Summoning - Old Mornings Dawn (2013)

Genre: Atmospheric/Epic Black/Folk Metal
Quality: MP3@128MBPS
About: Apologies for being away so long and thank you to all who continue to follow me! Here is the album we've all been waiting for, for seven years. Unfortunately the quality is not perfect, but what do you expect a full MONTH before release. I WILL be buying this on Vinyl. And I recommend you do the same.

Buy
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Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down (320kbps MP3)

Genre: Melodic Rock, Hard Rock, AOR
Quality: 320kbps MP3
About: The most amazing Melodic Rock album I've heard since W.E.T. in 2008. Mind blowing vocals and amazing music. Lyrical content is as expected: The love of his life is gone and he can never get her back.

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Buy Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down on CD

Haut&Court. - La Vie (2012)

Genre: Hardcore, Punk, Crust, Math Metal
Quality: WAV @ 1411kbps (As provided to me by the band in a comment)
About: In the mood for a completely unknown band!? "Haut & Court is a three piece band from Strasbourg, France who formed in June of 2012. Haut & Court play an angular and technically proficient style of music that incorporates elements hardcore, punk, crust, and math metal within their sound." - last.fm
Note that this artist tag is based on their official bandcamp and facebook pages, where the name is listed as "Haut&Court." (including the period and lack of spaces). However, their band logo is "HautEtCourt". And the more popular tag on last.fm is "Haut & Court" (spaces, no period). So I'm not sure!
Finally, MIND BLOWING album cover!

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Buy - BandCamp

*RE-UPLOAD* A Very Strange Christmas (by hurricane_mario)

This playlist I made last December is so great, I had to share it with you! If you want any other re-uploads, comment on this post.

***************************************************



About:
It's the week before Christmas
and all through the house
Everyone is stirring and saying
"wtf are you listening to?"

This compilation consists entirely of bizarre versions of the classic christmas songs you know and love (or hate), as well as a lot of original christmas songs you've never heard. And if you have any sense at all, will never hear them again. But if you're weird like me, you will love them a lot better than that garbage they play on the radio every year (And you are inevitably very tired of by this point).

As with all my playlists, a good number of them are heavy metal, but not all of them.

Track List:
1. King Diamond - No Presents for Christmas [Original, but includes I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus] (Thrash/Heavy Metal)
2. Psychostick - Red Snow [original] (Humor / Hardcore)
3. Dio - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [classic] (Heavy/Doom Metal)
4. I Fight Dragons - Alien for Christmas [original] (Rock / Chiptune)
5. Steve Vai - Christmas Time is here [classic] (Guitar Virtuoso / Instrumental)
6. Jordan Rudess - Andelusion [original] (Piano Virtuoso / Instrumental)
7. Halford - Get Into the Spirit [original] (Power / Thrash Metal)
8. Abney Park - Little Drummer Boy [classic] (Steampunk / Darkwave / Gothic / Industrial)
9. Alice Cooper - Santa Claus is Coming To Town [classic] (Heavy/Shock Metal)
10. Keith Emerson - Troika [classic] (Keyboard / Fusion / Instrumental)
11. Austrian Death Machine - Jingle Bells [classic] (Humor / Metalcore)
12. South Park - Woodland Critter Christmas (5 second interlude)
13. Spinal Tap - Christmas With the Devil [original] (Satire / Classic Rock)
14. Tankard - Fuck Christmas [original] (Thrash Metal)
15. HeimatAerde - Veni Veni Emmanuel [classic - Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel] (Darkwave)
16. Afroman - I Wish You Would Roll A New Blunt [classic - I Wish You A Merry Christmas] (Humor / Hip Hop)
17. Jingle Cats - What Child Is This?/hava Nagila [classic] (Uhh... I'm not sure. Here's the top 3 tags on last.fm: motherfucking christmas cats, psychedelic, death metal)
18. NanowaR Of Steel - Christmas with Nanowar [original] (Satire / Power Metal / Ballad)


As usual, a .m3u file is enclosed so click an option such as "import playlist" in your music player of choice, then select the file. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'll try to get back to posting albums regularly.

For those wondering about the image. Sort of picked it at random. But "Santa" is an anagram for "Satan", and given track 13 it seemed appropriate.

Merry Christmas! ;D

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Oui Oui - Formidable (1991)

Genre: French Pop
Quality: MP3, 192 KBPS
About: I really don't know a lot about it. Just filling a request. Enjoy :)
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Germ - Loss (2012)

Genre: Black Rock
About: I am so glad this album finally came out. Tim from Austere is my favorite vocalist of all time. I can not wait for the Vinyl release.
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Zero Mentality - Black Rock (2009)

Genre: Black Rock
About: For a friend on last.fm.
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A FAREWELL NOTE

MY MEDIAFIRE ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED MEANING ALL OF MY FILES ARE GONE FOREVER. I HAD MULTIPLE DISCLAIMERS DECLARING THAT THESE FILES ARE PROVIDED FOR PREVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS I'VE PROVIDED ALBUM PURCHASE LINKS AT THE BOTTOM OF EVERY POST AND ENCOURAGED PEOPLE TO BUY THESE ALBUMS IF THEY LIKE THEM, OR DELETE THEM IF THEY DON'T. IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF PEOPLE DID NOT FOLLOW THAT.

GUESS WHAT MEDIAFIRE I USED TO THINK YOU WERE THE BEST FILE HOSTING SERVICE AND NOW I'M NEVER USING MEDIAFIRE AGAIN AND ACTIVELY TELLING OTHER PEOPLE TO AVOID IT AT ALL COSTS.

RATHER THAN REDO 4 YEARS OF WORK, I WILL CHERISH MY TIME WITH THIS BLOG AS A MEMORY. THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS TIME WITH ME. PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ MY ALBUM REVIEWS AND ENJOY THE PICTURES.

(For myself and my loyal fans, I am preparing a playlist full of loss, hatred, despair, and beauty. Comment on this entry and I'll be more likely to make a final upload)

- MetalHurricane 

Lantlôs - Agape (3 CD limited edition)

Genre: Post-black metal / Atmospheric / Shoegaze
Quality: MP3 @ VBR (v0 or better)
About: I don't think I've found an album that exemplifies what post-black metal is, better than this one. Every song starts off with complete noise, and yet it's muffled, as if someone is playing a black metal concert one mile away. Other than that, the songs are very dynamic and atmospheric. At times, it will be downtempo, just an simple melody with drums or a rhythm guitar in the background (or an entire track which sounds like an interlude on a jazz album). At other times, your face will be melted by a wall of guitar and noise. All of this, complimented by the fantastic screams of Niege, better known as Alcest.

An absolute MUST listen for fans of the genre or any related projects. This is the type of album that you must have it in great quality, have nice speakers or earbuds, and turn it up all the way to hear every little detail, because there are so many layers happening at any given point.

This version is the 3CD digipak edition, which includes the album, one cover, one bonus track, and demo versions of 4/5 album tracks and of the bonus track.

Disk 1 (Album)

1.	Intrauterin	09:49	Show lyrics
2.	Bliss	07:56	Show lyrics
3.	Bloody Lips and Paper Skin	04:47	Show lyrics
4.	You Feel Like Memories	04:31	instrumental
5.	Eribo - I Collect the Stars	08:20	Show lyrics
		35:23

Disc 2 (Bonus CD)
1. White Miasma (9:16)
2. Where have you gone my friend (Asylum Party cover) (5:06)

Disc 3 (instrumental demos)
1. Intrauterin (9:36)
2. Bliss (8:54)
3. You Feel Like Memories (4:36)
4. Eribo – I Collect The Stars (8:28)
5. White Miasma (9:09) 

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Buy CD/3CD/Vinyl - Fallen Empire Records
Buy Vinyl - Last Rights Records

I would like to note that the vinyl fans get completely screwed here. It's a nice enough package with the gatefold, but it's only on one vinyl, and only includes the album (CD1). There's physically plenty of space for the bonus tracks, but the label chose not to put them on. The other half of the gatefold could have had the instrumental album (CD3), but it has a poster of the cover art. But what makes the vinyl worth it is all of the other large artwork (pictured above), and of course the perfect analog audio.

The Sins of Thy Beloved - Lake of Sorrow (1998)

(Had to censor the cover because I think I said this blog was safe for work... LOL! Original Image (NSFW))


Genre: Doom Metal / Gothic Metal
Quality: MP3 @ 192 KBPS
About: As far as I know, this is the only album where a violinist named Pete Johansen is featured prominently. Why do I go straight to the violinist? Because holy mother of jesus, it is amazing. Pete does not play the violin, he makes sweet passionate love with it.

That aside, this is a simply perfect doom-gothic metal album. In every song, there is a trade off between the terrific male growls of Glenn Morten Nordbø, and the light and beautiful female vocals of Anita Auglend. He is so harsh, whereas she sounds so vulnerable.

An interesting component of this album is that while the violin is very prominent in the first three tracks, it almost completely drops off later in the album. The album as a whole seems to get a brighter feeling towards the end. For example, the three minute violin intro to track 3 "Worthy of You" nearly makes me break out in tears, but the violin chorus in track 4 "Lake of Sorrow" is (ironically) a happy little folk tune.

The feeling I get from this album is difficult to describe, but I will try. Even when you are drowning in a lake of sorrow, there is always hope.


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Buy on iTunes

Lunar Aurora - Hoagascht (2012)

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Quality: mp3 280KBPS VBR
About: Here is the long awaited new album from my favorite band, and kings of german black metal. Before I even start I want to say that this is not actually Lunar Aurora, but a Trist album with the singer of Lunar Aurora on guest vocals. See below line ups from their official website.

"Andacht" (recorded 2006)

Aran: Guitars, Voice
Sindar: Keyboards, Bass-guitar, Voice, Programming
Skoarth: Guitars

"Hoagascht" (recorded 2011)

1. Im Gartn
2. Nachteule
3. Sterna
4. Beagliachda
5. Håbergoaß
6. Wedaleichtn
7. Geisterwoid
8. Reng

Aran: Guitars, Voice, Keyboards, Bass-guitar, Programming
Whyrhd: Voice

Recorded: September 2011
Format: CD, Digipak CD, 12" LP
Label: Cold Dimensions

Though, What i describe as the "true" lineup of Lunar Aurora has not been seen since 2005.

"Mond" (2005)

Aran: Guitars, Voice
Whyrhd: Guitars, Voice
Sindar: Keyboards, Bass-guitar, Voice
Profanatitas: Drums



Anyway...
If you are expecting an "Andacht 2" you will certainly not find it here. This album is self-described by the band as stylistically falling somewhere between Elixir of Sorrow (2001) and Zyklus (2002). A more experimental and atmospheric album, with some ambient sections, but not overriden by them.

"Sterna" is the first legitimate black metal ballad I've heard. "Beagliachda" has a recurring keyboard solo. The title track "Håbergoaß" (note that this album is sung in a different dialect of German) is the only song reminiscent of pre-2001 Lunar Aurora, with a driving beat. The first time I heard "Geisterwoid" I thought the album had ended and I had gone to an early demo - It's raw and brilliant. "Reng" is the best closer of any Lunar Aurora album.

Definitely this is a grower album. The first time I listened, I thought it was a joke. Now it's my 100th listen and I'm absolutely hooked. This is not a Lunar Aurora album, this is not a Trist album, this is a beast all of it's own.


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Buy (Unfortunately a somewhat dated website... go there, click "English" at the top, then search by "Lunar Aurora". The vinyl cost 30USD including shipping which took about 2 weeks. So worth it.)

W.E.T. - W.E.T. (2009) (feat. Jeff Scott Soto of Talisman, Yngwie Malmsteen, Axel Rudi Pell, Trans Siberian Orchestra)

Genre: Melodic Rock / AOR
Quality: 192kbps MP3
About: I have no idea why this isn't on my blog. Quite simply the greatest Melodic Rock album ever. It features a lot of things not in most melodic rock, such as a great atmosphere, powerful vocals and great guitar solos resembling those found in heavy metal. Rather than me talk your face off, you should just give it a try! I hope they make a W.E.T. 2 (or perhaps W.E.T.T.E.R.) soon!

In-depth track-by-track review.

W.E.T. is a supergroup featuring:
Robert Sall (Work of Art)
Erik Martensson (Eclipse)
Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman, and: Yngwie Malmsteen, Axel Rudi Pell, Takara, solo, Trans-Siberian Orchestra)

Finally, here is a music video of "One Love" i just found. I actually dig the 90s-esque green screen and kaleidoscope effects.



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You owe it to yourself to buy this on vinyl; Digital media doesn't do it justice.
Buy Picture LP from Inner Wound Recordings (Pictured above, limited to 299 copies (because I have one of them :D))
Buy CD from Frontiers Records
Buy MP3s on iTunes

A Very Strange Christmas (by hurricane_mario)

About:
It's the week before Christmas
and all through the house
Everyone is stirring and saying
"wtf are you listening to?"

This compilation consists entirely of bizarre versions of the classic christmas songs you know and love (or hate), as well as a lot of original christmas songs you've never heard. And if you have any sense at all, will never hear them again. But if you're weird like me, you will love them a lot better than that garbage they play on the radio every year (And you are inevitably very tired of by this point).

As with all my playlists, a good number of them are heavy metal, but not all of them.

Track List:
1. King Diamond - No Presents for Christmas [Original, but includes I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus] (Thrash/Heavy Metal)
2. Psychostick - Red Snow [original] (Humor / Hardcore)
3. Dio - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen [classic] (Heavy/Doom Metal)
4. I Fight Dragons - Alien for Christmas [original] (Rock / Chiptune)
5. Steve Vai - Christmas Time is here [classic] (Guitar Virtuoso / Instrumental)
6. Jordan Rudess - Andelusion [original] (Piano Virtuoso / Instrumental)
7. Halford - Get Into the Spirit [original] (Power / Thrash Metal)
8. Abney Park - Little Drummer Boy [classic] (Steampunk / Darkwave / Gothic / Industrial)
9. Alice Cooper - Santa Claus is Coming To Town [classic] (Heavy/Shock Metal)
10. Keith Emerson - Troika [classic] (Keyboard / Fusion / Instrumental)
11. Austrian Death Machine - Jingle Bells [classic] (Humor / Metalcore)
12. South Park - Woodland Critter Christmas (5 second interlude)
13. Spinal Tap - Christmas With the Devil [original] (Satire / Classic Rock)
14. Tankard - Fuck Christmas [original] (Thrash Metal)
15. HeimatAerde - Veni Veni Emmanuel [classic - Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel] (Darkwave)
16. Afroman - I Wish You Would Roll A New Blunt [classic - I Wish You A Merry Christmas] (Humor / Hip Hop)
17. Jingle Cats - What Child Is This?/hava Nagila [classic] (Uhh... I'm not sure. Here's the top 3 tags on last.fm: motherfucking christmas cats, psychedelic, death metal)
18. NanowaR Of Steel - Christmas with Nanowar [original] (Satire / Power Metal / Ballad)


As usual, a .m3u file is enclosed so click an option such as "import playlist" in your music player of choice, then select the file. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'll try to get back to posting albums regularly.

For those wondering about the image. Sort of picked it at random. But "Santa" is an anagram for "Satan", and given track 13 it seemed appropriate.

Merry Christmas! ;D

*REUPLOAD* 4shared Download

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A Black Metal Hurricane

Genre: (Atmospheric) Black Metal
Quality: Mostly 256 or 320kbps
About: I was up one night last week, feeling alone and slightly drunk. I decided to make a playlist for my girlfriend which I've been meaning to do for quite some time. Basically she used to listen to Black Metal but not enough to know bands by name. I also do not know what specific subgenres she listened to... I mainly listen to atmospheric/ambient/melancholic types of black metal, songs that make me FEEL.

So this playlist has songs that I feel are really easy to get into. It's aimed at people who have never tried the genre much or at all. Most of the songs are melodic, atmospheric, folk, and post-black metal... rather than raw, depressive, extreme, etc. If you're a fan of black metal you probably have all of these with the exception of Azeroth, an unknown Russian melodic black metal band (who you should definitely check out - I have the discography on this blog). Or, if you just want to hear a good playlist.

More actual albums coming soon hopefully! My life has been hectic lately. Just wanted to get this playlist on here cause... it's amazing :)


Track List:
1. Moonsorrow - Ukkosenjumalan Poika ... One of the first black metal songs i got into

2. Azeroth - Great Warriors Of Shadows ... This band was so amazing live, and the production is much better than on the studio albums! Also, this song's somewhat boring 3 minute intro is left out.

3. Woods of Desolation - Darker Days ... Current nominee for best song of 2011

4. Agalloch - Falling Snow ... Another band I got into when I first discovered black metal

5. Alcest - Ciel Errant ... Same as above, but it took me quite a while before I started to like this specific song, now it's my favorite by him.

6. Lunar Aurora - Die Quelle Im Wald ... Favorite BM band, really hard to pick a song, I picked it because of the clarinet solo.

7. Drudkh - When the Flame Turns to Ashes ... Again hard to pick a song but I picked this one because of, well the whole song sounds like flame gradually turning into ash!

8. Lantlôs - These Nights Were Ours ... One of the best songs of 2010 especially within this weird ill-defined post-blackened shoegaze genre.

9. Dimmu Borgir - Kings of the Carnival Creation ... I've tried their old stuff (its ok), their new stuff (its ok), but never thought to try the stuff in the middle before now. OH MY GOD.

10. Austere - Just for a moment... I was thinking for a long time that Black Metal and Emo would be complementary, then I found this. I'm not the typical emo/poser-hating metalhead; I listen on occasion. And the line between metal and metalcore is pretty blurry, as is the line between metalcore and posercore... So I just try not to think about it and listen to whatever I like.

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2011-06-23 Shuffle (by hurricane_mario)

About: Let's play a game.
1. Turn shuffle (of your entire music library) on
2. Start by playing a song of your choice
3. Save every song that plays onto a playlist, until you reach sub-74 minutes (If the next song puts it over 74 it's not part of the playlist)
4. Upload (link in comments or on your own blog)

That's what I did here. It was my old library on my desktop which has not been touched since March 30th. It has 94,510 songs totalling nearly 600GB and 287 days of playtime. It worked out pretty well. For some reason all of the songs seemed to have a dark and mysterious feeling. I guess I just like that kind of music.

Track List:
1. Yngwie Malmsteen - As Above, So Below
Well this was vocalist Jeff Scott Soto's debut, who has since gone on to sing in bands such as Talisman, W.E.T., and the most well-known being Trans-siberian orchestra. He started when Malmsteen was equally unknown (And arguably still is... he was not even on Rolling Stone's top 100 guitarists... I hate that magazine). It's the only song with vocals on this album, Rising Force. The vocals are just so amazing as well as the guitar solos.

2. Nocternity - Onyx
Never really listened to this band. It's some brutal, raw black metal but theres some nice melodies to be found.

3. The Meads of Asphodel - Weeping Tears of Angel Light
It starts with an 8-bit sounding melody and goes into some decidedly solid melodic black metal.

4. Finch - Mad World (Acoustic Cover)
An emo band with a really nice acoustic cover of this song.

5. Paolo Nutini - Million Faces
Some indie artist I had no idea I had, but I like it alot.

6. Beatallica - Ce So Precisa Sangue (Portuguese)
So this a band I've followed from near their beginnings. They gained popularity due to the fact they do Beatles covers in the style of metallica. They are so good, even Lars Ulrich of metallica encouraged them to continue. This is the song "All You Need is Love" and as you know, Beatles had all kinds of different languages in their song. So Beatallica released a mega-single with the song in about 15 different languages. :) I don't know which metallica song they are spoofing off-hand, though...

7. Ian Stuart And Rough Justice - Having A Good Time
This shuffle continued to get more obscure. Here's an unknown white power rock band. Not sure what more to say.

8. Ring of Fire - You were there
I'm glad itunes picked another one of my favorite vocalists. Unfortunately I had this album in really low quality, but whatever. This is a nice ballad. Mark Boals was ironically also in Yngwie Malmsteen, for three albums I believe. As well as Avantasia, Revolution Renaissance, way too many others to list.

9. Devin Townsend - Life
So itunes crashed here. I hate this program but it remains the best music organizer. I love how it automatically organizes it into subfolders when I add it. Anyway, this is the album it had picked, I'm not sure about the song. But I skimmed through the whole album and I loved this song instantly. Devin Townsend made way better albums when he was on drugs...

10. The Beloved - The Sun Rising
I got this from some compilation. Techincally called "Synthpop" it's just really chill and relaxed.

11. Blutengel - Schmerz 1 - Liebe
German darkwave band, but this song serves more as an interlude than a song. But I like it.

12. Senmuth - Indriyas
Unknown solo artist who primarily makes egyptian and ambient music. Well, that's what this is. Yet another dark, ambient, chillout type song.

13. Johansson - Fading away
I swear the itunes shuffle algorithm is alot smarter than you'd think. This is the solo project of a keyboardist who is best known for Stratovarius, but was in Yngwie Malmsteen's band from 1983 to 1989 and was in fact on track 1 of this playlist. And it's yet another ballad.

14. Vader - Nomad
Here's a well known death metal band. From a live album. I never really got into them but I should.

15. Joe Jackson - Fools in Love
He's best known for songs like "Stepping Out" and "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" but this song more resembles Ska. But again I like it.

16. Talisman - System Of Power
Hey guess who sings here. JEFF SCOTT SOTO. Out of nearly 100,000 songs here's the third song (out of 15, not counting track 1) in this playlist with a member of Malmsteen's band in it. Coincidence? I think not. I think Apple programmed iTunes with a human brain and are preparing to take over the world. >:D

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Symfonia - In Paradisum (2011)

Genre: Neoclassical Power Metal
Quality: 320kbps MP3
About: It is my day off, I choose to spend part of it sharing the awesome stuff I have found in the past few months. First is Symfonia. This is the ultimate supergroup of ex-power metal band members.

* André Matos (ex-Angra, ex-Shaman, ex-Viper) - Vocals
* Timo Tolkki (ex-Stratovarius, ex-Revolution Renaissance) - Guitar , Producer , Mixer
* Jari Kainulainen (ex-Stratovarius, ex-Evergrey) - Bass
* Mikko Härkin (ex-Sonata Arctica, ex-Kotipelto, ex-Solution .45) - Keyboards
* Uli Kusch (ex-Holy Moses, ex-Helloween, ex-Gamma Ray, ex-Masterplan) - Drums

Style-wise, Tolkki continues right where he left off after 2010's fantastic album "Trinity" by Revolution Renaissance. It's power metal, but more deep than classic power "cheese" metal such as Stratovarius's "Episode" or Kamelot's "The Fourth Legacy". So, it's not just "Stratovarius with the old Angra singer". You will hear a lot of power chords held for 3 seconds while there is a power metal beat and soaring vocals. You will also hear slow and introspective parts. My favorite from first listen would have to be the final track.

Still, there are times where you think you've heard it before. Worse off, it doesnt sound like Stratovarius. The beginning of Forevermore sounds like System of a Down's "BYOB". Pilgrim Road sounds like Helloween's "Future World".

As a side-note, look at the flowery-looking thing above the logo.

It first appeared in Stratovarius - "Visions" when they switched from their darker and slower sound they had since Fright Night, to their mainstream power metal sound. When stratovarius peaked.


And every album since.



It increased in importance, as if it was a symbol for the strength of the band. It was featured predominantly on the Elements CD's which I own both of.


Then they broke up after this album.


Then got back together.


Then Tolkki left.


Where's the flower? Here it is.



Changed the logo here, not sure why. This album was great but did have a much grittier sound than all these other albums. Maybe that's why the change.


But it's back again.


Now you have earned your download. LOL.

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Songs From The Best Albums of 2010 (by hurricane_mario)

I have had this idea in my head to do this since about february. I realized that there were so many releases that come out every year that I needed a way to keep track. So, I kept this journal. I ended up making a top-20. 20 songs in this compilation are from the 20 albums there. Disk 1 contains songs 20-8, Disk 2 contains 7-1 interspersed with 7 other noteworthy songs. I will probably do a disk 3 "EP" later because SO MANY great songs came out in 2010.

On that note, I feel the need to discuss some major points music-wise this year.
- My year started with the frantic anticipation for Alcest and Les Discrets albums, due to the split album they put out in 2009. They both exceeded my expectations.
- Then, I found out the new Burzum album had been released, which was at the top of my chart for a month. Then came Kalmah which replaced that, then came Angra which replaced that and stayed there, because they are my favorite band.
- There were a lot of big-name bands that had released amazing albums a few years ago, but released really disappointing albums this year. Kamelot, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Astral Doors, Wuthering Heights, among others.
- At this point I was still playing Alcest and Les Discrets repeatedly and needed more of this genre - so I found Lantlos, Grey Waters, the new Drudkh album (Soliness also stood out but they did not release any material this year). I also tried a lot of regular shoegaze and of the dozens I tried, Depreciation Guild and Amusement Parks on Fire stood out. I still hope to find more.
- Also in here are just a lot of my favorite bands that cannot possibly make a bad album for my ears. Rhapsody, Joe Satriani, Sofa Surfers, Heimataerde, Stratovarius (Well, the composer of Stratovarius -- Revolution Renaissance), and finally the return of Mr. Big (technically released in 2011 but it leaked)!
- Shining I found completely by accident, I was looking for the Depressive Black Metal band, and instead I found this really unique and exciting journey of an album with the same band name.
- Tetsuo Sakurai is Jazz Fusion, if you don't know what that is, check it out! Basically speedy jazz fused with progressive rock. It features my favorite drummer, Dennis Chambers, and TS is a really great bassist virtuoso.
- Cee Lo Green gets my vote for the biggest surprise of the year, and only "mainstream" album I enjoyed this year. You may know him from "Gnarls Barkley" with their one-hit wonder "Crazy" a few years ago. This album starts with a nice intro, and each song is just captivating in it's own way, while at the same time feeling like a coherent album. Like, each song fits together in this order perfectly and it makes sense.
- Just wanted to note how clear and loud the Bass line is in Lantlos. Had it blasting one day and the guy upstairs complained that the floor was shaking, that it sounded like a vaccuum!
- Angra's song is not a "power ballad" in the traditional sense, I cannot explain it, but I guess that is why I like it so much.

Anyway, here is the track list below. The bitrate is mostly 256kbps and higher, except for (ironically) track 1-1 and track 2-13, which are 192kbps. They are all MP3 except track 1-7 and 2-2 which are AAC. The downloads are the songs themselves along with a m3u file. My interpretation of the genre of each song, which is somewhat subjective, are listed next to the song. I arranged them in the order that sounded best as a playlist, not in the order of my top 20.

As it turns out, completely by chance, Disk 1 is more chill and atmospheric and rock, and Disk 2 is more "metal." They are sub-74 minutes so they could easily be burned to CDs. As usual, I made these playlists for myself but figured someone else might enjoy them!


Disk 1 (Play time - 1:12:51)
1. Mr. Big - Undertow (Melodic / Hard Rock)
2. Pretty Maids - Cielo Drive (Thrashy Heavy Metal)
3. Analog Rebellion - Brain ≠ Heart (I Need To Know) (Downtempo / Indie / Rock)
4. The Depreciation Guild - Dream About Me (Downtempo / Shoegaze / Chiptune/8bit)
5. Heimataerde - Maarat An Numan (Darkwave / Electronic Body Music)
6. Tetsuo Sakurai - Another Kingdom (Jazz Fusion)
7. Sofa Surfers - Heavy Water (Progressive Rock-ish? / Trip-Hop? / Difficult to Categorize)
8. Mar de Grises - The Bell and the Solar Gust (Epic/Atmospheric Death/Doom Metal)
9. Les Discrets - Song For Mountains (Atmospheric / Blackened Shoegaze (Clean Vocals) / Post-Black Metal)
10. Lantlôs - Pulse/Surreal (Shoegazened Black Metal >:D (Black Vocals))
11. Alcest - Percées De Lumière (Shoegazened Black Metal)
12. Amusement Parks On Fire (Shoegaze)
13. Alex Band - Never Let You Go (Alternative Rock)
14. Dexter Freebish - Shine On (Alternative Rock / Electro)

Disk 2 (Play Time - 1:13:19)
1. Joe Satriani - Premonition (Instrumental Rock / Guitar Virtuoso)
2. Rhapsody of Fire - Sea of Fate (Power Metal)
3. The Last Days - Make The Change...Are Your Last Days (Atmospheric Instrumental / Blackened Shoegaze / Post-Black Metal)
4. Senmuth - Под знаменами Тэтишери (Symphonic Ethno Industrial Metal)
5. Shining - The Madness And The Damage Done, Pt. 1 (Progressive/Avant-Garde Rock with Black Metal, Electronic and Jazz influences)
6. Drudkh - Twilight Aureole (Post-Black Metal / Shoegazened Black Metal)
7. Kalmah - Godeye (Epic/Melodic Death Metal)
8. Cee Lo Green - Bright Lights Bigger City (Produced By Ben H. Allen Co-Produced By Graham Marsh) (Symphonic Hip-Hop / Melodic Vocals, not Rap)
9. Rage - Empty Hollow (Symphonic/Epic Power Metal)
10. Grey Waters - The Truth is in Your Eyes (Depressive Rock / Emo Vocals)
11. Arid - Custom Gold (Melodic/Progressive Rock)
12. Revolution Renaissance - Crossing the Rubicon
13. Angra - Lease of Life (my #1 song of 2010 / Power Metal "Ballad")

Mediafire Download (Disk 1)
Mediafire Download (Disk 2)

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Click donate in the top-right if you want more of these playlists!

A Metal Hurricane, Vol. 4

Genre: Varies, see description and track listing.
Quality: Mostly over 192kbps MP3, one is AAC.
About: I believe this is my best playlist to date. If you're here, likely you already have bands like Alcest (Track 8), Angra (10), Revolution Renaissance (14), and Grey Waters (9). But you probably don't have Yearning (1), Far Beyond (3), Enter My Silence (7), Pay No Respect (12), or Shadow Gallery (15). These are all great and very underrated metal bands! I won't say more specific things about the aforementioned bands, you should experience them for yourself.

Because of bands like Alcest, Austere and all related bands, I've been getting more into shoegaze. It is called that because founding artists generally stared straight down during live performances. I used last.fm shoegaze radio to find bands like The Depreciation Guild (5), who became an instant favorite. This song has such a great beat and I wish I was in a band because it would be such a nice candidate for a power metal cover!

I've always been into very melodic music, whether it's rock or metal or anything else. I was randomly browsing a blog, and I usually hate when music is played on music-blogs because people are probably already listening to music while browsing! But in this case it was a very good thing because I heard another instant favorite - Brother Firetribe (2). This is melodic rock but it is somewhat heavy at times, and it is interesting because it was actually founded by the guitarist/composer from nightwish! Annette is even in one song (not this one). The singer here is absolutely incredible, he is like a combination of Mark Boals and Michael Kiske which are my two favorite living singers. Powerful yet clean.

Kymera (6) is another unknown amazing melodic rock band, with another vocalist who reminds me of Kiske.

Glen Hansard (4) is an amazing singer-songwriter and the best decision he ever made was to release a movie called Once in 2006. This is direct from the movie and I'm not sure why but just seemed to fit very well in that spot in the playlist.

Serj Tankian (11) is of course the singer from System of A Down. I consider their first album a metal album, but since then the band and the recent solo projects have shifted more to a mainstream alternative sound. Here, he experiments which I really like. The album as a whole is too slow and uneventful, but this track grabbed me. I guess the disco-type beat.

Billionaires Boys Club (13) is the epitome of unknown hard rock. It features Mark Boals on vocals, and had some really enjoyable songs such as this one. It's just one of those bands that remained unknown for some reason. Lack of promotion and touring. This band would have done really well today now that we have internet to find all this great music!


Track List (1:13:22 total time):
1. Yearning - Bleak (Atmospheric Doom/Death Metal / Clean Vocals)
2. Brother Firetribe - I'm on Fire (Melodic Hard Rock / AOR)
3. Far Beyond - My Way Of Endless Grief (Melodic Power Metal)
4. Glen Hansard - Say it to Me Now (Acoustic / Singer-Songwriter)
5. The Depreciation Guild - Crucify You (Shoegaze / Chiptune / 8bit)
6. Khymera - No sacrifice (Melodic Rock / AOR)
7. Enter My Silence - Thin Red Line (Melodic Death Metal)
8. Alcest - Tir Nan Og (Atmospheric/Acoustic Black Metal / Shoegaze)
9. Grey Waters - The Truth is in Your Eyes (Depressive Black Rock/Metal / Shoegaze / Emo)
10. Angra - Lease of Life (Power Metal / Ballad)
11. Serj Tankian - Deserving? (Symphonic/Alternative Rock/Pop)
12. Pay No Respect - Only the Brave (Hardcore / Beatdown)
13. Billionaires Boys Club - Send Your Fat Friend Home (Hard Rock / Glam Metal / AOR)
14. Revolution Renaissance - Crossing the Rubicon (Power Metal)
15. Shadow Gallery - Colors (Melodic Metal / Ballad)

Mediafire Download

*As usual, the music files are included as well as a .m3u file. If you have problems, let me know.*

Please support the musicians that spent so much time, effort, and money to make this great music for you - Buy their albums and go to their concerts (if possible)!
(In this case, click the donate button on the top right and I will be more likely to continue exposing you to these bands. :D)

Yearning - Frore Meadow (2001)

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal / Shoegaze / Doom Metal
Quality: mp3 @ 192 kbps

Mediafire Download

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Dexter Freebish - Shine On (2010) (mp3 @ V0, 100% .log, .cue)

Genre: Alternative Rock / Electro-pop
Quality: mp3 @ V0 with .log and .cue
About: In the long awaited followup for a small group of dedicated fans (it has been 6 years since their last LP), Dexter Freebish moves in more of an electro-pop direction while still retaining their unique rock sound. I was upset they changed their style at first, but upon many listens it just sort of "clicked" and I found the songs running through my head. As you progress through the album they use the Pop-beat less (and not at all) which is good because it makes for variety. The best ones are "Everybody Knows Somebody", a more hard-rock sounding "Shine On", and the final track "Come Down" is completely acoustic.

Mediafire Download

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Buy ($10 - CD, $9 - MP3 or FLAC or ...)