Steamhammer

The subtle arc of suspense on the new Them concept album, ‘Psychedelic Enigma’, brings to mind legendary horror movie classics: The power metal recording kicks off with extremely tough, brutal and fast-paced numbers, spinning an enigmatic storyline around its mysterious protagonist and only revealing his secret – similar to the blockbusters ‘The Others’ (featuring Nicole Kidman) or ‘The Sixth Sense’ (featuring Bruce Willis) – at the very end, in an epicprogressive grand finale. The content of the disc takes up where its four predecessors ‘Sweet Hollow’ (2016), ‘Manor Of The Se7en Gables’ (2018), ‘Return To Hemmersmoor’ (2020), and ‘Fear City’ (2022) left off, but is even more powerful musically.

Edenbridge: Set the Dark on Fire [CD]

No doubt about it, a distinctive fighting spirit is an integral part of Jet Jaguar’s DNA: The fourpiece from Mexico are one of the most promising metal newcomers of 2025 and have survived a dramatic line-up change just as effortlessly as the difficult lockdown years and – you could say: as a dramatic climax – a serious traffic accident in autumn 2024 during their tour with Anvil. At the end of the day, all of this has helped the band to grow tougher and more mature. Now the release of their second album ‘Severance’ is about to prove how important passion and perseverance are for an ambitious metal act.

Gluecifer: Same Drug New High [CD]