Imaginaerum film premiere November 10, 2012

Finally, we have some new info about the long awaited Nightwish's film Imaginaerum. According to nightwish.com, the world premiere  will be at Hartwall Arena, Helsinki, Finland, on November 10, 2012. Screening of the film will be preceded by a show by Nightwish themselves. Finnish theatrical release is set to be on November 23, 2012. As of now, we have to wait for further announcement if the film will have theatrical release in other countries than Finland.

Also you can already pre-order  the official soundtrack of the film 'Imaginaerum by Nightwish - The Score'.

Check solarfilms.com for more Imaginaerum film screen shots.  

Here are some soundtrack samples:  

Come Cover Me: Evenoire does Within Temptation's "Somewhere"

Evenoire is one of the many fantastic Italian bands I've been talking about recently here, and today they posted a YT video of a live version of their cover of Within Temptation's "Somewhere."  It's a lovely duet (not sure who the other singer is, but Lisy, Evenoire's vocalist, is the first singer you hear) accompanied only by the acoustic guitar.

Here is the original, by WT.

And here is Evenoire's version.  Enjoy!

Agalloch, with Eight Bells and Taurus, July 13, 2012

Yes, I went to see Agalloch a month ago.  Why have I not written about this sooner?  Well, it's been a trying summer for me and I'm behind with everything.  Obviously, it would be ideal for me to have written this closer to the time it happened rather than a month later, with things fresh in my mind, but alas, sometimes that doesn't always happen.

I went to this gig, at the Rickshaw, which is located in BC's most infamous neighbourhood, the DTES, quite spontaneously.  I didn't find out they were even playing until the Monday evening before, and I knew I had plans for early Saturday morning.  I was not keen on getting home by transit at 2am and then having to get up for another event only a matter of hours later.  But I was really wanting to see Agalloch, since I know they don't tour much.  I'm not even a huge Agalloch fan, but I have a friend who is and I know she adores them, and has even followed them around on mini tours in the EU.  This was a show that might be a one and only occurrence for me, and she encouraged me to go.  So, as my roommate packed up to go for a date, I prepared myself to go to the gig, alone, in the DTES.  It was a bit of a ride on the wild side, considering the transit trip home and the event next day.  But what the hell?  I had nothing better to do, the cover was $20, and I thought it would be a good experience.

Haley Weiner of Eight Bells 

And it was...an experience.  I walked through the DTES alone, something that isn't generally recommended, and got to the gig at 8:45.  I wasn't familiar with either opening act, the first being a band called Eight Bells, and the second being called Taurus.  Both were bands from from Portland, Oregon, where Agalloch is from.

In fact, these two bands turned out to be one of the most interesting parts of the evening.  Both are female fronted; in fact, Taurus is a female duo.  While neither plays my cup of tea musically, I was impressed with them both live.  Granted I came to the gig late and missed most of Eight Bells' set, but as soon as I sat myself down and started listening, I regretted not coming earlier.

But Taurus stole the evening for me.  They play a type of metal I am not into at all, sludgy, drony stuff that didn't seem to me to have much rhyme or reason, and very little in terms of vocals.  Basically, we have a guitarist and a drummer, and some electronic thingy making the vocals all echoey.  But the thing about it was that their set, which consisted of the two tracks from their EP Life (which I wound up buying eventually), included not only a visual component comprised of a silent video show on a screen to the side of the stage, but the music was bookended with a voice over narration featuring a guy named John Cage, apparently a composer of some distinction I'd never heard of before.  Well, I know who he is now.  The speaking parts in Taurus's set can be heard in this YouTube video, and when combined with the music of Taurus, I had quite the transforming experience.  The narrative by Cage provided a lot of context for me, and it really made the music make sense to me, whereas, had it been just on its own, I think I would  have been lost.  But I found the set quite mesmerizing.  I was really impressed by the sophistication and power of this band, and I appreciate that I was introduced to another metal subgenre in such an enjoyable way.

Agalloch

Agalloch came on stage at about 10:20.  This is where things get a bit weird.  The Rickshaw, I found out later on FB, was trying out there new fog machine that night (along with some new lighting, which was cool), but also, Agalloch is apparently into incense - big time.  When they were set up, a guy (who turned out to be lead singer & guitarist John Haughm) came onto stage with a bunch of stuff I couldn't recongnize, but I thought it at first to be candles.  I thought maybe he was setting up an altar or something.  But no, it was, it turned out, two very large pyres of incense.  Now, for reasons I don't know, the Rickshaw had curtained off about 2/3 of the seating in the theatre and there was only a narrow curtained hallway to enter and exit the gig space from.  The gig was very well-attended with a good 200+ people there, but we were all crammed into a very small space.  When I was there last for the Arkona/Korpiklaani gig in December, all of the seating was available and there were two entrances/exits.  It was as hot night, but if they were hoping to save on A/C I don't know how effective just curtaining off extra seating was.  But what I can say is that the air quality in the room was absolutely awful.  The new fog machine combined with the incense, plus all the humanity, plus the stench of booze and pot...the air was like a heavy stew you could slurp up and chew.  It was terrible.  And it really affected my enjoyment of the gig.

Agalloch's music was great to listen to live.  I'd heard some of their studio work, but their live performance was much more engaging and emotional.  Lead guitarist Don Anderson was very animated, and the bass player, Jason Walton, was also interesting to watch.

As I said the gig was well-attended, and it seemed to me to have an older, more mature crowd than I'm used to seeing at these things.  Previous gigs I've attended have included a lot of 19 year olds in odd make-up and dressed in scene kid type clothing.  This crowd was there for Agalloch and they obviously knew the band well and appreciated the show.  There was one woman there dressed in a skimpy dress, 5" stilettos, and a mink stole (of all things!) and one over the top metal chick who texted on her cell all night in a chair not far from mine, but other than that, the people watching wasn't that interesting.

I couldn't stay until the bitter end because I had to make sure I caught a certain bus home.  It turned out to be a very interesting transit ride home, but that is a story for another time.

I am very glad I went to the gig.  I had a good time even though I was by myself.  I had the delightful surprise of discovering two new female fronted bands, and I enjoyed Agalloch a lot.

Next up at the Rickshaw is Korpiklaani - again! this will be their 2nd headlining show in Vancouver in less than a year - WTF? - supported by Tyr.  I am going to go and see Tyr (Korpiklaani doesn't do much for me but I really like Tyr) on Sept. 9, and then on Sept. 21 Swallow the Sun is supporting Kreator.  I just hope the Rickshaw sorts out its air quality issues.  That was very unpleasant, but then again, I don't think Korpiklaani or Tyr or these other bands are known for their incense use.

The full Flickr set - such as it is; I don't have a fancy camera that takes good pics in these dim environments - is here.

Move Over Finland

It's been approximately one year or so since I started reviewing for two metal web zines, Sonic Cathedral and Black Wind Metal.  The promo materials are ridiculous.  I haven't had to buy or download as much as I used to, which is great.  One of the big surprises for  me in the past year is the shear amount of metal coming out of that country mainly known for Lacuna Coil, Italy.  Italy is, I think, the new powerhouse of metal.  Here is a list of bands I've discovered in the past year that  have come from there.

1. Crysalys

2. Dama

3. Setanera

4. Evenoire

5. Ancient Bards

6. SinHeresY

7. Pursuing the End

8. Sound Storm

9. Armonight (not exactly total metal, but still good hard rock)

10. Regardless of Me

11. Synful Ira

12. MasterCastle

13. Silent Opera (there is a French band with the same name)

14. Maledia

That's 14 freaking bands I alone have come across - and there will be more, I guarantee you!  This is by no means a complete list of Italian bands.  I'm only trying to demonstrate how many I have discovered myself in one year alone.

If you have any recommendations for me, leave them in the comments!

Tarja's New 2DVD & 2CD "Act 1"

So we finally have new Tarja's live rock DVD and CD, which was recorded back in March 2012, Argentina. The release date is August 24th.

Since it's Tarja we are talking about, we are going to get 2 CD, 2 DVD and Blu-ray and every single release has it's own cover.

2CD track list & cover:

CD1

01. Anteroom Of Death
02. My Little Phoenix
03. Dark Star
04. Naiad
05. Falling Awake
06. I Walk Alone
07. Little Lies
08. Into The Sun
09. Nemo
10. Never Enough
11. Still Of The Night
12. In For A Kill

CD2

01. Boy And The Ghost
02. Lost Northern Star
03. Ciaran‘s Well
04. Tired Of Being Alone
05. Where Were You Last Night / Heaven Is A Place On Earth / Livin’ On A Prayer
06. Underneath
07. Oasis / The Archive Of Lost Dreams
08. Crimson Deep
09. The Phantom Of The Opera
10. Die Alive
11. Until My Last Breath
12. Over The Hills And Far Away

Blu-ray cover

2DVD & Blu-ray track list:

DVD1

01. If You Believe

02. Anteroom Of Death

03. My Little Phoenix

04. Dark Star

05. Naiad

06. Falling Awake

07. I Walk Alone

08. Orpheus Hallucination / Orpheus In The Underworld

09. Little Lies (band jam)

10. Little Lies

11. Into The Sun

12. Nemo

13. Acoustic Set:

• Rivers Of Lust

• 

  DVD cover
  
  

  Minor Heaven
• Montañas De Silencio
• Sing For Me
• I Feel Immortal

14. Never Enough

15. In For A Kill

16. Toccata And Fugue D-minor (BWV 565) / The Phantom Of The Opera

17. Die Alive

18. Until My Last Breath

19. Over The Hills And Far Away

DVD 2

01. Boy And The Ghost

02. Lost Northern Star

03. Ciaran‘s Well

04. Tired Of Being Alone

05. Where Were You Last Night / Heaven Is A Place On Earth / Livin’ On A Prayer

06. Underneath

07. The Reign

08. Oasis / The Archive Of Lost Dreams

09. Still Of The Night

10. Crimson Deep

+ Bonus: Photogallery, video clip, EPK

The Blu-ray track list remains the same.

Also Tarja is about to release her new single "In to the Sun", July 13th. This is will be only digital release, though.

If you have any questions regarding "Act 1" you can post your question here. Tarja will choose the most interesting ones and will blog her answer later on.

Here is "Act 1" trailer: 

Review Roundup

Having been quite unwell lately, I haven't been producing as many reviews as I used to, and also, as you can see, this blog has been a tad bit neglected by me, too.  But I do have some reviews to share that I haven't yet posted here, so let's get to those.

1.  Perhaps the most highly anticipated album of the year for me this year was the new Dawn of Destiny release, Praying to the World.  I am happy to say that it is fantastic!  I even like their new vocalist, Jeanette! I reviewed it for Sonic Cathedral here.

2. SinHeresY's EP, The Spiders and the Butterfly.  Great metal from Italy, where a lot of fantastic metal is coming from these days.  Italy seems to me to be the newest metal powerhouse, which is great if you think Lacuna Coil is sliding down the tubes.  SinHeresY is a dual male & female fronted band and their EP is very promising.  I find myself going back to it again and again.  Again, I reviewed it for Sonic Cathedral, here.

3. If you haven't heard Akoma, Denmark's awesome symphonic metal band with a killer vocalist, you should definitely check them out!  I've been a fan for a while now, and they released a new EP this spring called The Other Side.  Check my review of that on Sonic Cathadral here.

4. I co-wrote a review of LA-based symphonic metal band Ashentide's EP here on Sonic Cathedral.  A very promising start from a young band with a lot of talent!  The EP is available for a free download from the band's site.

The next reviews are all from Black Wind Metal.

1. As Winter Falls' EP, available for free download from the band's site, was a nice surprise.  Hailing from Slovenia, this is as talented quartet, and my review of the EP, Road to Nowhere, is here.

2. Maltese metalers Rising Sunset were kind enough to send me a copy of their new CD, Equinox.  It was a little bit not my cup of tea lyrics-wise, and this caused some conversation in the comments.  Musically, it wasn't bad, though.  That review is here.

3. Switzerland's 69 Chambers released Torque this spring and I reviewed it here.  Again, not exactly my cup of tea.

4. Opera Diabolicus - awesomesauce!  I loved this CD, entitled +1614.  I couldn't say enough good things about it.  You can read my gushing about that one here.

5. Pythia's The Serpent's Curse was a great surprise for me since I found their previous CD milquetoast.  I really enjoyed this new CD, though, and that review is here.

6. From Nancy, France, Fenrir is a female fronted folk metal band, and I reviewed Echoes of the Wolf here.

7. I even did a review of a male fronted power metal band from Cyrpus, Winter's Verge.  Pretty good stuff, too.  That one is here.

8. Huntress is a band making a lot of waves on the scene these days and one that is gaining a lot of popularity through it's seemingly endless touring.  I almost got to see them at Paganfest in Seattle, but was sick so I couldn't attend the gig.  But I was particularly interested in seeing them.  Their CD is fun, though not exactly my cup of tea vocally or stylistically.  But I loved their song "Eight of Swords".  That review is here.

That's it for now!  Enjoy!

New Find: Downcast Art

Thanks to my colleagues at Sonic Cathedral, I came upon this very special, talented band from Croatia recently, and I've been constantly playing their CD, Forbidden Memories for days and days now.  I have a review of the CD upcoming on Black Wind Metal.

Listen, this is awesome, phenomenal, outstanding music.  Jelena's vocals are haunting, and quite frankly, some of the most unique you'll come across in the genre.  The music is complex, mature, and extremely engaging.  All of the elements of older symphonic power metal are there - "older" meaning that it harkens back to a time when there were way less genre crossovers as there are now.

Their web site has several songs from the CD available for streaming, and if you go here and scroll to the bottom of the page, you can see the entire CD booklet, which has the lyrics.

I really encourage fans of symphonic power metal and female fronted metal to check out this band!  Spread the word so they can get a freakin' record deal!

Here is their Facebook page.

This song is the title track from the album, one of my favourites.  Enjoy!

Delain's New Video

As a follow-up to this post, the new Delain album, We Are the Others, will be released - finally! - at the beginning of June.  And here is the first single and video from that album, "Get the Devil Out of Me".  Enjoy!

Epica's "Storm The Sorrow" video

"Storm The Sorrow" is new song from Epica's album "Requiem For The Indifferent" which was released in March. 

Imaginaerum teaser trailer

First trailer of Imaginaerum was released today. Also we got new site www.imaginaerum.com. This site is only about the film and you can find there gallery, news and trailers.

So enjoy!

Sonata Arctica's New Single

Here it is, and it's called "I Have a Right."

My first impressions are that A) it's a tad poppy with the keyboards and B) it's very repetitive.  Still, it's catchy enough, as SA usually is, and I think this might grow on me.  I'm definitely looking forward to the new CD, out in North America May 22.

Disappointment

Today Nightwish announced their North American tour dates.  Here is the schedule.  As you can see Kamelot is opening for them.

As you can also see, there are only two Canadian dates, both back east, one in Montreal Sept. 19 and one in Toronto Sept. 20.  As a western Canadian already alienated from the hub of the metal music scene (there is a west coast metal scene, but we still don't get as many big acts as the east does), I am supremely pissy about the lack of western Canadian Nightwish gigs.  Would it have killed them to include at least ONE fucking western Canadian city?  Calgary? Vancouver?  Even Winnipeg!  But no, once again, western Canada gets the shaft (we have also been given the shaft with Sabaton's current North American tour, amongst others).

I acknowledge that I am close enough to Seattle to go there for a gig, however on top of the $35 (or possibly more) ticket, I have to pay $76 for a train trip, plus extras that come with going to another city/country.  Usually, I have a friend to stay with in Seattle, but this date will not work with her schedule, so that might be out.  Plus it's a pain in the ass!

Fuck you King Foo!!!!  I will go and see Epica instead November 10 - RIGHT HERE IN VANCOUVER!

Sonata Arctica releases the "Stones Grow Her Name" album teaser

Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica released a new album teaser video on YouTube today. It is just a preview of some of the tracks that will be on the new album. Listening to some of these clips, it really is difficult to judge and critique anything right now since I only heard two and a half minutes of the actual material. It sounds like a mix of older and newer Sonata Arctica. Only time will tell how this album plays out. Like I said before, some of the song titles sound a bit odd, but the music is what really counts anyways.

So here is the video:

Sabaton Breaks Up

Oh, man, sad news from the Sabaton front, though I was kind of expecting this since there has been a rumour circulating about this for over a week now.  But it's official: Sabaton is breaking up.  You can read the band's statement here.

Only two of the original six members, who had been together for 12 years, will remain with Sabaton, carrying the banner: vocalist Joakim Brodén and bassist Pär Sundström.  The other four are all leaving.

Lots of big shoes to fill here!  It's impressive that this band had the same line-up for as long as it did, too.  I wish Joakim & Par all the best in replacing Rikard, Daniel Mullback, Daniel Mÿhr, and Oskar.

The next album, Carolus Rex, is due out in May.

Some Stats

Does this surprise anyone?

This came from one of my friends who found it on Metal Archives.

Too True!

I found this via one of my colleagues at Black Wind Metal.

This NEEDS to be on a t-shirt!

Review Update

Busy times for us all here, but I have been keeping up my reviewing gigs with both Black Wind Metal and Sonic Cathedral.  Here is as summary.

For Black Wind Metal:

Epica's Requiem for the Indifferent
Amberian Dawn's Circus Black
Shear's Breaking the Stillness
Evenoire's Vitriol (the best of the bunch; it's really excellent & I highly recommend it!)
Effloresce's Coma Ghosts
Silent Opera's Immortal Beauty (the worst of the bunch; at 1/5, it's my lowest rating ever)

For Sonic Cathedral:

Lyriel's Leverage (awesomesauce!)

RIP Randy Rhoads, 30 years later

Thirty years ago, legendary Quiet Riot and Ozzy guitarist Randy Rhoads died while in a plane crash in Leesburg, Florida. His death really shook the rock and metal communities and was tragically taken too soon as a 25-year old young man. Today, people young and old still remember what he brought to the world of heavy metal. His style was something incredible and only Randy could pull off such a feat. His most memorable moment was with Ozzy Osbourne when they released their opus Blizzard of Ozz in 1980. That album featured metal classics such as "I Don't Know", "Crazy Train", "Suicide Solution", and of course "Mr. Crowley". His guitar style was unlike anything that was heard at that time and many modern metal guitarists consider him a major influence in their music. With his classically trained and shred guitar combination, it was no wonder that so many marveled at his abilities. To this day he is still missed as he was a rare talent that died way too soon. RIP Randy. Your music still lives on!

Come Cover Me: Lyriel's "The Star of the County Down"

Last week German folk metal band, a band I have long been a big fan of, released their fourth album.  I've had a listen and I think it's excellent and shows a really different side of the band and of Jessica's voice.  One of the bonus tracks is a cover of the Irish folk song "Star of the County Down."  I love that song!

My favourite version has been done my my favouritest musician ever, Loreena McKennitt, and it appears on her The Wind That Shakes the Barley CD.  Here it is:

Loreena can do no wrong in my world!

And here is Lyriel's metal version.  It's fantastic.  Take a listen:

I love how fast it is, I love how edgy is is, I love how you can headbang to it.  Great job, Lyriel!

Borrowed Melodies: Nightwish's "The Heart Asks Pleasure First"

Finally this is on the verge of official release!  Which means they actually got permission to use the song from originator Michael Nyman.  If you recall, there was some controversy after NW used this song as their outro for their final concert of the DPP tour - but as the saying goes, any press is good press, even bad press.  The iffy debut of "The Heart Asks Pleasure First" only created an intense longing for NW fans to have the song released.  And on March 2 it will be, as a B-side to the single release of "The Crow, the Owl, and the Dove", the second single from Imaginaerum.

But of course there's been an - ahem - early unofficial release, and here it is:

I absolutely love it.  I love how it builds and builds on itself, I love the lyrics, I love the power and emotion. There are no weaknesses in this song at all.  It was worth the wait.

And I am a big fan of the film The Piano and it's soundtrack. Here is the original version: