I think lyrically, this is one of those unique musical combos that I don’t think either me or Cal really expected, or would have sought out naturally. Cal’s music is not the type of thing that I would ever write, and I don’t think my lyrics are really the type of thing that Cal would immediately go for. But once we ended up putting them together, it became this symbiotic marriage. We never thought it would go crazy the way that it has, we never dreamed of coming to the States or anything when we first collaborated. I think the first thing we ever did together was record ‘Glint.’ That was almost like my trial for the band, in a way. And after the day of doing it, we just sort of sat around a pub. None of us had a drink, we just sat around a pub.”

Callum: “I think that was in London.”

Matt: “Yeah, that was in London! And we were just like… ‘Yeah, we made something really cool, didn’t we?’ When I first came into power metal – because I wasn’t into power metal, I am now, but I wasn’t at all when I joined the band – the music that everyone was making, and that Cal had sent me, was just so fundamentally uplifting. I didn’t want to take anything away from that. Cal has such a unique ability to convey really complicated emotions. There are a lot of really happy bits, and really sort of tense bits in Cal’s music, but because it flows so freely between them, it feels like just giving it one emotion would cheapen it somehow. So that desire to take it seriously, I think, is where we really align.”

I am intrigued by Matt’s mention that the recording of “Glint” was his first act as a member of Fellowship, and wonder aloud whether that recording was the version that made it onto their EP, and eventually their debut LP.

Matt: “Yep.”

Callum: “Mmm…”

Matt: “No?”

There is a bit of back and forth between Matt and Cal at this point about whether the adjustments made after the initial recording constitute a “different version” of the song, but their ultimate consensus is that what we hear on the record is what was recorded on day one. What’s even more interesting is that the rest of the band had never met Matt before that day. The official recording we have of “Glint,” as I see it, is the true beginning of Fellowship as we know them today.

Looking from the past to the future, I steer the subject to the newly announced album, The Skies Above Eternity. Specifically, I was curious about the press release’s mention of direct inspirations from the Japanese power metal scene, and how those ideas were incorporated while staying true to the Fellowship sound.

Callum: “So obviously, being such a huge power metal fan, I stumbled deeply into the Japanese realm, and I grew to love a lot of what they do harmonically. In my opinion, they do things quite differently from European and American power metal. They do a lot more intricate things, and they also delve further into neoclassical elements. I wanted to take a lot of influence from that and try to apply it to our sound without it being forced, if you know what I mean. And it wasn’t only power metal. I was listening to Japanese pop, and weirdly enough, they also do the same sort of harmonic things that are done in Japanese power metal; bands like YOASOBI, and other J-Pop artists. I tried to apply that harmonic style to our sound. We do it especially in ‘Hold Up Your Hearts (Again),’ and in ‘The Bitter Winds.’ That’s a real Galneryus-style song.”

At this point, I can’t help but remark that Galneryus is my favorite band, and – having heard “The Bitter Winds” live the day prior – that there are moments that remind me of Galneryus tracks like “Angel of Salvation.”

Matt: “Every time we’re in the car together, Cal tries to get me more and more into Galneryus. And every time we leave the car, I do add a Galneryus song to my Spotify playlist. I haven’t gone hardcore yet, but at the rate we’re going, I’ll get there. ‘Angel of Salvation’ was the first one Cal showed me where he was like ‘THIS.’

Matt makes an enthusiastic hand gesture to express Cal’s intensity towards Galneryus, implying a level of excitement with which I am all too familiar.

Branching off from our discussion of Japanese music, I ask Matt and Cal if there are any ideas on the upcoming album that feel risky, or that fans might not be expecting.

Callum: “Yes.”

Matt: “Yeah, definitely. I think after album one, we really wanted to make sure that… personally, I really don’t want Fellowship to be one of those bands that finds success with a sound and then never moves on. But I really want to make sure that we always have that fundamental joy that pervades the sort of “core” of what we do in everything. And I want – just personally, lyrically – I would love for each album to have just a slightly different ‘flavor’ of how we convey that joy, like ‘what’s an element of that joy we’re really tackling?’ The first album was very much about self-affirmation and self-discovery, finding oneself. This album is a lot darker. We have a song called ‘Victim,’ which, I think a year ago, no one would ever have predicted as a song title coming out of our band.”

EE: “It stood out to me when I was looking at the tracklist.”

Matt: “Yeah. This is ‘Light through the darkness,’ essentially. If I were to say there’s an overarching theme to this album, it would be that you can find joy in every situation, no matter how bleak it is. And finding that joy is worthwhile in and of itself, no matter how hard it seems, or how hard it is. Life is worth living, shortly. And ‘Victim’ is one of the songs where it most paints a picture that is very bleak, but finds a sort of ray of light in the middle of it.

After Matt remarks on finding different “flavors” (or “flavours,” as he puts it) of joy, I ask about the contrast of the bright, orange cover from The Saberlight Chronicles, and whether the darker, purple cover of The Skies Above Eternity was an intentional choice to help fit its more dour lyrical tone.

Callum: “There are a couple of things I wanted on this cover. I wanted… I wanted a…”

Cal pauses in search of the right words.

Matt: “Can you tell these were long conversations?”

Callum: “I wanted a cool looking castle, in the background -”

Matt: “He’s obsessed with the castle!”

Callum: “In the background! I also wanted purple – it suits the sound. I don’t really know why, I just feel like it suits the sound.”

Matt: “He’s not actually synesthetic, but Cal has so much color association. He’ll make a song and I’ll have a first pass, lyrically. Often, we end up in a conversation – I think it happened two or three times on this album – where something was close to the vibe, but it didn’t quite match what was in Cal’s head. And pretty much every time, he says “this song is blue,” or “this song is purple,” and that actually really helps me in terms of finding that vibe. The album art was very much a reflection of that. We actually had two passes of the album art this time, so if you buy the vinyl, you’ll see an early attempt at sort of finding the right vibe on the inner sleeve.”

Callum: “I just absolutely love this album art. To me, everything matches.”

Matt: “Yeah, absolutely. I think it’s amazing, Péter Sallai’s work.”

Callum: “Going back to the question, though, you obviously had ideas for the album art as well.”

Matt: “Yeah. There is a story behind every Fellowship album, and I’m hoping that I will find the time that there always will be. I obviously want the songs to stand on their own. But if we can have little bits of the lyrics which find their way into the creation of the front cover, and we combine that with the vibe that Cal can create with the music – which is very purple on this album! – we get that. You’ve got this really cool magic star thing being shattered by a warrior. It’s very evocative of a ‘battling against something difficult in a wasteland’ kind of emotion. We’re really excited, it’s really cool.”

I agree with Matt and Cal that the art is fantastic – to the point where I had bought a shirt featuring the album’s artwork the day before, without having heard a single note of it. As Matt touched on the story for the new album’s concept, I ask if there would be any extra media materials accompanying the record, such as the novella Matt wrote to accompany The Saberlight Chronicles.

Matt: ”There will be a novella for every album that we do. I am committed to saying that. I really mostly say that just to make me do it. But yeah, there is a novella coming for this album. It’s going to be very, very different from the first one. The band hasn’t read it yet, because it’s not finished yet, but… it will be! As soon as I can, I’m finishing it. It’s pretty much done.

“Everything in Fellowship… firstly, it is worth saying that all of the story stuff is very consciously in the background. The origin of the novella is as a writing tool, to keep album one lyrically fresh, and it just sprawled into a novella. I love that idea, so now we’re doing it every time. Everything exists in the same universe, where the characters of Fellowship are represented in the prologue and epilogue of every book as storytellers. Each album is then a story that we tell, which will have unique characters, and will have unique ideas. And the bookends are the tale of the Fellowship itself, which is a set of immortal storytellers, cursed to tell every story from history, that they experience whenever they are asked.”

I had planned at this point to ask Brad Wosko, the band’s lead guitarist, about the challenges that come with adapting the guitar parts of former lead guitarist Sam Browne (who is still a studio member, but no longer performs live) to his own playstyle. It says a lot about how in sync the members of Fellowship are that Matt is able to provide a detailed answer on Brad’s behalf.

Matt: “Firstly, huge props to Brad, he’s worked so hard over the last couple of years.”

EE: “I could tell.”

I’m referring here to Brad’s performance at Mad With Power, where he played most of the solos with incredible accuracy, in relation to how Sam Browne recorded them on The Saberlight Chronicles.

Matt: ”Nowadays, Brad is our lead guitarist, for sure. In the studio, Sam plays the lead on his songs, and Brad plays the lead on all of Cal’s songs. That’s the division. A lot of the shapes that Sam chose to play for album one, because they suit his fingers, don’t suit the way Brad plays, so he’s had to move things around a lot. And some things are really awkward for him, whereas they were okay for Sam. And some things that were awkward for Sam are really fine for Brad. One of the things he’s talked about specifically was the solo for “Saint Beyond the River,” which was the song that I wrote. I’m not a guitarist, and the solo that I got Sam to play was, note for note, what I wrote. And when Sam did it, he said “You’ve not written a possible part, this is the closest I can get.” And that’s because the shapes just weren’t what Sam is used to, it’s not how Sam plays. But weirdly enough, it is exactly how Brad plays. That was one of the solos that he took like a duck to water. So stylistically they’re very different, and Brad has had to adapt to a lot of those shapes on the guitar.”

To follow up, I ask whether Brad’s taking of the lead guitarist role had any impact on the writing of the new record, as it sounds like that might be the case.

Callum: “Actually, it hasn’t. We knew long ago that Sam wasn’t playing with us live, before we’d begun writing album two. I wrote the solos for my songs for most of album one, and that’s kind of applied to album two. I haven’t really changed anything.”

Matt: “There are little bits and ideas that Brad has contributed.”

Callum: “Yeah, he has. There’s a few little bits he’s added, but the majority, 90%, is the same sort of thing I was doing before. I just gotta write what sounds good to me.”

I had also intended to ask the band’s new bassist, Ed Munson, about the role he played in shaping The Skies Above Eternity. From my perspective, Ed’s energetic stage presence bolsters the Fellowship ethos of joy and camaraderie, so I go ahead with asking Matt and Callum about the ways in which he had impacted the band’s compositional and studio practices.

Matt: “I don’t think we can actually answer this question.”

EE: “Okay.”

Callum: “I can say something. It’s a similar thing to Brad’s solos; he’d get the songs, and he has added his own parts. There are things that I, not being a bass player, would not know. So he would add slides and these little intricacies across the songs, which I wouldn’t even think to do.”

Matt: “They give the songs life, y’know. More life.”

Callum: “Yeah, for sure. I think he has, especially with the songs I’ve written, one hundred percent improved them with small, little bits. Any small improvement is a good thing.”

Matt: “There’s also just the fact that Ed is a joyous human to be around. He’s such a friendly guy. Most of the time, it’s just sort of me and Cal in the studio, we do a lot of that stuff together, as a symbiotic pair. But he’s just so happy and fun that it makes being in a band easy a lot of the time. I think that does probably have some effect on the music. Where I can’t tell you.”

At this point, I ask Matt and Cal if they can speak for a moment on their experience working with the late Phillipe Giordana of the French power metal band Fairyland, a band I’ve been listening to for as long as I’ve been a fan of the genre. Giordana passed away in 2022, after having contributed keyboards to “The Frozen Land,” the Japanese bonus track from The Saberlight Chronicles.

Callum: “He… yeah, he was such a friendly guy. We were a new band in the scene, and he stumbled upon us from ‘Glint’, from our EP. And he would just be messaging us all the time, even at 2 AM, just to have a conversation about anything.”

Matt: “He was the first person who was in power metal proper to really believe in us, other than Lynd1, who you sort of knew beforehand.”

Callum: “Yeah.”

Matt: “And that enthusiasm is so infectious. And he was so kind and lovely, and one of the first things he ever said to us was ‘If you ever need a keyboard player, I would be beyond honored to do something.’ We’d written the entire album at this point, and then we realized we needed a Japanese bonus track. We didn’t know this beforehand. We wrote the Japanese bonus track, and we said ‘we gotta have Phil on it.’

Callum: “He just wanted to collaborate so badly, and we said “this is the perfect song,” with the dueling solos between him and Sam.

Matt: “We gave him the song, and he got so excited. I get really emotional talking about that, because… Yeah, he was just, I’ve never seen… We didn’t speak to him in person or anything, but he was so excited, like a child in a candy shop kind of excitement. And he blew it out of the park, and he kept talking about it afterwards, the year on.”

Matt and Cal’s memories of Phil are genuinely touching, but I steer our chat back to lighter topics, as the last thing I want is to cast a rain cloud over the day of two musicians who I massively respect. I ask them whether there are any guest collaborators on the new record.

Matt: “No, I don’t think so.”

Callum: “No, there actually isn’t.”

EE: “Okay.”

Callum: “It wasn’t a thing where we said ‘we don’t want any guests.’ I guess we…”

Matt: “I think this album kind of – stop me if I’m going off-patch – but for me I felt like this album needed to be a statement from us, in a way, where album one did really well and came out of nowhere. I think we very much wanted to prove something with album two.”

EE: “That it’s not a fluke?”

Matt: “It’s not a fluke, absolutely. And I think that just made us dive into ourselves, as it were.”

Callum: “You mean, don’t rely on someone else to prop ourselves up.”

Matt: “Yeah, exactly.”

On that note, I ask Matt and Cal whether they had a wishlist of musicians they would like to collaborate with, encouraging them to dream big.

Callum: “I would love for Lynd to do a solo on a song, from… well, ex-Twilight Force. Syu from Galneryus would be awesome. We were in contact with Herman Li2 for a little bit, a few years back. We haven’t heard from him in a while, but that would be awesome.”

EE: “He left a comment on your original music video, I remember that.”

Matt: “Yeah! He watched it on stream, we were honored. It was so cool.”

Callum: “I’ve said three, Matt.”

Matt: “Yeah, I think from my perspective, there’s a load of vocalists who I would love to work with, who would add something – maybe like a character or something on a future album, who I think would just mesh really well with my voice. I would probably go a little bit outside of power metal to find some of those voices. So, I’m not sure it’s ever happening, but someone like Maisie Peters, who’s a… real shot in the dark, off the wall. I just really like her voice. Moron Police are my favorite band of all time, so I’d love to work with their vocalist, who’s also an incredible guitar player, by the way. And then within power metal, I’m super good friends with Sozos Michael, so I think that’s the one. If anything’s going to happen, it would be with him. I’m doing stuff with him on Eons Enthroned, and I would just love to have him on a record sometime.”

EE: “Gotcha. Is there…”

Matt: “And Cal has no idea who the first two people are.”

Callum: “No, not a clue!”

Continuing the topic of dream collaborations, I ask Matt and Cal whether there are any artists who they would love to tour with someday.

Matt: “It’s really typical to say DragonForce… It’s not because they’re huge, but because we’ve spoken to Herman. He seems super chill, and he’s been really supportive of us, and it would just be nice to actually support him – like, literally support him in return, and do what we can. That would be really cool.”

Callum: “A band that’s recently started touring the world – which is awesome, I love it, because it doesn’t usually happen with Japanese bands – Lovebites. That would be awesome to do, because I’m quite a big fan of them. They’re a bit more on the thrash-y side with some of their stuff, but you don’t really see Japanese bands coming out to tour the world. But they’re doing well, and that would be great.”

Matt: “That would be such a fun concert, I think.”

To get a bit more granular with a subject they had briefly touched on already, I ask Matt and Cal how they balanced challenging themselves creatively with The Skies Above Eternity, while still delivering more of what people love about Fellowship’s first album.

Callum: “I always challenge myself by, for example, when I was talking about the Japanese style of music – not necessarily even power metal, as I said, with bands like YOASOBI – trying to incorporate that sort of sound into power metal, where it hasn’t necessarily been done. Some Japanese power metal bands, like Galneryus, obviously, already do that. But outside of Japan, you don’t really hear that sort of thing. Once again, with ‘Hold Up Your Hearts (Again),’ there’s a lot of harmonic aspects in that which were a bit experimental, but I think it’s worked out.”

Matt: “The pre-chorus harmonies that you wrote, they’re really cool and different.”

Callum: “I mean, the whole thing, there’s a lot of experimental stuff in there.”

Matt: “I just have a really long list of cool words I want to use on my phone.”

The three of us burst into laughter at this – Matt being the first to laugh, in self-deprecating fashion.

Matt: “I think I’ve said this a bunch of times in different interviews, but for me, the thing that is most important when I approach a song, is marrying the narrative and lyrical content to the music. It’s very much about how the music is the core of everything, and everything I do is a reaction to that, so that it meshes, it flows, it works together. And this means that the first thing I do, before I’ve started any words for a song, is think about how that song thematically evolves, just purely musically. And I think that sort of keeps things fresh. Because as long as the music is evolving, then I will evolve with that music. And I think Cal, in that sense, pushes me a lot…”

Callum: “Yeah.”

Matt: “… to come up with new things and interesting ideas.”

Callum: “I’m always coming across new artists that I like, and as I said, it’s just trying to take some ideas from what they might use, which you don’t typically hear in power metal, and trying to fit it into power metal.”

EE: “Yeah, inspiration can come from anywhere. I mean, what is power metal if not just metal with more pop in it?”

Matt and Callum: “Yeah!”

EE: “I almost didn’t ask this question… but I’m going to, just for fun.”

Callum: “Go.”

During the previous night’s show, while Fellowship were three songs deep into their set, Matt made an unfortunate flub when he addressed the crowd as “Michigan,” rather than “Madison.” He immediately caught and corrected his error, and proffered an apology to the audience after the song had ended, claiming that he had failed out of geography in school. I decided to offer Matt an opportunity to redeem himself while having a little fun in the process.

EE: “Matt, did you really fail out of geography?”

Matt: “Uh, I… I didn’t actually get an F, but I got such low grades consistently that my teacher disliked me, to the point where she actually said in a class that she would not accept me taking geography at a GCSE3 level. That is not something that teachers are supposed to or allowed to do! I really annoyed my geography teacher, because I just… it was not my bag. Was not my bag. So no, I did, genuinely. I grew up thinking that Dover was North of where I live, and Dover is literally the lowest part of England, so…”

Callum: “Is this why you’ve learned so much about American states now? We were coming here, so you just learned…”

Matt: “Yeah, yeah, it is. I don’t know which one I’m in, but I know enough about them.”

Callum: “Okay, Mister Michigan.”

Matt lets out an exaggerated wail of social anguish at Cal’s jab.

EE: “I was talking with Angry Metal Guy after your set – who I think you met yesterday – and he said ‘I feel so bad for Matt, because Matt’s probably going to be thinking about that once a week forever.’”

Matt: “Yeah, yeah. There is literally a Simpsons joke about somebody doing that, and… grr. I can’t get over that one.”

EE: “From the perspective of an audience member, and all the people who were around me, everyone just thought it was super funny and a very honest mistake, and no one thought anything of it.”

Matt: “I’m really, I’m really… really glad. If I made that mistake in England, I would probably be booed off stage.”

With a band-aid slapped on Matt’s wounded pride, I proceed to wrap up our chat in an unpredictable, innovative fashion: By asking about Fellowship’s plans for the foreseeable future.

Matt: “So, we have a couple shows booked later this year. We’re doing another sort of mini-tour in the U.K., and we’re headlining this time, which should be super fun. We’re playing Edinborough… and two other places which I could look up, but are not in my brain right now. I want to say Manchester and London.”

Callum: “Yeah, that’s correct.”

Matt: “Yeah, it is Manchester and London.”

Callum: “We’ve got two German festivals.”

Matt: “Just after Christmas?”

Callum: “Yeah.”

Matt: “And then we’re playing Epic Fest next year, which we have been re-booked for. Which is such a cool thing for us, because we played there this year, and we were on such a small stage that a lot of people were disappointed they couldn’t see us. So they’ve booked us again for next year on a bigger one! Which is really, really cool, and just validating for us, I think.”

Callum: “We also have… I’ve started, I’ve got ideas already for album three.”

Matt: “Oh, don’t promise that so soon, Cal!”

Callum: “There’s ideas in the bank, there’s some ideas already. They’re not finished, but the base stuff is there.”

Matt: “We’re gonna start getting the “When’s album three” cries before we’ve even dropped album two!”

With that, I thanked Matt and Callum for their time before being given the friendliest handshakes I’ve ever received. If you’d like to hear an utterly wholesome and genuine power metal record that combines elements of Galneryus, YOASOBI, and ABBA, you can catch The Skies Above Eternity, releasing on Scarlet Records on Friday, November 22nd. Fellowship’s third album will follow shortly thereafter. Cal promised.

Show 3 footnotes

1. Philip Lindh, ex-Twilight Force. ↩
2. Co-founder and guitarist of DragonForce. ↩
3. General Certificate of Secondary Education ↩

#2024 #ABBA #AvengedSevenfold #BlogPost #DragonForce #EltonJohn #EonsEnthroned #Fairyland #Fellowship #interview #LordsOfTheTrident #Lovebites #MaisiePeters #MoronPolice #ScarletRecords #TwilightForce #YOASOBI

#TheMetalDogArticleList
#BraveWords
BURDEN OF GRIEF Debut "A Daydream Of Sorrow" Music Video
German death / thrash metal band, Burden Of Grief, have released a video for "A Daydream Of Sorrow", the new single from their upcoming eighth studio album, Destination Dystopia...

https://bravewords.com/news/burden-of-grief-debut-a-daydream-of-sorrow-music-video

#BurdenofGrief #ADaydreamofSorrow #Debut #MusicVideo #NewMusic #MelodicDeathDoomMetal #FinnishMetal #ScarletRecords