heavy metal

"Truth be told, the confirmation of UFO as Judas Priest's support act gave the mini RockLine crew an extra push to make the trip to see both bands all the way in Czech Brno. And it was a Saturday, too. Couldn't be sweeter."

"An Operation: Mindcrime show is more than a great experience, it's practically mandatory for anyone who loves classic Queensryche, since the band's repertoire is mostly Queensryche music. And on top of that, Tate still keeps his vocals in…

Location: Graz / Explosiv / AustriaDate: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 With interest in classic European power metal sinking all around, the tour by the legendary Hamburg heavy metallers Gamma Ray was a real balm for the few lonely…

Label: Parlophone Records / BMGRelease date: September 4, 2015Production: Kevin ShirleyAlbum length: 92.11 min (2CD)Genre: Heavy Metal / N.W.O.B.H.M.Rating: 8.0/10 "The Book of Souls" is the sixteenth studio album from heavy metal…

" 'Live at the Final Frontier' is an excellent live document that fans of this sadly often overlooked but terrific German power metal band will be thrilled with and then some."

"The prog-leaning masterpiece »Seventh Son of a Seventh Son« was the finale of Iron Maiden's epic album trilogy, kicked off by »Powerslave« and »Somewhere in Time«, and it's a worthy successor to both of those triumphant predecessors, with…

"The Eternal Idol" was another major sonic rebirth for Black Sabbath and the start of their next evolutionary phase, with both Tonys in the lead roles.

Label: AFM RecordsRelease date: 26.04.2015Album length: 54.01 minProduction: Piet SielckGenre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal The Lord works in mysterious ways, doesn't he? You produce your own studio album, and a few years later you…

"Despite the lousy sound and monotonous lighting, Gus G. pulled off more than a solid show, though we could definitely have used one more Firewind song"

"Clubs, axes, cloaks and masks came and went like on a conveyor belt, the ominous content fitting right in with the motifs of the classics Notorius, Rod of Iron and Eyes of a Stranger."

"Zak was, as expected, a chapter all his own. With his beautifully preserved vocal cords he sounds almost identical to twenty years ago, and with his enviable stage charisma he carried half of this rather demanding, acoustic-flavored Circle…

"The songs Keeping Me Alive, She, One of a King and These Eyes are the real workhorses that keep Tygers of Pan Tang tightly bound to the first half of the eighties, which makes this album well worth your time."

"Let's just hope that creative spark doesn't die out, and that the band puts out the next album within three years of "Resist Or Serve.""

"Two years ago, Iron Maiden decided to revive this important chapter of their history with the Maiden England World Tour 2012-2014."

"Helstar said goodnight after an hour and a half with the legendary classic Run With the Pack, and even though this gig never came close to the unforgettable madness of Helstar's first visit to Bazen in Kranj, you know you can count on…

Label: AFM RecordsRelease date: 02/19/2014Production: Piet SielckAlbum length: 55.06 minGenre: Heavy Metal / Power Metal What should you expect from the eighth studio album from German power metallers Iron Savior, led since 1996 by…

"Primal Fear, with Tom Naumann in the current touring lineup, the proven Beyrodt/Naumann guitar tandem that reads each other like a book, and a great new studio album, »Delivering the Black«, prove they're still a majestic fortress of…

Location: Graz / Stadthalle / AustriaDate: 18.11.2013 When I first heard about the Volbeat tour with Iced Earth as the support act, I figured it had to be a mistake. Iced Earth are veterans, after all, with roots going back to the…

"From a good hour and a half of hanging out, we got exactly what we expected: an outstanding performance of old-school material that Queensrÿche fans, let's be honest, have been craving something fierce in recent years. "

"A true rocker's heart is impossible to crush. And both Pretty Maids and Pink Cream 69 proved it with a vengeance, in the rawest, most honest light. Exactly the way the magic of the European hard rock Bible knows it."

Location: Tolmin / Sotočje / SloveniaDate: 25.07.2013 Day four of the festival kicked off with Italian folk metallers from Venice, Vallorch. The seven-piece don't bring any musical revolution to the table and instead tread…

Performing: Saxon, Lordi, Pretty Maids, Stratovarius, Masterplan, Entombed, Lake of Tears, H.E.A.T., Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (hall), Onslaught (hall), Artillery, Dream Evil, Fleshcrawl (hall), Exumed (hall), Crazy Lixx, Wanted Inc.…

"Pentagram are nowhere near ready for retirement. A phenomenal close to the first day, its peak, and one of the best moments of this year's festival!"

"Still, we can safely say that the handful of Slovenes who caught Vicious Rumors at Balingen with Tilen Hudrap in the lineup witnessed a whole new baptism by fire for Slovenian heavy metal"

"On '13', Black Sabbath sound like they just crawled out of the grave, invented a time machine and rode it back to the seventies, when their final resting place had only just been dug."

"On the impressively solid 'God Is Dead?', Black Sabbath sound like they just climbed out of the tomb, invented a time machine and zipped back to the seventies, when their final resting place was still freshly dug."

"Deep Purple in Rock" is a timeless heavy rock masterpiece and, without a doubt, the most important studio achievement in the whole Deep Purple story. It's also one of the most important rock albums of all time. With it, Mark II began their…

Label: Metal HeavenRelease date: 22.06.2012Production: Herman FrankAlbum length: 53.58 minGenre: Heavy Metal Herman Frank is the legendary German guitarist who's burned into all our memories as one half of the hard-to-separate guitar…

"…and so the last Metal Camp festival is done. From now on we get MetalDays. Same scale, meaning one big-name headliner in the lineup and a festival of the same length. Let's hope the location stays at the confluence of the Tolminka and…

Location: Tolmin (the confluence of the Tolminka and Soča) / SloveniaDate: August 6, 2012 We moan every year, and we moan all year long. We (rightfully) complain about a lineup that looks like the roster of Nuclear Blast and/or the…

"Even though nearly every Sabbath traditionalist still turns their back on it today, anyone whose musical horizons stretch beyond strict heavy metal boundaries can appreciate its experimental nature and rare brilliant moments. As a whole…

With their self-titled debut, Black Sabbath pulled off a genuine revolution: while tinkering with the blues, they unexpectedly stumbled onto a whole new form of rock music, which the critics of the day dubbed heavy metal, making this one of…

"'Paranoid' is, in every respect, the most important album by the heavy rock giants from Birmingham and a masterpiece of heavy metal in its embryonic form, the one that finally shot them into the stratosphere of the most exciting bands of…

"»Master of Reality« is still one of the most influential heavy rock albums ever, playing a hugely important role in the development of the heavy metal scene, especially the doom metal and stoner rock/metal subgenres, and with its dark,…

"On their fourth studio outing, Black Sabbath hit a new level of maturity and made yet another classic heavy rock gem that, on top of the usual 'doom & gloom' punch and 'chasing the devil's tail', positively brims with unbridled…

"The adventurous masterpiece »Sabbath Bloody Sabbath« is the most artistically accomplished achievement of the Ozzy era. It finally crowned the legendary heavy metal forefathers from Birmingham as the most important heavy rock band of the…

"»Sabotage« is a heavy rock masterpiece with a strong experimental streak and yet another gorgeous document of the golden era of musical innovation, when Black Sabbath were at the peak of their creative powers."

"The fact that “Technical Ecstasy” is cherished by music gourmets of a very special kind is also underlined by a neat tidbit: one of the levels in the popular 1995 video game 'Rise Of the Triads' carried this album's title, while “Dirty…

"The too-often unfairly overlooked "Seventh Star", the would-be solo debut of a lonely Iommi who got played by a greedy label, still ranks among the brightest gems in the mighty Black Sabbath legacy, and even the most die-hard Ozzy era…

""The Landing" is an incredibly mature new studio album from Iron Savior. I'd go so far as to say it's one of the best things this band has ever put out in its career."

Performing: Death Destruction, Amaranthe, Vicious Rumors, HammerFallLocation: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / SloveniaDate: 03.12.2011 HammerFall is that musical outfit that hit the scene at the right time, in the right place. Back…

"The night was a success in every way: Lizzy Borden's first-ever gig in Slovenia delivered on everything the band has to offer. The only complaint is the small crowd. In my book, a bit under 100 people is just not the turnout a band of…

""Open Heart Surgery" is an album that, with its unshakable and utterly unique message, puts Grega Habič among the world's elite Earthlings, and one that can make even the biggest masterminds in this game prick up their ears at any moment,…

"On this far-too-long-overlooked masterpiece, Black Sabbath finally morphed into a modern metal band that still stayed true to its sinister roots."

"Helstar remain a powerhouse on stage, one of a kind. Jerry's absence showed, "peeking through" especially in the mid-tempo stretches of the songs, but still. "Glory To Chaos" got a fantastic introduction in Ljubljana, and everyone who…

"A voltage-charged show confirmed the band's incredible form. There's only one thing you'd wish for: that a band like this always gets a stage big enough to unleash its famous horror theater to the max."

"The band has apparently decided to play only songs written after 2000 from now on. That's pretty sad, since the stuff from the eighties is cult, not to mention the unforgettable classic "Triumph Of The Steel" (1992). DeMaio snapping every…

Location: Rieden-Kreuth / Germany Date: 08/29/2009 The third day of Wacken Rocks South served up a weaker lineup than day two, which was closed out by thrash metal godfathers Slayer. Still, with names like Edguy, Stratovarius,…

"There's no need to stress that Helstar are masters of their craft. Bazen came alive again with them in that old-school 80s vibe, and Helstar played, without a doubt, one of the best gigs on our soil in recent memory."

"If the whole thing carries real expressive depth, a hefty essence of the very spirit of the form it creates, serving up a unique, hard-to-replicate stamp of the moment captured by the developmental step that is the album "Self Destruct…

Performers: Bloodbound, Sabaton, HammerFallLocation: Zagreb / Boogaloo / CroatiaDate: 08.04.2009 The concrete yard in front of Zagreb's Boogaloo club can be a pretty interesting and surprising place about an hour before showtime.…

Label: Metal HeavenRelease date: 02/27/2009Production: Herman FrankAlbum length: 46:09 minGenre: Heavy Metal Herman Frank (ex-Accept guitarist, co-founder of bands like Victory and Moon Doc', and producer of records for the likes of…

Label: EMI RecordsRelease date: September 29, 1986Producer: Martin BirchAlbum length: 51:18 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 After the groundbreaking Powerslave, the standard-bearers of British heavy metal Iron Maiden had probably…

"Catharsis is a record that took the best from guitar giants like Petrucci, Vai, Satriani, Hendrix and the like, then piled a heaping helping of uniqueness and individuality on top of the masters' lessons. With this release, Grega Habič has…

Label: EMI RecordsProduction: Martin BirchRelease date: September 3, 1984Album length: 51.12 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 Piece of Mind finally crowned Iron Maiden as legends and the biggest heavy metal band of all time. With…

""Play It Loud festival II." was organized by the label My Graveyard Productions, and this year too it put a heavy emphasis on homegrown bands. But when the organizer throws in legendary acts like Helstar, Manilla Road, Elixir, Steel…

Label: EMI RecordsRelease date: 4. 2. 2008Length: 188.09 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 In August 1984, Iron Maiden set off on their most ambitious and longest tour to date. In just under a year, the World Slavery tour racked up…

Label: EMI RecordsRelease date: May 16, 1983Production: Martin BirchAlbum length: 45.28 minGenre: Heavy Metal Rating: 9.0/10 Right around the corner after The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind was waiting in 1983. If The Number of…

"Could the impossible actually happen, and we'll soon hear Ozzy and Dio together in Black Sabbath??? That would probably be asking too much, but hey, even bigger battle axes have been buried."

"With "The Number of the Beast," Iron Maiden reaped worldwide fame and crowned themselves the kings of heavy metal. "The Number of the Beast" is an immortal record that, 25 years after its release, still sounds as fresh as if it had been…

""Rage For Order" is one seriously important album. It's the predecessor to "Operation: Mindcrime". Stylistically it's already closer to its successor, and on it Queensryche seriously flexed the extensors and flexors of their progressive…

""The Warning" marks the end of Queensrÿche's evolution in classic heavy metal."

Label: EMI RecordsRelease year: 1983Production: Neil Kernon & QueensrycheLength: 21.22 minGenre: Heavy Metal "Queensrÿche", the famous EP by the famous Queensrÿche! The EP that sealed the fate of these splendid American…

"Iron Maiden is a superb showcase of the evolution of the Iron Maiden sound and a historically important release, for the band, for the genre and for music history as a whole. Up the Irons!"

" Heaven and Hell is a real heavy metal wrecking ball! On Heaven and Hell, Black Sabbath truly ditched the blues roots that dominated the Ozzy era for the first time in their career. Okay, I'm lying, but more on that later. Basically, with…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: May 11, 2004Compilation length: 303.03 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 The year is 2004! It's been 30 years since Judas Priest dropped their debut "Rocka Rolla" (1974). This year the band,…

Judas Priest were on the verge of catapulting themselves into the ranks of rock's immortals. "Killing Machine" captures the mindset of a band closing in on the peak of its powers, with incredible creative drive and the charged-up energy…

""Stained Class" now stares death dead in the face, straight through the eye sockets of the skull, and back in the day lyrics like that could genuinely cast a spell over a less grounded soul. On that front, Judas Priest truly signed a deal…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: September 17, 1979Production: Tom AllomLength: 44.35 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 8.0 / 10 With five studio albums under their belt, the band finally hit the moment for their first live album.…

""British Steel" is the album that immortalized the name Judas Priest. Even today it's one of the most important albums in the history of heavy metal."

"We've got a double CD in front of us. The first disc is the original live release of the album "Live At Last" from 1980. The second one has rare live cuts played between 1970 and 1977 on various stages and tours, with Ozzy on vocals, of…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: April 8, 1977Production: Roger Glover & Judas PriestAlbum length: 40:07 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 8.5/10 The future looked shaky for Judas Priest. After "Sad Wings Of Destiny" (1976)…

Label: Gull RecordsRelease date: 23. 3. 1976Production: Jeffrey Calvert, Gereint "Max West" Hughes, Chris Tsangarides & Judas PriestAlbum length: 39.12 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 9.0/10 The debut 'Rocka Rolla' (1974) failed to…

"After two mediocre follow-ups to the successful debut, the one that turned what started as a mere side project, "Iron Savior", into an actual band of the same name in 1997, comes "Condition Red", easily the best release so far from these…

Label: SPV/SteamhammerRelease date: October 16, 1997Production: Glenn TiptonAlbum length: 58.13 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 8.0/10 I was genuinely shocked and totally devastated the first time I heard this record back in 1997. Over…

Label: SPV/SteamhammerRelease date: July 16, 2001Production: Glenn TiptonAlbum length: 70.44 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 7.5/10 "Demolition" is one of the most controversial albums to hit the metal scene in 2001. Controversial…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: February 26, 1981Production: Tom AllomAlbum length: 37.42 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 7.5/10 After forging their steel to a fine edge on "Killing Machine" (1978) and "British Steel" (1980),…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: July 17, 1982Production: Tom AllomAlbum length: 38.42 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 9.0/10 "Screaming For Vengeance" (1982) was a 100% about-face from its predecessor "Point Of Entry" (1981). With…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: January 4, 1984Production: Tom AllomAlbum length: 39:43 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 Personally, this is my favorite Judas Priest album. It's a brilliant follow-up to "Screaming For…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: May 28, 1987Production: Tom AllomAlbum length: 74.00 min/95.27 min (2CD remaster 2001)Genre: Heavy MetalRating: 9.0/10 It's incredible what you can get a crowd to do, especially when you're Rob…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: May 17, 1988Producer: Tom AllomAlbum length: 49:33Genre: Heavy MetalRating: 7.5/10 With a supersonic battle cry and a cannonade from the band's entire artillery, "Ram It Down" announces a return…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: April 14, 1986Production: Tom AllomLength: 40.58 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 7.5/10 Honestly, this record is hard to accept at all if you're weighed down by the Judas Priest name and the albums…

Label: Columbia RecordsRelease date: September 3, 1990Production: Judas Priest & Chris TsangaridesAlbum length: 46:03 minGenre: Heavy MetalRating: 10/10 This is one of those special albums in heavy metal! The metal bible!…