Indie 2010
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
07 June 2010

Epicrenel is a new band featuring former and current members of bands such as Adagio, Adamantra and Olympos Mons. Melodic Power Metal is the name of the game, and as you might quess, the level of musicianship is high. The five songs on the CD all boast colourful arrangements and outstanding performances. I especially like the keyboard work of Risto Kupiainen and the vocals of Christian Palin, formely of Random Eyes and Adagio, not to mention a finalist in Finland's X-Factor.

Indie 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
07 June 2010

A metal opera with a science fiction theme... I approached this CD with caution, half-expecting it to be something long-winded and pretentious, with insanely long instrumental parts. Shame on me for being prejudical, this space opera might be actually very good! I say "might be" because I only got a 4-track sampler, and I have no idea what the other songs are like. These four tracks make me anxious to hear more though.

The band behind this opera is called Coventhrall. Vocalist Sami Ilvonen is known for his work with bands like Maiden Hell, Trinity and Dr. Purple. TV watchers might remember him from X-Factor. He plays the main character of the opera, and he also wrote the story. The music is written by bassist Jukka Hoffren (also in Adamantra) and guitarist Toni Bite. Together they've created something that reminds me of Avantasia, and in my books that's a good thing. Powerful refrains, interesting arrangements and a lot of guest vocalists, including former Lullacry singer Tanya and Christian Palin of Random Eyes and Adagio.

Indie 2009
Review by Alan Holloway,
8th June 2009

I don’t usually like to review unsigned band’s EP’s, because if you make a habit of it you get a stupid amount of them thrust at you and it gets hard to get round to listening to them all. To this end, I like to pick and choose this sort of thing, usually after seeing a band live, and when I witnessed the force of nature that is Morph last week I just had to pick up their new 6 track.

For a self produced effort, the CD has a good, solid sound and decent design. It looks and sounds professional, which can be a tough job sometimes. Musically, it’s solid as a rock, full of monster riffs and some great hooks, broken up by the slower, atmospheric “Stanley” in the middle. Mark Pascall’s vocals stand up very well, which is impressive as poor vocals often let down self produced discs. With a full production behind him he’s gonna sound great. All six tracks show the huge potential that this band has, although they don’t convey how amazing they are as a live act. Still, this is certainly one of the best EP’s that you will find out there at the moment and comes highly recommended.
www.myspace.com/morphrock

Indie 2008
Review by Kimmo Toivonen,
24 February 2009

I reviewed this band's first single back in July 2007, and although their sound was rough around the edges, I remember being intrigued by it - symphonic metal with a violin player isn't something you come across every day. Now it's 2009, and the band has evolved into a rather decent prog metal group. What's more, they still have the violin player to add that distinct edge to their music, and their songwriting has improved a great deal. I don't hear a cross-over hit to rival the likes of Nightwish or Within Temptation, but I don't know whether the band's interested in appealing to the masses anyway.

The production's okay and the arrangements are colourful, but vocalist Anu's sometimes over-the-top, theatrical style tends to grate me a bit. Overall she does a good job, but every now and then she adds a bit too much character to her singing! That's merely my opinion, some might consider it refreshing and exciting. She surely isn't a Tarja- or Anette-wannabe... in fact her voice reminds me a bit of Leather, the vocalist who sang on some Chastain albums back in the day.

BB 2009
Review by Urban "Wally" Wallstrom,
28 January 2009

Black Bay is a relatively young and up-and-coming band from my homeland, Sweden. They've been recording a couple of previous demos in the past and are now slowly building up their fanbase and reputation as a very solid Thrash/Metal act. They have a remarkable strong riff-master duo in Mikael Westberg & Lars Westberg and are a rather inventive band with influences from the likes of Soilwork, Metallica, Faith No More.

They certainly make a lively and often thrashy racket, pinned down by power riffing in the old school of Mustaine, Hammet, etc. However, they're not totally stuck in the eighties as their six-track CD is a perfect display of both old and new. Nontheless, a tune like, "Above Reality", could just as easily have been leftover from any Faith No More album in the past.

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