You Can't Improve Perfection...

...But You Can Do It Justice.

Blind Guardian re-recording Somewhere Far Beyond, one of their best and most beloved of albums that was originally released in 1992, has to be one of, if not THE most pointless of exercises that any metal band could set-out to undertake. The original album already has a remastered version done in 2007 and it still sounds as good as it ever did in 2024.

I get that the Revisited version of Somewhere Far Beyond is to be treated as something of a (slightly belated) 30th anniversary celebration but that is perhaps something better celebrated with the accompanying live version that is a full performance of the album. That has been released separately as a digital download otherwise it is found on disc in the boxset version along with a blu-ray of the same performance (Rock Hard Festival 2022) and one other (Hellfest Festival 2022). But there feels little reason to buy the Revisited album itself if you already own a copy of Somewhere Far Beyond. The original is power metal perfection. A new version just cannot compare.

But at the end of the day it is still Somewhere Far Beyond, one of the greatest power metal albums anyone ever made and giving it anything less than the full five stars would be mean-spirited. It's actually a cracking performance from a band who are more than three decades older and a couple of line-up changes down the line. They do it justice. There is a moment here and there where the ears pick up and something doesn't feel quite right but a lot of the time it can be forgotten that you're listening to a re-recording. The heaviness of the original hasn't been sacrificed. The production hasn't been too over polished in a modern way. Hansi Kürsch still sounds absolutely incredible, but hey, we knew that from their continued work including their last album The God Machine.

Is it worth owning? If for some reason you can't get your hands on a copy of the original album then absolutely. Definitely if you want the live stuff on disc and not just a download and doubly so if you want the blu-ray, which I think has to surely be the biggest draw the more expensive triple disc package. But I can't lie, I can't see myself personally choosing to listen to it over the original. Somewhere Far Beyond is one of my most played albums of all time. It ranks second on my Last.fm account where Blind Guardian is my most played band overall. To start listening to a new version more than it now would almost feel like some sort of betrayal. Not that Blind Guardian has betrayed their legacy by remaking it, but on a very personal level, for me, it would feel that way. Maybe other fans will get what I mean.

A Unique Experience

Covid-19 and the world going into lockdown to combat the spread of the virus looked to have sounded the death knell for live music, but modern technology allowed artists to connect with audiences remotely and many bands put on shows with no live audience in attendance. Many have since seen physical and/or digital download releases as official live albums but many also are effectively little more than watching a band do a rehearsal or in-studio performance. Omega Alive by the Dutch symphonic metal act Epica is not such a release. This is a unique live experience, sans crowd, that perhaps couldn't have been pulled off any other way.

Released in support of their eighth main (ninth overall) studio album Omega (2021), Omega Alive naturally features a setlist that is dominated by tracks from that album, with seven out of fifteen tacks taken from it alongside choice cuts from the back catalogue including The Obsessive Devotion, Cry for the Moon and Kingdom of Heaven Part 1, which they play back to back with Kingdom of Heaven Part 3. There's no The Quantum Enigma – Kingdom of Heaven Part 2, sadly, but the the back to back performance of the bookends of the song trilogy are quite something as is. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the setlist is the inclusion of In All Conscience, a bonus track available on certain versions of The Quantum Enigma (2014) album that not every listener of Epica may have on their copy of that album.

But it's not just a great setlist that makes Omega Alive such a great live release, it's the entire spectacle. The concert is interlaced with pre-filmed inserts bringing a narrative to the show, which is presented in chapters. The set-up allows the band to have their stage rearranged between each segment (and lots of outfit changes for Simone Simons) while they bring on dancers, acrobats and other stunt performers (which Simone got in on the act a bit during The Obsessive Devotion by appearing to plummet off the back of the stage), pyro effects (including at one point appearing to literally set Coen Janssen's piano on fire while he keeps playing which looks a little too real for comfort). A live children's choir appears for The Skeleton Key while Simone performs Rivers with a host of guest choir singers in a haunting a capella version. They even make use of a sprinkler system which drenches and makes the band look like they're played in a monsoon. A bit cringe considering all the electric instruments being used actually.

But what really clenches it for Omega Alive is just how on form the band is. Coen Janseen is the unexpected show stealer with a manic performance complete with burning piano (I'm still unconvinced that wasn't real) but every band member is giving it their all and clearly having a blast despite the adversity of the world situation at the time. There is really not a fault to be had as Epica showcase different sides to themselves from their softest to their heaviest, most death metal influenced material via their most progressive epics.

Epica have come across as a special band to me ever since I first heard them through The Divine Conspiracy (2007) album and Omega Alive further cements their reputation as one of the best symphonic metal acts we have, one whom should really at this point be considered to have surpassed the bigger, more popular acts that paved the way in the genre. I think I'll be watching this captivating show again sooner rather than later.

It's a rare album review where I can still remember certain comments I made about it years after the fact, but that's the case for me with the previous album of Israel's Winterhorde, Maestro (2016). I remember the spiel of excitement I formed my review's introduction around, talking about how getting certain albums in my inbox from labels or promoters would lead to that album being given absolute priority to. Maestro was one such album and naturally Neptunian (2023), generated the same excitement. Make no mistake about Winterhorde: these guys are damn good. I also remember how I ended that review though, lamenting how it had been six years since Underwatermoon (2010) and hoping that it wouldn't take another six years before we heard a follow-up. Turns out it's taken seven. I guess some bands just aren't going to be as productive as others and as they have been releasing albums of such a high standard, it was okay.

It was okay...until Neptunian.

As I listened to the album for the first time, I felt my excitement gradually fading, replaced by shock, confusion and horror. What had happened to the band that made those amazing earlier albums? What had made them deliver THIS as their long awaited fourth studio album?

(Sighs deeply, trying to regain composure)

Okay, so Neptunian isn't a bad sounding release per se. But it's an extremely underwhelming one that seems to contain none of the kind of special character I've come to expect from Winterhorde's compositions that made particularly the Underwatermoon and Maestro albums such a joy to listen to. The progressive flair that defined those albums seemed watered down to the point of being swallowed by the ocean's tides, leaving a melodic/symphonic black metal album behind that, while far from terrible, just isn't that exciting to listen to.

If this album were from a new band releasing their debut and I heard it they might pass me by with a few lukewarm comments about potential, but this is a new album from Winterhorde. They're a band which had previously figuratively put my jaw firmly on the floor with their progressive take on melodic black metal. Twice. The expectations for such a band are higher, as is the standard I hold them to, which also makes the disappointment in this case so much worse. Coupled with the waiting time factor of seven years, this makes Neptunian one of those things that does not seem worth it no matter what angle I try to look at it from.

And my word I hate saying that about this band, I really do. I bloody love these guys. I meant what I said in my opener to this review that they are damn good. I own all three of their prior albums and while I don't give as much playtime to their debut Nebula (2006), both Underwatermoon and Maestro get spun regularly. Unfortunately Neptunian just doesn't hold a candle to them, despite repeated spins in hope that it's one of those albums that may not wow at first but improves with familiarity.

Sadly it was not.

I never cease to be amazed by the Japanese power metal act Lovebites. Ever since they made their debut with The Lovebites EP (2017), which quickly turned into the debut album Awakening From Abyss (2017), they've proved consistently that they can play with, if not outplay, the best of them and have a sound that is precisely what power metal should be about: fast, melodic, heavy and most importantly varied in influences that add trappings that range from symphonic to thrash metal.

For my money there is no finer modern power metal act.

Lovebites had a bit of a hiccup in in 2021 when bassist Miho, who was also a founder of the band and wrote a fair bit of their material, decided to walk away. The band went on hiatus, but returned to activity in 2022 and brought in new bassist Fami, who joins Asami (vocals), Midori (guitars), Miyako (guitars, keyboards) and Haruna (drums) on Judgement Day (2023), the first album of the new line-up. As usual the band is joined by Mao of the band Light Bringer as a sixth unofficial musician and songwriting collaborator.

As the writer behind some of Lovebites thrashier material, one might wonder if Miho's departure may be felt in the band's sound, but it turns out that this isn't the case at all as the album includes the track Dissonance among its power metal numbers, a thrash track, while rawer speed metal elements also remain in evidence amongst the melody driven power metal that remains the core of their sound. The lead guitar work contains a neoclassical edge adding further flavour while symphonic elements add a tasteful but never domineering bombast to some parts of the album, notably the title track, which is one of their best songs to date, but this feels like an extra strong effort from Lovebites all round, with a claim to being their best yet. I wasn't immediately sold on the gang vocal heavy Stand And Deliver (Shoot ‘em Down), but I've become rather fond of that track with subsequent listens to the album. It's sure to be a crowd pleaser in their live show.

Power metal as a genre often gets a bad rep, which as a big power metal fan I find disappointing and even unfair, even as I admit that there are some bands that earn the genre it's reputation for cheese. Lovebites though are one band that, even if you don't usually listen to power metal, you should check out and Judgement Day would be an excellent album to start with. The band plays about as aggressive as the genre gets without becoming fully speed or thrash metal; there is variety that gives their songs the power to stand out from each other; the musicianship is impeccable. The voice of their singer Asami would be fairly described as accented which is noticeable as the band sings in English rather than their native Japanese, but her voice is great and there's some incredible power there.

Judgement Day is the power metal album to beat in 2023, for my money. I've held off writing this review for quite a while since the album was released, but I haven't heard anything yet that has invalidated that statement. It's also in the running for my Album of the Year 2023. I've played their debut album over thirty times since it first came out which is a lot for someone like me, who listens to a lot of different bands. The group's following albums Clockwork Immortality (2018) and Electric Pentagram (2020) were also great, but always playing catch-up on the number of spins since Awakening From Abyss had that first time wow factor. I have to say though that I expect that Judgement Day will be hitting those numbers in due course. I'm on spin twelve already. Objectively speaking, it is their best record to date.

It seems like only yesterday that the Danish progressive metal band Anubis Gate first came onto my personal radar. But, as it turns out, it was well over a decade ago. I can't rightly remember how I first heard about them, though most likely someone from the little community on YouTube that I frequented back in the day recommended them to me. At that time, Anubis Gate only had four studio albums, the most recent of which was The Detached (2009) and it would have been that album and the prior Andromeda Unchained (2007) - both concept albums – that first took my interest, not knowing just how special this band was going to prove themselves to be, not just then, but in the years to follow.

There have been some changes in Anubis Gate over these years, with the band line-up being reduced to four by the time of their fifth album, the self-titled Anubis Gate (2011) and then seeing line-up changes on Horizons (2014), a move which technically left them with no original members, as Henrik Fevre (vocals, bass) and Kim Olesen (guitars, keyboards), though mainstays of Anubis Gate, were only guest musicians/writers on the debut album Purification (2004). The modern line-up is completed by Michael Bodin (guitars) and Morten Gade Sørensen (drums), who is not to be confused with original drummer Morten Sørensen, who, along with original guitarist Jesper M. Jensen, departed the band in 2012. Jesper M. Jensen sadly passed away in 2020. Interference (2023), the band's ninth studio album, is dedicated to his memory.

Interference is also Anubis Gate's first album of original material since Covered in Black (2017). Between these two albums they did also release Covered in Colours (2020), however, so it's not like they've been idle. Their covers record turned out to be one of the best such albums I'd ever heard, really throwing their own take on a number of songs originally from different genres of music and throwing the Anubis Gate touch at them. It sounded like an Anubis Gate album, as if they'd wrote it themselves. Not the easiest of achievements for any act when dealing with covers. But the real excitement for their fans is what many will feel is the true follow-up to Covered in Black, Interference. The burning question is, was it worth the wait?

Yes.

I actually somewhat want to leave this review at that. Yes. No other words needed. Just yes. But I guess I ought to actually talk about the record itself as well as give a history lesson for newcomers to the band, who perhaps aren't as sold by that simple answer as anyone familiar with their music may be. So let's be clear about something regarding this album: it's the kind of record that is that good it makes me want to reevaluate if Anubis Gate's previous releases were actually as good as they always seemed. They're a band I have consistently had cause to review with high scores and I consider the two concept albums to be among the best progressive metal albums ever made, with several others from their discography hardly lagging behind them. But then they go and release this and it's so next level good that it breaks the rating system. I was floored by how good Anubis Gate were when I first heard then over a decade ago, this little known Danish band whose records were bloody hard to get a hold of due to the apparent bankruptcy of their then record label Locomotive Records, but as with most artists, you don't really get back that first time wow factor. Well, Anubis Gate just managed to make that happen to me once again with Interference. Wow.

Even after only taking the first exploratory spin of the album, I felt like my jaw had hit the floor like a cartoon character's does. Naturally I always expect an Anubis Gate album to be excellent, but I found myself unprepared for this one all the same. Interference is easily the most out and out progressive release Anubis Gate have yet made, yet it also has a slightly less polished production sound, giving the guitars a heavier edge than much of their work, while still of course retaining the melodic sensibility that they are known for. There are ten tracks in all and the songs are a mix between shorter and longer durations. The band have brought back some of the speedy power metal influences that had slacked off on Covered in Black so there's some real fast and aggressive sections in some songs. Henrik Fevre remains in great melodic voice, with some additional harsher vocals provided by Kim Olesen.

I truly find it a difficult album to say really all that much about how it actually sounds. Words written about it never do great music justice. What I can say is that I had listened to it a half dozen times before even contemplating this review and it lost nothing in its impact. I also went through the entire back catalogue of Anubis Gate and there isn't one among them that Interference doesn't stack up against or betters. I have long counted The Detached as their finest work and one of my all time favourite albums, so I have some bias there that's not easy to set aside, but the gut feeling down down is that Anubis Gate may have outdone themselves this time. For 2023 it is without a doubt an Album of the Year contender. It's hard to believe really, after all this time since I first heard them, that they remain relatively unknown, with their back catalogue remaining hard to get physical copies of to this day. Even Interference itself is only being released in a limited quantity of CDs. Get in there and get one already!