Mixing It Up

Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, Doom and Jazz?

Songs 89-91

Open blender.
Insert:Gothic Metal, Symphonic Metal, Jazz Fusion Metal, Experimental, Doom, Thrash.
Close blender.
Puree.
Serve chilled because its about to get hot in here.

  One of the greatest aspects about Metal as a whole is how extraordinarily pliable and without boundaries it is. At its very core is a basic foundation, one that is not as rigid as one might think considering the 'heaviness' of the music. As much as some fans try to limit its definitions, it seems metal springs back stronger, more fulfilled, more evolved. The variance that exists within this now extremely wide net we refer to as All of Metal is continually expanding, experimenting and even spawning. Generations and Second and Third waves of different genres now exist and  its all getting rather confusing to classify. Some of the border lines are blurred. That is OK because its up to the artist's creativity, their vision and what they feel inside that we listen to. They, as pioneers dont go by the book. A book of definition seems illogical to be applicable in any way to something that is felt within.
 It is a badge of pride, an insignia we as metal fans wear on our sleeve. Its the truth that those outside of our brethren do not view a percentage of the reality because the majority is so underground. Its the unique handshake we share with each other. Its the fact that we know they don't get it. The fact is simple. We were not supposed to be here. This all was supposed to go away. The music was considered suitable only for a trash bin and more and more people thought it was just a recycled circle that would find its' end quickly. Makes me realize more and more how the originators of Heavy Metal were pioneers in that they felt the trueness of the limitless the music.
  My next set of 3 songs are great examples of artists not conforming to textbook definitions. Heavy Metal has experienced a huge growth period of experimentation. A lot of Hybridization. A lot of it doesnt work for me. I feel its more interesting when the fans themselves dont agree on what they are listening to. Its a different thing than a band that just tries to be Thrash and Industrial at once. How about a band like After Forever? Are they Gothic Metal or Progressive? They certainly are Symphonic.. or The Gathering, well question marks abound. Hopefully you will enjoy the examples below of bands I think mix things up, and do it well.

 
Octavia Sperati - Without Air: After (Norway, 2005 Gothic Metal, Doom)
  I recommend listening to this one and the link below back to back. Octavia Sperati only recorded 2 albums when their sultry-voiced lead singer, Silje took upon the vocal role of the iconic band The Gathering. This is from their first release and its a pleasurable experience of deep, dark brooding doomish metal guitar riffs and plow-driving drumwork, all interlaced with etheral and almost haunting piano lines as Silje, equally hauntingly belts out each line. Mixing up the the lines of what is Gothic Metal and what is Doom Metal and what is acceptable for what was then, an all-female band. Placing the atmosphere always at the forefront allows me to classify them as Gothic Metal. Placing heavy effects on an otherwise pure sounding vocal, allowing for heavy drums to pound away as the piano plays on, are all evident moments of a band fully capable of doing things differently.


Octavia Sperati - Below Zero  (Norway, 2005 Gothic Metal, Doom)
  Each time I find a song I love from O.S., it seems to have the following qualities: A driving beat, a great bass line, tons of atmosphere and great melody. Well here is another one that qualifies. The simple jungle-esque drum intro is no indication of how far the band is willing to go to do things differently. Each verse expands upon different ideas, like a progressive band would. Each phrase seems to have a haunting quality like a Gothic band would. There are soft moments, there is a startling vocal melody.
  Makes you wonder why cant every band do this? Why arent even my favorite bands this creative? The answer is they should be, you just need to be willing to find those that are capable of mixing it up.



To-Mera - Blood (London, Progressive Fusion Metal 2008)
 Did I mention something about mixing it up? From London this unit is a full-on progressive Fusion Metal band. There are only a handful of bands which share this approach. The main reason is its so hard to make this sound metal enough and still blow minds.There is a musical lesson in here about each 20 seconds. Stop and Go syncopation, long count time signatures, time changes, modulating melodies. Its a war with the rules of musicality and what is physically possible. This is so far beyond and away from what people who criticized early forms of metal as being benign and doomed to fade away. At 3:30 the song takes an inter-dimensional trip as keyboard and guitars harmonize a huge long passage, and thats the guitar solo. As we discover, there is so much more going on with each listen. You may miss how beautiful her vocals are - the melodic sections after the choruses are spectacular moments.
  Other songs from this band truly mix jazz elements into the arrangements and breakdowns. Very worth checking out.

As I approach song 100 make sure you see my next update: Shining Proud and Flag Waving.

Rubbing The Magic Lamp

Thanks to Pandora: Intro II
Rubbing The Magic Lamp

The Early Bookmarks

  I had bite marks. It was the Symphonic Metal Bug biting me in my ass. I felt like I had walked into a fantasy world in which all the things that I hated and sucked about the music I had drowning in had been magically turned into all things that are awesome and good. So yes I had rubbed the fabled genie lamp and all my wishes were bestowed upon me. Instead of the huge process I was going through (discussion boards, lists on Last.fm, youtube or myspace (yes a myspace reference in 2011)) and then hoping- just hoping the songs were pleasant enough to my ears to want to add them to my bookmarks. Instead of all that- I just click on my Pandora Player. It digs through the genres for me. Rub the Lamp. Click Thumbs-up. Listen the song for 2 years and decide it's so good I need to write about it in this blog. The best thing in this chronicle, is the time-line. Since I eliminate the abandoned links, the just-ok moments get weeded out and the result is a time-line that just continues to get better and better. Hoping that you follow with me this discovery, allows me to reflect back on each song in its moment of relativity to my whole search thus far.

    In my time-line I am currently just about 1 year and half behind. In 2010 I began to thumbs-up songs in my first official "station" on Pandora. The tracks I thumbed up are dated automatically in my list which makes it a precise time-line. Some of this does overlap with my blog Season 1 so some of what I had found on Pandora did influence me to find more on my own. Now that I am writing this blog, I must recognize what my pandora player means to me and this search.

   What is really great about Pandora is its one-click seamless usability and overall on-target user profiling. But there are minuses. It is by no means a complete collection. The majority of artists with long careers are usually only represented by a portion of their content. The genre-specifics at times are way off. Which really tends to piss off people like myself who are really looking for genre-driven content. So its a little irritating when you see bands that you know well be linked to bands that have nothing to do with them. Some of these labels and associations have been cleaned up but its obviously not Pandora players main concern and use the terms 'other bands like ___" very loosely.

  Having said that, My station of EpicAfterHIM (see link on side panel) was bringing me fantastic, wild, bombastic, some generic and some off-the wall recommends. My player though was in cruise control. The Lamp was rubbed, the Genie was blowing smoke of awesomeness and making my wishes come true. I just had to not forget to Thumbs-up this stuff as it came along.

   This next set are more songs from (now familiar) bands to my bookmarks. Not the A-typical selections neither, which proved to me my plan was working. Pandora was let out of her box, a little chaos ensues and after all the smoke and fire... just burnt timbers of awesome left behind.

Epica - Force of the Shore (NL, 2005 Symphonic Metal)

  From their second release, Consign to Oblivion, this song is such a perfect primer to the genre, that someone who is not familiar with Symphonic Metal would get a good idea rather quickly what its all about. The opening, for example, does a good job of making this song stand out. Even today, years later when this song does come up on my play-lists, it catches me instantly. Yes the choirs, yes the strings, and the divine near-perfect vocals of Simone Simons, all in place, But most just hear this blissful union, along with the death-metal growls (when paired together, is called Beauty&Beast vocals)- but Epica is deeper than just that (see previous posting: Epic Songs from Epica)

 This song, as are most from their catalogs, is drawn in a world of parallel, in symbolism, in perspective. That world allows you, the listener to take from it what you wish. In this case, its the Force of the Shore. I hear awesomeness. The story, the narrative, is just a bonus.

Apocalyptica- Fisheye (Finland, 2005 Symphonic Metal)

  An absolute stand out. 1000% recommended. It's a full listen. It's a complete experience. The Finnish quartet playing only cellos in an original composition along with a drummer, some slick production and songwriting that which can only be described as imaginative and uncommon. No lyrics here. No hot Dutch Female vocalist to steal the scene. Only long-haired prodigal virtuosic Finnish rockstars thrashing- destroying it on their cellos. As if it's done that way- everywhere. No, No it's NOT. This is NOT the real world. In the real world I have to deal with people considering Katy Perry and Lady Gaga as pioneers. This is my fairy-world I reside within, when I breathe the smoke from the awesome Genie. When my Pandora player throws something at me that simply defies that which is expected.

   Right from the beginning, this song cranks right in, the intro feeds the first melody, which crescendos into a near death-metal heavy thrashing as drifting melodies are carrying upward. The song quietly breaks for another reprise of this melody; almost like a bassline section would do. But it's the breakdown that knocks this into a scoring position. Another crescendo and a unifying feel of tension as the drums do fountain-fall rolls after roll... you know already this wont end nicely. The last few breaths of this song makes the home-run a grand slam. Thank God for those longhair Finnish guys.

Octavia Sperati- Icebound  (NL, 2005 Gothic Metal, Doom)

  OS; I have featured them here so often I need to refer to them as abbreviations. I'll never forget the first time I heard OS. It was a song called Moonlit. (see previous posting: The First Batch) It was one of those moments that opened my eyes to this fairy-world of where everything is awesome. It took me one passage of the groove, in the first 40 seconds I knew I was onto something good. So when my Pandora player played a song from OS- I practically went into shock. There wasn't a whole lot of songs on youtube from them, most of the links I found were gone and this song completely eluded me once I thumbs-up it. Only recently the link I share here, found it's way to me, one day looking for other songs from OS and boom I said yea I remember this one. Sure enough, it was on my thumbs-up list (along with others I will share here for sure, there's so much I love from them)

 This one comes from the 1st full-length CD Winter Enclosure. Doomy, dark and very Sabbath but very melodic along with the drudgery, multi-layers of Silje's beautiful vocals, almost whispery as her accents flow against the grain and the song simply bursts into a solid heavy stream of bombardment. It's a fairy-world, yes. But not always a perfectly beautiful one. It has dark corners. Disturbingly enough though, is how the song ends. No warning, almost as it began.

  A feeling of "what happened?" comes over and it's perfectly done. The answer of what happened is my pandora player scores again. It didn't just bring up the most common song from OS, nor from Apocolyptica, nor even the heavyweights of Epica, it selected these songs as if to say, "Wait to you hear this one!" It's as if it knew already that I would thumbs-up these. The Genie was working, all I had to do was click play.

Side note: All 3 from 2005.

Next Update: After Forever, Therion, and The Gathering, Pandora brings out the big guns.

Unknown, Underrated and Awesome

Unknown, Underrated and Awesome
Songs 58-60... Octavia Sperati and Silentium return

The last of my first group of songs I have my play-lists stop here at songs 58, 59 & 60. Don't think I simply stumbled across 60 only-awesome songs. I've eliminated a portion of songs in my lists from the aspect that they simply weren't as special as the others. So therefore songs 58-60 are actually quite special to me. This was during a time-frame I was convinced that Symphonic Metal was my New Thing, but I was running into less and less of it that I liked and more and more of the darker, gloomier, more death-metal or Gothic Metal influenced sounds. Its just that I was becoming quite picky and there seemed to be more quality from the other genres excluding symphonic metal, and these are 3 more of those that stand out for me.
   I had just begun tinkering around with my Pandora Player during this timeframe and most of my links from songs 60 to somewhere around 90 are directly related from my pandora player. But not these last 3. Both bands have made their appearances very early in my listings and its the the 3rd separate update for each of these 2 bands, who I consider to be criminally unknown. I feel they are both very exceptional bands with worlds of talent, and the world should know about them.
  So lets get to these last 3 for my first season of My Endless Search. Next update I begin my links from Pandora, which will mark season 2. Once I get past the majority of those, I will begin into the releases of 2010-2011 and hopefully catch up to current time. That's when I start Season 3.
Hope you will stick through it all with me... as I continue My Endless Search.

Octavia Sperati - Lifelines and Depths  original version


Revised w male drummer

Octavia Sperati- Lifelines and Depths (Norway Gothic/Doom Metal, 2005)
    Simplicity at times, in actuality, can be rather complex. Perhaps simple on the surface, but when you pull back further away, you see (in this case hear) interwoven layers, bits and pieces which stand on their own, segmentation and transition, all which I consider as dynamics.  And in this song all the dynamics of Silje's melodic vocals show through it all, almost outshines in fact. But the music is as beautiful, the variance in the drum parts and how the guitars go quickly over the slower, longer counted drums are a great contrast to the smooth long notes held by the vocals. The quiet breakdown allows to focus on her voice before the return of the pounding rhythm. In the original video this section is in its entirety. If you listen closely, you may even hear some influence that Anneke (The Gathering see previous posting: Falling In Love with An Angelic Voice) had on Silje, who was picked as the new singer for The Gathering, in case you didnt know by now...
   And as of recent, The band has become a little more known since the fanbase for The Gathering is so huge, and their fans are beginning to discover them, but its after the fact, since it appears there wont be anymore Octavia Sperati. Which is depressing because they have provided some truly awesome moments like the next song...


Octavia Sperati- Going North (Norway Gothic/Doom Metal, 2007)
  I think this song and my favorite from OS, which is Moonlit (See previous posting: The First Batch) both won me over very early, like before the song even made it halfway through. Here the bassline grabs the attention as the band simply plows in afterwards. Have I forgot to mention the band is all female? (male drummer did replace the original Female drummer) well I don't care but it really has a great heavy feel to it and even with the band putting out so much power, Silje still finds room to have her moments. At times the song feels like its falling down and raising back over hills which just give it more and more energy, like a roller-coaster, all the while Silje sings just above like in the clouds overhead. The best part though hits at 2:11. The lone bass intros the middle doom-heavy section which is very inspired and should make your eyebrows raise up, then a haunting melody is sung over this slow punching chromatic passage and your hairs on your neck should raise. Then you have no choice but to follow along with the pummeling until the last chord. Makes you want to do it all over again, doesn't it?


Silentium- Hangman's Lullabye (Finland, Gothic Metal 2005)
  Silentium is one of those bands which seemed to take a few releases to fully find themselves, and after a few changes at vocals, find themselves a true songstress within Riina Rinkenen. As Ive mentioned, I have posted songs from Silentium earlier in my blog (see previous postings: Pretty Voices, and Return To Finland I). I cannot emphasis enough what I love about her tone and delivery, and it's a perfect match for the music that the band writes. The overall mood is Eerie and atmospheric, with droning guitars and lightly flighting keyboard parts intertwining with violin and more recently, cello. The drum style stands out a bit more than the a-typical from this genre, allowing for more room, more pacing without overpowering or leaning too heavy.
  After the first few directions in this song change, it is clear that the band is carving out its own niche. Without sounding too happy or too depressive, Riina delivers a sweet melody which lingers just long enough after the pauses to give the song its edge. The best parts are the loudest, at times it feels like Silientium is making a statement whereas their songs feel of huge scope and depth, such as how this song, one that feels of a dark slow ballad, actually picks up steam for a nice solo section at 4:20, then a quick break which Riina gets to shine before the band goes back in at full force.
  One thing that marks this song is a common theme Ive come to realize is my favoritism of songs that have a lot and I mean a lot going on. The last passage feels like a puzzle coming together, all the pieces of the layers, simple in thier own way, form into a multi-textural, complex thing of beauty.

  Now as I move into Season 2, songs 60-90 the next question is, will these 2 bands make another return? Considering how much Ive come to love what Ive shared so far, would'nt you say the chances are pretty good?
 
Next Blog Update: More unknown, underrated, and awesome music - no surprise there... The beginning of Season 2: Thanks to Pandora!

Music from The Others Part I - Gothic Metal

Music from The Others Part I
Dark Gothic Gems Hidden in the Dark

   The Symphonic Metal bug had bitten me. But not before my interests were growing in a darker form of metal, one that is more atmospheric and gloomy. Gothic Metal is a bit of a misnomer in most cases, but I was quickly building a list of songs that completely fit into the perspective in which I viewed the label as.
   The next few postings will feature bands from a wider array of genres not just Symphonic Metal, but I will include Gothic Metal, Progressive Metal and more. Here I focus on 3 dark entries which I feel have a bite quite their own.


Ava Inferi - Danca Das Ondas (Gothic Metal, Portugal 2007)  
   Ava Inferi is a dark atmospheric metal band which combines Doom and Gothic Metal with a touch of Operatic vocals. The band is the creative project put together by Rune Eriksen (Mayhem, Norwegian Black Metal) and includes the Portuguese vocalist Carmen Simões (Aenima, Moonspell and others) who create a unique world of beauty and crushing darkness. The song I selected is actually their first video and it grabs you on first viewing. I would call her vocals slightly Operatic, although there is not much happiness here, there is beautiful harmonization and long soaring sections that scoop you up as the doom metal crushes down.


Virgin Black- Lamenting Kiss (2001, Australia)
     Virgin Black is the most known Gothic Metal band in Australia (first disc released 1998), but seemingly no where else. The majority of their music is extremely bleak and even the heaviest metal sections creep along slowly beyond stark. The challenging part is that their songs are so long, it feels like the gloom will never end. But I found one song I like from them and its near perfect. A minimalistic approach is very evident here, as the verses hang in space,  the lyrics are sang in a near whisper, almost devoid of tone. The piano haunts you like the theme to The Exorcist. The heavy beat comes in and its powerful - its very impressive overall. The video I chose is actually a project video by an amateur who chose the song, its interesting enough but id rather you just listen along to a great dark Gothic Doom Metal song, just dont turn off the lights....


Octavia Sperati- And The World Froze (2007, Norway)
  Octavia Sperati is a mostly female Doom Metal / Gothic Metal band from Norway. The singer has since left to lead the massively popular Alt-Rock/Metal band The Gathering. There are some melodies in this one which show why she was the most perfect choice to sing in place of the Angelic Anneke. I have already featured my very favorite song from them called Moonlit (see previous posting: The First Batch), and as other songs began to grow on me I had As the World Froze on my playlist for quite some time. It features the beautiful and haunting voice of Silje and a great melody mixed with heaviness which is in perfect contrast. Like the other 2 songs here, it grabs your attention, it feels different and then it delivers.

Next Posting: More Doom and Gloom

The First Batch

The First Batch

Epica, After Forever and Octavia Sperati- Open My Eyes 

    This is the first group of 3 from artists I would come to absolutely love. I was finding a lot of interesting bands to my liking but these were among the best of what I remember bookmarking and taking note of. Among the many subdivisions of metal the smaller genres of Symphonic Metal and Gothic Metal live side-by-side. I had not found much Gothic Metal as of yet which I fell in love with except Silentium, so I was plenty surprised to find Octavia Sperati, a mostly Female band from Norway that is part Doom Metal and Gothic Metal. They are really talented songwriters and their music is moody as much as it is melodic. More of them to follow...
   I was also surprised to find as part of the Symphonic Metal side there is a trend called Beauty and Beast which refers to bands which combine the singing style of Death Metal (or more appropriately Melodic Death Metal) growls and the sometimes Operatic voice of a female singer. The growl style is very much part of the Metal scene overseas and some of us in the US aren't quite used to it but it is effective in certain songs to give the heavier sections more meaning and a break from all the vocal gymnastics in the female vocals.



Epica - Cry for the Moon  Symphonic Metal: Beauty and The Beast: Netherlands 2003 - After finding the song and video for Solitary Ground, I found this absolute gem of a recording and performance. Its from their debut CD in 2003 after guitarist Mark Jensen leaves After Forever to form Epica. This version is a live performance from "We Will Take You With Us" in which they perform songs with full orchestration and choirs, in studio and filmed live. It is quite remarkable in this format and an awesome introduction to this genre. A near perfect vocal from the beautiful Simone Simons and the ebbing, flowing tide the song takes into the more Metal sequences, with full violins on top almost exemplifies what this genre should sound like.
    Do not allow the growl sections through you off since this song is truly epic and could fit into any epic adventure/action flick. It truly takes you there. I also love seeing the choir singers and the symphony members performing this song - it is obvious they take it seriously and an epic performance is the results.


After Forever - Energize me
Symphonic Metal - Progressive Metal - Netherlands- 2007 - Welcome to my world - that's all I can say with my first link to the landmark band, After Forever. Energize Me is perhaps their most commercial offering from their self-titled mind-blowing swan song release from 2007. After touring for the CD they disbanded after a break in 2009 and side projects had began but this band has an amazing catalog and an incredible 15 year run as major pioneers in the world of Symphonic Metal, potentially dethroning the classical inspired reigning metal band, Nightwish (Finland)
  At first impression, the catchy melody hides the vocal dynamics of the highly impressive talent of singer Floor Jansen, but as the song continues to gain strength, her vocal strength becomes more apparent. The key changes and building crescendos raise along with the difficulty. The mostly heavy based riffs are overlapped with strings and vocal padding. To compare this, at this current point, here in the beginning with the most unlikely song from their last release to one of the most a-typical songs from Epica's debut - is unintentional but noteworthy since I will be sharing more from both bands here since they are both so important to me.



Octavia Sperati - Moonlit  Doom Metal- Gothic Metal; Norway 2007. One of my favorite finds is this little known band from Norway. They are for the most part an all-female Doom Metal band with a touch of Gothic Metal for a darker influence. The singer, Silje Wergeland has since moved on, though to front the legendary alt-gothic-ambient metal (the metal term here is used loosely) band The Gathering. With all that aside, the music of Octavia Sperati has 3 main elements, haunting and enchanting melodies sung by Silje, bass lines that rival most Black Sabbath influenced bands, and plenty of atmosphere. After discovering this song, it found a permanent spot in my playlists and on my personal pages. The entry below is my own personal comment I left on the video...
  "...by the chord that hits at :27 I figured out I really liked this song. somewhere around the first verse, :56 the song become one of my favorites, at 1:24 I fell in love with it and by 3:07 I was blown away to pieces, forever...."

Somewhere at this point I began to feel I was onto something. Made me look back at my first few links to go deeper and found I have struck Gold...

Next Blog - Velcra Kicks my Ass.