The day us metal heads all wait for... what bands are going to be playing this year's Mayhem Festival.
On the main stage: SLAYER, KING DIAMOND, HELLYEAH, and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. The Victory Records stage: WHITECHAPEL, THY ART IS MURDER, JUNGLE ROT, SISTER SIN, SWORN IN Also appearing: Shattered Sun, Feed Her to the Sharks, Code Orange, Kissing Candice This year in comparison to last year's seems to have a lot of variety shifts. Going from having Avenged Sevenfold headlining to having Slayer playing is a major difference. Two different bands that appeal to two different crowds, generations even. Then you've got King Diamond billed below Slayer, some will debate it and I'll leave that open to interpretation. Second stages this year seem to lack in comparison to last years as well. Body Count, Cannibal Corpse, and Suicide Silence were just three bands playing on the smaller stages. This year you have White Chapel, Thy Art Is Murder, and Jungle Rot. Great bands but smaller names in comparison. Regardless it's still going to be a great festival as it always is, full of experiences and fun times. July 19th the festival lands in Hartford, CT and July 25th they will be in Boston, Mass.Until then I leave you with George Fisher meme.
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The Finnish band Nightwish had found their voice for the new album. Who had they chosen? It wasn't original vocalist Tarja Turunen or her replacement Anette Olzon. Floor Jansen was decided upon to be the new vocalist and the band couldn't have looked anywhere else. What I love about female vocalists' isn't only that they can deliver numerous octaves but that they can also slam you with the amount of energy equivalent to that of a male vocalist. Jansen does just that throughout the album giving it her all. This album is the first to feature six members of the band. However drummer Jukka Nevalainen has stepped down from the album for some well overdue rest. Replacing him was drummer of Wintersun Kai Hahto making this an interesting album to venture into. Nightwish standalone has a melodic vibe to them but what could Wintersun's drummer throw into the mix? The eleven song album was released March 27th and features the driving symphonic metal sound that you'd expect from Nightwish. The title Endless Forms More Beautiful is a title taken directly from a Charles Darwin quote on the Origin of Species which gives you some insight about what to think about while you're jamming this album. The album features songs such as "My Walden," "Weak Fantasy," and "Elan" which add a philosophical vibe. I love to hear tracks that go extremely deep such as these. But in addition to intelligent lyrics the album contains numerous solos, mesmerizing synth riffs, angelic choruses that will make you feel as though you were acending into the heavens, pounding drums to vibrate your inner self, and guitar riffs that appear both soft and heavy. The stand out track that I enjoyed most had to be "My Walden." It's a song about Henry David Thoreau's poem Walden and describes the perfect paradise. "Light shines bright beyond all the cities of gold On a road of bird song and chocolate shops Of buskers, jugglers, innkeeper's welcoming call The sound of mist, smell of moss-grown woods." Sounds as though it could be a perfect world. That song is followed by the title track "Endless Forms Most Beautiful." It starts out with an eerie vibe and once you hear Jansen's vocals carry the song up you're just like a fish with a fat worm in your mouth; hooked. Most bands save the best for last when you go to a show. Nightwish did just that for this album. The song "The Greatest Show on Earth," is a twenty-nine minute track that will put you in the mental state to become one with the music. You've got crescendos and pan flutes and the constant "duka-duka-duka" like an action movie score made for your radio. Songs that tell stories are always great and this song tells an emotional song, it's a mini opera devised to fin the album. It even features cameos from Richard Dawson for some very intellectual narrative. With FIVE parts to keep you listening the song is one of the most powerful finale's I've ever heard. Check out the full album below and don't forget that you can check out Nightwish on tour this Spring with Sabaton. NIGHTWISH -------- ENDLESS FORMS MORE BEAUTIFUL |
J.simpsonLead photographer over at Hardcore Shots Archives
June 2017
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