Michael Schenker's pairing with former Rainbow wailer Graham Bonnet made perfect sense, since Schenker's facile, classically flavored Euro metal guitar style is a graceful extension of Ritchie Blackmore's innovations. The results on Assault Attack are pleasing; while Schenker predictably delivers top-notch performances, Bonnet's vocals are edgier and more engaging than those of former MSG singer Gary Barden.

Kai Hansen formed Helloween in 1984, playing guitar and singing on the speed metal band's first four albums. He left in early 1989, however, and founded Gamma Ray with vocalist Ralf Scheepers (formerly with Tyran Pace). The duo intended to record a one-off project that Hansen originated while in Helloween, so they recruited bassist Uwe Wessel, drummer Matthias Burchardt, and several other musicians…

Gold & Grey represents the end of Baroness' color-schemed album titles, preceded by Red Album, Blue Record, Yellow & Green, and Purple. The now-Philadelphia-based quartet have been through major changes, from magazine covers and award nominations to a horrific life-threatening bus crash that caused the original rhythm section to leave, and the 2018 departure of founding guitarist Peter Adams, vocalist/guitarist John Baizley is the only original member. Bassist Nick Jost and drummer Sebastian Thomson were on board for Purple, but new guitarist/backing vocalist Gina Gleason (Santana, Smashing Pumpkins) makes her studio debut with Baroness here.

With upwards of twenty years in the business, Swiss rockers Crystal Ball are set to release their ninth album, Déjà-Voodoo. It carries the same Power Rock groove as last year’s LP LifeRider, and starts off in a similar fashion by relying mostly on the song titles for every hook. Things change course midway through, however, and the band shines with an outstanding ballad entitled “Home Again”, followed by the complex and riff-driven track “To Freedom And Progress”…

A Vision of A Dying Embrace’contains a night of spellbinding Doom Metal from Anathema’s live show in Krakow, Poland, in 1996. Whilst still reasonably early in the career of the band, and with rhythm guitarist Vincent Cavanagh taking on vocal duties only relatively recently for the sublime The Silent Enigma opus, the set contained a whole selection of now-established classics from Anathema’s first two studio albums and Pentecost III EP, with epics like "A Dying Wish", "Sleepless", and "Mine Is Yours To Drown In" captured in their purest and rawest form in the live setting.

Shining Black is a melodic metal band featuring vocalist Mark Boals (Yngwie Malmsteen, Ring Of Fire, Royal Hunt) and guitarist Ölaf Thorson (Labyrinth, Vision Divine). Their self-titled debut (2020) showcased cutting edge melodic metal songwriting techniques from Thorsen combined with the outstanding vocal abilities of Boals. Thorson and Boals now present “Postcards From the End of the World”, their sophomore album, which again highlights the outstanding collaboration between the two musicians. This album takes up where the debut left off, comprised of ten songs of modern power metal with the combination of Boals’ lung-busting vocals and Thorsen’s blistering guitar skills. Completing the lineup are Oleg Smirnoff on keyboards & piano, Nik Mazzucconi on bass, and Matt Peruzzi on drums. Shining Black's second album will once again delight power metal fans with its accomplished musicianship and empowering vocals… Euro-metal fans get excited!

Thrashing party metal legends Municipal Waste are back with a brand-new album called ‘Electrified Brain’. Out on July 1st, 2022 via Nuclear Blast. "Electrified Brain" marks MUNICIPAL WASTE's first album in 5 years, following the release of their critically exalted 2017 record "Slime and Punishment." And don't think they've slowed down in the years since. Recorded in Philadelphia with producer Arthur Rizk (Power Trip, Code Orange), "Electrified Brain" is a high-voltage non-stop masterclass of neck-snapping thrash that'd be the ideal soundtrack for high-speed car chases and backyard steel cage matches as witnessed on the new track "Grave Dive."

Suspended Animation is the first studio album by Dream Theater guitarist John Petrucci, released independently in 2005 through Sound Mind Music.
Suspended Animation is a decent album that exhibits Petrucci composing skills and technique in a very respectable manner. This is a definitely recommended album for fans of instrumental music, shredding albums or the casual Dream Theater's fans. Petrucci showcase a lot of his shredding abilities in this album, but he doesn't forget to do it in the form of sophisticated progressive compositions, and that's what's good about this album.

Collecting Nightwish's first three albums and the EP "Over the Hills and Far Away" (which includes six additional songs that were not on the original spinefarm edition) into one package, this boxed set is a nice addition to any fan's collection…

Jorn Lande returns with a new studio album, "Over The Horizon Radar" on June 17th. Jorn has a long and storied career in heavy metal, including an established solo career, releases with Masterplan, Ark, and more, a series of duet albums with Russell Allen (Symphony X), a touring & recording member of Avantasia, a participant in the 2021 Melodi Grand Prix (Norwegian Eurovision contest), appears in the popular League Of Legends video game, & has amassed millions of streams. A Norwegian legend!

Terminal Velocity marks the first solo album by the Dream Theater guitarist to be released in 15 years. The album sees the return of bassist Dave LaRue (Dixie Dregs, Flying Colors) who played on John’s debut solo album and subsequent G3 tours as well as an eagerly anticipated reunion with former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, Winery Dogs, Sons Of Apollo).
The 9 songs on Terminal Velocity showcase John’s affinity for writing tightly-weaved guitar instrumental powerhouses that feature everything from monster riff breaks to passion-filled melodic themes worthy of film soundtracks to all-out shred extravaganzas that leave the listener feeling like they just stepped off of a thrilling musical roller coaster ride.

This is already the 5th full release by this Swiss combo and like on each of the previous releases the band stays true to their melodic metal sound, which falls in somewhere between that of countrymen Gotthard and Shakra…

Pantera (/pænˈtɛrə/) was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas, formed in 1981. The group's best-known lineup consisted of the Abbott brothers (drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell), along with vocalist Phil Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown…