Get the s/t, "Night of the Stormrider" and "Burnt Offerings". Those are the best of all IE albums.

Everything they've done in the last 8 years or so sucks, although Horror Show was good. Dark Saga sucks too.

Holy. Fucking. Shit. I'm currently listening to Mysto Dysto for the second time, and it's some of the most jaw-dropping, mind-blowing and skull-crushing metal I have ever heard. No, really, everybody with at least a little bit of good musical taste MUST listen to this. Oh, and using Boris' terminology, "blazingest soloes ever"! If you don't get several orgasms listening to this... well, you're either impotent or gay. Really.

FULL SPEED TO HELL!!!

Yup. Wish they weren't so underated. I still like to complain about the production a bit, wish it wasn't so "distant" or something, but whatever.

And yeah, "Full Speed To Hell" ... fucking rapes! That song is so fucking over the top, it's like NWOBHM/Speed/Thrash slammed into a goddamn grinder! Haha, dunno if it was the kind of music you were looking for earlier when I recommended them, but glad you totally dig them.

I'm considering writing a review for "The Rules Have Been Disturbed". But I'm afraid it'll turn out to be a flaming fanboy one.

Well, that's not exactly what I was looking for (I'm yet to give Grinder a spin ), in fact, it turned out to be far beyond my expectations. Anyway, I'm eternally grateful to you for the rec.

Damn, there are still so many bands to discover that it's frustrating.

EDIT: I must find it on CD.

Listening to Dark Age right now, and I'm definitely liking it. The vocalist sounds very similar to Kai Hansen, which is a big plus for me.

EDIT: listening to Glacier. Sounds solid.

EDIT 2: and now to Apollo Ra. Very good album, at times great.

EDIT 3: finally to Oracle. Slightly similar to early Iced Earth.

FINAL EDIT: Apollo Ra and Dark Age are definitely staying in my playlist for long. Glacier needs a few more listens. Oracle is kind of hard to listen to the whole album for the first time; I guess it's a matter of habit.

Huh, you go through my reviews or something? , excellent bands there!


Anyways, I own Mysto Dysto's album and got it fairly cheap. It was reissued by some label or something, "Dutch Metal Cult Series" I guess ... http://cdbaby.com/cd/mystodysto. Pretty sure that's where I bought it. I think the price has gone up a bit since I ordered it, but yeah. They were also the ones to reissue Defender's EP with bonus stuff as well.

Also, Glacier definitely needed a little time for me. I mean I liked them right off the bat and I quickly found myself going back to that EP (along with their later demo) pretty often, but eventually it really hit me after awhile.

PS: You should do the review, wouldn't hurt to have another one up there for it (someone reviewed it a long time ago before me, but I guess it was removed or something).

No, I just went through this thread and several others, as I mentioned earlier, there are about 100 bands-to-get on my list. I honestly don't know what I'd do without T-Mag. Looking through your and failsafeman's reviews is a good idea, by the way.

I'm not from America, so shipping will cost more than CD itself. Anyway, I found several Dutch and German labels which still have CD in stock, and even one with original LP! (It costs 225 euro or so)

I'm going back to Glacier tomorrow. I still have to listen to a shitload of NWOBHM bands.

I'll try, but don't expectmy reviewt to be perfect, never before have I done that. But it's a question of practice, I suppose. Actually I have plans on reviewing several obscure Greek and British bands, possibly I'll add some North American ones. Time will tell. Ah, almost forgot, there's Review Feedback Workshop (or how it's called), I can always post it there before submitting.

NWOBHM ---> Satan's "Court in the Act" > everything.

But failsafe will disagree.

Probably. So far I've listened only to "Dirt" (demo) and Blind Guardian's cover of "Trial By FIre". Nowadays I usually begin my journey into any metal (sub)genre from obscure and demo bands. Don't know why, though.

Listen to Virtue - techincally they're post-NWOBHM, but they had amazing potential that sadly went into nowhere. Again, "blazingest soloes ever!". And vocalist is pretty good at what he's doing.

failesafe is a butt!

Does anyone know a band that's similar to Cauldron Born but toned down a little?
They're a good band, gives me a strong Slauter Xstroyes/Fates Warning feel, but it feels kind of over dramatic and could use some more traditional/heavy metal to it.

Cirith Ungol maybe?

Already heard them, they're fantastic, but that's a good direction...so bands that are similar to Cauldron Born and Cirith Ungol. I think I'm getting a bit too specific, now

What? Musically, I don't think they're at all similar.

Jackal, I suppose you must know Helstar? I'm at a loss to think off any others. "Born of the Cauldron" is such a monumental achievement.

Im new to power metal, but i would like recommendations of dark , demonic sounding PM but not too cheesy.

I always think of Brocas Helm when I think of Cirith Ungol, not sure why but maybe they'd work? I'm guessing you've probably heard of them too though ...

I don't know, I honestly think Cauldron Born is pretty out there to be honest.

Musically they aren't too similar, but that atmosphere is close. When I think of Cirith Ungol I think of a bunch of people throwing dice and hiding behind pieces of colorful board

Not sure what exactly by Helstar would be in line with Cauldron Born

I have Into Battle and Black Death but neither do much for me. In one of the reviews I read it said it would take a few listens to really get into so I guess I should plug away at it a bit more. Other then that I can't say I'm much of a fan...

Oh well, if Cauldron Born is a unique, pretty snowflake then I guess I'll stick with 'em

Helstar's Remnants of War and A Distant Thunder are a tad close to Cauldron Born's style, but yeah, they're pretty unique. The last track on CB's debut reminds me of a Candlemass song, heh.

What you're looking for is Oracle - As Darkness Reigns and Matthias Steele - Haunting Tales of a Warrior's Past. The former is really quite close, but with a whole crapload of lengthy guitar soloing (but not wanking), while the latter is similar in spirit but with more thrash influence. Both are very good, and both share vocal similarities. I'm not sure there does actually exist something more like what you asked for, though, namely Cauldron Born but with more heavy metal. Oracle includes more prog, while MS includes more thrash. You could probably call both "toned down" in comparison to CB, though, except for MS which is almost more overly-dramatic but is a bit tongue-in-cheek about it.

Cool, well I'll listen to both.

I'm interested in the Oracle album since one of the reviewers said that all of the guitar solos are actually classical guitar pieces composed by Paganini. Guess that could go either way in terms of awesomeness.

I'm pretty sure he's full of shit about it, at least for the most part. I can't say I know everything Paganini has written, though. I'd have to listen to it again.

some people recommended me Demonlord(Hun), and i was wondering if they were any good.

Well the soloing is Paganini-inspired at least. Basically sounds like straight up neoclassical shredding and all those guys had raging hard-ons for him.

I'm liking Oracle. It reminds me a lot of Outworld but... darker, I guess? Not sure how to describe it. Heavier for sure.

I listened to a little bit of Matthias Steele a month or two back when I was asking about USPM bands but totally forgot about them. I actually might have mixed them up with Oliver Magnum (name+metal or metallic object befuddle me ).

Edit: Jesus, the singer in Matthias Steele must have detachable balls.

@Masked_Jackal: Eh, yeah I went back to those Brocas Helm albums, definitely filled with some hit and miss tracks here and there.

Yea, sure, but that reviewer's claim that they were all actually copy/pasted from Paganini was just retarded.


I know just what you mean, it's awesome...not to mention the band totally exploits it by having him suddenly go into that ridiculous falsetto out of nowhere.

Their 3rd album "Hellforged" is quite good.

Listen to the riff structures and the way they play around with timing on the last two Helstar albums .. I think this was clearly an influence on Cauldron Born's style. Failsafeman mentions Psychotic Waltz in his review, but I"m not really familiar with them yet (though going to remedy that soon). I still don't see how Cauldron Born and Cirith Ungol are similar, either. ..musically at least.

By the way, although "Born of the Cauldron" is awesome, y'all should be wary of "...and Rome Shall Fall".

Haha, really? I don't .. but maybe that's cause I'm more of a fantasy reader and never been into roleplay games.

WOa, I must check out Oracle too then!

I did download that Matthias Steele album actually. It's pretty good .. I love the vocals and the songs .. but man, does that production ever suck .. I'm not normally one to complain about these things, but the guitar has the mightiness of a plastic fork! I really hate it because in my mind I keep picturing a great wallop of a guitar sound but the reality is so far from that it always leaves a sour feelingg. It'd be cool if they could somehow re-master that and beef up the guitar tracks. I feel like a heretic saying that as I'm normally part of the "leave the damn album alone!" crowd, but this one really needs it, because otherwise it's just as good as you say!

What, you lie! Every Brocas Helm song is an injection of elixir distilled from the lava-filled heart of a magical volcano that allows the barerer to climb mountains, remain alive and potent eternally, stride across Bifrost in one mighty surge, and fire laser beams from his eyes!

..well, except one or two, maybe.

I dunno, I might agree with Gutterscream's reviews but, I really need to give those albums a little more time, kind of forgot about them. When I played "Black Death" it opened up on "Fly High" which just blew my face apart (thought I was hearing something that would give Omen a run for their money), but after that the rest of the tracks didn't seem quite up to par with that one.

Damn, I've had these albums since March of last year, but don't think I've ever listened to them that much.

Oh, I totally know what you mean about the production...the bass is pretty much beefier than the guitars, which for something with fairly obvious Overkill influences is a definite letdown. I mean, imagine Haunting Tales of a Warrior's Past with the production of Horrorscope! Still, it's not SO bad if you crank the volume and have a good sound system/set of headphones. The tone is actually pretty decent, it's just too trebly and not loud enough. Anyway, yes, a remaster is sorely needed, though for a band as obscure as this it's about as likely as that damn Legend reissue ever coming out.

For the record, I do like Brocas Helm, though they're still a little bit too "out there" for my taste. I tend to agree with Xeogred, some songs really click for me while others tend to put me to sleep, but maybe it's one of those bands that I just need to listen to for a long time to really "get", like Manilla Road's more inaccessible albums but even more extreme. Admittedly I haven't given BH as much time as I probably should.

Gods, "Haunting Tales" .. with a "Horrorscope" guitarsound would be so monumental. I can't stress enough how much that vocalist rules, too.

I guess I was lucky, or something, because Brocas Helm pretty much clicked for me right away. I honestly believe that "Time of the Dark" is the most powerful, energetic heavy metal songg that I've heard recorded in the last decade. That was the first Helm song I heard and I haven't looked back since. That song just makes me feel great in a way I can't properly describe, and a lot of their tunes have similar effects. Never saw what was so inaccessible about them, really, though they're definitely a bit quirky.

Eh, everyone absorbs albums at different speeds. I'm generally pretty notoriously slow at really getting into new stuff (Battle Cry, one of my favorite albums, took like a week of a listen a day or something to enjoy, not to mention much longer to really get into the less accessible second half). Still, I'm good and judging whether or not there is something there that CAN click, if given enough time.

Yeah, I am often that way too .. Manilla Road and early Rotting Christ both took a long time for me to really warm to, but they're now among my absolute favourite bands.

Yeah, the whole "click" thing happens a lot to me too. A little unrelated to the topics genre, but lately I just can't keep myself away from Flots & Jet's second album (even after two years of owning it).

And like most of us can probably say after time, "why the hell didn't I like this a lot at first?" ...

Seconding Perdition's Black Destiny recs. Awesome fucking band. Even Xeogred or Failsafe might like 'em.

Have anyone see the video of Future World by Gamma Ray ft. Andre Matos????? I think it must be betwen 1993-1998

I love this thread.
Could anyone recommend me some really epic power metal bands, which have that medievil/ folk feeling. (Rhapsody, Fairyland, Luca Turilli, Thy Majestie, etc)... keyboard heavy, pseudo-orchestral bands, that kind of stuff.

Timeless Miracle is definitely up your alley. And also Human Fortress's first two albums, very good stuff. Try Lost Horizon and Twilightning's first one if you haven't, also - not medieval, but still epic and soaring.