Been listening to this album on Spotify and I am quite blown away! These guys have a great progressive metal sound with a good mix of dark sections and more melodic sections. Great vocals in the higher style common in Italy (though band is from Norway).
Metal, hard rock, rock, goth, symphonic, progressive. Whatever you want to call it. Personally I think like with many other things in life the lines have been blurred. I know I am way behind on geeting this release, and to be honest I can't even remember why I didn't buy it when it first came out. I just got Symphony X's Iconoclast a little over a month ago. WOW ! A heavier guitar sound and more guitar driven release. Easily my favorite Symphony X album. Michael Romeo is a beast ! Smoke & Mirrors by Lynch Mob. Oni Logan back for vocal duties and kind of a blues influenced rock album by George Lynch and company. Great CD. The King Kobra II CD is new music, but a blast from the past. Anything Paul Shortino sings on I listen to. Paul Shortino and Kelly Keeling are easily my two favorite vocalists. Tom Keifer's solo album is very good. I just heard that Josey Scott left Saliva. I will give the new singer a chance (and the band) but Josey did the vast majority of song writting and sang. Hard to envision Saliva without Josey. I wonder if Slayer is going to keep putting out new material since Jeff Hanneman passed away. They have been around a long time (and still going strong). I enjoy all forms of rock, but if you wanted to put me in a catagory, I would be in the hard rock line lol. I grew up in the 80's when rock was king. It never went away, but I am glad to see all its forms forging ahead.
check out EDENBRIDGE from Austria....symphonic metal to the max and their latest album THE BONDING....the title cut alone is worth the purchase price. They're on Youtube.
So I thought anyone who reads this thread would be interested to know that I'm going to a Kamelot concert in a few weeks on September 21 in Ahaheim. They are having Delain as the opening band. Should be a lot of fun! Anyone in the area or interested should post here and hopefully we can meet up.
Been listening to this album on Spotify and I am quite blown away! These guys have a great progressive metal sound with a good mix of dark sections and more melodic sections. Great vocals in the higher style common in Italy (though band is from Norway).
Not only are they from Norway, sirius -- the guitarist of the band is a good friend of mine!
He's now in a new band about to release their first album. The band is called Withem, and they're playing on Progpower USA next year. Here's a fun promo video my friend shot:
Just got Jason Newsted's solo album, Heavy Metal Music. Listening in the car. Only a short drive, so I haven't heard all yet. There's one song I really like (Above All), the rest pretty solid. Good for driving to.
Some thoughts on last night's Kamelot show! Delain was amazing as well.
Sound at City National Grove in Anaheim was top notch. The singers from both bands were clearly audible above the rest for the majority of the show. I haven't gone to a show that sounded this good in a while. Also holding my fiance during We are the Others (by Delain) is just so surreal. Got a high five from this big guy on my right (tall, fat, and long metal hair) after giving Rom a kiss during that song. Plus Song for Jolie (by Kamelot) was so beautifully sung it brought tears to my eyes. If I hadn't seen Roy Khan (Kamelot's previous singer) live before I wouldn't have missed him because Tommy Karevik sounded so good, even on the classic Kamelot tracks.
Delain sounded so good you wouldn't know they weren't headlining except for their shorter setlist. The audience clearly was familiar with Delain's music overall so they recognized most of the songs. Everyone sang along to Kamelot even on the songs from the newest album, which really impressed the singer. It helps that the newer album has a lot to sing along with. The concert was so much fun that I would absolutely go back and see them next year if I get a chance (and can convince Rom to join me!).
I haven't forgotten this thread, there just hasn't been much good metal coming out lately. I was very impressed by the new Dream Theater album and quite enjoyed the 5.1 mix that came with the CD. It wasn't much extra to get the audio DVD. The album has some nice mellow portions and great melodies.
I also just ordered and am waiting for the CD from HELL. These guys put out a crazy dark album in 2011 that blew me away and they are back to share the same style of music again. Unlike most bands, the singer here doesn't really sing and doesn't growl either. Instead, it is more like theatrical spoken word. Both albums have a bit of a demonic side with a lot of mention of Satan and quite a bit of anti-religious messages. Some might be offended by the subject matter but like anything else it is fiction mostly and I don't think many fans are out there worshiping the devil. I also greatly enjoy how the album starts off right where the other one ended.
I haven't updated this thread in a while and I know I promised to keep it Metal and not rock but I can't resist sharing this new band. They totally kick ass and blew me away!
Been a while since I updated this but then I haven't been very excited about much rock music since the last update. However, there are a few bands that are coming out with new albums around the same time
To avoid having to go back later and remove embedded videos, I'll just link to the youtube and you can go follow it.
Allen Lande - Great power metal style with fantastic vocals. New album coming! Features Jorn Lande on vocals a long with Russel Allen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0OTIZqoCM8
And this one is a bit late, but first track off The Rival Sons 2014 album. These guys do a fantastic job of blues rock with a Led Zeppelin style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umrIUDOo-aM