Black Label Society- Mafia (Not too bad of a cd, although it did take a few listens for it to grow on me. I got this cd because it has the track "In this River". I liked that track and decided to take a chance on it.)
Then I found some good old fashioned Blind Guardian! I got "Forgotten Tales" which is a collection of covers (which include "Surfin' USA" and that is a pretty kickin' cover if you ask me.) and other tracks performed alternatively. It's pretty neat. Then I found "Nightfall in Middle Earth" and its a concept album based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillion. I like albums that do that kind of thing, like an album that has an overall theme. "Operation: Mindcrime" being among my favorite concept albums because it's done so well. Back to the album, I haven't read the book so I couldn't tell you if it followed it or not. It does create the feeling that you are in Middle Earth and traveling on some epic adventure. Few albums have that power but this is one of them. If you like Swedish Power Metal this is a must! They also happened to have Blind Guardian Live so I figured I might as well pick it up as well, aster all it was two discs for $6. After listening to them live I think they are just as good if not better live than on the cd. Another thing that's always a plus for me is the album cover, and BG has some pretty sick covers. Just see for yourself.
Nightfall in Middle Earth
I had to pick up something Dream Theater related so I got the only thing they had, the "Chaos in Motion" dvd. It's a two disc dvd with one disc having a bunch of songs performed around the world at different concerts and the second is a behind the scenes type of things. I haven't watched them both yet but what little I've seen I like. Luckily it was shot before Mike Portnoy left.
Of course no purchase is complete without some Maiden. That's right I got Iron Maiden's classic "Number of the Beast"! (I'm listening to it as I type this.) It's the first album with Bruce on vocals and it's pretty awesome! (Like all Maiden) The first track "Invaders" is to me a little bit comical. He's singing about invaders raping and pillaging but the music is happy and up beat. I laugh every time I listen to it cause I just can't take it seriously. Then It takes a more serious turn to "Children of the Damned" and the music fits the song perfectly. I'll go more in depth later on the Iron Maiden post I'm planning on doing. But now I almost have all of Bruce's Iron Maiden albums. I think I'm only missing "No Prayer for the Dying", Fear of the Dark", "Brave New World", and "Final Frontier".
BUY IT!
This next one is different. My friend bought a used RED cd and turned out that someone had switched the disc. It was switched with a Lordi disc called "The Arcokaplypse". Of course he didn't want it so he just gave it to me. I think it might be a concept album but I really have no idea. I don't even know that much about Lordi I had only heard of them before this. The music is a mix between death metal and high pitched clean vocals, really different sounding if you ask me. I think it's suppose to be funny, I mean just look at the title. It was free so I can't complain.
Oh, so that's what the cover looks like haha
Up next I got a classic thrash album from a band that probably no one has heard of, Onslaught. This album titled "The Force" (Nothing to do with Star Wars I assure you.) came out in 1986, the same year Slayer's "Reign in Blood". "The Force", although the production is not the best, the musicianship and riffs are way better than anything on "Reign in Blood". Why am I comparing these two albums? Well they are both thrash albums, they both came out in 1986, and......they are both "satanic" (or so they claim to be). I've listened to both "Reign in Blood" and "The Force" and I can't really say they are out right satanic. They sing ABOUT Satan but it's nothing like Black Metal where they profess their trust in him. What I thought was funny is that one song on "The Force" actually took a passage from Revelations and put it to song. They weren't slamming the Bible just singing along with it. Where "Reign in Blood" was a fast slaughter house sounding record, "The Force" mixed it up and every song actually sounds different. Each song has a unique riff and beat. You can defiantly tell that Onslaught was heavily influenced by Merciful Fate with the high pitched clean vocals they use. So if you want some good old school thrash that's not Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, or any other big named band check this out if you can find it. "The Force" isn't by far a masterpiece of thrash but it's leaps and bounds a head of "Reign in Blood".
OH NO! Pentagram must be satanic!
Finally I got Stratovarius' newest "Elysium". What can I say it's Stratovarius. Excellent Swedish Power Metal. The last album by these guys I got was "Elements Part 1" and I think that was back in 2003 when that came out. They've stayed pretty close to the same sound except maybe getting a heavy sound but that's not a bad thing at all. And the title track is an 18 minute epic so of course I love it.
That's all I got this time and I think everything was used except for the dvd. I think used cds are the way to go. Anyways, until next time.......keep it METAL \m/
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