Turisas, Korpiklaani, TYR, Finntroll, Leaves Eyes, and others are universally nice, even as Bill Zebub drags the questioning into his predictable banality.
In the Kowalskis’ Laurie Anderson sound-alike sweepstakes, Thee Sgt. Major III singer Leslie Beattie takes the cake. Blondie, fun, Ramones, ’60s girl groups.
Content to present a string of clear-the-room quests, a bizarrely complicated weapon-leveling system, and slavish adherence to the worst aspects of the genre.
Far from the extreme sounds of Hypocrisy’s Peter Tägtgren’s day-to-day, Pain is a toweringly poppy and melody-filled slice of polished industrial rock.
Also-rans from the light gun’s mid-’90’s heyday. They’re faithful recreations of arcade games known more for unwieldy plastic cannons than for their gameplay.
Not a bucket list RPG like a Final Fantasy or Zelda, but it doesn’t carry the rigid expectations or sequel fatigue, so it’s free to carve its own unique path.