I have to say, writing these Anniversary articles has been fun. I get to go over stuff I love as well as dig into things I haven't heard before. This month: 2005. I admit that my knowledge of what the rock world in general was doing at this time is pretty sparse, but I know what I like, and this year has plenty of melodic rock and metal worth celebrating.
Speaking of which, let's start again with power metal. A lot of really good albums came out this year for the genre, including the debut of Allen/Lande, a team-up to two very dynamic singers who really lay it on thick. The album is full of fist-pumping anthems that are blast to hear. HammerFall would continue their crusades, providing another set of stomping huge songs in Chapter V, namely "Blood Bound," "Fury of the Wild," and "Born to Rule." And while Stratovarius' history would be pretty bumpy at this point, their self-title release is something of a dark horse in their collection, having some of their best material, in my opinion. Kamelot would carry on their quality streak with The Black Halo, the second half of a concept album pair based on Faustian legends, and features tons of epic material. Sabaton would kickstart their military history flavored metal with Primo Victoria, camo pants and all. And of course, a discussion of power metal in 2005 wouldn't be complete with DragonForce's Inhuman Rampage, featuring the Guitar Hero favorite "Through the Fire and the Flames," and cementing the band as the poster child for the genre. Admit it, when most people think about power metal now, it's usually DragonForce they think of. Of course, there was more to 2005 than power metal. Post-grunge continued to stick around, with 3 Doors Down's opener "Right Where I Belong" from Seventeen Days, and Nickelback showing us that "Photograph" everyone keeps making fun of them for. Other highlights include Wolfmother's debut, full of Sabbath-y riffs and Deep Purple-y organs, as well as Disturbed finally turning the corner into their now iconic groove metal with Ten Thousand Fists. To cap off, I want to end with band that may have flown under the radar. One called Presto Ballet. Formed by Metal Church guitarist Kurdt Vanderhoof, he set out to put together an album that paid homage to classic rock bands of the 70s, taking Yes and Kansas into strongest consideration. Along with a dedication to more analog recording techniques, their debut album is a very bright and vibrant album that straddles the line between crunchy and prog the way bands like Kansas and Styx did back in their heyday. So that's another anniversary article in the books. As usual, the playlist with even more good stuff is posted below, and if I've missed something, shout it out! Until then, rock on! \m/
Well, I've been kinda inconsistent. I end August with two "Last Played" articles, then start September with two "New Videos" articles. Whatever, things are finally getting cooler, and I've got a bunch of new rock and metal videos for you!
Let's start of with some power metal. This gives me some very big, The Fourth Legacy era Kamelot vibes. Dramatic, and a bit dark, but plows ahead at full force, and letting the music do as much of the talking as the lyrics.
Okay, this one is doomier, at least at first. It unleashes its massive, Sabbath-y riff to start, but once the song is about half-way, there's this jump, and we're suddenly in Iron Maiden territory, with the dual lead solos and all. Then it's back into the doom riff, but more epic. Great song! I'm going to have to check more of these guys out!
I've seen this band around, but I think I'm finally onboard. The video of the band members racing on the track got pretty silly, but this one better fits their style, which is classic power metal (like Stratovarius or Sonata Arctica) but with more modern symphonic touches. Very epic!
So I guess the guitarist of Frozen Crown decided to do a sideband that's more traditional metal with some rock qualities to it. Big and gritty, with some nice vocals. Solid stuff.
Looking at the description, this band seems to be moving to more of a blues-rock style of post-grunge. I can't say I'm familiar with their older stuff, but this song has some nice dynamics to go along with the crunchy riffs.
Let's finish with another Arctic Rain track. Once again, it's 80s-tastic, with melodic guitar leads, soaring vocals, layered synths, and a big chorus. Sort of has a mix of Journey and Def Leppard vibes, this is AOR done well.
So I started putting this article together last month, but when I ended up listening to a bunch of albums, this got pushed off, so it gets to start September. This time, we've got a bit of everything: AOR, symphonic metal, heavy/doom, prog metal. Let's go!
Starting off with more nostalgic AOR. Again, like Arctic Rain last time, this has the warm-n-fuzzy 80s vibe. Nothing particularly strong or spectacular, but great to have on while you're working on things or just want to rock out from the comfort of your armchair.
So this band is listed as doom metal wherever I look, but this is way too uptempo, based on what I know for the genre. This is creeping into heavy/US power territory, with some pretty technical riffs. Still, it's crunchy and epic in an old-school sort of way, which works for me!
Dark, brooding symphonic metal, very much in the vein of classic Nightwish. Dramatic and huge, with some solid crunching guitars and massive choirs, all centered around Elina Siirala's operatic vocals, it all makes for a great piece of epic metal.
Yup, DGM again. This album is sounding like it's going to be as good as the last one, and the last one was very good! The Italians just seem to have the touch: anthemic, melodic, broad, epic, just really great prog metal, as far as I'm concerned.
I know Magnus Karlsson mostly for his work in Primal Fear, but he's also in over a dozen other projects, and I guess this is the one he puts his own name on. This one is an interesting fusion of AOR and symphonic metal, with a dash of shred for good measure.
I don't know if this band could sound more like Iron Maiden if they tried! The singer Artur Almeida is clearly imitating Bruce Dickinson's dramatic style of singing, but he does it qutie well, and the band has some pretty solid chops to back it up.
