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7.0
MOONSPELLHermitage
Hermitage trades Moonspell’s usual theatrical force for reflective weight, and the restraint often reveals more than spectacle would.
6.0
FINNTROLLVredesvävd
A compact, expertly made Finntroll record whose darker atmosphere is persuasive, though few songs become truly indispensable.
7.0
AMORPHISTales From The Thousand Lakes
Amorphis transform death metal through Finnish folk melody and mournful keyboards on a landmark album that remains strange and absorbing.
4.0
JINJERMacro
Macro is full of striking performances and sharp contrasts, but its emotional and musical fragments rarely form a convincing whole.
10.0
CHILDREN OF BODOMHate Crew Deathroll
Children of Bodom at full velocity: vicious, melodic, absurdly catchy and nearly flawless in its balance of hooks and aggression.
7.0
SABATONThe Great War
The Great War is compact, rhythmically sturdy and hook-heavy, though Sabaton’s formula occasionally turns history into assembly-line spectacle.
6.0
KAMELOTThe Shadow Theory
A polished, technically assured Kamelot record whose careful construction too often settles into predictable mid-tempo symmetry.
6.0
ELUVEITIESlania
Eluveitie’s breakthrough balances melodic death metal force with memorable folk instrumentation, though the formula can feel overly calculated.
8.0
AT THE GATESThe Red In The Sky Is Ours
At the Gates’ debut is chaotic, mournful and adventurous, capturing melodic death metal before its language became standardized.
6.0
EDGE OF SANITYNothing But Death Remains
Edge of Sanity’s debut is raw, compact Swedish death metal with flashes of the ambition that would later define the band.
6.0
MESARTHIMIsolate
Mesarthim build a convincing cosmic atmosphere, but the album’s rhythmic sameness keeps its strongest ideas from fully escaping orbit.
8.0
FINNTROLLJaktens Tid
Finntroll’s breakthrough remains a riotous collision of black-metal bite, lurching folk melodies and gloriously unruly momentum.
10.0
TURISASBattle Metal
Turisas turn folk metal into a full-scale war pageant, delivering a debut packed with hooks, momentum and theatrical conviction.