Welcome to the second installment of the snarky, irreverent world of Rimshots, reconstituted for the online world that is Hellbound.ca. Enjoy them, because I know I didn’t. After suffering through this crop of crap, all I have to ask is: Sean, dude, what did I ever do to you?!

Along with Matt Barlow, vocalist Andy Franck of Brainstorm is one of the more unique and better singers in the power metal genre and without him, Brainstorm’s sixth album Memorial Roots would have been just an average album at best.

A very solid mature release that should garner them some attention, Acedia is chock full of very well written songs that are smartly paced and demand repeat listens.

Now on album number seven, this is their heaviest release to date by far. They still retain a bit of a prog vibe but the way the riffs are written they just reek of full on power metal.

Forever is the World is the latest offering from Norway’s Theatre of Tragedy.

Incredibly upbeat and dominant despite the overuse of operatics and keyboards—they still sound stuck somewhere between Diary Of A Madman and The Neverending Story soundtrack—Utopia is an indelibly catchy affair even if it refuses to advance the state of metal.

Unfortunately, while the best moments of Dominator would make a pretty solid EP, this mostly mid-paced album has a hard time holding my attention for 50 minutes.

Setlist for the recent Doro show in Toronto on Hellbound.ca