Album Review: Diamond Rain – Chapter One Pride & Joy Music – October 23rd, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper There’s been a strange, but not uncommon, phenomenon happening with bands lately. It’s the Ghost effect. Seeing how successful that band has become internationally, other bands have followed suit with band members obscuring their faces and identity. […]

Review: MASON – Edge of Destruction Eönian Records – September 25th, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper With just a bit over twelve months since their last release, MASON have returned to the scene with their third album ‘Edge of Destruction‘. I am usually a bit wary when a band assembles an album so quickly after […]

Review: METALITE – Discovery Perception – September 25th, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper With the band describing themselves as “Modern Sci-Fi inspired Power Metal”, METALITE return with ‘Discovery‘, a concept sequel to their last album ‘Expedition One‘ (review here), set three years after the conclusion of that story (review here). I would like to explain […]

Review: CoreLeoni – Generection Reigning Phoenix Music – September 11th, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper CoreLeoni, the side project founded by Gotthard guitarist Leo Leoni, are back with their fourth studio album, ‘Generection‘. A brief historical summary. CoreLeoni’s first two albums featured the fantastic vocals of singer Ronnie Romero and were re-recordings of mostly classic […]

Review: Osukaru – Tall Tales Pride & Joy Music – August 21st, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper Swedish hard rockers Osukaru are back after a five-year hiatus to bring the world their latest release ‘Tall Tales‘.  Having discovered this band in 2021, I was pleased to be able to review their last album ‘Starbound’ (review here) […]

Review: ILSY – ILSY Lion’s Pride Music – July 31st, 2026 Reviewer – Jason Hopper The band ILSY was born from the ashes of the band Sheela, a band who re-released their debut album ‘Burned Down‘ two years ago on Lions Pride Music (review here). After finalizing the re-release, lead singer and main songwriter Wolfgang Terne […]