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6.0
CHILDREN OF BODOMFollow The Reaper
A dazzling rush of keyboards, solos and melodic aggression, but the spectacle sometimes outruns the songs beneath it.
8.0
PHRONEXISOpulence of Metal
A flamboyant, hook-heavy metal record whose excess works because the songs beneath it are sharp, varied and built to move a crowd.
7.0
ENSIFERUMFrom Afar
A valiant, if somewhat predictable, return to form for Ensiferum’s folk-infused metal mayhem.
9.0
ENSIFERUMEnsiferum
Ensiferum’s debut combines heroic melody, blackened aggression and folk atmosphere with remarkable confidence and unusually strong songwriting.
6.0
OPETHBlackwater Park
Opeth’s landmark atmosphere remains potent, but the album’s grand scale too often turns tension into delay and repetition.
7.0
DAN TERMINUSGothic Engine
A dense, cinematic electronic-metal hybrid rich in texture and momentum, though its long runtime blunts the strongest ideas.
8.0
FEUERSCHWANZWarriors
Warriors is a compact, hook-heavy folk-metal record that thrives on momentum even when its themes feel overfamiliar.
7.0
DRAGONFORCEWarp Speed Warriors
DragonForce turn their familiar velocity into a bright arcade-metal sprint, with strong hooks and a few unnecessary bonus laps.
6.0
MIDNIGHTHellish Expectations
Twenty-five minutes of filthy speed and blackened swagger: effective, immediate and too familiar to feel truly dangerous.
9.0
EDGE OF SANITYCrimson II
A ferocious progressive death-metal suite that turns fragmentation, conflict and repetition into a coherent dramatic whole.
9.0
IMPERIAL DEMONICBeneath the Crimson Eclipse
Beneath the Crimson Eclipse is a compact, cold-blooded statement with strong identity, sharp pacing and no wasted movement.
7.0
CATTLE DECAPITATIONTerrasite
Terrasite turns ecological dread into sharp, memorable deathgrind without sacrificing weight or momentum.
2.0
AVANTASIAThe Metal Opera
Avantasia’s debut metal opera buries a few decent power metal hooks beneath stiff narration, generic writing and exhausting theatrical excess.
5.0
MOONSORROWVoimasta ja Kunniasta
Moonsorrow build an imposing pagan-metal landscape, but repetition and blunt transitions leave too much of the journey unresolved.
5.0
CARCASSReek Of Putrefaction
Historically potent but sonically punishing, Reek of Putrefaction is more manifesto than fully formed album.
8.0
ARCH ENEMYDeceivers
Deceivers turns Arch Enemy’s precision into momentum, pairing sharp melodic hooks with enough emotional contrast to keep the polish alive.
7.0
SEPTICFLESHModern Primitive
Modern Primitive makes orchestral death metal feel urgent again by giving its aggression direction instead of drowning it in decoration.
MAJESTIC POWERFORTRESSKing Fortress: “We Did Not Record an Album - We Negotiated with Eternity”
There are power metal bands, and then there is Majestic Powerfortress: a seven-piece congregation of velvet-clad visionaries who claim to have been formed during a thunderstorm above an enchanted observatory somewhere beyond the measurable boundaries of northern Finland.
7.0
AMORPHISHalo
Halo wraps Amorphis’ melancholy melodies in muscular production, balancing rich hooks with a few stretches of overextended grandeur.
6.0
SABATONThe War to End All Wars
The War to End All Wars delivers sturdy hooks and battlefield momentum, but Sabaton’s familiar machinery shows through the smoke.