retro-review – Metal Eclipse Reviews

Retro-review: Theatre of Tragedy – Velvet Darkness They Fear

Vicky

To start things on a more depressing note, this album is close to three decades of existence, being released in 1996. The year itself was absolutely remarkable for the Metal industry, with new material from My Dying Bride (Like Gods of the Sun), Opeth (Morningrise), Sepultura (Roots), Cradle of Filth (Dusk… and Her Embrace), Hypocrisy (Abducted), Type O Negative (October Rust), Rage (Lingua Mortis and then End of All Days), Therion (Theli), The 3^rdand the Mortal (Painting on Glass), Napalm Death (Diatribes), Pantera (The Great Southern Trendkill), and other albums that are less praised but also important for the Metal world, by Moonspell, Stratovarius, Tool, Warrant, Zakk Wylde, Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Slipknot, Staind, Stone Temple Pilots, and the band of Sakis and Themis Tolis. So, as you may notice, this was one of the best years to be alive.

Retro-Review: Moonsorrow – Voimasta ja kuuniasta

Milo Lane

As a fan of all things retro, there had to come a time for my first ever retro-review — late as usual, but that just means the album had more time to become retro, don’t you think?

Retro-review: Shape of Despair – Monotony Fields

Pegah

Sometimes a bond forms between you and an album that feels utterly singular—something that can’t be replicated, only forged through endless replays of the same tracks. For me, Monotony Fields became exactly that: one of the most influential records in guiding me toward the realm of Funeral Doom. The summer of 2016 was steeped in the soundscapes Shape of Despair summoned from the depths of darkness, and even now, each listen evokes emotions that their later work has never been able to recreate.

Retro-Review: Summoning – Stronghold

Welcome to Retro-Reviews, a space where I indulge in my own nostalgic reveries, reminiscing about a time that never truly existed, but one that I’ve crafted through various random albums that hold significance for me. Whether good or bad, one thing is certain: remembering can be a bittersweet journey.

Retro-Review: Epica – Consign to Oblivion

Vicky

We are in April 2005, and After Forever gave birth to a new band about three years prior. They called themselves Sahara Dust, and then they changed their name to Epica. In 2005, the world witnessed the birth of Dark Tranquillity’s Character, HammerFall’s Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken, Kamelot’s The Black Halo, Galneryus’s Advance to the Fall, and Metalium’s Demons of Insanity – Chapter Five, to name a few. In the non-Metal world, astronomers discovered the dwarf planet Eris (one of the largest dwarf planets in our solar system), YouTube was born, and Yahoo! was the most popular website out there… Good times. Well, those good times would come to an end in August, with the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina, but that is a bit irrelevant to the Epica masterpiece I want to review.

Retro-review: Galneryus – Resurrection

Elyna Kahn

Today’s journey takes us back to 2010, a year marked by a memorable musical landscape. Epic albums like The Wicked Symphony by Avantasia, At the Edge of Time by Blind Guardian, What Lies Beneath by Tarja Turunen, and The Frozen Tears of an Angel by Rhapsody of Fire emerged, becoming essential cornerstones in Power/Symphonic Metal. At the same time, 2010 saw devastating natural disasters. On February 27th, a massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake followed by a mega tsunami claimed hundreds of lives in Chile. Just two weeks later, Japan was struck by another powerful earthquake, leaving destruction in its wake.

Retro-Review: The Morningside – The Wind, The Trees and The Shadows of The Past

Hi there! I know I usually kick off this section with a paragraph about the tragic loss of “happier” times, but today, we have a new writer debuting. The spotlight’s on them! Welcome the Stargazer Scholar (find them here!). So, be nice on social media, or I’ll find you…

Retro-Review: Overkill – Feel the Fire

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Retro-Review: Megadeth – Rust in Peace

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Retro-Review: Iron Maiden – Virtual XI (with Elyna)

Alright! I’m excited to announce that we’re welcoming our first guest writer to this section. I won’t lie to you; in my opinion, this is a hot take. So, kill each other with kindness in the comments. Anyway, go give Elyna Kahn a follow, or even better, check out her Patreon. Enough from me, I leave you in her hands.