New Year, New Music

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Not metal, but a bit of a dream team for me. Pop-rock violinist Lindsay Stirling paired up with vocalist Chrissy Constanza of the band Against the Current for "Eye of the Untold Her (Echo in the Dark)". I am a fan of both artists and this is a great performances by both. And it's actually pretty heavy, though probably a stretch to call it metal. That long title sounds like it belongs on a prog album, to be honest.

 
Mendalla said:
Not metal, but a bit of a dream team for me. Pop-rock violinist Lindsay Stirling paired up with vocalist Chrissy Constanza of the band Against the Current for "Eye of the Untold Her (Echo in the Dark)". I am a fan of both artists and this is a great performances by both. And it's actually pretty heavy, though probably a stretch to call it metal. That long title sounds like it belongs on a prog album, to be honest.

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Sterling is the one of the violinists that made my granddaughter switch from piano to violin at the age of 11. She is good at it now that she's turning 13 in Feb. and she absolutely loves it!
 
Not new music but, sadly, in memoriam. German bassist Francis Bucholtz, who played in the classic 1973-92 lineup of Scorpions has died from cancer at 71. That was the period when they hit it big in North America with songs like "Rock You Like A Hurricane". Bucholtz went on to a couple other German bands, including Temple of Rock founded by another ex-Scorpion, Michael Schenker (whose brother Rudolf started Scorpions). He was apparently also an entrepreneur, starting a company that, among other things, provided employment for Scorpions roadies when the band was off the road. Nice guy, in other words. RIP.

From 1984, one of Scorpions' biggest hits in North America and the song that introduced me, and most of Gen X here, to the band. And man, those lyrics are still pretty racy even today.


Okay, I might be wrong on that being my first exposure to Scorpions now that I look at "No One Like You". For some reason I forgot that this one actually came first.


And the incredible power ballad that the band put out in 1990 that became a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and other incredible events that happened in Europe on the cusp of the nineties.


The band started in 1965 so is as old as me. Some of the current lineup are younger than the band itself. Founder Rudolf Schenker is still going strong at 77 and vocalist Klaus Meine (joined in 1969) is the same age. So this band is probably in its twilight now but they still tour (I see videos from their concerts pretty regularly) and even released new material as recently as 2022.
 
Hurricane? Some power would have felt ... marked that ... if only to disconnect as a strike out! Begins another order ... phi*lem?
 
While this performance came after Bucholtz left Scorpions, the song first came out on Love At First Sting, the same album as "Rock You Like A Hurricane". This version features some terrific violin work by Anglo-Thai violinist Vanessa Mae, who was a fairly big star at the time (mid-1990s) and something of a predecessor to modern rock string players like Lindsay Stirling (see above), Mia Asano, and Tina Guo. It's another of their great power ballads.

 
My prog faves Solstice have a new live album and video dropping next month titled Clann : The Stables Gathering. It's a concert both promoting Clann and highlighting the band's long history. The first clip released is "Cheyenne" which dates back to 1984's debut album Silent Dance. They add a sax for this performance, which proves a nice touch-up for their sound. It appears they also added a third backup singer, plus with the sax taking over parts usually done by the violin, violinist Jenny Newman focuses on vocals as well. So once you add in lead vocalist Jess Holland, you have a rock band with a vocal quintet. Love it.

 
Aussie-born, UK-based Ebony Buckle has a wonderful voice and her solo albums are terrific. I discovered her through Solstice, where she is one of their team of vocalists as well as occasionally augmenting Steven McDaniel on keys. She mostly sings harmony and backup in the band, but sang lead on a remake of one of their old songs (Earthsong 2025, already posted in another post in this thread) and that got my attention.

I listened to Myths From the Megaverse , her 2022 collection of covers this morning and it's ... wow. Gorgeous renditions of songs from The Pretenders, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, and more. The description for one of the videos says she let patrons on her Patreon pick the tracks. It ends with one of her originals, co-written with her husband and regular collaborator Nick Burns. She also has two studio albums of her own stuff, again with Nick along for the ride.

"Morning of my life"was written in 1965 by Barry Gibb and later recorded by his band the Bee Gees. Ebony uses it as the leadoff track on the album.


"Sweet Dancer" by The Waterboys was new to me. Lovely song and Ebony sounds wonderful on it.

 
Edge of Paradise is an American metal band that, like a lot of contemporary metal, draws on a variety of sounds and styles. Frontwoman and band leader is Margarita Monet, another of those big-voiced, incredibly talented female metal singers that I adore. Martyr (Monster) is their latest single and a good intro.

 
This probably does not have a hope in hell of showing up at the Junos but it is incredibly awesome Can-con nonetheless. It features Canadian rock guitarist Cole Rolland, who has been something of a fixture on YouTube for years but also has a more conventional career going, teaming with (swoon) Montreal death metal queen Alissa White-Gluz. It's a nice banger of a song, mostly sung clean but Alissa still gets in a few of her trademark growls. Cole's guitar work is, as always, sublime. The pair co-wrote the song along with Toronto singer-songwriter Lauren Babic and Cole produced.

 
Three talented sisters starting a band and going viral while still kids sounds like a movie script. But it is the real life story of The Warning. Daniela, Paulina, and Alejandra Villereal aren't kids anymore, though. All are in their twenties with several albums under their belt. The band are winning awards, tearing up the charts, and playing stages around the world. They have, in short, become one of the world's greatest rock bands while still all under 30.

The band's latest:


And from 11 years ago, the video that launched them.

 
A decade later, in a concert at Pepsi CDMX Centre in their native Monterrey, Mexico, the band unleashed this powerful new arrangement of "Enter Sandman".

 
New band to me but a terrific intro. Seventh Wonder is a progressive metal from Sweden born on the cusp of the new millennium in 2000. They've been through four lead singers in their 25 years, with this song being the debut of Mattias Olofsson, the latest. Mattias packs a strong, skilled voice which he'll need.. The previous lead was the wonderful Swedish metal vocalist Tommy Karevik, leaving Mattias with big shoes to fill (Karevik's main gig is American prog metal band Kamelot).


And Vancouver BC's Spiritbox came up empty-handed again after receiving their third nomination for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy awards. However, we got this great performance of "Soft Spine", the song for which they were nominated. The creative way they bring together death metal, hardcore, and even pop sounds really deserves something. Maybe a Juno, at least?

 
Mendalla said:
New band to me but a terrific intro. Seventh Wonder is a progressive metal from Sweden born on the cusp of the new millennium in 2000. They've been through four lead singers in their 25 years, with this song being the debut of Mattias Olofsson, the latest. Mattias packs a strong, skilled voice which he'll need.. The previous lead was the wonderful Swedish metal vocalist Tommy Karevik, leaving Mattias with big shoes to fill (Karevik's main gig is American prog metal band Kamelot).


And Vancouver BC's Spiritbox came up empty-handed again after receiving their third nomination for Best Metal Performance at the Grammy awards. However, we got this great performance of "Soft Spine", the song for which they were nominated. The creative way they bring together death metal, hardcore, and even pop sounds really deserves something. Maybe a Juno, at least?

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I can’t make out a word she’s saying but, by the sounds of it, I definitely wouldn’t want to be around her when she’s not having her best day lol.
 
Kimmio Laughterlove said:
I can’t make out a word she’s saying but, by the sounds of it, I definitely wouldn’t want to be around her when she’s not having her best day lol.
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LOL. Harsh vocals aren't for everyone. Witness the general lack of death metal and related in the Grammys (the Junos, on the other hand, have given awards to actual death metal).

Courtney is actually kind of sweet if you hear her interviewed. Someone mistook her for the American pop metalcore star Poppy at the previous Grammys a year ago and she just joked about it. They have actually sung together a couple times and would probably make for a good co-headliner tour someday.
 
Luce NDs said:
Is death metal a stelae item ... upright stones? Resemble cache ...
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No idea what that means. Death metal is heavy metal with heavy riffing guitars, fast heavy rhythms including blast beats, and growled and screamed vocals, all of which have influenced and become a part of other genres of metal nowadays. Thematically, tends to be quite dark with themes of death, darkness, depression and so on (hey, look at the name). No silly love songs here. Look up Cannibal Corpse if you want to hear it in its purest form. Corpsegrinder, their lead singer, is kind of the Platonic ideal of death metal. He's one of Courtney's inspirations, to take it back to Spiritbox.

Death Metal Gore GIF by Metal Blade Records
 
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Jeff Tweedy from the 90s indie band Wilco, with his two sons, Jewish on their mother’s side - singing a Jewish prayer for Minneapolis. I haven’t found out yet if they put it to music or if it was already a song.


Here’s the article I found it in.
www.kveller.com

Wilco's Jeff Tweedy and Sons Dedicate This Rendition of 'Mi Sheberach' to Minneapolis – Kveller

Last week, Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy and his two sons, Spencer and Sammy, shared a moving rendition of Debbie Friedman’s beautiful tune for the Jewish prayer for healing, the Mi Sheberach. The recording is dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, after the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti...
www.kveller.com www.kveller.com
 
Never been a huge Wilco fan but have always appreciated Jeff's work both in music and other spheres. He's one of the greats of that generation of musicians.
 
Some new music that caught my eye today. Some headbanging and raising of horns is appropriate for these.

First up, Germans Lord of the Lost and Saltatio Mortis teaming up for a new tune. Not sure exactly whose album this is on. Both do a lot of collaborations.


Then we have Dutch metal supergroup Ayreon with a tune that leans into a folk metal sound. Vocalist for most of it is Mike Mills with Marcela Bovio and Irene Jansen joining in near the end. From the upcoming DVD of the band's 30th anniversary show from last year.


Next up is a bit of a rarity, a father & sons metal band. Because nothing says loving family like blast beats and growls. :giggle: Drummer Anders Johansson is the father. The sons are Karl on bass, keys, and growls and Nick on lead guitar. Clean vocals are by Mike Andersson, the sole non-Johansson in the band.


And finally, a new British heavy metal band that is squarely in the classic British heavy metal tradition. Similarities to bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden are entirely not coincidental. They are fairly new, forming as a band in 2022 after first being "conceptualized" in 2018. First album followed in 2023 with second due later this year. Perhaps not surprisingly, they've built their audience touring with some of their idols, including KK's Priest, formed by ex-Judas Priest guitarist K. K. Downing, Armored Saint, and Paul Di'Anno, who fronted Iron Maiden for a spell when Bruce Dickinson left.

 
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