Tag Archives: Power Metal

Blaze Bayley Live In Baltimore! [Photo Gallery]

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Blaze Bayley

 

Last night I had my second consecutive fantastic Sunday night in Baltimore. I covered Blaze Bayley, a singer who was the former front man of the iconic metal legends Iron Maiden, one of the greatest metal bands the universe has ever seen. This is a tour many may not have paid the attention it well and truly deserves! Iron Maiden is my favorite heavy metal band, bar none. Well, I am one of those people who think his album ‘The X Factor’ with Iron Maiden is fantastic, albeit different from the Dickinson era Maiden. This is an album that had kept me company during my troubled and volatile years while riding down remote mountainous roads in India on my motorcycle. And not once during those days did I imagine Blaze Bayley shoving the microphone right in my face to sing “The Man on The Edge” with him, the way he did last night. Personally, the whole show was sort of a trip down memory lane. Fish Head Cantina, located in Baltimore, is the venue where I photographed my very first heavy metal show, the band on that occasion being the mighty influential NWOBHM band Diamond Head. And to cover another legend in Blaze Bayley was the fitting way to go back to where it all began as a concert photographer. Continue reading →

BLIND GUARDIAN Release “Twilight Of The Gods” Live Track Video!

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BLIND GUARDIAN recently announced that they are going to release a live album entitled, ‘Live Beyond The Spheres‘ after just two years of releasing their last studio album, ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’ in 2015. The live album will actually be a compilation of their best tracks into one show taken from 40 different concerts recorded during their European Tour in 2015, which surprisingly also happens to be the first BLIND GUARDIAN live album in almost 15 years. It promises to be an exhilarating indulgence in what could possibly turn out to be one of the best power metal live albums. The live album will contain 22 tracks, encompassing timeless hits like ‘The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)‘, ‘Valhalla‘ and ‘Mirror Mirror‘, to rather rarely performed songs like ‘And There Was Silence’. The record will be purchasable as a 3CD-digipak as well as a 4LP-box-set.

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Review: Iced Earth Return With ‘Incorruptible’

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Iced Earth first graced the Tampa, FL hard rock/metal scene in 1985 under the name Purgatory, changing their name to Iced Earth in 1988.  Formed by original singer Jon Schaffer, the band has experimented with several lineup changes throughout the years and released eleven studio albums, four EP’s, three compilations, three boxed sets, three live albums, and one cover album.  Continue reading →

BLIND GUARDIAN Release Live Music Video For ‘Prophecies’

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BLIND GUARDIAN recently announced that they are going to release a live album entitled, ‘Live Beyond The Spheres‘ after just two years of releasing their last studio album, ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’ in 2015. The live album will actually be a compilation of their best tracks into one show taken from 40 different concerts recorded during their European Tour in 2015, which surprisingly also happens to be the first BLIND GUARDIAN live album in almost 15 years. It promises to be an exhilarating indulgence in what could possibly turn out to be one of the best power metal live albums. The live album will contain 22 tracks, encompassing timeless hits like ‘The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)‘, ‘Valhalla‘ and ‘Mirror Mirror‘, to rather rarely performed songs like ‘And There Was Silence’. The record will be purchasable as a 3CD-digipak as well as a 4LP-box-set. Continue reading →

Review: Unleash The Archers – ‘APEX’ [Offical Videos]

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Photo By: Shimon Photo

Unleash The Archers are a Canadian heavy metal group with a classic feel from Victoria, B.C.  Starting in 2007 by vocalist Brittney Slayes and drummer Scott Buchanan with guitarist Brayden Dyczkowski, and soon to be joined by Mike Selman (Guitar), Zahk Hedstrom (Bass) to round out the group. They released two albums with this lineup ‘Behold the Devastation’ (2009) & ‘Demons of the Astrowaste’ (2011), both of which were released independently. ‘Demons’ marked the departure of Mike Selman and introduced Grant Truesdell into the fold, who had previously recorded two solos for ‘Demons’ prior to joining the band. In 2012, they released a three song EP, solely on 7” vinyl, titled ‘Defy The Skies’. This release also marked the departure of original bassist Zahk Hedstrom. In 2015, Unleash The Archers was signed to Napalm Records and released ‘Time Stands Still’.  This was the first album without guitarist/songwriter Brayden Dyczkowski, who left in 2013, and is said to have altered the band’s sound into a more traditional heavy metal direction with the addition of new guitarist Andrew Kingsley. In 2016 they began work on their 2nd effort under Napalm Records with their current lineup of Brittney, Scott, Grant, Andrew and introducing new bassist Nikko Whitworth. Their new album is called ‘Apex’ and will be released on June 2nd via Napalm. Continue reading →

BLIND GUARDIAN Announce The Release Of Live Record [Official Live Video]

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German power metal pioneers BLIND GUARDIAN have been the poster band and has been considered a seminal bands in their own heavy metal sub genre for the past 30 years. BLIND GUARDIAN recently announced that they are going to release a live album entitled, ‘Live Beyond The Spheres‘ after just two years of releasing their last studio album, ‘Beyond The Red Mirror’ in 2015. The live album will actually be a compilation of their best tracks into one show taken from 40 different concerts recorded during their European Tour in 2015, which surprisingly also happens to be the first BLIND GUARDIAN live album in almost 15 years. It promises to be an exhilarating indulgence in what could possibly turn out to be one of the best power metal live albums. The live album will contain 22 tracks, encompassing timeless hits like ‘The Bard’s Song (In The Forest)‘, ‘Valhalla‘ and ‘Mirror Mirror‘, to rather rarely performed songs like ‘And Then There Was Silence’. The record will be purchasable as a 3CD-digipak as well as a 4LP-box-set. Continue reading →

RAGE Release New Music Video From Forthcoming Album [Official Music Video]

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German heavy weights RAGE have come a long way from their inception. They ushered in the early to mid-1980s, along with bands such as Helloween, Running Wild, Blind Guardian and Grave Digger. That’s a long long time and it really reflects on their discography, which is a massive 23 album one taking in the new to be released album as well. For a band that has been doing music for more than 30 years, it is a commendable effort to put out a humongous discography of 23 odd records, that is just mental. Surviving some notable line up changes RAGE has been a constant dominance in not only the German Heavy/Power Metal scene but also all around the globe, playing a blend of heavy and power metal with a lot of classical influence RAGE has announced their forthcoming album to be released this summer. Can this summer get any more exciting!?

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Chicago Open Air Spotlight: DRAGONFORCE [New Song Streams]

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*Every Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

This week’s artist is DragonForce.

On Saturday, July 15th, these power/speed metal legends will be taking the Chicago Open Air stage for their first Danny Wimmer Presents festival. Like many from the States, I became familiar with DragonForce sitting at home as a kid playing their songs on Guitar Hero like “Through the Fire and the Flames” and “Fury of the Storm”. They’ve produced epic material consistently with symphonic elements while Herman Li is shredding at the speed of the light. There is also something in their sound that makes you think of old school video games tunes (some have even referred to them as “Nintendo Metal”). The band has went through several lineup changes since forming in 1999 but original guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman still remain a part of the group. DragonForce is releasing a new album titled ‘Reaching Into Infinity’ this year and details can be found about it here. You can stream two tracks off of it below right now! Continue reading →

Video Premiere For THE SILENT WEDDING – “Silence”

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Artwork by Travis Smith

Progressive power metal band The Silent Wedding has just premiered the music video for their new song, “Silence”. The video was directed by Ioannis Psychos. They also possess a symphonic sound here as they headbang their way through the remarkable performance video. There’s a wicked keyboard solo in there that fits perfectly. It is possibly the most metal a keyboard has ever been. Having shared the stage with bands like Saxon, Firewind, and Fates Warning, The Silent Wedding shows strong prowess that is rare in the large sea of metal today. The band from Greece will be releasing their second full length album on March 10th via FYB Records (Belgium). It’s titled ‘Enigma Eternal’ and you can pre-order that here. The cover art of it was created by Travis Smith, who has also done work with the likes of Opeth, Katatonia, and Nevermore. You can view the music video below. Be sure to follow the band on Facebook.

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State of the Art: New York – The Last Alliance

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is New York!

New York, take two. This week we head off in a completely different direction. Progressive Instrumental last week, Traditional Power Metal this week. So good, in fact, that one would expect to hear this quality of music over the pond in Europe and not from Queens, New York. Hell, there are even songs sung entirely in Italian! This week’s State of the Art: New York goes to The Last Alliance.

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