Going through some new videos, I found a bunch more I wanted to share, so this article came together quicker than I anticipated!! A lot of retro stuff here, so kick back and get nostalgic!!
Robin McAuley is no stranger to good hard rock, and here we see him with a few other big rockers to give us a wall of sound like it's still the late-80s! Robin really shines on this one, so if you're wondering where he's headed now, this isn't a bad direction to go!
Motorhead may be done as a band, but their influence is eternal, and Pain City are here to carry the torch. While they may not be alone, it's still a fun style, and these guys rock it pretty well.
More AOR! This one is huge, with great synths and massive guitar riffs. With vocals from Dennis Ward, this is quality melodic rock with a solid crunch!
Serenity is a band I've stumbled across a number of times, but I really should spend more time with them. Their symphonic power metal style has strong Kamelot vibes, and even the dash of harsh vocals only adds to the epicness on display here.
W.E.T. once again finds its way onto the blog, bringing another great hard rock banger! Full of crunch and bolstered by Jeff Scott Soto's voice, this one is a definite must-listen track!!
Allen/Lande was a unique combination that resulting in some very solid metal. Here, frontier records wants to make that same magic happen, this time teaming Russell Allen up with Anette Olzon, and they've succeeded! Can't go wrong with epic metal featuring huge vocals!!
Ever since I started doing these articles, I've been blown away by how much that gets released! I'm still catching up on stuff from 2019 while keeping an eye on what's new. Here's what I've come across lately!
Amberian Dawn has a long tradition of symphonic power metal, but with this track, it seems they've joined other bands in the synth metal wave. It's pretty good, but I do wonder if maybe too many bands are trying to go in this direction now.
Meanwhile, Brothers of Metal keep chugging ahead with their Norse-drenched metal. This one seems to venture closer to mid-tempo power metal, but it remains just as epic and cheesy as you would expect from a band like this. Manowar would be proud!
So this is a team up of former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon and Jani Liimatainen, known for his work with Sonata Arctica and Timo Kotipelto of Stratovarius, and frankly, those three bands some up what The Dark Element is up to: Symphonic Power Metal of the highest order, and it's great!
Queensryche keeps the videos coming with their brand of melodic prog metal. Not a lot of surprises considering the band, but I think it's a pretty solid song.
Here's some more prog metal from the supergroup Sons of Apollo. This one hits nice and heavy as a tribute to a lost friend, complete with an impressive, noodly synth solo!
Growing up in the US, Magnum isn't a band name that comes up, but I've since become aware Bob Catley due to his appearances on Avantasia albums. However, this new album looks like a great way to get onboard, as this song is great hard rock!
Happy New Year! I just wanted to share a quick post, sharing a Spotify playlist I had been working on throughout last year. It's meant to be a compilation of all the songs that really stood out to me, either from videos or albums I listened to. Of course, I didn't listen to everything, so I'll still be adding stuff to this list whenever I catch up on something, but I figured I'd share it. It's a little all over the place, but it works as a nice recap of the last year, which has been quite fun. Anyways, check it out and rock on! \m/
