Goodbye Friends - Date 2024

Subject: A Decade of Metal Mastery: Farewell to the Metal Harem Blog

Dear Metal Harem Readers,

As I pen down these words, a bittersweet mix of emotions overwhelms me, for it is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to the Metal Harem blog. Over the past decade, we've embarked on an exhilarating journey through the intricate tapestry of metal music, exploring the depths of its sonic landscapes and reveling in the shared passion that unites us all.

From the tumultuous riffs of the early 2010s to the avant-garde experimentation that defined the latter years, our blog has been a sanctuary for metal enthusiasts worldwide. Together, we've witnessed the rise of new subgenres, celebrated the triumphs of our favorite bands, and delved into the profound lyrical realms that make metal a genre like no other.

As we cast our gaze back upon the years gone by, let us remember the power of metal to transcend boundaries and forge connections. The Metal Harem readers has been more than just a congregation of fans; it's been a haven for those who seek refuge in the thunderous beats, electrifying solos, and guttural vocals that have defined our shared soundtrack.

To each reader, contributor, and fellow metalhead who has been a part of this journey, I extend my deepest gratitude. Your passion, insights, and unwavering support have breathed life into the pages of Metal Harem, turning it into a living, breathing testament to the vitality of the metal community.

While the curtain falls on this chapter, let's not mourn its end but rather celebrate the indelible mark we've made on the metal landscape. As we part ways, may the spirit of metal continue to guide you on your musical odyssey, and may you find inspiration in the cacophony of sound that defines this genre.

Thank you for being a part of Metal Harem, and may your love for metal endure for years to come.

Keep rocking,

J B 3 1 Founder and Editor-in-Chief Metal Harem Blog

lol.. this is my ChatGPT output when I pen down a farewell post... but yeah.. the times has changes. People watch Youtube now rather than browsing down to find a review about music. Once again, farewell, I'll be switch to Youtube as well.

\m/

tags : berita musik metal indonesia, penulis blog metal, penulis pontianak, makhikoi, sut ki, mo su lui

Avantasia - Moonglow (2019)

Avantasia is the market leader for making metal opera concept album, since their first debut in 2000. Moonglow is their 8th studio album, relased in 2019. As a big fans for Avantasia, I expected much that this album will still contained epic power metal stuffs. Sure it still does. Tobias Sammet continued to bring along his legion of Avantasian singers such as Jorn Lande, Bob Catley, Michael Kiske and others. The highlight is the addition of Candice Night that sing in their album title song, Moonglow.

My favorite is the first song, Ghost in the Moon and Moonglow . All songs written in the spirit of Avantasia operatic power metal style. Memorable choruses. Songs are more varied in this album than ever, from epic 11 minutes The Raven Child that sounds like Blind Guardian song, to the ballad piano Invincible performed by Geoff Tate, that sounds like Queensryche stuff.  Fans of Michael Kiske can cry joyfully for the song, Requeim for a Dream, which is one of the heaviest in the album. Another catchy song is Starlight, which have one of the best creative guitar riff that outstanding to the ear.

Moonglow is another epic continuation for Avantasia universe. Even though the same formula has been applied in numerous studio albums, the band still have brazen ideas to be baked into enjoyable power metal songs.

by @jullbei  for  metalharem.blospot.com

Avantasia - Moonglow (2019)
Buy it Here - Amazon

 1. Ghost in the Moon
  2. Book of Shallows (feat. Hansi Kürsch , Ronnie Atkins , Jorn Lande & Mille Petrozza)
  3. Moonglow (feat. Candice Night)
  4. The Raven Child (feat. Hansi Kürsch & Jorn Lande)
  5. Starlight (feat. Ronnie Atkins)
  6. Invincible (feat. Geoff Tate)
  7. Alchemy (feat. Geoff Tate)
  8. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn (feat. Ronnie Atkins, Jorn Lande, Eric Martin, Bob Catley & Geoff Tat
  9. Lavender (feat. Bob Catley)
  10. Requiem for a Dream (feat. Michael Kiske)
  11. Maniac (feat. Eric Martin)

    Tobias Sammet – lead vocals, additional keyboard, bass guitar
    Sascha Paeth – guitar, bass guitar
    Michael Rodenberg – keyboard, piano, orchestration
    Felix Bohnke – drums

Guest vocalists
    Ronnie Atkins (Pretty Maids)
    Jørn Lande (Jorn)
    Eric Martin (Mr. Big)
    Geoff Tate (Queensrÿche)
    Michael Kiske (Helloween)
    Bob Catley (Magnum)
    Candice Night (Blackmore's Night)
    Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian)
    Mille Petrozza (Kreator)

Avantasia's Tobias Sammet Moonglow album review

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019) Album Review

This is in fact my major metal album in 2019. I rarely listened to full album lately, so this new Dream Theater's album, Distance Over Time, sounds quite fresh. As we all know, this progressive metal band is reaching their "late year" with fourteen albums so far, last one counted. Dream Theater fully aware of their creativity struggle. As I read their reviews elsewhere, the band works hard to create new sounds, including putting the band together in solitude studio album to produce new ideas. The result is Distance Over Time sounds faithful to Dream Theater, there are new ideas in the album but for regular listeners, there might be too little.

Statistically speaking first, Distance Over Time is : the first album that run "just" an hour, the last one are Images and Words (1992) and When Dream and Day United (1989). No 10 minutes songs, kind of a relieve. This is a "short" album that hopefully able to continued Dream Theater legacy. This is also the first album to have Mike Mangini material, he write lyric for Room 137.

The album started with Untethered Angel, it is a mixed of As I Am with several other DT songs, so a safe play from the band to kick off the album. Barstool Warrior is the point in the album where they starting to sound fresh, imo. The songs are more memorable instead of some "generic" progressive metal riff in the first three songs. The two following songs are contributed by their rhythm department, Room 137 must be influence by Mike Mangini, while S2N is started with blasting bass intro, both are added different color to the album. Out of Reach is their slow song with sweet guitar works by Petrucci. Although the album finished with another generic song as in Pale Blue Dot, but the bonus track Viper King is another interest of the album. Viper King sounds in blues-a-like style, written by La Brie, which is a cool track in deed. Jordan Rudess just having fun with his old school organ solos in this song.

Distance Over Time is another continuation of Dream Theater. Nothing is lost in this album, yet if you expected a major outstanding "benchmark song" to re-introduce Dream Theater, there are not much also. One must respected that even though this is their fourteenth album, they still play their game in very intense composition technically. The technical skill displayed in Distance Over Time is still f*** mind blowing. Enjoy this while the band still active, in the distance over, we might not able to hear this any more.

Dream Theater - Distance Over Time (2019) 
Buy it Here - Amazon

1. Untethered Angel (6:14)
2. Paralyzed (4:17)
3. Fall Into The Light (7:04)
4. Barstool Warrior (6:43)
5. Room 137 (4:23)
6. S2N (6:21)
7. At Wit's End (9:20)
8. Out Of Reach (4:04)
9. Pale Blue Dot (8:25)
10. Viper King (4:00) (Bonus Track)

Total Time: 60:51

- James LaBrie / Vocals
- John Petrucci / Guitars
- John Myung / Bass
- Jordan Rudess / Keyboards
- Mike Mangini / Drums

Powerwolf - "The Sacrament of Sin" (2018)

Just like character classes in video games, power metal bands are having their own “character class”. For example, Blind Guardian is like the Mage class, like Gandalf. Manowar is Warrior type, with his big sword. Rhapsody of Fire is Elven guys, Nightwish is the Wizard, usually a support roles. Now, Powerwolf is the band that sacrificed themselves opting to become the “bad character”. Powerwolf is the Werewolf / Vampire / Necromancer of power metal world. Power metal fans turn out to like the bad guys too. So, after few albums, Powerwolf is one of the rising power in this fantasy world. Well, their music are good too. The band dressed themselves as their vampire theme. Matthew and Charles Greywolf are main force of the band. Their vocalist is Attila Dorn , whose hobby are admiring the Romanian werewolf lore. In short, Powerwolf able to gained attention from power metal world with six studio albums already. And yeah, they are from Germany.

Official Video - Fire & Forgive from "The Sacrament of Sin" Powerwolf

In 2018, their seventh studio album released. Titled as “The Sacrament of Sin”, Powerwolf continued their havoc with more vampiric power metal music. For their past materials, I like most of their hits because the dark-gloomy-gothic theme were very good incorporated to their music. Their hits like “Amen & Attack” are very original. So, as the band did not change much their direction in this new album, “The Sacrement of Sin” is another enjoyable addition to their song library. Their first song “Fire & Forgive” is of course their best hits. As the titled pattern, the band very good with a song with “…….. & …….” passage (Amen & Attack, Demons & Diamonds, Sacred & Wild). “Killer with the Cross” come as my next favorite for its story telling verses and sing-along choruses. “Where the Wild Wolves Had Gone” is the Manowar-like, anthem song. The darkest opening riff then fall to “The Sacrament of Sin”, this is like Iron Maiden’s Fear of the Dark combined with Helloween. Every power metal album should also have their Latin chorus song, “Venom of Venus” the answer, a song to played for your choral member friend.

As addition to the original studio album, there is a B-side bonuses, which is equally interesting. In the bonus tracks, Powerwolf asked (or invited) another band to covered their song. So, you’ll have the band best hits covered by famous band like Epica, Amaranthe, Caliban and others. Of course this is a serious bonuses that maybe even bigger than the album. Enjoy Powerwolf songs interpreted by other band, which is seriously kick ass.

“The Sacrament of Sin” is one of best power metal album released this year of 2018. If you haven’t listen to Powerwolf, this is your chance to experience it. The album are typical power metal with many church-organ layers, so you can imagine the atmosphere. There is a dark side of the band in which their theme is the counter act of some religious community. Well, in the world full of hatred nowadays, we should avoid making fun of other believe, shouldn’t we? Apart from that, “The Sacrament of Sin” is a strong album that every power metal can listen with little harm, except for being head banging too hard. 

Powerwolf - "The Sacrament of Sin" (2018)
Buy it Here - Amazon

01. Fire & Forgive
02. Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend
03. Killers With The Cross
04. Incense And Iron
05. Where The Wild Wolves Have Gone
06. Stossgebet
07. Nightside Of Siberia
08. The Sacrament Of Sin
09. Venom Of Venus
10. Nighttime Rebel
11. Fist By Fist (Sacralize Or Strike)
12. Midnight Madonna [bonus version]

Disc 2 - Communio Lupatum 
 1. Sacred & Wild (Epica) 04:47
 2. We Drink Your Blood (Saltatio Mortis) 03:40
 3. Kiss of the Cobra King (Caliban) 04:17
 4. Resurrection By Erection (Battle Beast) 03:47
 5. Night of the Werewolves (Heaven Shall Burn) 05:15
 6. The Evil Made Me Do It (Kadavar) 05:29
 7. Let There Be Night (Kissin' Dynamite) 04:16
 8. Army of the Night (Amaranthe) 03:02 9. Amen & Attack (Mille Petrozza and Marc Gortz) 03:56 10. When the Saints Are Going Wild (Eluveitie) 03:44

Charles Greywolf Bass, Guitars
Matthew Greywolf Guitars
Falk Maria Schlegel Keyboards
Attila Dorn Vocals
Roel van Helden Drums

The Sacrament of Sin - Powerwolf album review

Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave 20 Year Anniversary Edition (2017)

Glory to the Brave 20 Year Anniversary Edition is a reminder to us that 20 years has passed since the new generation of power metal wave back in the 1997. A great year it was. Hammerfall, in the beginning only as a side project, released this debut with its 10 tracks of pure power metal. Little that they knew (or maybe they knew...) Glory to The Brave will become one of power metal album that catapult the power metal genre back to its glory. In the Southern, an Italian band  Rhapsody of Fire also debut their first album (Legendary Tales ),  which also bring Rhapsody as one of the legend from the era. In their near soil, Nightwish from Finland spring their debut, Angel Fall First, which although not recognized yet, Nightwish will also grow as a big band as today. In the mainland of Europe, Edguy discharge their official debut, Kingdom of Madness. Hammerfall, which is Swedish band, was then part of new power metal generation such as Freedom Call, Dark Moor, Angra from the South America, Sonata Artica, Kamelot from USA,  and Firewind from the Mediterranean sea. Together, these band continued the legacy of their "senior" Helloween, Blind Guardian, Stratovarius and Gamma Ray. Glory to the Brave was an important album that part of this history.

The band remastered all their classic tracks to commemorate their 20th Anniversary. The sound are much clearer, they added more reverb to it, and the guitar distortion got even crunchier than before. Unlike Rhapsody of Fire that re-recorded many of their classic with the new line up in their Into the Legend album,  Hammerfall opted to just remastered their works. The original line up was, surprisingly, Glenn Ljungström as the guitarist that responsible in playing all their classic riffs from the album. Soon, Stefan Elgram joined the band and Hammerfall embraced their further glory with him. As for today, Hammerfall original line up remained Joachim Cans and Oscar Dronjak. The band wisely not re-recorded Glory to the Brave with their current line up.

While their contemporaries try to come up with new direction in power metal : Rhapsody (of Fire) with their theatrical Hollywood score and Nightwish with thick symphonic and female vocalist, Hammerfall done their style with the basic ingredients. Catchy riffs and straightforward song is the trademark of this album. The Dragon Lies Bleeding was extremely basic power metal song. It consisted of one opening riffs and then the whole song run in quiet basic guitar power chord. Same thing with The Metal Age,  the intro riff is just a play harmony of their twin guitar attack. Two songs were a cover version indicated that this was indeed a side project : Child of the Damned was a Warlord cover and Ravenlord was a Stormwitch cover.

For this 20 Year Anniversary Edition, the bonus included another eight tracks live version of the songs. We have listen to this album many times and we are going to listen again. Add this to your collection for sure.

Hammerfall - Glory to the Brave 20 Year Anniversary Edition (2017)

Buy it Here - Amazon

1. The Dragon Lies Bleeding (Remastered)
2. The Metal Age (Remastered)
3. Hammerfall (Remastered)
4. I Believe (Remastered)
5. Child of the Damned (Remastered)
6. Steel Meets Steel (Remastered)
7. Stone Cold (Remastered)
8. Unchained (Remastered)
9. Glory to the Brave (Remastered)
10. Ravenlord
11. Glory to the Brave (Radio Edit)
12. The Metal Age (Live)
13. Steel Meets Steel (Live)
14. Stone Cold (Live)
15. Glory to the Brave (Live)
16. Hammerfall (Live)
17. The Dragon Lies Bleeding (Live)
18. Glory to the Brave - Medley (Live)


 Joacim Cans – vocals, background harmonies
 Oscar Dronjak – guitar, backing vocals
 Fredrik Larsson – bass guitar, backing vocals
 Glenn Ljungström – guitar
 Jesper Strömblad – drums (Writing credit Only)
 Patrik Räfling – drums

Arrayan Path - Dawn of Aquarius (2017)

Arrayan Path is power / heavy metal from the island of Cyprus. They currently released their 6th studio album, titled "Dawn of Aquarius". As expected from the Mediterranean landscape, their music abide with strong Hellenistic influence. Dawn of Aquarius is kind of concept album with firm connections between songs.

The opener "Equilibrium" is started with folk-like acoustic instrument. The songs started after a minute of intro with a vocalist resembling the of early Kai Hansenese. The highlight of this album are in their Youtube releases : "The Hundred Names of Kali Ma", "So It Shall Be Written",  "Dawn of Aquarius"and  "Lotus Eyes".

Arrayan Path success in bringing their originality in this album. The whole album is heavy and oriental-melodic packed. The Leptos brothers very well handling the song writing that almost the entire album are fresh in my memory after only couple of listening. A very interesting band and album to listen to.

Buy it Here - Amazon

Arrayan Path are:
Alexis Kleidaras-Guitar
Nicholas Leptos-Vocals
Stefan Dittrich-Drums
Socratis Leptos-Guitar
Paris Lambrou-Bass
George Kallis-Keyboard


Arrayan Path - Dawn of Aquarius (2017)

1. Equilibrium 05:52
2. The Flower Born of Itself 04:49
3. Dark Daughter of the Snake 03:18
4. The Hundred Names of Kali Ma 05:15
5. So It Shall Be Written 06:38
6. She Who Is Primordial Wisdom 04:14
7. Dawn of Aquarius 04:01
8. Cremation Grounds 05:51
9. Empress (Reality of All the Threes) 04:24
10. Lotus Eyes 04:19
11. The Eleventh Mantra 06:11
12. Guardian Angel 05:00
13. Garland of Skulls 03:40

Psychotic Symphony - Sons of Apollo (2017)

Mike Portnoy had assembled several super groups, and joined many as well. His adventure post-Dream Theater era are as followed: Adrenalin Mob (thrash metal), The Winery Dogs ('80s glam rock) and Flying Colors (blues hard rock). As for sideman, he hired by supergroups, most notably in Neil Morse (prog-Christian metal) and Metal Allegiance (mainly thrash metal led by David Ellefson) as far to Twisted Sisters (glam rock). It mean there are various music done by Portnoy that should suit one or two of your prefered metal genre.

However, here come his next project, Sons of Apollo. Firstly, just by hearing the name, this is the band that suggested  something really huge, something spectacular. It is indeed a supergroup that everyone should anticipate. The members are as followed : Derek Sherinian in keyboards, and also look likely a co-founder. Billy Sheehan in bass, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal in guitar. The singer is Jeff Scott Soto. A solid formation with everybody are top gun in their respective instrument. Portnoy, Sheehan and Sherinian was already jamming together several years ago in non-album project, together with guitarist Tony MacAlpine.

Their debut album released this Octhober 2017, titled "Psychotic Symphony". After several days running the disc, I am pretty satisfied with all of their songs. Sons of Apollo might be Mike Portnoy's closest rendition to Dream Theater. In fact, with Derek Sherinian on board, they already 2/5th of Dream Theater. "Gods of the Sun", the first song, is very DT in entrance. It's somewhere fit in Systematic Chaos era of the old band. It's a very good call for opening song, an instant showcase of their five member power in this eleven minutes song. "Coming Home" is their expected hit. The band put their luck in this "Youtube-friendly" song. "Coming Home" is a progressive metal blue print with friendly melody. It has all the elements, keyboard opener, pumping low frequency bass. Ron Thal is showing his double necks guitar, one is a fretless neck that produced distintive guitar solo.

With Derrick Sherinian as co-leader, the songs mostly demonstrated his instrument. "Labyrinth" started with catchy symphonic string layers. Jeff who in the '80s famous as Yngwie Malmsteen front man was knowned as melodic metal and AOR singer. In Labyrinth we enjoyed Jeff Scott Soto's transformation into progressive metal vocalist. "Alive" is a darker piece that opened with clean guitar intro that heavily chorus-ed. We also listen to a short arranged of keyboard instrumental in "Figaro's Whore". Sherinian is playing Deep Purple-ish hammond organ and this continued to the next song "Divine Addiction". Finally the band finale is in "Opus Maximus". A ten minutes epic that most of the composition performed as instrumental song.

Sons of Apollo is indeed an Apollonian works. Mike Portnoy once again returned to his most celebrated genre, the progressive metal of the late 2017 era. For the guitarist, Ron Bumblefoot Thal is an underated shredder. He actually haven't really appeared in major band, except for Guns N' Roses perhaps. Billy Sheehan prove he done well in this game as well, as we often associated him in hard rock scene only. Psychotic Symphony is a big entrance for the big boys. We only hope this project continued as stable line up, with more quality music coming from these maesteurs.

Psychotic Symphony - Sons of Apollo (2017)
Buy it Here - Amazon

 1. God of the Sun
  2. Coming Home
  3. Signs of the Time
  4. Labyrinth
  5. Alive
  6. Lost in Oblivion
  7. Figaro's Whore
  8. Divine Addiction
  9. Opus Maximus

Jeff Scott Soto (Trans Siberian Orchestra, Talisman, ex-Journey, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Axel Rudi Pell) – lead vocals
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (Art of Anarchy, ex-Guns N' Roses) – guitar
Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, ex-David Lee Roth) – bass
Derek Sherinian (Black Country Communion, ex-Dream Theater, ex-Alice Cooper, ex-Platypus, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Kiss) – keyboards
Mike Portnoy  (The Winery Dogs, Transatlantic, Flying Colors, Neal Morse Band, ex-Dream Theater, ex-Adrenaline Mob, ex-Avenged Sevenfold) – drums

Sons of Apollo - Psychotic Symphony album review