Underground Black Metal outfit Nidingr is ready to come out of their caves and blow people away with their second full-length release “Wolf Father”. Featuring Black Metal ‘super stars’ Teloch (ex-Gorgoroth, etc) and Blargh (Dødheimsgard) handling the guitars, Hellhammer (Mayhem, Arcturus, etc) on drums, and some dude nicknamed Cpt. Estrella Grasa on vocals.

With such an impressive line-up of musicians, “Wolf Father’ plays out to be an excellent release that features the Scandinavian way of making Black Metal with some Death Metal influences. Each song is crafted around super tight drumming and intricate guitar riffing allowing Nidingr to sound cold and harsh, but still clear enough to distinguish every detail in the music.

Following the same path that Duncan Patterson forged for himself with his side-project Íon and their first release “Madre, Protégenos”, “Immaculada” brings to the listener a hefty dose of World/Ethnic music with Celtic and Folk elements that will transport the listener to an ethereal world were everything seems peaceful and serene. One can quickly understand why Patterson decided to pursue his own interests after leaving Nick Moss and Antimatter to create Íon.

Duncan Patterson in “Immacualda” once again presents us with a wide variety of musicians and singers coming together in creating a very cohesive release that delivers in every aspect and creates a very peaceful atmosphere for the duration of this album. Every instrument is clearly presented in a way that allows the listener to feel all the emotions behind them.

After breaking into the metal scene with a huge bang (and melody), thanks to their Viking Metal style back in 1996 with their majestic debut album “...En Their Medh Riki Fara...” Falkenbach has been constantly improving their sound until they seemed to disappear back in 2005 with “Heralding - The Fireblade”.

“Tiurida” marks their first release in 6 years and while it still has nice music, it also shows that (for us) Falkenbach is a one trick pony and can’t seem to diverge from their well defined, almost formulaic approach to the genre. We don’t argue with what the band has done in the past, but taking a 6 year break and then returning with the same old stuff makes them sound a bit dated, specially after all the better bands that started to get recognized  in the genre after 2005.

Featuring a very diverse sound, Napalm Records brings us Artas second full-length release “Riotology”. In this release the band combines everything from Thrash, Death, Groove, and Melodic Modern Metal to create a very diverse sound that while at times it works wonderfully, other times it sounds too chaotic and disconnected.

Having a more concise sound than on their debut album “The Healing”, Artas sometimes seems to jump the gap between ‘real metal’ and Metalcore/core stuff. This will make some listeners fly away from the band, but we recommend you stick around since there are parts and songs good enough to be worth suffering through the ‘core’ stuff for a bit.

After the somewhat uninspired “Polaris”, Stratovarius delivers one of their best albums in their whole career. With “Elysium” the band takes their sound to a whole new level, combining traditional elements of their earlier sound with some progressive elements and some amazing vocal arrangements, making this album a great listening experience for fans of the bands and the genre.

Featuring an excellent production, “Elysium” brings back memories from the past releases of the band (“Infinite” and “Elements” mainly) with a very dynamic and modern sound thanks to the skills of ‘newer’ members Matias Kupiainen and Lauri Porra. We now have some great bass guitar lines provided by Porra, and shredding wizardry courtesy of Kupianien that will make you forget that Timo Tolkki is no longer in the band.

Gothic Metal’s prodigal son Morten Veland returns with yet another great release from his main band Sirenia in the shape of “The Enigma of Life”. As you can imagine, this release is nothing short of bombastic in terms of musical and vocal arrangements. All fans of the band will surely be please in how the band is shaping up and is continuing and improving on their sound since “The 13th Floor”.

Leading the band’s impressive sound we have Ailyn’s angelic vocals that transfer great emotion and sound as good as ever. Having composed and played all instruments in this release Morten knows exactly what fans like and delivers an album that features a somewhat improved Sirenia sound that will haunt your play lists since the moment you start listening to this record.

Like a fine wine, Battlelore has been graciously aging with time and with “Doombound” they achieve a very solid release and refinement of their signature Epic Metal sound. As one of the most awaited releases of 2011, “Doombound” has everything a fan of the genre needs: brilliant female and male vocals, epic melodies with elaborate arrangements, and powerful guitar riffing.

While not terribly revolutionary, Battlelore has been refining their style with every album they have produced and with “Doombound” they are close to achieving. As a concept album “Doombound” takes the listeners into a magical fantasy journey, something that the band has made part of their concept (and live show) since their conception and it’s one of their best traits.