Band leader and frontman, Bruce Dickinson is back with his conspirators in Iron Maiden, and their latest release “The Final Frontier” proves the point that Iron Maiden still have it in their style of heavy pounding rhythms and memorable heavy metal anthems.

This 10-song CD is 76 minutes in length and all of the cuts here are 100% Iron Maiden at its finest.

Listening to “The Final Frontier” is like going on an intricate journey of heart pounding rhythms, melodic riffing, harmony and power driven vocals, and an atmosphere that is all Iron Maiden. It’s hard to explain, so don’t take my word for it, and listen to their opening track, “Satellite 15… The Final Frontier” and you will feel as if you’re Eddie’s orbit of immense darkness and space without any boundaries. Sounds scary as hell? It is, but in a positive way that’ll get you banging your head and swinging your fists in air while you listen to this beast of a song.

From the catchy choruses and melodic riffs on “Mother Of Mercy” to the infectious verses and superbly composed arrangements on “When The Wild Wind Blows”, you’re certainly in for a rockin’ ride of a lifetime.

And another song I very much enjoyed listening to was “El Dorado” due to Dickinson’ s aggressive vocal passages and passionate singing. I bet this guy can move mountains with his energetic singing. The almost semi-thrashy guitar rhythm arrangements preceding their superbly played lead runs fucking kicks major ass, oh ya!!!!

Keep in mind, one thing, Iron Maiden has always been a love it or hate them type of band as they first and foremost play to please themselves and “The Final Frontier” is no different as this album will take a good couple of spins to get into the swing of things.

This album was produced quite well by producer Kevin Shirley, so the sound, mix and everything else shine within the production values on this record.

“The Final Frontier” is a solid concoction of “Somewhere In Time”, “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son”, “Fear Of The Dark” and “Brave New World.

Iron Maiden has written a gem of a release with “The Final Frontier” and is 100% heavy metal at its finest.

Popularity: 24% [?]

Finland’s power/prog metal fusionists Stratovarius never fail to impress with each of their albums as they keep getting better and even more creative in the songwriting department, which always makes for a great listening pleasure to this band.

I love this quintet’s musicianship as it has tons of heavy parts, progressive elements and well-written guitar and vocal harmonies.

“Elysium” features nine stellar tracks of musical and vocal brilliance. Everyone in this band gets to shine on their respective talent, which also makes listening to Stratovarius such a cool experience.

Whenever I listen to these guys, I very much feel like I am travelling in a time capsule to a far of futuristic world, wow!!!.

Listen to the crunchy rhythm guitars intermingling with the futuristic synthesizer passages on “Lifetime In A Moment”, courtesy of keyboardist Jens Johansson (who is a total keyboard and synthesizer master), and the pounding drums will make you feel as if Stratovarius has stole your soul.

The other eight songs on offer here are just as brilliant, and will bring memories of your childhood, when life was so fucking carefree and not so stressful as it is when we’re much older.

“Elysium” has plenty of positive subject matter at hand, such as the positive impact of the world on our lives, the stages humans go through when they set to find who they really are, and many other realities we’re faced with in our daily existence.

This is a hit in my book and I very much recommend checking out “Elysium” as it is sure to rock your world inside-and-out.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Wow, is this a trip back to the flower power era of psychadelia and water bongs? Spirits Of The Dead play a very tripped out blend of 60s and 70s infused rock influenced by the likes of Blue Oyster Cult, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix Experience to a certain degree.

“The Great God Pan” is a very tripped-sounding CD, especially if you’ve never been exposed to 60s sounding stuff along the lines of “White Rabbit” from Jefferson Airplane or even early Deep Purple. Keep in mind; Spirits Of The Dead do not play radio friendly music as their style is more geared towards fans of acid rock with a darker feel to it.

The sound, production and mix are pretty strong and definitely bring out the band’s ungodly sonic antics to life.

“The Great God Pan” should be experienced with some good herbs you can inhale, which will truly help you discover your own space whatever that may be.

These deadheads are definitely not my cup of coffee, but it is something that is prone to become a hit among cult followers of this kind of rock music.

Popularity: 21% [?]