Jag Panzer - Thane to the Throne (2000)
This is Jag Panzer's magnum opus if you ask me. Such amazing and effective atmosphere throughout!
Decent story too, about this Scottish guy who wants to become king. 5/5

A typical song: King at a Price
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFFRg08VW6s


Jag Panzer - Mechanized Warfare (2001)
This album is "harder" and denser than the other albums, but it also introduces a new type of melodic riffs. We still get the typical big Jag Panzer choruses. 5/5

A typical song: The Silent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaF3BWHBNkQ

Jag Panzer - Casting the Stones (2004)
This is quite frankly boring. I think they got lost in the 7-string guitar riffs. Admittedly I am extremely allergic to 7-string guitars. Nothing good ever came out of one of those.
The one redeeming factor is Harry's vocals. Top form. 3/5

A typical song: Tempest
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbhsWZcK1hM


Jag Panzer - The Scourge of the Light (2011)
Seven years later, and they are back in full force. This album is amazing!
I feel the songs are more varied than before. Some (relatively) rocking riffs, some epics and some almost doom songs. And no more Broderick! 5/5

A typical song: Overlord
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXdmjkhTIs


Now the question is: should I get The Deviant Chord? Nothing but mixed reviews about that one.

There’s some good stuff on The Deviant Chord but I haven’t revisited it much. It’s probably a 4/5 by your scale imo.

Jon Oliva's Pain - Global Warning (2008)
Really uneven album. The best songs are the ones that are the least metal with the most piano.
This could have been so good if he had gone full musical, Jim Steinman style. 3.5/5

One of the good songs: Open Up Your Eyes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrQocYCwHqg


Jon Oliva's Pain - Festival (2010)
This one is more like plain hard rock. Well crafted songs that are well played, but it doesn't move me. 3/5

A typical song: Lies
https://youtu.be/Fk3_lwLRMRc?t=61

Hate to say it, but save ya money mate, it's so average and unmemorable it hurts. Spend it on the mighty Ample Destruction and Chain Of Command albums instead.

All right, will probably pick it up if I see it cheap somewhere.

Judas Priest - Defenders of the Faith (1984)
Classic! If it weren't for the drum sound. But it was the 80s, I get it. 5/5

A typical song: Jawbreaker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwu6epsjGhI

Julie Laughs Nomore - From the Mist of the Ruins (2001)
The singer's got such amazingly cool clean vocals it's a shame he spends so much time growling. Had this album had only clean vocals and the guitars had been tuned up it could have been an all time favourite of mine. The guitars are so busy it often is difficult to hear what they are doing. 4.5/5

A typical song: Eternity Is Just One Step Away
https://youtu.be/fW6vpZzr8Rs?t=1423

But please go ahead and listen to the full album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW6vpZzr8Rs

Jorn - Out to Every Nation (2004)
If you're in to Whitesnakey hard rock/metal, you will enjoy this album. If you, like me, just are a fan of Jorn's vocals you can just stick to Masterplan.
Fantastic guitar playing by the guitarist from Pagan's Mind. Drummer from Pagan's Mind too. It's almost a 4, but the preachy do-gooder lyrics just really annoys me. 3.5/5

A typical song: Young Forever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na3Cl9Fkmio


Jorn - The Duke (2006)
Now it's "modern" rock, with 7-string guitars. They also manage to butcher a Thin Lizzy cover. 2/5

A typical song: After The Dying
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMQAgGREaRc

Kamelot - Siége Perilous (1998)
This is feelgood metal! Metal to relax to. It's all smooth and silky. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
This line up was a case where the sum is bigger than the parts. Just magical. 5/5

A typical song: Parting Visions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuK9rCRsOXk


Kamelot - The Fourth Legacy (1999)
Here they were biting off more than they could chew. There's orchestrations and effects and etno and satan knows what, resulting in a quite atomized album. The choruses are great though and kind of keeps it all together. 4/5

A typical song: Until Kingdom Come
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BsWhI8_fkk

Kamelot - Karma (2001)
And they pulled themselves together again. This album is much more focused. So many simple yet fantastically effective riffs.
I am not a fan of non-metal covers, but Forever is really well made. 5/5

A typical song: Karma
https://youtu.be/G2iKRrrzIss?list=OLAK5 ... F-RKcC4CtM


Kamelot - Epica (2003)
I'm a bit uncertain of the pacing of this album, but since it's a concept album I have to sit down and follow the lyrics to properly judge that.
Still, it's full of great songs. 5/5

A typical song: Center of the Universe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wRreoNRGwk

King Heavy - King Heavy (2015)
Here's a nice find: doom metal of the Chilean variety (apparently there's a doom scene in Santiago spearheaded by Procession and Capilla Ardiente). Naturally there are traces of Candlemass, but I somehow associate this to black/thrash in its rawness and directness.
The one complaint I have is about the lyrics/words. As I've said before, few non-English speakers are able to grasp the musicality and rhythm of the actual words to make the lyrics fit in with the music seamlessly. 4/5

A typical song: La Gárgola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN2AwBT9xy4

It's time for King Diamond!
This is one of my absolute favourite bands, so it will most certainly end up with all 5/5, just to be clear.
I have all the previous albums on vinyl, I'll try to listen to them during coming weekends.

King Diamond - The Graveyard (1996)
Lowest scored KD album here on M-A, and I can't see why. It's just chock full of great and inventive riffs and great solos. King is in fine form as a deranged madman. What's not to like? 5/5

A typical song: Waiting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dYxVroS9e0

My tolerance for King Diamond differs every time I listen to him, but The Graveyard is definitely his most underrated solo album (at least of the 9 I've heard). It would be great if it were a bit shorter, but still a very interesting record.

While the music is awesome here, he descended into self-parody and unintentional comedy with this one. Some of the lyrics and, especially, their delivery just reek of cheese. (ie: the interludes are just silly, and the "die die die die die diiiee" ending to one of the tracks is cringe-inducing.)
But he corrected this on "Voodoo" before lulling us all to sleep with "House of God" which mostly lacks energy.

There are no bad KD records, but his output was spotty in the 90s.

I'm no fan of long albums, but it works for some concept albums, and it works for this one.

Are you the reviewer AnalogKid?
It's King Diamond going full King Diamond here. More is more, as the famous philosopher said.
I think the die die bit is a great representation of his lunacy. The voice acrobatics makes me smile.

I can almost never really tell the difference in quality between any King Diamond solo albums, all of em I've heard are at least pretty cool.

King Diamond - Fatal Portrait (1986)
Haven't listened to this one in a long time. King is so young here! Really in his prime. The songs are very much straight forward compared to both Mercyful Fate and what came later. The bass playing is great. As is everything. 5/5

A typical song: Lurking In The Dark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHw1olE91YM


King Diamond - Abigail (1987)
Their magnum opus! The guitar work is just deadly. LaRocque and Denner really connected here. Also the KD style is cemented.
One of the best metal albums of all time. 18/9

A typical song: Arrival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gFgiIFVSNk

King Diamond - Voodoo (1998)
Not completely sold on this one. A couple of songs are really back heavy (is that an expression in English?). The riffs are good and the melodies are good but the song doesn't take off. There are a lot of these syncopated riffs that stops the flow. Also the slightly thrashy bits are not a plus in my book and there are less twin guitar leads than usual. The cover art is fantastic though.
I strongly dislike hidden tracks! Especially when they are dumb. which they always are. 4/5

A typical song: "LOA" House
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcgK1sx1VLY

King Diamond - House of God (2000)
This is King being economical. It's got the typical twists and turns, different riffs and tempo changes but it's like it's been refined, and the songs run smoother. There are lots of riffs that's got an early 80s/NWOBHM feel. You could probably trick people that this is the first KD album from 1983. 5/5

A typical song: The Pact
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOJgd26jH8A

I'm not familiar with the King Diamond discography but I've listened to this album a lot and I agree. It's absolutely massive. I often make the claim that the work the band does here is some of the best ever in the metal genre. The guitars are great, the bass playing plays it perfect in a balance of keeping it steady and exploring new territories and the drumming is awesome. I often claim that Mikkey Dee might be the best hard rock/metal drummer for me. He isn't plashy but when he plays there is that certain special something there that's hard to define.

King Diamond - Abigail II: The Revenge (2002)
Who else but King Diamond can make a sequel that is as good as the first album? No one! 5/5

A typical song: Slippery Stairs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IhGZT2uxq8

King Diamond - Puppet Master (2003)
Another King Diamond album, another masterpiece. Maybe a bit more regular hooks this time. The story is absolutely disgusting. 5/5

A typical song: Magic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLcvxjisRww

King Diamong - Give Me Your Soul... Please (2007)
Sixteen years ago. Will this be that last thing we hear from King Diamond? It is perhaps maybe a tiny bit formulaic, but as long as the blueprint is awesome I'm happy. 5/5

PS. If we do get another album, it would be great if it didn't involve any little girl.

A typical song: Never Ending Hill
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cx-0bSsvAI

I see what you did there, and I appreciate it

Kreator - Violent Revolution (2001)
As you know by now, I'm not a thrash fan, and I really like this album. Mainly because there's very little thrash here. There's not a lot of d-beat or regular thrash riffs, but a lot of plain (albeit aggressive) heavy metal and a bit of melodic death metal. And lots of twin guitar leads! The idiosyncratic major key riffs are really cool and I like the vocals. Or rather, I like Mille's voice. 4/5

A typical song: Reconquering the Throne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0BZVo0 ... N3hsbrGEpq

Krux - Krux (2002)
Candlemass with an organ player. Is there a need for this? No.
Jörgen Sandström from Grave/Entombed on guitar and Peter Stjärnvind from Entombed on drums, but they don't add anything. The organ doesn't add much either. The guitars are stoner rock fuzzy and the riffs are repetetive, but not in a minimalistic way. Just a repetetive and slightly annoying way.
This could have been an interesting Candlemass album, but it isn't. 3/5

A typical song: Omfalos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXcVYKRR63g


Krux - II (2006)
This sounds like Candlemass between s/t and King of the Grey Islands, only boringer. With HM-2 guitars. Leif could have gone full drone. Or collaborated with other musicians. Imagine doing this with pop/rock musicians. At least it would have been different. 2/5

A typical song: Serpent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEv62DTdChY

I don't know if you're going to do Krux III next, but for me that was definitely the highlight of the band.

I still feel like Lief has essentially been writing Krux records and releasing them under different names. Their third album is the best but that debut is essentially the patient zero for everything he’s done in the last twenty years.

Don't have that one. I'll stick to Candlemass.

Labÿrinth - Return to Heaven Denied(1998)
Proper happy metal, because this makes me happy! Italian power metal of the finest quality. Or rather power/prog actually. I never fully realised just how much prog there are in this, although the power metal aestethics are dominant. But there are little prog bits scattered throughout. And sometimes the bassist goes into Chris Squire-mode.
Italy's best metal vocalist and copious amounts of double bass. What more can you ask for? 6/5

A typical song: Moonlight
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFaaIZQy_do


Labÿrinth - Sons of Thunder (2001)
A lot less power metal on this one. There are still speedy songs, but overall it's much more atmospheric, and less direct. It's a grower. If the previous album was happy metal, this is feel good-metal. 5/5

A typical song: Rage of the King
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaQapbS55jM

Completely agreed on the 6/5 rating. This album just gets better with time and is one of the peaks of power metal.

I quite like all three of the Krux albums. Solid stuff...

Krux is fine, not better than Candlemass but decent enough to put on every once in a while. For my money Abstrakt Algebra is the best thing any of the members of Candlemass have done outside of that band with Memento Mori being a close runner up.

Labÿrinth - Labÿrinth (2003)
No power metal left now. Not sure what to call this really. Poppy neo-prog with the occasional double bass? It's good, but nothing special. 3/5

A typical song: This World
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RsXhq8CMxEE


Labÿrinth - Welcome to the Absurd Circus (2021)
What a surprise this was! I gave up on Labÿrinth after the s/t, so this caught me off guard. For all intents and purposes this might as well be a differen band. It's neiter power metal nor prog anymore. I'll give it that elusive genre tag "melodic metal", meaning the music is more harmony driven than riff driven, and the melodies are just as important. And what melodies! Quite light and absolutely captivating. A future classic!
I would like to give this one 6/5, but as it hasn't stood the test of time yet it will be 5+/5

A typical song: Sleepwalker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUSTqHp9Lmc

Lethal - Programmed (1990)
Yet another US prog/power band that fell victim to the 90s. The sound is quite close to Crimson Glory, but they lack the atmosphere. They aren't really there songwriting-wise, and it's too bad they didn't keep going. 4/5

It's uncanny how much Tom Mallicoat sounds like Andreas Stoltz from Hollow.

A typical song: Arrival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuQIxqcBW1M

Johnny Lima - Made in America (2003)
Somewhat sleazy AOR. It's shock full of cliches, but they are good cliches. Mindless fun like this is the kind of fun I want sometimes. 4/5

If you don't enjoy this you are afraid of yourself: Another Girl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki4N2urZQR8

Might have to look into getting this one, the song you posted sounds pretty good to me.