Blind Guardian

Blind Guardian is a power metal band from Germany. They originally were under the name of Lucifer's Heritage back in '84, but had to change it because another band had the same name. The original members were Hansi Kursch (vocals) and Andre Olbrich (guitars). Through many changes, they ended up with a line up of Kursch (vocals/bass) Olbrich (guitars) Thomas "Thomen the Omen" Stauch (drums) and Marcus Siepen (other guitars). The band then continued, soon they released Battalions of Fear which shows more Speed metal elements then anything. The band continued to make excellent albums, leaning more towards the power metal side of things once Somewhere Far Beyond was released. Before doing that, they released Follow the Blind, a speed metal album which is heavy, but very awesome. The band continued to be very awesome throughout the years, and in 1997 Nightfall in Middle Earth was released which is one of the most well loved and well respected power metal albums. This album is also based on Tolkien's The Silmarillion. However, during this album Hansi dropped bass and gave it to Oliver Holzwarth, who would be somewhat like the "crouching tiger of the band" for he is credited as only a studio and live member. Afterward, Blind Guardian released A Night at the Opera which is based on a Queen album. The band took a much different approach to the point where Thomen got annoyed and left the band. He was replaced by Frederick Ehmke. A few years later, they release A Twist in the Myth which is a pretty good album. They are currently working on the next album, and I suspect it will be very awesome.

Current Members
Hansi Kursch (vocals) (1986- Present)
Andre Olbrich (lead guitar) (1986- Present)
Marcus Siepen (second guitar) (1987- Present)
Frederick Ehmke (drums) (2005- Present)
Oliver Holzwarth (So called "session and live member", but he's like the fifth man of the band. He plays bass) (1995- Present)

Former Members
Thomas "Thomen the Omen" Stauch (drums) (1987-2005)
Marcus Dork (guitar, only played during the demo years)
Christoph Theissen (guitar, played during demo years)
Hans Peter Frey (drums, only played during demo years)
Thomas Kelleners (vocals, 1984, I don't believe he was included in any albums).

Recommended Works
Albums of Blind Guardian are always awesome, but here are the top guns, the creams of the crop, etc.
Battalions of Fear - The perfect no filler all killer album. This album is a speed metal masterpiece. It combines fast paced guitars, fast drumming and cool vocals all into perfect harmony of melody, rhythm and speed. Choice cuts from the album are Majesty, Run for the night, and pretty much the whole damn thing.

Nightfall in Middle-Earth - Ah, the filler but still killer album. The reason there is filler is because, well, it's needed to tell the story in the album. This is one of the most well received albums by critics, and for a good reason. The melodies are beautiful, the rhythm is fierce, and it is still somewhat fast. It's a tremendous feat. Choice cuts include Into the Storm, Mirror Mirror and Blood Tears.

Follow the Blind - Speed Metal with hints of thrash. This album produced so many beautiful things. From start to finish it's a wild ride. The opening track is actually one of my favorite songs, and this album produced the Power Metal Anthem (Valhalla). Overall, the album is an excellent speed metal choice. Choice cuts are Banish From Sanctuary, Valhalla, and Fast to Madness.

Essential Tracks
Banish from Sanctuary
Battalions of Fear
Mirror Mirror
Bard's Song
Valhalla

Links
Official site
Wikipedia
Metal Archives
Last.fm

Trivium

A lot of metalheads may not like them. A lot more will hate them. In my personal opininon, Trivium are a fantastic band. They were formed in Sanford, Florida in 1999 by drummer Travis Smith, bassist Brent Young and vocalist Brad Lewter. Lewter saw Matt Heafy play a cover of Metallica's "No Leaf Clover" at a school talent contest and recruited him as a guitarist to complete the line-up. Soon after their formation, Lewter quit the band and Heafy took over as vocalist, as well as playing guitar. In 2003, they recorded their debut album, Ember To Inferno, adding a lead guitarist, Corey Beaulieu. The album received mediocore reception and is probably Trivium's weakest work. However, in 2005 they released, their second album, Ascendancy, which broke them through to major success with its unusually appealing metalcore anthems. However, despite the success of Ascendancy, the band took an entirely different approach with their next album, The Crusade, instead focusing on a thrashy, heavily Metallica influenced sound. After experimenting with these different styles, Trivium seem to have found a steady balance with their latest album, Shogun, which combines elements of thrash and metalcore to make arguably their best album yet. Recently, the band has parted with long-time drummer Travis Smith and recruiting Nick Augusto to tour with them and record their recent song, Shattering The Skies Above. They're soon to start work on a new album, which will hopefully stick to the brilliant formula they seem to have found with Shogun.

Recommended Works
Shogun
This is where Trivium seem to have found their perfect sound. The album is simply fantastic. There's not one boring track and it undoubtably has many songs that will have a constant place in future live shows.

Ascendancy
I don't care if you like metalcore or not. This album is brilliant. It's spawned many of Trivium's most well known songs such as Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr and A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation.

The Crusade
The fact that it's pure, shameless Metallica worship doesn't take anything away from the fact that The Crusade is a very enjoyable album. A few of these songs would have been massive if they had been on The Black Album.

Current Members
Matt Heafy - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Corey Beaulieu - lead guitar, backing vocals
Paulo Gregolatto - bass, backing vocals
Nick Augusto - drums

Former Members
Travis Smith - drums
Brent Young - bass, backing vocals
Brad Lewter - lead vocals

Essential Tracks
Down From The Sky
Shattering The Skies Above
Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr
Throes Of Perdition
Anthem (We Are The Fire)

Links
Last.fm
Official Site
Wikipedia
Metal Archives

Nevermore

After Rain City legends Sanctuary disbanded in 1991, the subject of a bitter dispute with Epic Records for refusing to partake in the fast emerging Seattle grunge scene, Nevermore rose from the resulting ashes. Featuring the virtuoso talents of Warrel Dane (a trained opera singer) and Jeff Loomis (considered by Dave Mustaine to join Megadeth aged just 16) they ditched the power metal soundscapes of their previous band and built up a unique progressive style: a style that has evolved, becoming more refined as the years have passed. Downtuned rifforama and sweeping leads battle against impassioned vocals, dense rhythms and elements of thrash, bringing speed and complexity while the lyrics tackle heavy subject matter (Dreaming Neon Black revolves around the true story of Dane's old girlfriend, who left him to join a religious cult, never to be heard from again: he would later have nightmares of her crying out to him as she drowned). Their career highlight was to come in 2005 with the release of “This Godless Endeavor” an aggressive and versatile tour de force, featuring all that defines Nevermore but with the bonus of former Testament guitarist Steve Smyth pairing with Loomis to create an album bursting at the seams with glorious riffs and mesmerising leads. After almost 20 years together Nevermore are still fighting on the front lines, leading the way for artists like Communic to follow in their footsteps. A band not to be missed.

Recommended Works
This Godless Endeavor (LP): a near perfect masterpiece, riddled with awesome song writing and not a bad song to be found. Among the top 50 metal albums yet recorded in my eyes. An absolute must listen.

Dreaming Neon Black (LP): a rich and dark concept album, ideally enjoyed in one sitting. The creepy narrative makes for some fantastic lyrics.

Enemies of Reality (LP): an altogether thrashier album compared to previous efforts, more focused and aggressive, forgoing some of their progressiveness in favour of raw power. A good starting point to get into the band.

Current Members
Warrel Dane - Vocals
Jeff Loomis - Guitar
Jim Sheppard - Bass
Van Williams - Drums

Former Members
Pat O'Brien, Tim Calvert, Steve Smyth – Guitar
Mark Arrington – Drums


Essential Tracks
This Godless Endeavor
Never Purify
Beyond Within
Sentient 6
Born

Links
Metal Archives
Wikipedia
Last.fm

Animals as Leaders

Is there an instrumental music shaped-hole missing in your life? There is just the band to fill that gap: Animals as Leaders. This project manages to blend technically stunning melodies together with solid riffs that wash over the listener. AsL is a instrumental progressive metal band who hail from Washington DC. They are a side project for guitarist Tosin Abasi and have released one self-titled album to date. The band has stunningly little information left to report, but don’t let that fool you. If you find Jeff Loomis and Steve Vai pleasing to your ear-holes, then you will find that AsL are truly a driving force behind the genre who await your attention. Their next effort is greatly awaited.

Recommended Work

Animals as Leaders

Being the only album to recommend, it is highly suggested that the album be given a listen in one sitting. But with strong instrumental music such as this, the tracks can stand alone.

Band Members

Tosin Abasi - Guitar
Javier Reyes - Guitar
Navene Koperweis - Drums
Chebon Littlefield – Computers

Essential Tracks

Tempting Time

Thoroughly at Home

On Impulse

Links

Wikipedia

Myspace

Last.fm

There they are; Animals as Leaders.
-Brute-

Ensiferum

Ensiferum was started in 1996 by Markus Toivonen, Kimmo Miettinen, Sauli Savolainen, and Jari Mäenpää as a folk metal bandl in Helsinki, Finland. For about 5 years, Ensiferum recieved a great amount of reception for their demos and finally was decided to make an album. Soon after, Ensiferum's success shot off. But, soon after many line up changes and after producing their second full length album, Jari Mäenpää left due to success in his solo project, Wintersun. They found a replacement in Petri Lindroos, Norther's lead singer. Since then, Ensiferum has produced two other albums, Victory Songs and From Afar and has had great success with them. Their basic sound does not change with every album, but the finer parts to their album are noted changes, such as the difference of their guitar roles when Jari left and Petri came in. Their style has represented a huge front in the changing style of metal, and use their folk elements to great effect, they surely will be a band never forgotten, and will continue to crank out great albums.

Recommended Works
Victory Songs
The bands most well recieved album thus far. This album is great. After Jari left, many wondered what direction Ensiferum would go in, and they went right with this album.

Ensiferum
Their first self titled album is a favorite by far among the more hardcore fans of Ensiferum. Great album for a great band.

Current Members
Petri Lindroos - Vocals/Guitar
Markus Toivonen -Guitar/Vocals
Sami Hinkka - Bass/Vocals
Janne Parviainen - Drums
Emmi Silvennoinen - Keyboards/Vocals

Former Members
Kimmo Miettinen
Jukka-Pekka Miettinen
Sauli Savolainen
Jari Mäenpää
Oliver Fokin
Meiju Enho
Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali

Essential Tracks
Victory Song
Wanderer
Warrior's Quest
Lai Lai Hei
Into Battle

Links
Metal Archives
Wikipedia
Last.fm
Official Website

Protest the Hero

Take a firm base of post-hardcore, sprinkle on a healthy dose of Arsis-esque melodic technicality and spoon in some power metal pomp and bombast: you now have yourself the basic dough with which Ontario’s finest, Protest the Hero, are baked from, with more ingredients added to flavour the mixture (is anyone else hungry?). Formed at the tender age of fourteen in 1999, PtH are dismissed out of hand by some for their “core” influences (being signed to Vagrant Records doesn’t help much either), when in reality they hold surprising depth, with a wealth of rich lyrical content and unexpectedly mature craftsmanship for so young a band: balancing an instant punch, with hooks so big as to make Peter Pan shit himself against a complexity that invites multiple listens, all the while wearing their influences like cuff links (Coheed and Cambria and Between the Buried and Me to name but two) yet still remaining an entity all their own. The partnership between Rody Walker’s fabulous vocals and Luke Hoskin’s amazing guitar harmonies is a rather brilliant combination if I do say so myself. Musicality is something you don’t often find in modern metal, making Protest the Hero a simple joy for the ears. Ignore them for the scene they populate and miss out on something special: hang up your biases and find something wonderful.

Recommended Works
Kezia (LP): created while the band tried to balance a hectic high school schedule, the record nonetheless sounds polished: a fantastic album, especially for a debut, though more “core” heavy than later works, somewhat showing their age.

Fortress (LP): their second full length and a mighty display of fine song writing, with catchy vocal lines and astounding melodies: a pleasure to behold.

Band Members
Rody Walker – Lead Vocals
Luke Hoskin - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
Tim Millar – Rhythm guitar, Backing Vocals, Piano
Arif Mirabdolbaghi – Bass guitar, Backing Vocals
Moe Carlson – Drums

Essential Tracks
Bone Marrow
Wretch
Blindfolds Aside
Limb from Limb
Turn Soonest to the Sea


Links
Offical Site
Wikipedia
Last.fm