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September 2024

• Phil Mogg: Moggs Motel
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August 2024

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[ More Music Reviews ]

Gloryful: Cult Of Sedna

Traditional Heavy/Power Metal

4.5/5.0

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Massacre Records
Released: 18.01.2019
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 09.01.2019

Flying the flag of "keep it true" heavy metal, German style, is Gloryful returning with their fourth album, Cult Of Sedna. Still with national label Massacre Records, the new album features the bands most stable personnel since the addition of guitarist Adrian Weiss and bass player Daniel "Danij" Perl in 2014.

Gloryful

The music of Cult Of Sedna features Gloryful's faithful interpretation of traditional heavy power metal. Once more you can expect lots of gallop and groove, mucho guitar harmony, oodles of thrilling twin guitar solos, and some rather epic vocal arrangements. Actually, while not uncommon to power metal, Gloryful's vocal arrangements have become a significant aspect of the band's sound. Johnny La Bomba has a fine metal style to his voice, singing clean, melodic, and with some fine range. Yet his voice is then also wrapped in Gloryful's choral-like arrangements. Being a fan of both exceptional vocals and soaring guitar work, Gloryful creates a perfect metal storm for this listener.

As for the tunes within Cult Of Sedna, here's a few highlights. With The Hunt and My Sacrifice, you'll find fast and heavy songs that race from the gate. Alternatively, songs such as Desert Stranger, Brothers In Arms or When The Union Calls On Me can have mixed pacing, but also turn on some fine rock-like rhythm and groove. Throughout you'll find an abundance of feisty guitar solos, likely the sin qua non of all true heavy metal. Suffice to say, Cult Of Sedna is another fine album of classic heavy power metal from Gloryful, perhaps their best album to date. Recommended.

Palace: Binary Music

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

4.5/5.0

So Michael Palace returns with his namesake project, Palace, for a second album, Binary Music. And my first question is, "What the fuck happened to his hair?" ... [ Read More ]

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Suffice to say, Cult Of Sedna is another fine album of classic heavy power metal from Gloryful, perhaps their best album to date.

Alphabetical Index

We have to dig deep, three decades, to find the origins of Atlantic, a project of songwriter, musician, and producer Simon Harrison (then Stranger, Wisht). Initially thought to be a one-off recording, Harrison ... [ Read More ]