Sabaton - The Last Stand Album Review

If you've read my blog in the past, you know that I don't use too many swear words. In fact, I try to avoid swearing as much as possible. This review's going to be a little different. Expect some swearing. Fuck.

Sabaton is back baby! Heroes was kind of a weird album. The band had just significantly changed its line-up and they decided to go with more personal lyrics rather than focusing on an entire army or battle. It was still a good album (I even bought a copy), but it felt a bit weaker than Sabaton's previous releases. One of the main problems was the lyrics. A lot of them felt like they were just recounting someone's life rather than being an entertaining song that you can sing along to. For example, the chorus to Inmate 4859 goes something like:

Witold, Witold, who knows his name?

Inmate in hell or a hero in prison?
Soldier in Auschwitz who knows his name
Locked in a cell, waging war from the prison
Hiding in Auschwitz who hides behind 4859

Well call The Last Stand a return to form, because it's fucking awesome. There's plenty of parts to sing along to and shout out loud as they come up. From your Last Dying Breath to the samurai facing down an army in Shiroyama to the motherfucking Winged Hussars arriving. And don't get me started on Sparta, what an great way to start an album. I just want to punch shit as the hoo's and haw's are being shouted. Both times I've seen Sabaton live, they opened with Ghost Division, and I strongly suggest this gets replaced with Sparta. If it's not at least somewhere in their live show, then whoever creates the setlist should be fired. I don't care if it's the whole fucking band.

The Last Stand feels like a return to form to some extent. Sure, The Last Stand feels a lot like Coat of Arms and the tom drum parts of The Lost Battalion remind me of Carolus Rex, but both Coat of Arms and Carolus Rex are fucking amazing songs and both part of the reason I listen to Sabaton. Many classic Sabaton elements are in full display here, from the big operatic choruses to keyboard parts that add significantly to the songs. Let's just chalk up Heroes to growing pains after the line-up change.



I'd also like to mention the bonus songs. They're all fucking awesome. Special mention goes to All Guns Blazing.

So is The Last Stand Sabaton's best album? Maybe. Most of Sabaton's albums blend together for me. When I listen to them, I usually jump from album to album without giving too much thought where each specific song came from.What I can confidently say though is that there's no bad songs on The Last Stand. The only bad thing I can say is that The Last Tour is an awful fucking name for a tour if it's not your last! I don't care if it's a play on the album name. It was announced before the album was even out and it gave half your fanbase a heart attack. Fuck you. (Love you)

I don't give albums numerical ratings because it's largely just an arbitrary thing, but here's the information you need to know: if you like Sabaton even a little bit, go fucking pick up this album. Fuck. That being said, if you don't like Sabaton, I don't know if this album is going to turn you around on them. I'd call this a 'classic' Sabaton album, maybe even a quintessential one, but that's because they stick to their sound and do it really well. There aren't too many new ideas to be found on The Last Stand. If you're someone who doesn't like Sabaton (and I know there's at least one of you out there), let me know if this album made you like them. Thanks.

-Zombie Viking

P.S. RIP Thobbe, you will be missed and you were a great guitarist. But Sabaton replaced him with another fantastic human being; Tommy Johannson. He plays in a couple other bands, including a surprisingly good Christian metal band named Golden Resurrection (yes, really). But mostly, I'll always associate him with this video. What a great guy.

Gunsen - The Adventure of the Devil's Note Album Review

Hello everyone! It's been almost 2 years since I abandoned this blog for bigger and better things. But, almost as if someone is pressuring me to do this, I decided out of the blue to sacrifice my precious free time and write a new album review for your reading pleasure. So sit down, strap on some headphones, and get ready to go on an adventure. The Adventure of the Devil's Note.

Before we get into the review proper, I'll share the little background info I have on Mr. Gunsen. He's best known as one of the guitarists of the Polish power metal band Pathfinder. I've posted about Pathfinder in the past, they're a pretty good band and you should listen to them if you don't already. But they haven't put out any new music since 2012 and have only relatively recently replaced their old vocalist. So what has Gunsen been doing when he's not making guest solos for every band in Poland? I have no idea, but apparently he made an album at some point.



Hearing that an album is from the solo project of a power metal guitarist undoubtedly gives some expectations when listening to it. I'm happy to say that The Adventure of the Devil's Note subverts many of these right off the bat. I would have initially thought the Gunsen solo project would be something similar to Gus G's solo work. Instrumental guitar wankery with maybe some guest vocalists and stuff. However, this 'solo' project is actually more of a band. Gunsen the band is made up of Gunsen on guitars, Grzegorz Pastor Slomba on vocals, Arkadiusz E. Ruth on bass, and Grzegorz Hiero on drums (sorry if I got any of your crazy Polish names wrong). This gives the whole album a much more cohesive sound, there's no tracks with weird vocals that don't quite fit. All the songs are in the same style and it helps the album flow really well. Another thing worth mentioning is that The Adventure of the Devil's Note isn't even power metal, it's something a lot closer to melodeath. But don't worry, there's still all the guitar wankery you'd expect (and hope for) from a power metal guitarist.



The Adventure of the Devil's Note flys at a breakneck pace with plenty of blast beats, awesome screaming vocals, and epic keyboards (why do bands never credit whoever plays the keyboard?). Gunsen also isn't afraid to experiment with different elements, like the industrial parts in Time of Machines or different electronic and symphonic stuff spread out everywhere. The album runs at a cool 58 minutes and never slows down besides Kotoro, which spends the beginning and end of its 10 minutes building up an ancient Japanese ambiance. Because of this, it's definitely one of the stand out songs but not the first in a long line of unexpected twists on this album.

I'm not going to spend too long on the lyrics because this is metal and nobody cares. But there seems to be some sort of obsession with turning animals into freakish metal monsters (Metal Chicken, Super Pig, and Hellish Kitty). There's quite a bit of meowing on Hellish Kitty in particular. Anyway...

Gunsen brands his solo project as "total war against shit in mass media", and, well, there's no mass media shit in here. Maybe he should send music to Fox News or something to make it total war. But ignoring all of that, The Adventure of the Devil's Note is a solid melodeath/power album. It was totally not what I was expecting when I clicked play and I think it'll stay in my playlist for quite a bit. I hope that many of the music elements that were developed here will be used in the future on future Gunsen or Pathfinder albums.

-Zombie Viking

MotS Mondays: Crimson Shadows

Being Canadian myself, it feels good to write about a Canadian band. Not only that, but they're from Toronto, the same city as me! I'm not the biggest fan when it comes to North American metal as a whole. There's just too much thrash and death (don't even get me started on the core movement). Every so often I come across a band that I enjoy, but very few actually blow me away. Starkill and Crimson Shadows are the only two North American bands in recent memory that not only play awesome European-inspired metal but have also gotten major record deals and worldwide recognition.



When Crimson Shadows was first introduced to me by a friend, I was very pleasantly surprised to find that their style can best be described as a blend of my two favourite genres: melodeath and power metal. They've got the fast melodeath guitars with awesome power solos. They've got a super powerful vocalist as well as clean choruses from the lead guitarist. They've got the double kick-heavy drums with the occasional blast beat. And they've got the cheesy but still epic lyrics that you rarely ever find outside of the most powerest of power metal. They call themselves Epic Canadian Metal. The only thing Crimson Shadows is missing in my opinion is some keyboards to make the sound even more epic. If used sparingly like Deals Death or even Starkill, it would add a lot to their sound.

Actually that brings me to my main complaint (err, let's call it a potential point of improvement) about Crimson Shadows. There isn't too much variety in their songs. Looking at Kings Among Men specifically, the only real difference between the songs is their length and if you've learned the words to the chorus yet. Wouldn't it be awesome if there were female vocals added to the chorus of Maidens Call or if the 'kingly' voice in Dawn of Vengeance was used throughout the song to give messages to the captured soldiers? In any case, this is still a young band with only two albums (only one of them being an 'official' record label album) so they have plenty of time to grow. They've done a good job of establishing their sound but this is a band that needs to evolve over time.

An area that doesn't need too much improvement though is their live shows. I was lucky enough to see Crimson Shadows live a couple months after I had first heard of them when they appeared as the local support for an Alestorm show. The epic sound translates really well to a live setting and I can tell the band made a few new fans in the audience. I made sure to help Kickstart (or rather, Indiegogo...go) their recent European tour with Alestorm. These guys make great metal and the only thing they need right now is as some more attention. The band hasn't quite gotten to the point where it's overly profitable yet, hence the need for an Indiegogo campaign. I want to see a band from my city get popular enough that they'll still be making music 20 years from now. Especially one that I've been listening to since their very first album.

If you like songs about epic battles or drinking, be sure to check out Crimson Shadows. There's quite a few young bands that have taken off in recent years and these guys are right up there with the rest of them. They've already got two albums, a record deal with Napalm Records and a European tour under their belts. We'll see what the future holds for these men, but I know for certain that the last time I saw them live won't be my last.

You can find Crimson Shadows at the following sites:
http://crimsonshadowsmetal.com/
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-Zombie Viking

SONATA ARCTICA/DELAIN/XANDRIA Concert Impressions

Before I even get into the concert stuff, let me just say that I arrived way too early to the venue. Just as a note to everyone reading this, parking in cities sucks and there's nothing to do while waiting for a concert to start. However, I joined the line about an hour and a half before the concert started and there were already tons of people there. I guess it's better than arriving late since the Mod Club is a lot smaller than I remember. When I saw Alestorm there previously the crowd didn't seem to be too bad. But this concert was jam-packed. Even though I got there relatively early I wasn't able to get a spot right at the front like I have for the last few concerts I've been to. Kind of a bummer but I still ended up getting a decent spot not too far from the stage. Also the people who were standing behind me in line kept talking about how awesome Sabaton is live, so now I'm even more excited for that concert. One more month!

The first band came out about 10 minutes after I got inside. And to my surprise it was Xandria up first, not Delain like I previously thought. Oh well, I like Delain better so it was a pleasant surprise. Xandria of course was also pretty awesome. About half the already tiny stage was reserved for Sonata's stuff, so Xandria had to squeeze in pretty tight. They didn't move around the stage too much, but the whole band danced in place and still seemed like they were having a pretty good time. The drummer was especially awesome. I didn't realize before how simple Xandria's drumming is, but he filled the void with all sorts of stick spins and other things to show off. The sound quality was also great. The drums only looked like it had one or two mics set up on it and the snare was almost just its natural sound with minimal amplification. For such a small venue this worked out really well as I could still clearly hear the drums and also the guitars and vocals. The songs sounded almost exactly like they do on the albums. I was also able to recognize every song they played because the setlist was solely taken from their two most recent albums. I'm fine with that as those are the only albums of theirs I've actually listened to. The first four albums may very well not exist and I'm totally fine with that. The set was pretty short but a good start to the night sound-wise.

Before I get into the next bands I want to talk about the audience for a second. It was pretty crowded in there but this was one of the weirdest audiences I've seen. This was technically my first power/symphonic concert so maybe the crowds for these are always like this but I was still left pretty confused. Now there was no moshing to speak of, not even a single jerk in the middle. Fine, this isn't aggressive music so I understand. But there wasn't much energy either. There were very few people around me jumping around or even headbanging. The bands had to prompt the audience to do everything from clapping in rhythm to even cheering. That being said, everyone seemed really excited to see the bands. All the cheers were deafening, even for the opening bands. And almost everyone was singing along to Sonata Arctica. Perhaps the majority of the people there were just inexperienced with concerts, but most of them just stood in one spot the entire show.

Anyway, next up was Delain. Instead of bringing a stage backdrop, they chose instead of set up a series of stands making up the album cover. I've got to give them points for creativity. They also brought out their own smoke machines which really added to the visuals. There were even points during the set where both guitarists stood on top of the smoke machines during instrumental parts of songs. A few things were pushed away but since Delain is one additional person to Xandria, the band was still a little crowded on the stage. Charlotte seemed to have the most energy, constantly jumping up and down and running around the stage. Her vocals were a little more squeaky compared to the album recordings but besides that everything sounded great. The setlist was a bit more varied than Xandria's, with the band playing songs from all their albums. It showed me that maybe I'm not as familiar with Delain's material as I thought. There were quite a few songs that I didn't recognize. For some I realized what they were playing when the chorus kicked in, but for others I still have no idea. That being said they still did play everything I was hoping for. I started to get a little upset at the end of one of their songs because it sounded like that was the end of their set and they never played We Are the Others. Lucky for me they played one more song and it was exactly what I was hoping for. As a final note, it really looked at certain points like Charlotte was about to pop out of her partially see-through top. Both of the female vocalists definitely had interesting outfits.

The stage was fully opened up for Sonata Arctica. They had a whole raised section for the drums and keyboards where the keyboardist and guitarists kept switching positions. They took out Delain's smoke machines but replaced it with every single light in the place. I had no idea that stage had so many different lights on it. The crowd also got significantly louder when Sonata came out. They even chanted the band's name, good for them! I'm writing this bit as somewhat of an outsider since I really came for the opening bands and only started listening to Sonata when this concert was announced. But everyone else looked like they were there for the headliner. Everyone was singing along with all the songs. Even though I didn't recognize too many songs, they all sounded really good. Tony is an amazing singer and the rest of the band did not disappoint. All the solos were spot on and all the backing vocals were just as good. The drums were a little louder than the opening bands since they used their own kit which actually had microphones on it, but I could still hear the other instruments. All in all everyone looked like they were having fun. When Paid In Full was played, I got a chance to join in singing with the rest of the audience since it's the only song I really know the words to. Let me say, it was really fun singing along and I can see why the rest of the audience enjoyed the show so much. Tony was also full of energy. I've never seen a vocalist act out all the words they're singing but it definitely added a bit to the show. And every time a solo was happening, he would pick up the mic stand and pretend to play along. Did I mention the vocals were fantastic? Well I'll say it again since he blew me away. He hit all the highs and even threw in some growls here and there. I could make out every word he was saying which is an odd feeling for me since I've mostly seen bands with harsh vocals. All their songs also seemed to sound better live, as I actually enjoyed when they played the stuff I had previously deleted from my music library in disgust. Notable songs that I hate from the albums and loved live are What Did You Do in the War, Dad? and X Marks the Spot.

Overall this concert was great. The bands were all fantastic with every song sounding like it does on the albums. The audience was dead even though they seemed to be enjoying everything, but that problem will probably be fixed if you catch this tour in a different city. The three bands went by really quickly, with the final encore starting at 11:15 and the show ending at 11:45. But they made up for it when Xandria and Delain went out to their merch booths after the show to sign things and take pictures. I only went to this concert in the first place because I listened to the opening bands previously and when I listened to Sonata they weren't too bad. If only one of these bands were playing I don't think I would have gone to see the show. But after seeing them all live, I would see any one of them individually if and when they decide to come back in the future. I just hope that it's in a bigger venue.

-Zombie Viking

MotS Mondays: Titanium

The last time I saw Alestorm, Elliot Vernon was standing beside me during the opening bands. He told me to look out for Gypsyhawk and afterwards asked what I thought of them. "That's some feel-good rock n' roll" I said. If Gypsyhawk can be classified as feel-good rock n' roll, then surely Titanium can be classified as feel-good heavy metal. This Polish band is all about pulling out the stops and just having a good time. And with a name like Titanium, you can tell they're all about the metal.

Cool, an album cover and a band picture. Now I only have to include one image.

Their debut self-titled album is jam packed with metal goodness. With 14 songs and a running time at just over an hour, you're bound to find something you enjoy. Titanium is a very accessible band. Anyone who likes rock or heavy metal will be able to give the album a good listen. What they'll find is a non-stop barrage of music; the album just never slows down. Most of the songs are fast paced metal, and thrown in are a couple instrumentals and one pseudo-ballad in the form of Forever Mine. When the vocalist's nickname is Rocker you don't expect the band to slow down.

The music itself is also solid. You've got the standard dual-guitar, bass, drum, vocal ensemble along with some keyboards here and there. There's also plenty of solos which I'm told Mr. Karol Mania (of Pathfinder fame) likes to include in songs he writes. In addition to Rocker's powerful vocals, there's plenty of catchy choruses that include the rest of the band. The good thing here is that the rest of the band can actually sing. There's too many bands that include background vocals from musicians that clearly aren't vocalists. I don't care what trickery they used, they made the background vocals actually sound good. There's also plenty of vocal variety, from the vocal melodies in Titanium (the song, not the band or the album) to the pseudo growls at the end of Here and Now.



Titanium's music is wedged somewhere between heavy and power metal with a sound that contains a mix of classic and modern. With the recent emergence of New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal, these guys fit right in. The 'official' genre is melodic power metal if you're curious. The vocal style brings the band to a mid-80s, early 90s sound and the instrumentals are more modern-sounding. I especially enjoy the ample use of double kicks. Overall the band sounds very young and full of energy. I'm sure it'll be interesting watching them develop musically and take on a more mature sound as time goes on. Or possibly they'll always sound like young'ins, I'm fine with either.



Titanium is a good fit for anyone who likes heavy or power metal. It's also good for showing to your friends who refuse to listen to anything beyond rock to try and get them more into the metal scene. Remember not to tell them it's metal until after they say they like it! They're fairly new to the music scene as a whole, so here's hoping the band gets out of Europe one day. I also look forward to seeing how their sound will change on future albums. Stay metal.

You can find Titanium at the following links:
http://www.titaniumband.eu/
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-Zombie Viking

Amaranthe: A Fine Guilty Pleasure

Amaranthe is a band that metalheads either hate, don't understand, or have as a guilty pleasure. For me they fall squarely under guilty pleasure currently. I even wrote a post a long time ago in a galaxy not so far away that started off with me bashing Amaranthe for having too many vocalists. You can read that here. But now I sit here as the converted. Let me tell you why Amaranthe isn't such a bad band after all.

The first, and most important, point is that they are actually metal. Unlike other guilty pleasures like Korn or Slipknot, you can actually find Amaranthe on metal archives. Sure, they're listed as power metal/metalcore, but they wouldn't be a guilty pleasure if they were 100% pure. The music does have some of the poorer music tropes such as breakdowns and overly poppy keyboards, but they balance it out with solos and harsh vocals. Nothing is amazing but nothing is overly bad either. They've also got their main hook of extremely catchy choruses.



Hunger! Save me! One world depending on me-... Oh sorry, we're still writing a blog post here. My apologies. I am glad though that they got the guy from Dark Tranquility to do harsh vocals.

That brings me to my next point, and the thing I have to atone for. I still stick to my opinion that having three vocalists is overkill. If you're going to have three vocalists though, this is the way to do it. I don't expect Elize or dude-bro-guy to do harsh vocals so I suppose it's alright that they bring someone else in. I like that they don't put too much emphasis on the harsh vocals guy. He's just there in the background on some songs to give it that extra oomph. This is all evidenced by the fact that he's the only one in the band to be replaced. That's right, on their next album Amaranthe will be welcoming a new guy into the background. The two main vocalists are really good at what they do though. Elize is of course the main draw because she's an attractive woman and teenage boys (ie metalheads) eat that up like crazy. She's also a really good (albeit slightly poppy) singer. The verses usually go boy, girl, harsh, boy, girl with the choruses a true chorus of both male and female voices. It's a formula. Formulas are fine. This is me not complaining about the vocals.



So perhaps Amaranthe isn't too bad after all. Their attitude is completely pop, but their music is actually mostly metal. They do follow a pretty strict formula for their songs though this also means that they don't really have any bad songs because they always play it safe. As far as guilty pleasures go, you could do much worse. And for all the non-metalheads listening to them, it's a decent way of getting into metal.

And hey, they have a new album coming out on October 21st entitled Massive Addictive. I have no idea what that title is supposed to mean. Keep an eye out for the first single from the album Drop Dead Cynical to be released on September 9th. Ok this album looks like they just pulled a bunch of random words out of a hat. I'm sure the music will be good though!

-Zombie Viking

Parsifal

Parsifal is a Swedish/Norwegian/Dutch power metal band consisting of a few Youtube celebrities that decided to get together and form a band. I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of them because their Facebook page has about 150 likes and the songs on Youtube have around 1000 views. And don't bother trying to search up the band on Google, all you'll find is the opera that the name is inspired by. The Last.fm page for Parsifal is about some dance DJ but is slowly being taken over by the far superior band. They do however have a Metal Archives page, so that's nice to see. But needless to say, this band needs some more exposure. That's where this blog comes in.

Clockwise: Bjarte, Oscar, Victor, Bram

Parsifal is made up of Bjarte (guitars), Oscar (vocals), Victor (bass), and Bram (drums). I've been subscribed to Bram and Oscar for years, back when they were both making videos regularly and I subscribed to Bjarte shortly after I found out about the band. I don't know if Victor has a Youtube channel, but I'm sure he's a cool guy regardless. Needless to say, they're all extremely talented musicians. Bram has covered almost all of my favourite songs pretty close to flawlessly. Oscar does (used to do?) "different" covers of metal songs, singing clean vocals over ones that are usually growled. If you wanted to see the standout videos on both of their channels, it would definitely be Oscar's heathen warrior cover of Cascada's Every Time We Touch and Bram's epic collaborative cover of Sons of Winter and Stars originally by Wintersun.

Bjarte, Bram, and Oscar all have channels full of covers of other bands, but with Parsifal they've shown that they can create great music of their own. In my opinion, the band is best described as power metal with folk influences. They even throw in some keyboard and other instruments at times, possibly from a ghost player because no one seems to be credited with any extra instruments. The songs in their debut album, Here From the Past, cover a nice range, from slower to fast (but mostly fast, just how I like it) and atmospheric to slightly less atmospheric. The only thing that needs to be said is that Oscar's vocals take a little bit to get used to. It's an odd thing to say because his vocals are all clean, but he definitely has a unique voice. My only real criticism of the album is that Oscar's vocals are not always used in the best way. In most songs the music compliments his voice really well and it all creates a great atmosphere, like in Forever till Dawn. But other times he tries to fit too many syllables into too short a time or there's too many vocal tracks going on at once. I think it's just a matter of the short time the band has actually been working together and I'm sure it'll get better with each new song they write. My other issues with the album deal with the mixing and sound quality, but I'm guessing it was made with a very small budget so it's well within the limits of acceptable. The sound quality is actually surprisingly good with all things considered.


Whether or not I've sold you on the band, you have no excuse to not check out the album. Here From the Past is available for free on Parsifal's site. That's right, just go to http://www.parsifalband.com/ and scroll down until you see the download album button. And best of all, clicking the button won't put you on some stupid mailing list like so many "free" download links nowadays. Give the album a listen or two and then consider pressing the donate button right beside it. Just think about what these guys could do with their next album(s) if they had a bit more money to work with. Alternatively, it's available for "name your price" on the band's Bandcamp.

Parsifal is a band with all the talent and none of the fanbase. They definitely deserve to become better known and maybe have some money thrown their way so they can make more music and maybe even tour (am I being too hopeful?). The band's members are to blame too for not getting the word out about their own band. You guys all have Youtube channels, put some Parsifal songs/videos on them! It's not selling out or shoving the band down our throats because the album is free! Since I wasn't subscribed to Bjarte at the time (the only member who has Parsifal videos on his channel), I only found out about the band due to a small post on Bram's Facebook page. Just knowing the name isn't enough since you can't search "Parsifal" anywhere and get the actual band to come up in the results. It all just seems kind of silly to me. Oh well, hopefully they'll get popular enough that this won't be a problem anymore.

You can find Parsifal at the following internet locations:
http://www.parsifalband.com/
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-Zombie Viking

WINTERSUN / FLESHGOD / ARSIS / STARKILL Concert Impressions

This concert was absolutely amazing. It was everything I was expecting and more. After meeting with the band, I went back outside, picked up some dinner quickly and went back to waiting in line. It was a split between two different experiences, almost as if I had gone home and come back the next day to see the actual concert. My two friends arrived and joined me in line and before long we were inside the venue.

I'd like to thank Starkill for putting me and my friend on the guestlist (I really got a lot of free stuff at this concert), which was quite a different experience. I'm pretty sure we were the only names on the guest list and it allowed me to bring a third person. After we were inside we went straight to the merch booth and I bought a Time I shirt for a friend that couldn't make it. All the Wintersun merch was awesome. Buy some if you're going to any of the other shows.

Starkill was up first and man did they get the crowd going. They had a huge amount of energy, constantly getting everyone to chant and throw up horns. It also didn't hurt that their songs were catchy and translated really well to a live performance. The crowd quickly woke up after only the first song and everyone was running, jumping and moshing right away. The Opera House is usually spotty for sound quality, with some concerts sounding really good and others just a mish-mash of sounds. The only problem I really noticed with Starkill was that their guitars were a little quiet, but that was turned up a couple songs into the set. It's a good thing too, because they have a bunch of crazy solos. New Infernal Rebirth and Wash Away the Blood With Rain were my two favourite performances. Overall they were my second favourite performance of the night and they definitely took away a significant amount of my energy (more on that later).

During one of their awesome solos.

 

Arsis was up next. They're the only band I didn't listen to prior to the concert and sadly, they'll remain that way. They gave a decent performance but the aforementioned Opera House sound quality came back to bite them. The drums were way too loud and it drowned out most of the other instruments. It also didn't help that they had very little consistency in their songs. I don't know if it was just because I was watching it live, but it felt like every minute or so in a song they'd just switch up the riff to something completely different. I didn't know what tempo to headbang at for half the time, and that is just a terrible feeling. Their frontman looked like he was about to die for the majority of the performance. He was completely drenched in sweat and managed to make his guitar and the floor around him slightly more shiny. I checked out a few of their music videos before the concert and let's just say that this guy looks a lot older without his long hair. I swear, he looks like a father. That being said, kudos to him for giving his all. Even though he was sweating so much, he never missed a beat and managed to scream out every word with the same power. Arsis' bassist was also a great guy. He was constantly jumping around and climbing up on the amps at the front of the stage.

Just shredding and sweating away.

I was really excited for Fleshgod Apocalypse to come on. Apart from releasing an awesome new album in a couple days, they brought along an opera singer on the tour just to add to the sound. They have such a great blend of brutality and beautiful symphonic elements. Unfortunately, the Opera House struck again. All the sounds were just blended together and I could barely hear any of the vocals, guitar or piano. It's a shame because they brought along an actual piano to play on, not just a keyboard. The opera singer was drowned out for most of the set, but she actually sang along to every single song so that's a bonus. She shined during the clean vocals sections where she sang along with the bassist (and the crowd!). I was afraid the drums would overpower everything, but they drastically reduced the sound so that even the blast beats were a bit quiet. Don't get me wrong, they still put on a great show, but the sound was all a little off and it's really unfortunate that it had to happen to these guys. There were still many moments where just the symphonic parts were playing and it created such an epic atmosphere. Crowd favourite song The Violation was also beyond awesome. The moshpit was probably one of the most brutal I've seen and the band loved it, encouraging everyone to join in the fun. Fleshgod managed to finish on a high note with The Forsaking which sounded really good live. It was a great choice on their part. Oddly enough, none of us managed to take a decent picture of Fleshgod, but here's the best I could find.

It was a crowded stage when these guys were on.

And then there was Wintersun. The last thing they said to me during the soundcheck was "enjoy the show" to which I replied "as long as it's as good as last time". I forget who in the band said it, but they responded with "it'll be better!" and "well, it'll be longer". I couldn't agree with them more, their set was both longer and better than the previous time they visited (which I thought would be impossible to top). Jari started it off filming the crowd cheering with his (or someone else's phone), which you can now check out on Youtube, and then the band went straight into Sons of Winter and Stars. The crowd was nuts for the entire set, singing along to every single lyric of every single song. Especially great was everyone humming along to the main riff of Land of Snow and Sorrow.

Luckily enough, I was able to get (and keep!) a nice spot just a couple rows back from the stage. I was out of the way of the mosh pit, but it was still pretty crazy. Everyone was crowd surfing and jumping and singing and pushing every which way. I loved it. I loved it so much that halfway through Wintersun's set I completely ran out of energy. I have never been so exhausted in my life but I stayed at the front the entire set. I was just unable to sing along to most of the songs or jump around too much. As much as I loved the concert, I was actually kind of hoping they wouldn't come out for an encore just because I was so tired. Luckily, they played everything before they left the stage.

Jari and the rest of the band were so nice, always saying how great it was to be playing for us and pointing at different things in the crowd (like the huge Finland flag one girl brought). Afterwards they all came to the front of the stage to shake the crowd's hands and throw a bunch of souvenirs at us. Before the final song, Jari asked us what we wanted to hear and was met with a few "Time II" shouts and one guy who really wanted them to play Sleeping Stars. He kept yelling out the song title throughout the set. They never played it. They did manage to play every single other song in their repertoire though except for Sadness and Hate. Seriously, they played every single song except for two. They even played The Way of the Fire which sounded great live and made everyone really excited for Time II. There was even room for a Teemu solo and a part of a song that reminded everyone that there are actually good bands to come out of Canada.

Sound issues aside, this was a great concert. It seems like every concert I go to just keeps getting better and better. If this keeps up, I won't be able to walk for a week after the next one! Both of my friends (who admittedly haven't been to many concerts) loved it and asked when the next band I'm going to see is in town.

I want to thank Wintersun again for the amazing VIP experience and Starkill for the free tickets and getting on the guest list. I'll never forget this night.

-Zombie Viking

My Meeting With Wintersun

I haven't updated this blog in over a month and I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep right now, but last night was just so awesome and surreal that I have to write a blog post about it. I still can't fully believe that I was shaking hands and talking with Wintersun. They're all a bunch of great and down to earth guys who just happen to be Finnish and make amazing music.

I'm still not sure why I was picked over everyone else. I sent in my submission only a couple days before the winners were announced and I just look weird in my picture. The only info I got about the process was when Kai told me that their manager, Florian, was picking the winners all the way from Finland. Kai isn't picking them because he'd just choose the people here that he already knows, and what fun is there in that? Here's the picture of my ugly mug that got me picked. It was the best out of the 30 or so that I took.

We were told to be at the venue at 3 and text the tour manager to let us in. I got there about 10 minutes early and met Brett, the other winner, waiting outside. I have to admit, we were both extremely anxious. 3 came and left with no sign of the band, but it gave us a chance to talk about Wintersun and metal in general. A couple of other guys joined us as well, about to wait in line for 4 hours. They were from out of town and had nowhere to go before the show so they decided to just wait in line. They were nice guys but I question some of their decisions. There were also guys from the bands just walking around getting supper and stuff. One of the guys from Fleshgod even asked us where the nearest Starbucks was. I don't think there were any in the area though, unfortunately for them.

After about 40 minutes of waiting (and asking Jukka to let us in when he walked by), we were each handed an awesome backstage pass with a Wintersun "W" and escorted inside. Everyone was busy working to set everything up. There were 2 sets of drum kits and a piano on the floor along with a ton of amps. Kai was sitting at his drum kit on the stage just messing around. Even seeing him play random crap was entertaining. Him Jukka and Teemu started playing riffs and trying out some new sounds. I'm pretty sure they were playing a new song from Time II, I know you're all extremely jealous. Jari came out shortly afterwards and gave us a big wave (he really is the nicest guy ever). Then they ran through part of Sons of Winter and Stars and Sadness and Hate while we watched from the floor.

After everything was perfect, they all came out and shook our hands. We just stood in the middle of the Opera House chatting it up with Wintersun. We talked about a bunch of random crap like Canada, touring and everyone's old bands. They even handed us a bit of swag like signed drumsticks from Kai, a Wintersun flag and Wintersun picks. We of course did the usual things like getting our albums signed and taking a picture with the band, but only after Kai kept reminding us. We were so star-struck that we just kept forgetting all the stuff we wanted to do. I tried to be the level headed one (Brett must have thanked them at least 20 times), but the whole thing was just surreal.

Yeah, Teemu really is that short. For comparison, I'm a little under 6 feet. I won't hold that against him though, he's a pretty cool guy. So is Jukka, he just gives off an aura of cool. Everything from his voice to his sunglasses. Jari is just as you'd expect if you've watched any interviews with him. He also has the smallest hands of the group, which is a little interesting tidbit for all of you. And Kai is probably the most conversational. He seemed to genuinely enjoy talking to us and was really humble considering all the compliments we were giving him and the band as a whole. The whole band was just happy that we enjoyed their music so much.

When we were finished talking, Brett and I headed over to the merch booths (who were still setting everything up) to see if we could buy some things in advance. Kai and Jukka came over with us and even shuffled around the boxes a little bit to see if they could find what we were looking for. I bought a Wintersun wristband which I've wanted for at least a couple years now. They had some really cool merch too, like a Wintersun hat and shorts. If only I had unlimited money... Kai even hung around with us for a bit longer after we probably should have been kicked out and just talked about drumming.

I really can't compare this experience to anything else. Just a week ago I was listening to the debut album every single day on my drive to work and now I can say I've met the band. They are the nicest rockstars you'll ever meet and they put on a spectacular show afterwards. Thank you so much to Wintersun and all the management staff for putting this together, you guys rock!

You can find my full concert impressions right here.

-Zombie Viking

Good Workout Metal #4 Dragonland

Dragonland is a Swedish power metal band from Sweden. They're also the first power metal band I've featured in my workout metal series of blog posts. They just have that extra element that makes them great to pump iron to. Sure, you could throw on any old power metal as you hit the gym, but nothing works quite as well as Dragonland. Let me tell you why.

The first thing you may notice about Dragonland, besides that they're awesome, is how heavy they are for a power metal band. It's got all the power elements right there; the high-pitched guitars, powerful vocals, quick drums and epic symphonic keyboards, but everything - especially the guitars - are just played in a crushing manner. The riffs are deep and methodical, giving a crushing feeling with every pick of a string. The drums also contribute to this feeling with slightly different patterns than are typically found in power metal. It's not just a constant double-bass-fest, they actually have drums that compliment the guitars and give the whole song that extra push.



The groundwork is solid, but then these guys throw a whole other epic layer on top of it. The keyboards are great and fit well with the rest of the music. They also add a bunch of other ambient noises just for the hell of it. The vocalist is very talented and belts out every word with the same amount of feeling. Plus the lyrics are always about something grand, whether it's an epic journey, battle or just being in space. While this is a typical thing in power metal, Dragonland pulls it off amazingly every single time. Every song has the same epic feeling backed by the hard hitting instrumentals.

They also like to throw in harsh vocals every now and then in case you need that extra push during your last set.



Dragonland is simply the best power metal band to work out to. They're heavy enough to keep you motivated and epic enough so you don't get bored. The lyrics are always about something grander than yourself so you stay motivated. And they're just an overall awesome band so you should be listening to them anyway. So throw them on your music player of choice and hit the gym, fatty.

-Zombie Viking

Metal on the Side Mondays: Dragonland Extravaganza

Dragonland is a great and underrated power metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden. I think their music speaks for itself, so here's my pick of the songs easily available on Youtube. And yes, Astronomy is probably their best album, though every album from these guys is pure genius.

-Zombie Viking





 

My One Paragraph Review: Tales From the Kingdom of Fife

The day has finally arrived, Gloryhammer released their debut album Tales From the Kingdom of Fife! You may remember Gloryhammer as the band who brought tons of visitors to my blog a week after its creation. The least I can do as repayment is write a short review for the album. They'd probably also appreciate it if I went out and actually bought the album, but these things take time and effort. And as you can see by the slightly shorter review, I am dedicating very little of either. On to the review!

For quite a long time I have been questing to find a band or album that can be simply described as "epic". I've wanted to be able to dazzle curious acquaintances with the epicness stowed away in my library and to bring up an example with one simple click. I think Rhapsody of Fire has perhaps come the closest, but they have their off days. This being a review for a specific album though, I think you know what I'm about to say. Gloryhammer is a gloriously epic band. Sure, the music isn't entirely unique and influences such as the previously mentioned Rhapsody can be heard clearly, but damn do they combine it all well. I will admit that I was worried the first time I heard Angus McFife on the youtubes, but listening to the album as a whole gives an entirely different experience. On its own, you may think the music is generic power metal, but giving Tales From the Kingdom of Fife a play-through tells an overarching story of a wonderfully cheesy rendition of Scotland. Each song fits well and there's nothing that sticks out or ruins the experience. Even the slow songs. Even the ten-and-a-half-minute The Epic Rage of Furious Thunder. All in all, Tales From the Kingdom of Fife is a solid album. It wears its influences on its sleeve and doesn't do anything particularly groundbreaking, but everything is combined in such a great and epic way that you owe it to yourself to give it a listen.

I hate giving numbers to things but here goes nothing...
7.5/10

-Zombie Viking

Hammerfall - Bloodbound

Here's some great and classic power metal. I know the song isn't that old, it's still a classic to me! If you haven't heard of Hammerfall, you should definitely check them out. And if you have heard of them, good on you. If you don't like them, too bad, because here comes some Hammerfall.

-Zombie Viking

Late Update News: Statovarius Releases New Album, is Awesome

Things don't seem to be going too well

It's been over a week and I still haven't listened to all the songs from Stratovarius' new album Nemesis. But the songs that I have heard are pretty darn awesome. Especially the moment last night where I just had my music playing through and Out of the Fog came on. And I was blown away. I mean, Stratovarius is good, but they have a limited amount of amazing songs. This was one of them. That and Fantasy are my favourite songs that I've actually heard from the album.

It's not all great though. Like too many other power metal bands, Stratovarius decides to squeeze in some slow songs and ballads. Lots of people like that crap. I am not one of them. Just a matter of taste I suppose. I enjoy my music aggressive and fast paced, with the occasional slow song if it's really really good.

This is far from an album review, but go check out the album yourself. They've even made a music video for Halcyon Days. The song? Great. The video? Uhh, the transitions into all the different shirts are cool I guess. There's not really much else in the video besides the band playing, as bands tend to do, so I give it a big meh. But you should watch it anyway! Just click right here:


I'm just doing the uninitiated a public service. You're welcome.
-Zombie Viking

Finally, Gloryhammer!

Rejoice warriors, for the epic fantasy power metal power epic force band Gloryhammer has finally released their first song and video to accompany it. It's been almost 8 months since I last posted about Gloryhammer, but the day has arrived. The resulting song is what you'd expect, epic fantasy power metal. And same goes for the video. The band plays their song in some forest while some kid runs around and a sorcerer waits in a ruined building for all eternity. It's far from bad, but it's also nothing wholly new or unique. However, Chris Bowes is behind the whole thing and they take the whole subject as unseriously as you'd hope. I'll be sure to catch Gloryhammer's debut album when it finally hits shelves.

-Zombie Viking

Dragonforce is in a Commercial

Successful advertising is successful.


-Zombie Viking

Pathfinder... Or is it Catfinder?

Just thought I should post this. How many bands do you know of that have this many cats? None, I bet.

METAL IS ETERNAL
LIKE EARTH, FIRE, WIND AND WATER

-Zombie Viking

Off to the Concert

In a few hours I'll be going to the Opera House again to see Epica and Alestorm (among other bands). It'll be my third time seeing Alestorm and first seeing any female-fronted metal band. Hopefully I'll even get an Alestorm shirt finally.. They even promised something special, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what it is!

Oh you guys

I'll be posting my concert impressions either Friday or this weekend, so stay tuned. It will also be the last post here for a bit.. I've decided to focus a bit more on school than my blog, and hopefully that will pay off in the long run. It's definitely not the end of anything though, as I will get back to blogging as soon as I can.

I'll leave you with this Epica music video. I think it just perfectly blends the beautiful symphonic music and metal. Enjoy!


-Zombie Viking

Metal Mondays: Alestorm

Yarr, there be pirate metal aboard!

YARRRR- wait, what?

Alestorm
Genre: Pirate Metal
Country: Scotland

Alestorm, the one and only True Scottish Pirate Metal band has made quite an impact in the relatively short time since their debut. They were formed in 2004 under the name Battleheart and released their first official record under the name Alestorm in 2008. After Captain Morgan's Revenge, Black Sails at Midnight and Back Through Time have followed. And already, the band is prepping for their first ever headlining festival.

Those crazy pirates.

Alestorm's music is unique in the sense that it's hilarious the first time, but as you continue to listen to it, there's a good musical backing as opposed to the music just being there for cheap laughs. Their lyrics range from grand adventures to just getting drunk. The songs do a good job of not breaking the pirate theme (besides maybe Scraping the Barrel, but that song's pretty awesome in its own right) so you always feel like a swashbuckler listening to an Alestorm album. The only thing I'd like to see more of is for the band to dive deeper into pirate lore. As countless movies and games have shown, there's a lot of pirate stuff to be explored. I did enjoy Back Through Time though, as it felt like the band responding to the current metal scene (viking metal specifically) and of course Swashbuckled served as a great call out to Swashbuckle. They have the unique spot of being one of the only pirate metal bands in existence (though there are finally some other bands catching on to the idea) so I think Alestorm should embrace it more.

Alestorm is also the only band I've seen live more than once. This Wednesday will be my third time seeing them in concert. Maybe I'll even finally get a t-shirt. The first time I saw them was one of my first concerts, so I didn't even bring enough money for merch. The second time they had completely sold out the day before. Hopefully the third time's the charm.

Speaking of seeing Alestorm live, they are a great live band. For some reason, they're the only band for which I know practically every word of every song. No matter what they play, I'll be singing along. Even driving in my car I sing along whenever I decide to play Back Through Time. The band itself is just so much fun. And I'm not the only one. The entire crowd goes crazy whenever Alestorm rolls through town. From every single person singing Nancy the Tavern Wench to a giant mosh pit erupting during Back Through Time, it's always a great time. I just wish they'd play Heavy Metal Pirates once! I think it would be an amazing live song.

Nothing needs to be said about this poster.

I definitely have a lot of Alestorm memories, as they keep coming to me as I'm writing. Chris Bowes is a great guy. He really knows how to keep a crowd entertained. He always has some joke to say in between songs or he just plays some catchy riff on his keytar. The first time I saw them, he even played for a good minute because the guitarist was having technical difficulties that the crew was fixing. Then there's Dani Evans who always always jumps off stage right when the band has finished their set and walks through the crowd to the bar. Once he has a drink in his hands, he takes the time to interact with fans, signing things or just talking to people. It's great to see a band that likes its fans so much. Chris Bowes also happens to be a part of a little band called Gloryhammer, who, as some of you may remember, linked to my blog on their Facebook page. These guys are pretty awesome.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this great band again this Wednesday. It's always a good time when Alestorm is in town!

-Zombie Viking

Metal Music Video Mondays: Head Up High by Firewind

I've had a thing for this song since I first heard it. It's just so catchy and the band is so talented. Plus the music video isn't too bad as far as metal videos go. This is definitely one of my favourite Firewind songs if not the favourite.


I should probably give Firewind a second chance.. I put a couple of their albums on my mp3 player a couple years ago but they just didn't click. The music itself was great for the most part, I just found myself always skipping over their songs to get to ones that I knew better. After a few months, I deleted those albums and haven't really listened to them since. It's this song though that keeps me coming back to Firewind. I especially think now that I listen to so much more power metal than before that I'll enjoy this band. I'll check them out again when I get a chance.

Gus G is the man!

-Zombie Viking