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The Lounge Kittens – Sequins and C-Bombs

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , on September 26, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

About a week ago, I finally received my long awaited copy of The Lounge Kittens first debutalbum “Sequins & C-Bombs”. I purchased the EP “Just The Tip” already during the tour with Steel Panther in 2015, and I’ve eagerly been awaiting new material from them ever since, and it’s finally here!

Perhaps I should do a small introduction of this band for those of you who might have missed out on who they are: The Lounge Kittens is a trio from Southampton that made a new for themselves by doing lounge music covers of metal songs. Some of their more famous works would be “Duality” by SlipKnot, “Rammers”, a Rammstein medley and “Gloryhole”, a Steel Panther cover.

Sooo, how does it sound? Well absolutely exquisite! It opens seductively and calmly with their rendition of Alice Cooper’s classic song “Poison”, a song I’ve WAITED For them to do! I love how it just builds up throughout the song, preparing us for the next song, which is “Bounce” which is on the funnier side, maybe it’s just me thinking about the video everytime I hear it and Jen jumping around Zan and Timia and it makes me chuckle.

The album keeps a very good pace – it goes ups and down in moods, with a mixture of funny, uptempo playful songs (“Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap”, “Yeah”, that rap part!) mixed with serene and cosy songs (“Love is Only a Feeling”, “Want You Bad”). What made me very happy was to see the inclusion of “Sad But True” “Smack My Firestarter to Outer Space” and the “Rammers” medley. I’ve enjoyed all three of these live, and I’ve wished to have them with me in an iPod, and finally it’s happening! The album was then beautifully wrapped up by “The Beautiful People” where they added a few extra instruments to really get out the entire epicness of the song, making it a strong finish.

There’s one song that sticks out a bit – “Smack My Firestarter”, which is a fully produced metal song, with a back up band and everything, which is a bit unusual for this piano and acapella band, but I can’t say I dislike it. It was actually rather good!

Aside that, there’s a few songs that my heart pounds for is this one special song – “Africa”. Perhaps it’s my daily love relationship to this song that makes me love it even more on this album, but seriously, they made it so good. So, so good. I literally just stared at the wall when I heard it. I also found “Jump Around” a bit more interesting then the others, mostly because of the added beatboxing. Loved it!

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Overall, this album is just awesome. It’s fantastic arrangements, delicious harmonies with a good mixture of humor in all the right places, and seriousness in all the right places. Well done, ladies!

// Sara

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The Monsterican Dream

Posted in Christmas Metal Meeting 2011, Concerts, Finland, Italy 2013, Music, Paris 2010, Thiz Izz Djermani, Travels, Uncategorized with tags , , on September 19, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

On this day, September 19th ten years ago, 2006, I witnessed my very very first Lordi show. It was in Gothenburg, the arena was Lisebergshallen and my company was Lina, who actually to this date was also my very very first “internetfriend” ever, a girl I had met through Wig Wam the year prior.

We were at the venue early. Like, ten in the morning or something like that. I can’t even remember properly. And it was a show worth waiting for. Seeing my heroes for the very first time live (and also a mysteriously military clad band singing about going through the gates of hell on their way to heaven…) was beyond words to describe. This was the The Arockalypse tour, so unlike the more recent tours it was a big show – a lot of theatrics, pyrotechnics and a massive show. The setlist was perfect, the night was perfect, and it got even better by the facts that I’d managed to score backstagepasses for me and my friends.

Meeting Lordi for the first time wasn’t exactly the easiest thing for a shy little person like me, and Kita had to convince me to come forward to even dare to walk up to them. I owe him for that.

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But that was ten years ago. And this is what this marks. Ten years of monsterloving. It’s been ten years as a Lordifan, and I honestly thought this day would never come. That I’d lose interest in them one day, but no. My love for this band grows bigger and bigger for every day. It hasn’t been easy, there’s been times where it’s hard to defend the band, but that is the point. You stand with the band through thick and thin, and never give up on them. And I have never.

Thanks to Lordi, I have met some of my absolute best friends.It goes all the way back to the groupconversations and family constellations and weddings we used to make in 2006 – Where I married Ghostrider, also known as Sergio, and he’s still one of my best friends today. I remember Lozzy16, Lauren, was the “chapel master” and Monster-girl, Suncica, KittyCat, Anna and Pride_of_Finland, Ville was our best men / bridesmaids. FallenOne, William was my father who walked to the alter, and BeautyOfTheBeast, whose name fails me, was the priest. This was all of course happening on MSN, but still.

Fast forward a few years to Kita’s departure where we met Thomas – in the midst of planning a new monster and the “penis monster” came to be, and I became “B. A. Nana” because of all the bananas I used to give to the funny people. And of course, how can we forget that one night – Me – Ida, Martine (GoodToBeBadGirl) Thomas (Thomas), Martin (martinmaniac), King, Jonathan (Monsta), Michal (NightmareWingsHell) and Jordan (Mooneyman) had a basic riot in the Misc babbling section that ended with “King, you just said you wanted to have some gaysex with me and Martin“. Most iconic line from that times of riots.

But it doesn’t end there. We have PoliceLineDoNotCross who was always a pleasent person to have to deal with, AmericanMonsterMan (I’m sorry if I misspell your usernames people!) miss_brutality, Sooooophie, Maddy, CB Studios, Miss-Elodia – I specifically remember when she randomly joined in me and Martine throwing fake Lordi lyrics in the Misc babbling, MarkusHasADeadache, Stude, Nillan, Kitawa, Judge-death, Erina, I could go on forever with this list! It’s a whole load of amazing people that you’ve met on this one little forum called Monsterboard. And we all united there for one reason: The love for Lordi.

Thanks to Lordi, I’ve been able to see a big part of Europe I probably never would have seen, and I’d want to say the world because really, we did wind up seeing Epica in Australia and New Zealand, but it was because of Lordi we even went there to begin with.

It hasn’t always been easy. On the contrary, it’s been a rollercoaster and different occasions. It’s been everything:

My first trip to Finland was because of them, which included Pippi Långstrump and Moomin madness – and a hairbrush that broke.

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It has been shouting “Mr Porn” out towards the streets through a window in Paris, where we had a large get-together of Monsterboard people (Soooophie, FairyOfDarkness, Isa, Angel_Of_Death, LIVINGDEADDOLLIE, mummy-, Thomas, GoodToBeBadGirl is a few of the people who were there), and dancing around in the wild snow that appeared.

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It has been yelling inapropriate things on trains in Germany (Lichtenfels), living like royals in the large rooms and finding questionable pig-porn art in the middle of the townsquare.

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It has been walking along an Italian highway (Rome & Milano) for so long your feet are bleeding in a 30 degree heat, only to hours later crack your knee on the stone stairs forcing you to jump on one leg for the rest of the stay. This Italy trip was a basic nightmare from start to finish, with the questionable drivers on the first night, the hotelroom who all of a sudden lost all lights, and not to mention the hell in getting home – took us 36 hours because of a train accident. The trip from Hell.

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It has been witnessing the coolest of releasegigs, spending the late night in the hotelroom with Soooophie, eeesti999_ and Anthalerero talking about everything and nothing ’til 4am in the morning, meeting up with Monstermaniacs from all over the place.

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It has been a spontaneous trip to Germany (Frankfurt) where we couldn’t even feel our legs because of the cold, and a four day stay in Spain(Madrid) where we had the most questionable of hotel rooms – It was a large square with Jesus on the cross on the wall, two beds, high roof and a sink. It felt like we were in a horror movie.

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It has been going through a damp and cold English harbor village (Southampton) where we randomly offered this guy chocolate cake, because why not? And it was probably the best decision made ever, seeing that is how we met Nathan. It has been traveling to beautiful Brighton living in a hotelroom that was made for Royals.

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And not to mention: That one day we threw Mr L completely off his game at Sabaton Open Air! All hail us, the Swedish Lordi Crew: Paula, Hanna, Michelle, Me, Ludvig and Jonathan.

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Thanks to Lordi, I’ve gotten to experience some of the most treasured moments with my best friends. Like the New Year Celebration in 2012, where a group of Lordi fans (PEML94, GoodToBeBadGirl, Thomas, FlameCurry and me) gathered at GTBBG and celebrated the new year together.

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It was been those “GroupieBFF’s” weeks where we have just randomly gone somewhere. It has been all those nights spent with The Awesome Threesome, where we went to bed at eight in the morning and spent all the night recording stupid videos about seigemenn and superdupermegamojängen. One of my favorite memory is the Tuska weekend. Ten years after The Arockalypse tour, I was allowed to witness almost the same identical set with Sophie and Nathan under the burning Helsinki sun. That day, and the whole weekend was amazingly perfect in a way that I can do nothing but smile when I think about it. Even with the pepperspray.

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As you can see, you who read this… Being a Lordi fan has been so much more than just simply liking their music and going to a show here and there. I practically owe my life to this band. It’s because of them that I’ve gotten to experience all the amazing stuff that I have, and I couldn’t even thank them enough for all of it. And all of you who were mentioned in this, I thank all of you for in one way or another, making these years the best.

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And here’s to the next ten years: May they be as amazing as these first have been!

// Sara

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REVIEW: Lordi – Monstereophonic (Theaterror vs Demonarchy)

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , , on September 12, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Two years has passed since Lordi’s most recent “Scare Force One” hit the shelves, and after a few ifs and buts, setbacks, delays and change of producer, the eight Lordi album has finally arrived, and it’s with great pleasure I found myself digging into it. Seeing that the album is sort of split into two, I’ll also split this review into two to begin with, starting with Theaterror.

Theaterror

To put it very simply, “Theaterror” is very old school Lordi, mixed with a major 80’s influence – to the extent you’d think this album was taken straight from the 80’s, with heavy keyboards and light guitar riffs. The album starts off with a phonecall, voicemail from what I assume is Hella’s murderer Ralph Ruiz (read the To Beast comic book) threatening us on the phone before a divine melody line signed Hella which launches us into opening track “So.W.C.A”*, and it continues that way – catchy melodies with the strong prescence of a keyboard being what ties it all together. Lyricwise, it’s very similar to what we’ve heard before – leaving “So.W.C.A”, which is about Masters of the Universe, and “Hug You Hardcore” with more of a parental advisory kind of lyrics being the only two exceptions.

This album IS taken to the next level – no doubt about it. Even though I feel I could fit most, if not all, of these songs onto “Babez For Breakfast”, it’s still done a little better, with a little more finess – and I’d like to think that this is the magical work of Nino Laurenne – “Theaterror” is basically what “Babez For Breakfast” should have sounded like. 

However, it’s a little bit predictable. It’s not Sabaton-plagarising-themselves kind of predictable, but the album follows the same schedule we’ve seen on all of their previous albums, and some songs directly draws the thoughts to some older songs (“Mary is Dead” to “Missing Miss Charlene”, “None for One” to “Loud and Loaded” to mention a few)

“Theaterror” is a very fun album. I’ve found myself bouncing around the room to almost every track of this album, dancing, headbanging, jumping, almost trashing things because of the happy emotions it fills me with. It’s a party album. And if Lordi keep making albums like this, they sure as hell are on the right track. And – bonus points for no curse words! Way to go! I must give a special shout out to my personal favorite on this side of the album – “Sick Flick”. It’s absolutely amazing with the big choruses that makes you dance around the room as if you were being cast in a sick flick.

Demonarchy

I will admit right upfront – When learning about the album, and how it was to become with two sides – one being a more fun side, and the other being more of a story and closer to “Deadache” as far as style goes, I was more interested in this side, and let me tell you this – it did not, I repeat – it did not disappoint.

When the opening track, “SCG:VIII” starts and… The first time I listened to this album I was out walking in the trails in the forest, and it was rather close to midnight. And when this opening track started, and the enchanting notes of it reached my eardrum, it felt like I stepped into an enchanted forest, like the world Pandora from the Starshine games. It felt like I could see and even feel the magic purple glittering mushrooms pop up, fairies waiting around every corner, see glittering rays of light slipping through before the threatening guitars starts, which made me look over my shoulder out of fear. Now this is how to properly compose music.

The album starts off in a way we have never heard Lordi before – heavy riffs with pounding drums, I had to make sure I was actually still listening to Lordi and not some average powermetal band and I basically stood there with jaw dropped in awe. This is beyond amazing. Seriously, holy hell! It didn’t get any worse when I noticed the song, and the whole part of this album, has a bit of Avantasia vibes – changes songs within the songs to move on with the story.

The album continues on like this – moodchanges in the various songs, mostly to accompany the lyrics. I’d want to say that the whole album is a lot in the style of Avantasia – as far as composition and structures are made, so if you’re a fan of “The Metal Opera” I’m pretty sure you could appreciate this, especially seeing this album is also a lot heavier than what Lordi usually does.

So, as most of you may know – Demonarchy is the tale about a group of monsters – The Witch, The Vampire, The Werewolf, The Zombie and Nosferatu, to mention at least a few, that are all coming together to work in the great Demonarchy – the unholy gathering. The story goes through the entire album with it’s ups and downs, and with plottwists that will make your eyes pop, despite being a fairly short tale to tell in only seven songs.

But, with that said, this is what they should do. Seriously. “Theaterror” is all fun and games, but seriously, albums like “Demonarchy” is what Lordi should do. They should write albums based on stories and have comic books come with them. That could really be their call. “Demonarchy” is absolute perfection from start to finish, and I just love this side so much. I want to give an extra shout out for the songs “Demonarchy” and “The Night the Monsters Died” – simply amazing.

Lordi has finally, finally landed with this one. I never thought I’d ever say I liked an album more than “Deadache” – but here it is folks. “Monstereophonic” is slowly, but surely claiming the top spot, and I’d dare to say that this is one of their best works to date. For once, I can very very warmly recommend you without any shame to get this album – you will not be disappointed. Nino Laurenne, he’s a magic worker. The magic he’s done on this album is amazing.

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(Label: AFM Records)

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// Sara
* = So.W.C.A (Song Without a Cool Acronym) = “Let’s Go Slaughter He-Man (I Wanna Be The Beast Man in the Masters of the Universe)”

 

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Edge of the Blade

Posted in Music, Uncategorized on September 8, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Today, Epica released another song from their upcoming album “The Holographic Principle”, “Edge of the Blade” and along with it a video.

Ok, so firstly: I’m in love with this video. You can really tell it’s all about holographics, haha, haha, haha, ok that was bad. Anyway, at first I was a bit “Ok” but then when Mark’s vocals came in and the whole video turned into a riot, that’s when we are talking.

About the song.. I was a bit stunned when I heard it. It’s unlike what Epica has done before, talking about the verses. It was strange hearing Simone sing like that, but it did nothing but make me even more excited for the album.

Speaking of which, I must remember to preorder it. And Monster-e-ju-fånict too.

// Sara

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Akh of Eternity

Posted in Music, Uncategorized on September 2, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Today I’m gonna give it up a bit for a close and long friend of mine’s band Ravensnight that just released a new single from their upcoming EP.

Ravensnight is a five piece power metal band from Zaragoza, Spain which was formed in 2014, and well, I guess we can all let the music talk for itself. It features Fran on vocals, Sergio & Mark on guitars, Jorge on drums and Oscar on bass. While still being fairly new, they have already booked gigs with legends as Rush, and an upcoming show with Wisdom.

I am not sure how many readers I have from Spain, but those of you who are, or happen to have the roads by Spain – make sure to check this guys out! They’ll be playing with Rage on October 14th in Zaragoza, and with Wisdom on December 3rd, same location.

Go support them! Like their Facebook, follow them on youtube and wait patiently with me for their upcoming release. I seriously can’t wait. In the meantime, check out some of their other songs:


// Sara

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REVIEW: Serious Black – Mirrorworld

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , on September 1, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Serious Black, the “All-star-group-but-not-a-supergroup-in-that-sense” coming literally out of nowhere slamming down like an asteroid, are back already a year after their critically acclaimed debut album “As Daylight Breaks”. It’s been quite the year for them – good highs touring with bands such as HammerFall, Gamma Ray and Kamelot – and now it’s finally time for them to grace us with a second album – “Mirrorworld”.

And buckle up folks, “Mirrorworld” is an album that will take you for a ride.

It all begins a bit cautiously, you are slowly getting into the ride, the more adventurous ride I’d say – building up the excitement before stopping for a brief moment – then starting again. It builds up the tension, the excitement, prepares you for what is yet to come – and then unexpectedly throws you into the first song of the album, “As Long as I’m Alive”, that starts off as a statement, to the world – to the fans, to everyone.

It continues on in the, on the more aggressive side, “Castor Skies”, which is essentially a very typical metal song with bombastic choruses and hammering drums. After this – the ride slows down, and we are thrown into the highlight of the album. The heartbreak songs. “Heartbroken Soul” which brings the thoughts back to Cinderella’s 80’s hit “Nobody’s Fool”, with a bit of KISS’s “Forever”, it’s like mash of the two but with Serious Black’s own imprint on it. The song is followed up by one on a similar theme – “Dying Hearts”. There’s something about these two songs that simply catches me, drags me into and keeps me there.

Noteworthy, is Urban’s vocal work in this album. While I am familiar with some of his work with Bloodbound, I don’t think I’ve ever really heard him being so versatile as I find him on this album, especially with these two tracks. It’s almost to the point where I don’t recognize it being him and that’s a pretty good thing for me personally – showing the different sides of one persons talent.

The pace is picked up in “You’re Not Alone” which fills the function of giving you a hint of hope after dragging you down in the heartbreak sever, and then an echoing, almost Amaranthe-like intro starts off to prepare you for the titletrack – The “Mirrorworld.” A song dealing with the emotion of being locked up in a situation you can’t get out of, suffocating you and trying to find your way. It’s followed up by “State of my Despair” which follows up the theme of the previous one, before wrapping up the album with “Unborn Never Die”.

To conclude it all, while still being in the spirits of “As Daylight Breaks”, it’s elevated. It’s better, bigger and essentially, taking more space. It’s got cheerful and big songs with adrenaline pumping lyrics as well as low key songs with touching lyrics and I also sense a little bit of 80’s inspiration – unintentionally or not, I love it. The album has a clean production and a good consistency throughout the album – there really aren’t anything I can complain about. Well done, boys!

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(Label: AFM Records)

CDON I Amazon I Ginza

// Sara

 

 

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We Are Not Like Others

Posted in Music, Uncategorized with tags on August 31, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

I’ve spent these past days pledging a few albums, such as The Lounge Kittens upcoming “Sequins and C-Bombs“, Sumo Cyco’s second album as well as Martin Sweet’s new project Sweet Creature’s debut album, “The Devil Knows My Name”.

While I am excited for all three of these albums, most certainly Sumo Cyco’s seeing they very quickly made their way up to one of my favorite bands with their first album “Lost in Cyco City”, I’m getting more and more intrigued by Martin’s new project.

Today, they posted their third single for the album, “Our Moment”

No surprise, that it does sound a bit Crashdiet, but with Martin on vocals, but I do really like the song, as well as what they have released before. It’s showing he still got it in him, and I think this album could potentially be a killer. It does sound very promising.

Sweet Creature consists, aside Martin Sweet, of Linus Nirbrant from This Ending, Tin Star from Gemini Five and Michael TxR from Toxic Rose, which sort of makes this band a bit of a supergroup, on the underground level, so to speak. If you also want to contribute to this album, here’s a link to their Indiegogo so you can order the album yourself. I have included links to the other two mentioned bands as well on the top.

All I can say, I’m super excited for all these releases, and I can’t wait to get them home.

// Sara

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Delain – Moonbathers

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on August 30, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

Delain, the Dutch metalband most famous for “We are the Others” are finally back with their fifth studioalbum “Moonbathers”, following up the success of “The Human Contradiction” and EP “Lunar Prelude”. For me personally, since I heard “The Glory and the Scum” I’ve been waiting like crazy for this album, and it’s finally here!

Listening to “Moonbathers” is like watching a movie – it’s start off with it’s opening track “Hands of Gold” which is a foreboding song about the adventure yet to come, introducing our hero and perhaps also our villain – in this case portrayed by Alissa White-Gluz. Our first encounter with the hero and the conflict is shown in the second track – “The Glory and the Scum”, giving us an idea what is about to come, and the conflict just culminates in “Suckerpunch” before it’s slowed down and dawned upon us in “The Hurricane” and “Chrysalis: My Last Breath” where our hero gets betrayed.

The climax of the movie, the battle of the movie, starts off with “Fire with Fire” where our hero sees red in her eyes and gets prepared for the ultimate showdown which takes place in “Pendulum”. But then it happens. “Danse Macabre”. Our hero lost. Heroes don’t always win, and heroes don’t always wear capes. A shot at redemption is given with “Scandal”, despite being a Queen cover fits the narrative perfectly, before our hero and the villain break down in “Turn the Lights Out” and finally reach the settlement, and let the credits roll with “The Monarch”.

Not only are the songs placed the way they are to give you this kind of narrative, but the musical arrangements of this albums help enhancing the image of yourself watching a movie, where you let your imagination paint the graphics.

With all of that being said, it’s a very very good album. What gets me the most is all the arrangements. Every single song, every single arrangement behind it just leaves you speechless, sitting there not sure what to feel – you follow the feeling of the music and takes you both up and down, without even paying attention to the lyrics at first. And once you do, you get drawn into a dark world, but not without the little light in the dark – which was also the inspiration for the title, “Moonbathers”, for those of us who find comfort in the dark rather than the light.

I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is – but this album simply speaks to me. Perhaps it’s on a more personal level rather than anything, but I can only salute Delain for bringing us this musical masterpiece of an album for us all to enjoy, laugh and to cry to. Thank you Charlotte, for understanding all of us moonbathers.

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// Sara

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Sabaton – The Last Stand

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , on August 28, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So finally, after a few ifs and buts it’s time for me to write about this album as well. “The Last Stand” is the 9th studioalbum from Sabaton and is, as the title suggest, dealing with the topic of famous last stands, the final battles. I must admit, I did have quite high expectations on this album – as I’ve always come to have when it comes to Sabaton.

At first listen, I was a little taken aback by “Sparta”. The more recent opening tracks has been pretty fast, in your face kind of songs, while this one is… how do I put this, slower? It’s calm in a way, the calm before the storm perhaps. But it is very, very big, or large, on the other hand.

The album picks up it’s pace a bit already in the second song – “Last Dying Breath” and keeps on in a pretty usual Sabaton-kind of manner. It’s very big – as usual – big choirs and epic arrangements, but it’s also pretty bland. It’s just… like one line. Songs melting together at times, aside for the few oddies like “Ballad of Bannockburn” which is probably the most out-there song on this album.

Something that makes me a bit torn about this album is how easy it is to place some of the songs on previous albums. It’s not simply that the sound is similar, but down to the fact that I can say “Ah, this is this song!” the most obvious one being “Winged Hussars” – basically the result of “The Carolean Prayer” and “The Art of War” having a lovechild, with the only exception of “Ballad of Bannockburn” who’s completely off the trails, as far sa Sabaton goes.

It’s a very, very typical Sabaton album. You got the big, epic songs like “Sparta”, “The Last Stand” and “The Lost Battalion”, the songs that are a bit more low-key and heavier such as “Hill 3234” and “Rourke’s Drift”. However, perhaps I’m just cheated by “Shiroyama”, but this albums feels… a bit softer? Perhaps it’s the added layers and layers of keyboards that gives me this feeling, but I would have no problem seeing “Shiroyama” in Eurovision, for instance.

Something though, that I simply loved and that took my breath away on the first listen of this album – “Diary of an Unknown Soldier”. I’ve already told you many many times about how much I love the orchestral arrangements before “Nightwitches”, and this sort of intro to “The Lost Battalion” just left me breathless. That kind of build up before a song… Sabaton, they know how to paint with music. Perhaps I’m the only person in this world feeling this kind of passion, but I just cannot get over how amazingly made that combination was.

My personal favorite song on the album, on the other hand, is “The Last Stand”. I love the cheerfulness, the epicness, the melody lines… I can’t even begin to describe how amazing this song is. Seriously get’s my adrenaline pumping.

I’m a bit torn. It’s a fine album, and as a fan I really love it. As a critic, I’m not THAT impressed with how similar it is at times, but on the other hand – I’ve been listening to this album non stop since it was released, so I guess that says something. All I can say is – I love Sabaton more than anything in this world, and that didn’t change in the slightest with this album.

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// Sara

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Sabaton Open Air – Day 2: Saturday 20/8 2016 pt.2

Posted in Concerts, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , on August 24, 2016 by Sara Hammerzmith

So. The wait begun. It was six very very excited and happy Monstermaniacs that eagerly awaited Lordi. It’s always so weird for me to see their backdrop, to see their crew and everything appear in Sweden. I’ve gotten so used to see them overseas that the mere thought of them being at home is just so strange. I can’t quite grasp it. And this was the first time Jonathan would ever see them, and it was great to get to enjoy it together with Martine as well… It was just.. perfect.

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And even more perfect did it become when “Estimated Time of Arrival” started.

I swear to God, the guards looked very suspiciously at us when they saw me and Michelle lip synching the entire thing, but you know… heard it so many times now. They got on the stage, and set off with “Nailed By the Hammer of Frankenstein”.

They quickly followed up with “Bringing Back The Balls to Rock” and then “Get Heavy”, which was a supernice surprise! Ever since I heard it again at Tuska I’ve been asking like literally every Lordi fan where the hell that song was, because it’s absolutely killer! “This is Heavy Metal” – With the heavy metal dude – and “The Riff” where the next songs on the list, I am not a hundred percent sure about the exact order as I didn’t write down all the songs, but.

And then. Somewhere around this part of the setlist, one of the major surprises for me came: “Scare Force One”. As you all know – this is my absolute favorite song on that album, like it’s not even fun how much I love that song, and to hear it again… It’s like, Lordi did everything right with this era for me. They brought back “Deadache” for the regular tour, and they played “My Heaven is Your Hell” on Sweden Rock and now “Scare Force” was back. It was so amazing. And most amazingly of all was acting out the song together with my original GroupieBFF Martine. Seriously.

Then of course, the highlight of the night “It Snows in Hell”, and according to Jonathan, the guards had looked so confused at us. That they weren’t sure what they were supposed to do. And for the first time forever, Mr Lordi even turned his own head upside down to us. Speaking of that. The band interacted so much with us. It was almost like the six of us where the only fans that existed for them. It was.. a nice feeling, but also odd. I’ve never seen them so on their game before as today. It was nice to see.

“Devil is a Loser” was next, followed by “Hard Rock Halleujah”… and then.. exit and Mr Lordi came back, asking us if we wanted more. And that’s when we did it. What we’d waited for to do. He asked us if we wanted more and we said…

“FACE DOWN, ASS UP, FACE DOWN ASS UP!”

Mr Lordi looked so confused at us, going “What…?” and we started yelling “HUG YOU HARDCORE, HUG YOU HARDCORE!!!”

And he just shook his head, “no no no” and we yelled back, “OH COME ON!!! COME ON!!! PLEASE!!!” and he just said “No, that is not going to happen” and we gave up. It was worth a shot, and we have also now finally managed to completely freeze Mr L on stage. Fantastic.

Lordiii

The encores were the usual ones – “Who’s Your Daddy” and “Would you Love a Monsterman?” And then they left the stage. Jonathan actually got Mr Lordis towel!

It was an amazing set. I can’t even begin to tell you how amazing this set felt. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Lordi so on top of their game as I did today. Thank you so much for a mindblowing show guys!

Right after this show, we wrapped Jonathan in the Swedish flag and sent him off to his meet & greet while we headed off towards Sabaton.

SABATON

The runtimes on the running schedule were a little confusing, as it never mentioned if it was any breaks between the bands, but clearly it was. We got ourselves some good spots in the back, and I must admit, because of the break, I started to question myself if perhaps we should have gone to the meet&greet as well, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Then, “In The Army Now” started, and I started to get excited, feel my adrenaline pump… intro started… “Hello FALUN! We are SABATON, (…) and this is GHOST DIVISION!” and off we go… but it wasn’t until after this, when Jocke says “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME CAROLUS REX” where I knew that no. I was exactly where I was supposed to be. “Carolus Rex” is honestly one of my jams. “Carolus” and “The Art of War”. Those are simply my jams.

“Ballad of Bannockburn” was third song, and as Jonathan hadn’t gotten back from the meet&greet yet, I decided to record it for him since it’s his favorite, but just then he came back, so all good! And then.. jumpfest deluxe: “Swedish Pagans”. Seriously, I had a little circle around me, because no one wanted to stand close to me. Probably because I’m jumping back and forth, side to side and my hair has quite a radius when headbanging.

Then, “The Diary of an Unknown Soldier” started and I just stopped breathing. Like I already told you, when these orchestral kind of arrangements starts… I just stop for some reason. This was of course followed up by “The Lost Battalion”, and god I just love that song. “Soldier of Three Armies” was next on the list, it’s like every band is just doing it for me tonight!

After this, the show stopped up for a moment to take a moment to appriciate and thank Thobbe for his time in the band. It was, after all, his final show. To do this, they had put together a little video of him. It was… emotional to say the least to see this. It was just.. it’s so weird to think about that this was the end.

Right after this – “Cliffs of Gallipoli” was brought back. And seriously… First and foremost, I simply love this song and this album, but it also became monumental because all of this festival, because of some things happening right before departing, I’ve had the line “broken promises they won’t be coming home”. All festival. And to then have Sabaton play the song live just became… very emotional.

“Counterstrike” was next on the list, followed my other jam “The Art of War” before something big happened. About guitarist. And a little blonde fellow was invited on stage.

Tommy Johansson. 

Better known as, Sabaton’s new guitarist.

160820sabatontommyfalun

It was amazing to get to see the new guitarist being introduced to the band, seeing him brought in, and get to see his very first show with the band. So, I can know say I’ve heard “Resist and Bite” with four guitars, and the rest of them with three guitars.

“To Hell and Back” was next song, followed by live premiere of “Sparta”. I’m not a big fan of this song on the album, but it DOES make a VERY good live show I must admit. Holy hell.

“En Livstid i Krig” was brought out before we had a bit of a breakdown on stage, Hannes accusing Tommy of being a bit cocky for “having been in the band for like 15 minutes” so they dared him to sing a song. And that’s when we knew. “Gott Mit Uns”.

And this was just soooo good. I’ve missed this song since “Noch Ein Bier”, so it was great to see it again. And Tommy is one hell of a guy!

After this, they left the stage and my personal favorite moment of the show started. You know what I’m talking about.

Lights out.

Helicopter siren. 

Redlights. 

Orchestral arrangements.

“Nightwitches”. 

Seriously. I can’t describe to you how amazing this is. It’s like I said many times before – these guys, they know how to paint with music. Like Pocahontas paints with the color of the wind, Sabaton paints with music.

Next song on the list was “Shiroyama”, seriously, I love this one. “Primo Victoria” and “Metal Crüe” with the fireworks from hell rounded up the show, and the boys thanked for themselves and left the stage.

While I do miss some songs – “The Last Stand”, “Winged Hussars” to mention a few, I enjoyed this show so much. And I love this band so much. Everytime I go to a Sabaton show I remember why I love these five men so much, and why I have devoted my life to them. Sabaton, again, I love you.

Sabaton

Right after this, Jonathan and I headed back to the car for some late night drinks talking about Sabaton and Lordi and whatnot and then going to bed.

What a day it was!

// Sara

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