4 min read
Metal

ARTIST – MASTERPLAN

ALBUM – METALMORPHOSIS REVIEWER – GRAEME WRIGHT It’s been thirteen long years since Masterplan released their last studio album ‘Novum Initum’, to the extent that some of us were wondering if we would ever hear anything new from this band again. Well, imagine my surprise when the rumblings began of a new [more…]

3 min read
Metal

Elvenking – ‘Rites Of Disclosure’

Folk Metal Reaper Entertainment 22nd,Release Date – May 22nd 2026 Well, here’s a thing. The Elvenking has obviously been having a spring clean. They’ve looked behind the wardrobe and the back of the sofa and found a bunch of songs that were released digitally and never made it onto a physical record. [more…]

4 min read
Metal

Preludio Ancestral – ‘Guardians Of Twilight’

Power Metal Fighter Records Release Date – April 14th 2026 By Smudge Smith Preludio Ancestral are a new name to me even though they’ve been around for twenty years. The project was founded by main man/brain guitarist Leonardo Gatti who also provides bass, keyboards and orchestrations. He did have some help from [more…]

3 min read
Metal

Lamb Of God – ‘Into Oblivion’

Metal Century Media Release Date – March 13th, 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Lamb Of God – twenty-five years in existence, Grammy nominations, many highs and lows as any band has, and now this – probably their best work to date. Surprisingly it’s only their tenth album, but there’s a real feeling [more…]

3 min read
Metal

Prong – ‘Live And Uncleansed’

Metal Steamhammer Released – March 6th 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Well, crikey. Prong have been around since 1986, and this is only their second live album. Their first was ‘100% Live’ released in 2002 which is when Tommy Victor decided to resurrect the Prong name after throwing his lot in With [more…]

4 min read
Metal Singles

Solemn Vision: Despite The Rise of the Sun Review

Solemn Vision; Despite the Rise of the Sun  Review by Lily O’Delia  I’ve always loved bands that aren’t afraid to show their softer side in death metal. You know, the ones that go melodic without turning into something overly polished or saccharine. Solemn Vision nails that delicate balance between melodic and metal on their most recent album Despite the Rise [more…]

2 min read
Metal

Lead Injector – ‘Witching Attack’

Thrash Metal High Roller Records 20th,Released – February 20th 2026 Review By Smudge Smith Lead Injector are a blackened thrash trio from Dresden and were formed in 2022, and they are still unfeasibly young. They knocked out a demo in 2024, and on the strength of that, they were given a deal. [more…]

3 min read
Metal

Stainless – ‘Lady Of Lust And Steel’

Heavy Rock/Metal High Roller Records Release Date – March 20th, 2026 Review By Smudge Smith 2024: Raging out of Portland, Oregon, comes Stainless, who officially started in 2022, with the members having been in bands throughout the Northwest US metal underground. They released an EP in 2024 and this is their first [more…]

2 min read
Metal

Kate’s Acid – ‘Hellbender’

Speed Metal High Roller Records 20th,Release Date – March 20th 2026 Review By Smudge Smith I’m going to show my age. Who remembers the Belgian HM band Acid? They were always in Kerrang! In the early 80s, they pushed out 3 albums between 1982 and 1985, and then they broke up. They [more…]