Heavy Metal Resource Reviews-Despyre, Sweet Oblivion, Chaos Magic, Fire Follows, & Schattenmann

Index

A great new heavy album from Long Island, New York based metal band Despyre. The sounds on this new record are mixed in terms of sound with the listener getting a dose of traditional metal and another element of modern sounding metal. I think that fans of earlier Godsmack and bands of that nature are going to dig what this band offers. There is a fairly even feel to this album. The only real difference is 'Blue Sky (Reborn)' which closes the album in an atmospheric fashion and comes across a bit more melodic. This track in it's first form appeared on the previous release 'Irritation' and has a bit of a different feel. This latest (reborn) version is a duet and has a much more haunting feel to it. The consistency in this album is one of it's best attributes. I think fans of more modern oriented bands will have a good time with this album. Easy recommend!

Release Date: June 7, 2019

I'll be completely honest. I had lost a lot of faith in Geoff Tate with a lot of the material that was produced by Queensryche after the 'Promised Land' album. I feel this is probably the best thing I have heard him do since his departure from the band. Sweet Oblivion not only features Tate, but also 4 Italian musicians including Simone Mularoni who masterminded DGM. These guys have great chemistry. The music I wouldn't totally classify as Queensryche although some could make the case with Tate's presence here. It definitely is really good and Tate proves that he can still do it vocally. I know there are a lot of biases out there, but my recommendation is check these guys out on Youtube. I was quite surprised at how good these guys are although I probably shouldn't have been. Very good album with great vocals and a good heavy edge!

Release Date: June 14, 2019

Through they recent years female fronted rock has became one of my more favorite genres. Just like any other scene in the past you see an influx of bands. Chaos Magic is a good band featuring Caterina Nix. To me this band seems like it is somewhere between Kobra and the Lotus and earlier Within Temptation. This has easily became on of my favorite albums of the year so far. Very good songs and great musicianship carry this record. The feel of the album has modern influences in it. There are also some very good guests helping out with this album including Tom Englund of Evergrey, Nasson who was also active in other areas including collaborating and vocals, Mystheria, Ailyn Gimenez formerly of Sirenia, and Ronnie Romero. This is a gem of an album. Lot's of strong attributes. They have good presence on Youtube as well. Very highly recommnded!

Release Date: June 14, 2019

If you really dig into this release, and the backstory of Chris Watt, there is a pretty inspirational element to all of this. The music itself i more modern in terms of sound and in some ways feels quite unique. That doesn't mean you haven't heard anything here before, but there are some pretty cool elements. Watt had paralyzed a vocal chord back in 2009 and as a musician, that would be pretty concerning and devastating. He never gave up and did what he had to do medically to make his return to the music scene. It really is an impressive story and the music really does go to another level as a result. The album contains 5 tracks which are all pretty good, and different in ways previously mentioned. It's these kind of success stories in things that could have stopped an artist, but instead caused him to persevere. It is also important to note that Fire Follows is a solo musical effort with Watt handling all of the duties. If you like modern heavy rock, definitely give this one a shot!

Release Date: May 31, 2019

Another good band out of the NDH metal movement. Although I can really never understand the lyrics as these bands typically sing in their native language, the music is infectious enough to speak to you through that alone. These bands always have a way of delivering their music in a very catchy way. Schattenmann is no exception to that rule. If you are familiar with bands such as Rammstein, Megaherz or Oomph!, you will probably like what these guys offer. They do have plenty of music up on Youtube to check out if you are unfamiliar. The band's music has a slightly more mainstream feel to it, but without a doubt has that familiar crunch and edge as well. This album is my introduction to the band and a decent introduction it has been. Definitely check out the videos and see if you get the same spark I did for this band's music. Decent stuff!

Release Date: July 5, 2019