Jordan, great to see you here! I would totally see DCD if I was not out of the country when they are scheduled to come by my neck of the woods.

I will see what I can do to update this thread soon.

I was introduced to these guys recently, through a facebook request (they're doing an Australian tour)

[media=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoEY5NoaMuw

Keen as bro!

Enjoy it because Lisa Johansson left the band late last year. I'm still in mourning....

Arcane Rain Fell is enough for me. I might play their debut and the new songs on the 'compilation' release, but that's it. Haven't liked anything of theirs post 2007 (same with A LOT of bands actually).

Atoma - Skylight

Though not what I call "dark", I cannot remember the last time I have come across an album that is as fun to listen to as this. Great melodies, great musical dynamics (for the love of Christ, do not look at the wavforms!), and I am a SUCKER for synths. This album is crying out to be played on floorstanders!

Want to know what it sounds like? The album cover gives you a good idea. Pay attention to the gradual change in the album from the beginning to end. What a great flow.

This is good stuff! I cannot recommend this highly enough!

Edited May 28, 201214 yr by roadtonowhere08

Been a while...

 

 

(Echo) - Devoid of Illusion

 

Had this for a while but never got around to giving it a good listen.  Glad I did.  What do you get when you mash-up melodoom with the proverbial kitchen sink?  Oh, and have Greg Chandler from Esoteric at the controls?  Yeah, good luck classifying this, but it kicks ass.  Make sure the neighbors are not home

(queues it up)

And then out of left field...

 

 

 

Side project of AtomA's (ex Slumber) guitarist/vocalist Jari Lindholm.  If you mix AtomA with a bit of good melodeath, this is what you'd get.  Great debut.  Not the most original album, but it is great fun!

I was FINALLY able to get my hands on Poema Arcanus' newest album "Transient Chronicles"

 

 

This band is flat out awesome.  Chilean death/doom metal.  Definitely one of my top 5 favorite bands.

 

Here is a live sample, and the setlist is a bit weak in my opinion:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5738abgAPw

Edited June 12, 201313 yr by roadtonowhere08

I need to track some of this stuff down.

Nate, it is a pain to find physical copies of albums of this band, but lossless copies are around if you know where to look if you want to try before you buy.

 

This is the best bet at the moment:  http://www.discogs.com/sell/list?artist_id=1578969&ev=ab

 

Thus far, Iconoclast and Transient Chronicles are my favorite albums from them.  These guys are easily better than 90% of the Nordic metal scene, and nobody has heard of them.  It's sad really.

Timeline Symmetry and Telluric Manifesto are available on Spotify.

Mar de Grises are breaking up, and their very last show is on the 7th of this month... in Chile... with Poema Arcanus... Shit...

 

I would KILL to be at that show.

I've been listening to a lot of Persefone, Manes, Altar of Plagues, Manes, Jakob, TesseracT, and Haken, lately.

 

Edit:  And Yidhra.

Anybody that knows me knows I have an unabashed love of Floor Jansen's voice.  Her band, ReVamp, is pretty much like her last band, After Forever in terms of style (maybe a bit less goth metal?).  Anyway, both bands suffer from a bit too much nu-metal riffing and simple song structure, but who gives a crap?  Floor Jansen sings the shit out of everything.  Good God, this woman can sing.

 

Recently released album, Wild Card.  Pretty obvious she had fun with this one (and threw in the vocal equivalent of the kitchen sink while she was at it!)  I think it's pretty good musically, but all flaws (including the God awful cover) are forgiven because, well, you know.

 

Edited September 22, 201312 yr by roadtonowhere08

Damn, I did not know Floor did growl vocals as well on this album!  I thought it was one of the band members.  She's insane:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ8qowdmNJ4

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZkkkljCplQ

 

She kills it, like always.  Pretty much the only singer as versatile as Rowan London in my style of music... and that is a TALL order!

Edited October 7, 201312 yr by roadtonowhere08

Yep, still listening to Wild Card from ReVamp.  This album simply puts pretty much every single other female fronted metal album to shame... including most of After Forever.  I am dead serious; she is that good.

 

Paging Dusty, paging Dusty... I am pretty sure this is right up your ally.  Give it a shot!

 

As long as I am talking about Dusty... thanks a million for the heads up on the Bruce Soord & Jonas Renkse album "Wisdom of Crowds".  I have been playing that a lot.  Amazing album.

Edited November 5, 201312 yr by roadtonowhere08

Yep, still listening to Wild Card from ReVamp.  This album simply puts pretty much every single other female fronted metal album to shame... including most of After Forever.  I am dead serious; she is that good.

 

 

Ok, you've got my attention.  I'll have to track this down.

+1  Call and raise.  Will search and sample before further comment.  Intrigued.

I don't think you'll have trouble finding it.  I know it sounds hyperbolic, but at no point during this album do I ever think "So and so could do this better..."  It continues to amaze.

So, at the (really awesome) Arkona concert two nights ago, we picked up a couple of random Russian folk metal CDs that they were selling at their merch table.  This song is from one of them.  Best thing I've ever just happened to stumble upon in a long time.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yicTUvDVTHA&feature=youtu.be

Я хочу больше как это.

Here ya go:  http://grai.bandcamp.com/album/about-native-land

Нет, я уже нашел это.  Я хочу больше как это.

 

No, really, that whole le mystere des voix bulgares style vocals on a bed of metal just works for me.  Even though I think I am legally obliged by law to appreciate anything Russian.  (It's in my blood and my upbringing.)

 

Going to revisit Arkona more as well.  So why were they selling it?  Side project?  Friends?  Nationalism/solidarity?  Whut?

I'm not sure why (combo of friends/nationalism I'd guess), but they had an entire table full of Russian CDs that weren't their own - pretty cool move, given the extra cost and pain in the ass of taking it all on a world tour.

 

Arkona's best (or maybe just most accessible) albums are "Slovo" and "Goi, Rode, Goi", in my opinion.  They'll have a new one coming out in early 2014.

 

Take fifteen minutes and listen to this song.  It's got guest appearances from a long list of folk/pagan metal vocalists from other bands.  It's actually how I discovered Heidevolk.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-DE6-5rKLY

Just got word from a local promoter that Iced Earth are playing in Winnipeg May 12, with support from Sabaton and ReVamp.

 

I can't find details about the tour online, but I expect it will be announced soon.  Iced Earth are not my favourite, but Sabaton are amazing, and I keep hearing things (in this thread and elsewhere) about ReVamp and Floor Jansen.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epeQwq-aYV0

 

EDIT: Here's the entire tour.

 

ICED EARTH with SABATON & REVAMP in support:
APRIL:
04: Grand Rapids, MI - The Intersection
05: Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
06: Chicago, IL - House Of Blues
07: Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09: Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE
10: Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
11: Cleveland, OH - Agora Theatre
12: Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall
14: Toronto, ONT - Phoenix Concert Theatre
15: Quebec City, QC - Imperial Theater
16: Montreal, QC - Corona Theatre
17: Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero
18: New York, NY - Best Buy Theater
21: West Springfield, VA - Empire
23: Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade
24: Orlando, FL - House Of Blues Orlando
25: Fort Lauderdale, FL - Revolution
26: Saint Petersburg, FL - State Theatre
28: Houston, TX - Scout Bar
29: Dallas, TX - Trees
MAY:
01: Tempe, AZ - Club Red
02: West Hollywood, CA - House Of Blues Sunset
03: San Francisco, CA - Slim's
05: Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
06: Seattle, WA - El Corazon
07: Vancouver, BC - The Venue
09: Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room
10: Calgary, AB - Republik
11: Regina, SK - Riddell Centre
12: Winnipeg, MB - Park Theatre
14: Denver, CO - The Summit Music Hall
15: Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
16: Oklahoma City, OK - Diamond Ballroom

Edited November 12, 201312 yr by acidbasement

I kinda really like Iced Earth.  They're like Judas Priest wannabes, and that's a good thing.