It may be Memorial Day but metal never takes a day off. I’ve selected something oldish school from a French (metal is the universal language after all) metal band:
Tag: Heavy Metal
Monday Metal: Valkyrie Sky by Dawn of Valor
One of the opening acts of last week’s Sabaton concert was Dawn of Valor, a band I mentioned looking forward to hearing more from. Because I’m not a selfish prick… sometimes… this week’s Monday Metal is going to be something by Dawn of Valor so you guys and gals can share in the awesome:
War at Station 4
In case anybody is curious I just wanted to state that last night’s Sabaton concert was nothing short of awesome. The two opening bands A Sound of Thunder and Dawn of Valor were good acts (I greatly enjoyed Dawn of Valor, hopefully we’ll be seeing much more from this band in the future), which was a pleasant surprise because I’m used to the first and sometimes second opening bands to be total shit. Sabaton was amazing, easily worth the $15 entry fee.
At the peak of the concert I would estimate 150 to 200 people were attending. That sounds extremely small but it’s actually not too bad consider this is Sabaton’s first headline tour and the concert took place in St. Paul on a very nice spring day. Minnesota isn’t know for its metal scene but for the handful of us that are huge into metal we’re loud and try to ensure the bands playing are encourage by our screaming, jumping, and moshing.
Sabaton has to be one of the few bands where world flags are brought in by the audience. I saw an American flag, a Soviet Union flag (usually when I see these I shake my head and realize the holder has no grasp on history but at a Sabaton concert it actually makes sense as several of their songs are about the Soviets pushing back the Nazis), and what I believe was a Polish flag. I also met a couple of awesome metal heads there who informed me that the last time Sabaton was in St. Paul they were opening for another band but half of the people cleared out after Sabaton left the stage. That amused me to say the least.
It was a great night and I can’t wait for Sabaton to come back to St. Paul. Seeing the new members in action also left me feeling good, my previous concern about the band not being as capable as they previously were was entirely alleviated.
On an entirely unrelated side note my beater Armitron automatic watch with its cheap Chinese movement actually held up to the shock of jumping around for two hours. I’m quite impressed.
Monday Metal: Carolus Rex by Sabaton
Since Sabaton is coming to the Twin Cities Tuesday I felt it was only fitting to have this week’s Monday Metal be another Sabaton song. This week it’s Carolus Rex, the title track off of their soon to be released album. Not surprisingly the album is about Charles XII of Sweden, a king of Sweden who ascended to the throne at 15 years-old and ended up being a military mastermind. It’s good to see Sabaton doing another history themed album:
The Twin Cities Isn’t Kind to Metal Bands
At this rate metal bands aren’t going to come anywhere near the Twin Cities. First the lead singer for GWAR dies have playing here and now the lead singer for Opeth got into a car accident on his way to last night’s show.
I swear to Thor if anything happens to Sabaton when they “>come next week I will burn the entire Twin Cities region to the ground.
Monday Metal: Valentine by Xandria
This week we’re doing some more symphonic metal ala Xandria:
Monday Metal: Bad Guys Wear Black by Primal Fear
Primal Fear is one of those power metal bands that was just destined to kick ass. The fact they were founded in part by former Gamma Ray vocalist Ralf Scheepers started everything on solid ground (Gamma Ray is another awesome power metal band). Needless to say Primal Fear is one of the purest power metal bands currently in existence. Their newest album, Unbreakable, keeps with the tradition of no nonsense power metal, which is to say the music is fast and the vocals are in the higher register:
Monday Metal: Pyre of Gods by Tarot
It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Nightwish (even with their new singer), but their bassists, Marco Hietala, is extremely talented and it simply isn’t made apparent in Nightwish’s music. Thankfully Hietala has his own band that allows him to display his ability to not only play the bass but also sing and write music. This band is Tarot and it’s pure heavy metal:
Monday Metal: We Must Go Faster by ReinXeed
I just want it known that this song is being picked because it’s a power metal song titled We Must Go Faster and it’s already really fucking fast. While I know little about ReinXeed I must give them credit for wanting to break the sound barrier. Overall I do like this song and it sounds very reminiscent of Dragonforce, although I’m not sure if ReinXeed has the same in-studio-only limited at Dragonforce does or not:
Monday Metal: Live Forevermore by Wisdom
It’s Monday, which means it’s time for your weekly dose of metal. Once again I’m bringing you some power metal because I like power metal (and if you don’t too bad, it’s my site and I get to do what I want). Today’s song is Live Forevermore by Wisdom and it’s full of the usual cheese that accompanies power metal (although I don’t think this song is about dragons):