Some Reviews

Today Xandria's new album is released in Spain, Sweden, and Finland.  The rest of Europe follows tomorrow and North America gets it's hands on it March 6.  But, thanks to my review gig over at Black Wind Metal, I got a review copy!  And let me tell you, this is one awesome fucking album.  I was so impressed, and I think fans of the symphonic power metal genre are really going to be impressed, too.  My review for Neverworld's End can be read here.

Also for Black Wind Metal, I reviewed the new Diabulus in Musica album, The Wanderer.  I was only so-so on that.  That review is here.

Finally for BWM, I reviewed Meden Agan, who hail from Greece.  This is a band I encourage you all to pay some attention to, because they are absolutely brilliant.  Their newest album, Erevos Aenaon, is so impressive, and I think Iliana, their operatic vocalist, is going to become a powerhouse on the scene.  That review is here.

More reviews coming up!

Xandria's New Sample

Here is a three-minute clip of Xandria's upcoming song, "Valentine", from their upcoming album Neverworld's End, that will be released in Europe Feb 27.

WOW!  This is so different from the Xandria I was used to!  Manuella kicks some serious ass and the composition reveals the new character of this band!

Check it!

Xandria: New Live Video Featuing Manuela Kraller

If there are Xandria fans out there dying to hear their new vocalist, Manuela Kraller, singing with the band, a video of their performance together January 7th 2011 with the Bielefeld Philharmonic Orchestra is now available online at Xandria's official YouTube channel.

Here she is singing Ravenheart.



I think it sounds really promising and look forward to hearing more!

Various News-y Items

I subscribe to Blabbermouth's RSS feed, and in the last couple of days there have been some great items of note. Here are some that caught my eye.

1. Tyr. If you're a fan of these Faroese folk metallers, you'll be happy to hear that they'll have a new album coming out in late spring or early summer. I really like Tyr, so I'm looking forward to hearing their new stuff.

2. Imperia, fronted by Helena Iren Michaelson, is getting set to release their new album, Secret Passion, on March 25. They currently one of the songs, "Fragile", streaming online here. I listened to it and really enjoyed it; Helena sounds awesome and she really shows off her lower and upper range equally well in it.

3. Leaves' Eyes. The track listing of their upcoming album, Meredead, includes a Gary Moore, namely of the song "To France." LE is currently filming a video for their version of it at a castle in Sweden. April 22 is the date for you lucky Europeans to keep in mind for the release of this album!

4. Xandria-ish-related news. Curious about what the two former Xandria singers are up to? Well, Kerstin Bischof, who replaced Lisa Middlehauve, is releasing a solo album. What is interesting about this is that she is collaborating with Lisa on the album's artwork, where Lisa's art and photography will be featured. Additionally, according to the Blabbermouth article, Lisa will also be performing live with Kerstin. Sonic Cathedral has an exlusive interview, here, about the album and how the two ex-Xandria front women became friends.

Nightwish released an Imaginarium-related update, but it's about the movie, not the CD, so...whatever.

Manuela Kraller: Xandria's New Singer

Finally, German Gothic metal band Xandria has announced its new singer! I have been waiting for this for a long time, since hearing that Kerstin Bischof left the band in February.

The new singer is Manuela Kraller, a 29 year old German soprano, who, excitingly enough, used to sing for Haggard! This is excellent news, and as I am a fan of Haggard, I am really looking forward to hearing Manuela singing with Xandria becuase I'm pretty sure she is going to be awesome.

More details here.

Here is the teaser video released by the band:



EDIT: Thanks to Almagest for finding me this clip of Manuela singing a cover of Tarja's "Sing for Me."

30 Day Music Challenge, Day 30: My Favourite Song at this Time Last Year

Finally - the end!

I'm pretty sure the songs that were my favourites last year are still my favourites now, if my Last.fm stats are anything to go by. Still at the top of my mental list & my Last.fm Top Tracks list are Dawn of Destiny's "Rain," "Days of Crying," and "Lost"; Sonata Arctica's "Sing in Silence"; and then songs by bands that I've discovered in the last year, like Almora and Sabaton. And we all know of my love for Nightwish, so I won't bother posting anything from them here this time!

Let's go with a band I haven't listened to in ages, maybe even a year: Xandria! Xandria is a German Gothic-ish metal band, also currently without a permanent lead singer. They are a really underrated band, though, and I loved Lisa Middelhauve (she is the original singer who left and was replaced, then that replacement left, and now Lisa is filling in until a new permanent singer is found).This is "Now and Forever," a very cool tune I think I really need to become reacquainted with...



And that ends this meme! Now, on to bigger & better things!