BABYMETAL "Metal Forth" (2025)

Round five and were back on form with the triumphant Metal Forth! Not their fourth, unless your counting "metal" in the record title. Anyways, this latest installment is a lean thirty five minute, ten track blitz focused on creative collaboration. The likes of Poppy, Slaughter To Prevail, Polyphia and Spiritbox appear among other big names, lending their characteristic for a true crossover experience, something Metal has sorely lacked for decades. There's only three solo tracks Babymetal and one could be forgiven for thinking the closing White Flame featured Sabaton. Its a blazing roar of Power Metal might, executing all the tropes, practically a tribute to the sub-genre.

Interestingly, the remaining two solo tracks feel flat, recycling ideas the band have burned through before. That's why Metal Forth's merits rest on the synergy of its alliances. The creative partnerships genuinely cross a divide between sounds and birth a unique middle ground. Of course this all boils down to banging riffs and stomping grooves. The record fires on all cylinders in its stride but the point remains just how much freshness these uncommon unions provide. This is no "featured artist" but a firm commitment to integrating each others identities and it works so well.

Highlights include My Queen as the two bands jostle their heaviest aesthetics back and forth. Song 3 is another banger where the exchange yields a curious callback to Slipknot with its unhinged pinch harmonics and brutal riffage. RATATATA will likely stand out as a fan favorite. Electric Callboy's brand of tongue in cheek party meme metal a fun fit for the J-Pop influences. In a way it summarizes the overall mood, just a fun record about pumping out animated compositions embraces obnoxious grooves and lively melodies. Cracking record, falling just shy of something truly great.

Rating: 7/10

Enya "A Day Without Rain" (2000)

 

Enya! A name known far and wide across the musical realm, yet for why I wouldn't of been able to tell you, until recently. Hearing Orinoco Flow again, for the first time in decades, that sublime imaginative piece turned me onto her genius. Learning this record is one of the millenniums best selling, I've been set loose on a new journey.

A Day Without Rain strikes me as a union between classical instrumentation and modern convention, her voice arriving as an added dimension of charm, chiming in among the cast of apparatus making up an orchestra. Its mostly the staccato strings offer a melodic focus, as Classical grandiose arrangements are simplified into repetitive sections mimicking Pop music's verse chorus structure. The rest of the aesthetic range nestles into soothing ambiences, soft and gentle, giving space for the character of her subtly understated yet powerful voice to breath its life.

At times her exquisite tone takes on temperaments akin to a lead voice in traditional church music, hymns and psalms evoking rural echo's of Ireland and Wales. In these songs a deeply human empathy and sense of natural beauty emerges. One can almost see the rolling green hills of endless countryside and rural life that comes with it. Somehow, these moments flow perfectly with another half. Voice and instruments take on an adventurous, playful quality, exploring into fantastical spaces.

I couldn't talk about this record without mentioning Tempus Vernum. Led by Timpani drums and cold bells, Its cautious venture into stormy temperaments yields a danger from this orchestral setup I simply adore. This explains a curious bridge to the fantastical realms of war and darkness explored by the likes of Emperor's keyboard section and Glenn Stafford's medieval battle music heard on Warcraft II.

On some level, similar themes that evoke agrarian, un-urbanized, primitive yet spiritual emotions exist both here and in Fantasy music and Dungeon Synth among others from the more esoteric and obscure side of music I am usually indulged with. Enya is a refreshing take on that territory, making those connections without venturing into the abstract. Her older music however, might take a different direction.

Rating: 8/10

State Azure "Paradise Star EP" (2025)

EP by name but double LP by duration, Paradise Star drops four lengthy serine mood pieces alternating between Berlin School inspired synth jostling and brooding ethereal percussion-less soundscapes. Its opening piece, the twenty minute title track, a clear favorite. Its lively, animated cycling melody a curious engagement. Seeming more mechanical than expressive, its burgeoning bustles and gradual unwindings guide the song through phases over top dreamy synths. Together, they paint a rich atmosphere.

 White Lake and We Sleep Beneath A Dying Moon act as layered tone setting drones, great for focus and meditative moods. Pathfinder feels like a mastery of texture, guiding its various sequenced instruments through gradual shifts as sharp attack-decay keys and drums exchange over soft elongated synth chords. Its a textural treat but in its lengthy incarnation, this aesthetic class becomes secondary to the musics lengthy trajectory. All in all, an impressive set of songs befitting of my taste right now.

Rating: 7/10 

$uicideboy$ "Thy Kingdom Come" (2025)

 

Its a smash! Returning swiftly from New World Depression, cousins Ruby and Scrim spin the wheels recycling their distinct but well refined formula. Now accustom with their gritty aesthetic, I found this thirty minute record to offer little fresh or exiting. Second track Napoleon leans into some classic 90s Southern Hip Hop themes, mustering a momentary flair as the records tone quickly resettles. Later on Grey+Grey+Grey ushers in scary movie soundtrack vibes with a Horrorcore style banger. The following Carried Away caught my ear too. A moody number, leaning on the hazy vibes of its depressing Ethereal atmosphere.

These where a couple of highlights among a lack of novelty. One of my biggest takeaways was noticing how many beats use the exact same drum kit, often with the same hi-hat rhythm. That lack of variety essentially parallels a very casual approach to songwriting. Hastily produced beats, flexing lyrics that feel expressive of the moment but lack a broader scope. Hooks are sorely missed too. Not a single track lands something truly memorable. Although their sincerity is endearing, that power wears off when the creative process feels routine and dialed in. Overall, a disappointment.

Rating: 4/10 

Old Sorcery "The Lost Grimoire" (2025)

Previously released only under the physical medium of cassette, one can now indulge in what I presume are leftovers of old, given its similarity to the esoteric moods heard on Realms Of Magickal Sorrow. The first of four, To The Infinity Of The Forest conjures memories of A Forest Trapped. Its another slowly brooding enchantment, natural yet steeped in mysticism, led by glacial melody. Groans from a familiar yet mysterious deep bellowing voice eventually cry out to further enrich is curious tone.

 

A shorter piece, Mana Shrine Revisited, focuses efforts on a more abrasive set of instruments. Leading the arrangement, something brassy, woodwind alike that I couldn't nail down. Possibly a murky accordion? As the song progresses, steely yet animated melodies rush in to chime, evoking a classic castly Dungeon Synth motif.

 

Raven's Fortune sparks a little mischief with its opening playful melodies, only for its jollity to give way to a yawning synth string section. We are whisked once again into the ambiguous realms of imagination, laced with ancient, witchcraft suggestions. The playful tone reoccurs on its lengthy closer, The Tranquil. Bell chimes and staccato strings pace themselves as the steady brooding of flutes slowly ushers in strings that build to the tracks fading conclusion with a touch of cinematic scope.

 

These compositions fit in snugly with that classic era but one can see how they perhaps lack a sense of adventure Old Sorcery's album embark on, as pivots and transformations usually serve as the gratifying mystique to tie all this Dungeon Synth inspired imagination together. Either way, The Lost Grimoire is a welcome addition to a fine discography!

 

Rating: 5/10 

Scowl "Are We All Angels" (2025)

Catching my ear with their easy sways between scruffy Grunge chorus riffs and melodic Shoegaze tinged verses, Fantasy served as an intriguing song to pull me in. Sadly, Scowl currently stand as a band with plenty of potential. Are We All Angels' production out paces the bands depth of ideas. Brimming with a fiery aesthetic, their fusion of Pop Punk, Grunge, Hardcore Punk, Alt Rock, even touches of Metal - feels so fitting of this era. The ability to look back a couple of decades and revise such ideas has yielded magic with fresh faced bands like Turnstile.

 

Unlike their contemporaries, Scowl's riffs and motifs lack a spark of imagination. Arrangements and music ideas feel relatively basic, leaning on that stunning aesthetic to get by. Front loaded, the first string of songs will et pumped up but as the record draws on the songs dull into a mediocrity. Singer Kat Moss is the bands brightest light, her voice adds a smooth veneer of color to the crunchy aggression her band mates assemble. Her occasional unhinged shouts froth with an apt angst, anchoring her in this energized setting as she more often plays the counterpart.

 

Their chemistry is strong, the auditory experience is spot on but as stated the songwriting suffers. The record ends up muddling its way through half baked ideas, feeling like either record filler or I'm missing the point. Potential is the word, one to keep an eye on. At this incarnation they are still finding their voice and you hear it on occasion with songs like Special, Fantasy and Not Hell, Not Heaven.

 

 Rating: 5/10