Remember the Finnish melodic death and power metal fusion of the late ’90s and early ’00s? Bands like Children of Bodom,1 Kalmah, and Norther were all the rage for a short while. You even had stuff like Ensiferum for a folkier interpretation, or Catamenia2 for the blackened side of things. The truth is that it never really left.3 Suotana is one of the bands keeping this sound alive and well, and they have more history than one might think. They spawned in the mid-2000s but took until 2014 to start putting out material. Now, over a decade later, they’re on their fourth full-length, and Ounas II continues right where predecessor Ounas I left off two years ago. Judging them back-to-back, it seems the collective is only growing in strength.

Ounas II is chock full of great songwriting. Melodic death metal, power metal, and even bits of black metal collide in this crazy Finnish kitchen, with Children of Bodom remaining the clear number one influence. Founding members Ville Rautio and Pasi Portaankorva utilize the dual guitar attack in classic ’80s ways (“Winter Visions,” “Twilight Stream”), while Stratovarius sensibilities color their frantic touches of melodic power—both always positives in my book. The harsh vocals of Tuomo Marttinen are frosty and vicious, similar to their swamp brethren in Kalmah.4 Tommi Neitola’s keyboards are the cherry on top, adding a Bodomesque symphonic bombast layer that occasionally approaches Wintersun levels without going overboard (“The Crowned King of Ancient Forest,” “1473 Ounas”).

Ounas II by Suotana

Dealing with two-part concepts is always a challenging task, but Suotana came prepared. It feels like they’ve improved on all of Ounas I’s already strong qualities: the production has more breadth, the album’s layers delve deeper, and there’s more energy and variety in its songs (“Foreverland,” “Twilight Stream”). However, the most impressive thing about Ounas II is that it’s even denser than its sibling. The album clocks in at 39 minutes compared to the first part’s 41,5 which has the huge advantage of avoiding a bloated ‘B-sides’ feel so common with other double album concepts.6 And despite its tight runtime, the songwriting has plenty of room to flourish, as exemplified by “1473 Ounas.” Furthermore, to complement the Summoning cover that crowned the first part, Ounas II unleashes a cover of Children of Bodom’s “Hatebreeder” as its encore. Whether you imagine it as a proper track or a bonus, it’s a great way to end the record with a bang while honoring your influences.7

Suotana has had a long journey to get to this point, and it’s been more than worth it. Their songwriting is only getting faster and better, which further reinforces its catchy extremities. In many ways, Suotana feels like the melodeath-forward twin to Moonlight Sorcery’s excellent brand of power/black metal. Both bands dress to impress with big riffs, melodic violence, and keyboard bombast in all the right ways. Though the back-to-back experience is great, Ounas II is a package that works wonders on its lonesome too, and I think that’s another mark of success for the band. I’m excited to see what these self-aware wizards pictured above are going to summon from that lake next, Ounas or not.

Tracks to Check Out: “Winter Visions,” “Twilight Stream,” “The Crowned King of Ancient Forest,” and a special shout out to the excellent cover of “Hatebreeder.”

Aephanemer – Utopie [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Grin Reaper

Something about neoclassical instrumentation forged between the hammer and the anvil kindles the embers of my withered Reaper heart. Whether tasting northern comfort with Children of Bodom, basking in festering swamp songs with Kalmah, or unleashing hell with Norther, Finland has long asserted a stranglehold on melodeath of the symphonic persuasion.1 That is, until a modest French foursome threw down the gauntlet. I first encountered Aephanemer between Prokopton and A Dream of Wilderness, and it was love at first listen. Their classical flourishes seamlessly converge with aggressive riffing to develop complex layers of hook-infested earworms so inescapable that no prescription can rid me of their iron thrall. Four years after their last outing, Aephanemer returns with a mature interpretation of their signature sonic stamp.

Grabbing the reins to shepherd listeners to new frontiers of what melodic death metal can sound like, Aephanemer reemerges to show us the way to Utopie. Evolving the neoclassical components of platters past, Aephanemer fully realizes a stunning merger of melodeath and symphonic orchestrations.2 On Utopie, the band crafts an experience that sounds like it was written with classical composition as its basis rather than as a reservoir of embellishments. Earlier albums comprised songs with classical ingredients, but on Utopie, Aephanemer sculpts a singular work with movements and motifs that unfold through its fifty-one-minute runtime, giving the album a degree of unity and cohesion that is sometimes sought yet rarely achieved in modern music.

Where Utopie’s soundscape exudes consonance, its composition is structured in two halves. The front bears quicker, sticky numbers while the back embraces longer-form, sweeping arrangements. “Contrepoint” appropriately serves as the intermediary between each half, though the track itself conforms to the fore’s characteristics. “Le Cimetière Marin,” “La Règle du Jeu,” and “Par-delà le Mur des Siècles” fashion an opening trio of gluey tunes that flow harmoniously into one another, surprising me with how quickly those fifteen minutes pass every time I listen. The final triad of tracks encompass half the album’s runtime and deliver the soaring majesty of epics while maintaining momentum. Throughout, Aephanemer’s galloping rhythms, arpeggiated leads, and bubbly tom rolls (plus intermittent flute trills and orchestral strings) sustain a vital energy, providing a pervasive sense of kinesis and grandeur. Martin Hamiche’s guitar tone is buoyant and silky,3 the perfect counterpoint to Marion Bascoul’s harsh rasps. Mickaël Bonnevialle underpins Aephanemer’s bombast with flurries of fills and rolls, always in support of the overarching sound while occasionally commanding well-deserved spotlight. Even as a three-piece, the band performs as tightly as ever.

Utopie is the sound of a band with a vision so crisp and vivid that all you need to do is close your eyes to be whisked away to paradise. Aephanemer oozes jubilance and confidence, harnessing the successes of previous albums and honing them to an eager edge, sallying forth with nary a concern for detractors. In a year where melodeath claimed two of 2025’s Records o’ the Month (Aversed and In Mourning), plus saw releases from Amorphis, Buried Realm, Mors Principium Est, and Vittra, Utopie claims the top spot of the genre in my humble (but accurate) estimation. Aephanemer in 2025 best embodies the spirit and triumph of what symphonic melodeath can do, mustering a celebration of undeniable charm and panache. Go forth and embrace bliss. Go to Utopie.

Tracks to Check Out: “Le Cimetiére Marin,” “Contrepoint,” “La Rivière Souterraine,” “Utopie (Partie II)”

#2025 #aephanemer #amorphis #aversed #buriedRealm #childrenOfBodom #frenchMetal #inMourning #kalmah #melodeath #melodicDeathMetal #morsPrincipiumEst #napalmRecords #norther #symphonicMetal #thingsYouMightHaveMissed2025 #tymhm #utopie #vittra

I used to be obsessed with Norther at the age of 17-18, I recently found a copy of "Mirror of Madness" online and had to get it for nostalgia's sake. They were a pretty great band, too sad I never saw them live.

For fans of: Children of Bodom, Kalmah, Insomnium, Wintersun

#musiccollection #metal #heavymetal #metalmusic #finnishmetal #melodicdeathmetal #Norther #albumoftheday

This is such an interesting track. So much going on. "Ex Easter Island Head" by Norther.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIx0QWwuG8o

#music #Norther

So far the only Norther album that I own, which is unfortunate. I hope to be able to find more of their albums soon.

For fans of: Children of Bodom, Kalmah, Arch Enemy

#musiccollection #metal #heavymetal #metalmusic #finnishmetal #Norther

SIG:AR:TYR – Citadel of Stars Review

By Steel Druhm

Though I’m far from a black metal enthusiast, I grew up with the mighty sounds of Bathory ringing throughout my teen years. We didn’t call them black metal back then as Venom had co-opted that term for their rowdy, faux-Satan cock rock metal, but I loved what Bathory was doing regardless of genre label. Albums like The Return, Under the Sign of the Black Mark, and Blood Fire Death were so savage and massive, they set us up for what black metal would become in the 90s. It was always the epic edge of Bathory’s sound that truly seized my metal heart. The sounds of Blood Fire Death and especially Hammerheart spoke to the indomitable warrior within us all. When SIG:AR:TYR came along many years later, they clicked for me immediately in a way few black metal acts ever did because they were flying the same foundational battle standards as Bathory before them. Albums like Beyond the North Winds, Godsaga and Norther are dearly loved, and the latter was my Record o’ the Year for 2016. It’s been seven long years since Norther and for a time it seemed there would never be another SIG:AR:TYR release, but 2024 finally delivers Citadel of Stars. Will this be another grand voyage into high adventure for the faithful? Gird thy loins and let’s set sail.

I’ll say this: I don’t believe SIG:AR:TYR is capable of a bad album. Solo musician and brain trust Daemonskald is simply too talented and too capable to deliver something unworthy. On Citadel of Stars, he cobbles all the key SIG:AR:TYR elements together once again and hammers out an epic, powerful saga that feels majestic and glorious. The Bathory and Immortal influences are ever-present but the music is no mere homage. 10-plus minute opener “Awaiting the Last Dawn” is a sweeping mission statement rife with the classic sound functioning exactly as it should. It’s atmo-black Pagan/Viking metal pulsating with an epic vibe that feels vast and incalculably massive. The riffs are thoughtful and deliberate, forceful and mighty. The plodding pace feels like a military march through mud and snow as a mighty host heaves its way toward a final conflagration, and you’ll want to carry a banner alongside your brothers. Daemonskald’s blackened rasp is as effective as ever and the minutes roll by almost unnoticed as you stride with the bold. Few bands can capture this level of hypnotic atmosphere, dragging you into another realm so completely. It’s a long song that feels fleeting. “Beyond the Stars Unknown” continues the steep climb to the heavens with a hard-charging battle gallop and relentlessly churning riffs. This is the stuff to make you hunger for glory on the battlefield in a way Amon Amarth only hints at. Daemonskald’s guitar work is amazing, spinning from burly riffage to Yngwie-like neo-classical shredding and back in a way that feels just right. This is a masterwork of a true artist and Song o’ the Year material. The show stopper for me comes with “I Sail on, Eternal,” which is just a monstrously badass piece that condensces everything good in black metal into one massive missive that will add 2 inches to your biceps and several lengths to your back pelt. The spirit of Hammerheart era Bathory lives large in the music and Quorthon gazes down upon it approvingly. It’s plodding, inexorable, and inevitable, and I want it to be 40 minutes long. I’ve had this on repeat for gym sessions and it instills a quivering Norse rage in my loin biceps.

“From the Land of the North” is another ginmorous epic with pulsating energy and an Immortal-esque gravitas I can’t get enough of. Album closer “Where the Sun Never Sets” is another 10-plus minute monolith and it too conjures the spirits of great heroes and warriors through the ages. There’s so much magic in these pieces that it’s a tragic shame there are a few lesser moments that drag the album back down to Midgard. “The Blood That Came Before You” is good but less dynamic and stirring, and “Ascending the Stellar Throne” is better but also ends up feeling a bit spare compared to the masterful moments around it. The album includes 2 long-form instrumentals and though this is a SIG:AR:TYR staple, here they don’t feel as integrated and essential, fracturing the album’s momentum and lingering too long. At an hour long, the album has 12 or so minutes that feel less essential, although nothing ranks as filler.

I’ve praised Daemonskald in several reviews now, and I continue to be in awe of his abilities as a musician. His guitar playing can be stunningly beautiful then turn on a dime to become deadly. He’s a master at crafting folk-filled moments in otherwise grindingly heavy battle anthems and his delicate playing is a thing of wonder. His sense of composition is stellar and he can create truly grandiose, sweeping pieces of music blending raw force with melancholic musings. There are 5 such pieces here that I will cherish forevermore. The album has a few inconsistencies that result in lesser moments, but even these are vastly better than what most black metal acts could ever dream of conjuring.

Citadel of Stars is another winning SIG:AR:TYR album. It’s not as consistent as past triumphs and suffers some flat spots, but damn the highs are stratospheric! No one can do what SIG:AR:TYR does nearly as well, and there are songs here that will be among the best metal moments you’ll experience this year. Even if you don’t love black metal, you should give this and the whole SIG:AR:TYR catalog a deep listen. You will not be disappointed. Glory to the brave, glory to Daemonskald. Hails into eternity.

Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Hammerheart
Websites: sigartyr.com | sigartyr.bandcamp.com/music | facebook.com/sigartyr
Releases Worldwide: May 31st, 2024

#2024 #35 #Bathory #BlackMetal #CanadianMetal #CitadelOfStars #FolkMetal #Hammerheart #HammerheartRecords #Immortal #May24 #Norther #Review #Reviews #SIGARTYR

AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Veriteras – The Dark Horizon

By Dolphin Whisperer

“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”

Founded in 2018, Veriteras has a very simple mission, to produce melodeath! Hailing from the renowned hot bed of heavy, Seattle, Washington, these Scandinavian-inspired songsmiths offer their sophomore outing with the same energy from which they initially debuted—that’s to say, mostly, that there’s little in the way of frills here. But with a guest tambourine performance and production courtesy of the fabled Dan Swanö (formerly of Edge of Sanity and so much more), is there more to The Dark Horizon than meets the eye? Travel to the edge with our brave rodeö staffers and find out! – Dolphin Whisperer

Veriteras // The Dark Horizon [April 11th, 2024]

Steel Druhm: Seattle-based symphonic melodeath act Veriteras are really inspired by classic Scandinavian melodeath, especially the stuff that was released in the aughts. On their sophomore outing The Dark Horizon you’ll hear tons of influences from Kalmah, Wintersun, and Norther leaking into their energetic output. The good news is that Veriteras execute the style well, delivering high-octane cuts that sound like they’re from a different era. The bad news is the material sounds like it’s from a now stale era you’ve heard a million times. That doesn’t necessarily ruin the good times though. Tracks like opener “Certainty” blast forth like prime Kalmah with riffs flying, drums thundering, and keyboards blaring. It’s a formula that worked in 2002 and still kinda works. The best cuts either bowl you over with hyper-kinetic thrash polka (“Celestial Darkness, “Manufactured Dreams”) or soar into the night skies with epic blackened majesty à la Wintersun (“Blinding”). “Blinding” in particular is surprisingly sticky, glorious, and regal. The fact that all the songs sit in the two-to-four minute pocket while the album runs an anorexic thirty-one minutes adds to the high-speed sugar rush. The guitar work is classy, the vocals have ample bite, and the keyboards are overweening and cheese-coated. A lovely production courtesy of Dan “the fucking MAN” Swanö doesn’t hurt none either. You won’t hear anything new here, but Veriteras dish up a nostalgic blast of catchy ear-cheese with polish and pomp aplenty. Since we likely won’t be getting Time II until the very end of time, this can fill the Wintersun void some folks have in their wretched lives. 3.0/5.0

Doom et Al: Ah, melodeath. A tough sub-genre because everyone has their own idea about how much “melo” and how much “death” constitutes the ideal balance for a band. If you’re on the “I like things on the melodic end of the spectrum—gimme that Jester Race goodness!” then Seattle based band, Veriteras, and their sophomore full-length, The Dark Horizon, should be right up your alley. Delivering some old-school, hyper-melodic melodeath, this is an impressive showing, managing to sound catchy and epic without the tendency to slip into a power metal cheese vat. At its best, the album reminds us why those early melodeath bands were so popular—it’s fun, energetic and never loses momentum. Stand-outs include the jaunty “Sanctuary,” the rollickin’ “Manufactured Dreams” and my personal favorite, “Blinding.” Criticisms include a slightly monotone vocal performance, a crushed production I don’t love, and perhaps an over-reliance on an existing aesthetic. Nevertheless, this is a grand ole time and some of the more entertaining melodeath I’ve heard this year. A band with huge potential. 3.0/5.0

Dear Hollow: I’m not much of a Kalmah dweeb and I’m not the biggest melodeath fan, but the likes of Wintersun,1 In Mourning and Eternal Storm have cemented themselves into the hall of Hollow. Likewise, Veriteras creates a tasty blend of infectious earworms against a backdrop of crunchy rhythms that brings the emotion and warfare in equal measure. Rock-solid writing that puts melody first and all else second is a smart move for this, as tracks like “Certainty,” “Abyss,” and “Blinding” deal in traditional Dark Tranquillity blends of melodic runs tinged with Gothenburg sensibilities, while “Celestial Darkness” embraces the folky 6/8 waltz of Elvenking. The one-two punch of “Sanctuary” and “Manufactured Dreams” contains the most memorable riffs and absolutely infectious melodies that linger like a fever you don’t want rid of. While the vast majority of The Dark Horizon offers bulletproof melodeath, “Last Rites” and “Retrograde” fall short with frailer melodies that don’t stick, while the folky proceedings of “Celestial Darkness” are an island unto itself—all wrapped up in a production that feels a tad paper-thin and muddled (i.e. the chugs of “Light in the Darkness” feel too weak). Overall, Veriteras is fun as hell, offering melodic ear candy aplenty that’ll rot your earteeth2 if you’re not careful. 2.5/5.0

Felagund: Rightly or wrongly, I’ve grown to view most anything labeled “melodic death metal” with suspicion. While it used to be a go-to genre tag, I’ve been burned too many times by “melodeath” bands that are less At the Gates and more watered-down, uninspired metalcore boasting a few clean choruses. Thankfully, Veriteras doesn’t fall into that trap on this second full-length The Dark Horizon. They’ve delivered a solid platter, one with plenty of melodeath heft, with some blackened shrieks and symphonic elements for good measure. The Dark Horizon is indeed a satisfactory sophomore effort. Things fall flat for me, however, when the band begins to lean so heavily into the “melodic” part of “melodic death metal” that they break on through to the power metal side. I noted a faint whiff of cheese on “Celestial Darkness,” but it becomes a noticeable dairy deluge on the ironically-titled, happy-time tune “Abyss,” “Last Rights” with its power metal cleans, and “Manufactured Dreams,” which sounds like the soundtrack to your very own seafaring quest. These choices don’t make for a bad album, but it’s certainly not what I’m looking for in my narrow-minded view of modern day melodeath. I’m sure there are any number of Fellowship fans who will read this blurb and question if I actually know what power metal is. But there are various kinds of cheese, and they all don’t have to be Limburger to qualify. I’ll keep the tremelo, the chugging riffs, and the blackened vocals, but next time, I think I’ll order my Veriteras without the side of melo-mozzarella. 2.5/5.0

#2024 #AmericanMetal #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #Apr24 #DarkTranquillity #DeathMetal #Elvenking #EternalStorm #InMourning #IndependentRelease #Kalmah #MelodicDeathMetal #Norther #SelfRelease #TheDarkHorizon #Veriteras #Wintersun