Bloodbound Stormborn (2014) [japanese Ed.]

Roland Grapow has called up his band mates to re-record old songs from his Helloween era, giving them a new glow. With “PumpKings” they now present us with pleasure the result!

What melodic power metal band Serious Black has achieved in less than three years of band history and with only two albums under their belts, is extraordinary. The band, consisting of musicians from bands such as Firewind, Rhapsody, Tad Morose, Edenbridge, Visions of Atlantis and Dreamscape, has positioned itself directly among the leading formations of their genre. Tours with HammerFall and Gamma Ray made the fanbase grow rapidly and with the first headlining tour in September 2016 Serious Black impressively demonstrated that they are a real live force! Inspired by the consistently euphoric reactions of fans and the media alike, the band release it's third studio album. Magic sees Serious Black reach the peak of their creativity and takes the listener on a journey through a world of fantasy. Japanese 2CD Limited Edition (+ bonus track on CD1) includes bonus live CD.

Tad Morose are a Swedish heavy metal band and this is their tenth album. Chapter X is quite a straightforward album to describe in many ways – Tad Morose play a mix of heavy and power metal. It’s confidently delivered, professionally recorded, and full of the type of anthemic metal that’s pretty timeless. The basic of this album is classic heavy metal, without frills or adornments. However, some of the latter is provided by the band’s power metal proclivities, with keyboards enhancing the band’s music on occasion. Melodic and catchy, there’s a lot to enjoy here.

Predator Of The Empire is Steel Attack's third album, released in 2003 via Arise Records. Predator Of The Empire marks the first album with the Spanish label and sees the arrival of a new singer, Dick Johnson, also coming from Sweden (Gothenburg). After the departure of Steve Steel - which decided to concentrate only on Carnal Forge (thrash metal, drums) - the band made the right choice as Dick "sounds" more or less like Steve Steel.

Here is the fourth album from Swedish Power Metallers, Steel Attack. With a change of vocalist in 2003 (Ronny Hemlin), the band and the 2004 album Enslaved got a new "direction," both musically and lyrically. Their old power metal sound was re-wrought to be more aggressive, and the standard lyrical content of most power metal bands (dragons, swords, etc.) was no longer used. Ronny brought more mystical, mature, religion-related lyrics, in order to fit the band's new heavier sound.