Grand Magus Iron Will (2008) (japan Vicp 64178)

Iron Will (2008). Perhaps more than any other popular music style, heavy metal has the most subgenres. But besides Manowar, "he-man metal" has been a subgenre explored by few others - a style so testosterone-heavy that only the toughest and proudest of specimens are allowed entrance into the proceedings. However, circa the early 21st century, another similarly styled loud and proud outfit, Grand Magus, triumphantly arrived on the scene (undoubtedly via horseback, with swords drawn and ready for battle). As evidenced by their 2008 release, the appropriately titled Iron Will, the chaps fit the aforementioned description oh so perfectly - given their stellar song titles such as "Like the Oar Strikes the Water" and "Silver into Steel," their galloping guitar riffs, and singer Janne "JB" Christoffersson's manly roar…

In 2016, the Swedish riff legends rise again to show their teeth… and swords! "Sword Songs", the title of their eighth album, summarizes the band's intention: head of the band, JB, says the album would be faster and more aggressive than "Triumph And Power", and he adds that the album contains some ferocious songs. Grand Magus put all their passion, all their blood, sweat and tears into »Sword Songs«, and the result is nothing less than the best and heaviest Grand Magus album of all time. Produced by Nico Elgstrand in Studio Supa, Stockholm, "Sword Songs" offers a load of future classics that will move fans to tears with their powerful grooving rhythm machine, mighty riff walls and JB's distinctive voice…

The tenth Grand Magus album and their first concept record, Sunraven is a return to the heavy metal might of Wolf God and Sword Songs, but with an underlying story adding greater depth to the Swedes' earthy bombast. Made manifest via a grandiose production, inspired by the revered Old English epic poem of Beowulf.
In true heavy metal style, these nine new songs dive deep into heroic fantasy, but with the same real-world resonances that are scorched into the genre's calloused skin.

Although Uriah Heep is known for its extensive personnel changes, its lineup has been stable since the mid-'80s; unfortunately, that stability coincided with the band's commercial decline (its last album to chart in the U.S. came in 1983, its last in its native U.K., 1985). So, no one outside the group's fan base noticed that the quintet of founding member and guitarist Mick Box, drummer Lee Kerslake (1971-1978, 1982-2007), bassist Trevor Bolder (who joined in 1977, left during the band's hiatus in the early '80s, and returned a couple of years after its re-formation), singer Bernie Shaw, and keyboard player Phil Lanzon (both of whom joined in the mid-'80s) remained in place through numerous world tours and the studio albums Raging Silence (1989), Different World (1991), Sea of Light (1995), and Sonic Origami (1998).

Have You Ever Been Experienced? Third release from the "This is SHM-CD" series of low-priced SHM-CD music samplers with bonus CDs to compare the quality of SHM-CD to standard CD. The high-fidelity SHM-CD format is fully compatible with standard CD players.

In 1977, after three years' time off working on various solo projects – which were to have culminated with a trio of solo albums – Emerson, Lake & Palmer reunited to release Works, Vol. 1, a double LP containing the best of the solo works plus a side of group-conceived pieces. All in all, it was the most ambitious and wide-ranging body of music they'd ever released, and was followed by the more modestly proportioned but still successful Works, Vol. 2 in November of that year, and a tour that fall and winter; in keeping with the albums that spawned it, the concerts initially featured a 90-piece orchestra supporting the trio…

Upon its release, the 1973 LP Brain Salad Surgery had been hailed as Emerson, Lake & Palmer's masterpiece. A long tour ensued that left the trio flushed and begging for time off. Before disbanding for three years, they assembled a three-LP live set (something of a badge of achievement at the time, earned by Yes in 1973 with Yessongs and, somewhat more dubiously, Leon Russell with Leon Live)…

Black Moon is the eighth studio album, and the first in four years, by progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1992. The album received mixed reviews. It did not receive the acclaim of Tarkus or Brain Salad Surgery…

Love Beach is the seventh studio album by English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in 1978. It was the band's final album of original material until Black Moon (1992) and was produced to satisfy contractual obligations with the group's record company…