From the category archives:

Music

Persona Non Grata’s Quantum Leap: entertaining and intriguing progressive heavy metal from Greece

8 January 2012 American Culture

Possibly indicative of the album title, Greek progressives Persona Non Grata hoped to ‘up their game’ with their sophomore release, Quantum Leap. Released in December, this fine work of progressive metal could easily be added to the best of 2011, right along side their peers Symphony X and Dream Theater.

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Altered Symmetry’s Prologue: new progressive metal from South America

19 December 2011 Entertainment

Altered Symmetry is a promising young, but not inexperienced, progressive metal band from Bogota Columbia. Prior to this year’s full-length debut, Prologue, they cut three EPs, including a ‘cover’ album. This disc applied some prog nuances to the likes of Billy Idol (Rebel Yell), Aerosmith (Toys in the Attic), and Bon Jovi (Born to Be [...]

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Eclectic indie pop rock from The Loose Hinges, featuring Eliot Houser and vocalist Kris McCarthy

13 December 2011 Entertainment

Celebrating stylistic diversity and their unique process of creating a brilliant full length, indie recording, multi-instrumentalist Eliot Houser and lead vocalist Kris McCarthy came up with a clever moniker that captures their blissful lack of “pre-planning” and preference to “fly by the nape of their knickers” rather than blueprinting: The Loose Hinges. The Nashville based [...]

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Guitarist Patrick Hemer debuts first solo album, More Than Meets the Eye

12 December 2011 Entertainment

Probably best known for his work with Horizon, guitarist Patrick Hemer steps out on his own with his first solo album More Than Meets the Eye. The album, like most of its kind, is an platform for Hemer’s rather impressive neo-classical guitar style in a tradition melodic heavy/power, sometimes, progressive metal context. In this sense, [...]

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With ‘Show Me How to Live,’ Royal Hunt returns with D.C. Cooper and one fine album of epic melodic metal

5 December 2011 American Culture

The creation of keyboardist Andre Andersen, Royal Hunt has been going strong for better than 20 years. Their first mainstream success came in the mid-Nineties with Moving Target (1995) and Paradox (1997) with D.C. Cooper on lead vocals. Recently, following a reunion tour, Andersen asked Cooper to return to the Royal Hunt fold. The result [...]

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Theocracy’s As the World Bleeds offers an exciting blend of Christianity and epic melodic heavy metal

23 November 2011 American Culture

Another three years has passed and so Atlanta’s Theocracy returns with their third album As the World Bleeds. Considering the strength of its predecessor, Mirror of Souls, this album was born with certain expectations already in place. Fret not fans as you will not be disappointed.

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High Spirits ‘Another Night’ is classic American melodic hard rock

14 November 2011 Entertainment

At first listen, Chicago’s High Spirits’ second long-player Another Night seemed both anomalous and typical of melodic hard rock. With a strong and speedy pace and an super abundance of twin guitar solos the songs smack of early NWOBHM. Yet these are surrounded by equally harmonious and melodic chord vocal arrangements, nearly taking the edge [...]

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A Moment in Chiros: Lance King’s solo debut a tour de force of melodic progressive power metal

30 October 2011 American Culture

Okay, so here’s the short review: Buy this album. If you dig well-composed and entertaining melodic progressive power metal with powerful and versatile vocals, then Lance King’s first solo project, A Moment in Chiros is simply primo material. So head on over to Nightmare Records and order the album; otherwise read on if you want [...]

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Fierce and entertaining classic metal from UK’s Intense, latest album, The Shape of Rage

19 October 2011 Entertainment

English metal band Intense has been plugging away at their craft for 20 years. Now signed to Germany’s Pure Legend Records, the band delivers their third full length album, The Shape of Rage. While 20 years only puts them back to the early Nineties, one listen to this disc find that their roots go deeper [...]

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Knight Area’s Nine Paths: simply great melodic progressive rock!

10 October 2011 American Culture

Knight Area’s fourth release, Nine Paths, is simply a great sounding album of melodic progressive rock. Earlier works were likely gathered under the symphonic rock genre also. But Nine Paths seems to find Knight Area upping the rock ante just a bit. With that said, don’t think that founder, composer, and keyboardist Gerben Klazinga is [...]

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