Manilla Road

Templar – Conquering Swords Review

By Steel Druhm on February 26, 2026 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 47 comments

“There’s a burgeoning old school 80s trve metal movement growing these days, with more and more young bands longing to sound really olde. Steel is there for that, as it speaks directly to his ancient bones. A good number of these retro sword-swinging acts seem to be coming out of Sweden of late. We covered Century’s Sign of the Storm last year, and here comes Templar with their Conquering Swords debut, which was produced by Century’s Staffan Tengnér. As a fan of conquest and swords (and that awesome van-worthy cover art), I’m the target audience for this early 80s throwback insanity.” Room & sword.

Olymp – Rising Review

By Steel Druhm on December 18, 2025 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 15 comments

“You’ve heard me rant about the horrors that lurk in the promo sump come December, and how it’s mostly sub-basement black metal made by those who live on gas station pizza rolls. That kind of low-target high-risk environment is why I noticed the offering from German trve metal act Olymp and took action upon it rashly.” May your sword stay stiff.

Dolmen Gate – Echoes of Ancient Tales [Things You Might Have Missed 2025]

By Baguette of Bodom on December 4, 2025 in Things You Might Have Missed 2025, Heavy Metal, 32 comments

“You can never have too many swords. This has always been the truth, and Portugal’s Ravensire was well aware of it, following in the triumphant heavy metal footsteps of fellow countrymen Ironsword for three albums. Even when fate would strike down Ravensire in 2020, drummer Alex and guitarist Nuno remained undeterred. They formed a new lineup under the Dolmen Gate banner and got to work immediately.” Sword hoarders.

Phantom Spell – Heather & Hearth Review

By Angry Metal Guy on July 24, 2025 in Reviews, Progressive Metal, Progressive Rock, 94 comments

“During the 16 years that AMG has been a thing, I have criticized the trend of reaching back for the sounds of yore and creating high-fidelity copies. Dubbed “Nostalgiacore,” I regularly razzed Steel Druhm about his obsession with his lost glory days and heartily rolled my eyes at Rethrash. I thumbed my nose at the 3,500 bands a week we were getting in 2015, wearing bell-bottoms and writing Black Sabbath riffs 45 years after Black Sabbath was released.” Ruh roh…

Serpent Rider – The Ichor Of Chimaera Review

By Steel Druhm on March 27, 2025 in Reviews, Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, 44 comments

“Steel never gets his fill of old-timey, sword-swinging trve metal. It’s one of the few genres that pulls me away from the rot pit these days, and a break from the reek of putrefaction is always nice. Enter The Ichor Of Chimaera, the debut from Los Angeles-based trvesters Serpent Rider, featuring Brandon Corsair of Houkago Grind Time and Draghkar.” Snake charm, sword disarm.

Century – Sign of the Storm Review

By Holdeneye on January 21, 2025 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, NWOBHM, 30 comments

“There’s something so magical about epic traditional metal. Of course, I could be speaking about the genre’s sword and sorcery themes, but I actually mean it in a much larger sense. So much of today’s metal is unmistakably modern in the way that it is produced, played, and marketed, and, yes, I enjoy a ton of this perfectly polished output. But it’s so much fun to have a sub-genre of our favorite music that not only transports us back decades in time through conscious aesthetic choices but also teleports us to another universe where might and magic reign supreme.” Century of trveness.

Legendarium – For Eternal Glory Review

By Eldritch Elitist on November 16, 2024 in Reviews, Melodic Death Metal, Power Metal, 27 comments

“Powerdeath. That’s the genre tag attached to Legendarium’s fifth album For Eternal Glory, and one I’d almost certainly roll my eyes at, had I not been following this curious project since its debut LP. Through arcane magics of ancient origin], I became aware of Legendarium, the brainchild of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Laurence Kerbov and drummer Stefano Vaccari, in its earliest stages as a charmingly amateurish blend of traditional metal and classic punk. 2022’s Death’s Hand in Yours changed their status quo, not only by amping up their power metal side and introducing death metal elements to the mix, but also by being the first Legendarium record to be legitimately good. For Eternal Glory is their logical next step.” Legendary genre blend?

Phaëthon – Wielder of the Steel Review

By Steel Druhm on August 31, 2024 in Reviews, Epic Metal, Heavy Metal, 24 comments

“Maybe I’m alone in this, but I want more sword-swinging trve/epic metal in my life. I want more bands sounding like Cirith Ungol,Brocas Helm, and Manilla Road in circulation. I miss that classic sound and find myself walking among the tombstones of past albums like King of the Dead and Out of the Gates more and more as I approach extreme ancienthood. This made me a fairly easy mark for England’s Phaëthon who aspire to weld Viking-era Bathory onto the framework established by the 80s epic greats and continued by bands like Doomsword.” Steel fatigue.

Flamekeeper – Flamekeeper Review

By Kenstrosity on May 6, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 17 comments

“We’ve covered Flamekeeper mastermind Marco S. before, under his blackened death metal project Demonomancy. It stands to reason, then, that Marco knows what black metal sounds like, but there is almost no trace of it in Flamekeeper. An occasional dalliance with quicker gallops verifies some measure of power metal heritage as well, but at the core this music is tailor-made for raising swords and pumping chests in the traditional way—think less Morgul Blade and more Manowar.” Epic flames of burnt ciders?

Acerus – The Caliginous Serenade Review

By Steel Druhm on February 2, 2024 in Reviews, Heavy Metal, 31 comments

“The Chasm have been cracking skulls since 1994 with their riff-intensive, wildly creative death metal. Over the years they evolved from ass-scratching caveman death to technical insanity engineers, but skulls were always smashed just the same. Though I’ve been a fan forever, somehow I missed that The Chasm’s bassist/guitarist/vocalist Daniel Corchado had an epic/trve metal side project called Acerus and had been releasing albums since 2014. For this, I feel great shame and now I must make amends. The Caliginous Serenade is their fourth release and this one will be properly exposed to the AMG masses!” Ride of the Gorge Warriors.