Alex Mace

HammerFall – Hammer Of Dawn

Power metal is certainly a niche amongst niches. It’s there for those partial to the most potent of selections on metal’s cheeseboard – complete with a complimentary set of chainmail and some stupendously named weapon – but it rarely breaks out beyond those accustomed to the smell. Yet the opening stages of 2022 alone have…

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Katatonia - Mnemosynean Album Cover Artwork

Katatonia – Mnemosynean

Three decades, that’s how long Swedish prog icons Katatonia have been putting pick to string. Whether this seems possible or not, their repertoire of success speaks for itself and the band has rarely dipped from the upper echelons of the progressive scene. This quite rightly calls for celebration. Mnemosynean is as much of a self…

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Jinjer - Wallflowers Album Cover Artwork

Jinjer – Wallflowers

If necessity is the mother of all creation, then the need to protect their stainless reputation is what birthed Jinjer’s fifth full-length leviathan; Wallflowers. Nine years on from debut Inhale, Do Not Breathe the Ukrainian quartet’s meteoric rise to one of modern metal’s A-listers is simply astounding – with legions of rabid fans and a…

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Interloper - Search Party Album Cover Artwork

Interloper – Search Party

Nailing your debut is a daunting challenge, no doubt. With all wares on the table, the pressure to deliver a lasting and genuinely innovative first impression is immense, only escalated when competing in an industry as forward-thinking as metal. Fortunately, progressive death trio Interloper bided their time and their first full-length, Search Party, is a…

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Death Blooms - Fuck Everything EP Artwork Cover

Death Blooms – Fuck Everything

The modern hardcore scene is rife with talent, many of which with a set trajectory for stardom, but not every budding bringer of breakdowns has garnered the level of attention as Death Blooms. In just two years the Liverpudlian quartet unleashed two well-received EPs and, most crucially, landed themselves a spot on the inaugural Pulse…

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