What bands/albums have you listened to recently?

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Below I have described everything I remembered from what I've listened to during the time I haven't posted in this thread. I won't write about Within Temptation right now, perhaps later.

Eluveitie

Wikipedia

Eluveitie is a folk metal band from Switzerland. Their music can be characterized as "Celtic folk metal with elements of melodic death metal." The band was formed in 2002.

Genre: Folk Metal, Melodic Death Metal
They sing in English and sometimes in the half-forgotten, but no less beautiful, Celtic language.

In my opinion, it's total garbage. The guys hadn't learned how to do it yet; they didn't get it right the first time. Monotonous music, a dreary choir, low-quality growls.

Now this is listenable, and quite decent. The vocalist has more or less learned how to growl, and overall it doesn't sound dreary. A song from the demo/EP made it into the album, Uis Elveti; comparing it to the demo, this one is well-performed.
It's nice that birds chirp and a brook gurgles throughout the album; I love that kind of thing. As a result, the songs transition smoothly from one to another. Though, nature is only noticeable at the beginning of the album :(
Still, there are often powerful sections with lots of blast beats; IMHO they over-heavied it and it's completely out of place (Uis Elveti, Of Fire Wind & Wisdom, The Song Of Life, The Endless Knot).
Very good instrumentals at the beginning and end (Spirit, AnDro), cute little folk-metal.
When I first heard the chorus of Tegernakô, I immediately felt happy and joyful, and wanted to dance :)
I like the songs Spirit, Your Gaulish War, The Song of Life, Tegernakô, The Dance Of Victory, AnDro.

The guys have gained more experience. Overall, it's a higher-quality album, although I didn't put all the compositions in my favorites folder. There are already some "masterpieces for own taste" songs (Inis Mona, Slania’s Song).
Slania’s Song has entirely Celtic lyrics and is sung with female vocals, which is unusual for this band. By the way, this was the first Eluveitie song I heard. I loved it wildly, which led me to download their discography :)
Of course, the album is diluted with instrumental compositions: Samon, Anagantios (non-metal), Giamonios (also non-metal), Elembvios.
I added Primordial Breath, Inis Mona, Gray Sublime Archon, The Somber Lay, Slania's Song, Elembivos to my favorites.

This album differs significantly from the others. It's no longer Folk Melodic Death Metal, but lighter Folk, Folk-Pop, Folk-Rock. I have a strange opinion: overall I like the album, but individually I only listen to four songs.
Brictom and Omnos were previously released as the single "Omnos". Entirely Celtic lyrics, female vocals. It sounds quite pleasant. Folk lovers should by no means overlook this! You'll miss out on a lot.
A masterpiece is Dessumiis Luge. IMHO. One of my favorite songs overall. Such a shamanic song. I'll provide a quote from the official Russian fan site of the band:
[quote= www.eluveitie.ru]Anna: These kinds of songs are called strange. The music perfectly reflects the lyrical component, which touches upon the theme of a very dark curse. The text was written during the time of the Gallic battle with the Romans and is directed against Roman rulers. You can hear the names of many Romans in it who, naturally, were victims of the curse. Perhaps this isn't the kind of song you can listen to for days on end, but it's quite suitable for certain special moments in life.

Chrigel: Yes, I agree with Anna! When I first heard the song (by the way, written by Anna and Meri), my first thoughts were: "Damn, this is just hellishly strange!" But at the same time, it's cool. For me personally, this track is the musical embodiment of a curse![/quote]
Yes, indeed, a curse, shamanism. I don't even know what else to say about it :) Writing about music is like dancing about architecture (c) You have to listen)
By the way, I even learned the lyrics to this song by heart, with Celtic phonetics, because I wanted to sing along)
And The Arcane Dominion is the fourth song I like; also quite pleasant, moving into folk-metal toward the middle.
Otherwise, IMHO it's just ordinary folk; there is similar music that is better, although many consider this album quite high-quality for its genre.

There is also a 2010 album Everything Remains (As It Never Was), but I haven't gotten around to it yet :( I listened to it fully a couple of times, but didn't find anything noteworthy so far, except for the quite good song "Thousandfold".

Overall, pleasant impressions of the band, but they don't make it into my top 5 favorite artists. I strongly recommend folk-metal fans listen to them, just don't start with the demo.

Graveworm

Wikipedia

Graveworm is an Italian symphonic black metal band formed in 1993. The band's name was created back when the band played death metal in the vein of Deicide, when the drummer saw "Graveworm" as a song title on one of Benediction's CDs.

Genre: Symphonic Metal, Melodic Black Metal
It does a good job of curing my depression and preventing bad moods, as all heavy music does for me. Angry lyrics.
Wonderful growls and screams; one of the best vocalists. He can hold a scream for up to 30 seconds! Overall very high-quality symphonic black, so they say (this is the only symphonic black metal band I've listened to).
For some reason, I don't like blast beats or tremolo in other bands, but here they harmonize with all the music and really deliver.
At first glance it seems wildly monotonous, but over time I began to distinguish the songs.
I don't have much more to say about the band) especially regarding detailed album descriptions. I'll only say that "Engraved In Black" cures depression better than the others, and "Collateral Defect" is worse than the other two. "Engraved In Black" and "(N)Utopia" deliver equally.
I've listened to only three albums; I haven't gotten around to the rest. I've underlined my favorite songs.

Amatory
[AMATORY] (Eng. loving, Lat. inevitability) — an alt-metal band formed in 2001 in Saint Petersburg. (c) Wikipedia
Genre: Metalcore, Nu-Metal, Alternative
Many trash this band, but I liked the album "Inevitability". I also listened to "Book of the Dead"; didn't like it much, but I only listened to a bit of it, so I won't write about it for now.
They are also criticized for the growls; people say the vocalist can't growl at all, but I like it—a very good snarl IMHO, much better than many others.
Like Graveworm, they do a good job of curing bad moods; the lyrics are even angrier.
I like almost all the songs.

The last song is mind-blowing, very much so; it's anxious.

Therion

Wikipedia

Therion is a Swedish musical group founded in 1987 by guitarist Christofer Johnsson. Therion are considered among the founders and key performers of the symphonic metal style: its compositions are recorded and performed with the participation of live orchestras, guest opera vocalists, and choirs. Most of the band's songs concern various mystical teachings and the mythology of the world's peoples. The word Therion (θηρίον) comes from the Greek language and means "beast" or "monster".

A bit about the group in my own words: first they played all kinds of Death Metal, which I listened to a bit, including Therion's. Then almost the entire lineup changed, and they suddenly started playing Symphonic Metal, releasing the world's first symphonic metal album. It's called Theli; I listened to it a bit, but it was somewhat dreary. Now albums like Vovin, Lemuria, Sirius-B are masterpieces. They now play simply unique music of very high quality.
Early Therion lyrics were typical for Death Metal: problems of the world, society, etc., but then they suddenly switched to various mythologies, legends, tales, mysticism, cults, religions, and so on.
I've listened to only one album, which is enough to give a description. This is my favorite album overall (even better than any Nightwish for me! However, Nightwish still remains my favorite band). I like every single song without exception, and wildly so. Even Nightwish doesn't have an album like this)

1. Typhon
Typhon is a monstrous titan from Greek mythology who rose against the gods. (c) Wikipedia
A powerful start to the album, smells like Melodic Death.
2. Uthark Runa
Uthark is a theory about a hidden message in the runic alphabet (c) Wikipedia
The clean vocals are beautiful, the choir is excellent, and the melody is original and pleasant. Actually, it's like that in all the songs on this album) All are original and unlike each other; there are no "filler" songs.
3.-4. Three Ships Of Berik
Berik was a leader of Gothic tribes, a conqueror mentioned in the chronicles of the historian Jordanes. (c) Wikipedia
Like in the first song, there's growling and a bit of thrash here; very pleasant song. Well, I don't know what else to say, I don't know how to write reviews, and as I said, you should listen to music rather than read about it :)
I just don't understand why they split it into two parts; it's inconvenient and pointless.
5. Lemuria
Lemuria is a mythical sunken land in the Indian Ocean. (c) Wikipedia
Oh, this is the most genius acoustic composition I have ever heard! Pleasant clean "dreamy" vocals, and at the end, a short flute part; very beautiful.
6. Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl is the feathered god of the Aztecs. (c) Wikipedia
Lovely piano beginning, Spanish language in the chorus, and three balalaikas in the second verse! Mind-boggling.
7. The Dreams Of Swedenborg
Emanuel Swedenborg was a Swedish philosopher and theologian (c) Wikipedia
When I first heard it, it seemed that the beginning of the song was the weakest (and only weak) spot in the album. But then I realized that it harmonizes well with the song and the album as a whole. I just don't like such a beginning in a vacuum. That "dreamy" vocal again.
8. An Arrow From The Sun
A song about Abaris, a priest of Apollo who healed with the god's golden arrow. (c) Wikipedia
The chorus is especially good. And the verses too. Everything is great! :)
9. Abraxas
Abraxax is a fictional symbolic creature in the form of a rooster from the beliefs of Gnostics. (c) Wikipedia
The song that prompted me to download the album, and then the band's discography. One of my favorite songs overall. I won't write anything; this fairytale music is impossible to describe in words. You have to listen to it. Many times :)
10. Feuer Overtüre / Prometheus Entfesselt
Prometheus is a titan of Greek mythology who gave fire to humans and was chained to a rock for this. The song tells of his liberation by Hercules. (c) Wikipedia
A clear nod to Rammstein, yet the song managed to preserve something that makes it original, distinguishing it from the famous German industrial group. It's not even about the choir or the peculiar vocals—or rather, not only that.

All the music is envably simple, yet wildly genius. The guitar work isn't exactly masterful, but the album doesn't require that.
By the way, nineteen musicians, an orchestra, and a choir participated in creating the album.

metallibrary.ru

Band Lineup:
Christofer Johnsson – rhythm guitar, vocals, keyboards
Kristian Niemann – electric and acoustic guitars
Johann Niemann – bass
Guest Musicians:
Richard Evensand – drums
Steen Rasmussen – Mellotron on 5, Hammond
Jens Nyborg – first balalaika 1, first domra, alto domra
Sven Lindblad – first balalaika 2
Kavi Björkqvist – first balalaika 3
Mats Levén – vocals
Piots Wawrzeniuk – vocals
Peter Mossman – narration
Anna-Maria Krawe – soprano
Jana Bínová-Koucká – soprano
Karolína Vocadlocá – alto
Ulrika Skarby – alto
Tomáš Černý – tenor
Michael Schmidberger – bass
Jitka Tomšíková – oboe
Petra Čermáková – English horn
The City Of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Kühn Mixed Choir

Everyone should listen, regardless of whether you like symphonic metal or not :)
And if you do, then you simply have no right not to hear this :)
Also, after listening to this album, I don't want to listen to anything else, except maybe this album again) Or other Therion albums, or Nightwish, because I don't want to spoil the impression with other music, which seems quite dreary and low-quality.

Currently in my "listening" process are Epidemia – Elven Manuscript, Rhapsody – Legendary Tales, Rhapsody - Symphony Of Enchanted Lands, Corvus Corax – Cantus Buranus. These are the main ones, but there are also many "scraps" of things I bit into or tried long ago but still haven't finished :)

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What bands/albums have you listened to recently?