WEBVTT

00:00:02.920 --> 00:00:26.800
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, metal's my religion, and yeah, it's my zone. Standing in the thunder, I stage in the pouring metal rain. What a feeling, baby, the lights are exploding.

00:00:56.660 --> 00:00:58.280
Hello and welcome back to

00:00:58.340 --> 00:01:27.360
The Metal Disciple.com's Metal Heads Podcast. My name is George. And I'm Buke. And today we've got a very special episode for you. But before we get into that, there's a few things I want to mention. If you heard the George retrospective episodes and find that you can't get enough of that awesome sound, or perhaps you just want to make fun of it with your friends. Yes, post it to Reddit or Facebook and bash it. Soon you'll be able to do just that. I took the suggestion of a friend,

00:01:28.340 --> 00:01:57.640
I'm partly in the process of making YouTube videos for each and every single song in my collection. Are you doing lyric videos? No, God, that would take forever. I counted. There are 117 tracks. Are you serious? Yeah, it's like a whole lifetime's worth of music. I don't even think Sentence made that many songs in their career. I was very prolific in my mediocrity. So, in the near future, I'll be posting full albums worth of songs.

00:01:57.820 --> 00:02:27.620
Is there cover art? There's going to be cover art. I'm scanning it in today. Yes! Is this the original? The original cover art with the original recordings. Oh man. Is this something you made too? The art? Of course. Was this early MS Paint? No, it was Photoshop, but it was like Photoshop 4 or something. Okay. Really old. Was there any clip art involved? I know, let's see, the first album cover, I took the picture.

00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:56.440
The second album cover, I took the picture. The third album cover was digital art that a friend of mine who was an artist, he put together. I think the rest of them were photos that I took and then doctored. The different levels of scorn and derision heaped upon me. So if you have a problem with his artwork now, you can trash that too. Exactly.

00:02:57.820 --> 00:03:27.800
for that in the coming week or two, I expect. I'm still converting all the songs into videos to put on YouTube, and I have to put them with the album art and then create the videos and then get them all uploaded and tagged and everything. Wouldn't that be funny? You've had a metal review site. How many years now? Over 10 years or so. Different names and iterations. Wouldn't it be funny if all the reviews you've done, your 365 video project, wouldn't that be funny if you

00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:57.800
Posting one of your songs from years ago got the attention of somebody out there who wants to like and this is what finally hits this is what puts you on the map somebody's like hey hey I want to sign you you're awesome that would be a fun twist of events that would be strange that would be strange it would all come full circle yes indeed be like be like those movies where they they want to get the old band back together

00:03:57.840 --> 00:04:27.800
again for one last tour you know anyway i just wanted to put that out there i also wanted to mention that last week you brought in for show and tell the aries kingdom album incendiary i just wanted to let you know that that inspired me i went back out to eb and myself and i bought all three albums on vinyl awesome awesome that's awesome they're priced well i mean priced great you know the incendiary the one that you brought in that was again that was 15 i got the first album return to dust for 12

00:04:27.900 --> 00:04:57.800
12 no no that was 10 and then veneration the latest one was 12. I love the artwork on that that guy on the horse at night black and gray it's really cool white yeah so you buy from the band yes yeah it's cool so you did good man that makes me happy just like today's episode yes well we'll get to that yep so I was editing this last week's episode getting it ready to post and I just kind of noticed something that when I talk about a lot of bands that

00:04:57.840 --> 00:05:00.840
them or you just don't like them because like you said you don't really care for black

00:05:00.970 --> 00:05:06.280
metal and you're a good sport and you're like yeah you know i i just i can't get into that or i haven't

00:05:06.280 --> 00:05:13.700
been able to get into that yet and listening to that this past week it sounded to me it just made me

00:05:13.860 --> 00:05:19.240
chuckle because it was kind of like the way you say it it's like it's this puzzle that you haven't

00:05:19.290 --> 00:05:25.700
quite figured out yet you're like i haven't quite been able to get into that yet like like i just

00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:28.640
haven't found the key or the right combination to get into this band.

00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:28.960
And then,

00:05:29.640 --> 00:05:29.840
I mean,

00:05:29.960 --> 00:05:30.240
maybe that,

00:05:30.380 --> 00:05:32.060
maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part,

00:05:32.080 --> 00:05:33.380
because that's the way I look at it.

00:05:33.380 --> 00:05:34.540
A lot of times when I'm like,

00:05:35.280 --> 00:05:36.480
I just don't get this.

00:05:37.620 --> 00:05:38.200
So anyway,

00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:38.440
I,

00:05:38.900 --> 00:05:39.560
I just had to,

00:05:39.740 --> 00:05:43.940
I laughed a little while I was at it in the episode and I wanted to mention that.

00:05:44.320 --> 00:05:46.340
It's a great way because again,

00:05:46.380 --> 00:05:48.780
with so many starting points,

00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:51.460
black metal or death metal and some,

00:05:51.960 --> 00:05:55.540
I think if you dive in at the wrong point where I may,

00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:24.740
of. Sure. If you hear something bad, especially, you know, me personally, death metal or black metal has done bad. Oh, there's so much of that. It's bad. Yeah, it's bad. So maybe you can easily get turned off to something if you hear the wrong thing. So maybe it just went over my head. Yeah. Anyway, this week, there's going to be plenty for you to get into, isn't there? Oh, boy. You got that right. This is going to be the Metalheads Power Metal Spectacular. So now this is when the,

00:06:25.600 --> 00:06:31.500
and air quotes just so when the metal heads turn off the podcast now because i say that

00:06:31.500 --> 00:06:55.560
because it seems in the metal world just like how people are so strongly for black metal death metal people feel strongly about power metal also for it and against it yeah i know i sometimes come across as giving power metal a bad rap or that i don't like it as much as the other genres and so the reason i came up with this idea for this episode

00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:25.540
was partly because you love it so much and partly because I wanted to point out that I really do like and in fact love a great deal of power metal it's just that my main focus these days is in a different direction but I still love and listen to so many power metal bands and I will prove that today so I wanted to ask you know before we really get into bands that we like or albums that we you know in our top lists that we do

00:07:25.580 --> 00:07:55.520
What do you think of the genre as a whole? Because when I was looking at putting this list together myself, maybe I wasn't going back too far again. I don't have the years of being a metalhead like you do, but it seemed that real power metal, which I would say is power metal now, I'm only going back to late 90s, early 2000s. It was really picking up steam. Yeah. Well, you can really split hairs on when power metal began because there's bands from the 80s.

00:07:55.560 --> 00:08:25.120
that people call power metal now, like Warlord, that at the time, we just called it heavy metal. In retrospect, some bands have sort of been grandfathered in. But for me, the first band and the first album that I considered power metal was Hammerfall's Glory to the Brave. That came out at a time, you know, it was at the tail end of the alternative grunge thing. Came out at a time when... Was it that was 97, right? I think that sounds about right, yeah.

00:08:25.580 --> 00:08:55.540
It was right before I moved to Maryland from Michigan. And metal was kind of in a strange place for me at that point. The thrash metal bands had pretty much died out. I hadn't quite gotten into a lot of the death and black metal yet. I was just starting to get into it at that point. And so there wasn't a lot of metal out there that reminded me of the glory days of the 80s. And so I was listening to things like Warlord, Attacker, early metal blade bands, trying to recapture some of that feeling from that

00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:25.500
And so I was always looking for new things. And there were a couple of bands that I came across during this period that just blew my mind that I was like, yes, this is that old, old eighties, heavy metal feeling and a more contemporary music. One of those was hammer fall. The other one was blind guardian. I didn't actually come across blind guardian until they were, you know, a good few four or five albums in, which surprised me. Cause I was. Yeah. So you weren't into them in 88 or 89. No, I've never even heard of them. I was like, wait, what is this?

00:09:25.580 --> 00:09:55.160
I came across them at Rock of Ages in Garden City, Michigan, this metal mecca of a store that we used to frequent once in a while. It was about an hour drive. And that's where I came across Blind Guardian. That's where I came across Hammerfall. I was just like, what is this? How is this band that has like five albums out already? And they're awesome, and I don't know them. Especially with your background into like, you know, fantasy. Yeah. That's, I thought you would have, you know, found it, maybe looked at this, the album artwork, and maybe.

00:09:55.580 --> 00:10:17.680
Yeah, well, that was basically what got me into them. But, I mean, they weren't in any stores in my town. You know, I had to leave and go closer to Detroit to come across this stuff. So, for me, that's basically, you know, I don't know what I called it at the time. I was just like, yes, this is that return to that early 80s, mid-80s, not exactly thrash, but melodic heavy metal.

00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:47.740
That's what leads me into my next question. And what really has always puzzled me about power metal is from a lot of posts I read online, posts I see on tweets and stuff. I personally, just like you, we discussed a couple episodes back in a couple months back when we were going to the record stores. We said that the thing about power metal in this genre that catches us are those choruses, those beats, the majesty of it all. It's a great way to put it.

00:10:47.940 --> 00:11:17.300
But why, I don't know if you've seen, correct me if you haven't, if I'm wrong, if you haven't seen the same negative talk online about power metal or power metal fans? Is it because it doesn't have the growling vocals? Is it because a lot of it's talking about, air quotes again, what somebody may think is a cheesy topic, where they're talking about swords and dwarfs and dragons or fantasy stuff or sci-fi stuff, instead of talking about,

00:11:19.260 --> 00:11:47.920
and Satan. Yeah, that type of stuff. I think there's probably a little of all of that, really. Certainly, there's a rivalry between harsh vocals and clean vocals. You might say that those that can sing do, and those that can't growl. That's not an accurate representation, because I know plenty of people who can do both quite well. But I have seen a lot where people that can sing well look down at people that growl. Likewise, people that growl think that singing is something

00:11:47.960 --> 00:12:17.920
not as cool for me personally i have found that there are a number of you can call them power metal or symphonic metal bands that take it a little too far for my taste it's it's kind of hard to explain first and foremost i like metal and when it goes a little too saccharine a little too sugary where it's almost more pop music than metal those are the power metal bands that i don't care for i want to say there was a period where that was prevalent

00:12:17.940 --> 00:12:47.540
And I'm starting to hear less of that. I think more of the power metal bands are starting to beef it up again. And so I'm happy with that. Were you talking like the singing style was kind of? Just like way too poppy sounding vocals with way too many keyboards. I'm not opposed to keyboards at all. I was just about to say that. It's a perfect way to put it. But when, like I said, it's just kind of hard to describe. It's when I hear, like Dragon Force. We're going to be talking about them in a bit. I heard their first album and I was like, wow, that guy can play fast.

00:12:47.580 --> 00:13:17.540
Is this journey? You know? Oh, okay. Because the singing is just so not metal. Mm-hmm. You know, the music sounds kind of metal, but the singing was a little, just a little too commercial. I'm all fine with clean singing. I love a great metal singer. Give me some Bruce Dickinson. Give me the singers for the two bands we're playing today. You know, that's a great point. Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden, they don't do the growling. They don't do the heavy vocals. But they aren't

00:13:17.580 --> 00:13:47.320
aren't blasted like I see power metal bands. You know, when I think of power metal bands, I think of the kid at the record store who you've seen or at the metal festival. He looks, I'm a video game player. I've played D&D myself, but they look like your classic nerdy kid in a sense. And those are the ones, you know, you see at the record store grabbing the blind guardian, grabbing the hammer fall. There's a line between cool and campy.

00:13:47.580 --> 00:14:16.360
Okay. And I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons. I'm all about fantasy and metal. Big Manowar fan. So that sort of thing doesn't bother me in any way. I mean, there was a time when I used to yearn for more of that in my metal. So I don't think the subject matter, I mean, some people probably consider the subject matter too campy. But for me, it's just, I don't know. I wish I could think of a good example of a band that just goes too far that I'm just like, no. Dream Evil started going there a while for me, if you ask me.

00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:46.040
Like their book of heavy metal album. That wasn't bad. It wasn't bad, but that kind of started losing me around there. To me, I guess I'd say that was a little canby. Yeah. I mean, maybe it'll become more clear as we go through this episode because we're going to be talking about a lot of different power metal bands today. Definitely. There's no shortage of power metal fans, though. If you look online at these festivals, how they do have like a power metal stage and black metal stage at Walken and whatever. Power metal bands close out these stages just like.

00:14:46.580 --> 00:15:16.540
And they're packing the place. Sure. All right. Well, why don't we get into this power metal spectacular? Power metal is so big and bombastic. I thought it would be kind of cool to double up on everything today. So we normally we have one indie band today. We've got two. Normally we do one classic of the week today. We're each doing two. Normally we do a top three of something today. We are blowing this out to a top 15 power metal bands, which was hard, hard to narrow it down. Yeah. I was gonna say not hard to come up with

00:15:16.580 --> 00:15:46.500
15, hard to narrow it down to 50. We actually started at 10, and I was like, I can't do 10. I can do 15, and I'm going to have about a dozen honorable mentions. So without further ado, let's start talking about this week's indie bands. We've got two great bands for you today, A Sound of Thunder from the D.C. Northern Virginia area and Unleash the Archers from Vancouver, British Columbia. You won't leave here today hurting for metal. We're going to play two songs from each of these bands. We might as well get started with that.

00:15:46.580 --> 00:16:16.540
A Sound of Thunder have released three albums to date. Today we're going to be playing you some songs from their most recent album, Times Arrow. They have a new album coming out in I believe it's September called The Lesser Key of Solomon. Can't wait for that. The band funded this album through Kickstarter. These guys actually were one of the reasons that inspired my previous conversation about who needs record labels. These guys funded their album on Kickstarter and then some, so much so that they're doing a covers EP for their backers and a bunch of other cool

00:16:16.580 --> 00:16:24.360
I picked up a Sound of Thunder hockey jersey. It's nice. Yeah, it's cool. Let's get into that first song. This is the title track from Time's Arrow.

00:16:54.279 --> 00:16:55.680
I'm sorry,

00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.880
"Daddy, I'm Jake."

00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:46.540
Another stormy night, another stormy vision One chance to run a broken body, slept alone No fantasies, no dead and fascination An open window to the world of the unknown

00:18:58.280 --> 00:19:16.540
So many days spent in isolation Walk a twisted line to the end of sanity

00:19:18.679 --> 00:19:27.220
The lunar's no

00:19:48.560 --> 00:19:52.180
Tired zero

00:19:52.560 --> 00:20:01.080
Bring my back to what I make you lose to me.

00:20:15.060 --> 00:20:20.720
Countdown is done. Generate a spark and trust with power.

00:20:21.560 --> 00:20:51.540
I close my eyes, looking for a miracle A blast of energy rushing through my veins No second thoughts I cast to end in broken chains Defy the science of day No one listens anyway

00:20:51.560 --> 00:21:20.300
Times in a row, please take me and change my destiny. Times in a row, bring me back to what I used to be. All I see in front of me.

00:21:20.520 --> 00:21:22.780
Here I live eternity

00:21:24.380 --> 00:21:26.740
Suddenly I start to pray

00:21:27.060 --> 00:21:30.440
This will never fade away

00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:21.580
Time drop, time travel.

00:22:24.740 --> 00:22:50.880
My obsession, my lifelong dream. There's something that couldn't be done, but I'll prove that we're all of our own. They call me a match.

00:22:51.780 --> 00:23:00.140
I will find those things.

00:23:11.340 --> 00:23:13.960
I will bring them back.

00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:15.540
Please bring us back.

00:23:27.840 --> 00:23:29.780
Please bring us back.

00:23:30.100 --> 00:23:36.120
Fading from my tired sight, endlessly into the night.

00:23:36.480 --> 00:23:41.440
Spirits from beyond the grave, I can never save.

00:23:42.540 --> 00:24:12.480
Swept away so far from me Standing suddenly Rising up into the sky Right before my eyes Precious memories To keep me Can't turn back My world is turning black

00:24:37.160 --> 00:24:40.840
Follow curtain of display

00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:47.020
Doesn't matter anyway

00:24:49.580 --> 00:24:51.200
Time is around

00:24:52.460 --> 00:24:55.280
Please take me

00:24:56.000 --> 00:24:59.320
And change my destiny

00:25:01.840 --> 00:25:03.980
Time is around

00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:07.500
Please take me

00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:11.860
And I'll change my destiny

00:25:13.960 --> 00:25:16.820
Times are all

00:25:17.600 --> 00:25:20.400
Bring life back

00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:25.420
To what it used to be

00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:26.480
All right, that was pretty epic. I like these guys. We'll play another song from A Sound of Thunder in a little bit. First, let's get into some news stories. Unfortunately, we couldn't skew the world to make all its news power metal this week, so we'll have to take what we can get. First of all, the new Judas Priest album, Redeemer of Souls, made it all to the end of the day.

00:26:26.520 --> 00:26:56.460
All the way up to number six on the Billboard chart. A little further back in the pack was Goat Horror at number 81 with their new album, Constricting Rage of the Merciless. Did you see this thing about the 50-year-old German guy at the Motorhead concert who gave himself a bleeding brain from doing too much headbanging? Yeah, and this thing got worldwide attention. This thing got, you know, I saw it on Fox News. It was getting every, it was covered everywhere from Fox News, CNN. I saw it on Bing, you know. Anytime you can say something in the news that,

00:26:56.520 --> 00:27:24.640
Shows how awful heavy metal is. There's your jumping off point right there. Yep. Phil Campbell of Motorhead chimed in saying that this was not Motorhead's fault. Well, duh. Back in the day when you had long hair. Did I bang my head? Did you bang your head like these guys you see? Yes. The thrash metal style. Yeah. I think the last time I actually went kind of apeshit like that was at the Megadeth So Far So Good So Wet tour back in the 87.

00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:56.480
and I went to that show and we banged our head furiously and the next day we couldn't turn our head funny thing you say that the last time I left the middle show my neck was actually store was a mega death show yeah it was there gigant was a gigant or it was that they headlined it it was a mega death show I left and literally the next day just like that turning any direction yeah hurt granted a good metal heads got a nice thick strong neck and they they get used to that sort of thing

00:27:56.520 --> 00:28:25.560
Yeah, so I took a different avenue after that of how I enjoy shows. And when I do find occasion to bang my head, I don't do it to the point of excess where I cause my brain to bleed. Is it more of a bobbing now? Yeah, a bobbing as opposed to a, you know, my head now moves at the neck. When I was 17 years old, it moved at the waist. You know, it was a whole body, you know, and the hair's whipping around. And, you know, now I might, you know. You may lose a hair.

00:28:26.140 --> 00:28:54.420
The one that I have left. The few you have left. You only hope that he had a good time. To be 50 and still getting into it that hard, you know, props to him, but maybe dial it back a bit. Do you think he stopped? Like, ooh, what was that? Got a little bit of a headache there. Yeah, got a little bit of a headache. I'm a little dizzy. I'm a little dizzy. Did you happen to watch the baseball all-star game this past week? I watched the home run derby. Yeah?

00:28:56.160 --> 00:29:26.060
Metallica SportsCenter commercial. Saw it on YouTube. Yeah, I saw it there first, but I did actually see it when it played. They're getting around, man. Those guys are getting around. Yes, they are. It was a pretty funny commercial. Yeah. I like when the guy comes in, takes the, you know, Kirk has the guitar lessons thing up on the bulletin board, and he takes one of the little tabs and puts his gum in it. Kirk's all like, what the fuck, man? Yeah, those guys are getting their name out. They're keeping their name out there. I think they did something at a Giants game a couple months back. They did. Was it the Anthem?

00:29:26.160 --> 00:29:56.120
that they did or I don't know I know they were there wasn't it I think it was Metallica night yes they had like various swag and stuff yeah picks and inflatable guitars and such good for them yeah Barb was commenting on how gray Kirk Hammett looks but the guy still looks good though I think it looks good on him yeah he wears it well he does he does he looks cool he's look he looks cooler with long gray hair than I'll ever look no matter what so speaking of sore necks I was reading about baby

00:29:56.160 --> 00:30:00.380
because they seem to be everywhere these days and I was reading how the girls and baby

00:30:00.600 --> 00:30:26.100
metal before they were in the band they'd never heard of heavy metal my first instinct there is to scream poser and and you know burn something but it is what it is and they mentioned how they too had sore necks from trying to play this music and and bang their head on stage they said they said that you know with a little bit of practice even I could do it without having a sore neck do you think they're the female

00:30:26.120 --> 00:30:55.880
Ghost now? In the sense that not that they're doing the stage. That's harsh, man. Not that they're doing the stage show that Ghost was, but Ghost was something new. Ghost was something fresh. Do you think that's? No. I think they're the new Justin Bieber of metal. Okay. It's interesting. It's amusing. It's completely fabricated. Completely. And it'll be gone. You know, maybe they'll do another album. I can't see anything beyond that. The one little bit of power metal news that we do have is that Hammerfall released their second preview video for their new album, Revolution.

00:30:56.100 --> 00:31:26.060
Have you heard any of this? I have not. There's not much to it. I mean, they're talking, but there's like music in the background and sounded pretty good to me. As you'll see on when we do our lists, I'm a big fan of Hammerfall. All right, then. We'll be eagerly waiting your new album, of course. Me too. All right, well, that's pretty much it for the news. Let's talk about a few of the new releases this week. The Reunited Dog Fashion Disco is releasing a new album called Sweet Nothings. If you ever listen to these guys, they're local. The other side project. Polka Dot Cadaver. Yeah, I prefer Polka Dot Cadaver.

00:31:26.120 --> 00:31:31.320
I listened to a song off this new album and they're a little avant-garde the dog

00:31:31.560 --> 00:31:56.080
fashion disco is I mean even polka dot cadaver is a little avant-garde I would say so I didn't like it quite as much as the polka dot cadaver but there you have it if you're a dog fashion disco fan rejoice the new album is imminent also out this coming week is Fozzie and their new album do you want to start a war these guys I've I know who they are I know you know Jericho the singer I I don't listen to these guys right I like them I only heard about this album

00:31:56.100 --> 00:32:26.060
coming out in the last month or so and boom suddenly it's coming out already and I I'm not sure if I've even got a promo for it yet I might have seen an email for it this past week and I just maybe I haven't gotten to it yet but yeah I've heard nothing off it yet so I can't say are they that heavy yeah they're pretty heavy I mean it's got what's his name from rich word from stuck mojo I used to really dig stuck mojo back when I was into my new metal rap phase for five seconds stuck mojo is about it

00:32:26.080 --> 00:32:56.060
I mean the dude plays some wicked guitar and that's pretty much what brought me to Stuck Mojo is that could be our next episode the rap metal retrospective that is the day you may come in and put a gun to the back of my head pull the trigger twice just to make sure we can't mention that Machine Head dowered with it for a second this is a thing we do not speak of we like Machine Head we like Rob Flynn we do not say these things about him yeah we don't but yeah remember when he had blonde hair yeah and I liked the little

00:32:56.100 --> 00:33:25.640
The twists in his hair? No, no, no, I can't think about that anymore. Move on. Must think of Viking death metal. Okay, how about King of Asgard and their new album? Karg? Not exactly sure how that's pronounced. I really liked their last album. This album, I started listening to the promo and I didn't care for it too much, so I don't know, maybe I was in a cranky pants mood that day, but it just didn't sound like I remembered, so I need to go back and listen to that last album and see what's changed. Is this akin to Amon Moth? Originally, that's what I thought, but not so much with this one.

00:33:26.100 --> 00:33:56.020
The band Monolith, who put out full albums based on one song, they're reissuing their zero and two albums. They're all numbered. Zero, one, two, three, four. Really cool, like funeral, doom, you know, hour-long songs. I've already got these, but the reissue, figured I should mention that. Vinyl? I don't know how, maybe, but I mean, when you've got a 60-minute song, I mean, I was gonna say that. That was my example of like, I guess you just sort of like fade it out and then,

00:33:56.080 --> 00:34:26.060
Fade It Back In On The Next Side. I don't remember what it does. I listened to it fairly recently and I didn't pay attention. The side ends and I tend to be doing something else and I didn't notice what happened. I'm going to go back and check it out when I get home. Overkill's new album White Devil Armory is finally going to drop. I have a copy of it. I have not had a chance to listen to it yet. I've heard good things though. Have you been as into these guys the past couple years? I remember when Ironbound came out. You were wishy

00:34:26.159 --> 00:34:55.080
I like it. It's still very good compared to some of the thrash albums from other classic bands. I think they've been fairly consistent throughout the years, something that a lot of bands haven't been able to say. So I am looking forward to hearing this new album. Probably the one band that we see live. I still don't understand why they cranked the damn volume so loud in such a small venue, but everybody does it. Yeah. I mean, hello, man. And the final new release this week is a band called Shamash and their album Contradiction.

00:34:56.100 --> 00:35:24.980
These guys are from Switzerland, and they play, um, god, I don't even, it's getting so hard to categorize bands these days. It's getting so hard to put people in holes and make them stay there. Black metal, maybe? I'm not really sure. I mean, there's harsh vocals, it's ethereal, it's evil sounding, it's, I've listened to this one, I like it a lot. But what else am I gonna say? I don't know. It's new, it's good, they're from Switzerland, it's evil, check it out. Alright, why don't we get into another song from A Sound of Thunder.

00:35:26.100 --> 00:35:56.060
I'll walk with you. I remember when they put out a casting call for the video for this song because they needed extras. The song is about zombies. You know, they probably watch in Walking Dead. Probably. Has a very Walking Dead theme to it. Zombie apocalypse kind of stuff. This song is a little bit heart-rending. It's basically about two people on the run from zombies. A man and a woman. And the singer Nina, she's talking about her significant other that they're, you know, trying to survive with and how he gets chomped on by zombies. And that impossible decision that they make like

00:35:56.160 --> 00:36:16.660
every week on Walking Dead, the person you love gets chomped on. They're going to become a zombie. Pull it to the head or not? What do you do? Take him out. You take him out? Yeah. That's pretty cold. Take him out. You can't let him turn. Right. Well, the solution in this song is that you let them chomp you and they both walk together. Hence the title, I'll Walk With You. It's a pretty awesome song. Check it out.

00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:56.060
We saw it coming from a distance We heard the screaming on the news You barricaded all the windows All I had was you to lose The scratching found us in the night time

00:36:56.100 --> 00:37:11.740
Hollow voices, hungry cries We held each other through the chaos Never thinking we could die

00:37:32.580 --> 00:37:51.740
You were too weak to make the journey We had to leave, supplies were gone I thought that I could still protect you We could survive on the run

00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:24.380
Don't stare at me with those lifeless eyes Memories lost in the blue How could I picture such a future? How could I live by killing you? Are you still living without breathing?

00:38:26.080 --> 00:38:35.240
Are you just a broken shell? Are you watching me from heaven? Or is the world a living?

00:38:54.080 --> 00:39:15.620
They found a sleeping human weakness They ripped you from me, from my hands I watched my life break right before me Destroyed with all our plans

00:39:27.560 --> 00:39:50.420
Don't stare at me with those lifeless eyes Memories lost in the blue How could I picture such a future? How could I live for killing you? Are you still living without breathing? Are you just a broken shell?

00:39:54.080 --> 00:40:24.060
Or is the world a living? It's not an innocent reaction It's punishment for my distraction No one could ever take your place but I put a gun against your face

00:41:29.740 --> 00:41:52.700
How could I picture such a future? How can I live by killing you? There's nothing left for me to live for. I wish that it were me instead.

00:41:54.980 --> 00:42:05.760
They're closing in all around me. I'll walk with you when I'm dead.

00:42:19.360 --> 00:42:23.480
Alright, a sound of thunder. I'll walk with you. Pretty awesome.

00:42:24.040 --> 00:42:53.860
Let's get to today's centerpiece. Our best of list. We each create a list of our top 15 favorite power metal bands slash albums. Normally we do a top three. We just couldn't narrow it down to three bands. We couldn't narrow it down to 10 bands or albums. We went with 15. Could have gone more easily. And I have to admit, you're normally the one that pushes for putting these in order. I found that very difficult. Very difficult. So while these are ranked, it's pretty,

00:42:55.460 --> 00:43:23.600
and could change at any time. Alright, so we picked band and album. So you mentioned that you're going to have repeat bands. I only did one album or one band and one album, but you go first. I tried to rank these. Again, I'm a big power metal fan, so really hard. I'm going to start out the band by the name of their self-titled album. The band's name is Falconer. Hell yeah. Self-titled album Falconer. Next on the list, Primal Fear with their album Devil's Ground.

00:43:23.840 --> 00:43:53.360
Nice. Nightwish. I wrote their album Once. You consider them power metal? I consider them symphonic. Splitting hairs, I know. Yeah. It was hard. It could have gone either way. Okay. Next one, Sonata Artica, Reckoning Night. Long list of albums I could have chose from. This one I decided to go with. Next is Sabaton, Primo Victoria. If you've never heard these guys, they are a power metal band that take a lot of historical,

00:43:54.100 --> 00:43:54.500
References.

00:43:55.060 --> 00:43:57.280
World War I, World War II, Vietnam.

00:43:57.840 --> 00:44:00.200
Even earlier than that, that's what their songs sing about.

00:44:00.340 --> 00:44:01.060
Really cool stuff.

00:44:01.160 --> 00:44:01.760
Yeah, good stuff.

00:44:02.900 --> 00:44:05.400
Next is a band that actually you and I met.

00:44:05.600 --> 00:44:06.260
You and I interviewed.

00:44:06.840 --> 00:44:07.240
Rhapsody.

00:44:09.140 --> 00:44:10.320
Rhapsody of Fire, you mean?

00:44:11.200 --> 00:44:11.480
Yes.

00:44:11.980 --> 00:44:12.700
Wait, no, no, no.

00:44:12.920 --> 00:44:14.200
Luca Torilli's Rhapsody, you mean?

00:44:14.540 --> 00:44:14.760
Yes.

00:44:15.200 --> 00:44:15.780
No, I.

00:44:16.360 --> 00:44:18.360
The Rhapsody before I let the name be as.

00:44:18.780 --> 00:44:19.440
The one and only.

00:44:20.040 --> 00:44:21.120
Power of the Dragon Flame.

00:44:21.620 --> 00:44:51.000
Next, one of my favorite singers in the genre, Avantasia, the first part, the metal opera. Next, maybe you don't agree with it being so kind of far up on my list, closer to the number one or two, is Blind Guardian Imaginations from the Other Side. It's starting to sound awfully familiar. That one should have been probably one or two, maybe in some people's eyes. Next, Hammerfall, Glory to the Brave. Excellent. We had mentioned that earlier. And we will be mentioning it again.

00:44:51.840 --> 00:45:21.600
That was one of my first introductions to power metal. Uh-huh. Me too. It hooked me instantly when I heard it. Yes. Classic. Next. This one's different. This is a French band that had a couple albums in the 80s and then returned in 2001 with their album Cosmo Vision. This is a French band Nightmare. That album hooks me. Just the track Cosmo Vision alone I think starts off the album. Really good stuff. Next is the side project from

00:45:21.620 --> 00:45:51.060
I'm going to say his name wrong Tobias from Alvantaggio this is his project or Toby or whatever his name is Ed Guy their album Rocket Ride what number is this this is number four okay sorry that was number five okay so now this is my top five now that was number five Ed Guy Rocket Ride number four Dream Evil Dragon Slayer okay this has Chasing the Dragon on it I could listen to that song a million times number three the song that has probably this album has my

00:45:51.060 --> 00:46:21.040
probably top three songs of all time this is a guy they release hellfire club with king of fools on it i fucking love that song man i love it number two it's a repeat again of a band but hammer fall their album crimson thunder okay which has the total track crimson thunder riders of the storm number one what is your number this drum roll this could go you know you talked about earlier night with splitting hairs and

00:46:21.100 --> 00:46:51.040
stuff like this. Some people would say, oh, they're just true metal band and stuff like that. Some people could say that they are power metal. It's the American band, Iced Earth. This is their album, Burnt Offerings. Interesting. Not where I thought you were going, but I was surprised that they weren't in there. So interesting. All right. I could go both ways. You go both ways? Yeah. You know, the album is looking back on it, probably not a power metal. Well, I was considering that with them as well. I was like, I didn't

00:46:51.080 --> 00:47:21.000
I'd include Iced Earth for that reason. I'm like, yeah, they're kind of power metal. They're kind of, I don't know, just metal. Yeah. With everything else that I had on my list, I was like, I'm just going to leave it off. If there's a question, I'm leaving it off. Yeah, I probably shouldn't have put them on number one. If I was to really. I did the same thing with my number one, so don't worry about it. Okay. So that was it. That was my list again. It was tough. Extremely hard. Each of these albums is the classic power metal album.

00:47:21.080 --> 00:47:50.980
that has one or two songs that hook you, get stuck in your head, you're saying it over and you're singing it over and over and over again to yourself. Personally, I can't speak enough of these albums. Check them out. You won't be disappointed. Excellent. Thank you for that. I had a lot of fun. Probably this was my most fun putting this list together so far. I'm eagerly awaiting yours. All right. Well, I'm going to admit right now that a lot of yours are on my list. So that's probably a good sign, right? Yeah. All right. My number 15 is a band called Lost Horizon. Oh, man.

00:47:52.339 --> 00:48:20.960
And their first album, Awakening the World. Oh, man. I'd go with their second album, but yeah. Yeah. Well, when I got this album, you know, this was, what, early 2000, like 2001, I think. Yep. And it was just phenomenal for the time. I was like, wow, now this is power metal. You know what I'm saying? It's funny, when I was researching my list, did you know that Hammerfall's singer used to be in this band? No, I did not. He didn't sing on either of the albums, but like when they first started,

00:48:21.080 --> 00:48:50.440
out he was in the band so and i thought that was interesting yeah hold on and see now it's bothering me because i now i feel i let myself down because their album their 2003 album aflame to the ground beneath oh man i love that album yeah good stuff let me change my list yeah no change backs no damn it go ahead all right number 14 this one is questionable it's sort of a power metal sub-genre if you can even split hairs even further this is ale storm and they're as yet

00:48:50.460 --> 00:48:51.300
unreleased,

00:48:51.700 --> 00:48:52.400
but I've heard it.

00:48:52.600 --> 00:48:55.140
New album sunset on the golden age.

00:48:55.360 --> 00:48:56.640
You gotta love pirate metal.

00:48:56.940 --> 00:48:57.040
Yep.

00:48:57.260 --> 00:48:58.360
And you gotta love pirate metal.

00:48:58.760 --> 00:48:59.760
That's also drinking metal.

00:49:00.440 --> 00:49:01.240
Very much so.

00:49:01.300 --> 00:49:01.420
It's,

00:49:01.520 --> 00:49:02.540
it's fun to listen to.

00:49:02.880 --> 00:49:03.400
And I,

00:49:03.560 --> 00:49:04.300
their new song,

00:49:04.580 --> 00:49:05.080
it's called drink.

00:49:05.380 --> 00:49:06.600
I don't know if you've heard this,

00:49:06.900 --> 00:49:08.220
but it's so catchy.

00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:09.480
And it gets stuck in your head.

00:49:09.540 --> 00:49:10.380
The chorus goes,

00:49:10.680 --> 00:49:15.540
we are here to drink your beer and steal your rum at a point of a gun.

00:49:15.980 --> 00:49:18.080
Your alcohol to us will fall.

00:49:18.420 --> 00:49:47.880
Because we are here to drink your beer. Yes. That's so awesome. There, let's clang our glasses together. Indeed. I just, I love it. Swing from the chandeliers like a bunch of drunken pirates. Exactly. I've liked some of their previous albums pretty well, but listening to the new album, definitely my favorite from the band. Number 13, Dream Evil and Dragon Slayer. Yes. So that's our first duplicate there. We are in agreement. Number 12, Hammerfall Glory to the Brave.

00:49:48.080 --> 00:50:17.880
As much as I was talking that up, it's awfully far down the list, but it's on the list. Twice on this list, I had two bands in one position. Okay. Okay. Because they're related. So number 11, Ed Guy slash Aventasia, Hellfire Club, and the Metal Opera Part 1. Oh, yes. So again, we are in agreement. Number 10 in George's top 10 list, Sabaton, Primo Victoria. Yes. That was obviously was their first album, was my first taste of the band. I liked the kind of rough vocals, reminded me of

00:50:17.920 --> 00:50:47.840
Running Wild, War, Battle. Good stuff. That's what Power Metal's all about. When you first introduced me to these guys and you said, check them out, it was, again, how we always look for something different. Just like you said, it was that, hey, you're turning on Power Metal, but then he's hitting you with these gruff vocals. Yeah. It was cool. My number nine, I think you're going to smack yourself because I can't believe these guys weren't on your list. Three inches of blood and long live heavy metal. No, I was battling myself in the car because it was my number one.

00:50:47.920 --> 00:51:17.880
I mentioned Advance and Vanquish was my number one and then you're just like now screw these guys I'm taking them off the list all together because I because you didn't think it was par I didn't still I'm in a battle with myself well I put ice to earth I don't know why I couldn't put three inches I initially was gonna leave them off the list as well because back with that first album Advance and Vanquish they had harsh vocals as well and you see they're here at the bottom of my list now yep and so I was like it's not technically maybe power metal I don't know

00:51:17.920 --> 00:51:18.960
But you know,

00:51:19.970 --> 00:51:21.140
they don't have harsh vocals anymore.

00:51:21.560 --> 00:51:21.760
Nope.

00:51:21.980 --> 00:51:23.440
It's straight up power metal these days.

00:51:23.900 --> 00:51:25.960
And this long live heavy metal was a great record.

00:51:26.120 --> 00:51:26.560
It was.

00:51:26.680 --> 00:51:27.260
That song,

00:51:27.560 --> 00:51:27.940
Lookout.

00:51:28.280 --> 00:51:28.440
Oh,

00:51:28.720 --> 00:51:28.860
killer.

00:51:29.150 --> 00:51:30.200
And there's a song about hockey.

00:51:30.620 --> 00:51:30.840
Yes.

00:51:31.260 --> 00:51:32.360
So if you,

00:51:32.780 --> 00:51:34.000
if guys ever follow,

00:51:34.100 --> 00:51:35.900
I highly recommend following Cam Pipes,

00:51:37.020 --> 00:51:38.240
the singer on Twitter,

00:51:38.760 --> 00:51:39.660
follow him on Instagram.

00:51:40.320 --> 00:51:43.700
He's always posting cool pictures of himself playing D&D.

00:51:44.100 --> 00:51:46.360
I say follow him because like George and I,

00:51:46.560 --> 00:52:14.000
We are massive hockey fans. He is a diehard Vancouver Canucks fan. He, on his vest that he wears, it's kind of cool that bands and band members have band patches. He, on his vest, wears a Vancouver Canucks patch. So I thought that's pretty cool. So if you're a hockey fan, follow Cam Pipes. Probably one of the best voices in music, if you ask, in my opinion. The high notes that he can hit, whew. I'm going to forget when we saw them for the first time.

00:52:16.800 --> 00:52:23.440
you're buying something from a band member yeah we saw them wolfs back in 2004 or 5 or

00:52:23.500 --> 00:52:29.780
something like that and i go and i buy a shirt i'm like hey thanks i walk away and i'm have that

00:52:29.880 --> 00:52:35.380
creeping feeling of like hmm and then of course i get on stage and i'm like shit because you know you

00:52:35.520 --> 00:52:40.740
look at him he spent half he spent two or three hours just sitting back there running the merch booth

00:52:40.740 --> 00:53:10.300
Remember when we saw Suedakra? Yes. And we talked to those guys at the merch booth, too? Yep. That's pretty cool. All right. Number eight. This is another split one. Halloween and Gamma Ray. Halloween's Walls of Jericho, Gamma Ray's Insanity and Genius. Do you have Halloween on your list again? No. Wow. Wow. Why do you say that? Because you didn't go with Keepers. No, I didn't. Hmm. I'm a Kai Hansen fan. Okay. So I didn't really care for too much Halloween after he left.

00:53:10.300 --> 00:53:39.240
Which, he's on Keeper Part 1. Not Part 2. He's not. That's probably why I'd never cared for Part 2. So, Walls of Jericho, Keeper Part 1. Big fan of those. Between the two, I went with Walls of Jericho. And then, of course, he went on to do Gamma Ray. And Insanity and Genius was my favorite one from Gamma Ray. My number seven is a band that it seems very few people have heard of. But when I originally started thinking about this list, I had intended them to be my number one because I just love this album so much.

00:53:40.340 --> 00:54:10.280
who put out one album and then they supposedly started working on a second album but nothing ever came out and it broke my heart because i was waiting so patiently for it okay not very patiently the band is called twilight miracle and the album is called into the enchanted chamber if you have not heard this album power metal fan or not you need to look up twilight miracle into the enchanted chamber this album fucking kills typing in my phone right now i know i've played this for you i know you have just reminding myself

00:54:10.320 --> 00:54:39.860
again. It's an absolute classic. Maybe someday they'll return. Alright, my number six. Falconer. Chapters from a Veil Forlorn. The second album. First album is good. Second album is better. Probably some of the best cover art, too, in my opinion. Yeah. And the guy is a really cool singer, right? I think we've mentioned it before. He kind of has a theatrical. That's because he's a theater guy as opposed to a heavy metal singer. He just happens to sing a heavy metal band. Kind of sounds like somebody you hear at your local Renfest on the weekends. Yes. Very much so.

00:54:40.140 --> 00:55:10.100
Number five, a more recent band, Power Wolf and Blood of the Saints. These guys, probably one of my favorite power metal bands around these days. They just blow me away. This is good. This is good. Yeah. They just reissued their first couple of albums in a collection called History of Heresy. Check that out too. Number four, another one in which we are in agreement, Rhapsody, Power of the Dragon Flame. Rhapsody of whatever is just another example of when bands split up and everybody's

00:55:12.000 --> 00:55:40.100
I've yet to hear a single band where they splintered everybody took a piece of the name and then put out music that was worth anything so if you're considering doing that with your band think about that think about the fact that nobody's done that and then produced anything that was worth a shit yeah so good point don't do it be together or break up top three I'm all giddy over here number three is blind guardian imaginations from the other side I thought that would have been your number one nope

00:55:40.120 --> 00:56:09.900
Well, it's definitely worthy. I think the top two are gonna... I think number one, you'll understand. Number two, you may not. Number two, I picked one band and three albums because it spans their career. Well, actually it doesn't, but a little bit. Number two, Running Wild, their albums, Gates to Purgatory, which was their first album. It was when I first got into the band so many decades ago. Under Jolly Roger, The Birth of Pirate Metal, and then Masquerade, one of their... I wanted to say more recent, but it's not that recent anymore, but it's got the song Lions of the Sea,

00:56:09.980 --> 00:56:39.760
which is just fuck yeah! Still never toured here in the States, right? They have not been here since like the early 80s. That's one band that I really would like to see before I die. Probably never will. I've already said, okay, well, if I have to go to Germany to see them, fine. So be it. I check their webpage periodically. There's never any shows. So, one of these days, hopefully. Number one band. Who is it going to be? Guesses. It's not Man or Worm. Yes, it is. Really? It is.

00:56:43.260 --> 00:57:09.920
I see. I know you and I know that they're one of your favorites. Again, this gets into that. Are they power metal or not? Exactly. You know, are they true metal? Well, true metal is really just another name for power metal. So, I mean, I think they're kind of interchangeable. Somebody's probably going to blast me. No, true metal is absolutely different than power metal. But, you know, whatever. I'm not splitting that many hairs. It's close enough. And so the number one is Manowar fighting the world. What? Not kings of man?

00:57:13.060 --> 00:57:39.360
No. Fighting the World was my first album that I heard by Manowar. I heard them on that Metal Shop radio show that we were talking about last week. I heard them play Blow Your Speakers. I went out, I got the album on cassette, and I was like, this is awesome. Death to False Metal. Had you seen Manowar before? Like, any of the promo pictures of them with their loincloths and stuff before? Not until I got the album, no. You think you would have checked it out? Yeah, because I'm like, hell yeah, Warriors.

00:57:39.740 --> 00:58:09.520
Yeah, I know you're a Conan fan. Yeah, man, exactly. So yeah, you know, and fighting the world, blow your speakers, carry on the ultimate song, black wind, fire and steel. How could it not be number one? I'm a little late to the party on Man of War. So I go with my versus the world album, but I still has my favorite Man of War song on air swords into wind. Yeah, that's a great song. So, you know, I've had my beef with Man of War in the last year, but you know, it's like family, you know, you argue with your family,

00:58:09.740 --> 00:58:39.520
But you still love them. You're not going to kick them out and not be into them anymore. They'll always be there to comfort you if you really need them to. Exactly. When I first met you, you know, Man of War, Man of War, Man of War. Do they still hold that special place for you? They do, but it's a little further back in the heart. Before, you really used to fly the flag. Well, you know, the funny thing is that when you've been listening to a band for so many decades, they become so ingrained in who you are that you don't have to listen to the albums anymore.

00:58:39.740 --> 00:59:09.560
You've listened to them so many times that it's just in you. That's me with Panterim. And so while I don't listen to them as much as I used to, I still think about them. I can still sing all the songs. You can sort of show up outside their apartment and still look in through the window. Hold up a boombox and play Peter Gabriel. In your eyes. Hey, I successfully quoted the Grandfather Tell Me,

00:59:09.740 --> 00:59:39.480
story last week. Yes, you did. See, it's all up in the head. All right, well, that was fun. That was really fun. Why don't we get into our second band of the episode, Unleash the Archers. I first came across this band last year when a friend of mine told me about them. Unleash the Archers is from Vancouver, British Columbia. When I think of Vancouver, I think of three things. The Olympics, Canucks, and Unleash the Archers. And as you pointed out, three inches of blood. And rioting hockey fans. Yeah, we are committed cap fans here.

00:59:39.820 --> 01:00:09.420
We will. Stomach no Canucks. So the songs we're playing today are taken from Unleash the Archers 2011 album, Demons of the Astrowaste. I spoke with singer Brittany the other day and learned that there is a new album in the works. And we talked about doing an interview with her when that is a little more imminent. And when I figure out how to do this, I really need to get this tech figured out because we have all these people we want to talk to. So I'm definitely looking forward to their new album because this album fucking kills.

01:00:09.740 --> 01:00:26.600
This first song that we're gonna play, it's called Dawn of Ages. This song, it gets so stuck in my head. I don't even have to hear it. I can just think about it, and it gets stuck in my head. It is so damn catchy. And yet, it's heavy as hell as well. This is what quality power metal is all about. So let's check it out. This is Dawn of Ages.

01:01:09.720 --> 01:01:39.700
Begin our journey back through this of death As we arrive at the dawn of mankind Engulfing hatred, the world is at fault Our sword is made to bring peace evermore Created by the normal ones

01:01:39.720 --> 01:01:55.040
Great Defender, fulfilled by rabbi-dochery, conquered and decreed by evil slender.

01:01:59.040 --> 01:02:03.760
Now man he cowards in fear and in shame,

01:02:04.680 --> 01:02:09.000
it holds the power which cannot be made.

01:02:10.300 --> 01:02:14.820
What once tells virtue is when dead is dead,

01:02:15.640 --> 01:02:20.200
and none can hinder its first fault or dead.

01:02:23.940 --> 01:02:26.940
Created by the normal one,

01:02:27.420 --> 01:02:33.300
Raised by champion, great defender.

01:02:35.100 --> 01:02:37.500
Crossed by running of fury,

01:02:38.960 --> 01:02:44.420
conquered and decreed by evil slender.

01:03:08.800 --> 01:03:11.720
Over the mountains and the trees,

01:03:12.600 --> 01:03:14.660
Through valleys and the seas

01:03:20.180 --> 01:03:22.700
We stand united on the plain

01:03:23.680 --> 01:03:26.180
Mount up the barricade

01:03:27.320 --> 01:03:28.240
Onesia

01:03:31.200 --> 01:03:34.280
Against an army of us all

01:03:34.420 --> 01:03:37.000
There is no chance we'll fall

01:03:37.600 --> 01:03:40.900
Hear the call

01:03:41.260 --> 01:03:47.560
The bolt and dashes, and spawns all to

01:04:42.839 --> 01:04:44.700
Raced by Champion

01:04:46.999 --> 01:04:49.240
Great Defender

01:04:50.760 --> 01:04:53.420
All failed by Revanar Curie

01:04:54.220 --> 01:04:57.300
Conquered and decreed

01:04:57.740 --> 01:05:04.900
By Evil Splendor

01:05:14.400 --> 01:05:34.880
All right. Tell me that song is not stuck in your head already. It already is. You know, you, again, gave me a little snippet as we're setting up today. Mm-hmm. Hooked me already. Yeah, definitely check that out. All right. Well, why don't we get into our What We're Listening To segment? What do you listen to this week? Okay. So what I'm listening to this week on this Power Metal Deluxe Specialist,

01:05:34.900 --> 01:06:04.740
Special Edition episode is, well, George mentioned it on his list, one of the bands, a band by the name of Manowar. Their album, Versus the World. Is that really what it's called? No. Their album, Manowar, and their album, Warriors of the World. Songs like Sword in the Wind, Warriors of the World Unite. Great album. Oh, yeah. My favorite Manowar album. My go-to. Definitely one of the best Manowar albums of the later,

01:06:04.900 --> 01:06:34.820
Period. And also, another one you had already mentioned, probably, I've touched on this before, out of every band you've ever introduced me to, this one still takes the top as the most excited I've ever been, the most hooked you've ever got me instantly to a band. This is Three Inches of Blood, Advance and Vanquish. Yes. This is when Three Inches of Blood still had two singers. Right. A bunch of this album talks about killing orcs. You gotta kill those orcs.

01:06:34.900 --> 01:07:04.820
The Orcs. It's the story of The Orcs. Marching into battle. You get Cam's high-pitched vocals are matched with death-growling vocals. Great guitar and drum work behind it. Just a great album. It is still one of the albums I can go to every day, listen to it top to bottom. Excellent. The track Deadly Sinners, Revenge of a Vulture, Kill the Orcs,

01:07:04.900 --> 01:07:34.680
Great album. Awesome. For this power metal episode, that's what I'm listening to this week. Excellent. Thank you. All right. Well, for my two albums this week, the first one is kind of a surprise to me and probably to you is the new Dragon Force album, Maximum Overload. I've never really been much of a fan. As I mentioned earlier, I was like, it sounds like Journey playing really fast. But I got the promo for this the other day and I started listening to it. And, you know, it's not bad.

01:07:34.920 --> 01:08:04.780
What do you think of these guys? They used to capture me a lot. Okay. You know, when Through the Fire and Flames, when that was real big, that song. Is that the big, fast one? Yeah, that was. I remember Kirk Hammock going, what the fuck? I can't play that fast. I can't even remember what the name of that album was. But they, you know, that song was on Guitar Hero at the time. Right. Blew up because everybody was like, what the hell is this? Yeah. Then their song, sorry, then their next album came out after that something Sonic. I can't remember. Sonic Beatdown? That's it.

01:08:04.920 --> 01:08:34.620
Or was that Death Angel? No, that was them. That was them. Because they had like a space girl or something on the front of it. They kind of just trailed off because I... It wasn't that engaging. It wasn't engaging. You knew what you were going to get. This super extremely fast playing. Yeah. Maybe it's just because of the theme this week and I was open to it. But I was like, yeah, all right. You know, I'm digging it a little. It definitely pushes the envelope, or rather not the envelope, but the limit of what I'm willing to listen to. The second album,

01:08:34.920 --> 01:09:02.819
that I was listening to this week. Kinda power metal, but mostly not. The vocals are mostly harsh. This is Winter Sun and their second album, Time Part 1. This album is just so dynamic. It's huge. It's symphonic, and it's fast, and it's melodic. The fact that it has some harsh vocals in there, well, I don't know. It's still kinda power metal to me. So that's what I've been listening to this week. How about our classics? What do you got for me?

01:09:04.920 --> 01:09:34.880
year, because I didn't have it on here. Well, you already mentioned it, so I'm not going to mention it again. Luckily, I put three of these down. A couple weeks ago, on one of my classic albums, I had touched on the album by Sabotage, their Gutter Ballet album. This one, kind of an early, you could probably say early power metal. Kind of, yeah. Hall of the Mountain King. Yeah. From 19, that's what I was just looking up, from 1987. I was thinking Sabotage when I was making my list, and I was like, I don't know, they maybe went a little more prog, but you know, it's definitely

01:09:34.920 --> 01:10:03.960
Definitely reasonable to put them in this category. And then my next one, why I didn't... I had a hard time narrowing down one of their albums to put, because I know for a while they were putting out a bunch of albums and they were all kind of the same. This is Stradivarius 1996's release episode. They're one of my favorite metal bands. They kind of lost me there for a while in the 2000s because they kept releasing albums that were just kind of running the mill for them. But this was a great breakout album for them. Right on. Yeah, Stradivarius along with Sonata Artica.

01:10:04.940 --> 01:10:34.860
grabbed me. But they are great musicians. I can acknowledge that. So right on. Good choice. My first classic this week is a band called Morgana LaFay. And it's actually a compilation album. It's called Past, Present, Future. And it takes tracks from, I think it's their first three albums. I could have picked one of the first three albums and that would have been fine. But, because, you know, I don't usually tend to do greatest hits or compilations and such. But this was actually the first album that I bought by the band. This was another one of those Rock of Ages purchases in the mid-90s.

01:10:34.920 --> 01:10:36.200
where I was like,

01:10:36.300 --> 01:10:36.420
who,

01:10:36.620 --> 01:10:38.720
what does this band that looks all metal and,

01:10:39.000 --> 01:10:40.380
and I haven't heard them and they have a bunch of albums.

01:10:40.760 --> 01:10:43.720
And so I picked it up and I was like,

01:10:43.820 --> 01:10:44.200
hell yeah,

01:10:44.380 --> 01:10:46.860
this is exactly what I've been looking for here in the mid nineties.

01:10:46.980 --> 01:10:49.880
When everything is sound garden and Nirvana,

01:10:50.640 --> 01:10:51.280
not Nirvana,

01:10:51.320 --> 01:10:51.900
he was dead by then,

01:10:51.960 --> 01:10:52.240
but you know,

01:10:52.660 --> 01:10:54.320
Pearl jam and what have you.

01:10:54.760 --> 01:10:56.360
And just some really good songs on here.

01:10:56.660 --> 01:10:58.680
I really like songs like rumors of rain,

01:10:59.260 --> 01:11:00.260
alley of the oaks,

01:11:00.880 --> 01:11:04.500
battle of Evermore and the massive symphony of the damned.

01:11:04.600 --> 01:11:33.780
So make sure to check these guys out. My next classic for this week, the band didn't start out as a power metal band, but they sort of, well, they broke up for a little while and they were apart for a few years and then they came back and they had a new sound. And in 1988, they put out an album called Thundersteel. This is Riot. Yep, you had me get this. Good. Guys, you got it on vinyl just recently. Yes, I did. This album blew me away. I mean, I remember buying the cassette, Record Town in Ann Arbor, Briarwood Mall.

01:11:34.000 --> 01:12:03.940
There was a little bin out front of the store that just had a bunch of cassettes tossed in it and they were, you know, $5.99 or something like that. And I picked it up and I'm like, Riot. Not Quiet Riot, okay. Just Riot. Huh. I hadn't heard of any of their earlier albums yet. The album art looks like something out of a Marvel comic book. It does. You know, almost like, I don't know, Silver Surfer or something. And I was like, huh. Do I get it? Do I not get it? It kind of looked like a knockoff. I mean, a one word band, Riot. Not exactly, you know, in the, when there's bands,

01:12:03.980 --> 01:12:33.420
coming out like Metallica and Megadeth and Slayer. You know, the band named Riot didn't really inspire confidence, but I couldn't think of anything else to pick up that trip, so I bought it. Holy hell, this album's classic. Speaking from the viewpoint of listening to the cassette, the first side of the cassette, I didn't actually check the vinyl to see if it breaks up the same way, but the entire first side just blew me away. Thundersteel, the title track, amazing. Fight or Fall, another really good song.

01:12:33.840 --> 01:13:02.300
Sign of the Crimson Storm. That always makes me think of Sign of the Southern Cross. It's the same kind of heavy groove, just massively awesome song. And then probably my two favorite songs on the album, Back to Back, Flight of the Warrior, and On Wings of Eagles. Man, if those songs don't get you going, get you pumped up, I don't know what will. Well, when I get home to take care of my baby, I know what I'm putting on. Yeah, awesome album. If you haven't heard this yet, make sure to check it out. And unfortunately, remember we had tickets to go see these guys? No.

01:13:03.840 --> 01:13:33.560
No, we didn't have tickets. They were going on tour again, or they were about to. Yeah. Come on to Empire, and then he died. Yeah, Mark Reale died. That was tragic. It was a real loss. I remember you were really excited about that. Yeah, that would have been awesome to see him. Even though knowing our luck, they probably wouldn't have played. Why is that? Because remember, that always happens. Remember these bands have a catalog? A lot of the old stuff, you wouldn't hear, they maybe play a track or two. That's true. That's true. Speaking about concerts and stuff on this power metal episode, surprisingly,

01:13:33.940 --> 01:14:03.140
enough, I have never seen, aside from my three inches of Manowar, I've never seen a power metal band live. Really? Yep. I've never seen your Hammer Falls, your Blind Guardians, your any of the, well, Rhapsody. Yeah, we saw Rhapsody and Manowar. But yeah, I've never seen any of these bands at all. Stick with me, kid. I know you had a horrible experience at a Blind Guardian show once. Yes, I went to see Blind Guardian at Jack's,

01:14:04.820 --> 01:14:33.680
And I think the opening band of some local band didn't show up. And for whatever reason, they made us wait outside like two extra hours past door time in like January. Now, I don't know if you've ever been to a heavy metal show before, but metalheads are not standing outside the show in their warm, toasty jackets waiting to get in. No, they're out there. If in anything, denim and leather brings us all together. Nice. You know, but.

01:14:33.840 --> 01:15:03.820
I mean there were people out there in t-shirts you know that's not uncommon I think I was wearing actually I don't think I was wearing anything I think I was just wearing a t-shirt because I don't think I had a leather jacket anymore and I certainly wasn't wearing a jean jacket so yeah I was probably out there in a t-shirt for like two hours in January freezing my balls off cursing the owner of Jack's for not letting us in I was like if this was like anybody else I would have left but as blind guardian I'm like when does blind guardian come here I mean maybe they have since I I don't know but I'd never heard of them coming I

01:15:03.860 --> 01:15:33.760
I was not going to leave. And the wait was worthwhile. They did play awesome. Was it packed? Yeah, it was pretty packed. I also saw Hammerfall once. Might have been the Ice Earth show that you ditched me for. I think it probably was. Hammerfall was kind of funny on stage. Are you serious? Well, because it was at the Wrecker in Towson. It was a teeny little room. And, you know, these guys have such a big sound. And they were all decked out for, you know, a festival kind of thing. You know, they were in all their battle gear on this teeny little stage.

01:15:34.380 --> 01:16:03.820
And I just kind of felt bad because I'm like man these guys then they sounded great but it it did almost seem silly in that in at the record it's a space stripped down set boys you know yeah but hey got to give them credit for you know doing their thing no matter where they are it just seems like yeah I bring this up about not seeing these bands live because we have had such a horrible experience with the venues around here and live sound mm-hmm especially seeing death metal or other bands when the

01:16:03.860 --> 01:16:33.820
If the sound is done live, it just becomes noise at some point. Yeah. It'd be interesting to see more of these bands live and actually maybe hear a little bit better sound. Yeah. I know there are some power metal bands that come to Empire now, but I haven't actually been paying attention to the schedule much lately. I think I'm getting too old for shows. Don't say it. I've tried to get you to go to a couple. It's true. I'm like, I'm too old for this anymore. I can't go and stand up for three hours or four hours.

01:16:36.420 --> 01:17:03.820
I'm not gonna say it but people hung out with George he he hasn't put up with a lot of he has that patience for something I suffer no bullshit you make sure it's way five extra minutes all this is bullshit this is I'm not quite that bad am I I hope not but once my fuse is lit it's pretty short yes and you hold a little grudge

01:17:03.920 --> 01:17:33.820
I mean yes and no it's funny uh speaking of that in the last episode I was bitching about Metal Hammer and how my subscription drama my subscription drama of when back in April I renewed my six-month subscription on the iPad and it didn't work so here we are in July and I miss I'm like you know a couple issues behind now because the the app says I'm not subscribed when I I am and I have a receipt to prove it and their support has been dicking me around you know if I talked to one person who was

01:17:34.120 --> 01:18:03.820
and helpful but couldn't do anything about it so they passed me off to somebody else who never responded and so i waited and i emailed again and they never responded and then i bitched about them on last week's podcast and i waited a little more and i finally said all right last email this one gloves are coming off you know the first two i was very polite this email i don't want to say i wasn't polite but i was i was like back were you angry typing guy i was typing loud but i was just like look i've been

01:18:03.840 --> 01:18:33.780
I've been trying to get you to do this. You're ignoring me. Does Metal Hammer the magazine know that you, the people that are servicing them, do they know that their customers are getting such terrible service? And by the way, did you know that I have a podcast and a website where I can tell everybody what a shitty job you're doing? Well, just thought I'd mention that. Hope you can get this worked out for me. And I sent the email. And then I go and I check my email. And I had gotten an email from them like five minutes before I sent that email. But it was just a bullshit. Thank you.

01:18:33.840 --> 01:19:03.660
for being patient email. But still, I felt kind of like a dick then. I'm like, you couldn't have sent this like five minutes earlier where I would have seen it before. At least that would have, you know, diffused me for another week. Now, did that thank you for being patient email resolve your problem? No, it did not. But at least I'm willing to work with somebody if they're going to be in touch with me. You know, the site was down this week. My web host. Well, the site had two issues this week. One of them was that I got locked out of the administration.

01:19:04.060 --> 01:19:33.820
section and I couldn't get into anything. And then later on Friday, the site was actually down. But the company that I use, Hostech, is the name of the hosting service, and they are awesome. I will plug them at any chance I get. I have problems sometimes, yes, but, you know, there's always going to be problems. But their customer support is second to none. I email them any time of the day or night, week, weekend, whenever. I generally, within the hour, have an email back from them, at least acknowledging, not an automated email either, but a

01:19:33.860 --> 01:20:03.680
Somebody writing and going, hey, try this, or hey, we're looking into it. I always get a response back. And it took like two and a half days for me to get back into the back end of the site. But I was hearing from them like hourly that entire time. And they were always saying, well, try this, try this. Okay, that didn't work. Okay, try this. So, you know, I can't get mad at that. I mean, I was upset about the situation, but I couldn't blame them. Yeah. Speaking about internet troubles, totally off topic. Maybe we could talk about this in news. Do you follow Mastodon?

01:20:03.860 --> 01:20:32.500
on Twitter? I don't know. Some asshole hacker group hacked into their Twitter account and for literally the full day was sending out racist tweets, racist photos. Not cool. Totally. And I'm just sitting there watching their Twitter followers drop. And I'm feeling bad because I know you've been victim of hacker attacks before. Yeah, I had my site defaced once.

01:20:32.540 --> 01:21:02.220
And I feel bad for these guys because of course it's out of their hands. Some asshole behind the computer screen thinks it's funny to post this stuff. So that's just ridiculous. Yeah. That happened a couple days ago. But they rang with it back and deleted all those. Hopefully they get their followers back. I wanted to say that I hope that people out there have enough smarts to obviously realize that that was not. They even went in and changed their Twitter picture.

01:21:02.560 --> 01:21:32.480
some online hacking group or whatever. So I hope that people realize that obviously they were losing followers. Sure. But I hope people have to realize that, hey, it's not obviously Mastodon. Yeah. Well, you know, they're a big band. They're a popular band. I'm sure if people don't come around, they'll at least get new followers. Yeah. Very soon. All right. Well, I think we're just about ready to wrap up this week's episode. I don't want to end. No. Was it good for you? We've been talking about doing a power metal episode for a while.

01:21:32.560 --> 01:21:33.540
Yes, we have.

01:21:33.920 --> 01:21:41.540
Yeah, even though this is only the ninth episode, but we've been talking about it since pretty much the beginning. So I hope it was all that you had hoped it would be.

01:21:41.760 --> 01:21:47.080
It was. I just, I feel bad now. Got my list. I feel like I let myself down.

01:21:47.400 --> 01:21:48.320
What, with Lost Horizon?

01:21:48.540 --> 01:21:48.860
Yes.

01:21:49.140 --> 01:21:49.380
Nah.

01:21:49.520 --> 01:21:50.260
It's not that big a deal.

01:21:50.480 --> 01:21:52.100
Man, that's a good pick, though.

01:21:52.380 --> 01:21:52.580
Yeah.

01:21:52.780 --> 01:21:54.500
I think I know what I'm listening to when I pull out of here.

01:21:55.120 --> 01:21:55.520
Right on.

01:21:56.560 --> 01:22:02.080
All right, well, we still have one more song to play. Before we do, though, I just want to thank A Sound of Thunder,

01:22:02.160 --> 01:22:18.340
and Unleash the Archers for letting us play these songs today. I can't wait to hear your new music, and I hope we'll be talking real soon, just as soon as I figure out how to do that. All right, here we are. This is Unleash the Archers and General of the Dark Army. See you next time. Later.

01:23:21.740 --> 01:23:23.140
Yeah!

01:23:43.240 --> 01:23:44.220
GENERAL!

01:23:47.720 --> 01:23:49.940
Beware the generals

01:23:53.000 --> 01:23:58.360
His army come to combat the doors

01:24:03.260 --> 01:24:07.280
The universe will stop the gas,

01:24:07.740 --> 01:24:11.180
his sins, your dead will cry,

01:24:11.920 --> 01:24:15.900
he will wash it and smile, feel good inside.

01:24:17.240 --> 01:24:21.780
So, so, but again, your back end will lie,

01:24:22.060 --> 01:24:26.780
as bright as dark, he will slaughter you all,

01:24:26.920 --> 01:24:29.940
With a heart, revoke,

01:24:30.220 --> 01:24:31.900
To burn in the blood,

01:24:32.920 --> 01:24:34.180
Sustainable blood,

01:24:35.320 --> 01:24:37.360
To win till the night,

01:24:38.000 --> 01:24:38.820
For the young,

01:24:39.280 --> 01:24:42.440
Hunger falls to attack,

01:24:43.260 --> 01:24:45.260
Striking for The Art,

01:24:45.600 --> 01:24:47.680
Flecking for The Sun,

01:24:50.320 --> 01:24:54.060
His evil crawls into your mind,

01:24:54.100 --> 01:24:58.580
Sending shivers down your spine, here's an eye

01:25:21.120 --> 01:25:22.700
EARTH EAR

01:25:56.340 --> 01:26:00.480
The flame is just so

01:26:17.620 --> 01:26:20.240
The attack, shut up!

01:26:20.360 --> 01:26:50.320
Hunger for good times Striking for the odds Flecking from the sand His devour crawls into your mind Sending shivers down his spine He has an eye Snow-dive

01:26:50.340 --> 01:27:18.900
No they deserve it Rejoice

01:27:20.320 --> 01:27:22.960
No lies

01:27:23.320 --> 01:27:26.040
They deserve

01:27:44.600 --> 01:27:46.000
Rattribution!

01:27:50.960 --> 01:27:54.400
Will never die!

01:28:05.340 --> 01:28:25.720
Hunger for the dark Striking for the odds Flicking from the sad Hasty food crawls into your mind Stending shivers down your spine Here's an eye

01:29:01.620 --> 01:29:07.060
Oh, holy crap!

01:29:29.080 --> 01:29:35.320
I can't believe in