Grand Magus - Iron Will
Real good, doomy heavy metal. Not that 30-minutes-2-riffs-doom-for-dooms-sake comedy stuff, this is for fans of Dio-era Sabbath. They even kinda rip off Sign of The Southern Cross at one point.
Steel Assassin - War Of The Eight Saints
Armored Saint goes power metal or something like that. I guess these guys have been around (technically) since the mid-80s but this is the debut album from 2007. Powerful stuff and there is indeed a certain aura of experience in these songs, everything flows nicely and they don't sound forced at all like so many young bands do.
Crystal Viper - The Curse Of Crystal Viper
Crystal Viper - The Last Axeman EP
It's a pretty bold move to kick off your career with a concept album. Always gets a thumbs up from me, even though this is pretty standard fantasy stuff as far as I can tell. It sends a clear message that they're in it for good and not just slapping some random songs together calling it an album.
The music is pretty much Iron Maiden worship, Marta Gabriel's vocals being the exception obviously. I can't say it's amazing but it is good.
If the new song Anvil of Hate from the EP is a good indicator of where this band's going, I'd say a lot of people should take note of their next album.
Virgin Steele - Marriage Of Heaven Hell Part I
Virgin Steele - Marriage Of Heaven Hell Part II
Patching my VS collection. Part II is the superior one of these but Part I definitely isn't bad. Some absolutely killer songs like I Will Come For You but not quite as epic as Part II (or indeed the future albums). The band basically improved with each album in the mid-90s and peaked with Invictus.
Morgana Lefay - Maleficium
The wicked vocals of Charles Rytkönen are the high point of Morgana Lefay, this band should be right up my alley but so far they've stayed firmly in the "OK" category. Maleficium doesn't change that, it's solid with a cool dark mood but there's nothing truly killer to be found...
Attacker - The Unknown
I couldn't get into Soul Taker and I can't get into this one either. I can't say their reunion's worthless as they totally kicked ass at KIT but these studio albums are really rather forgettable. I guess they're still going on even with Bob Mitchell gone (again)?
Cypher Seer - Awakening Day
This one has vocals by Michael Grant from Onward/Crescent Shield which is why I bought the album... not good. Pretty bad, actually. It took a lot of willpower to actually listen through this at one go and it wasn't worth it.
then this is for me too), comes in a very elegant digipack that worth the purchase alone.