What Are You Listening To Now? 6.0

Iron Savior - Kill or get killed
https://youtu.be/9JPG1I29tTE

Traditional German heavy metal somewhere between Helloween, Gamma Ray and a bit of early Blind Guardian, before they got lost in Frickelhausen (heh, good luck finding an English analog for that one).
They've been around for quite some time, but I only recently got into them. Piet Sielck, guitarist and singer of Iron Saviour, used to play with former Blind Guardian drummer Thomen in a... let's be nice and call it "early Guardian tribute" band called Savage Circus which I liked quite a lot. The Blind Guardian albums past "Nightfall in Middle-Earth" are not bad by any means, but they are hard for me to enjoy. The vocals sound too strained, the lead guitar won't shut up and there are on average twelve time changes too many. Or in short - I liked BG better when they floored the gas pedal and only lifted the foot for epic chorus moments. Savage Circus had all that and when I was in the market for new music, I checked their line-up in hopes of finding more stuff to like.

Iron Saviour are definitely a win, as are Persuader, the band of Hansi Kürsch's soundalike twin. :)
Persuader - The Fiction Maze
https://youtu.be/04jzsBlnQ_w
 
Iron Savior - Kill or get killed
https://youtu.be/9JPG1I29tTE

Traditional German heavy metal somewhere between Helloween, Gamma Ray and a bit of early Blind Guardian, before they got lost in Frickelhausen (heh, good luck finding an English analog for that one).
They've been around for quite some time, but I only recently got into them. Piet Sielck, guitarist and singer of Iron Saviour, used to play with former Blind Guardian drummer Thomen in a... let's be nice and call it "early Guardian tribute" band called Savage Circus which I liked quite a lot. The Blind Guardian albums past "Nightfall in Middle-Earth" are not bad by any means, but they are hard for me to enjoy. The vocals sound too strained, the lead guitar won't shut up and there are on average twelve time changes too many. Or in short - I liked BG better when they floored the gas pedal and only lifted the foot for epic chorus moments. Savage Circus had all that and when I was in the market for new music, I checked their line-up in hopes of finding more stuff to like.

Iron Saviour are definitely a win, as are Persuader, the band of Hansi Kürsch's soundalike twin. :)
Persuader - The Fiction Maze
https://youtu.be/04jzsBlnQ_w

From your description it sounds like typical power metal, a genre that fits somewhere between NWOBHM and classic progressive metal - but always bombastic, many demons and goblins and hobbits, and usually in a major key rather than minor. Typical power metal acts include Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, Seventh Wonder, Stratovarius, Avantasia, Dream Evil, Rhapsody (/of fire & Luca Turilli), Hammerfall ... et al. I.e. it's principally a western European genre.

Sounds like fun - I'll give it a spin later today.

Power metal isn't usually a go-to form of metal for me but I enjoy it from time to time, and have enjoyed attending "Prog/Power" Festivals.
 
From your description it sounds like typical power metal, a genre that fits somewhere between NWOBHM and classic progressive metal - but always bombastic, many demons and goblins and hobbits, and usually in a major key rather than minor. Typical power metal acts include Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, Seventh Wonder, Stratovarius, Avantasia, Dream Evil, Rhapsody (/of fire & Luca Turilli), Hammerfall ... et al. I.e. it's principally a western European genre.

Sounds like fun - I'll give it a spin later today.

Power metal isn't usually a go-to form of metal for me but I enjoy it from time to time, and have enjoyed attending "Prog/Power" Festivals.

Listening to it now. Pure power metal, IMO. Someone I know described it as "...gargantuan riffs, face melting solos, drums that sound like your house falling down around you and top quality singalong choruses." That's a bit gushy, but reasonably accurate, IMO.

Courtesy of this thread, I might have to lay in another purchase ... :( LOL
 
Listening to it now. Pure power metal, IMO. Someone I know described it as "...gargantuan riffs, face melting solos, drums that sound like your house falling down around you and top quality singalong choruses." That's a bit gushy, but reasonably accurate, IMO.

Courtesy of this thread, I might have to lay in another purchase ... :( LOL

My deliberate vagueness in regards to Savage Circus was me being a bit playful. I'm aware of the Power Metal genre, like a lot of bands on your list too. The thing with Savage Circus is this: They clone Blind Guardian's early sound, down to the vocal melodies and harmonies. Depending on the observer, it might be a former BG member continuing where he left off - or it could be seen as a blatant carbon copy. I know some members of Blind Guardian were not amused when they heard Savage Circus' debut album. :)

As for nudging each other in regards to purchases: It's only natural for music lovers to recommend music and hopefully buy some too. Thanks to you guys, my collection has grown quite a bit. Magic Pie's back catalogue comes to mind. Or the last two Katatonia albums.

I like that.
 
Listening to it now. Pure power metal, IMO. Someone I know described it as "...gargantuan riffs, face melting solos, drums that sound like your house falling down around you and top quality singalong choruses." That's a bit gushy, but reasonably accurate, IMO.

Courtesy of this thread, I might have to lay in another purchase ... :( LOL

My deliberate vagueness in regards to Savage Circus was me being a bit playful. I'm aware of the Power Metal genre, like a lot of bands on your list too. The thing with Savage Circus is this: They clone Blind Guardian's early sound, down to the vocal melodies and harmonies. Depending on the observer, it might be a former BG member continuing where he left off - or it could be seen as a blatant carbon copy. I know some members of Blind Guardian were not amused when they heard Savage Circus' debut album. :)

As for nudging each other in regards to purchases: It's only natural for music lovers to recommend music and hopefully buy some too. Thanks to you guys, my collection has grown quite a bit. Magic Pie's back catalogue comes to mind. Or the last two Katatonia albums.

I like that.

When I said I listened to it - I meant Blind Guardian. I'll try that Savage Circus tomorrow.

And yah - this thread has cost me money! In a good way :) The biggest hole in my pocket is caused by the Progressive Ears forum, where I've found so many recommendations that the huge swell in my album collection is inversely proportion to the shrinkage in my bank account. LOL
 
In The Midnight Hour - The Commitments

Two songs which have a prominent "In the Midnight Hour":
Billy Idol - Rebel Yell
Michael Jackson - Thriller (granted, that one's a lot less obvious, but if you listen to the fantastic Vincent Price monologue, you'll hear it.)
 
Let Us Prey - Virtues of the Vicious
https://youtu.be/7z-oJv8MR0M

The latest issue of my favourite metal music magazine "Deaf Forever" (yes, after the Motörhead song) just came in and I'm going through the record reviews. Already found some excellent stuff like White Crone, Carthagods, Darkened, Astral Sleep (after that Tiamat album), Lik and the monstrous Göden, but I keep coming back to this band. I'm not quite sure if I like them or not. It's obvious they know how to shred, but it's full frontal assault all the bloody time, with only a few moments to breathe between attacks. On the other hand, it's full frontal assault all the time, which in itself is pretty cool. Maybe have a good night's sleep and try again tomorrow.

@HollyLoriAnnalee: Better than Lil Kim's "Hard Core"? I've heard a lot of female rappers cum and go, but that album is still untouched.

Edit: Note to self: Nope, it's a cute Nicki Minaj wannabe with some chirpy singing voice. Also, sampling very obvious hooks. Seriously, her flow and enunciation scream Minaj - which I can't stand. Cardinal rule of rap: If you gotta say somethin', say it so everyone can understand you. It's not hard. That's why Public Enemy were so freaking amazing - the words were their weapons and they hit really hard. Today's mumble rappers can't even scare or motivate a lobotomized teddy bear. Maybe less drank, more rokk?
 
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