The biog that accompanies this release heaps a hell of a lot of praise on this young German band. That can mean one of two things. Possibly, it's a shit album and they are trying to big it up, or the album's an absolute gem. Thankfully, they are closer to the latter this time around as Lebenslinie is a very good album indeed.
Melodic Death Metal is the genre of choice on offer, although Lebenslinie play it slightly differently as the vocals are sung in German. It doesn't make any difference to the overall sound as whatever he may be singing about, frontman Sebastian Panzer does it with conviction. For me, the main focus of the album are flowing lead guitars, which I have to

Grantig's debut album, So Muss Es Sein, was compared to the likes of Down and Pantera, but we are promised more originality this time around... So we get bits of Down and Pantera, with a good dose of heads down and go for it Thrash, sung in German. I'd also throw in a bit of Alice Chains for the vocal melodies as well.
To be perfectly honest, the Thrashier end of Grantig's spectrum is where they sound more comfortable and it's a shame that this isn't an album of balls to the wall Thrash, because the Down (more than Pantera) riffs are so obvious, it detracts from the bands obvious talent. These days, a lot of bands are incorporating a few different elements into their sound, but

Formed by ex Tad Morose drummer Dan Eriksson and featuring current members of both Tad Morose and Morgana La Fey, this is the debut album by Swedish Power Metallers Inmoria. I'm using Power Metal in a very loose generic form, as this has much darker heart than your average cheese-fest and the overall sound has a very theatrical feel to it. I love the mixture of the more traditional forms of Metal with something a little darker, with Fantasy being the biggest culprit, (in a positive way) with vocalist Charles Rytkönen reminding me of (in places) Samson's Nicky Moore mixed with Family frontman Roger Chapman!!!

You very rarely hear a bad Swedish Metal band, which is why, I guess, that bands are always trying to sound Swedish, no matter which country they are from. In the past, Germany's Misery Speaks have worked with production legend Dan Swanö, this time around they're working with another Swedish producer, namely Jonas Kjellgren. And while there are various hints of a Swedish sound, shit, I hear enough of it due to the missus' obsessions with, amongst others, Rogga Johansson and our good friend Dan Swanö, I'd also say this is equally matched by both a laidback, organic sound, which is deathly / stoner hybrid and a more urgent thrashier vein. As far as originality goes, well, there's not a

I show no signs of becoming bored with the Medieval/Folk Metal scene any time soon and here's another distinctly German band to check out. Nachtgeschrei mix a jolly accordion led sound, or maybe it's bagpipes, I can't quite tell, with a more restrained vocal style, which is in the bands mother tongue. I can just imagine the band dancing around on stage with the singer rooted to the same spot for the whole of the gig, barely moving an inch. But hey, it's a style, however unusual, that works, with the calmness of the vocals and the more frantic nature of the music working together in perfect harmony. Whether this style will work beyond the German market remains to be seen as I don't think they have the same

As a precursor to their new album, Rebellion are releasing this EP as a taster of what to expect later in the month. First up though, there's a cover of the Grave Digger classic, Rebellion (The Clans Are Marching) which was originally recorded when guitarist Uwe Lulis was in Grave Digger in the mid 90s. Michael Seifert is a dead-ringer for Chris Boltendahl, and his performance and the bagpipe jig in the middle of the song make this an instant classic... um, were it not a classic already!!! Next up are 2 songs, Arise and Ragnarok, from the forthcoming Arise - History Of The Vikings Volume III album. And while both of them sound fantastic, I'm sure they'll be even better when heard in the

Finns Winterborn flirt around the borders of Power Metal and the more traditional form of the genre, without really excelling in either format. The album sounds ok, despite the less than flattering production, but I'm not getting any warmth from the songs which seem to be housed in a sterile cocoon. I can feel the songs fighting, trying to break through, but it's not until track 5, The Winter War, that the album magically comes to life. From this moment on, the album becomes infinitely more enjoyable, but it rarely rates above average due to some very clichéd and very predictable songwriting.
With the huge amount of albums released every month, I fear this one won't even get a