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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Buy

A Metal Hurricane, Vol. 3

Genre: Various... see each song
Quality: Various, sorry can't be helped. 
Length: 72:25 minutes  
About: This is even more a conglomeration of genres than my first two. But it just shows how varied my taste is and I hope there's something in here for everyone. This is basically the soundtrack to my summer, with the blanks filled in with some stuff that was running through my head one night and some stuff I haven't heard in a couple years.

There's a few songs in here I know most people have so I tried to pick a less known version. There's also some completely unknown stuff that everyone needs to hear. So, yeah hope someone enjoys it! If not, I know at least I will.

Note: I created a .m3u and threw all the files in one folder with it this time to try it (it should be easier). Any media player should have an import playlist option. iTunes's is (stupidly placed, as usual) File, Library, Import Playlist.
(Edit: After experimenting I found if m3u's work is completely dependent on the player you use. With my original upload, VLC worked, Windows media player missed like half the songs, itunes misses Beer Mosh. Removing the accent in "Prision" made it work. Seriously? Well if you have problems I'm sorry and you'll have to add them to the playlist manually, but I do not want to retag all my music like I did with the first two all my previous compilations.)

Track Commentaries:

(These descriptions were written at 4am so apologies for poor grammar and such.)

Kalmah - One of Fail (Melodic Death Metal)

Well this band proves they can do no wrong, as it is their 6^th album and they continue to get consistently more amazing. Take low growling aggressive vocals, combine it with guitars which are equally aggressive but make beautiful melodies during the choruses, then keyboards to complement with insane countermelodies, and the drums drive the song forward so you can’t not listen. One of those songs you quite literally cannot get tired of.

Munetaka Higuchi with Dream Castle - What Cost War (Heavy / Thrash(?) Metal)

Ever since Dio’s untimely passing I have been working towards getting every guest recording he ever did (since I already have all of the projects he was a permanent member in… I promise I will share it someday! It’s on my to do list, way down on it). Well here we have quite possibly his most impressive vocal performance of his life. Ridiculous screams and just downright aggressive vocals. Most people, even really hardcore fans probably don’t know about it so, here it is. I’m like having chills and shaking a little by the end of this song.

Sarah Brightman - Here with me (Chillout, Classical, Pop)

So after that we need a chill down song. Probably everyone breathing has heard this. Quite simply Dido is one of my favorite female vocalists and songwriters. But I am presenting the version off one of my favorite albums of all time, from one of the few vocalists I like better than Dido. The album is “La Luna” (2000). Even though it is primarily (or entirely) cover songs it has this magical yet melancholic atmosphere about it.

Wildfire - Summer Lightning (Traditional Heavy Metal / Hard Rock)

I cannot get enough of unknown 80’s traditional heavy metal/hard rock. It’s like, 1000 of these bands formed in mid 80s, whipped out an album then broke up after making 2 dollars profit. But they are all so awesome and I keep finding them, on vinyl in perfect condition for 1 dollar at record stores. And I’m so glad I do. Perhaps these bands were before their time? This genre is so awesomedfjask;glf.

Led Zeppelin - Good Times, Bad Times (Classic Rock)

I’m not a hardcore Zeppelin fan and in fact my favorite song is “When The Levee Breaks” by them. But this song was running through my head and actually is what inspired to make this playlist. What more needs to be said about them that hasn’t been said in the past 40 years? It’s short, simple, and sweet. I looked for a live version but there honestly isn’t one. Do they not like this song? Well I sure do… sorry if you have it already.

Black Sabbath - War Pigs (Classic Rock / Heavy Metal)

And here’s another classic everyone knows. It was made one year after and in fact was the next song that came to mind for this playlist. But I don’t want to provide the Ozzy version everyone and their grandmother have in their library already. I thought about the Dio live version, but I honestly think the band goes way overkill… both Dio with his random shouting of words and the band for extending the song by like 5 minutes with random riffs. So here’s the 1983 live version during the short time former Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan was in this band. He does love the sound of his voice, lol. It’s somewhat cheesy but I find this particular version more enjoyable than the original.

Lee DeWyze & Crystal Bowersox - Falling Slowly (Acoustic, Pop, Rock)

Well my two favorite contestants from American Idol Season 9 (the first season I have ever watched by the way) were #1 and #2 and they had a duet together. How perfect can you get.  Honestly the live version was more passionate but I can’t find it. I just… speechless. It’s from the 2006 movie “Once” which I have been meaning to watch ever since I heard this song, just hasn’t happened yet. I was hoping I could get a girlfriend to watch it with as it seems like that kinda movie. But anyway, next song.

Jeff Scott Soto - Our Song (Melodic Hard Rock)

Honestly do not like a lot of his solo stuff as it’s too poppy and wanna be mainstream and lame. But this song is a straight up hard rock affair and man it rocks.

Heaven’s Guardian - Slaves of Reality (Heavy / Power Metal)

Quite literally the most unknown heavy metal band of all time for how awesome it is. The singer Carlos Zema is my #3 favorite singer ever as he can have a beautiful clean voice or the most insane screams you can ever hear, or a low growling voice which is more what is in this song.

W.E.T. - One Love (Melodic Rock)

The cover art does describe it as well as anything, it’s like standing out in the heavy rain but amidst the water you hear this beautiful music. Too cheesy of a description maybe. Well this is actually Jeff Scott Soto singing, but it’s hard to tell as he sings a lot higher range that in most of his other stuff. It sounds like he’s straining a little through the whole album but it makes it sound more passionate and genuine.

Eric Martin - Fly (Melodic Hard Rock)

Here’s IMO the greatest solo song from the Mr. Big singer. Better than much of what Mr. Big has done and that’s saying a lot.

Space Odyssey - Despair and Pain (Heavy / Power Metal)

Well I’m not sure how well known this is but every power/fantasy metal fan must hear this song. This particular composer has done so much amazing music but has gone MIA since about 2006 and me and much of the community is upset. Anyway, this is as great of a power metal song as you could hope for but makes it stand out is the vocals. Nils Patrik Johannson, also an unknown singer but he is my #4 favorite for sure. He has the most beautiful clean voice I have ever heard, but unfortunately he rarely uses it as he sings metal. Still he has the greatest growling voice that can effortlessly go to a ear piercing scream. Often he sounds like a dog barking though especially in recent years, but not in this album! Well that was an unexpected rant.

Pretty Maids - Old Enough to Know (Melodic Heavy Metal / Power Metal Ballad)

Melodic acoustic heavy metal power ballad. Jakslfjsfgdfsk;l I am a sucker for a good power ballad and this is the best one I’ve heard in many moons. This band is like 20 some years old and they still sound so fresh and relevant. Ironically this song is about how they’re old and all the stuff they’ve learned.

Beer Mosh - Muero (Thrash Metal)

Downloaded this band blindly for the name. So glad I did. I had never understood true thrash metal before this song and afterwards I can’t get enough of it. This is just plain a kicka** heavy as f*** song that every metalhead needs to hear.  They are unknown though so I bet no one reading this has this. Amazing bass solo and disturbing guitar solos towards the end.

Slumber - Rapture (Epic Doom/Death Metal)

As if it’s not obvious enough this band ripped off the Finnish band Rapture just by listening, they had the nerve to title a song Rapture. But I believe they take this style of music to a whole new level of atmosphere and immersion. It’s like, floating on a dark sea in a storm.

Like a Storm - Change Tomorrow (Acoustic Hard Rock Ballad)

I have this full album on my blog, but I just re-found it so I want to put it here. Completely acoustic ballad and these great Michael Kiske-esque vocals.  Kinda the same vocal style as Kiske but somewhat deeper voice. I dunno, time for bed. :)


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New Angra Song! - Arising Thunder (2010) from the upcoming album "Aqua"

Genre: Power Progressive Metal
Quality: 320 kbps MP3
About: I'd have to say at first listen this new song from my favorite band, their first song in 4 years, is just good overall. Verses are a little boring, chorus is amazing and the manditory power metal speed solos are great as usual but nothing too special there. Well try it and see for yourself, here's a link direct from their site to download the new song. Watch for the new album "Aqua" on October 5! Rest assured it will be on this blog on or before release date.

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Pretty Maids - Pandemonium (2010)

Genre: Heavy / Power Metal
Quality: MP3 256 kbps
About: One of those albums where each song just keeps getting better. It's another one of those bands that had a traditional 80s heavy metal / hard rock sound and gradually evolved to power metal, much like Rage, Sinner, Riot, or the many other similar artists. But they do it better than most. Pretty much all my spare time since I found it Sunday has been spent listening to this album. I don't know how to describe it except you need to listen if you're a fan of this genre!

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Mägo de Oz - Gaia III: Atlantia (2010) (v0 mp3)

Genre: Epic Symphonic Folk Power Metal / Folk Rock
Quality: mp3 @ v0 (224kbps VBR)
About: While not quite up to par with their epic masterpiece "Gaia II: La Voz Dormida" this is an amazing album. This album quite simply has everything, while still feeling like a unified album. There are somber and slow parts, there are epic power metal songs with flutes in the background, synthesizer solos, there are Folk Rock songs. The song that particularly stood out for me though was "El Violín Del Diablo" featuring Patricia Tapia (Nexx, KHY) on vocals. It's a haunting song, much different from their usual happy partying and dancing style.

Here's a videoclip of their single illustrating that haunting feeling a couple songs have... but then they say screw it and start drinking and partying again XD.

9.5/10

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guests: Kutxi Romero (Marea) - Vocals in "Vodka'n Roll" Carlos Escobedo (Savia, Sôber) - Vocals in "El Príncipe de la Dulce Pena IV" Jorge Salán - Guitar Solos in "Mi Hogar Eres Tú" Francis Sarabia (Campillo) - Vocals in "La Ira de Gaia" and "Atlantia" Natalia Martín - Chorus in "Atlantia" Tony Menguiano - Vocals in "Atlantia" Tete Novoa - Vocals in "Atlantia" Silverio "Silver" Solórzano - Vocals in "Atlantia" Javier Díez - (Ebony Ark, Jorge Salan, Wayland) Keyboards solo in "Atlantia" Leo Jiménez "La Bestia" (Saratoga, 037, Stravaganzza, Supra) - Vocals in "Atlantia" Track List:

Disc 1 1. El latido de Gaia 04:07 2. Dies irae 09:26 3. Für immer 04:42 4. Vodka 'n' Roll 03:36 5. El Príncipe de la Dulce Pena (parte IV) 04:23 6. Mi hogar eres tú 06:03 7. Fuerza y honor: el Dorado (instrumental) 04:48 8. El Violín del Diablo 04:55 9. Siempre (Adiós Dulcinea - parte II) 04:45 Disc 2 1. Mis demonios (atrévete a vivir) 04:13 2. Que el viento sople a tu favor 04:16 3. Sueños dormidos 05:16 4. Aún amanece gratis 04:52 5. La Soga del Muerto (Ayahuasca) 03:14 6. La ira de Gaia 06:48 7. Atlantia 19:14 Total playing time 01:34:38

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Rhapsody Of Fire - The Frozen Tears Of Angels (2010) (with Digipak bonus tracks)

Genre: Epic Symphonic Power Metal
Quality: .m4a (AAC) @ 256kbps
About: While I could argue that their songs sound rehashed from old riffs on old albums, and some of the song structures seem tired...

And, I wish they had utilized the Narration more as they did in previous albums. Their albums are each supposed to tell a story - for example the last one was about a band of heros questing to find some ancient book in a cave on a mountain, then when they get it they find out its cursed and try to run out with it. More or less. - but this album just seems like a bunch of songs with similar themes...

However, this is still a great album from the Epic Power Metal kings. However, it's the non-power metal songs that really shine through for me. "Crystal Moonlight," "Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio" (Dance of Fire and Ice), "Lost In Cold Dreams," "The Frozen Tears Of Angels." They all have a very fresh feeling and I've never heard anything like them from Rhapsody, or any band for that matter.

Solid 9.0 from me.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the third chapter of "The Dark Secret Saga", which began with "Symphony
Of Enchanted Lands II: The Dark Secret".

Track List:

1.	Dark Frozen World	02:13
2.	Sea of Fate	04:47
3.	Crystal Moonlight	04:25
4.	Reign of Terror	06:52
5.	Danza Di Fuoco E Ghiaccio	06:25
6.	Raging Starfire	04:56
7.	Lost in Cold Dreams	05:12
8.	On the Way to Ainor	06:58
9.	The Frozen Tears of Angels	11:15
Total playing time		53:03

The special limited deluxe digipak has two bonus tracks: (Included here)
10. Labyrinth of Madness (04:35)
11. Sea of Fate (Orchestral Version) (04:04)


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Buy from Nuclear Blast Records (Unfortunately Europe-only... if you don't want to pay insane import costs you have to wait until June 29th... That is what I am doing because I am too poor to pay 30 dollars for one album.)

Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony (2010) + Avantasia - Angel of Babylon (2010)

Genre: Symphonic Power Metal Opera
Quality: mp3 @ 320kbps
About: The Wicked Symphony sounds the most like "The Metal Opera Part III" that I've heard from Tobias Sammet since 2004's Edguy's "Hellfire Club." Tracks 2 and 3 are epically amazing, so you need to get it at the very least for those.

Angel of Babylon definitely shows his experimental side... while it is good, it is nowhere near many of his other albums, including TWS.

Anyway, here are both, for your own judgement. Personally, I believe releasing two completely different albums on the same day is a poor business move, but here they are. Buy them if you like them, delete them if you don't.


Avantasia - The Wicked Symphony
Line-up:
Tobias Sammet - Vocals, Bass
Sascha Paeth - Guitars
Michael "Miro" Rodenberg - Keyboards, Orchestration
Eric Singer - Drums

Musicians:
Bruce Kulick - Guitars (on tracks 6, 11)
Oliver Hartmann - Guitars (on tracks 2, 8)
Felix Bohnke - Drums (on tracks 1, 5, 9 11)
Alex Holzwarth - Drums (on tracks 3, 7, 8, 10)
Simon Oberender - Organ (on track 11)

Vocalists:
Jørn Lande (on tracks 1, 6, 7, 8)
Michael Kiske (on tracks 2, 6)
Russell Allen (on tracks 1, 10)
Bob Catley (on track 6)
Klaus Meine (on track 4)
Tim "Ripper" Owens (on track 3)
André Matos (on track 5)
Ralf Zdiarstek (on track 9)

Track List:

1.	The Wicked Symphony	09:28
2.	Wastelands	04:44
3.	Scales Of Justice	05:04
4.	Dying For An Angel	04:32
5.	Blizzard On A Broken Mirror	06:07
6.	Runaway Train	08:42
7.	Crestfallen	04:02
8.	Forever Is A Long Time	05:05
9.	Black Wings	04:37
10.	States Of Matter	03:57
11.	The Edge	04:12
Total playing time		01:00:30

Avantasia - Angel of Babylon
Line-up:
Tobias Sammet - Vocals, Bass
Sascha Paeth - Guitars
Michael "Miro" Rodenberg - Keyboards, Orchestration
Eric Singer - Drums

Musicians:
Bruce Kulick - Guitar (on tracks 1, 5 and 11)
Oliver Hartmann - Guitar (on tracks 1, 2 and 3)
Henjo Richter - Guitar (on track 10)
Felix Bohnke - Drums (on tracks 4, 6 and 8)
Alex Holzwarth - Drums (on tracks 1, 2, 3 and 11)
Jens Johansson - Keyboards (on track 2)
Simon Oberender - Organ (on track 9)

Singers:
Jørn Lande (on tracks 1, 2, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11)
Michael Kiske (on tracks 1 and 10)
Russell Allen (on track 1)
Bob Catley (on track 11)
Cloudy Yang (on track 8)
Jon Oliva (on track 4)

Track List:

1.	Stargazers	09:33
2.	Angel Of Babylon	05:29
3.	Your Love Is Evil	03:53
4.	Death Is Just A Feeling	05:21
5.	Rat Race	04:07
6.	Down In The Dark	04:23
7.	Blowing Out The Flame	04:51
8.	Symphony Of Life	04:30
9.	Alone I Remember	04:48
10.	Promised Land	04:47
11.	Journey To Arcadia	07:12
Total playing time		58:54

4shared Download - The Wicked Symphony
4shared Download - Angel of Babylon

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http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0038KHTI0?ie=UTF8&tag=tobisammsavan-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1638&creative=6742&creativeASIN=B0038KHTI0

Six Magics - Behind The Sorrow (2010)

Genre: Melodic Power/Heavy Metal
About: This is the best Power Metal album I've heard in years. These guys have it down to a science, and they have their PhDs. It's primarily a female fronted album but there are lots of duets with a male vocalist. It is melodic, epic, atmospheric, sometimes heavy and even political (halfway through track 1). Favorite on first listen is either track 1 or track 10, which is the last track and a really great conclusion to a great album. It was mastered/produced by some dude that produced Dream Theater albums in the past.

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Ninja Magic - Discography 2007

Genre: True Epic Power Ninja Metal
About: Obviously inspired by the pre-Dragonforce project "Shadow Warriors" (which I have on this blog), this is the only active Ninja Metal band I know about. Well, I'm not sure if they are active, last I heard they were looking for a new vocalist. I would really like a new album though. The first two albums are about typical ninja themes, and the third one is a dramatic shift in themes with the same type of music. Highly recommended. But if you were a ninja you wouldn't be still reading this because you'd have downloaded it and are listening already.

Included:
Ninja Magic - Ninja Nation (2004)
Ninja Magic - Catchy as Ninja, Chatcy as the Night (2005)
Ninja Magic - Back in Business (2007)

Mediafire Download - Zip
Mediafire Download - Rar
(Files acquired legally from when the band had an official website up, and offered the music for free... if my memory serves me.)

Helloween - Unarmed - Best Of - 25th Anniversary Album (2009)

Genre: See below.
About: This band has obviously gotten bored of power metal, because this is a collection of their "greatest" hits (definitely arguable) of mostly power metal songs, redone in completely different songs. With the exception of track 5, the songs are primarily acoustic, often folk-sounding, with some jazz influences, and even flat out pop (track 10). This is obviously not an album aimed at the die hard metalheads (see: close-minded).

However, if you are in fact a die hard metalhead (more than likely true if you are on this blog), take a listen to "The Keeper´s Trilogy (Halloween, Keeper of The Seven Keys & King Of 1000 Years)". Those are the three most epic songs from the Keeper albums, and unbelievable made even more epic... they are done in an Epic Symphonic Power Metal style, similar to something Nightwish would spend a million dollars making, and completely different from the rest of this album. It's just a wall of sound and power metal and eargasms for most of 17 minutes.

The only other song I can really say with confidence you HAVE to listen to, is "Eagle Fly Free". Again, if you are a metalhead you have no doubt heard 200 covers of this song, all complete sound-alikes. Well, from the original band you have a cover that's completely redone, as a ballad-duet with a female singer... don't know who but her voice is quite beautiful.

I really do appreciate what they tried to do with this album, completely rework their songs into a different genre, and perhaps get these stuck up metalheads to try some new music... but it was done poorly at best. With the exception of track 5 and 6, these songs are not bad, just not up to Helloween's high standards they set for themself in the past.

1. Dr. Stein 03:59 [view lyrics]
2. Future World 04:13 [view lyrics]
3. If I Could Fly 03:28 [view lyrics]
4. Where The Rain Grows 05:09 [view lyrics]
5. The Keeper´s Trilogy (Halloween, Keeper of The Seven Keys & King Of 1000 Years) 17:06 [view lyrics]
6. Eagle Fly Free 03:50 [view lyrics]
7. Perfect Gentleman 04:18 [view lyrics]
8. Forever & One 04:25 [view lyrics]
9. I Want Out 04:22 [view lyrics]
10. Fallen To Pieces 03:28 [view lyrics]
11. A Tale That wasn`t Right 04:46

(Mediafire Download Link removed at the request of forceably by some d*cks that are paid by helloween to hunt down blog posts... I'm spreading your music you idiots so more people will know about it and be potential customers, but ok if you want to do that. Instead, have fun reading about the DMCA, and definitely don't go torrent this album.)


For a bit of fun, let's look at the tracks I probably would pick were I to do a "best of". I may even compile and upload one just as an alternative to the official one. First of all, I'd like it to be chronological to trace the evolution of their sound (Similar to my ELP compilation, linked in the upper right of the blog), and start with a re-recording of the song that (arguably) invented Power Metal. And later on, some songs from Helloween's least widely liked albums in the early 90s could really do with somewhat heavier re-records (even though I like them how they are, I admit they could definitely be improved a lot). I'll try to pick one or two from each album, but maybe three, hard to pick, thats the problem when a band is consistantly awesome. :)

1. Oernst Of Life (Death Metal - 1984)
2. Guardians or Cry For Freedom (Walls of Jericho - 1986)
3. I'm Alive or Twilight of the Gods(Keeper pt. 1 - 1987)
4. Eagle Fly Free or Rise and Fall, or I want out (Keeper pt. 2 - 1988)
5. Kids Of The Century or Heavy Metal Hamsters (Pink Bubbles - 1991)
6. First Time or Giants (Chameleon - 1993)
7. Where the Rain Grows or Take Me Home (Master of the Rings - 1994)
8. We Burn or Wake up the Mountain (The Time of the Oath - 1996)
9. Push or I Can, or Revelation (Better than Raw - 1998)
10. Mr Torture or The Departed, or The Dark Ride (The Dark Ride - 2000)
11. Open your Life or Sun 4 the world (Rabbit - 2003)
12. Silent Rain or Light the Universe (Keeper Legacy - 2005)
13. The Saints or As Long as I Fall (Gambling - 2007)

Feel free to debate these choices, they were made rather quick and I havent listened to this band in quite some time :)

Wildpath - I'm So Excited (Pointer Sisters Cover) (2009)

Genre: Symphonic Power Metal
About: Wildpath has a really successful formula down by now, and the fact that they could turn a crappy pop song into such a... masterpiece, proves it. They originally only had this song posted for one day in July, but i requested they put it back up, and they did. I ripped it with my sound card, it is a bit quiet but as loud as my card allowed. The quality is quite good, especially for Myspace. Enjoy!

Mediafire Download

Also found this medley/compilation of Non Omnis Moriar, if you're into that type of thing (Right Click, Save)

Wildpath - Non Omnis Moriar (2009) + Bonus Tracks (320kbps)

(If you have a deviant art account, here is the artist's page, so you can watch or favorite or whatever: http://somnyum.deviantart.com/)



Genre: Female Fronted Melodic Symphonic Power Metal
About: After over two months, the world outside of Japan finally gets to hear this glorious album. If you have never heard of this band, please proceed to click the "Wildpath" tag at the bottom and download the other album as well.

If you have, you should have been anxiously awaiting this since it's July 15th release date. That's right, OVER TWO MONTHS AGO, and exclusively on CD in Japan (Yet the band is from France... go figure). It took that long for it to make it onto file sharing sites, leading me to believe the internet has not been invented in Japan yet. I was to the point where I almost paid 50 dollars to import, and even so the import site was out of stock!

Anyway, download this if you are a fan of any of the genres. They've taken their proven unique yet traditional power metal, added an even more beautiful singer, and added some progressive and symphonic elements. They also seem to be using the death-ish screams a bit more, but definitely is not excessive.

My favorite is "Secret's Case". I was fortunate enough to rip that off myspace to keep my sanity over these past two months waiting. "Non Omnis Moriar" and "Sanctuary Part 1" are quite good as well, and if it's at all like the first album, every track will eventually grow on me and i'll be addicted.

According to the website, this "is a concept album that tells the story of a young woman trapped in a strange house full of secrets".

1. Two Broken Candles (Introduction) 01:57
2. Unforgotten 04:45
3. Ballroom Doors (Interlude) 00:55
4. Shadows Dance 03:38
5. Grinnin' Sanity 05:05
6. Facing Fears (Interlude) 00:32
7. Ghost Memories 04:50
8. Desire part I - Lust 04:15
9. Desire part II - Forsaken 04:42
10. Light Heart 03:18
11. Secret's Case 05:41
12. Cemetear (Interlude) 01:15
13. Non Omnis Moriar 04:44
14. Hall Stairway (Interlude) 02:44
15. Sanctuary part I - The Cathedral 03:28
16. Sanctuary part II - Death 03:18
17. Sanctuary part III - Acceptation 02:43
Total playing time 57:50

Bonus track for Japan:
18. Norse Legends Come To Life (Remake of "When Legends Come to Life" on their first album in a somewhat different style, and with the new singer of course)

Bonus Track from their Website:
19. Dark Mass

Download pt 1
Download pt 2
(If anyone is wondering why the duplicate post, there was something wrong with the link i posted before so i figured I'd upload it myself and write a full entry. Enjoy! :D)

Nanowar of Steel - Discography 2007 (9/11 rememberance post)

(mostly a repost from livejournal, so sorry if its a bit messy)


Genre: Power Metal, Parody, True Metal
About: The ultimate (only?) power metal parody band. Their song "Emerald Fork" includes the lyrics "F*ck you Bin Laden", so that is what made me think to post this. This was their first album, and despite bad production and bad playing it's great.

Track list:
01- TRUE METAL OF STEEL
02- METAL
03- THE ONLY FOREST OF THE TRUE METAL AND THE OTHER HEAVY MINERALS
04- OUR METAL IS SO STRONG 'COS OUR DICK IS SO LONG
05- EMERALD FORK (Rhapsody Remake-Cover)
06- MASTER OF PIZZA (Metallica Remake-Cover)
07- POSER
08- VAI GATTO PANCERI (BONUS TRACK)

Website (with myspace, facebook links, etc):
www.nanowar.it/

According to their myspace, they are working on a "new gay album of steel", tentatively titled "Metropolis Part 3: The Legacy", which they discuss in the Made in Naples live album. But they are busy being lazy and kvlt so it may be another year before we can hear it. They are also touring (unfortunately only in some foreign countries) on the "Goalkeeper of the Seven Keys pt. 4 Tour 2009" and videos can be found on their facebook page. Hope you enjoy, ciao.

Download Nanowar Of Steel - TRIUMPH OF TRUE METAL OF STEEL (2003)
(free and legal, from their official site):
www.nanowar.it/2003_Triumph.rar

Download other two (more recent) albums:
Nanowar - OTHER BANDS PLAY, NANOWAR GAY (2005)
www.nanowar.it/2005_OtherBands.rar - This has grown to be their most popular album, with classics like "Tricycles of Steel", "Power of the Power of the Power (Of the Great Sword)", and "The Number of the Bitch".

Nanowar - MADE IN NAPLES (2007)
www.nanowar.it/2007_MIN.rar - Half of this album is a live concert, and it really shows how much they have progressed as a band. I really hope i can see them live one day, but alas they are across an ocean. Live versions of the songs in the first two albums tend to be even more hectic and awesome live. The second part is new recordings, whether live or studio. There is a mini-story, with song titles like "T.K.D.Y.N.S. (To Kill the Dragon You Need a Sword)", "Fight the Dragon (For the Village)", and Christmas with nanowar is a beautiful ballad of steel with a thrash metal interlude about santa claus. :)

Krusader - Angus (2006)

Genre: Power Metal,, Melodic Metal
About: This is a great band, and i am sad I have not heard it before now.

Download

Axewielder - The Nightcrew - 2009

Genre: Heavy Power Metal
About: Judging by the song titles, youd think this band is pretty epic, and it is. It's heavy power metal, but it is very raw, like older black metal, which i like, but some may not. This is their first full length release.

1. Heavy Metal Zombies 06:05
2. Ride On Through The Night 04:32
3. Beer Bottle From Hell 04:12
4. Axewielder Rules The Night 03:38
5. The Nightcrew 01:40
6. Raise Your Tankards High 03:02
7. Loch Lomond 03:36
8. I Am The Axewielder 02:56
9. Evil Reign 03:51
10. Metal-Horned Stallions 03:49
Total playing time 37:24

Download

Sonata Arctica - The Days of Grays (2009)

Genre: Melodic Metal, Power Metal, Heavy Metal
About: Judging by tracks 1-4, this is the best album of 2009 already. I was a bit dissapointed from their last album, Unia, as it strayed so far away from their well-proven formula, but this gets back to it pretty well. Just download this. Unfortunately, as this is a leak, most of the tracks are really terrible bitrate, but it's worth it just to hear these amazing songs. And please buy the album on September 18th when it comes out!

It's my birthday today, and I didn't even know they had an album coming out soon, so finding this leak is possibly the best gift i could have gotten. Thank you Sonata Arctica, and thank you to the leaker, even though it was ripped at a douchebag bitrate and with occasional minor skips. But this is one of my favorite bands, so It's awesome still.

Download

Vougan - Mind Eceeding (2007) with bonus track

Genre: Heavy Power Progressive Metal
About: I cannot believe how unknown this band, and especially this singer, Carlos Zema is. He is just about my favorite singer, because he can combine the agression of growling vocals with the melodies of clean vocals. This album proves that perfectly so check this out, and also "Virus from Hell" which he does guest vocals on. The other musicians are equally amazing, with lots of surprises, most of which being in "L.O.S.T."

I included a bonus song that was on their myspace for a while, and according to their official site, they just finished their [extremely limited, grrr] US tour and are working on a second album now!

Vougan metal archives

Virus From Hell metal archives

Download pt 1
Download pt 2

Holyhell - Holyhell (Full Length Album) (2009) + "The Phantom of the Opera" (2007)

Genre: Symphonic Female-Fronted Power Metal
About: I was so excited to see that on June 26, a full length album from them was released that I have been anxiously awaiting since early 2007. Upon first listen, the new stuff is not as good as the EP in 2007 (a few tracks from that are in here). But it is still very solid and the singer is amazing, and I will give it more listens for sure before I pass final judgement.

I threw "The Phantom of the Opera" from the Apocalypse EP in the rar file too, so this is every song they have released so far.

Download pt 1
Download pt 2

Epidemia (Rus) - Complete Discography with Correct English Tags! (1995-2009)

Genre: Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Metal Opera
About: This is the self-proclaimed "Best Power Metal band in Russia". Well, they're probably the only one. Even if they aren't, they're still amazing. They had a Demo, an EP, and 5 full lengths followed by a new EP from 2009. Most songs are in russian, but a few are in english. However the lyrics doesn't matter because the music is amazing! Even the demo is extremely high quality and well played. Some of the older songs include Tolkien and Lord of the Rings themes - "Frodo", "Ring Of Absolute Power", etc.

The two albums "Elven Manuscript" and "Elven Manuscript: Saga For All Times" are Metal Operas with many guest musicians, similar to the bands Aina, Avantasia, Missa Mercuria, and Queensrÿche. If you like any of those, don't miss out on these two albums! And if you like Heavy/Power Metal in general, all of these albums are must-listens.

It took hours to download these all on rapidshare ("rapidshit") and then fix all the tags, based on the track listings on the official english myspace, so I hope you enjoy it! They are all in 192+ kbps mp3 (including the demo), with 3 of them at 320kbps mp3.

If you download these albums anywhere else on the web, not only will it take forever, but you will have to go through the same tagging nightmare I did. Most of the titles were non existant characters (for example "Æèçíü â Ñóìåðêàõ").

Anyway, Enjoy!

Official Myspace

Download Epidemia Discography: Folder on Mediafire (Not sure if this works... can someone let me know?... If it doesn't work, individual links are below.)


Track Lists and Individual Mediafire Download Links:


Epidemia - Angel Of Twilight (EP) (2009) 
Download

01. The Last Sunrise 
02. Angel Of Twilight 
03. Pass Your Way (orchestral version) 
04. Pass Your Way (instrumental version)



Epidemia - Elven Manuscript: Saga For All Times (2007) 
Download Part 1
Download Part 2

01. Prologue 
02. Star Portal 
03. Kings Of Mountains 
04. First God Confession 
05. Snow Saga 
06. Threads Of Destiny 
07. Without Heart And Soul 
08. Ocean Of The Void 
09. Fire Saga 
10. Dragon's Island 
11. Saga For All Times 
12. Sunlight 
13. Into The Sky 
14. Requeim (Grieving Of Her...)(Digibook Bonus)



Epidemia - Livin' In Twilight (2005) 
Download Part 1
Download Part 2

01. Gates Of Time 
02. Coins Chime 
03. On The Edge Of Time 
04. Black Magician 
05. Will To Live 
06. Feanor 
07. White Falcon 
08. To Be With You Again 
09. Ring Of Absolute Power 
10. New Day 
11. Livin' In Twilight 
12. Welcome To Twilight (Bonus Hidden Track)



Epidemia - Elven Manuscript (2004) 
Download Part 1
Download Part 2

01. Golden Dragons 
02. Trial Hour 
03. Born To Fight 
04. Pass Your Way 
05. Elven Blood 
06. On The Hell's Threshold 
07. Eternal Warrior 
08. Romance Of Tear 
09. Magic And Sword 
10. Splinters Of The Past 
11. Epilogue 
12. Ice Horseman (Bonustrack)



Epidemia - The Quest Of The Magic Land (2001) 
Download Part 1
Download Part 2

01. Black Magician 
02. The Journey Beyond Three Seas 
03. Idol 
04. Feanor 
05. Fairyland Mystery 
06. Leaving Magic Land 
07. Fairy Of My Dreams 
08. I Prayed On You 
09. Livin' In Twilight



Epidemia - On The Edge Of Time (1999) 
Download Part 1
Download Part 2

01. Gates Of Time 
02. Coins Chime 
03. To The Light 
04. Faith 
05. White Falcon 
06. N.A.S.T.Y.A. 
07. Less Of Us 
08. In Unknown Land 
09. Ring Of Absolute Power 
10. Frodo 
11. On The Edge Of Time 
12. Kingdome Of Tears 
13. Dragonheart 
14. Farewell, My Home



Epidemia - Will To Live (EP) (1998) 
Download

01. Will To Live 
02. To Be With You Again 
03. The Ring Of Absolute Power 
04. Shadow Of Love 
05. New Day



Epidemia - Phoenix (Demo) (1995)
Download

1. New Day
2. I Charmed by Eyelashes 
3. Come Back
4. Phoenix
5. Devil's Dream
6. Less Than Us