Gus G. is a busy man. For some odd 25 years and counting, the Greek guitarist has not only been running his own band Firewind but also contributed to many notable heavy/power metal acts’ beginnings, such as early Mystic Prophecy and Dream Evil. And somehow on top of that, he’s even managed to fit in five solo albums during that time! Steel Burner becomes the sixth album under the Gus G. moniker, the first since 2021’s very fun Quantum Leap. I was a big fan of Firewind’s energetic 2020 comeback and enjoyed 2024’s anthemic rock-oriented Stand United plenty as well. How does Steel Burner compare to his other recent works, and were any Steel Druhm’s harmed in the making?1

Gus has proven himself to be a very potent guitarist since the early ’00s, and Steel Burner’s strand of heavy metal offers a good general gist of the instrumental and solo craft he’s known for. The album doesn’t steer too far off Quantum Leap’s core in this regard. Gus’s natural bend towards ’80s rock and metal shows up in full force once again, containing Yngwie and Blackmore-esque guitar hero cheese (“What If,” “Closure”) in terms of both shred and soulful play. A surprising highlight is “Advent” with its interesting djent-ish influences by way of downtuned 2010s rhythm guitar work. It pans out much better than one might think and makes for a refreshing listen in an album full of otherwise expected source material.

The other side of Steel Burner is the record’s confusing flow and identity, the guest vocalist tracks being at odds with the instrumental songs. Whereas Quantum Leap was fully instrumental, Steel Burner contains a theoretically balanced set of five tracks with vocals and five instrumentals. This intentional variety quickly ends up working against itself. Doro (Doro, ex-Warlock) and Matt Barlow (ex-Iced Earth, ex-Pyramaze) are both starting to show their age, delivering some good lines but flat choruses (“Nothing Can Break Me,” “Dancing with Death”). The suddenly enervated instrumentation exacerbates the quality contrast between Steel Burner’s different aspects. Fortunately, the back half fares better. Vocal mercenaries Ronnie Romero (ex-Rainbow) and Dino Jelusić lend stronger performances on better, more AOR-adjacent tracks (“My Premonition,” “No One Has to Know”), and I wouldn’t mind Gus working with Ronnie more often based on “My Premonition.” Aside from the vocal-instrumental clash, the drums are a sticking point. Gus’s drum programming on the aforementioned tracks is solid, but Quantum Leap’s guest drumming proves that more varied and potent percussion would have helped make these songs much more lively.

Much like Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Gus G. is an excellent guitarist who is usually better when sharing vocals-forward songwriting reins with other people. Steel Burner tends to repeat some of his early-career hiccups with Mystic Prophecy, where the rhythm guitar tends to be underdeveloped and the songs oddly stripped-down without the choruses compensating for it. Gus is very good at crafting colorful instrumental compositions (“Advent,” “Confession”) or even standard power metal tracks at higher BPMs (“Kill the Pain” on Firewind’s self-titled, “Escape from Tomorrow” all the way back on Forged by Fire), but making a ‘normal’ mid-paced track with vocals often requires some extra hands alongside him. Firewind’s two most recent records are proof of this, and the positive effect of a consistent powerhouse vocalist like Herbie Langhans is undeniably lacking here.

Steel Burner has its bright spots, but ends up feeling like two EPs in a bar fight. It mashes together parts of Quantum Leap and Stand United, and both halves unfortunately suffer as a result. While nothing on the record is strictly off-putting, the instrumental side is clearly the better and more inspired one, containing the usual guitar goodness you would expect from Gus. Even so, one listen to Quantum Leap’s title track exposes Steel Burner’s general lack of urgency compared to prior works. Grab most of the instrumental tracks and “My Premonition,” and you’ve got a solid EP! Despite the overall experience being hit-and-miss, I still respect Gus’s work ethic, and I’ll be gladly waiting to see what he comes up with next.

Rating: Mixed
DR: Nope! | Format Reviewed: Alas, poor Stream!
Label: Metal Department
Websites: gusgofficial.com | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: April 24th, 2026

Crimson Glory hold a special place in my own personal Metal Hall o’ Fame. I was a huge fan of their 1986 debut with its classic Queensrÿche-style and larger-than-life energy. Midnight immediately became one of my favorite vocalists, and I was dazzled by the way the band took classic metal idioms and made them feel so grand and elegant. 1988s Transcendence took their sound even further, getting proggier, heavier, and more epic in scope. This is the album that essentially invented the progpower genre. At that point in time, the band seemed poised to achieve amazing things and conquer the metaverse. Then they dropped Strange and Beautiful in 1991, and the wheels came off the Glory cart hard. To call that album a dumpster fire of a sellout is an understatement, and it still makes me wonder what the holy fuck the band was thinking when they released it. It’s on par with Celtic Frost’s Cold Lake, Metallica’s St. Anger, or Krokus’ Change of Address, and it will forever live in infamy as a career killer. Unsurprisingly, the band fell apart after that, with Midnight departing for good, leaving disgruntled fans to reflect on what might have been. The band attempted a jump-start in 1999, but Astronomica was nowhere near the quality of the early albums, and the band sank back into self-inflicted oblivion. 26 years later, three of the original members are attempting a new comeback with Chasing the Hydra. The cynic in me wondered why they’d even bother. They created 2 all-time classic metal albums, and nothing they do now could come close to rivaling them. With great expectations as their eternal enemy, it’s much more likely they’d only diminish the luster of their stellar releases. Still, the naive teen in me hoped for a miraculous rebirth of the band I still love. Where does Chasing the Hydra fall between those polar opposite scenarios? As you might expect, somewhere in the middle.

Aided no doubt by a set of very low expectations, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by Chasing the Hydra. Obviously, it can’t touch the classic albums with a 100-foot Poke Em Pole, but it’s effective, entertaining progpower with enough of the classic Crimson Glory sound to trigger nostalgic reminiscing. Opener “Redden the Sun” is aggressive and urgent as new vocalist, Travis Willis, shows off his impressive collection of pipes. The guitarwork from OG Ben Jackson and new axe Mark Borgmeyer is fluid and technical, and the song itself is decent, though it gets a bit scattered. The title track opens with the lead riff from Transcendence classic “Red Sharks,” which is either cool or cornball, I can’t decide. The song sounds more like something off Sanctuary’s debut than Crimson Glory, but it’s good nonetheless, although Willis overdoes it at times. The first real winner comes with “Broken Together,” which sounds enough like vintage Glory where you could imagine it appearing on the early classics. Wills sounds so close to Midnight as to be unsettling, and the whole package has that same strange power the old albums did. “Angel in My Nightmare” is a sprawling epic that plays out like a pastiche of “Lonely in Love” and “Azrael,” and it takes you on an interesting voyage through the various eras of the band (wisely excluding Strange and Beautiful). It’s a bit too long, but the goods are delivered.

“Indelible Ashes” is another success story, sounding like the love child of 80s Crimson Glory and Rage for Order era Queensrÿche. Wills moves between Midnight and Geof Tate homage vocals, and this is another cut that feels like the logical successor to the Transcendence material. “Beyond the Unknown” is another win where Wills shifts tone to sound almost exactly like Lance King, and the chorus sounds like essential Pyramaze. The only song that doesn’t really gel for me is “Armor Against Fate,” where the writing gets too herky-jerky and proggy, jettisoning transitions to skitter from idea to idea. Even then, it isn’t bad, and the chorus sticks in the head. At 47 minutes, and with most songs in the 4-5 minute frame, Chasing the Hydra ends up an easy spin with a nice ebb and flow.

A lot of the success of Chasing the Hydra comes down to the vocal magic of Travis Wills. Yes, the guy can emulate Midnight, which is no easy feat, but he doesn’t spend the entirety of the album trying to be a clone. He shifts tones and styles to suit the material and generally does a bang-up job elevating the solid-to-above-average material. Ben Jackson and new axe Mark Borgmeyer do a great job decorating each song with the right mix of burly riffage and pretty, ethereal harmonies, never drifting too far into Cheese Meadows. There’s a surprising amount of scrotal power on some of these tracks, which offsets the lighter moments.

If you ran into me at a drunken New Year’s Eve shindig last December and told me I’d be giving good reviews to Metal Church and Crimson Glory in 2026, I’d have denounced you as a fool and a charlatan. Here we are, though, and I underrated Metal Church! Chasing the Hydra is the album we should have gotten in 1991. It may be 34 years late, but better that than never. The Glory days may not be behind us after all. I hope that somewhere in the Great Beyond, Midnight is smiling.



Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: BraveWords
Websites: theofficialcrimsonglory.com | facebook.com/crimsonglory |
Releases Worldwide: April 17th, 2026

#NowPlaying #TheMetalDogIsNowPlaying
#Pyramaze
Immortal
A Beautiful Death

🎸 Live Stream:
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YouTube Search:
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LastFM:
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Lyrics:
https://genius.com/Pyramaze-a-beautiful-death-lyrics

Listen on major platforms:
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#Pyramaze #MortenNielsen #PowerMetal #DanishMetal #Metal2000s #EuropeanPowerMetal

No time to waste, only time to treasure
Creating the memories that will last forever
The sounds and the pictures that echo through time
My love, my life
My legacy in a rhyme

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=CCTU-jaqsJg&si=IDAtA8SrkES1iRrQ

- Pyramaze Legacy in a Rhyme

#Pyramaze #NowPlaying #Lyrics

#NowPlaying #TheMetalDogIsNowPlaying
#Pyramaze
Immortal
Year of the Phoenix

YouTube Search:
https://youtube.com/results?search_query=Pyramaze+Immortal+Year+of+the+Phoenix

Songwhip:
https://songwhip.com/Pyramaze/Year-of-the-Phoenix

Lyrics:
https://genius.com/Pyramaze-year-of-the-phoenix-lyrics

LastFM:
https://www.last.fm/music/Pyramaze/_/Year+of+the+Phoenix

#Powermetal #heavymetal #mattbarlow #metal #thrashmetal

Under Ruins – Age of the Void Review

By Steel Druhm

Some metal aficionados may remember German prog-power act Lanfear. They released some killer material in the mid-aughts, with The Art Effect and Another Golden Rage being especially tasty, and I stamped a mighty 4.0 on their 2012 effort, This Harmonic Consonance. It’s been almost 11 years since they’ve released anything, and it appears they are finished, but here comes Under Ruins, a new project made up of members of Lanfear and Them. On their Age of the Void debut, they offer prog-infused epic metal with an interesting blend of influences that run the gamut from Manowar to Fates Warning. This is an album full of large-scale set pieces loaded with power, poise, and emotion, all highly polished and classy as fook, delivered by talented vets with major chops. What could possibly go wrong with such a winning formula?

As it turns out, very little. This is the kind of album that makes you wonder where these cats have been all your life. After a table-setting intro rife with anticipation, you’re launched into the 7-plus minute epic “Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death” (ESL stumble?). It’s a massive song that sounds like a collaboration between Evergrey and Tad Morose. It’s powerful and gripping, and though the lyrics scream trve metal, everything is draped in deep melancholy and sadboi aesthetics. It’s brilliant and beautiful, and the vocals by Lanfear frontman Nuno Miguel de Barros Fernandes hit you right in the feelz. This is grand, sweeping, epic doom-adjacent gold. “Lost Amidst the Unfathomable Abyss” keeps the epic gravy flowing hot and juicy, maintaining a sense of sadness while striving for a strident bravado. Imagine if you can a sadboi Manowar recounting the emotional consequences of battle and conquest. Thundering war drums join fist-pumping, chest-thumping riffage as Nuno sings of grand deeds and the consequences thereof. It’s rabble-rousing and cautionary, which is odd but brilliant. The big stuff keeps coming with “Moonlit Requiem,” which is like a prog-power mega-ballad borrowing from Fates Warning albums like No Exit and Perfect Symmetry and the best elements of Tad Morose and Lanfear. This is one of those songs you love immediately, and I’m blown away by the songwriting prowess the band demonstrates so early into their existence. It’s massive at nearly 8 minutes, and they use every second to get you invested and hanging on every note. The chorus is emotive and powerful, and the epic conclusion with Manowar-esque chanting and majestic soloing is stunning.

All praise above notwithstanding, the best song here may be “Whispered Curses, Woe Unleashed,” which is like the perfect fusion of Lance King era Pyramaze, Manowar, and Visigoth.1 You get classic Manowar thundering and galloping, but with an ever-present sense of loss as Nuno tells of the horrific consequences that follow a senseless act. This is epic, trve metal done at a very high level and with a unique twist. Nuno again puts on a vocal clinic, squeezing every ounce of emotion from the listener as the song unspools. This stuff is just next level, and it has something special going on. Ginormous epic “Great Drowning of Men” borrows from Atlantean Kodex, Evergrey, and Iron Maiden as it weaves a massive yarn that may or may not be about pirates. This ain’t no Running Wild booty smacking shore excursion though, folks! This is huge, deadly serious stuff with more myth and fable than you can stuff in your trunk. At 45 minutes, Age of the Void is the ideal length. You get a handful of HUGE songs, but the pacing and track placement prevent the album from feeling overstuffed in that Senjutsu way. The production is big and bold, giving the drums the earth-shaking power this kind of music demands, and the guitars are given real weight and beef.

I loved Nuno’s work with Lanfear, and after not hearing him on anything new for so long, it’s great to find him in top form here. He’s got the perfect voice for prog-power, and now he proves he can handle epic metal just as well. His smooth delivery and ability to project emotion carry these songs to a higher plane. Equally masterful is the guitar work by Achim Rauscher (ex-Lanfear) and Markus Ullrich (Them, ex-Lanfear). They bring a pornicopia of brawny, badass riffs and emotionally stirring solos to the table, traveling from Iced Earth beef to Evergrey sadboi as the material requires and delivering many memorable moments along the way. Special props go to Sascha de Lima Beul for his massive performance on the kit. He channels the spirit of the late great Scott Columbus of Manowar as he pounds the drums into the Earth’s core and makes every song feel vibrant and forceful. The man is a monster.

Age of the Void is the second album in a row that took me out back and kicked my Score Counter. This is an inspired and inspiring mega-dose of epic metal with balls, brains, and stained class. Under Ruins make a huge splash on their opening salvo, and you should hear it ASAP. I mean like today!

Rating: 4.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: FHM Records
Websites: facebook.com/underruins | instagram.com/under.ruins
Releases Worldwide: May 2nd, 2025

#2025 #40 #AgeOfTheVoid #EpicHeavyMetal #Evergrey #FatesWarning #FHMRecords #GermanMetal #HeavyMetal #IronMaiden #Lanfear #Manowar #Pyramaze #Review #Reviews #TadMorose #Them #UnderRuins

Sunburst – Manifesto Review

By Kenstrosity

AMG‘s excellent review of Greek progressive power metal quartet Sunburst’s debut Fragments of Creation was among my first finds here. I fell immediately in love with the band’s music, and Fragments rapidly became one of my staples for quite some time.1 Then, Sunburst seemingly dropped off the face of the planet as far as I could see. Suddenly, I discover a little painterly face with Sunburst’s logo splashed over top in my email. I lost my fucking mind. A new Sunburst‽ It was only a day or so later that we received promo, and I rabidly snatched it for myself. I simply could not wait to deep dive into Sunburst’s latest Manifesto.

As a natural consequence of my highly aggressive hype train campaign, several of our other scribes provided takes and comps galore. I hear an irresistible combination of Kamelot, Seventh Wonder, Borealis, and Triosphere in Sunburst’s latest opus. Steel cited influences ranging from Conception and Threshold all the way to Pyramaze and Pagan’s Mind. Even Grier piped up to assure me that if I didn’t mention Symphony X in this write-up that I was, and I quote, “an idiot.” The truth of the matter is that everyone here is right. Manifesto’s material draws from the deep wells of power prog’s powerhouses, and yet Sunburst play the game just as well as any of them. Swirling with acrobatic guitars, sweeping synths, soaring vocals, and densely groovy rhythms, this sophomore record takes everything that was great about Fragments of Creation and expands, develops, and refines it.

Sunburst never do anything small, and Manifesto is no exception to that rule. “The Flood” opens the record in its most bombastic blast, explosively announcing Sunburst’s return in richly layered power/prog goodness, and featuring an insane baroque guitar solo. Follow-up “Hollow Lies” immediately hikes the adrenaline way up. Killer speed, galloping riffs, and delicious leads pummel the body as buttery smooth vocal lines massage the neurons until liquid. Further synaptic tenderizing occurs as “Samaritan” and late bloomer “Manifesto” swagger and swerve with proggy riffs, ascendant choruses, and a metric shit-ton of cleverly placed pinch harmonics. Touching—but still heavy—pieces like “Perpetual Descent,” “Inimicus Intus” and “From the Cradle to the Grave” channel that beloved bleeding Triosphere heart. By stripping away the lush orchestrations and focusing on razor-sharp riffs, effluvient vocal lines, and hooky constructions, these songs make me swoon hard enough to cause a concussion. Unsatisfied with the stellar work delivered across forty-two minutes, Sunburst drop an epic seven-minute-plus closer “Nocturne” as their finishing move. Featuring a fantastically Coheed and Cambrian chorus stomp and tons of instrumental drama (note the inspirational solo in the second half), this song showcases a more explorative side of Manifesto in the eleventh hour to expertly twist the knife just before fading out of the world.

With Sunburst, negative critiques come at a premium. A major contributor to that success is Vasilis Georgiou and his gilded pipes. A brassy alternative to Roy Khan and Tommy Karevik, Vasilis simply astounds across the board, standing out with a uniquely powerful display of control, dynamics, and passion. Behind him, Gus Drax unloads an unreal payload of meaty riffs, inspired solos, and brilliant leads that bring great dimension to Manifesto’s message. Driving everything inexorably forward with smart patterns and wonderful fills, drummer Kostas Milonas thunders through the record with impeccable taste—never overplaying for the sake of style or overcomplicating for the sake of a technical challenge. The only knock is Nick Grey’s subdued presence on the bass guitar. While still well felt even when not so well heard, Nick deserves much more audible presence in the mix to fully showcase what is a stellar display of low-end counterpoint and bounce.

Manifesto is something I have heard before, but my heart, body, and soul alight like it’s the first time. Certainly no sophomore slump, this record takes my breath away. I not only never expected to hear from Sunburst again, but also never expected their return to be so goddamned good. It’s so good, in fact, that even though I always wish the bass was much more audible, I can’t describe my experience with Manifesto and anything short of delightful. I can’t help myself. I need to deep-dive into Sunburst’s Manifesto one more time!

Rating: Excellent!
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Inner Wound Recordings
Website: facebook.com/sunburstofficial
Releases Worldwide: June 14th, 2024

#2024 #45 #Borealis #Conception #GreekMetal #InnerWoundRecordings #Jun24 #Kamelot #Manifesto #PaganSMind #PowerMetal #ProgressiveMetal #Pyramaze #Review #Reviews #SeventhWonder #Sunburst #SymphonicMetal #SymphonyX #Threshold #Triosphere

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#BraveWords
PYRAMAZE Debut Official Studio Video For Bloodlines Album Track "Taking What's Mine"
Danish/American band, Pyramaze, have released an official studio video for "Taking What's Mine", a track from the band's new album, Bloodlines, available via AFM

https://bravewords.com/news/pyramaze-debut-official-studio-video-for-bloodlines-album-track-taking-what-s-mine

#Pyramaze #Bloodlines #OfficialVideo #Debut #MetalAlbum #TakingWhatsMine #HeavyMusic

Aujourd'hui sur Blog à part – Pyramaze: Bloodlines

J’ai beau être un prog-head depuis plus de quarante ans, je tombe aussi régulièrement sur des albums comme ce Bloodlines de Pyramaze, que je surkiffe.

#Danemark #MetalProgressif #MetalSymphonique #powermetal #Pyramaze

https://erdorin.org/pyramaze-bloodlines/