Lithuania - Just a handful of bands

If Estonia and Latvia were poor Metal landscapes, Lithuania is even poorer, just a handful of noticeable bands, only known inside the country or in the vicinities.

Starting with Obtest, a Pagan Black Metal band, with a respectable and long career.



Dissimulation is a Trash Black Metal band with a very stable line-up. Actually the sound isn't completely uninteresting.



Folkodia is the new hot stuff from Lithuanian Viking Folk Metal. Founded 3 years ago, they have already three full lengths released.



Ossastorium is a Technical Death Metal band that still has to prove that they can build a career past their first full length.

Latvia - Skyforger leads the way

In Latvia the scenery is almost the same as in Estonia, just a bigger inclination to Death/Doom sounds, instead of just Black Metal, and, of course, Skyforger.

They play Folk Black Metal since 1995, but with enough talent to jump Latvian borders and have a real international career. They probably are the most well known band from the countries that belonged to the ex-USSR, outside those countries.



Other interesting band is Frailty that play Death Doom Metal. The band was founded in 2003 and had a few line-up adjustements until 2008, when they released their first full length, which were followed by two EPs in the last two years. A band waiting to be discovered by Death Doom Metal fans.



Another relatively interesting band is Neglected Fields, which play Technical Death Metal.



After those, only Black Metal is left, of which Dark Domination is just an example.

Estonia - Pagan Black Metal and not much more

Coming from Finland, and given the proximity of the two countries, it's a real shock to discover the scarcity of Metal bands in the country. Also, finding a band singing in English is very hard, and that is probably another reason for their underdeveloped Metal scene.

All the bands created before 1995 relate to Industrial music, like No-Big-Silence, that play Industrial Death Metal, which is culturally related to their heritage as a province of the old USSR, a communist dictatorial country.



From 1995 on, there are several bands of Pagan Black Metal, the most noticeable of them are Tharaphita.



Also Urt, founded just six years ago and already with five full lengths released.



But, for me, the best Estonian band is Metsatöll. They play Heavy Folk Metal and I believe them to be the only ones capable of having a real international career, if they started to sing in English.

Finland (part 5/5) - More sounds from Finland

It's time for the usual wrap up post, where I talk about the bands that didn't fit in any of the previous posts.
This post also ends the part of this European tour where we travelled through the Nordic landscapes, rich in Metal bands and musicians. We now enter in the much more arid landscapes of Eastern Europe. No more five parts chronicles will await you until the end of our journey.

But let’s go on with the music, and starting with a personal favourite of mine, Amorphis.
Amorphis started as Melodic Death Metal band, in 1990 and in 1994 they release a true MeloDeath masterpiece, Tales of the Thousand Lakes, which served as an inspiration to several Extreme Power and Melodic Death bands from Finland and abroad. In 1997 they dropped the harsh vocals and changed their sound to something lighter, more like a modern Heavy Metal. Their first releases were not great, but in 2005 they hire a new singer, Tomi Joutsen, and their subsequent releases have an improved quality, not very far from their Melodic Death days.
I think some of the songs of their recent works are really great (Silent Waters and House of Sleep pop to my mind) but I couldn't resist to add here a video from their old days, my favourite, Black Winter Days.



It's a rare thing in Finland, but there are bands playing Gothenburg Metal there. The best one I heard is Insomnium, they play great music and the voice of their singer, Niilo Sevänen, is awesome.



Another Gothenburg band, but more heavy than Insomnium, is Mors Principium Est. They were founded in 1999 and have release three full lengths.



I couldn't end the Finnish chronicle without talking about Apocalyptica, one of those bands that have a music genre of their own. I listen to them since their first release, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, and just saw them live two months ago, it's brilliant!

Finland (part 4/5) - Suomi, the Finnish Metal

Like the Swedish have the Gothenburg Metal, the Finnish also have a Metal genre created in their country, the Suomi, but, in the case of Finland, it's not as important as the Gothemburg is in Sweden.

As you already know, I'm lousy at describing music styles, so the best way is to talk about some great Metal bands that play Suomi, and let you jump to your own conclusions.

The most popular Suomi band in activity is one of the few bands that has jumped out of the Metal croud onto the mainstream audience. In fact, they are often accused of not really being Metal. It's the band HIM.



They started under the name Mary-Ann, playing a different style, but in 1999 they changed the name to To/Die/For and started playing Suomi Metal.



For My Pain is the side project from Nightwish keyboardist and main songwritter Tuomas Holopainen, with ex and current members from Eternal Tears Of Sorrow and the vocals of Juha Kylmänen. They are toghether since 1999 and have release just one (but a very good one) album.



Lullacry is one of the rare Suomi bands with a female singer. They haven't released new material since 2005, but they are returning in 2010, with new songs and looking for a record label to support them.



Other great Suomi Metal bands include Entwine and Charon.

Finland (part 3/5) - Death has to have Melody

Melodic Death Metal, or MeloDeath, as it is also known, is the kind of Death Metal that you can find in Finland.

Six high quality full lengths released in the last ten years, are the curriculum of the almost twenty years career of the band Kalmah.



With a touch of Doom, Swallow The Sun, have released four full lengths in a ten years career.



Before the Dawn, the band founded by Tuomas Saukkonen in 1999 has released five full lengths and three EPs.



Keeping the same line-up since 1998, when the band was founded, a rare proof of stability, Noumena has produced a very coherent set of releases.

Finland (part 2/5) - For "Folkaholics"

There are lots of great Folk Metal bands in Finland, be it Extreme, Viking, Battle, Symphonic or, well, plain.

This tour through Europe made me realise how little did I knew about some Metal genres, even one of my favourites, Folk Metal. For instance, I had never listened to the most popular Finnish Extreme Folk Metal band, Ensiferum. That can be considered a musical felony.



Finntroll is another Extreme Folk Metal band from Finland. The band has seven elements, with two guitar players, a keyboardist and another element that plays both guitar and keyboards, besides the usual vocalist, bassist and drummer, of course.



The Viking Folk band, Moonsorrow, have released 5 albums in their 15 years of career.



Kivimetsän Druidi is a Symphonic Folk Metal band that alternate their songs lyrics between English and Suomi. They were formed in 2002 and have just released their second full length.



Another great Folk Metal bands from Finland: Korpiklaani, Turisas and Battlelore.

Finland (part 1/5) - So much Power...

I think this is the most difficult set of posts I had to write. Not because there wasn't enough good music, but because there was such an amount of great bands, that picking the ones whose videos would be included was a very hard task.

Starting right here in the Power Metal department, I had four video slots and after cutting off six great bands, I still had five... I had to exclude one more. I chose to exclude Wintersun, because, in fact they only have one album released, back in 2004, (a fantastic album, by the way), and because they have been continuously postponing the release of their second album.

So, without further due, let's talk about the glorious four Power Metal top bands from Finland, none of which should be a novelty for any fan of the genre.

Let's start with some Extreme Power Metal, by Children Of Bodom.



Followed by the beautiful Symphonic Power Metal compositions of Tuomas Holopainen for his band, Nightwish.



Next in line is the band of charismatic front-man Tony Kakko, Sonata Arctica. It's a very suited name for a band that plays such beautiful Power Metal, with a scent of snow and winter.



And to wrap it up, we have the veterans of Finnish Power Metal, Stratovarius. Maybe they are not the kings anymore, but we must respect a band with a career of more than 25 years, with 12 full lengths released, and that have composed dozens of Power Metal hymns, like the one in this video, maybe my favourite Stratovarius song, from the 1998 album Destiny.



Besides these gods of Power Metal, you won't be disappointed if you check out other great Finnish Metal bands such as Norther, Eternal Tears Of Sorrow, Sinergy, Tarot, Warmen or Cain's Offering.

Sweden (part 5/5) - Other Swedish sounds

This is the final chapter of the chronicle about Swedish Metal. As usual, without a specific genre, just a collection of bands that simply couldn't be left out of any chronicle about this country's Metal scene.

Therion is a Symphonic Metal band, with a rather unique sound, mixing a lot of classical elements in their songs, operatic voices and even have made versions of famous opera themes.



Sabaton is a Heavy Power Metal band, but with a different scent to it, which made them more suitable to be included in this part of the chronicle, instead of the part about Power Metal. Their songs relate to war like themes, but relate also to modern warfare, which is not common, and are full of energy. This is another band that I never heard previously to this chronicle and that goes straight to my gallery of favourite bands.



Once in a while, in these chronicles, I find something completely unique and unseen. This is one of those moments again.
The Diablo Swing Orchestra is classified as Symphonic Avantgarde Metal but in fact is a mix of Jazz with a 40s Swing Orchestra and Metal sounds.



I was introduced to Viking Metal through the music of Thyrfing, a Viking Black Metal band. The video is from their second album Valdr Galga, to be their best work to date.



Other great Viking Black Metal band is Månegarm.

Sweden (part 4/5) - The Power in the Swedish Metal

Power Metal is another genre with strong bands in Sweden (what genre isn't?!?!), always with different influences that make those bands have a distinctive sound, and a damn good one too.

Starting with Hammerfall, that play the classic Power Metal . They're a bit cheesy in their lonesome biker style, but I like their music anyway. Here's one of the songs that every lonesome biker must listen: Renegade.



Evergrey, on the other hand, has nothing cheesy about them. They play a very modern Dark Power Metal. Didn't knew them and I'm glad that now I do.



Falconer has a very distinctive sound, partly due to their Folk Power Metal , partly due to the unique voice and singing style of their vocalist Mathias Blad.



Finally, Dragonland is an Epic Symphonic Power Metal band. Strong keyboard sounds, epic riffs, catchy chorus, all the stuff that the fans love in Power Metal.



Other interesting Power Metal bands from Sweden worth looking at are Lost Horizon, Dream Evil and Skyfire.

Sweden (part 3/5) - 4 different Gothic sounds

In this third part of the Swedish chronicle, I'll talk about the country's Gothic bands.
Unlike other countries where Gothic is a synonym of female singer, here the Gothic Metal is always added with another style influence, as we can see in our usual four band/video post for today.

First in line is Katatonia. With their roots in the Black/Death Doom Metal, they have jumped to Alternative Gothic Metal, keeping the same success than before.



Following, comes one of my favourite Doom bands, Draconian. As you may have guessed, their music is classified as Gothic Doom Metal. The following video is one of the most beautiful songs I ever listened.



The next band, called Lake Of Tears, has wandered between pure Gothic Metal and several different influences like Atmospheric and Electronic. I first listened to them in their 1997 album, A Crimson Cosmos. The following song is from that album, still my favourite from them.



Finally, to end today's post, there's a band that I discovered when preparing the chronicle, Deathstars. Their sound is Industrial Gothic Metal. Some visual similarities with Marilyn Manson may not be coincidence, but the music is much better.

Sweden (part 2/5) - Death for us all

As you may have guessed, this post title is not a collective suicide wish, but the notion that there is, in Sweden, Death Metal for every taste.

One of the most interesting phenomenon is the first band for today. Mixing Death and Progressive Metal with a great deal of musical talent. The result is one of the most popular Metal bands of all time: Opeth.
I admit that their most calm and acoustic songs bore me to death, but when there is a good mix between the Death and the Progressive parts, its great Metal.



I don't know why I hadn't heard Amon Amarth before preparing the Swedish Metal posts, but it was a big mistake.
They have a very powerful sound, but very melodic. Already one of my favourite Death Metal bands.



In Mourning started as a Gothic Metal band in 2000, but two years later they parted ways with the two females from the band, singer and keyboardist, and became a Melodic Death Metal band. Never heard anything from their Gothic days, but listening to their MeloDeath stuff, seems they did a smart choice.



The last band of today's post is Edge Of Sanity. They existed has a band between 1989 and 1999, when they released 7 full lengths. The project was revived as Dan Swanö's solo project in 2003, releasing another full length.

Sweden (part 1/5) - Gothenburg, the Swedish Metal

Yes, five parts for the Swedish chronicles, but it's perfectly justified since I think Sweden is the European country with the biggest number of Metal bands, that span all genres, so without messing up different genres, it wasn't possible to do it in less than 5 parts.

Also perfectly justifiable, to start the series of posts with the Metal genre that has originated from the Swedish city that ended up naming it, Gothenburg.
Much better than a mediocre description of the genre done by me, is to listen to the best Swedish bands playing it, so read on.

The best of them is, in my opinion, In Flames. Twenty years of a very rich career, with excellent albums.
This video is of one of my favourite Metal songs of all times.



Dark Tranquillity was founded one year before In Flames, and has disputed with them ever since the title of best Gothenburg band. With several musicians being in the band since the beginning, they have a very musically coherent path.



Arch Enemy is one of the few bands with a female singer that uses harsh vocals as its main style. Their sound is very powerful.



Founded in 2004, Scar Symmetry is Sweden's most recent hot Gothenburg Metal band. In 2008 they lost the fantastic singer Christian Älvestam, that was able to do both harsh and clear vocals, and they had to replace him for two singers, "Robban" Karlsson and Lars Palmqvist.



Soilwork is another great Gothenburg band, that was a victim of my self-imposed limit of four videos per post. I admit felt tempted to break my own rule, but the post would get simply too big.

Norway (part 3/3) - It's not just Black and Gothic

That's right. Norway has some great bands that don't play Black or Gothic Metal.

The first one is Circus Maximus that plays Progressive Metal. They have a sound that will definitely please the fans of Dream Theater.



Another Progressive, in this case, Progressive Power Metal, band is Pagan's Mind. Founded in 2000, all the current line-up is there from the start of the band.



Jorn is the self-titled band of one of the great Heavy Metal singers, Jorn Lande. Beside his own band, Lande is also the singer of Masterplan (see my Germany chronicles) and Allen/Lande, a band he has with other top singer, Russell Allen (Symphony X).
He also was one of the singers that replaced Ronnie James Dio in the Heaven and Hell tour in the beginning of the year, while Dio was still battling stomach cancer, battle that he ended up losing. This video is the felt homage from Jorn to his late friend Dio.



An interesting voice and an interesting sound, those were the things that made me add Lumsk, a Viking Folk band to this chronicle.

Norway (part 2/3) - Gothic from the Fjords

Another genre very strong in Norwegian lands, is Gothic Metal, the feud of female metal singers. The pioneer of this tendency in the country was a band called Theatre Of Tragedy, where the vocals where in charge of Liv Kristine (since 2003 in the German band Leaves' Eyes), that came to an end just this year. They were the first, and who likes this genre should really listen to their records.

But in these chronicles I avoid talking about bands that no longer exist, especially when the ones that exist give us plenty to talk about. This is the case.
There are several good heirs from the Theatre Of Tragedy legacy still in activity, like Tristania. Still trying to achieve the musical level they had until 2001, when Vibeke Stene was the voice of Morten Veland wrote the songs.



Morten Veland that in 2001, when he left Tristania founded another Gothic Metal band, Sirenia. I prefer Sirenia due to the quality of Morten's compositions, and in spite the band being in its third female singer in 9 years of existence.



Trail Of Tears is another Gothic band worth listening, although in this one the harsh male vocals have more airplay than the female vocals.



Midnattsol was founded by Carmen Elise Espenaes, sister of the mentioned Liv Kristine from Theatre Of Tragedy, and I'm not sure if they play Gothic Folk Metal or Folk Gothic Metal. Anyway, is Folk, is Gothic and is definitely Metal.



Next: Norway (part 3/3) - It's not just Black and Gothic

Norway (part 1/3) - Homeland of Black Metal

Black Metal is not one of my favourite genres. I like a few bands and some assorted songs, but I'm definitely not an expert.
So it was a real surprise for me that Norway is currently the Black Metal country. The amount of Norwegian bands in the group of most popular Black Metal bands is simply smashing. Therefore, not dedicating the first part of the Norway chronicle to this genre, was really not an option.

To write this chronicle I simply listened many of the main Norwegian Black Metal bands and choose the ones that I liked the most.
And from those, the main one is definitely Dimmu Borgir. Their Symphonic Black Metal makes them by far the most popular of the genre.



Another good and popular Black Metal band is Immortal. in spite having a more rough sound.



One of the first Black Metal bands that I listened to was Old Man's Child, and still like it.



Finally, a recent band, founded in 2004, the one from those that I didn't knew that I liked the most, called Cor Scorpii.



But besides these four bands, there are much more well known Black Metal acts from Norway, like Emperor, Burzum, Mayhem, Satyricon, Enslaved, Darkthrone, Gorgoroth, Ulver, Borknagar or Carpathian Forest, just to mention bands that are currently in the top 30 of popular Black Metal bands.

Next: Norway (part 2/3) - Gothic from the Fjords

Denmark - The poor brother of the nordic family

I honestly don't know why Denmark, being surrounded by countries with a high number of bands playing great Metal, is such in a poor status in what new bands with strong presence are concerned.

You get the picture if I tell you that the most popular Danish Metal acts are still King Diamond in his solo efforts and with his band Mercyful Fate, both with more than 25 years of career. And Mercyful Fate's last album release was more than 10 years ago.
So, even though I don't like it much, the first video of a chronicle about Danish Metal has to be of King Diamond.



Don't get me wrong. If Denmark was in other part of the world (heck, even in other part of Europe), I would probably think they had a pretty decent Metal scene. But they are in the core of the golden area of Metal innovation in Europe, so decent is far less than I was expecting.

Nevertheless, you have a good Gothic Doom band like Saturnus.



Or Mercenary, a band that started in the Trash/Death genre, but has evolved to a more Gothenburg/Heavy style.



And finally a band that started very promising, with a tremendous first full length, but that in later releases never really managed to fulfil completely their early promises. It's the Power Metal band Iron Fire.

Germany (part 4/4) - Something for every taste

Germany has such a rich group of Metal bands that there are always new projects and new sounds being released.
This last part of the German chronicle is about those sounds, which are not Power Metal, don't have a Folk sonority, but are definitely worth listening.

The first one is one of the most successful German bands today. Rammstein play Industrial Metal, sing almost always in German, but that hasn't stopped their aggressive sound to attract worldwide fans. I had the opportunity to go to one of their shows in Lisbon and beside the great music, the concert was a show in itself, with lots of pyrotechnical effects.



Another great band is Leaves' Eyes. With the ethereal voice of the legendary Theatre Of Tragedy ex-singer, Liv Kristine, and a set of solid musicians, they play a very atmospheric Symphonic Metal.



If you think Metal has to be fast paced to be heavy... think again!
Here's Ahab, a band of Funeral Doom. It's slow, but so heavy that, if you put your sound system loud enough, you will feel a pressure in the chest like you are having trouble to breathe.



To those who think that everything was invented in Metal... well, before this guys existed, it wasn't!
Van Canto is a band of A Capella Power Metal. Yes, no Guitars, no Bass, just a Drum and five powerful voices. Don't believe it? Just watch the video.



Other bands also much worth listening are: Xandria, Lacrimas Profundere, Deadlock and Flowing Tears. They were just victims of my need to keep this German chronicle in four parts, so I can try to reach the end of this European tour not much after the end of the year.

Germany (part 3/4) - Kings of Folk Metal

Another very strong genre in Germany is Folk Metal, with numerous bands exploring the mix of Folk music with many Metal sub-genres.
I’m a huge fan of using traditional instruments in Metal bands, so you can expect more detailed chronicles about this genre in the blog, after I finish this European tour.

The first band today, is the one man band of Vratyas Vakyas since 1989, Falkenbach. Currently preparing his fifth full length to be released next January, has conquered numerous fans with it's consistent Viking Folk sound.



Suidraka, a band formed in 1994 has filled their Melodic Death Metal of Folk-ish influences witch gives them a distinctive sonority.



One of my favourite Folk Metal bands was founded in 1995 and has a complete distinct medieval sound, with four of the bands seven elements playing all sorts of medieval instruments, like bagpipes, harp, schawm, nickel harp or citer. Their name is In Extremo, and although they have a few songs in English they mostly sing in German. But if you don't speak German, don't let that stop you from knowing an excellent band. I don't understand a word o German and it has no influence on my ability to enjoy In Extremo's music.



The last band of this post was unknown to me before starting to investigate the German bands, and what an excellent discovery it was.
Equilibrium was founded in 2001 and has an incredible Viking Folk Metal sound. I love it, and if you like Folk and don't have issues with harsh vocals, you will love it too.



Besides this four great bands, there are two more that I can't finish this post without mentioning: Wolfchant and Finterforst.
They are definitely worth listening and weren't allowed a video and detailed description only because I want to keep these posts in a readable size.

Next: Germany (part 4/4) - Something for every taste

Germany (part 2/4) - Always reinventing Power Metal

One of the main genres of Metal music in Germany is Power Metal, and many of the great musicians and bands in that genre come from there.
In the veterans chapter we talked about Helloween, that set the rules of the genre with Walls Of Jericho and Keepers Of the Seven Keys (part 1 & 2), but many excellent bands followed, many of them capable of adding something unique to those standards. I'll talk about some of them.

Founded in 1984, Blind Guardian is one of those bands. For one, there's the voice of Hansi Kursch, one of the few metal singers that I can clearly identify by his voice when he appears as a guest in other bands, and also the music as a distinct sonority in it, that makes pretty easy to identify a new Blind Guardian song for someone familiar with their music.



Gamma Ray was the band founded by Kai Hansen, after leaving Helloween. The sound is more epic and more complex, with choirs sometimes. They have some pretty catchy songs but, in average, I still prefer early days Helloween.



And then appeared the one I call the Mozart of Power Metal, Tobias Sammet. Currently with 33 years old he has 14 full length albums released.
Nine of them, with his band, Edguy, that he founded with schoolmates at the age of 14 and where he was in charge of the vocals, bass and keyboards. They released the first full length when he wasn't 18 years yet.
This one is from their 2004 album, Hellfire Club, and is one of the best Power Metal songs I have heard. Edguy is definitely one of my favourite bands.



The other five albums were released with his solo project, Avantasia, that debuted in year 2000, when at the age of 23 he managed to assembly a superb cast to record a two CD epic work called The Metal Opera, which was launched in 2001 and 2002.



In 2001, a group of experienced Power Metal musicians that wanted to give a more progressive sound to their music started working together. In 2003, the project called Masterplan saw the light with a first album with the same name. They were an immediate hit, and since then they have edited another three full lengths.



Besides these great bands, much more could be mentioned, but I don't want to make this series of posts a band catalog, so I will just mention two more bands are really worth listening: Freedom Call and Iron Savior.

Next: Germany (part 3/4) - Kings of Folk Metal.

Germany (part 1/4) - The veterans

Germany is one of the biggest Metal markets in Europe. The second source of origin of Heavy Metal in the seventies, just a couple of years after the first wave of bands in the UK.
But opposite to the British market, that has stagnated in terms of innovation during some periods, the German market has kept a vivid rhythm in the appearance of new bands and new sounds.

Being the country of origin of many of my favourite bands, it was very hard for me to choose which bands to show. The best that I managed to do was restrict this to a four part chronicle.
Yes, I know it's long, but please bear with me, I promise it will be worth it!

Starting with the veterans of German Metal, we begin in 1971 when the band Accept was formed by a group of teenagers. They lasted 25 years until they split in 1996, but since then have occasionally reunited. They rejoined the band in 2009, with a new singer, and recorded a new album that hit the streets last August. Here is one of the songs of the album.



We move forward until 1976 when Rolf "Rock N'Rolf" Kasparek at the age of 15 founds Running Wild. They play pure Heavy Metal with historical war-like and piracy themes. The band had several line-up changes throughout the years, and ended up disbanding in 2009. Here's one of my favourites, from the album The Rivalry of 1998, Ballad of William Kid.



In 1978 two teenagers with 15 years, that would become two of power metal legends, Kai Hansen and Piet Sielck, founded a band called Gentry. Then they met Ingo Schwichtenberg and Marcus Grosskopf and founded Second Hell, later changed to Iron Fist. The band split because they had no place to rehearse.
After Kai met Michael Weikath, in 1984, he decided to re-found Iron Fist, again with Ingo and Marcus, but without Piet. Soon enough Iron Fist would become... Helloween.
With this line-up, and 2 years later with Michael Kiske in the vocals, to allow Kai Hansen to focus on the guitars, they release three full length albums that changed the world of Heavy Metal.



In 1988 Kai Hansen left Helloween and the band wanders for some years, trying to find its path without its founder and main composer. After two poor albums, a new change of line-up bring a new singer and a new drummer, and slowly the band returns to a path of good music and solid releases, that is still going on today.



Founded in 1980, Grave Digger have now 30 years and 15 full-lengths always remaining faithful to their Heavy Metal roots, and always being distinctive through the voice of their all time front man Chris Boltendahl.
Their best releases were in the second half of the nineties, from where I selected one of my favourites, the title track of the album Excalibur.



Next: Germany (part 2/4) - Always reinventing Power Metal.

Going international

To increase the blog's visibility, from now on, its official language is English.
I will be translating the old posts on an free time basis :)

Austria (part 2/2) - Metal Symphony (part 2)

Besides the ones referred, there are other bands worth being mentioned in Austria, always with that unique Symphonic touch in their songs.

Summoning have a really Black sound, slow, heavy, but very folk and melodic.



Edenbridge have a more Symphonic Power Metal sound, even if the female singer has a more Gothic side in her voice. I like her voice, although her body language is not very Metal, as you can see in the video below.



Estatic Fear play Symphonic Doom Metal, with the clean female voice opposing to the more heavy male voice.



My greatest discovery, when investigating to this chronicle, was the band Serenity. The style is Symphonic Power, somewhat similar to Sonata Arctica.

Austria (part 1/2) - Metal Symphony (part 1)

Faithfull to the musical traditions of their country, Austrian Metal musicians gather many influences from symphonic music, which turned into sonorities that I personally enjoy.

My first contact with the Metal music from this Central Europe country was through a band called Dreams Of Sanity, meanwhile extinct, whose singer was Sandra Schleret, now the singer of Elis, from Liechtenstein.



As a matter of fact, is from an Austrian band, inexplicably unknown, Hollenthon, an album that for me is one of the best Metal albums of all times. With Vilest of Worms to Dwell, released in 2001, is epic, powerful and symphonic... perfect!



Another of my favourite bands, and oddly unknown to many, is Visions Of Atlantis. Maybe because they have changed the female voice very often, they haven't assured the necessary stability to become more known.

Concert Review published on MetalStorm

Today, finally my review of Apocalyptica's concert was reviewed and published on Metalstorm.
You can read it here
Unfortunately, maybe because I'm not a staff member, my review didn't appear in the homepage of the site.

Malta - Pure amateurs

The most famous band from Malta, is Forsaken, they play Heavy Doom Metal, with a revivalist touch.



And now, fans of Brutal Death Metal, step forward. Not that I'm particularly fond of this kind of music, but in Malta is the most popular genre in the Metal scene. So, this time, I have no other choice to give them some airplay here in the blog. Here go three bands in a row.

Beheaded... wait the first minute and a half before judging them.



Abysmal Torment... whose drummer recently passed away "in an accident where he got stuck under the arm of a small bulldozer, in an industrial area near Blata I-Gholja in Mosta"



And Martyrium, here in a live performance.



Finally for something more peaceful, Stillborn, which is classified as Symphonic Metal probably because they use a lot Keyboard arrangements.
Here is a life presentation in Hard Rock Café.



As you can see, it's still in a very amateur way that Heavy Metal is done in Malta, but if there is talent in the same amount there is will, then who knows, one of this days can appear in this Mediterranean island a band capable of a respectful international career.

Italy (part 2/2) - And other powerful bands

I'm going to talk about three more italian bands, playing different Metal genres, because are the ones that I like the most, but I could talk about many more, such is the richness of the Metal scene in the country.

The first one is Lacuna Coil, Gothic Metal band, with a sound that, not being exactly my favorite, but that in each album has always at least one song that really nails it. One of those that I can listen to countless times in a row without getting tired.
In Karmacode album, from 2006, is this Our Truth.



Novembre is a Death Doom Metal band, that alternates harsh and clean vocals, which gives them a very interesting sound.



The last band that I'm going to highlight in Italy's Metal scene, is Disarmonia Mundi, a Gothenburg Metal band, a sub-genre that appeared exactly in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, and that has been spreading a bit all over Europe.

Italy (part 1/2) - The Italian Power

Speaking about Italian Heavy Metal must always include speaking of Luca Turilli. Besides his solo albums and his Luca Turilli's Dreamquest project, he is the main composer, along with Alex Staropoli, of Rhapsody Of Fire, the biggest name of the Italian Power Metal, whose international success is the main responsible for a wave of new Italian Metal bands, specially in the second half of the nineties decade of the last century.

I found Rhapsody Of Fire (at the time just Rhapsody, before some legal problems with the rights over the name had forced them to change the band's name) in 1998, in a Metal shopping trip with some friends to a specialized store. We asked to play the CD, which was their second album, Symphony Of Enchanted Lands, and we heard this...



It was epic to a whole new level, something like we never had heard. It was an immediate passion and, for a while, Rhapsody was my favourite band. In the mean time the band changed a little and my tastes changed a little more, but I still listen with joy to everything that is released by the band now called Rhapsody Of Fire, like this Sea Of Fate, from their last album, The Frozen Tears Of Angels.



From the new wave of Power Metal bands in Italy, the more noticeable are probably Elvenking, with a touch of Folk in their sound.



And also Raintime, with a more Extreme Power Metal.



Besides these ones, there are more bands deserving a listen, like Vision Divine, Labyrinth, or Thy Majestie.

Apocalyptica: 7th Symphony Tour - Aula Magna, 13th of October 2010

First of all, I take the opportunitty to apologize to the readers about my lack of pace in the writing. It's not lack of will, it's really just lack of time.
For sure, in the weekend one or two more posts on our trip through the European Metal scene will be posted. This time about the Italian Power Metal and more.
I also hope that I can return to the rythm of one post each 3 days, that I've kept steadily until recently.
Now, onto one of the (good) reasons why the next post is taking so long...
Great concert from Apocalyptica, last night at Aula Magna.
Here go two photos, the only ones that aren't just a big flash of light, that were taken during the two ballads played by the Finnish band, in a concert that was much more Heavy than

what I was expecting, which wasn't a bad thing at all.
It's probably the worst photos of the concert, since there were many people with iPhones or even proper cameras, but it's the best I can manage right now.
Matching the band's great performance, also a great performance from the Metal crowd. Perfect behavior, an example for fans of other musical genres.
In a sitting room and without assigned seats, two orderly lines waited calmly, even when the doors opened later than the schedule. A reduced number of securities were simple spectators of the concert, since the concert was so peaceful.
But don't confuse peaceful with passive... in the end of the first music Apocalyptica ordered everyone to get up, and the chairs were empty the remainder of the concert, except for the mentioned two ballads, when the band was also seated.
In spite having few fans in the room, since they are not a Metal band, Livingston gave all they got on stage, and were corresponded by the respect and support of the audience.
As usual, leave you here the video of one of the special moments of last night's concert, in a video that I found today.

Liechtenstein - Elis e mais nada

Procurei bastante, mas só encontrei uma banda de metal deste pequeno principado, situado entre a Suíça e a Áustria.
Os Elis, banda de Gothic Metal, ganham por isso direito a um post só para eles.

Formados em 2003, rapidamente atingiram notoriedade com o seu álbum de estreia God's Silence, Devil's Temptation e ainda mais com o seu álbum seguinte, editado em 2004, Dark Clouds In A Perfect Sky.



Em 2006, no entanto, a tragédia atinge os Elis. A sua vocalista Sabine Dünser morre aos 29 anos vítima de uma hemorragia cerebral.
Os Elis editam o seu terceiro trabalho em homenagem a Sabine que já havia gravado todas as partes vocais do álbum, e partem para uma nova vida procurando uma nova vocalista, mas mantendo o nome da banda, o que caiu mal junto de muitos fãs.

A escolha recaiu em Sandra Schleret, que eu já conhecia do seu trabalho nos austriacos Dreams Of Sanity (extintos em 2003).
Em 2007, o EP Show Me the Way, marcou a estreia de Sandra nos álbuns dos Elis e em 2009 a banda lançou o seu mais recente trabalho, Catharsis.
Penso que, apesar do esforço, a banda e especialmente os fãs, ainda não ultrapassaram a perda de Sabine, e por isso os trabalhos mais recente não atingiram no mercado, o nível dos primeiros trabalhos, mas fico a aguardar com curiosidade o próximo álbum.

Suiça - Metal para (quase) todos os gostos

Li algures um comentário que traduzido dizia "não sabia que folclore e metal juntos podiam soar tão bem". O comentário era sobre os Eluveitie, e eu subscrevo por inteiro.



Ouvi Samael em 1996, o álbum Passage, mas nessa altura ainda não estava com os horizontes muito alargados em termos de Metal, não gostei muito. Quando ouvi de novo ao preparar esta crónica, fiquei com a sensação que devia revisitar a minha opinião sobre estes veteranos do Heavy helvético.



Mais uma prova que o Symphonic Metal com voz feminina está a dar cartas na Europa. Os Lunatica são a prova disso. Não são os Epica mas ouvem-se muito bem.



De salientar também os recém-formados Triptykon, herdeiros dos lendários Celtic Frost, uma das bandas mais antigas do Trash Metal. Aqui fica o vídeo, apesar de não ser som que eu aprecie muito.

Luxemburgo - Tão pequeno.

Depois de falarmos de um pequeno país com uma grande produção de bom Metal, passamos agora a um ainda mais pequeno, mas sem qualquer banda que realmente tenha nome na cena internacional.
Ainda assim, os Le Grand Guignol, com 2 álbuns editados em 14 anos de carreira, justificam aqui o vídeo.



Também os Abstract Rapture formados em 2001 e com um EP e um álbum, têm um som interessante.

Holanda (parte 2/2) - ... depois os homens.

Para além das inúmeras bandas com vocalistas femininas, ainda há outras bandas interessantes a virem da Holanda.

Duas delas são as bandas do gigante Arjen Anthony Lucassen, o seu projecto a solo Ayreon e o seu all star project, Star One. O som das composições de Lucassen é quase sempre progressivo com ocasionais toques sinfónicos ou Folk.



Há também boas bandas de Death Metal, como os Pestilence, os Legion Of the Damned ou os God Dethroned, para mim os melhores dos Death Metalers holandeses.



Há ainda o Folk Metal dos Heidevolk.



Ou o Black Metal sinfónico dos Carach Angren.



Muitas bandas excelentes de todos os géneros num dos países onde o Metal tem florescido com mais força.

Holanda (parte 1/2) - Primeiro as senhoras...

A Holanda é uma das potências mundiais do Heavy Metal, mas é a destacada nº1 quando se fala de vocalistas femininas de Metal, quase todas em bandas que andam à volta de um ou outro género de Symphonic Metal.

Vou destacar as três mosqueteiras desta onda feminina que é muito bem recebida pela esmagadora maioria dos fãs, fartos de barbudos e guedelhudos, e mencionar ainda outras bandas holandesas, com vozes femininas, dignas de nota.

A primeira é Sharon Dden Adel dos Within Temptation, uma das minhas bandas preferidas no género, pelo seu som bastante épico e orquestrado.
O seu álbum duplo ao vivo Black Symphony é um dos álbuns que mais ouço.




Os After Forever são talvez a primeira banda que eu destaco, que efectivamente já não existe. Terminaram oficialmente no ano de 2009, após nos terem dado 9 anos e alguns álbuns absolutamente fundamentais, onde se tentaram sempre recriar, e não seguir os padrões do género, e explorando ao máximo a voz de Floor Jansen.



Quem quiser ouvir agora a voz de Floor, pode acompanhar a sua nova banda ReVamp, que me parece bastante interessante.


Por fim, a última destas três mosqueteiras a aparecer em cena, mas talvez a que hoje em dia está mais em destaque. Simonne Simmons é a vocalista dos Epica, das três bandas aquela com um som mais do meu agrado.



Para além destas, existem várias bandas holandesas com vozes femininas que vale a pena descobrir. Delain, Stream Of Passion, Autumn, Aina, Nemesea, Imperia, Asrai ou Elexorien, são todas bandas que, dentro de um caminho comum, conseguem fazer música com estilo próprio.