Posts from What bands/albums have you listened to recently? Auto-translated

Group: Keane
Genre: piano rock, Britpop, indie.
Listened to: their entire discography (as much as I could find, maybe it's not all their songs)
Liked songs: Somewhere Only We Know, Everybody's Changing (these are their best songs, in my opinion, and some of my overall favorites), A Bad Dream (it was actually played in a clinic), Love Is the End.

The group is unusual; it has only three members, two of whom play keyboards and one plays drums. To be more precise, one mainly plays piano and sings, and the other plays synthesizers, but they sometimes play guitars too (rarely).
The members met in a rather interesting way. The vocalist was born on the same day and in the same maternity hospital as the younger brother of the second keyboardist. Their mothers became friends, and their children became friends as well.

It's time to rename this thread to "What albums has Arandor listened to recently?" ;)

Group: Snow Patrol
Genre: alternative, Britpop, indie.
Listened to: the entire discography
Liked songs: Chasing Cars (a wonderful song), Run, It's Beginning to Get to Me, Make Love To Me Forever

The first two albums are a bit strange, but I liked them. The songs have similarities with Weezer, Radiohead, and Jimmy Eat World. Starting with the 3rd album, the sound became different; it's clear that the band found its own sound.

Decided to add some variety to Arandor's music blog.
Over the past couple of weeks.

Katatonia - Discouraged Ones (doom metal, gothic rock)


Initially, I didn't like the album very much, but it grew on me after a while. I would highlight the tracks I Break and Cold Ways.

God is an Astronaut - All is Violent, All is Bright (space rock, post rock, ambient)


A great album. It grabs you right away and stays with you for a long time. It's even hard to choose the best tracks – they are all very good. I'm thinking about looking for other albums by this band.

Theatres Des Vampires - Jubilaeum Anno Dracula (gothic metal, black metal, vampiric metal)


Another very good album with excellent sound. I liked the songs Love Never Dies and Dances With Satan the most.

Group: Say Anything
Genre: alternative, indie (according to Last.fm, although I have doubts about the "indie" label; there's more of a punk influence here).
Listened to: the entire discography (4 albums).
Liked songs: Alive With the Glory of Love (a friend says it's great to wake up to, and I agree. It's a good song, with a nice rhythm and a cool solo. It was also playing in a clinic), Shiksa (Girlfriend) (the vocalist is emotional, which I definitely like), That Is Why, Property (the beginning is pleasant, and then... boom!), Retarded In Love, Young Dumb and Stung, Shameless.

The first album has poor quality, and I couldn't even listen to it properly. The other three albums are good.

Group: 3 Doors Down
Genre: alternative, hard rock
Listened to: what I could find. Maybe the latest album isn't here because I don't know which one is the latest.
Liked songs: Here Without You (melodic and beautiful song), It's the Only One You've Got, When I'm Gone, and several songs in acoustic performance.

Added after 22 hours and 38 minutes
Group: Three Days Grace
Genre: alternative, hard rock
Listened to: three albums (that's all I could find for now)
Liked songs: I Hate Everything About You (I downloaded it just for this song), Over And Over, The Drugs Don't Work (acoustic song, it wasn't on the album).

Group: Kings of Leon
Genre: Indie rock, alternative, Southern rock
Listened to: everything available at the moment (5 albums + some singles)
Liked songs: On Call, Sex on Fire, Pyro.

The first two albums are in a Southern style, with music that is a mix of country, and later the band leaned more towards indie.
The group consists of four brothers (three are siblings and one is a cousin).

Group: The Calling
Genre: alternative rock
Listened to: two albums (don't think they have more)
Liked songs: Wherever You Will Go (I've known it for a long time, liked it from the first listen), One By One, and maybe something else.

Group: Coldplay
Genre: alternative rock, Britpop, indie
Listened to: two albums (2005 and 2008, i.e., the latest ones. I had their first album) + a lot of B-sides
Liked songs: A Message, Speed of Sound, 42 (the first half of the song), Viva La Vida

Group: New Found Glory
Genre: punk rock
Listened to: All albums
Liked songs: Boulders, Hold My Hand, Kiss Me (cover)

The first albums aren't very good; the music is too fast and there's almost no melody, just like in metal. The other albums are better; some calmer songs have appeared.
I don't know why I downloaded them; there's nothing special. That's it; I'll be more careful with punk from now on – listen first, then download.

Group: Empyr
Genre: alternative rock
Listened to: album Unicorn
Liked songs: Do It, Give Me More, Its Gonna Be, Goodbye

Finally, I waited for the new album from the French band Empyr. They added electronic elements to the music, and overall, it became lighter in terms of sound compared to their first album. I like that both albums have their own advantages.

Group: NeverShoutNever!
Genre: acoustic, indie, powerpop
Listened to: hard to say, approximately 1.5 albums and some smaller EP albums. I think this is all the songs that exist at the moment.
Liked songs: I Love You More Than You Will Ever Know, What Is Love?, Jane Doe, BigCityDreams, Losing It

It's been a long time since I wrote here. My last post was back in July. Since then, I've listened to very little new music, which saddens me. In general, I listen to music slowly, and I also downloaded a ton of music that I didn't like.
Below is a list of albums listened to over nearly a year that I liked the most. I'll try to list them in chronological order, although my memory is failing me now)
I've underlined the songs I loved most on each album. The absolute favorites are in bold)

[AMATORY]

Genres: metalcore, alternative metal, nu-metal.
Country: Russia
Finished listening to the album "Книга Мертвых" (Book of the Dead).

01 Помнишь
02 Семь Шагов
03 Здесь И Сейчас
04 Снег В Аду
05 Меня Больше Нет
06 Обернуться Назад
07 Отдай Свой Крик
08 Преступление Против Времени
09 Слишком Поздно...
10 Моя Правда
11 Эффект Бабочки
12 Теряешь Меня

I like it. It's lighter than the previous album (Неизбежность). Actually, there's not much more to say, nor is it necessary. I wrote about the band in my previous post.

Eluveitie

Genres: folk metal, melodic death metal.
Country: Switzerland

01 Otherworld
02 Everything Remains As It Never Was
03 Thousandfold
04 Nil
05 The Essence Of Ashes
06 Isara
07 Kingdom Come Undone
08 Quoth The Raven
09 (do) Minion
10 Setlon
11 Sempiternal Embers
12 Lugdunon
13 The Liminal Passage
14 The Otherworld Set (Bonus)
15 The Liminal Passage Set (Bonus)

Good album, although there were better ones. My favorite album by the band is Spirit, their very first one. But this one is better than Slania imho.

At The Lake

Genres: symphonic folk/gothic metal.
Country: Poland

01 Wolf's Heart
02 Silvae
03 Arrow Of Oblivion
04 White Angels
05 Decision
06 Last Drop Of The Waterfal

Very pleasant music. The band is not known worldwide and has no studio albums yet, but they have a chance to become famous. True, the vocalist has a very strong accent; at first, I didn't even realize she was singing in English until I found the lyrics via search engine. But she sings beautifully)

Next comes a lot of power metal. That was my mood for the entire second half and a couple of months.

Ария

Genres: heavy/power metal
Country: Russia

01 Смотри!
02 Грязь
03 Дезертир
04 Пытка Тишиной
05 Беги За Солнцем
06 Обман
07 Отшельник
08 Закат
09 Дьявольский Зной
10 Замкнутый Круг

I don't really like the lyrics, except for the songs "Обман" and "Отшельник". My favorite songs on the album.
The sound is good, but I don't particularly like the phonetics of the Russian language in music, which is why I rarely listen to Ария or Эпидемия.
Actually, I decided to sample Ария after hearing Отшельник; otherwise, I haven't listened to the band. And I don't really want to)

Эпидемия

Genre: power metal
Country: Russia

01 Золотые Драконы
02 Час Испытания
03 Рожденный Для Битвы
04 Пройди Свой Путь
05 Кровь Эльфов
06 На Пороге Ада
07 Вечный Воитель
08 Романс О Слезе
09 Магия И Меч
10 Осколки Прошлого
11 Эпилог
12 Всадник Из Льда

A metal opera with a fantasy theme. I won't recount the plot here, as there's no point) Great music, overall better than the Ария album.
The song "На Пороге Ада" always cheers me up and gives me hope. "Кровь Эльфов" is the longest and my favorite. I really like the solo, and the piano intro is great.
Overall, a pass. I recently downloaded the band's discography, but I don't want to listen to it yet; it will stay in waiting)

Alestorm

Genres: power metal, folk metal
Country: Scotland

01 Over the Seas
02 Captain Morgan's Revenge
03 The Huntmaster
04 Nancy the Tavern Wench
05 Death before the Mast
06 Teror on the High Seas
07 Set Sail and Conquer
08 Of Treasure
09 Wenches & Meat
10 Flower of Scotland

Metal about pirates)
Not one of the best power metal bands, there are better ones. Not much folk. But it's okay to listen to depending on your mood. I also like the pirate theme)
I like the album cover.

Dark Moor

Genre: sympho-power metal
Country: Spain

01 In The Heart Of Stone
02 A New World
03 The Gates Of Oblivion
04 Nevermore
05 Starsmaker (Elbereth)
06 Mist In The Twilight
07 By The Stange Path Of Destiny
08 The Night Of The Age
09 Your Symphony
10 The Citadel Of The Light
11 The Truth For Me
12 Dies Irae (Amadeus)
13 Mystery Of Goddess (Bonus Track)

Excellent album, I enjoyed it. Need to listen more. Good solos. True, the vocals could have been better, though they're still decent. Good interludes. Recommended.

And in the summer, I finally decided to give Rhapsody a proper listen.

Rhapsody

Genres: sympho-power metal, neoclassic metal, occasionally folk metal
Country: Italy

01 Ira Tenax
02 Warrior Of Ice
03 Rage Of The Winter
04 Forest Of Unicorns
05 Flames Of Revenge
06 Virgin Skies
07 Land Of Immortals
08 Echoes Of Tragedy
09 Lord Of The Thunder
10 Legendary Tales

01 Emerald Sword
02 Where Dragons Fly
03 Land Of Immortals (remake)

01 Epicus Furor
02 Emerald Sword
03 Wisdom Of The Kings
04 Heroes Of The Lost Valley
05 Eternal Glory
06 Beyond The Gates Of Infinity
07 Wings Of Destiny
08 The Dark Tower Of Abyss
09 Riding The Winds Of Eternity
10 Symphony Of Enchanted Lands

All of this band's albums are conceptual, also fantasy)
I didn't like the first albums much. They were kind of dull. Although the vocals are excellent.
I liked the single version of "Land of Immortals" more.
I also listened to the 1994 demos "Land Of Immortals" and 1995 "Eternal Glory", but it's just a nightmare, likely even because of the recording quality)
They had a different vocalist who can't sing, and the songs are very unfinished. But for demos, that's forgiven)

01 Lux Triumphans
02 Dawn Of Victory
03 Triumph For My Magic Steel
04 The Village Of Dwarves
05 Dargor, Shadowlord Of The Black Mountain
06 The Bloody Rage Of The Titans
07 Holy Thunderforce
08 Trolls In The Dark (Instrumental)
09 The Last Winged Unicorn
10 The Mighty Ride Of The Firelord

Now this album is much better. No, it's simply magnificent!)
There's a lot of pathos, true, but that's normal for Rhapsody)
The instrumental "Trolls in the Dark" is one of my favorite songs overall. The motif is very cheerful and folky.
It would be great if these guys recorded a small folk-metal album with more folk elements
The guitar solos are pleasing. The guitarist is great, one of the strongest guitarists of today's day
Cello! A wonderful solo in "Triumph For My Magic Steel".
I also like the band's album covers. Dragons!!1

I also listened to this single:

01 Holy Thunderforce
02 Dargor, Shadowlord Of The Black Mountain
03 Rage Of The Winter

Again, I liked the version of the underlined song from the single more than the one on the album.

01 Rain Of A Thousand Flames
02 Deadly Omen
03 Queen Of The Dark Horizons
04 Tears Of A Dying Angel
05 Elnor's Magic Valley
06 The Poem's Evil Page
07 The Wizard's Last Rhymes

A mini-album. Not the best, but not the worst either. Nothing more to say)

01 In Tenebris
02 Knightrider Of Doom
03 Power of the Dragonflame
04 The March Of The Swordmaster
05 When Demons Awake
06 Agony Is My Name
07 Lamento Eroico
08 Steelgods Of The Last Apocalypse
09 The Pride Of The Tyrant
10 Gargoyles, Angels Of Darkness

I can't quite figure this album out. Sometimes I like all the songs equally, other times only the three underlined ones. I don't understand what mood factor affects this)
The last song is 19 minutes long. Almost a record in my audio library) And it has a good start; they play very pleasantly on acoustic guitar.

Also in the summer, I listened to a band that is quite unconventional for me, or rather one of its albums.

Ю.Г.

Genres: rap. Wikipedia says it's "political rap, hardcore rap". I don't personally understand these genres)
Country: Russia.

01. Начало
02. Стали старше
03. Бьётся сердце
04. Глядя вверх (featuring Рива)
05. Одно и тоже (featuring Эл Соло)
06. Желтая рубашечка (interlude)
07. Гастрольная (featuring Каста, Змей)
08. Родителям (full version)
09. Культуре посвящаю (featuring Карандаш)
10. Игры патриотов
11. Вышеназванные (interlude)
12. Мутно
13. Сделай вдох (featuring Рива)
14. Картинки (99 тактов)
15. Пушка (interlude)
16. Три хороших девочки
17. Пока никто не умер
18. Зеркала
19. Отбивная 2 (featuring Сир Джей)
20. Холоднокровные
21. Остаюсь таким же

I liked some things here and there. More for the lyrics than the music. For me, variety is a good thing)
It's very aggressive rap.

Ensiferum

Genres: folk metal, viking metal, melodic death metal, power metal
Country: Finland

01 By The Dividing Stream
02 From Afar
03 Twilight Tavern
04 Heathen Throne
05 Elusive Reaches
06 Stone Cold Metal
07 Smoking Ruins
08 Tumman Virran Taa
09 The Longest Journey
10 Vandraren

Great band. I really liked the album. I often growl along to songs from here) Because it's fun.
The discography is downloaded, but I don't feel like listening yet.

Graveworm

Genre: on these albums, symphonic black metal with a gothic lean. On later albums, they have symphonic melodic black metal.

01 Dreaded Time
02 Unhallowed By The Infernal One
03 Abandoned By Heaven
04 Descending Into Ethereal Mist
05 Threnody
06 Demonic Dreams
07 Fear Of The Dark
08 In Vengeance Of Our Wrath
09 Ars Diaboli
10 Sanctity Within Darkness

01 A Dreaming Beauty
02 Portrait Of A Deadly Nightshade
03 Ceremonial Requiem
04 Nocturnal Hymns
05 Behind The Curtain Of Darkness
06 Pandemonium
07 Prophecies In Blood
08 Into The Dust Of Eden
09 Graveyard Of Angels

Early albums are not at all like the later ones, starting from 2003, where I liked a lot. Here it's somehow too dull. I didn't like the album "As The Angels Reach The Beauty" at all, bleeegh. Only two songs in "Scource Of Malice" are any good.

Vampiria

Genres: gothic / melodic black metal
Country: Argentina

01 Prelude
02 Legacy In Blood
03 Ambassador Of Morning [Salve Luxfer]
04 Brother Wolf [The Path Of Seventh Moon]
05 The Hand Of Death
06 Legend Of A Curse
07 Crown Of Crows
08 Pagan Celebration [Celtic Evocation]
09 Satan Legion's Comes
10 Requiem For A Vampire [Forest Of Agony]
11 Grull Has Arrived

Good music. True, few songs that I liked, but those I did like are very good. Recommended.
And also, imho, the album intro here is the best among all intros I've ever heard.

I managed to write so much that it doesn't all fit within the message character limit (50000!), so I'll have to double up)

And finally, the main group)

Therion

Genres: until 1996 death metal, after - symphonic metal.
Country: Sweden

Probably my favorite band now) It used to be Nightwish, and I still adore them, but Christopher Jonsson is more brilliant)

01 Preludium
02 To Mega Therion
03 Cults Of The Shadow
04 In The Desert Of Set
05 Interludium
06 Nightside Of Eden

The first symphonic metal album. Although at times it's a bit heavy (a slight influence of death metal from previous years). However, there is one song I didn't like: In Remembrance.
In the Scorpions cover, they added some of their own lyrics - a small phrase sung by a choir, which made the beautiful ending of the song three times better. And they removed the stupid noisy sounds present in the original.
Overall, I don't know how to describe this music. You have to be as brilliant as its author)

01 The Siren of the Woods (single version)
02 Cults of the Shadow (edited version)
03 Babylon

The edits are almost indistinguishable from the originals. In The Siren of the Woods, they removed a piece of the beginning, which was a mistake. In Babylon, the beginning is great; after that, it's not particularly brilliant, but listenable.

01 Ginnungagap (The Black Hole)

I love everything!! Great album.
It sings about the nine worlds of Norse mythology. There is also a certain riddle of runes that the listener must solve by the last song (Secret of the Runes). I didn't actually solve it (and didn't even try), although I should get to it. I don't even know what the riddle is :D
Almost the entire album is sung by a choir; there is little clean vocal.
The first song is quite heavy (but without any death metal influence), the rest of the album is lighter.
Now about the covers. I liked them all, but I had only heard the original by ABBA. And let me tell you, it's the best cover I've ever heard) For me, as a sympho-metal lover. They turned 70s pop into sharp symphonic metal. Absolutely cool, I don't even know what to say)
One of my favorite albums.
Strange thing is, this album features the German language, which I usually dislike, but here I like it. It fits perfectly into some songs.

01 In Remembrance
02 Black Fairy
03 Fly to the Rainbow (Scorpions cover)
04 Children of the Damned (Iron Maiden cover)
05 Under Jolly Roger (Running Wild cover)
06 Symphony of the Dead (1997 version)
07 Here Tomes The Tears (Judas Priest cover)
08 Enter Transcendental Sleep (Therion version)
09 The Quiet Desert (Therion version)
10 Down the Qliphothic Tunnel (Therion version)
11 Up to Netzach - Floating Back (Therion version)
12 The Fall Into Eclipse (original soundtrack)
13 Enter Transcendental Sleep (original soundtrack)
14 The Gates to A'arab Zaraq Are Open (original soundtrack)
15 The Quiet Desert (original soundtrack)
16 Down the Qliphothic Tunnel (original soundtrack)
17 Up to Netzatch (original soundtrack)
18 Floating Back (original soundtrack)

There are many covers here, and I didn't like them (except for the Scorpions cover; however, I wrote about that two albums ago, as those are bonus tracks - the first three songs of this album). I haven't listened to the originals (again, except for Scorpions).
The song Symphony of the Dead from their 1992 death metal album "Beyond Sanctorum" was reworked into symphonic metal. Strangely enough, I like the death version better. The sympho one is just not that great.
Starting from the eighth song is the soundtrack to the movie "The Golden Embrace". I haven't seen the movie and have no idea what it's about. First come the processed versions (metal), then the symphonic ones, as they were in the soundtrack. The processed ones, of course, I liked more)) And even then, not all of them.
So overall, a dull album for me.
And also, this is the ugliest album cover I've ever seen)

01 The Return
02 Asphixiate with Fear
03 Morbid Reality
04 Megalomania
05 A Suburb to Hell
06 Genocidal Raids
07 Time Shall Tell
08 Dark Eternity
09 A Suburb to Hell (demo version)
10 Asphixiate with Fear (demo version)
11 Time Shall Tell (unreleased version)
12 Dark Eternity (unreleased version)

Now this is their death metal. Also good, yes. But the genre itself is very monotonous. I can't highlight favorite songs because I still get them mixed up, and there's no point anyway. I listen to the whole album at once regardless)
Back then, their lyrics weren't about mythologies, legends, tales etc., but some kind of ordinary gloom. Almost like Linkin Park) Only without the whining.

01 The Crowning Of Atlantis

The first song is absolutely brilliant. A canon of pure symphonic metal.
Covers again, repetitions again. The highlighted songs are good. The live tracks aren't noteworthy; better to listen to the originals.
The third song is a remix of one of the compositions from the album Vovin, which I hadn't listened to well enough yet to write anything about it.
Crazy Nights - a very cheerful song)

Demon Hunter

Genre: christian metalcore

01 Descending Upon Us

A listenable album, but in my opinion, the band's first albums are better. Starting from 2007, the sound became less brutal. The first song is wonderful, the intro is good, and I liked the smooth transition into the second song. It's hard to say which songs I liked most, so I highlighted few.

That should be all. I'll just provide a list of albums that I've listened to a bit or am listening to now. Perhaps I'll write something about them someday too, but for now, only brief comments)

Therion - 1998 Vovin. They have much better.
Therion - 2000 Deggial. A sweet album, many beautiful songs.
Therion - 1992 Beyond Sanctorum. Much better than Of Darkness.
[AMATORY] - 2010 Instinct of the Doomed. More meaningful, but somehow silly lyrics; the other two albums I listened to are better. The new vocalist is worse than the old one.
Agathodaimon - Chapter III. Symphonic black/gothic metal. Great stuff, I like it.
Aperion - 2010 Act of Hybris. Symphonic folk/gothic metal. Decent band, but At The Lake is better.
Winds Of Plague - 2009 The Great Stone War. Sympho-deathcore. Passable with tea.
Graveworm - 1997 When Daylight's Gone. There are good songs, and more of them than in the band's other old albums.
Rhapsody - 2004 Symphony Of Enchanted Lands, vol. II - The Dark Secret. Good.
Aesthetic Perfection - 2008 A Violent Emotion. Dark electro, EBM, industrial. Sounds good in places, but overall a bit dull. There are a couple of good songs.
Antagonist - 2010 World In Decline. Metalcore. Very angry and aggressive.
Disturbed - 2010 - The Sickness. Nu-metal, heavy metal. Fun, good.
Krupskaya, Kill A Celebrity - Split CD. Grindcore, power-violence. Fierce, savage. I like Krupskaya more than Kill A Celebrity.
Slayer - 2001 God Hates Us All. Thrash metal. Not bad. It's great to play Quake to this band))

I've listened to a lot of other music, but either too little yet, or I didn't like it and don't want to write about it.

Group: Sixpence None The Richer
Genre: alternative, pop-rock, christian rock (in the early albums, it seems)
Listened to: five albums and some other songs.
Liked songs: Kiss Me, Don't Dream It's Over, and many others. All the songs are pleasant and melodic.

It should be noted that there is a female vocalist here, and she is quite charming.