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Hailing from Hildesheim in Germany, Kalamata is a relatively young instrumental band founded in 2013.

Hum, the name of this Belgian “Hard Rock” act from the Limburg province sounded rather familiar to me, so I thought that maybe I'd come in touch with the quintet through a previous release and so, after having browsed through the info sheet we were sent along with the physical copy of this album, and having found that the guys indeed had a first album out in 2012, I checked all my reviews for that year...and the following half year, because sometimes stuff gets to us a bit later. All in vain, because trace of a previous encounter with the band was non-existent.

First this: additional information about the label Vomit Bucket Productions can be found in one of the reviews we recently uploaded by material released by, evidently, this German label (Ataraxy, Nekro:Mancer, Vomitous Discharge – No One Gets Out Alive, or Catgirl; all of them were updated during late January). But let’s say that, if you like it bloody and skinless, then you will find what you are looking for on this DIY-label for sure.

This is the second album from Shadowbane, a band that is based in Hamburg.  It’s release was postponed due to the burning down of the Hammer Studios, where Dirk Schlächter  was busy with the mastering process.

Nekrofilth are a project by NunSlaughter / Crucified Mortals’ Zack ‘Massacre’ Rose, which did surprise me a lot with their first demo in 2008, called Worship Destruction. That material was re-released on vinyl in spring 2011 via Hells Headbangers Records, by the way, and reviewed by undersigned – see upload, within the Archive-section, on May 8^th 2011.

This is a rather strange thing. It is not impossible that you heard of Esoteric before, one of the most impressive Extreme Doom acts from the U.K., no, from Mater Terra. This is not a review about them, but they are top! They just are… I like about everything they did… Oops, once again, this review deals not with an Esoteric recording, I am sorry…

Desdemonia are one of the (very) few bands from Luxembourg, formed two decades ago. Throughout the years, they played live on stage a lot with some ‘big’ names, such as Krisiun, Sacred Sin, Soilwork, Enthroned, Heaven Shall Burn and many more. They released a first album, called Same, in 1998 (independent), but my first acquaintance was in 2001, when this band released the second studio full length, called Paralyzed (September 25^th 2001).

Okay, this is an easy one to start: I like everything this Belgian band did in the past! So, here you have it. And I promise you: with Only The Dead… (Have Seen The End Of War), Pieter Van de Putte and his crew continue that path of victory!

The Storyteller  is a Swedish band that was formed in the city of Gävle in 1995.  They released their debut album ‘The Storyteller’ in 2000.  This is their sixth album so far. I’d never heard of this band before, so with some curiosity, due to their name, I started listening to this album.  What I heard was traditional power metal, but with epic elements in it, The bio suggests there are also some medieval folk music influenced. But I had to use a lot of imagination to hear those influences…

What do you get when you combine the vocals of Michael Sweet of Christian hard rockers Stryper, and the guitar of George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) ?  A fantastic sounding combination.  Add James Lomenzo (ex Megadeth, White Lion, Black Label Society) and finally Brian Tichy (ex Whitesnake) on drums.