Although there was a full-length album released in 2019, this could hardly be considered a proper Blind Guardian album. Rather, it was an innovative project bringing the Blind Guardian sound together with a full symphonic orchestra. Do not get me wrong. It is a really nice piece of work, but it is not Blind Guardian as none of the musicians are present, nor a real power metal album as there is no metal instrumentation. Consequently, the last real Blind Guardian album was seven freakin’ years ago with Behind the Red Mirror! So having a new one in the pipeline should be quite exciting. After all, Blind Guardian remains the standard to which all power metal must be held. The undisputed heavy weight champions of the genre.

The fact that they intend to return to their roots even excites us more. In a recent interview in Grande Rock Kürsh (vocals) stated: “We’ve set a new course and gone back to certain things that we’ve neglected a bit on the last few albums” When you combine that with the fact that the songs appear to have rather grim and gloomy titles, it makes for a very exciting upcoming release. I expect old sounds to return tackling a new grimmer theme. Perhaps quite adequate for our present day times: dealing with a grim reality could use some epic vibes once more.

It will not surprise you that as a horseman myself, I feel a deep affinity for The Hu and its members, many of whom ride in the old Mongolian Tradition. That is what their folk metal also deeply charaterizes: the traditional Mongolian way of life. Their previous (and first) album ‘Gereg‘ had many songs being literal exponents of that philosophy, Wolf Totem and Yuve Yuve Ye being the most extant examples thereof.

With Covid responsible for the cancellation of their performance together with Sabaton earlier this year, I really thirst after some HU juice and I hope this new album will satisfy that thirst, continuing in the tracks laid down on their first album. From the first singles unleashed upon the world I at least got some real satisfaction, I’m hoping the rest of the album delivers as much. The title, ‘Rumble of Thunder‘ referring to the Mongolian Thunder God already seems to indicate that the Hu will further immerse us in their strange but so captivating culture.

We’ve had our eyes on YUNGBLUD for a while now already, and while it seems like he’s sort of riding the wave of the resurgence of the increasingly popular pop punk wave, his boundless energy and “heart on the sleeve” kind of attitude really makes him stand out to us. And especially after catching one of the stops on his “Life on Mars Europe tour” (find the report here and photo report here), we believe we see the rise of the new prince of modern rock who will lead his followers to a world of acceptance and wholesome/uplifting rock ‘n’ roll. His music really brings the right amounts of catchiness and rawness that stems from a long history of pop and rock music in the British music scene, but with an extra touch of punk attitude and openness to experimentation and a modern sound. Looking at the singles that were already released of his upcoming self-titled album, we’ll get much of the same and we’re all there for it. Even if you might be skeptical, don’t sleep on this major star in the making!

The Finnish solo artist Vermilia brings an absolutely captivating kind of music rooted in epic Scandinavian pagan metal and sweet, raw and melancholic vocal harmonies with lyrics in her native language. It’s the kind of music that can appeal to a wide arrange of people going from black metallers to more folky symphonic metalfans. The one moment it’s almost purely black metal with harsh vocals, while the next some angelic singing gets added, bringing in a touch of melody. It’s the kind of atmospheric black metal that is rooted in nature similar to outfits like Wolves In The Throne Room or Myrkur and with everything being sung in Finnish, it adds even more magic to the whole sound. If you haven’t heard of Vermilia before and you like what you’re reading, definitely can’t miss out on this release!

How can we not be excited about the new full-length release of Electric Callboy? Since the most recent lineup change and the release of major hits like ‘Hypa Hypa’, ‘We Got The Moves’ and ‘Pump It’, they’ve experienced a meteoric rise and have become a well-known name throughout the world, even though they even at some point made a slight name change. Add tracks like ‘FCKBOI‘ (featuring Conquer Divide) and ‘HURRIKAN‘ to that mix and you know you can expect a highly diverse mix of sounds, catchy tunes and most likely a couple more big surprises on the album. And while they might come across as being one big joke to some, they are an extremely talented collection of people who know what they’re doing clearly! Now get those party hats on and get ready to MOVE!

Sooner than we maybe expected, the Finnish winter metal mastodons of Wolfheart are coming with another brand new album! And while they’ve been pretty consistent in their sound and output, it seems they’ve incorporated a couple of really cool new things on this record if we’re basing ourselves on the first singles. Take the highly surprising guest appearance of Jesse D. Leach (Killswitch Engage, Times of Grace) with some killer guest vocals on ‘Ancestor‘ and the use of Vagelis‘ clean vocals more prominently on ‘The King‘, giving the music we’re used to of Wolfheart a whole other new dimension we didn’t see coming! All of that makes us really excited about what else will be there to catch us by surprise. We’re expecting another mastodon of an album filled with epic Finnish metal that could end up in a couple of end of the year lists!

We earlier talked about the future of rock, Starcrawler is another band that can very much be counted under that! These youngsters have been representing rock ‘n’ roll like no other with their own style and flair and do it with that touch of rawness we all love in our rock. Some find ’80s punk vibes in them, some talk about Iggy Pop, others find the grunge sound of its heydays, but one thing is sure: they really do kick ass. It’s the kind of rock that easily can cross and speak to several generations. The pandemic threw a bit of a wrench in their mission to take over the world, but now they’re back at it with this brand new album ‘She Said‘! The singles they earlier released like ‘Roadkill‘, ‘Stranded‘ and the title track are one for one extremely catchy and memorable rock songs, something we’ve wanted and needed so much. Do yourself a favor and check them out.

The Portuguese black metal outfit Gaerea has been amazing people around the world for a bit now. Every release of these mysterious hooded people has been met with quite some praise and it seems like they’re not planning to stop. Their upcoming third full-length ‘Mirage‘ is going to be yet another album filled with extremely intense black metal countered by gorgeous melodies and atmospheric passages. Just check out the title track of the album they released as a single and its stunning music video and be absolutely mesmerized by what they unleash upon you. This will be another monumental album that we’ll be spinning quite a few times at the GRIMM headquarters…

Another Finnish band! Not a big surprise looking at the amount of quality bands that the country spews out on a regular basis. With ‘If The Sky Came Down’, the already on the rise and highly popular Lost Society will make them go places. Back in 2020 they already made a huge leap into a more groove-laden modern metal sound that delivered us some massive anthems that still are little bombs whenever you catch them live. Now with their new album they’ve taken it another step further, going somewhat more in the direction of a nu metal sound which seems like the perfect move since there is somewhat of a resurgence of the genre. And with a lot of us having gone through our teenage years during the heydays of the much despised genre, it’s something that really speaks to us when done well. On top of that this record feels like it’s one of the most personal ones for frontman Samy to this date, having his heart on his sleeves with themes of mental health, addiction and feeling downright depressed woven throughout the whole album. Some people might be disappointed with Lost Society stepping even further away from their original thrash metal sound with this album, but we would be surprised if this album doesn’t make them explode, taking them higher up the food chain.