I know I said I wouldn't be doing a chapter on new albums for this half of the year until the end of December, but I wound up deciding to break up into two parts so I don't end up with one very long chapter. 

 The new albums I've heard from this summer were mainly pretty enjoyable. These are them: 

The Great War by Sabaton (July 19th)

 I don't listen to Sabaton too often, but I know their sound and style, and a whole album about World War I sounds exactly like something they would do. There didn't seem to be anything about it that made it stand out from any of their other works other than that they don't usually make an album focused on one specific war, but it's your typical Sabaton album, and I don't think there could be anything wrong with that. 

Out of Connection by Sinheresy (July 26th) 

 For those who don't know, Sinheresy is a melodic heavy metal band from Italy, and Out of Connection is their third album. They have a male and female vocalist, Stefano Sain and Cecilia Pretini, and tend to use a lot of electronic sounds in their music. Out of Connection was a good album, and it was enjoyable to listen to. The music reminds me of Amaranthe, but the back-and-forth vocals between Cecilia and Stefano remind me of Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro from Lacuna Coil, and I like that combination. If you're a fan of either of those bands or Sinheresy just sounds like the kind of band you might like, they are worth listening to. 

Last Place on Earth by Ardours (August 9th)

 Ardours is a new gothic/alternative metal duo featuring Mariangela Demurtas (Tristania) and Kris Laurent. This is the only album included in this chapter that I was disappointed by. At first, the album sounded like it would be good, if a little dull, but that's just it: Last Place on Earth was very dull. There was nothing interesting about it at all. 

 There's still a possibility that they're next album will be better, and I hope to hear something better from this band in the future. 

Wanderers by Visions of Atlantis (August 30th)

 Well, I was surprised to hear that Visions of Atlantis would be putting out a new album this summer since they just put out a new album last year, but I was also interested. I've never really been able to get into Visions of Atlantis' music, but The Deep & the Dark was probably the best album I had heard by them so far, and I like Clementine Delauney, so I decided to give Wanderers a listen when it came out. 

 Because of this love-hate relationship with the band, I was surprised by how enjoyable Wanderers was. I think I actually liked this one better than The Deep & the Dark. For a symphonic metal band, there weren't too many symphonic elements to the music, but there wasn't one bad song on the album, and there were great vocals from both Clementine Delauney and Michele Guatioli, plus I loved the ballad "Nothing Lasts Forever". I don't know what happened that turned things around, but it sounds like Visions of Atlantis has reached their full potential. 

In the Raw by Tarja (August 30th) 

 Here's something interesting: two pleasant surprises on the same day. Since I've never been too big a fan of Tarja's solo music (liked My Winter Storm and What Lies Beneath, wasn't too crazy about Colours in the Dark or The Shadow Self), I didn't know what my reaction to In the Raw might be, but after listening to the entire album, I would say this is probably one of Tarja's best solo works. 

 I probably enjoyed the songs "Dead Promises", "Railroads" and "Shadow Play" the most, plus there were great duets with Cristina Scabbia from Lacuna Coil ("Goodbye Stranger") and Tommy Karevik from Kamelot ("Silent Masquerade"). All in all, this is a great symphonic metal album that I would recommend giving a listen if you haven't already. 

Waltzing in Obscurity by Noekk (September 6th) 

 For those who don't know, Noekk is a progressive/doom metal duo founded in 2004 by Schwadorf and Helm from Empyrium. Waltzing in Obscurity is only their fourth album, and it had been over a decade since their last album. I wasn't that impressed with their first three albums, but I am a fan of Empyrium, and one thing I seem to be learning is that just because you didn't like some of the band's previous works doesn't mean you won't like their newest album, so I decided to give Waltzing in Obscurity a chance when it came out. 

 Waltzing in Obscurity feels like a more mature or a more evolved version of their earlier albums. The music still has the same mystical or enchanting feel to it, but here it's more enhanced. I don't even now what subgenre the it would technically be in, because it doesn't sound like doom metal at all, or like any progressive metal I've heard before. Basically, this is one of the best albums I've heard this year, so I'm just going to recommend it to everyone. 

Evolution by Kobra and the Lotus (September 20th) 

 Kobra and the Lotus was another band I was surprised to hear would be putting about an  album this year, since they just put one out last year and I'm pretty sure they put one out the year before that, too (they work fast, I guess). I don't listen to them too often, and they're not a band I'm that big of a fan of, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Evolution. However, once the album came out, I found a few great songs like "Wounds", "Circus" and "Thundersmith". Evolution is a pretty good heavy metal album on the whole, and Kobra Paige has a strong voice that just makes the music better. 

 That is everything for these three months. The next one actually will be at the end of December because it will be covering October, November and December. As a sort of preview, these are albums I think I will be including: 

Black Anima by Lacuna Coil (October 11th) 

Hollow Mirror by Ethereal Kingdoms (October 11th)

Dynamind by Edenbridge (October 25th) 

Spiritual Instinct by Alcest (October 25th) 

Continuum by Cathubodua (October 25th) 

Veil of Imagination by Wilderun (November 1st)

Songs the Night Sings by The Dark Element (November 8th) 

No Halos in Hell by CyHra (November 15th) 

Black Butterfly (EP) by Leaves' Eyes (November 22nd) 

The Eminence of Nature by Coronatus (November 29th)