Since many bands have put out new albums so far this year, I've decided to give my thoughts on the ones I've been listening to and thought it would be less time-consuming to put them all into one chapter. Here are the ten new 2019 albums I've listened to: 

Irrlichter by Ewigheim (Jan. 18th)

 Ewigheim is a German gothic metal band which I originally checked out a couple of months ago after finding out that Schwadorf and Konstanz from The Vision Bleak are both in the band. I was actually impressed by this album, and I think it's probably one of their best. 

 Irrlichter has a certain melancholy feel to it that I believe gothic metal should have, and there was a lot of passion in the music. I was also surprised by the difference in Konstanz's singing from TVB; here his voice sounds lighter and more relaxed, and I liked the change. 

Resist by Within Temptation (Feb. 1st)

 I've never been an actual fan of Within Temptation, but I do like a few songs from their older albums (Mother Earth, The Silent Force) and I thought a couple of the singles from Resist sounded pretty good, which is why I decided to listen to the album in full. Not being much of a fan, I didn't realize how much their music had changed since the early 2000s; they seem to have moved away from symphonic metal and gone more towards an industrial metal sound. 

 I did not like Resist. I found it dull and it just failed to interest me. I was bored with it by time I was halfway through the album. I might go back and listen to more of their early music, but this wasn't one I was able to enjoy. 

Flames of Eternity by Imperia (Feb. 22)

 Imperia isn't one of the better-known symphonic metal bands out there, but I think they're pretty good. Though technically a contralto, the band's singer, Helena Iren Michaelson, has a very wide vocal range. On this album, she mainly uses deep contralto vocals, which is a change from some of the band's other music and fits the music pretty well. I didn't think this one was as good as earlier Imperia albums like Queen of Light and Secret Passion, but Flames of Eternity has some good songs and is very enjoyable. 

Human by Darkwater (March 1st)

 Darkwater are a Swedish progressive metal band and a recent discovery of mine (although they've been around since 2003), and this album was my first time hearing anything by them. I love the melodic sound of their music, and their singer's vocals (to me sounds like a combination of Roy Khan and Jake E.). I really enjoyed Human, and I would recommend the band who likes progressive and/or melodic metal. 

ANN Chapter 2: Anastasia Romonova by Ex Libris

 I don't care much for Ex Libris, but I love Dianne van Giersbergen and I liked ANN Chapter 1: Ann Boleyn. I didn't like this second one as much as the first one, but I think it was well-thought-out and well-written.

Zeitriese by Lacrimosa (March 25th)

 This one is a compilation of songs from all of Lacrimosa's albums. I like the song selection and I think it's a nice look at the band's history. Only the last two tracks were brand-new songs; however, I found them both to be kind of dull. If they're going to be on Lacrimosa's next album, I really hope Tilo will add in a few songs with more of a beat to complement them.  

Ategnatos by Eluveitie (April 5th)

 Eluveitie is a mixed bag for me; I didn't like their early stuff, but I thought Evocation II was a good album, which was what led me to listen to Ategnatos when it came out. While Evocation II was a mainly acoustic album, Ategnatos has a nice blend of metal and folk sounds. I think there was more metal than folk in this one than I heard in previous works, but I liked the sound of the album and the back-and-forth between Chrigel Glanzmann and Fabienne Erni's voices-hers brings the folk sound, his brings the metal sound. 

Unchained and Soaring by Lureaway (May 11th)

 Lureaway are a fairly recent symphonic metal band from Latvia. Unchained and Soaring is their first full-length album, and one of their songs happened to show up in my YouTube recommendations a few weeks after the album came out.

 I don't think Unchained and Soaring was very well-done; the music and the singer's voice are good separately, but they don't seem to work well together, plus I didn't find the songs themselves very interesting. But I will give them a break because it's their first album, and the next one could be better. 

Untitled by Rammstein (May 17th)

 I had never listened to Rammstein's music before hearing the singles from this album (had heard of them, but didn't listen to them). Because there was a lot of excitement over it, I decided to go listen to the songs and see what it was all about. I did not leave unimpressed. 

 This album (which doesn't have an official name and is just referred to as Rammstein) is a excellent industrial/electronic metal album. You can clearly hear all the passion the band put into it, and that is something I love to hear. I don't know if it's been like that with every album but I plan to listen to more of their earlier music anyway. 

Beneath in the Cold by Storm Seeker (May 18th)

 A while back, I heard a few songs from Storm Seeker's EP Pirate Scum and thought they were a good band, which is why I listened to Beneath in the Cold after it came out. However, I didn't like the album. A couple of the songs were all right, but the majority of it was not very good. It could just be that I'm not too into folk or pirate metal, but I didn't enjoy this one. 

The Ghost I Am by Dawn of Eternity (May 18th)

 The Ghost I Am is a great follow-up at the band's first album Guilty. What attracted me to the first album was that the music had this certain dark atmosphere to it (don't know how else to describe it), which is something I liked. The Ghost I Am continued that, and it really pulled me in. Would recommend them if you like gothic metal. 

Mustan Sydamen Rovio by Marko Hietala (May 24th)

 I was a little excited when I found out Marco from Nightwish was coming out with a solo album because I've always thought of him as a great singer. His vocal abilities definitely come out on this album, but I didn't find the music itself too interesting. It reminded me a little of Nightwish partly through the music and partly through Marko's vocals, and it is a good, solid album. I just didn't think much else of it. 

De Rerum Natura by Moonlight Haze (June 21st) 

 Moonlight Haze is a new symphonic power metal band from Italy, and De Rerum Natura is their debut album. It sounds like your typical symphonic metal album, and I found nothing unique about it, but I genuinely enjoyed this album. I like the band and I like their style, so they have earned themselves a fan with this debut. 

 That's everything I have to say for this half of the year, so I plan to post another chapter at the end of December for the second half of the year. As a preview, these are some albums that will probably be included: 

The Great War by Sabaton (coming out July 19th)

Out of Connection by Sinheresy (coming out July 26th)

Last Place on Earth by Ardours (coming out August 9th)

In the Raw by Tarja (coming out August 30th) 

Wanderers by Visions of Atlantis (coming out August 30th)

Dynamind by Edenbridge (coming out October 25th)

Second album by The Dark Element (supposed to be out by the end of the year) 

Untitled ANN Chapter 3 by Ex Libris (supposed to be out this fall)