What are you listening to today?

[Thorns On My Grave]

I don't want this to be one of those annoying ass list threads. What are you listening to and what about it do you like?

Also, when you want use this thread to recommend bands you dig.

At the moment I am slapping this killer band Enslaved to Beauty. It's hard to peg their sound down, but they have a mixture of melodic death, folk, electronic... and a bunch of others.

[Xendra]

I just got a copy of a Nightmare Records Free Sampler CD in the mail, been listening to it all day as most of the bands are new to me. I especially enjoyed the songs by bands such as Katagory V, Darkwater, Eternal Flight, Evil Masquerade, Suspyre, and Scelerata. The new Krucible demo was also cool!

[muzmaze]

...other than my wife yelling at me
been listening to:
-Angtoria
-Hibria
-Communic
& of course Pyraboys!

[Thorns On My Grave]

Communic is one of the most unique bands i've come across in a long time. I listen to them pretty much every day. There is always something new to hear in their tunes. Highly recommended for fans of intricate, hard to pin down metal. Their influences are across the board.

[muzmaze]

Yeah...i agree on Communic!
I don't know how the hell Oddlief pulls off both guitar & vocals as well as he does...especially live?
Heard bits & pieces of the 1st cd.,but "Waves Of Visual Decay" is 1-of my alltime fav.s.
Good thing is- it looks like thier next cd is going to come out around the same time as Pyramazes next.CAN'T WAIT!

[Thorns On My Grave]

So who here listens to Unexpect?

Their music takes a lot of Unexpected turns.

Get it?

But seriously i've been listening to their debut Utopia a lot, and it's dope as hell. Their newest release In A Flesh Aquarium is one of the most amazing albums ever. For fans of crazy eclectic metal.

[Rycher]

Morgana Lefay, and lots of it!

[Solon]

Listening to a friends cd ; dionysys - amani mundi ; the sound is reall nice although this is the only cd I have of them.



Demons and Wizards - touched by the crimson king visits my cd player on a regular base to as of late

[Thorns On My Grave]

Man.. I loved the first D&W CD, but TBTCK just let me down in every manner of the word. It had none of the catchiness, melody, or even power of the first CD. It seemed really rushed, which it probably was as people were clamouring for a new CD for years.

[carbon]

i've been listening to intervals all day, practicing for ear training, WOOOOOH!

[Thorns On My Grave]

Holy shit... the upcoming tour with Symphony X, Into Eternity and Epica...

Who the fuck is going to be in the Bay Area to hit up the show with me in SF?

This gig... is going... to slay!!!!!!!!!

[Ncriado]

My life has been ruled by the latest Winds album lately. The vocals take some time to get use to, but are brilliant. Andy Winter and Hellhammer slay on this album.

[Iced Dog]

Originally Posted by muzmaze

been listening to:
-Angtoria

Nice! I don't find many others that mention them...very good debut they have.

Originally Posted by Solon

Listening to a friends cd ; dionysys - amani mundi ; the sound is reall nice although this is the only cd I have of them.

One of my favorite bands...Anima Mundi is great...also make sure you check out their newest, Fairytales & Reality, awesome stuff. And Olaf Hayer is a fantastic vocalist...he's also the singer on Luca Turilli's solo albums

Lately I've been hooked on...
Serenity - Words Untold And Dreams Unlived (great prog/power band from Austria)
Gammay Ray - Land Of The Free II
Helloween - Gambling With The Devil

[Thorns On My Grave]

Luca Turilli's solo shit fucking pwns all... I'll give Dionysys a listen, sounds interesting

[muzmaze]

-AMASEFFER
About to release thier debut w/ vocalist Mats Leven? They only have pre- demos avail. at thier myspace...some very very interesting epic power stuff going on.

[Thorns On My Grave]

Originally Posted by muzmaze

-AMASEFFER
About to release thier debut w/ vocalist Mats Leven? They only have pre- demos avail. at thier myspace...some very very interesting epic power stuff going on.

Hmmm... I listened to them. Their allright, a bit too theatrical with too little structure and hooks. But it hs the potential to be some cool stuff

They certainly do love God don't they?

[Xendra]

Been listening to both of the Human Fortress CDs for a long time now, Lord of Earth and Heaven's Heir and Defenders of the Crown. Both are totally brilliant albums with THE best choruses and vocal melodies I've ever heard. It's just so epic I can't even describe it, still without making it ridiculous (like Rhapsody ). The last time the chorus kicks in in Schattentor is just O_O. The perfect change in the drum pattern, amazing chorus without overdoing it, I get chills every time. The song Defenders of the Crown (can be heard here: http://www.myspace.com/humanfortressband ) must be the most epic track ever. Overall it's very simple, but with mindblowing melodies that will stick to your head and never let go, and a chorus straight from heaven, no song comes close in my opinion.

Hmm, I feel like I got excited back there =D. I'm serious though, if you haven't heard of Human Fortress and like Epic Heavy Metal, then this band is for you!

Edit: Forgot to mention the monster vocals by Jioti Parcharidis, he improved so much between the first and the second album that it isn't true. He's amazing, trust me.

[Thorns On My Grave]

I gotta say, to each their own and all that... but Human Fortress does nothing for me... Epic? Not in any particular sense of the word. It really seems like mid-tempo, lackluster German power metal without much umph, and certainly very little virtuosity.

Maybe there is something in the albums that will change my mind, but based on the myspace songs I certainly wouldn't buy their stuff.

If anyone is looking for a literal Blind Guardian clone, so much so that if you didn't know, you'd never tell the difference, listen to Savage Circus. Ironically Thomen from BG played drums for them!

[muzmaze]

Originally Posted by Thorns On My Grave

Hmmm... I listened to them. Their allright, a bit too theatrical with too little structure and hooks. But it hs the potential to be some cool stuff

They certainly do love God don't they?

Yeah...AMASEFFER, though i don't care...really seems to be pushing the religious cause? Just trying to expand my metal senses- like with ANGTORIA,completely surprised me & listen to them often.

Look at Jonahs piano tracks-i would enjoy cranking that in a massive stereo as i would any metal cd.Now put the piano together w/the rest of the PYRABOYS & its magical!

Edit:
I checked out Luca Turilli...really like the song Virus!
Would recommend VISION DIVINE..."Perfect Machine" is a great cd (thier last cd kinda lost me though),another Italian metal band similar in style to L.T. & RHAPSODY.

[Xendra]

Originally Posted by Thorns On My Grave

I gotta say, to each their own and all that... but Human Fortress does nothing for me... Epic? Not in any particular sense of the word. It really seems like mid-tempo, lackluster German power metal without much umph, and certainly very little virtuosity.

I usually see no correlation between epic and tempo/technicality. To me music is epic when I picture the songs music video as, well, epic. One thing that springs to mind is the scene in LotR: Return of the King where the riders of Rohan enter the fields of Minas Tirith as the sun sets down, bathing the fields in golden light. That's my understanding of epic =D.

The word epic can be translated to something like majestic, or grandiose, and that's exactly what I feel when I listen to Human Fortress. There aren't many bands that I've come across that can create this kind of smooth, simple sense of importance and majesty, and I love them for it.

There are of course different types of music that could be considered as epic: like Gamma Ray, Nightwish, Kamelot, Lost Horizon, the list goes on and on.

I do agree that their music isn't very versatile, but I also think that's one of their greatest strengths. Defenders of the Crown still stays at the top of my list ^_^.

[Trevor Lane]

Misc. Gamma Ray songs.

[korruption]

Seven Tears - Twist of Fate

[Thorns On My Grave]

Originally Posted by Xendra

I usually see no correlation between epic and tempo/technicality. To me music is epic when I picture the songs music video as, well, epic. One thing that springs to mind is the scene in LotR: Return of the King where the riders of Rohan enter the fields of Minas Tirith as the sun sets down, bathing the fields in golden light. That's my understanding of epic =D.

The word epic can be translated to something like majestic, or grandiose, and that's exactly what I feel when I listen to Human Fortress. There aren't many bands that I've come across that can create this kind of smooth, simple sense of importance and majesty, and I love them for it.

There are of course different types of music that could be considered as epic: like Gamma Ray, Nightwish, Kamelot, Lost Horizon, the list goes on and on.

I do agree that their music isn't very versatile, but I also think that's one of their greatest strengths. Defenders of the Crown still stays at the top of my list ^_^.

Certainly by all means, I was not intending to imply that the tempo of a song dictates its epic(ness).

That was just a seperate description of my opinion of the bands music, not intended to be read in connection with one another. Oops!

Although I do have to ask.. how can a lack of versatility in a given band/album ever be considered a strength? I can only see that as a weakness, and although never really detrimental to the band in itself, certainly not a positive thing.

I'm not slamming your taste, hell I listen to Limp Bizkit's first three albums all the time hah hah. But im just curious.

[Xendra]

Originally Posted by Thorns On My Grave

Although I do have to ask.. how can a lack of versatility in a given band/album ever be considered a strength? I can only see that as a weakness, and although never really detrimental to the band in itself, certainly not a positive thing.

Hmm, now that I look back, I might have chosen my words badly. Versatile is maybe too radical ( and possibly wrong too ), what I initially meant was that they aren't surprising. Some ( or most ) bands try to add something to the equation, a special drum fill, a quick guitar lick, maybe a complete change in aggressiveness. Human Fortress again doesn't do this as much, at the beginning of a song I can immediately say what type of a song it is, and somewhat how it will progress.

Maybe a better word for Human Fortress would be consistency, or predictability. In the long run this is could be considered as negative, but you can't really say that the song is bad if looked at objectively. Some people might say that the songs are shallow or simple, which they might be, but sometimes simplicity can be a lot more powerful than complexity.

Hehe, and don't worry, I'm not trying to convince you to like them, I can totally see why people wouldn't find them that good. Mostly because they do lack sharp hooks that would really grab you, a real kick in the balls you could say. =D

Oh, and you can slam my tastes all you want, as long as you give some kind of explanations why (unlike some jerks who bash and bash, until I ask why, which usually ends in silence) xD. I always enjoy a good discussion.

[pyramazekeyboardist]

i got the new amon amarth today. totally kicks ass. i like to listen to it when i play warcraft.