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Lordi @ Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, United States of America 8/2 -17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized, United States of America 2017 with tags , , , , , , on February 8, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So… The big day was here. Lordi. At The Whisky. I always knew I at one point in my life would get to catch a band live at The Whisky, but never in my wildest of dreams did I ever think it’d be Lordi, even if it was my dream. Seeing their name on the billboard outside… I can’t even describe it.

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outfit

We got to the venue pretty late, again. I don’t know what it is with me and America – or perhaps it is because we actually got up so late (around noon), but we made it there about an hour before the doors opened, and there were two or three people there before us only, and very soon after we arrived Aly and Jeffery arrived, and we got to catch up with them! Lucky people had made it to Anaheim so they got to witness this amazing show one more time.

Around 19 they opened the door, and as you can see on the billboard, there were quite a few supportbands, and we calculated that we’d be seeing more supportbands than Lordi, in time. Interesting, huh?

And the stage was also interesting. Again, no barrier, so Nathan found himself having a monitor right in his face, and the stage at Whisky is also higher than it was in Santa Cruz, like, to my chest. We’re getting to see some interesting stage set ups, but gladly it didn’t stop my “It Snows In Hell” thing. But more on that later. Clock striked 19.30, and the first band got on stage.

Aeonic Impulse

Aeonic Impulse was first on stage and they delivered a pretty good set! I must admit that I personally wasn’t too fond of their music, but they got up there and did their thing!

aoenic

Danse dE SADE

Next band on stage was Danse dE Sade – and they were one of the two bands that I had actually listened a little bit to prior to the show, and I wasn’t sure at the time how I actually felt about them. And it wouldn’t get any easier when their show began – freakshow to say the least. Strippers on stage, bandmembers going all over the place, but sure as hell they delivered a great show. A bit overwhelmed here. BUT – and yes I do feel the need to point it out – two female members in the band. Loving it.

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Dûrion 

Third band for the night was Dûrion. WITH A FEMALE DRUMMER, CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH? And apart from that, this band was REALLY good. I really loved their music, and the show they put on was amazing. The singer in the band is extremely charismatic, and we had a lot of fun during their set.

durion

Tower Guard

Tower Guard is the band out of the four that I’ve listened to most before the gig, powermetal with a concept – about guarding the tower, basically. The whole show was a quest throughout, and I loved it. They had a female bassplayer too – I love the amount of female musicians we have seen on stage tonight. It made me extremely happy.

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Lordi

It was such a surreal moment when “God of Thunder” started, and I wasn’t ready you know. Wasn’t ready to see Lordi at the Whisky a Go Go, but before you knew it, Skeletor walked on stage and they hit it off with “Lets Go Slaughter He-Man”. By this time, the place had gotten packed which was good to see!

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“Babez for Breakfast” was the next song on the list, quickly followed by “The Riff”. Somewhere here – either before “The Riff” or before “Hellbender Turbulence” Mr L is talking about his balls, and as being someone who’s heard this speech like so many times, I obviously started to pretend to step on his balls, which led him to tell me that “Yes exactly, you girls can step on them if you want!”. Haha. Oh lord. After “Hellbender Turbulence” it was time for the bassolo – and for the third gig in a row, OX singled me out (London, Santa Cruz) in the crowd. It’s really becoming our moment.

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“Bite it Like a Bulldog” was the next song on the list, and again, what a live song. I hope they keep this in the list. Followed by, again, personal favorite “Icon of Dominance”, followed by Manas Drumsolo, which was as cool as ever. “Hug you Hardcore” was next on the list, and again. Even though the setlist came off as pretty boring at first glance, they really managed to pick out the crowdfriendliest songs, and the songs that makes it most amazing live.

“It Snows In Hell”… well. I got down again, and I guess we can say Mr Lordi has now fulfilled his first attempt at murder – he really kept all the water this time and poured it very evenly all over my face and chest, and the amount of water was so much I found myself choking and not being able to open my eyes for a good few seconds. He got me good this time. I guess it’s what happens when you are lying you know, ON the stage. I felt him doing something with my face as well with his fingers – it felt like he was pushing hairstrands out of my hair, but Nathan witnessed about otherwise.

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After the medley Hella has her little moment before “Down with the Devil” began, and I’m just falling more and more in love with all of this – this song was already one of my favorites on the album, and it gets more so live.

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“Blood Red Sandman” was next on the list, followed by “Hard Rock Hallelujah” and wrapping it up with “Devil is a Loser” before leaving the stage.

They came back, started off with “Who’s Your Daddy?” much to my happiness – as you know, they scratched this one off in Santa Cruz because of time, so I’m so glad it happened. And I have now had Mr Lordi dryhump towards me. What a time to be alive, huh?

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They wrapped up the set with “Would you Love a Monsterman?” before leaving the stage for good. When Mr L threw out his towel, the audience went insane. To the point they knocked Nathan over so badly the monitors on stage got tore down, and this time we had had enough so we found ourselves losing it on the guy. COME ON ITS A TOWEL. Sorry but, watch the equipment!

Aside all of that, it was a really good show. Very intimate, again, and it’s very special. Whisky a Go Go guys. I cannot believe it.

We went up to the second floor to attend the meet n greet which went very quickly this time – some small chatting with the band before we reunited with Aly and Jeffrey and got outside. We spent a long time outside the venue chatting, catching up, spending some last couple of hours together before parting ways for this time.

monstersss whiskkkkyy

Thank you again, to everyone involved in this show – you made it the most amazing ever. Thank you!

// Sara

 

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Lordi @ The Catalyst Club, Santa Cruz, United States of America, 6/2 – 17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized, United States of America 2017 with tags , , , on February 6, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Because of the weather, and because we are lazy, we really only stayed in line for an hour. By the time we got to the venue, there was just one person there ahead of us, but as soon as we had come, more and more people started to come as well, so we really made it in exact time. We met up with some real cool people – Buddy, Alex and sadly a guy I never caught the name of and we had a good time catching up with each other!

Despite having the VIP which allowed us to enter the venue before the rest of the people, we decided to wait in line, because really, there is where all the fun is. That is where you meet new people.

When we finally got inside, we got our bracelets for the meet&greet and then got toward the stage…. or more like, pedalboards on the floor. The stage was so small that the supportband were forced to have just their drumset on stage, and the rest of them be on the floor in front of the stage. Interesting, huh? Like Galway, but instead of separate stages and all that shit.

Warcorpse

So, Warcorpse was the supportband for the night, an old school thrashmetalband from Santa Cruz. They were really good – and they put on a real good and energetic set getting you pumped for the show to come. Thank you guys!

warcorpse

After the band was done everybody waited for the band to get rid of their gear before everyone approached the stage. Unlike Galway, there wasn’t even a flightcase in front of the stage, making it real close and intimate. Crazy to think about. Then the LONG wait began. The supportband was done already at 20.30, and Lordi didn’t begin until 22.15 so… Long wait for sure!

And they were even further late. BUT, at 22.20 “God of Thunder” finally started rolling.

Lordi

Mana and Hella entered the stage, followed by Skeletor who pretty much declared war on He-Man, and the rest of the band followed as they started off with “Let’s Go Slaughter He-Man”. It was so good to see them again, and I must admit it felt really good personally to have Mr L wave to you from stage. I was a bit concerned at first, but all of it disappeared.

They followed up quickly with “Babez for Breakfast” and I had seriously forgotten what a riot of a live song this actually is – I hope they keep it for some time. “The Riff” was the next song on the list, followed by “Hellbender Turbulence”. And you know… Galway was one thing. Being this close to the stage, and the band, left us being able to even smell the band on stage. Imagine that, huh.

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OX’s bassolo came up next – and just as in London I was the one singled out in the crowd again. Really funny though, because I do LOVE his current bassolo. It’s like being at the club. I wish more people would join me dancing.

The solo emerged into “Bite it Like a Bulldog” which is also one hell of a live song. I can’t even begin. Next song on the list is a song, that I mentioned during the European Monstour, being one of my absolute favorites. When Mr Lordi talks about the die-hard fans that wished for this song, he pretty much talks about me. I’m one out of many who consistently would ask for this song over and over again. And finally you know.. And I feel so blessed I’ve gotten to see it live so many times now. I love this song so much. Oh, it’s “Icon of Dominance” by the way.

oxyboy

Afterwards came Mana’s drumsolo, minus the dancing skeletons, and it emerged into “Hug You Hardcore” that is growing on me, soon becoming probably one of my favorite live songs of them. And then… of course.

“It Snows In Hell”. For this time, I had to get down on my knees on the floor and put my head on the stage, next to the monitor in order to do it – because I’ll promise you this – I will ALWAYS find a way to do it. Of course I got my fair treatment – a little bit of water, and a lot of fingering in the face from him. And the whole first part of the verse with him looking dead straight into my eyes. The song emerged into “The Children of The Night” which is also a song I have wanted for so long – this tour has really become THE TOUR.

After “Children of the Night” Hella had her little solo moment that emerged into “Down with the Devil”… This song you know. It’s good already on the album, but again – live song, live song, live song! “Blood Red Sandman” was next on the list, followed by “Hard Rock Hallelujah” before sort of wrapping the set up with “Devil is a Loser”.

mrlandpriest

Because they were running short, they had crossed “Who’s Your Daddy?” off the list and they went directly to “Would You Love a Monsterman?” before thanking for the night and going off the stage.

After this, we hung around a bit before Mark collected us all for the meet&greet, and we all got into this line where we basically lined up to have a picture taken and then get a signed poster at the merchandise.

Nathan and I decided to take the picture together to speed up time, and as we walked up Mr Lordi instantly started speaking Swedish to me, rambling about most things he could, and Amen started rambling too. It’s good to see them, right? Haha. The phone didn’t cooperate with Mark really, and of course Mr Lordis response to that was “ITS A SWEDISH PHONE THATS WHY”, and as I went to take out the phone out of it’s case, the sexual jokes emerged. Seriously. SERIOUSLY.

monsters

When we were about to leave Amen stopped us for a moment to ask us what other shows we were going to. I sort of… It got to me a bit that he asked “What other shows” we were going to, not “Are you going to more shows”. He just assumed, or well, knew, that we would be going to more shows. I just love that. We said good bye to the band and then we went up to get our posters, chatted a bit with Jessica before exiting the venue and talked a bit with our friends that we had made.

Seriously, this was such a great night. Thank you to each and everyone of you involved in this night, I love you all.

// Sara

 

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Epica @ Shepard’s Bush Empire, London, United Kingdom 3/2 – 17

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on February 3, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, finally finally, finally. The first concert of the year, and not to mention, the first concert in quite some time for me personally. Going without a show all of December and January has somewhat killed the spirit, but hey, that is what happens!

So, first we did in the morning really was to pack and prepare for our outbound journey come tomorrow, but once all was said and done we got on the train and headed off to London. First, we stopped by Kryolan’s bagsale to see if it was any interesting, and later on we met up with Robert and Madeline to have a nice pizza dinner.

After that, we did some halfhearted attempts to get to the venue, and later, gladly, we DID find it. And we made it just in time for Beyond The Black!

Beyond The Black

I had never heard Beyond the Black prior to the show, but I was really impressed! They delivered a good set, and I was happy to see how well the crowd was responding!

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And next; Powerwolf

Powerwolf

So, one by one they came on stage to the tunes of “Lupus Daemonis” and later started off with “Blessed and Possessed”, quickly followed by “Army of the Night”. The band was really on fire, and so was the crowd. It was so good to see how many Powerwolf fans there actually was, considering that it was Epica’s gig, if you know what I mean?

“Amen and Attack” was next on the list, followed by “Coleus Sanctus” and “In The Name of God (Deus Vult)”. They had a new set design since last I saw them – rather than the church setting, it was a abandoned cemetary, to put it simply. Something similar to the cover of the tour edition of “Blessed and Possessed”. I loved it – gave it more of a crusade feeling, preaching the heavy metal mass and so on, you know?

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“Sacred and Wild” followed by, and you could tell there was a lot of Powerwolf fans in the audience tonight, because as Attila was about to the do the little speech and moment for “Armata Strigoi”, the audience kept singing the entire thing already from the start. I love when you see bands get this kind of response.

“Dead Boys Don’t Cry” was next on the list before it was time for what is for me, the highlight of a Powerwolf show – “Let There Be Night”. Seriously, this song is pretty much pure perfection. The arrangements, the melodies, and not to mention – the dominating organ parts. That melodyline is to die for, and this song live is just another perfect setting. God.

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“Resurrection by Erection” was next on the list, followed by “Werewolves of Armenia”. The crowd was really into it, and it made me so fucking happy to see. I wasn’t sure what the audience would be like, but this was perfect.

“Sanctified with Dynamite” was next before they wrapped the set up with “We Drink Your Blood”. While the set felt, in my opinion too short, it was though an amazing set. For every time I see this band, I fall more and more in love with them. Some bands simply have that effect on you, you know?

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After the show, we went up to look at the merch, and relocated to the other side of the stage for some reason – probably space reasons, which turned out to be… both a good and a bad deal. Good deal because we had a lot better sight than previously, and the bad sides I’ll get to in a minute.

The holographic projectors were brought out, and “Eidola” started echoing in the room.

Epica

 

The kicked off the set with “Edge of the Blade” which serves quite a bit as a punch in the face, although I must admit I prefer “The Second Stone” as an opener, it was a good shot – and I loved the holographic projectors! They followed it up with “A Phantasmic Parade”, just as they have done on previous tour – following up with the second song of the album.

The audience… It was good. Like, at least toward the front. There were some moshing, and they were receiving them good, but not nearly as good as they had for Powerwolf. “Sensorium” was the next song, followed by the single “Universal Death Squad”, and then “Storm the Sorrow”. Much to my joy, “The Essence of Silence” was actually kept in the setlist, made me very very happy.

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“The Obsessive Devotion” followed up and the moshpit essentially exploded. It was good to see – last time I saw Epica on their own shows were in New Zealand and Australia, and I can’t really say there was a lot of moshing there. “Ascension” followed, which made me really happy actually – it’s nice to see the musicians “behind” Simone to claim the spotlight a bit.

“Dancing in a Hurricane” was next, and now I’m going to speak up about the bad sides. Because, we had a group of fans next to us who were die hard Powerwolf fans, that THROUGHOUT ALL OF FUCKING EPICA kept talking and talking and talking, and you’d think that in a concert venue, you wouldn’t be able to hear it so well, but they talked loudly to each other – throughout the show – leaving us not hearing what the people on stage had to say and sometimes, in slower songs, we couldn’t even hear them sing without having the annoying chippering in the background. And I guess we all kind of lost it when they started screaming for Powerwolf in between some song, not when Mark mentioned them, just randomly. It’s just so disgustingly disrespectful. I was so close to punch these people, but instead, I smacked them pretty hard with my hair. They did move, eventually.

My personal favorite, “Unchain Utopia” was next on the list before they wrapped it up with “Once upon a Nightmare” before they gave us their encores in the shape of “Sancta Terra”, my personal favorite off “The Holographic Principle” – “Beyond the Matrix” that were a real good crowdkiller. And seriously, this song. I loved it so much already on the album, but it’s ten times better live.

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They wrapped up the set with a proper wall of death and nice mosh and circle pits with “Consign to Oblivion” before they left the stage. It was a well good show, that is for sure! Although, the only minus is that Simone seemed to be a bit out of shape voice-vice, but she picked it up as the show went by which was good!

Thank you, to all three bands for making such a good night! Seriously, this was epic!

After the show, we headed straight out, meeting up with my dear Niki before hurrying home to get some rest before the big day tomorrow…

// Sara

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REVIEW: Crystal Viper – Queen of the Witches

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on February 1, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Polish heavy metal heroes Crystal Viper is finally back after their long hiatus following health issues of singer and founder Marta. Before the hiatus they released five albums under a six years period of time, making them recognized as one of the most hard working bands in the industry. Ready for the comeback, they are now releasing “Queen of the Witches”, an album that deals with the concept of witches and true evil.

The album starts off with a classic heavy metal scream as an intro for the first song, launching us into what I feel is just SCREAMING the vibes of what classic heavy metal is to me. Fast riffs, good melodies and a strong voice. The album continues that way – strong melodies, fast riffs and crowdfriendly choruses. There are small differencies here and there, such as the more bass-based, groovier song “When The Sun Goes Down”, which also gets calmed as the song goes by, making it a perfect transition into the first of two ballads on the album – “Trapped Behind”, where I really discover the core of the voice of Marta. I really just love her voice. That kind of power, you know?

The second ballad of the album is “We Will Make it Last Forever”, which features Steve Bettney as the co-singer. It’s a beautiful song and the vocals work together in fantastic harmony, which doesn’t stay for long as the most aggressive song on the album – “Rise of the Queen Witch” is the one who follows. A direct contrast that wakes up anyone who fell into dreaming in the previous song.

Over all, the album is solid, but a little plain, if I can put it that way. Aside a song here or there, all the songs sort of melt together as one long song, which is on the one hand the point of concept albums, but it also makes the album fall a bit short, perhaps not an album you’d bring out the first thing you do. BUT – it does have all the elements we are all looking for in a good album – crowdfriendly, headbangfriendly songs with great riffs for an epic celebration to all heavy metal.

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(Label: AFM Records)

CDON I Amazon I Ginza

// Sara

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REVIEW: Mors Principium Est – Embers of a Dying World

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on January 30, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Finnish melodic death metallers Mors Principium Est are back with the 6th album in their already pretty strong catalouge – having their older albums being praised all over the world and seen to be on the same level as the pioneers in the genre. Since the past album, there has been a line up change – guitarist Kevin deciding to leave the band, entering Andy Gillion who has already been writing some material, and now, after some time, the album is here.

The album opens with a rather dramatic intro – it starts off with a doomsday kind of vibe too it, before pouring into a more dreamy kind of setting. The whole thing is very cinematic, and before you know it it launches you right into the opening track “Reclaim the Sun” which shows off a bit more aggression stylewise than what the intro would perhaps suggest. I find the song being rather pleasant – not supergood, but not bad either. Decent opener! It has some magical arrangements in the middle that I’m pretty much living for. “Masquerade” is the second song of the album, and I fell in love with the rhythm of the verses on an instant. I have a thing for funky rhythms, most specially when added to a metal song.

“Into the Dark” delivers the epicness an album like this needs, with it’s fairly bombastic arrangements, followed by the more melancholic “The Drowning” which I found to be a very very pleasant song actually, growing rather fond of it the more I hear it! “Death is the Beginnig” continues on in the melancholic vibe, being a duet with a unnamed female vocalist. Perhaps some of you will kill me for not recognizing the voice, but I really don’t! I do love the arrangements though.

Another thing that caught my interest a whole lot more with this song in particular is the fact that the heartbroken feelings that the lyrics is writing about, translates extremely well into the music as well. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like this before, that kind of translation. It’s incredible. Now that is what I call writing with feelings!

We later on get picked up by “The Ghost” which at first starts of pretty nice and sweet, but soon gets more aggressive as the song goes on. “In Torment” is the first of the musclepacks of the album with it’s aggressiveness, and I get impressed by the vocals here. Some of the songs have felt a bit sloppy, as where here he’s really screaming. We get a churchinspired instrumental breakdown in “Agnus Dei” before being launched into the two last songs, as well as two more musclepacks of the album – “The Color of the Cosmos” and “Apprentice of Death”. Nice ending of the album!

So, I think overall it’s a pretty good album, most certainly moving forward – however, it feels a bit flat. While every song has it’s moments, while every song has something, just something that differs them from one another, it still feels bland. Like I’m listening to the same song. I would probably not notice if it wasn’t for the fact I didn’t really listen, you know?

But aside that, it IS a good album – I love all the little accessories and arrangements that has been done, and it is absolutely worth to check out, maybe only for the sake of that.

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(Label: AFM Records)

CDON I Amazon I Ginza

// Sara

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REVIEW: Vanishing Point – Tangled in a Dream (Re-release)

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on January 28, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Yet another re-release are seeing the light from AFM Records, and this time it’s Vanishing Point, the Australian progressive metal band. This album went out of press many, many years ago and isn’t available on any digital streaming services – making this a way to re-discover the band, and yours truly is one of them. So, despite of this being a re-release, I’ll treat it as a normal album.

The album opens with a pretty epic intro and opening song – very cinematic, lures you in only to leave the listeners a little… well, I don’t know how to say this in a not too harsh way – but I wasn’t too impressed with the first couple of songs. I literally dozed off a bit at the start, even though it did get interesting at certain parts, it never got to me, but gladly – the album picked up it’s pace starting with the fifth song on the album “Never Walk Away” which is a bit of a heavier than the others.

But, I’m not entirely convinced until “Two Minds One Soul”. Good works with keyboard accessories combined with dance-able melodies makes this my favorite track of the album all in all. The now aquired heaviness continues in “When I awake” before launching us into a very beautiful ballad – “Dancing with the Devil”. The album is wrapped up in a very dreamy and trippy good night lullaby in “Tangled in a Dream”.

It’s an okay album, if you ask me. It could be a lot better – could also be a lot worse, I reckon. I’m not to big of a fan, but on the same time it is good to have this little gem in my collection, after all.

This edition comes with 10 bonus track – A “Samsara II” which in my opinion is a lot better than the first, despite being a re-recording. It features two coversongs by Journey and Pink Floyd, two Japanese edition bonus tracks and five live versions of their songs, making the edition, aside the material, a bit interesting.

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(Label: AFM Records)

CDON I Ginza

// Sara

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Music Monday I Vixen

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags on January 23, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

I’ve had a great AOR kick lately. I think this might be something that Art Nation brought with the territory, but I’ve found myself listen to barely anything but AOR these past couple of weeks, and I got this serious craze with Vixen for the past week. Out of nowhere I just dashed for the albums I own and crank them loud.

Or, to be more specific, the selftitled release, for now.

I’m pretty sure I’ve written about this album before, but it’s just because it’s so darn good! Starting off with their big hit “Edge of a Broken Heart” the albums just keeps on delivering good tunes, solid playing and just amazing melodies to either sing your heart out to, dance the night away or just indulge in. Sure, it doesn’t exactly outdo it’s succedor “Rev it Up” which is a close to flawless album, but it still got some really good gems – like the more… edgy? “I Want You to Rock Me” or the sweet “Cryin'”.

And not to mention, probably my favorite part about Vixen – Janet’s voice. Janet’s raspy, sexy but yet feminine voice that turns on that extra edge on the tunes, giving them some, excuse my choice of words “balls” to the music, outdoing a lot of other bands of their era.

Putting on this album sends me back many years in my life, but to good years. Good times, happy times. What I don’t exactly understand is why I abandoned this music in the first place, but it’s coming back very fast. It’s good to be back.

vixenvixen

// Sara

 

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REVIEW: Borealis – World of Silence MMXVII

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on January 22, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

In 2008, a Canadian prog-powermetal band called Borealis self-released their debut album “World of Silence”. Nine years later, on a real label, they have decided to re-release the album that started it all. But, to make it even better, they also re-recorded it, to show off the growth of them as a band, as well as individuals.

So, to make a quick summary of the album as an album, I think it’s a decent album. On the one hand, it is very well written and arranged – it has good melody build-ups, I love all the accessories and string parties that they have applied on the appropriate parts to lift a song or a section to the top. The solos are very technical, showing a lot of skill, but at times they don’t blend too well with the songs, leaving it a bit un-personal for my taste. But, for a debut album it is really good. While I found “Purgatory” to be more bland, this is a stronger album, for sure.

So, how does the re-recorded sound? Well, the material is obviously the same, but it’s elevated! It’s more technical, it’s an overall better production, but what caught my eye the most was the improved vocals. It was better sung, better planned – over all a better performance than previously. And of course, the production over all is much better – which is to be expected from a growing band.

The song that caught my heart the most was “Eyes of a Dream”. It’s been lifted to new heights, and I’m enjoying it more than ever.

With all of this being said, it’s a good release and something you should get your hands on if you are into this kind of music. And mostly, I’m looking forward to their new album, to see what they can do.

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(Label: AFM Records)

CDON I Amazon I Ginza

// Sara

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Love Don’t Last Forever

Posted in Music, Uncategorized on January 18, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, pretty interestingly, I stumbled upon the “Your year in LastFM” when being on the site yesterday, and I thought I should share it with you, what I learned on it because it was quite interesting to see.

scrobble-stats

So in total, I scrobbled 9,500 songs roughly. It does make sense – I listen to most of my music on CD or vinyl while at home, and sometimes I forget to import the tracks from my iPod to the computer and it expires. What is interesting to see though, is how many average scrobbles a day I have – 28, and that it totals up to less than a day in time. Interesting to see.

artists

Last year, 2016, I listened to 204 different bands and artists, which is 57% more than the average user of LastFm. 204 different bands. Can that even be correct? Wow.

albums

I only listened to 292 different albums this year. I say “only” because I have closer to 350 albums, physical, and near 800 total in my iTunes. It puts things into a perspective, and perhaps how much you do actually listen. Fun trivia: 292 was the amount of points Lordi had when they won the Eurovision. 60% more albums than the average listener though.

tracks

I listened to 1501 different tracks, 76% more than the average listener. I have around 6500 tracks in total in my iTunes, so this is very very, VERY little. Wow.

discovery

Discovery. I discovered 22% new artists amongst my all played bands, 30% new albums and 48% new tracks, counted on the previous numbers, which makes the list shrink even more when knowing that. I really, need to change that. Like, badly.

listening-week-1

I apparently, listened most on Saturdays. I reckon this is mostly gig days, actually.

longest-streak

Longest streak in listening. This doesn’t really make sense to me, as I walk with my small iPod every day, but it is possible a song was never scrobbled that day.

top-tags

I listen mostly to Powermetal, followed by heavy metal and thirdly hard rock. Sounds about right for me, don’t you think?

biggest-day

On April 2nd I scrobbled 328 songs. April 2nd was the day we got on the looong trainride to Clermont-Ferrand to see Powerwolf, so this makes sense to me – I probably listened a lot while packing, while riding the train, and we listened while getting ready for the show. So yeah, this seems about right.

The most interesting with this thing is how it puts a perspective on things. Like… You think you listen so much, and sure I still do, not everything get scrobbled, I know at least 100 tracks are missing and such, but still. It feels like so much more but…

Nope.

// Sara

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The Real Me

Posted in Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on January 17, 2017 by Sara Hammerzmith

Okay, so, it is sort of funny that I’d write about Art Nation yesterday, because today they finally revealed the artwork as well as a teaser from an upcoming single! And seriously…

HERE IS A LINK TO THEIR FACEBOOK, so you can listen yourself.

Okay, so , this is a teaser from their first single “The Real Me” which will be released on February 24th. And I don’t think I’ve been more excited for a single release as I am for this one! Seriously, that little teaser, I couldn’t contain myself!

I’m always worried when I find a band that in my eyes are perfect, that their next album may not be as good as the first one, or as you’d have hoped seeing the first was so good, and I had my biggest concerns with Art Nation. Not that I don’t think they’d be capable, because I know they would be, but what if they changed direction? Or did something completely different and new without even a touch of their old material?

But no. This song is very true to “their” sound if I may call it so, and not only that, but it also gives me pure eargasm as it has everything that I want – Alexanders amazing vocalwork, uptempo fun rhythms and of course a big chunk of that keyboards that I love so dearly. I love the melody work in what I assume was the start of the chorus, and again the vocal work… I love the way it’s been arranged, at least from this little teaser I heard. I hope the full song is as good, or perhaps better, than this.

I cannot get enough of this teaser, and even though I don’t like when time passes by too quickly, February 24th couldn’t come sooner now.

// Sara

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