The Unguided are back with their album #5 and the second with the clean vocals by Jonathan Thorpenberg.

The album starts with my least favorite song but then we have a collection of 11 great songs + 3 covers of Sonic Syndicate. The highlights are "Never Yield", my favourite "War Of Oceans", "Crown Prince Syndrome", "Fate's Hand", "Stand Alone Complex", "Seth" and "Denied".

Whenever they announce a new album, I'm eagerly waiting to see the final outcome and here they have released another masterpiece of melodic groove metal.

DGM stands for the members no longer in the band and I must say that I have started listening to these guys back with the "Frame" album.

Many songs to highlight here but I would stand out "Flesh And Blood", "Fate", "Tragic Separation", the brilliant "Land Of Sorrow" and "Turn Back Time".

Prog metal with great quality is what these Italians have been doing recently and they have done it again.

The Spaniards of Lords Of Black are the ones who made me discover the amazing vocals of Ronnie Romero.

I was really expecting this to be a bombastic power metal album with the singles released and that's the reason the highlights are "Dying To Live Again", "Into The Black", Sacrifice" plus songs "Deliverance Lost" and "Disease In Disguise".

The overall product is just good and let's wait Part II to be better than this one, still it gets a high rating from me.

With the addition of Terje Haroy on vocals, they have released their best album, "Disciples Of The Sun", back in 2015. Their next album was good but I was hoping for more.

Here we have no fillers and my favorites are "Knights In Shining Armour", "Bird Of Prey", the catchy "Particle", "Final Hour", "World Foregone" and the epic closure "The Time Traveller".

They have released just another great album like "Disciples Of The Sun".

Limb Music announced the signing of this band for their debut album offering a great mix of epic power metal and 80's HR/AOR with electronic influences and symphonic music played.

I'm a big fan of Pastorino's vocals and even though this album is over the 1-hour mark, I put this one very often on my Spotify. There are many songs to highlight here and I would stand out "Far Away", "Always With You", "Dying For Love" and "The Angel And The Faith".

Not sure if this will be a one-album only project but I really hope we have more from Cristiano Filippini, of course with Pastorino on vocals.

Sinner's Blood is a powerful new melodic metal band from Chile featuring a newcomer in the metal scene, James Robledo on vocals.

I wasn't expecting to like this the way I did in the end, favorite songs are the brilliant "Phoenix Rise", the Evergrey-ish "Never Again", the softer and ultra-catchy "Remember Me", the epic "Who I Am" and the "The Hunting" with it's amazing chorus.

Hoping this is not an one-album band, what a nice surprise this is!

What makes Amaranthe so attractive and unique is the battle between the beautiful vocals of Elize, the pure vocals of Nils and the growls of Henrik.

I have listened to this album a lot during the last month and all songs are to be highlighted here, there's no exception. My favorites are the breathtaking "Fearless", "Scream My Name", "Adrenaline", "The Game", the beautiful "Crystalline", "Archangel", the fantastic "Boom!" and "Do Or Die" in the album version with Nils and Henrik.

Here's a text I made with all the songs of the tracklist in running order: I am really not "Fearless" to say that no other band has released any other album this year which has "Make It Better" than this new album from Amaranthe. The haters can either "Scream My Name" that I don't care because this album is going "Viral" on my head and lifts my "Adrenaline" way up high everytime I listen and I can say that this is a very "Strong" album. Come on guys and don't get angry with me, I'm just playing "The Game" and I want to say how beautiful is the "Crystalline" and even the "Archangel" agrees that everything starts with a "Boom!", so let's all just not "Die And Wake Up" from this manifest and do yourself a favor and listen to this album, "Do Or Die".

Amaranthe has been my favorite band for the last couple of years and there's no wonder why I have their logo tattooed on my arm. Album of the year!

The German guitar wizard every two years releases a new solo album and here we have his album #19.

We all know what to expect from the German guitar wizard, right? The usual intro, the fast-paced song, the epic, the ballad song and the usual melodic metal/hard rock songs. The highlights are "Gunfire", "Bad Reputation", "The End Of The Line", "As Blind As A Fool Can Be", "Waiting For Your Call" and "Into The Fire".

Here we have another winner by ARP on the same formula as all his albums.

The Austrians of Serenity released their album #7 earlier this year and now is time to review how brilliant this album is.

I liked both their latest albums but I've been playing this one a lot during the year, the highlights are "Set The World On Fire", "Keeper Of The Knights", "My Kingdom Comes", "Queen Of Avalon", "Down To Hell", "Wings Of Pride" and my favorite "Call To Arms".

They have delivered another majestic symphonic metal album just like their 2013's "War Of Ages".

H.E.A.T. promised to shock the world with their new album and they really did.

On what they said it was the continuation of their music style of their debut album, the highlights are "Dangerous Ground", "Come Clean", "Victory", "Adrenaline", "One By One" and "Heaven Must Have Won An Angel".

This is definitely way better than their previous album, the best with Erik on vocals and just as brilliant as their first two albums with Kenny Leckremo.

Dynazty is without a doubt one of my favorite bands in the world and it's always nice when we see they are going to release a new album.

The first part of the album is full of great melodic and catchy songs, highlights on the album are "Presence Of Mind", the brilliant "Paradise Of The Architect", "The Black", "From Sound To Silence", "Hologram", the ultra-catchy "Heartless Madness", "Waterfall", "Threading The Needle" and "The Dark Delight".

These guys always deliver great music either on their hard rock era or now on their melodic metal era. This is not the best Dynazty album but still it gets a high rating.

The Australians from Vanishing Point are back with their sixth album "Dead Elysium" six years after their latest release.

There are no weak tracks here, my favorites are "Dead Elysium", "Count Your Days", "The Fall", "Recreate The Impossible" and "The Healing".

I wasn't expecting such a good prog metal album from them and damn this is just brilliant.

Back in 2007 we had Frontiers line-up Mark Boals with Magnus Karlsson on the amazing "The Codex" album, 13 years later we have the same record label line-up Mark Boals with Olaf Thorsen on this "Shining Black" album.

The album starts with the less interesting song from the album but then we have the brilliant "Boogeyman" with the funny childy lyrics, other highlights are "My Life", "Just Another Day", "The Carousel" and "We Fall".

Since Boals is a very busy man with many bands, I was missing something melodic and catchy from him again, finally we have it here.

Perfect Plan shocked the melodic rock world with their stunning debut album back in 2018 and here we have their sophomore album.

Let me start this review by saying what an amazing vocalist is Kent Hilli. There are many songs to highlight but I will mention only one song, which is "Fighting To Win", this is one hell of a song and probably one of the best ballad I've listened this year.

They have done another great album this time but their debut is slightly better, still this is pure melodic metal at the best quality.

Formed by ex-Gamma Ray members Michael Ehré (drummer) and Henjo Richter (guitarist) with the great Jan Manenti on vocals, The Unity brings us their third album in just 4 years.

And what an amazing album this is, lots of highlights are found here but I would stand out songs "Line And Sinker", "We Don't Need Them Here", "Destination Unknown", "Damn Nation", "Guess How I Hate This" and the brilliant "You Don't Walk Alone".

Their debut album was good, then they really "Rise" on their sophomore and now they got the full "Pride" from me. Outstanding album.

After a few line-up changes during their career, the Italians of Temperance release their fifth album in January and only now I'm about to review it.

The chemistry between Marco and Alessia works really fine on the entire album. My favorite song is "I Am The Fire" where the screams of Marco really shines on it, other highlights are "Start Another Round", "My Demons Can't Sleep", "Let It Beat", "Scent Of Dye", "The Cult Of Mystery" and "Nanook".

I keep playing this brilliant album every now and then, so if you're into melodic modern metal, I am sure you have already listened to this amazing album.

Warkings are back with a new album 2 years after their outstanding debut.

What we have here are straight forward power metal songs not crossing the 5-minute mark and the highlights are "Freedom", "Warriors", "Odin's Sons" and "Azrael".

It's for sure a very good power metal with the great Georg Neuhauser hidden behind The Tribune but the "Revenge" is not so good as their "Reborn".

Brother Firetribe have released some singles way in advance before the release of their new album back on September 18th.

On this new album from Brother Firetribe we have learned a lot that guitars are not their thing anymore. Is this bad? For sure not! Anyways, the highlights are "Night Drive", "Bring On The Rain", "Ticking Away" and "Rock In The City".

They should change their debut album title and this one, their debut should be "Feel The Burn" where we feel the great music of Brother Firetribe and here their softer side, the so called "False Metal". This is a good melodic rock album but cannot be compared with their amazing first two albums.

The hard-working Magnus Karlsson is now back with his solo album #3 with lots of talented vocalists.

My favorite songs are the ones with Renan Zonta, the two songs with him are simply amazing, the other highlights are "Hold Your Fire", "Queen Of Fire", "All The Way To The Stars" and "One By One".

Just as his other two solo albums, this one is worth checking out as well.

They are active since 2010 but it was with their latest album released in 2017 that I've discovered this band.

There is no fillers on this new album full of fast-paced and catchy songs. There are many songs to highlight here and my favorites are "Super Sonic Samurai" with the amazing keyboards on the chorus that leaves you doing this sound for days, "Nippon Knights", "Shuriken Showdown", "Wrath Of The Dragongod", "Space Ninjas From Hell" and "Cosmic Space Commando Base".

On this new record released last January, they have delivered their best album to date. This is definitely one of the best power metal albums I've listened.

Moonlight Haze strikes back with album #2 just one year after their brilliant debut album.

These italians sure knows how to mix the symphonic and melodic sounds on their music and there are many songs to highlight here, I would stand out "Till The End", "The Rabbit Of The Moon", "Under Your Spell", "Enigma" and "Without You".

They have delivered again another hell of an album. In my opinion, the debut is slightly better than this one, but still this is album must be checked out by fans of symphonic metal with female vocals.

Since their debut album back in 2015, Beyond The Black have dropped very good albums and here we have their album #4.

There are many songs to highlight here and my favorites are "Horizons", "Wounded Healer" with an amazing duet with the queen Elize Ryd, "Some Kind Of Monster", "You're Not Alone", "Paralyzed" and "I Won't Surrender".

They have nailed again with another very good album but this time in my opinion they have released their best album so far. Rock with pop elements? I don't care!

Adrian Vandenberg is back with a new album under the name Vandenberg 35 years after the "Alibi" release.

A collection of great songs with lots of highlights is what we have here on his "2020" album, I would stand out songs "Shadows Of The Night", "Freight Train", "Let It Rain", "Ride Like The Wind" and "Light Up The Sky".

Recently we are having an overload of Ronnie Romero, but we have another great perfomance from the Spaniard here, so I'm Ok with that. I must say that I need to revisit again his albums from the 80's since this "2020" is an amazing surprise to me.

Virtual Symmetry is known for me thanks to metal-archives.com where I found out Marco Pastorino was the lead vocals for this band, so I had to check this new album from them.

After the long intro, we are presented to seven amazing prog metal songs. I must say that I'm not a huge fan of prog metal with all the instrumental parts but what these Italians have delivered is simply amazing. All songs are brilliantly done and my favorites are "Vortex", "Exodus", "Safe" and the long "Exoverse Suite", please take your precious time to appreciate this masterpiece of 23 minutes long.

Fans of prog metal must definitely check out this album.

Gus G is with no doubt one of the best guitarists in the world and with his band Firewind we already have so many vocalists change, this time we have the first album with the great Herbie Langhans (ex-Sinbreed).

Call it melodic metal or power metal, this new Firewind album is amazing, there are no weak songs and I would stand out "Devour", "Rising Fire", "Break Away", the brilliant "Orbitual Sunrise", "All My Life" and "Space Cowboy".

On my review of their previous album, I mentioned that Henning Basse was not the right choice for his band and probably he didn't read my review but he decided to change the vocalist and Herbie did an excellent job, this is for sure Firewind's best album.

Zak Stevens (ex-Savatage vocalist) have teamed up with Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere) on this debut album of Archon Angel.

I really like the work Zak has done during his Savatage era especially on the albums "Edge Of Thorns" and "Handful Of Rain", his work at Circle II Circle the first two albums are the best ones. Here we have some great songs and some fillers, the highlights are "Fallen", "Rise", "Faces Of Innocence", "Who's In The Mirror" and "Return Of The Storm".

Now let's wait and see if this will be a new band from Zak or just an one-album project.

Grave Digger hits their 40-year anniversary with album #20.

You know what to get from them, heavy/power metal with those anthemic chorus. The highlights are "All For The Kingdom", "Lions Of The Sea", "Union Of The Crown" and "My Final Fight".

We have another good album from these German metallers.

Founded in 2009, the band has been through some line-up changes during the years and with this new album we have the debut of vocalist Martin Holsner.

What we have here are great melodic rock tunes with lots of highlights being "Headlights", "Sonic Forces", "Time To Deliver", "Midnight Cruiser" and "Young Hearts" my favorites.

Martin's vocals remembers a lot of former H.E.A.T vocalist Kenny Leckremo. Fans of melodic rock need to listen this one out, a great surprise is this new album from Captain Black Beard.

The demon Jon Schaffer and the wizard Hansi Kürsch are back again with a new album after 15 years.

The opener and long "Diabolic" is my favorite song of the album, what a great song it is. Other highlights are "Wolves In Winter", "Midas Disease", "New Dawn" and "Universal Truth".

Their comeback is not perfect as their debut album but they have sure released a great power metal album and we can listen Kürsch's vocals on a metal album again and not something orchestral.

The symphonic metal band Amberian Dawn are bringing new elements on their music with album #9.

The highlights on the album are opener "United", the ultra-catchy "Looking For You", the epic "Symphony Nr. 1 Part 3 - Awakening" featuring Fabio Lione, the pop-esque "Go For A Ride", the ABBA's cover of "Lay All Your Love On Me" and the re-mastered version of "Cherish My Memory".

You can expect a lot of changes on this new album by Amberian Dawn comparing to their old albums. You can find lots of influences from ABBA and also Battle Beast. I have really enjoyed what they have come up with.

Shakra is one of the most famous hard rock bands from Switzerland together with Gotthard.

The album is full of great melodic hard rock tunes and I would highlight the songs "Fireline", "A Roll Of The Dice", "Mad World", "Thousand Kings", "Fake News", my favorite "When It All Falls Down" and "Turn The Light On".

There's nothing new under the sun on this new album from Shakra and as long as you like their music, what's not to like here again? Another great album from them.

Badd Kharma is a melodic heavy metal band hailing from Greece, formed in 2013, that has released last March their debut album.

The album starts tearing down the walls with the breathtaking "Never Surrender" which is followed by a selection of great melodic metal with memorable songs. I could highlight here many songs but I would stand out "Devil In You", "Still Our Man", "Rise Or Fall", "Light In The Dark", "Break Free" and "Still Unbroken".

I can't remember right now another debut album that kept me banging my head while listening at the first time. What a brilliant debut album this is, well done guys!

Gotthard is back with album #13 and the fourth album with vocalist Nic Maeder.

The album starts amazing with the three amazing hard rocker songs "Bad News", "Every Time I Die" and "Missteria". This time the band is more rocker than on their previous two albums and other highlights are "S.O.S.", "Better Than Love", "Marry You" and "No Time To Cry".

While their latest two albums was below average, this time they have put out one great album and sounding a lot like the first abum "Firebirth" with Nic Maeder on the band's ranks.

Apart from their latest covers album, Mystic Prophecy are now back with studio album #10.

They have sure delivered a great power metal album this time full memorable songs, my favorites are "Metal Division", "Eye To Eye", "Here Comes The Winter" and "Victory Is Mine".

I really think this is one of their best albums released so far!

The swedes of Confess have released last February their new album "Burn 'Em All".

They sure bring lots of melodic tunes here, which I would stand out songs "So What?", "Malleus", "Burn 'Em All", "Is It Love", "My Vicious Way" and "One For The Road". The only song I dislike on offer here is "509".

Imagine a sleaze rock band with some heavy punches, that's what you get on the new album by Confess.

I haven't heard of this band before they were announced on the ranks of Frontiers Music, one thing lead to another and I found out that Adrienne Cowan, touring with Avantasia, is the lead singer of the band.

This girl can deliver both clean and harsh vocals and this is really a joy from her, the highlights on the album are "Every Crest", "Unmapped Darkness", "Succumb", "Drowner Of Worlds", "Bury You" and "The Trouble With Eternal Life".

The album is full of diversity and if you're into some symphonic metal with some harsh vocals on it, this is for you!

DeadRisen features in their ranks Mike LePond (Symphony X bassist) and Will Shaw (ex-Heir Apparent vocalist), their debut album was released just a few weeks ago.

After the epic intro we are introduced to the great song "Prophecy" which is one of my favorite songs on the album alongside songs "Destiny", "Visions", "Fear And Fury" and the Metallica's cover of "For Whom The Bell Tolls".

You can expect here lots of comparison on the sound with Symphony X and for a debut album, this is certainly a good start.

Delain is one of the most famous symphonic metal bands out there, but it was only two years ago that I got deeper into their discography.

The stand out songs here are "One Second", "Burning Bridges", "Vengeance", "Let's Dance" and "Masters Of Destiny". If they would cut the last three songs and especially the song "Ghost Love Score" which is extremely boring, I would rate this higher.

I must admit that the first time I listened to this new album from Delain, I haven't liked at all but after repeated listens, it's definitely a good album.