#1: Beyond the Bridge - The Old Man and the Spirit
No band repeats from my previous list to make this more interesting.
Scorp, Chad and Sacul, glad to have you guys on board!
Let's do the honourable mentions then, to keep the discussion going.
Honourable mentions:
April Rain
Delain
Genre: symphonic metal
2009
Recommended to me by: DTF band thread
A somewhat unpopular pick from Delain, I’m sure, this album was the first one I checked out from this band, and so it holds a special place in my heart. While it could be argued
The Human Contradiction is more polished and has better songwriting, I still enjoy
April Rain more than anything else the band has done. Not every song on this record is brilliant, but most of them are of simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus structure, with the choruses that end up in your head for weeks after you’ve listened to this record. Charlotte’s voice is pleasant as usual, and there’s also Marco Hietala singing on two tracks, which is never a bad thing.
I checked Delain out after seeing the activity in the official band thread during the
Moonbathers promo cycle. I’ve heard good things about the band, but never actually bothered to listen to their material, even though female-fronted symphonic metal is something I tend to enjoy. That was a good decision, and even though I ended up missing them on tour for
Moonbathers, I’ll try to catch them next time they’re in my city.
Favourite songs: Stay Forever (
YouTube,
Spotify),
Control the Storm (
YouTube,
Spotify)
A Certain Feeling
Bodies of Water
Genre: indie rock
2008
Recommended to me by: Parama
This is one of the few “happy” non-metal albums thrown at me during my time on DTF that managed to stick with me. I don’t think I have another album in my audio library like this one. Full of memorable melodies that are so difficult not to sing along to, this record exudes joy and triumph. For every slow or mysterious song on it, like
Only You or
Even in a Cave, there is a fabulous uplifting song that just oozes fun, like
Gold, Tan, Peach and Gray or
If I Were a Bell.
As far as I remember, Parama sent me this in my first roulette, and now that four years have passed, this album is still in my rotation. An enjoyable listen, and an excellent album to cheer you up during the bleak autumn days.
Favourite songs: Gold, Tan, Peach and Gray (
YouTube /
Spotify),
Under the Pines (
YouTube,
Spotify)
Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness
Coheed and Cambria
Genre: progressive metal
2005
Recommended to me by: 425
This album with the title that’s nearly impossible to remember if you’re not a huge fan of the band—if you wake me up at 2 A.M. and ask what it’s called, I’ll tell you either to fuck off, or that it’s Sons of Apollo I’m Burning Eyes of Madness 4. Well, it’s a concept album, as are pretty much all albums by these guys, so that would explain the title. However, I asked around on DTF and no one could actually explain the concept to me. Still, the album contains a hefty amount of exquisite musicianship, with adventurous rhythms, skillful guitar solos and well-painted musical landscapes. The only huge drawback for me here—and yes, I know that fans of this band heard this complaint literally hundreds of times by now—is Claudio’s voice, which is about as annoying as it gets. Vocal melodies are fantastic here, and the instrumentation is excellent, but I just can’t get past the singer’s voice. Otherwise, this would’ve been somewhere in the Top 30.
There is another potential drawback in the lyrics, which doesn’t bother me—I think it’s actually kind of hilarious. The music on the album has a mostly positive vibe, but the lyrics are angry as heck, some good examples of that being
“So cry on, bitch, why aren't you laughing, now?” or
“Jesse, bad boy, just come look at what your brother did to that girl's precious little whore of a body”. This, actually, makes me wonder even more about this album’s story—from what I’ve been able to gather, I guess the protagonist just hates everyone.
425 is a big fan of Coheed—he sent me something from them in my second roulette—so one day I saw this album in store and bought it on a whim. It’s not something I come back often, but it’s always a fun ride when I do.
Favourite songs: Welcome Home (
YouTube,
Spotify),
The Willing Well III: Apollo II: The Telling Truth (
YouTube,
Spotify)
Arktis.
Ihsahn
Genre: progressive black metal
2016
Recommended to me by: Train of Naught or Tomislav
A rare appearance of an album full of growls on my list—well, not exactly on my list, but close enough—by Ihsahn. I found this album, like a lot of Ihsahn work, to be quite inconsistent in quality. There are excellent songs, there are good songs, and then there are songs that I’m itching to skip. There is no denying this album has a lot of potential, and were I bigger fan of black metal, I might’ve enjoyed this more. Still, this albums has enough variety to stay interesting, drawing influences from a lot of genres, including 80s happy metal in
Until I Too Dissolve, and features Einar Solberg from Leprous on one of the tracks.
I was curious about Ihsahn when I learned he’s coming to my country on
Arktis tour, and as far as I remember, either Train or Tomislav helped me get into his music. I ended up going to the show and enjoying it a lot, I think I’ve posted a small review in his official thread here.
Favourite songs: Until I Too Dissolve (
YouTube,
Spotify),
Celestial Violence (
YouTube,
Spotify)
As Daylight Breaks
Serious Black
Genre: hard rock / power metal
2015
Recommended to me by: Hard rock / Classic metal thread in GMD
While the straightforward albums like this are more likely to be a miss than a hit for me these days, there is something about songwriting on this particular record that stands out for me. Despite the music being your usual run of the mill hard rock and power metal, somehow the band managed to capture the spark of metal in the songs here, and while they didn’t introduce anything new here, the album is just an easy and very solid listen. While the band continued to release records after this one—I think they have three albums out now—they didn’t top this one so far.
2015 was a good year for metal, and also a good year for discovering music on my end—if this had come out now, I most likely would’ve missed it—and perhaps next year will be equally good.
Favourite songs: I Seek No Other Life (
YouTube,
Spotify),
Akhenaton (
YouTube,
Spotify)
Avatarium
Avatarium
Genre: doom metal
2013
Recommended to me by: Big Hath
I’ve never heard a doom metal album before, and this one was a welcome surprise for me. Sludgy riffs combined with a lovely female voice, this record featured exactly what I wanted from a doom metal record, and while it gets too heavy for my tastes sometimes, the calm moments easily make the whole experience worthwhile. There are a few tracks I don’t really care about, such as the title track, but then there are songs I absolutely adore, like
Moonhorse—which prompted me to buy the actual album—and the gorgeous
Lady in the Lamp.
Jon sent this to me in my second roulette for a round which had a “female-fronted song” theme, and while I don’t remember if he won that round in question, he definitely scored big with this song. I’m glad I discovered this.
Favourite songs: Moonhorse (
YouTube,
Spotify),
Lady in the Lamp (
YouTube,
Spotify)
Discuss away, and the actual list starts tomorrow!