posted
I just discovered these two bands tonight while going on one of my monthly music downloading sprees. The target this time was celtic/scottish/irish folk music. I got a lot of that, but in the process found these two. The first song I found was amazing. It was great singing, cool acoustic guitar, backed up by all sorts of stuff including some pretty eirie heavy metal guitar from time to time. I loved it.
So I went to find some more about the bands. I ran a search for them. Iced Earth first. Huh, those are some pretty dark and gross song names. That was a bit of a turn off. I ran a search for Blind Guardian next, ooo! They had a song called Lord of the Rings which I dowloaded, but again they also had a lot of pretty dark song names. So I looked both bands up on the web. WOAH! From its description on the web Blind Guardian was the ultimate geek band. Their focus was fantasy! They have an entire album devoted to Lord of the Rings(well really The Silmarillion, even geekier ), called Nightfall in Middle Earth. I looked up Iced Earth and they had a similar focus, although theirs was more fantasy horror (explains the song names). So my next thought was COOL! I went to download them and found a fair amount of their music. As I was listening to it, the more I listened to the more I got turned off. They are both capable of some AMAZING stuff. But for the most part they do typical heavy metal which isn't all that great or special. Just... loud, heavy and dark. Which really isn't my kinda thing. Turns out the song I'd first downloaded was from a combined album the two band leaders did called Demons and Wizards. Cool name, but again most of its just standard dark heavy metal. So I finished my search feeling rather down. While I love the concept of the bands and their themes, I really don't like most of their music that much, save for that rare piece where they pull out the acoustic and all sorts of other neat stuff. They have a few, but they are few and far between. Oh well. Has anyone else run across these guys and if so, can you recommend some of their lighter pieces?
posted
I would not really call describe the album as lighter, but Iced Earth's The Glorious Burden primarily focuses on American patriotism, as well as war in general. The band in general is pretty loud, heavy, and dark though. I only have three of their albums, but AFAIK most of their other work is about the same. I would go with The Glorious Burden if you want the least dark album. Personally I liked Horror Show better, which being based on classic horror films is darker, but not as dark as some of their other work.
I have not listened to much Blind Guardian at all, but how dark can a work based on The Silmarillion be? I get the impression that in general they are less dark than Iced Earth.
HammerFall have a somewhat similar sound, and could not be called dark at all. Even Child of the Damned from their first album is downright upbeat. However, their subject matter is simpler than either of the above two groups. They are about as pop as power metal can get.
My namesake is darker, though. He is the most evil singer in the entire world. Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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There are few if any metal groups that manage to entirely avoid cheese. If you escape the "I am so evil" and swords and sorcery, you run into singing about Alexander the Great and Coleridge's poems.
Posts: 1364 | Registered: Feb 2003
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), called Nightfall in Middle Earth. I looked up Iced Earth and they had a similar focus, although theirs was more fantasy horror (explains the song names). So my next thought was COOL! I went to download them and found a fair amount of their music. As I was listening to it, the more I listened to the more I got turned off. They are both capable of some AMAZING stuff. But for the most part they do typical heavy metal which isn't all that great or special. Just... loud, heavy and dark. Which really isn't my kinda thing. Turns out the song I'd first downloaded was from a combined album the two band leaders did called Demons and Wizards. Cool name, but again most of its just standard dark heavy metal. So I finished my search feeling rather down. While I love the concept of the bands and their themes, I really don't like most of their music that much, save for that rare piece where they pull out the acoustic and all sorts of other neat stuff. They have a few, but they are few and far between. Oh well. Has anyone else run across these guys and if so, can you recommend some of their lighter pieces?
