Top 10 Band List

(random order, subject to change)

ELVENKING

ENSIFERUM

EQUILIBRIUM

INSOMNIUM

CHILDREN OF BODOM

KALMAH

WINTERSUN

DOOMSWORD

MOONSORROW

ANACHRONAEON

SUIDAKRA

TYR

August 25th 2008: Today's show started off with some great Viking black metal from a band called LINDISFARNE. These German metallers take their name from the epic Viking raid at Lindisfarne, England in 793AD. This is a speedy song with strong vocals and black metal riffage. ASMEGIN was the next band played. This is an incredible folk metal band from Norway. More then just folk though, extreme folk, if you will, with an insane drum sequence in "Vargr i Véum." "Thrashomatic Overdrive" isn't the typical epic metal song name I usually go for on my show but i make an exception for melodic black metal of this caliber. CRYPTIC WINTERMOON is the culprit and as explained, this song has some kickass guitar work. THE VENGEFUL FEW is an old school metal band from New Jersey. I band caught my eye because the package they sent their cd in had a sticker that said "No cookie monster vocals" with a picture of the cookie monster himself.. and although I don't share their sentiments regarding harsh vocals, I do apreciate some good old school new jersey bar-style metal and "Madhouse" is a great example of this. LOGIC EDGE is another band who sent me a cd this week. I think there is the founding for a great band here. The vocalist is particularly amazing and the rhythm guitar has a nice heavy sound to it as featured in "Equalized". I think this band is missing an element I can quite pinpoint however. Perhaps some keyboards would help blend the songs or maybe another guitar. Something about the songs feels unbalanced, like a competition between vocals and instruments. DRAUGNIM from Finland is an up and coming band that released a quality demo last year in the viking metal tradition. They have a full length releasing in September that is produced by Henri Sorvali of MOONSORROW so you know it is going to be worthy of Odin. I recently discovered CLOUDSCAPE, a prog metal band from Sweden. As you might expect these guys are incredibly talented musicians and offer perfect production quality on their release. One thing you may not expect is how super ultra heavy "Mind Diary" is! FALKENBACH is one of the great viking metal bands in history. Hailing from Germany, this Icelandic born, one man band has influenced many Odin worshippers to come. "Ultima Thule" is a fine example of brutal viking metal about 'the borders of the known world', a boundary the vikings constantly redefined. A slight mishap in the studio produced the wrong track announcement. I meant to play FROSTMOON this week but it will have to wait until next week. As a testament to how awesome our show is... the mishap led us to GRAVELAND and "River of Tears." The shrieks in the early moments of this song curl the blood and the guitars and drums reverberate in my viking soul. Rob Darken is the man behind this band that has been touted as Poland's BATHORY, worthy praise for those who know the greatness of Quorthon. The song I was most excited about this week was YGGDRASIL "I Norden Rike". This epic masterpiece has a slow steady buildup and a range of vocals on display. I have become obsessed with the lead guitar riffs during the song though. They are short sharp scales that start in the background and sail toward the forefront increasing in amplitude. I didn't notice how awesome this song is at first but it has grown on me like the black plague it's too bad I don't have a history of playing the same song twice on my show.

August 17th 2008: I decided to drink a lot of Irish car bombs (Guinness, Jamison and Baileys) on Saturday night and I was ridiculously hung-over for Sunday's show. Accordingly, I was fumbling over my words and generally unfocused. Oh well, as Sir Hetfield said, "we're living the rock and roll dream and we can drink more then you!" Up first on the show was a German viking metal band called FIMBULVET. "Schwert aus Stein," features multiple vocal styles including the deep male tenor and the harsh black metal type. More and more viking metal bands seem to be doing this lately and I think it ads so much more depth to the songs, I hope this trend continues. CROM "Vengeance Pt II" is a viking metal piece that features primarily the clean male tenor vocal style. The intro stanza to this song is particularly epic and it sets the tone for the rest of the song which progresses through faster and slower sections quite brilliantly. Switching gears, I played some American power metal next. The influences of CELLADOR are quite obvious and they include IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and a host of late 80's german power metal bands. "Never Again" is a testament to the awesomeness of these bands the the whole album 'Enter Deception' (2006) is great. Back to the German viking metal... MENHIR "Das alte Lied des Windes" is probably the gem of this weeks show. Employing the dueling vocal style, clean male tenor and harsh black metal, this song takes the legend of Hildebrand to new heights. Google, this as  I am too exhausted to explain the old Norse tale. THYRFING, speaking of old Norse tales, is named after the royal sword of Norse mythology and therefore, automatically epic. "Draugs Harg" wastes no time in bringing the relentless onslaught of viking black metal. CRIMFALL, a late edition to the shows lineup, is a progressive / gothic metal band from Finland. "Where the Waning Woods Lead" is the song we played and what I like about this songs is the contrast between the operatic female parts and the harsh and heavy male vocals sections. The harsh segments rip apart the harmonious gothic melodies and add a thick coat of black tension. FINNTROLL, a band battling a sting of unfortunate internal setbacks since their beginnings, continues to metal on in the name of Finnish folk metal. "Trollhammaren", the best song on their 2004 release showcases the 'humpaa' influenced folk metal style that these guys have come to define over the years. WUTHERING HEIGHTS, from Denmark, are an incredibly skilled group of prog/power metallers. Their songs convey an almost cocky attitude as these guys hit perfectly on every element of the music, and rain down new sounds from the heavens. Closing the show, I played the title track from the new FIBULVET album called "Der Ruf in Goldene Hallen." With our new time slot I can't run the show overtime like I used to do but the web version will contain the whole track should the timing be off.


Aug 8th 2008: Hollywood Metal Radio was really interesting today because I was still ultra hungover from Wednesdays debauchery involving booze and bowling. The show must go on.... I opened with a friend of mine's band called INFERNAL SCOURGE "The Heretic Queen of Autumn's Fall from Grace". I played this band in a previous episode and it's quality epic black metal with many different featured components throughout the song. Guitars, keyboards and vocals are all prominently displayed at one point or another. The next band featured was TEUFEL and I was especially keen on playing this band because they are from Cuba, a place I definitely don't associate with metal. Proving that great metal comes from all over the world, this gothic metal band kicks ass. The main melodic riff in "The Beauty" is only a handful of notes and some hammer-ons yet it manages to stick in your head long after the song is over. DAYS OF LAMENT is a band that caught my attention because of the story of their band. Two metalhead friend who had gone their separate ways got back together to form a band nearly 20 years after going to metal shows as teenagers. "Destruction Demise" is an excellent progressive death metal song featuring clean and harsh vocals, sharp shredding guitars, and a great solo comprised of pinch harmonics and some awesome guitar effects. (not exactly sure which) UNLEASHED is a death metal band with a prominent viking influence. "Midvinterblot" is a brutal hail to Odin as only this Swedish metal juggernaut can produce. EYECULT, also from the hallowed lands of metaldom that is Sweden, is a band comprised of Patrik and Andreas, who also form the band ANACHRONAEON. This is a side project they started in 2004 and the song I played, "An Inner Landscape," and an excellent melodic death metal piece from their demo release that year. The project is still ongoing and Patrik tells me they have recorded tracks for a future full length release that they will probable resume working on after the new ANACHRONAEON album comes out. Check back here for updates. ENSLAVED, a metal band that's been in the epicenter of the Norwegian black metal scene since the early 90s so it was about time I played them on Hollywood Metal. These guys consistently put out excellent albums and songs so the choice was especially hard here. Enjoy "Ormgard!" courtesy of my indecision, and love of a thundering double bass. Hang in there for the first minute as it opens with a filtered guitar effect. One of my favorite bands is DOOMSWORD from Italy, an epic viking/doom metal band. GJALLERHORN, also from Italy, has similar aspects in their epic viking songs about the coming events of Ragnarok. They are able to achieve that epic feeling of battle desperation or impending doom not dissimilar from DOOMSWORD. I played "Ragnarok I: Blood Over Asgard" the first in a 3 part epic series of songs from their 2005 release. TRACEDAWN is the band I think everyone needs to appreciate from this weeks show. These young guys incorporate every great element that I have come to admire from this genre and especially the bands of this genre of Finland who, like this one, seems to know best.

August 1st 2008: Today on Hollywood Metal Radio we featured one of the best Finnish melodic death metal bands, OCTOBER FALLS. In the past this band released some folk / ambient albums that may or may not have had any "metal" tracks on them at all. This latest release is one of the heaviest albums in the melo-death genre. Listen to the drums on "III" at high volume or with headphone so you can get the full effect of the thundering double bass, truly a song for the ages. Pirate metal is always a good decision on my part. Today's installment featured ALESTORM and their power metal brand of pirate tunes. "Captain Morgan's Revenge" displays some strong vocals, epic keyboards and guitar riffs worthy of pirate ship gallivanting on the high seas. RHAPSODY OF FIRE my be credited as the first band to coin the term "Hollywood Metal". The term references their grandiose, almost over the top, style of power metal. Tales of enchanted lands, dragons, magical swords, wizards and other fey creatures form the lyrical themes for this band. The music is also epic featuring shredding guitars and a full symphony of accompaniment for a larger then life sound. "Heart of the Darklands" is a great number from their latest release and the first one since changing their name due to copyright issues. Back to the evil black darkness with the next band, ATRITAS from Switzerland. "Where Witches Burnt" showcases this band's high pitched shrieking vocal style, a style that makes your skin crawl. FORTID represents the first Icelandic band to be played on Hollywood Metal. "The Arrival of Fenris" is a good viking black metal piece, it's cold, dark and epic all the way through.I just recently discovered EUGENIK from Deutchland. It's not like this country needed another great viking metal band but need versus want is a whole other thing. "Heimkehr Des Drachenschiffes" is an awesome song with many great viking metal components. I have one quarrel with it, however, I think the drums could have been mixed a little better. The bass drum owns but the roto-toms (???) sound a bit forward in the song. It doesn't ruin it for me, the song is great nonetheless but I expect the production quality to improve on the next full length release making this band even more awesome! SWORN was the final band played on today's show. "Crow of Passage" is a great blend of melodic rhythms and cold black metal. These guys break the mold of the typical Norwegian black metal band and they do it quite expertly.

July 25th 2008: Hollywood Metal Radio was great today. Played some excellent music for the first half hour and then had a great interview with my friend Melissa who is the founder and lead designer of THE ROCKIN EDGE line of rock accessories. Her line was being featured at a nightclub in Hollywood tonight so I wanted to bring her on and discuss her stuff. I led today's show off with what is probably the best American black metal band. CEREMONIAL CASTINGS "Beneath the Sabbath Moon" plays a melodic brand of black metal that is capable of making you both rock uncontrollably as well as put you in a trance-like groove to the sound of the epic male bass voice featured in this song. The entire album is great, and so is their discography. This song shows the range of talent these guys have. RADIGOST from Russia was next with "A Stellar Kingdom". This is a tough band to classify, they create a smooth mix of elements from the death, black, gothic, folk and doom genres. The result is easy to listen, epic songs. Nothing cryptic about the next band. This is just pure epic sword metal from Deutschland... IRON SAVIOR "Warrior" is a catchy song about the oath of a warrior "sworn to the blade"... fantastical and awesome! CADACROSS features the mind and skills of Finnish metaller Georg Laakso who is also responsible for bringing us TURISAS. This is melodic death metal with a viking touch for a totally epic feel. Georg was recently involved in a car accident that has forced him to retire from playing but Hollywood Metal will continue to appreciate his contributions to epic heavy metal. FOREFATHER, ever the champions of Anglo-Saxon history have recently released their best album to date Steadfast (2008) rules. I played the title track from that album and it's pretty much impossible to fault and it's a good representation for the whole album. Catch black metal tremolo picking and some groovy melodics in the middle. The vocals are powerful but not overdone, a quality display of folk/black metal on display here. ANDRAS, yet another great viking / pagan black metal band from Deutschland has been rocking faces since the mid 90's and their style has progressed from straight forward black metal to today's pagan black / viking style. Their new album is quality and "Miasma Track" is my favorite from the release. In 1994, when I was 12 years old I bought 4 cds, the first of my metal collection. They consisted of METALLICA 'The Black Album", ACDC "Live", SLAYER "Divine Intervention" and MEGADETH "Youthanasia". These albums will always be 4 of my favorites because they got me started on this metal path... Today I played "Train of Consequences" from Youthanasia which holds more meaning for me now then ever because the line "packed my bags and headed west" is what I did in moving from Buffalo, NY to Los Angeles. The crunchiest of crunchy thrash provided by Dave Mustaine is killer... he should run for President! The show finished with another CADACROSS song "Learn the Dark" because I want to save the longer of the two songs I had to choose from for next week... It will lead off the show next week and I got to tell you... It absolutely owns! Check out the pictures of Melissa's gear on my myspace page.

July 18th 2008: It was kind of a rough show today. I was a little sleep deprived and exhausted after a long week. Luckily the music was great and it more than made up for my tongue-tiedness (?? case and point..). The first band played was DISTORTED "Reveal my Path". This is a female fronted gothic metal band from Israel. Miri Milman, the lead vocalists doesn't use the typical operatic style of most female fronted gothic bands. Instead its a smooth soprano against the crushing drums and guitar licks. PSILOCYBE LARVAE "Sleepwalkers", is an up and coming melodic dark metal band from Russia. These guys lean towards the black side of the melodic dark metal title and there are a lot of different dark metal elements on display during this song. RUNNING WILD is one of the best, and best known pirate metal bands ever. Rock 'n Rolf Kasparek is an epic lead singer and this band has been using a power metal approach to pirate metal since the early 80s. During the 80s they had 5 near perfect pirate metal albums, simply must haves for not only the power metal or pirate metal sub-genre, but for all pirate fans anywhere. "Tortuga Bay" is the name of the song and the name the famous pirate haunt off the coast of Hispaniola that has been widely popularized by the great Disney films "Pirates of the Caribbean." This song is impossible not to rock too, it's fast, it's upbeat and a perfect example for the genre. SVARTSOT "Brages Bæger" from Denmark is an excellent folk/black metal song which features an excellent main riff that is complimented by flutes that play the same melody as the rhythm guitar. This is perhaps my favorite means of incorporation of folk instruments. I think it makes the song heavier while staying true to the folk nature of the music. MUSTAN KUUN LAPSET "Kauniinhauta" from Finland recently called it quits after a 14 year run that left 3 excellent melodic black metal albums. The good news is that the break up wasn't because of inner tension among the band members, rather, they just felt that the band had run its course and they had accomplished what they set out to do. I'm hoping that the band members may reform a new project or form other bands. This song features some great violin work and as with most melodic dark metal from Finland, all elements of the song fit together perfectly. The next band played was a one man act from the great state of Maine USA. This self released album by BOTHILDIR was a little rough production wise but the great thing about metal is that good metal penetrates production. The main riff in "Entities of Putrid Cognizance" is excellent and it immediately got stuck in my head when I heard it. Looking forward to another full length from this band. Finland, ever the place for great melodic metal, produced this next band as well. ELENIUM has been gaining a lot of momentum in the melodic death metal genre for a couple years now. I like the song "Trail of Beggars" because there are times during the song when it feels a bit "disconnected". I guess by this I mean the tempo slows down and the individual elements separate from one another intentionally. But true to form, like all great melodic death metal.. the song comes together for a perfect harmony of dark, melancholic sounds. The show wrapped up "Die Weide Und Der Fluß" from still my favorite album of the year, EQUILIBRIUM Sagas (2008). This album, for anyone who doesn't know, is a perfect example of epic viking/folk metal.

Friday July 11th 2008: BLASPHEMOUS CREATION was supposed to join us in the studio today but an overheating van 80 miles outside of LA prevented that from happening. That's a very metal scenario they found themselves in so we weren't mad at all. The bright side of this situation was that since we couldn't interview the band we had more time to play songs from the album of the year in my book. EQUILIBRIUM - SAGAS (2008) is absolutely unbelievable. The words that I will use in this show log cannot even come close to describing the feelings of elation that I experienced when I heard this album. The album hits on every element of Viking Metal and each element is performed with some of the highest quality I have ever heard. The rollicking guitars riffs drive the songs along while expert keys and accordion fuse the songs with folk rhythm and an epic atmosphere. The drumming is perfect.. true story. The vocals on this album content for the top black metal vocal style spot if they aren't the best already. Helge Stang's vocals were great on Turis Fratyr (2005) somehow he was able to improve upon that performance with Sagas (2008). I opened the show with "Wurzelbert" just one of 16 masterpieces on the album but a great lead off piece for the cd (excluding the epic intro). The main riff in this song will stick with me forever and I'm totally not against that... enjoy! SPELLCRAFT "Beyond the Lost Forest" was the next up. This is an excellent and unique sounding black metal band from Spain. These guys use both a clean male tenor vocal style and the standard black metal style in their songs. The tenor vocalist sounds epic and the contrast created here is very interesting and awesome! "The Bluish Shade" by AESMA DAEVA was the next song featured. This is a pure symphonic metal band from Ohio that rules. The absence of a harsh male vocalist to contrast the angelic, operatic female vocals keeps this band in the symphonic metal camp as opposed to pure gothic metal but there are some great gothic elements present. The guitar work is great, perfectly paced, alternating between mid range and down tempo. The keys are sharp and the vocals are extremely good. Even though BLASPHEMOUS CREATION couldn't make the show I still wanted to play at least one of their songs (originally planned to play 3). "Disciples of the Underworld" is an excellent piece that kinda reminded me of IMMORTAL because of the way the song comes together after a few minutes of organized chaos. Listen to the way the riff comes together at 2:30 seconds in this song.. definitely a headbanger. And then it was time to play some more EQUILIBRIUM!!! The next song is my favorite song from the album and incidentally one of my favorite songs of all time. The rhythm is so uplifting that it would be impossible to maintain a bad mood while listening to this song. I have heard a few criticisms because of this fact but I did some thinking and I concluded that I don't really care what the tone of the rhythms are. To criticize them because they don't follow the typical "dark" and or "relentless cold" mood of most viking metal songs is ridiculous.. the vikings weren't miserable.. in fact, I bet many men thoroughly enjoyed the rough lifestyle and resented settlement life. It is with that in mind that I play "Blut im Auge".. behold, the wonders of viking metal... EMPEROR "Inno A Satana" had the tough roll of following EQUILIBRIUM. This song is from In the Nightside Eclipse (1994) which many revere as one of the quintessential symphonic black metal albums. Keyboard driven and extremely cold vocals contrasted with a male chorus create an eerily haunting sound. This album is the bands best work to date but they recently re-united so I'm hoping for another classic soon. Belarus isn't a hotbed for metal but they do have a nucleus of really good bands. KAMAEDZITCA is one of the best. Their name is taken from an ancient pagan ritual celebrating the awakening of the bear. Bears are under-referenced in metal.. they are most definitely metal.. This band is categorized as pagan black but I think blackened death with folk influences is probably better because the vocals are of a growling style.. not raspy. The melodies sound totally pagan though and there is a very nice guitar solo in the song I played.. "Children of the Forest" (translated from "Dzieci Liesa"). Time held true and I got to play yet another EQUILIBRIUM song this episode! "Unbesiegt" features the most unique sound on the album. Tribal flutes and drums give an African safari atmosphere to the song in my opinion. It's not to often that a metal song has an "African" flavor to it but I'm seriously questioning why because after hearing this song I am craving a full albums worth of flutes, tribal drums and safari imagery. EQUILIBRIUM RULES!

Friday July 4th 2008: Hail to India was the theme of today's show. I featured some extremely surprising melodic death metal bands today. India is not regarded as a metal powerhouse but great metal knows no boundaries. The musicianship and melodic sense of the following bands will prove that India deserves more recognition in the metal nation. ACRID SEMBLANCE "A Perfect Pseudocrity" led things off for us today. The main melody of the lead guitar is my favorite part of this song. Expertly grooving in and out of the rhythm sequence this song is very catchy and awesome! The vocals are mixed well and the keys and drums are prominently displayed as well. A nice little solo is included to complete the package... perfect! DEMONIC RESURRECTION "Celestial Disharmony" was next in the queue. I guess the way I would describe this band is "tight." By this I mean the band is technically sound in every facet. The musicianship is perfect, the tempos changes and transitions expertly synced among all instruments an the song offers a few different metal elements. In this case there are bits of melodic death, power and progressive metal all on display at some point. The fast arpeggios of the lead guitar give this song a bit of a tech metal feel too. (al la PSYOPUS) The next band was DEMONSTEALER "Seething Pain that Leaves No Scars." This song might be the premier song on the day. It was a late entry to the show line-up but it proved its place the first time I played it. This song has something to offer for every genre. Starting with the vocals, this song gives a nice range of black and death metal style. The keyboards provide a grandiose atmosphere along with haunting background accompaniment. The guitar range is also on display... the fast picked black metal melodies are on display in the beginning then move towards a series of melodic death melodies that own only to return to the black metal riffage for the refrain. A perfectly timed tapping sequence in the middle breaks the song up a little to keep things interesting. If you're not rocking by the end of this piece you might be dead, which would be pretty metal too.. but for entirely different reasons. No messing around with this next song, just some straight forward brutal death metal by a band called IIIRD SOVEREIGN "Pathetic Ignorance." Headbang-able catchy rhythms and powerful death vocals define this short but heavy piece. DUSK "Dreaming Gotishya" is a band that offers us a couple different styles rolled into one. I had the option of selecting a pure doom metal song or a song like this one that mixes elements of death, thrash and doom to create a more uptempo doomish sound. The droning, evil beast-sounding vocals contrast the mid paced drumming while a shredding guitar can be faintly heard from time to time. In interesting sound, one that deserved to be included on this Hail to India show. BRAHMA "Or Not At All " I am told that this is probably India's most popular metal band, they often sell out large shows. The thrash metal influences can clearly be heard in this band. I think METALLICA is the most prevalent given that the lead singer sounds similar to lord James Hetfield. A nice little acoustic intro leads into this crunchy mid-tempo headbanger. The lead guitar wails over the top of the rhythm section and the vocals alternate between clean and scruffy but discernable... (also similar to James). There is a kick-ass sweeping section a little after 5 minutes in the song too... just what I needed to hear. To close the show I did something I usually don't do and that is to play the same bands twice in an episode but I think it is really important that people get another taste of ACRID SEMBLANCE and DEMONIC RESURRECTION because these bands are of the utmost quality and should be the pride of India's metal scene. So enjoy "From the Oblivion" and "Journey to Solaris" from these bands respectively.

Friday June 27th 2008: Car trouble has forced us to reschedule the Buzzbin Magazine interview so I will keep you posted on that status of that. I came prepared however, with a full slate of metals ready to go. I'm not sure how well known SYNESTESIA is in Finland but I don't think it will be long before these guys rise to the top of the Finnish melodic death scene. Right up there with KALMAH, INSOMNIUM and CHILDREN OF BODOM just to name a few. "Vieraan Suulla" was the name of the song we played and its a great example of the clean, sharp and super heavy sound of this band. To me, one of the things that separates melodic death from is various predecessors (death/thrash) is crisp musicianship coupled with excellent production. Each note, like each instrument, is distiguishable yet melded perfectly together. TUATHA DE DENANN "The Dance of the Little Ones" was the next band and song played today. There are a couple ways to integrate folk instruments into a metal song. The first is having these instruments play accompanying melodies to the rhythm guitars. Another way, and the demonstrative way with this particular song, is to have them play the same melody as the rhythm guitars. This gives the song a rhythmic depth instead of an atmospheric depth, neither one being better or worse... its depends on your mood but I find it a little bit easier to physically rock out when the folk instruments play the same melody. One of my favorite bands (even though they are quite popular for metal) is CHILDREN OF BODOM. I played "Everytime I Die" after much deliberation all week. "Downfall" is my favorite song by them, which I played early in the Hollywood Metal timeline. After that however there is 14 songs (all of which are on the most perfect COB mix I made a few years ago) that I like almost equally. After a few days of indecision and rocking out in my car I resolved to play the song that was last played in my car before I entered the studio. The winner was a gem, just like the other options, featuring shredding guitar and keyboards by Alexi Laiho and Janni Warman, the best lead guitar/keyboard duo in metal. CHILDREN OF BODOM is a tough band to classify musically. They incorporate elements from many different styles to create a sound that is uniquly their own. Agressive power metal, blackened death and melodic black are a few examples of the attempts to classify them. Melodic death has become the most common but they sound very different from Finnish counterparts of the same genre like KALMAH, INSOMNIUM, NOUMENA or AMORPHIS (circa Tales From the Thousand Lakes). Bands that cross genres or push the boundries of their main genre tend to do well for themselves as new sounds draw attention. BLACK MESSIAH is an up and coming viking / black metal band from Germany. "Die Sühne Des Feuerbringers" was the name of the track. I'm not sure what it means but it's a great example of viking metal. The band makes good use of a violin for folk flavor and the keys add a nice epic atmsphere throughout the song. The main thing I want to point out about this song though is the concept of vocal cadence. I'm not an expert in this arena by any means so my terminology may seem a bit amateurish. Anyway, during the main rhythm of this song you will notice that the vocals follow a rythmic pattern. The syllables seem to fit each line perfectly and the cadence of the stanzas holds a rhythm of its own, which as we pointed out during the show, serves to reinforce the main rhythm. EQUILIBRIUM's "Unter Der Eiche" is another good example of lyrical cadence so check out the previous episode of Hollywood Metal where we featured them. KAMELOT is a great american power metal band that I had been wanting to play for a while now. The first song I ever heard by this band "The Shadow of Uther" is still my favorite so that's what I played. This song is good all around but what I like the best is the excellent drum work on display here. In my world, a thundering double bass is always, always a great move by any band. As I said on the show, BATHORY album Nordland I is an absolute perfect album. I don't care what anyone else says that album is unbelievable. I'm not going to go over all the details, I don't have that kind of time, just know that every song on this cd rules. "Forever Dark Woods" is the song I played its my second favorite song on the album behind "Nordland". The song opens with some great mandolin work to give it an old world flavor. Then the heavy buzzing guitars come in after the sound of horse footsteps. The song is thick and heavy viking masterpiece all the way through the song. Quorthon's excellent clean vocal style (as opposed to his famous icey-cold black metal style of previous albums) are on display here as well. At 6:20 in the song the lead guitar comes in again with heavily distorted, soul piercing, long sustained notes that just wail at the end of this song. This song, especially the last part needs to be listened to at high volume. Staying in Sweden, LORD BELIAL "Keep on Walkin" is a wonderful black metal band. This is a melodic black metal style that is guitar driven and features a few great solos. I recently came across and excellent review for the Nocturnal Beast album that I want everyone to read because it is extremely creative. I don't usually read a lot of reviews when researching metal but the title of this one grabbed my attention so I read on, here is the link...
 

http://www.metal-archives.com/review.php?id=95552

The show wrapped with Irrbloss "Keep on Walkin", a more straightforward black metal band, featuring blast beat drums and shrieking vocals. There are some great guitar melodies that emerge during this song and I'm expecting good things from their upcoming first full length release.

Friday June 20th 2008: Hail to Russia! I've been wanting to do a Russian themed show for a few weeks now so I was really excited about this episode. I led todays show off with NOMANS LAND "Torir Scald", a very good viking metal band. This song features the classic rollicking viking-style guitar riffs, traditional instrumentation and chilling harsh vocals. NOMANS LAND is definitely one of the best viking metal acts from Russia right now. Up next was DOMINIA "Exodus". This band is a total package. They have a cross-genre style that features top notch musicianship in each particular style. Progressive Black/Gothic is probably how they can be described. This particular song is the new single from their forthcoming sophomore release. The main riff which starts around :58 seconds rocks so hard. The vocals are super cold as well, a harsh Norwegian style that is just barely discernible. The song has a few different parts alternating between harsh blast beats, the main riff and softer melodic parts. If this is any indication of what the new album will sound like it's going to be a great album. The next song on our tour of Russian metal was a little known band called REQUIEM. I first heard this band randomly when I was checking out Metalism Records' myspace page a few months ago. The lead singer of this band has a voice you just don't forget. Yuriy Kirillov has an extremely clear, strong singing style that fits their mid-paced power metal style perfectly. The songs are not all that heavy but the guitars are sharp and loud. There are not a lot of bands that can pull this style off and still keep it metal as hell but there is just an epic quality to the way they do it. I expect this band to continue to rise. I just wish they would come up with an original name for themselves. It seems like every country has a band called REQUIEM. Forth on the list was ARKONA "Zov Bitvy". These guys are a pretty well known band in the viking scene, I discovered them about 3 years ago and they have consistently put out high quality viking albums. Their style isn't the most unique, pretty straightforward folkish viking metal but they do it very well. They make good use of the accordian sound in this song which gives it a Finnish "humpaa" sound which is always great to hear. ALKONOST "Gody Predskazaniy" was the next song on our tribute to the Russian metal scene. This is a black/folk/dooom metal band and this song has a great melodic main riff. I'm not exactly sure if the song is "doomy" but the down tempo guitar riffing gives the song doom-like qualities. As I pointed out in the show, this is an example of a band that found a great main melody for their song and they stuck with it throughout the length of the song. It is very often the case in folk and viking black metal that bands will have several part to their lengthy tracks, none of which sound alike. If you catch a listen at different parts of the song you would not know it was the same track. This is great aspect of viking metal but occasionally I will hear a particular segment of a song that I absolutely love. I will want the band to go back to that melody and rock it out again but they just don't come back to it leaving me to rewind the track to my favorite part over and over again. This the case of this song, ALKONOST has found a powerful, catchy main rhythm and melody and they stay with it for 6 minutes with only minor variations of the riff. I don't prefer my folk metal to be any one way or another but this band does represent the other end of the spectrum in terms of changing up the melodies. Sixth on the setlist today was a BUTTERFLY TEMPLE "Dreams of the Northern Sea". I know it's a hard name to get over and everyone seems to be in agreement on the lack of metalness in the name. Fortunately, they are also in agreement on the fact that this band absolutely rocks! To hell with the name.. their brand of epic black metal is ultra heavy. Once I was able to put aside my reservations based on the name I along with everyone else who check them out realized that these guys are here to stay in the Russian pagan black metal arena. They have endured a number of line-up changes over the past few years but the music hasn't suffered at all. Heavy bass contribution to epic guitar riffs makes these songs super easy to headbang too! Lastly, a band with a name I really like for some reason. SHADEWEAVER "In Frozen Haze" is the name and title of the song. The name sounds really dark and epic.. like the sinister character in an epic fantasy novel. The music is excellently produced melodic death metal. The reason I say excellently produced is because I have never been a fan of forward or dominant vocals in metal, especially extreme metal genres. I like the sound of the harsh vocals (i don't care what they are talking about as long as its not spiritual nonsense) but I like the harsh vocal sound when they are less prominent then the rhythm guitar. If the vocals were meant to be forward then it would probably be the case that there would be many more clean vocal style bands. So here's an example of a band with great powerful vocals mixed in accompaniment with excellent guitar and drumwork for a complete package. For me this band draws some comparisons to CHILDREN OF BODOM. These guys are heavier but the lead guitar has a very crisp clear distortion effect going and he plays some sharp scales in the background of the main melody which reminded me of Alexi Laiho's style when he transitions between melodies. Anyway I'm very pleased with this show. Russia has a healthy metal scene going and their bands need to be featured more across Europe and especially the United States where we have slim to no access to Russian bands.

Please check out our sponsors below and if your looking to get your band some amazingly cheap, cable tv exposure then check out our newest sponsor SAYSME.TV. This company allows individual people to advertise on TV just like corporations or major music labels do. They sell 25 second commercial spots to regular people at extremely affordable prices. (For instance $6 on the Sci-fi network in Cleveland or $94 on Comedy Central in New York City) I'm really hoping that metal bands will pioneer this opportunity because I have no interest in seeing any emo dudes crying on my TV screen.

 

Friday June 13th 2008: Any radio show that starts off with MOONSORROW is going to rule all other known shows. Therefore we led things off with "Aurinko ja Kuu" (The Sun and the Moon) a viking metal masterpiece. MOONSORROW performs all the best aspects of viking metal when very few bands can manage one. Rollicking guitar riffs, atmospheric keys, powerful vocals, epic male chorus's and the songs continue to stay interesting even though they are often very long due the constant changing of melodies and tempo. To top it off these guys have excellent stage presence. I spoke with the next band via myspace and they were very cool. So cool in fact that they helped me put together another installment of the Hollywood Metal History Connection. A segment that we do to highlight the link between a historical person, place or event and a great metal song. SLARTIBARTFASS is the name of this great band from Germany. The name was taken from "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" novel, and later a tv show. The song we played was "St. Cuthbert" and it was from this song that we developed the History Connection because the lyrics of this song deal with the events that took place in Lindisfarne (Scotland) in the year 793 AD. In this year and on the hallowed date of January 8th vikings from the northlands storm the shores and siezed the monestary on this small island just offshore. Several monks recorded accounts of the event and I read two excepts on today's show:

From Wikipedia:

In A.D. 793 (796 per some authorities), a Viking raid on Lindisfarne caused much consternation throughout the Christian west, and is now often taken as the beginning of the Viking Age. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records:

In this year fierce, foreboding omens came over the land of Northumbria. There were excessive whirlwinds, lightning storms, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. These signs were followed by great famine, and on January 8th the ravaging of heathen men destroyed God's church at Lindesfarne.

Alcuin , an English monk of that period, noted:

Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race. . . .The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies of saints in the temple of God, like dung in the streets.

The events that transpired in Lindisfarne are considered the beginning of the Viking Age, for the next 200 years the vikings were some of the fiercest warriors on earth. The song itself is a celtic/viking masterpiece featuring piercing bagpipes. Keeping with the viking theme the next band in the lineup was SVARTAHRID from Norway. These guys are a viking/black metal band that uses the organ sound to intro the song we played "Atter Et Rike." I've always thought the organ is under-utilized in metal, it has the most haunting and creepy sound. This one also has a nice piano melody that is prominent throughout the song. From the depths of Norway to the lights of Hollywood, we pride ourselves on featuring music from all over the world. The next band up was  RATTLEHEAD, from Hollywood. My favorite part about listening to this bands latest release was how it made me feel like I was in one of Hollywood's famous rock 'n roll clubs. This is due to the albums production which was done with a slightly "muddy" recording of the songs.  The song we played was "Red October'" and it features 4 melodic solos that are great. Typically in thrash, especially thrash from LA, the solos feature fast picking and tapping sequences, so I was a little surprised to hear tempo-controlled melodic solos and sweep picking! Awesome stuff here, looking forward to seeing them live around here.  Up next was a band from Greece called KINETIC. These guys have a brand new line-up with a non-operatic female vocalist. It creates an interesting sound when the female vocalist harmonizes with the lead vocalists' harsh death style vocals. At 3:39 in the song "Venturing High and Low" there is an excellent little solo that has an absolutely excellent lead in when Stavros holds the first two notes for like 2 seconds each and then does some small melodic scale work before launching into a fast picking sequence. I wish the first 10 seconds of this solo could be expanded because I keep rewinding the opening part. Check our youtube channel to see me mimic the solo in the studio.. sometimes you just gotta rock an air guitar solo! MANEGARM from Sweden was next with "Vargstenen" the title track off their 2007 release which means "The Wolf Stone." There's not a lot to say about MANEGARM that hasn't been said already. These guys bring the total package and are truly a premier viking metal band. After this song a quick quote from the movie "Troy" played from our production cd unexpectedly but that's alright because that quote is so epic, just like the movie. We closed the show with ANCIENT RITES from Belgium and their song "Templar". I like this band a lot because they have catchy guitar parts, atmospheric keyboard melodies and they utilize an almost "Bal-Sagoth style" voice over technique with the vocals. Monk-like chants can also be heard in this middle eastern / crusade themed piece. Please check out our sponsors includeing SaysMe, which could be the best band resource for promotion EVER!

Friday June 6th 2008:  I was really unprepared for todays show, I was stuck on the 10 freeway traveling from Santa Monica before the show. As a result I didn't have our normal production cd for the show intro and background music. I streamed a BURZUM song off youtube so it sounded a little rough and I used the intro from ENSIFERUM's Victory Songs album as the intro. For the second half hour I inserted the normal intro when I got home. Anyway, started things off with SLAYER "Dead Skin Mask". I like this song because the main riff is really catchy. Its simple but it sticks in your head for days. Sometimes its the simplest riffs that are the most potent in metal.  The second song was from BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME. "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" is one of my all time favorite songs. I'm not going to go to much into detail in this blog, but listen to the show as I describe, or attempt to describe, how awesome this song is. I will say this... Paul Waggoner's sweeps at the end of the Selkies song are mesmerizing. look them up on youtube.. thankfully, tons of people have come to learn the awesomness of this song. We demostrated a lot of range on the show today going from some groovy prog metal to some icy cold pagan black metal. TARABAS was next with "Hero" Side note: I really like the "TARABAS" logo. It looks as icy and cold as the songs sound. Heavy, heavy mid paced riffing with a smooth melodic lead guitar are really showcased in this song. Also, I think the vocals in this song are mixed perfectly. Sometimes in black metal the vocals overpower the song melodies which is a grievous error in my opinion because first and foremost, metal is about the music. The highlight should never be the vocals, especially in extreme metal forms. If it was then the vocals would be discernable. Instead they are meant to compliment the song melodies in "sound" rather then lyrical or vocal content. The vocals in this song are powerful yet not overbearing, it is very pleasant to listen to. The next band featured was RUNIC, a viking metal outfit from Spain. Their 2006 release Liar Flags surprised a lot of people I think. Spain has great metal but its not regarded as a Viking metal stronghold. Yet this album is one of the best. "Ambush" was the song we played and it shows a form of viking metal that is closer to a melodic death metal form then a black metal form, like most viking metal bands. Its got melodic guitar parts and excellent keyboard accompaniment. They show some vocal range too at the end of the song with a really deep, powerful death metal vocal section. Really great stuff on display here. To end the show I choose to play a demo track from a new band I'm interested in. INFERNAL SCOURGE is the band and the track was "The Wrath of God and the Grace of Babylon". The track is in its early stages so it sounds a bit rough but this one man band project of Malek Arthas Hijazi has got a lot of potential. The songs are epic in length so we couldn't play the whole track but we played enough of it to showcase the black, gothic and eerily haunting sound that is created in this piece. I will keep you posted when a release is ready.  Lastly, I mentioned today that Hollywood Metal has a new sponsor. The company is SaysMe Inc. and I've been working at this new startup for a few weeks. This company provides an incredible service that would be extremely helpful for bands trying to get their name out. www.saysme.tv is the web address. Basically, they allow people to upload 25 second commercials and run them on tv in the market and network of their choice for an extremely low price. We've all seen commercial for crappy pop artists on MTV from time to time. Now with SaysMe, metal bands have a chance at getting some exposure. I shot a series of funny promo videos for my radio show that will be airing soon to demonstrate the services. I want metalheads around the country, and world for that matter to spearhead this revolutionary opportunity. LET METAL RULE THE WORLD!

Friday May 30th 2008:  A show for the metal history books occurred today. Got to play 2 of my favorite bands from Finland, the next great melodic black metal band from Germany, a band with the absolute best band name in metal, a prog metal powerhouse and a n epic Norwegian viking metal band! Oh and did I mention that the infamous METAL SANAZ was on the show today?!!!  Yup, we're one step closer to crushing all other music shows and world domination in the name of metal! Things got started a few minutes late due to brutal LA traffic. To buy some time I played an 8 minute epic masterpiece by DOOMSWORD. It's ok... go ahead... you know you want to say DOOMSWORD! out loud in a death metal voice... it's a perfectly normal reaction upon hearing the name of this band... Sometimes I find myself saying it to myself randomly thoughout the day... so metal! Anyway, the song was "Deathbringer" from their 2003 release Let Battle Commence. It features epic clean vocals, extremely catching, marching guitar riffs and an excellent melodic section starting at 5:17. A true masterpiece! When the song ended METAL SANAZ was in the studio with us.. time to rock!.. I first met her outside the Whiskey a few weeks ago and she said she had just moved to West Hollywood so we talked a living in Hollywood and being so close to the metal scene in LA. We also talked about her recent trip to Kuwait with Myspace to visit the troops overseas. It was an excellent story and a great thing that Myspace did for the soldiers, I bet that concert was crazy. The second song played was from my absolute favorite melodic death metal band INSOMNIUM. From Finland, these guys have a supreme sense of melody and pacing. The simple words in this account cannot possibly do this song the justice it deserves.. just listen to it at high volume and let the guitars own your soul... all internal pain will dissipate. Next we spoke about www.MetalSanaz.com and the various features that will be included on the site when it launches. It's going to be a cool metal site with a lot of resources for bands and metalheads. Be sure to check that out when it launches in the next few weeks. The 3rd song was from my second favorite melodic death metal band KALMAH, also from Finland. The song is called "My Nation" and it alternates between soft melodic keyboard melodies and just the heaviest of heavy death metal! KALMAH rules they just released a new album too which is excellent, definitely check it out! After that we talked about the kinds of things that Sanaz looks for in a metal band. Obviously the music is the most important element but things like imagery and packaging are pivotal in getting your music in front of people who can appreciate the "music." Since there is so much metal to choose from around the world I often will have to make a decision on which cd to get or which myspace band page to listen to based on things like band names, images and content themes. I'm sure I haven't heard a ton of great metal music because the bands failed to catch my attention visually which is unfortunate but a definite fact. We also talked about how important it is for bands to put their best material first on the album. I can usually tell within the first minute or two of the opening song whether or not the whole album is going to rock and worth the end to end listen. With so many albums presented to me daily I can't waste time hoping that a mediocre album will recover at the end of the cd and rock my face off. The next band played was DYRATHOR from Germany. I played these guys two weeks ago because they met the great metal requirements just mentioned... I'm really excited for a full length from these guys and definitely can't wait to see them in concert someday. I choose a song that I couldn't pronounce but I gave it my best shot... it's called "Schicksalsschlacht" and it features great black/viking melodies with excellent violin accompaniment for a epic folk sound. Later, Sanaz and I talked a little bit about how metal Hollywood is, contrary to what many would believe based on the pop music of the day. This town is full of metalheads working hard towards the goal of getting to rock faces nightly in the name metal! I've been living here for less then a year but I can't see myself leaving this metal haven anytime soon. We also talked a little bit about how to often metal heads express dislike for other metallers and bands. I can't stand when I get drawn into negative conversations about metal. Save the angst for non-metal forms of music. If a band is out their rocking and doing their thing, it doesn't have to be the best metal or even your favorite kind of metal to appreciate it. I'm not saying I like all the metal I hear but I'd never write something off based on pre-disposition. Nor would I waste my time to try to express dislike for a band for any reason. Close-mindedness is for non-metallers who make decisions before they have truly listened. I guess the point I'm trying to make here is be open to all metal and all forms of instrument driven music. It's the ultimate thing you can do to promote metal because it's the exact opposite mindset of non-metallers. Plus it shows people that we've considered everything and come to know that metal is the best form of music... metal musicians have to be highly skilled and technically sound, the best play metal. I wanted to show some range on the show today because I don't want people to think that I'm locked into the forms that we play most often on Hollywood Metal (viking, black, folk, and melodic death). PAGAN'S MIND is one of my favorite progressive metal bands. "Entrance: Stargate" was the song we played and this is a hard band to forget once you've heard the vocals of Nils K. Rue. It's really hard to write what you hear when listening to this band but even if prog metal isn't your thing, and cosmic, overly fantastical, futuristic space themes don't strike a chord with you, this band still rules and the musicianship is amazing. Following this inter-galactic gem we wrapped up the show with Sanaz talking about where you can find her on the net. I pressume that our shows audience is probably already fully aware but just in case, check her out, she's doing great things to promote metal around the world. I closed the show with a viking metal band from Norway called GALAR. This band came out of nowhere with a great album in 2006. The song we played was "Ragnarok", classic viking metal with and excellent main riff and good usage of folk instruments.

Friday May 23rd 2008: Jasmin St. Claire was supposed to be on the show today but she called yesterday an in a raspy, black metal voice told me she would be unable to join us because she had rocked too hard at Gigantour and lost her voice. We will reschedule her appearance next month sometime, I'll keep everyone posted on that. The show must go on! The first band was DRAGONFORCE from england with "Black Fire" from their 2003 release Valley of the Damned. This is just a great power metal piece featuring excellent guitarwork by the legendary duo of Sam Totman and Herman Li. My favorite part of this song occurs at 3:50 with a small power chord segment that launches into a sweep/tapping solo with wailing guitars.. great stuff. Earlier this week I received a demo from DAVID J GIBBS, a one man band from England. At 18 years old this guy has a really bright future in metal. His demo is of excellent quality and has been highly praised by such names as Riku, from CATAMENIA. We played "Pray" on the show today. It's and excellent black metal piece featuring mid-paced riffing and extremely cold, raspy vocals. I'm looking forward to a full length release from him. Up next we played another one man band project called SORGSVART from Norway. The song was the albums title track called "Vikingtid Og Anarki." This song is extremely epic and has many different parts to it. It's a great song but you've got to listen to the entire album! Its one of the most interesting listens I've heard in a while... At first the album starts of like an ice cold Norwegian black metal band.. but as the album progresses its mixture of black and folk sounds with folk being the biggest influence.. just when I thought the album was getting predictable (but still great) the heavy synthesizers kick in, sort of a german industrial metal sound... at first I thought it sounded kinda like a circus, which I didn't like, but it mellowed out with the viking sounds again. It was a weird/wild ride, I had to listen to it a few times because at first I thought my stereo switched bands on me.. that's how different the sounds are from this one... I'm dying to get a second opinion on this one because it's just so different. The second half of the show featured CRADLE OF FILTH with "Absinthe with Faust". It seems to me that metalhead turn against bands that become semi-popular or mainstream which is what has seemed to have happened with CRADLE OF FILTH. I don't care though, this band still rules even if everyone does like them... haha... This song features a great interlacing of piano, guitars and the chilling vocals of Dani Filth, one of the most recognizable voices in metal. Up next we played a band from Germany called FIMBULTHIER. This is yet another band on the Trollzorn Label that is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I do not research bands based on their record label, but I have discovered ex post facto that a few of the newer German Pagan/Black/Viking metal bands in my library are on this label. So horns up to Trollzorn.de! The song was "Battlesong" and it's just an great viking metal piece by and up and coming band. The show closed with the grandiose sounds of SABATON and "Masters of the World". Typically I do not like songs about "metal" ... basically for me.. "songs about metal are not metal." MANOWAR makes these kinds of songs a lot... they are good musically but I can't et over the comical aspect of them.. I make an exception of a few songs here and there though.. especially when I'm getting ready to drink! This song by SABATON is one such exception, I dig the heavy synths that create a larger than life sound for the song. As you can see by the youtube video on my myspace page, I clearly like to rock during this song! (www.myspace.com/brendanbiryla)

Friday May 16th 2008: Today's show featured a wide range of bands. From metal god's IRON MAIDEN to upstart DYRATHOR, we don't discriminate on Hollywood Metal. If it's good, it will get airtime regardless of popularity. ELIVAGAR from Germany was the first band today. ("Childrens Crusade") is an excellent folk metal piece featuring flutes and traditional folk instruments. The band also features a range of vocal variations during their songs. Harsh black/death metal growls are blended with clean chorus verses to create an epic folk sound. DYRATHOR was next with ("Kampf Auf Samsey") from their 2007 Demo called "Memories in Frost." These guys have a heavy pagan black metal sound with folk instruments featured throughout the songs. The keyboards are mixed perfectly throughout the song to create. They also do a great job of breaking up the melodies within the song giving the song distinct sections and added dimensions. Sometimes black metal bands get locked into the main riffs and the songs become monotonous. Not DYRATHOR, these guys mix it up perfectly. The vocals are also mixed perfectly, I don't like the vocals to overpower the music in black metal and this is the optimum level of vocal prominence for me. Up next was EKZISTENCIA from the Ukraine with ("Wizard's Retribution"). The first band from the Ukraine to be featured on our show but definitely not the last! Top to bottom this is just a great power metal song. Excellent keyboard melodies flutter over the top of this gem. Good guitar work, catch riffs... just an all around great piece. My favorite band ELVENKING was next with ("Devil's Carriage"). The albums "Heathenreel" (2001) and "The Winter Wake" (2006) are absolutely perfect. If you are unfamiliar with this band, get these two albums, and send me an email once you have seen the light! Their latest album "The Scythe" (2007) is also excellent even thought it's not in the same folk vein as the previous releases. Next in the line up was the first Estonian representative on Hollywood Metal Radio. THARAPHITA ("Lidsetel Sunkjatel Radadel") is the name of the band and song. This is a quality black metal band in the pagan tradition. The guitar riffs in this song are slow and heavy making it easy to fall into a headbang trance during this one. I was very excited to play the next band called FALCHION because they utilize my favorite guitar technique, sweep picking. If you are unfamiliar with sweep picking then search for it on youtube and you will understand how ridiculously awesome they sound. For the record... anytime a metal song starts off with a bad ass guitar solo the song is automatically awesome regardless of the rest of the content! ("The Ancient Tale") immediately grabbed my attention with a great solo from the start featuring sweep guitar and arpeggio scale work. It was so good in fact that I played another FALCHION song immediately afterward! ("The Darkest Valleys of Mist") was the song I choose because at 2 minutes 30 seconds into the song there is just the most amazingly epic solo with insanely fast sweep picking! METAL!!!! Moving on... I can't believe we're 21 weeks into Hollywood Metal and we haven't played something from IRON MAIDEN. Well that had to change immediately! It would be virtually impossible to find a metal band that hasn't cited IRON MAIDEN as an influence. These guys owned many a metal head souls in their long career.. I was tempted to go with an old favorite, something like "The Trooper" but I wanted to play something different. I choose "Pachendale" because its a little heavier and I like to play the guitar part around the 3 minute mark, it's a real simple but catchy riff. The show wrapped with EDGUY ("Rocket Ride") from Germany. These guys are at the top of the German power metal scene right now. They feature clean guitar work and the epic voice of Tobias Sammet. Rocket Ride (2006) and Hellfire Club (2004) are two excellent power metal albums. Highly recommended for singing in the shower!... Check out our friends and STAY METAL!!!! 

Friday May 9th 2008: PAGAN FEST was the most EPIC event EVER! My neck hurts from headbanging and my arms hurt throwing up the horns! Everyone was rocking so hard at the show, the mosh pit was violent, crowd suffers we're carried to the front at regular intervals, all 5 bands sounded great!.. the show was perfect!

SUIDAKRA opened the show and I think they surprised a lot of people in the audience. The fast riffing and high energy stage presence of the band had the mosh pit rocking early on. People who were hanging out at the bar ran to the floor to join the madness. ELUVEITIE was next with what can only be described as a "wall of sound." As you can see by the pictures there we're six musicians across the House of Blues Stage supplying the crowd their fix of epic folk metal! I knew what to expect from ENSIFERUM and TURISAS going into the show. What I did not expect was the incredible performance by ELUVEITIE. The songs are heavy and fast but their are even heavier and faster live! The traditional folk kilts, pipes, flutes and dancing was reminiscent of a viking raid party on the shores of a conquered settlement... EPIC! By the time TYR took the stage the crowd was ripe for battle! The TYR songs are in a lot of ways more epic and powerful then most viking metal bands. The songs are slower folk ballads about the days of yore and the wrath of gods! A perfect fit for this heathen congregation called pagan fest. I've seen lots of footage of TURISAS in concert so I knew what to expect from the viking warriors from Hameenlinna, Finland. It's one thing to see video... it is quite another thing to witness the theatrics and energy live! Dressed in northern battle gear, animal furs and leather armor the band assembled on the stage and began rocking. Warlord, the vocalist was the last to arrive on the stage and he was a sight to behold... blood face paint and huge shoulder armor.. TURISAS RULES! Warlord was a true pro at working a metal crowd... the heathen audience, including myself, rocked so hard throughout their performance. Everyone knew the words, especially on "To Holmgard and Beyond" and the closing song "Battle Metal." After setting up the stage with image banners and unveiling the sword and shield fronted keyboard, it was time for ENSIFERUM to take the stage and bring the house down! Dressed in Finnish embroidered kilts the vikings did not disappoint. A great mix of new and old songs were played and the crowd was tuned into every note and every word. Obviously the guitars and drums rocked, Petri was a brilliant pickup for the band after Jari left so I knew the band would be great. I was curious to hear the keyboards because they were the only element I couldn't reference from released material or videos. Emmi Silvennoinen, (former Exsecratus) who has taken over for Meiju Enho was excellent on the keys! She fit right in, didn't miss a note and had excellent stage presence with her relentless head banging and hair swirling! Bottom line... ENSIFERUM is the best band EVER!

On the next episode of Hollywood Metal we will have some people in the studio with us who were also at the show and we'll discuss the night further. Also, we'll have some short video clips on our youtube channel soon.

As for this past week's show the following was the setlist.. i'm tired of writing so just listen to the show!

DRUEIDA - "Natural Disaster"

BLASPHEMOUS CREATION - "They Come at Night"

WINTERSUN - "Beyond the Dark Sun"

REBIRTH - "Anthem of the Black Hearted"

CORPORATION 187 - "Question the Light"

SATYRICON - "K.I.N.G."

DRAGONLORD - "The Curse of Woe"

We have some great guests joining us on the show in the coming weeks.. Jasmin St Clair aka METAL'S DARKSIDE will be on May 23rd and METAL SANAZ will be with us May 30th!

Friday May 2nd 2008: Hollywood traffic was insane today. It took me an hour to go about 15 blocks down Sunset Blvd. My car was so far past the empty line that I didn't think we'd start the show on time... Fortunately, I made it on time and Hollywood Metal could be broadcast to the masses. Today was the final show before PAGAN FEST on Thursday. Once again we featured the 5 bands coming to that show. The set list is as follows:

ENSIFERUM - "Lei Lei Hei"

SUIDAKRA - "Trails of Gore"

TURISAS - "Cursed be Iron"

TYR - "Lord of Lies"

ELUVEITIE - "The Song of Life"

ENSIFERUM - "Deathbringer From The Sky"

SUIDAKRA - "The Arcane Spell"

TURISAS - "Miklagard Overture"

If you're METAL, check out our friends sites as mentioned on the show today:

www.rockincouture.com

www.libertineonsunset.com

www.guitarshredshow.com

All you heathens better be at PAGAN FEST this Thursday!.. I'm looking forward to seeing you crazy Vikings there and rocking out afterwards!

Friday April 25th 2008: Hollywood Metal moves to Friday in the 5-6pm PST (GMT-8) time slot on KCLA FM! We continued on with part 3 of our PAGAN FEST Hollywood series featuring the bands playing on May 8th at the House of Blues on Sunset. I've gone into depth in the previous show long entries about the bands coming so I'm simply going to list this weeks set list because I'm tired and hungry.

TYR - "The Rage of the Skullgaffer"

TYR - "Ormurin Langi"

TURISAS - "Five Hundred and One"

SUIDAKRA - "Revenant"

ENSIFERUM - "Iron"

ELUVEITIE - "Spirit"
ELUVEITIE - "Of Fire Wind and Wisdom"

SUIDAKRA - "Wartunes"

ENSIFERUM - "Iron"

As I mentioned on the show, our friend Melissa runs a kick ass clothing line called ROCKIN COUTURE. Please check out here site/myspace page:

 www.rockincouture.com

Everything is custom made to order to all you have to do is send her an email and she'll let you know what she needs from you. Next week will be the final part of out pagan fest series an then Damon and I will attend the concert on May 8th. In the weeks to come we will have some awesome guests join us in the studio including METAL SANAZ and METAL'S DARKSIDE (Jasmin St. Claire)... Metal on!

Sunday April 20th 2008: Pagan Fest Special part 2.... with 3 weeks to go until PAGAN FEST HOLLYWOOD we continued on our 4 part series featuring only the bands playing at Pagan Fest Hollywood on May 8th at the House of Blues. ELUVEITIE was up first with ("Tarvos"). There was a few background people in the studio with Damon and I today and as soon as this song played they immediately began asking questions about the artist and the music. They found the flutes and woodwinds incredibly intriguing, the soft melodies floating over the top of heavy guitars always catches people off guard. It's great to see non metallers take an interest in music they don't necessarily understand. ("Ahti") by ENSIFERUM was next. As I mentioned on the show I come from a 80's thrash metal background, I grew up on bands like METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER.. etc.. for years I thought that only guitars, bass and drums had a place in metal. Towards the late 90's when I discovered extreme I have come to crave the added dimensions that come with the inclusion of keyboards and folk instruments in epic metal. This has evolved to the point where, in the case of "Ahti", my favorite part about the song is the keyboard contribution to the song. Meiju Enho was the keyboardist when the tracks were laid and it's masterful work. Unfortunately, Meiju has since parted ways with ENSIFERUM which sucks because it would have been awesome to see her rock at Pagan Fest. The 3rd song of the show was SUIDAKRA ("The IXth Legion") and it was the subject of a segment we call "History Connection." In this segment we like to feature a song and explain how the lyrics relate to a particular event or time in history. I sent a letter to Arkadius of SUIDAKRA and asked him to assist us with this because many of SUIDAKRA's songs are written about historical events. He got back to me write away with a perfect bit of information about "The IXth Legion." he writes:
 

Hey Brendan,

so here is the sorty behin the IXth Legion:

At the beginning of time, there was a Pict king named Cruithne, son of Cing, and Cruithne reigned for 100 years. He had seven sons called Fib, Fidach, Foclaid, Fortrenn, Caitt, Ce and Circenn. These names of Cruithne's seven sons were also given to the seven provinces of Pictland. The origins of the Picts are clouded with many fables, legends and fabrications, and there are as many theories as to who the Picts were. The Romans called the pre-Celtic people of Scotland Pictii (Painted) or Caledonii, because Claudius' words prove that (as described by many historians) the ancient Picts actually tattooed their bodies with designs. To the non-Roman Celtic world they were known as "Cruithni" and for many centuries they represented the unbridled fury of a people who refused to be brought under the rule of Rome, or any foreign invader.

Julius Caesar invaded England in BC 55, but it took about one hundred and thirty-five years before the Romans were ready to assault Scotland in 80 AD - the same summer that the Coliseum was opened and one year after the disaster at Pompeii. The Romans called Scotland 'Caledonia' because the dominant tribe of Picts they encountered was the Caledonii. The name is a Romanisation of the actual tribal name and it is difficult to know its meaning to the Romans.

Roman accounts of the Pictish Wars as well as later accounts tell us that the Pictish lands were mainly north of the Forth-Clyde line, to the north of the Antonine Wall.
When the battle started, Caledonians were initially very successful, but because of an outflanking manoeuvre by Roman cavalry, the Caledonians were eventually defeated. Historians believe that the Caledonian leader Calgacus survived this battle. They realised that the Roman army had a great advantage in a pitched battle in open country and the only way the tribes had any hope of beating the Romans was to conduct a united prolonged war. The Caledonians changed their tactics and conducted a guerrilla war and decided to remain as mobile as possible. They attacked their fortresses, military camps, and their Walls. It was a bold strategy: confront the lion in his lair!
Within thirty years of their establishment, the Picts had destroyed and burned the Roman forts, and according to Victorian legend, Rome's most famous legion, the Ninth, was sent north from Inchtuthil to relieve Pictish pressure. Legend has it that legion was massacred and forever lost in an unknown battle against the painted men of the north...

Arkadius
 

Horns up to Arkadius for providing this gem of information about this great song and epic story. We closed the show with TURISAS ("Fields of Gold"). Some of my non-metalhead friends have been tuning into the show lately and they've been telling me how much they love TURISAS and TYR. Hearing things like this is awesome because a main reason I wanted to start Hollywood Metal is to educate people about the music and why it deserves praise even if you're not into the music. Horns up to my good friend  John Davidson in Charlotte N.C. for the kind words this week about TURISAS and TYR.

Sunday April 13th 2008: HOLLYWOOD METAL GOES LIVE! Today the show was live on KLAS FM at 5pm (89.7FM). From this point on the show will be in live broadcast format. The time slot is still not certain at this point. In about two weeks Hollywood Metal will have a regular time slot. Today's show was the first in a 4 part series we are doing leading up to PAGAN FEST HOLLYWOOD on May 8th. We're only going to play bands coming to that show. We led off with Finland's ENSIFERUM ("Old Man"). This song is so heavy! It simply has to be listened to at high volume to truly appreciate it. SUIDAKRA was next with ("Lays from Afar") off their 1999 release. The song is one of their faster pieces and the main vocals are firmly in the black metal camp with clean vocal interludes. Keyboard symphonics and accompanying violin segments give this song a lot of depth to go along with a killer rhythm cadence. After a minor studio issue we played ELUVEITIE ("Calling the Rain") from Switzerland. This band is one of the premier folk metal bands in the world. Those who don't believe that woodwind instruments have a place in heavy metal really need to hear this band which is pronounced, "el-way-tea." This song has excellent folk melodies combined with sharp guitars and powerful vocals. It's a tough band to follow. Luckily, TURISAS was up next with ("Battle Metal"). Battle Metal are quite possibly the best two words to describe this band as this song and every other one make you just want to charge with swords drawn into battle! The male chorus's and grandiose sounds from the keyboards create one of the most EPIC sounds ever. The final song played was TYR ("The Hunt"). I announced it on the show as "The Rage of the Skullgaffer" because initially I wanted to play them both but we'll play this one next week. There is some great lead guitar work taking place in "The Hunt." I'm really looking forward to watching them shred at PAGAN FEST.

Saturday April 5th 2008: Episode 15 was a feast of black metal. Out of the gate was a thrash/black metal band called SKELETONWITCH ("Baptized in Flames"). Once you get over the name and realize that this is not an 80's hair metal cover band you'll realize that this one of the best thrash metal bands in the USA. Blending thrash riffing with black metal elements this band has the fresh sound that I think thrash metal needs, especially here in the states. Sweden's NAGLFAR was up next with ("The Way of the Rope"). This band has been around for a long time and is considered one of the best known black metal outfits from sweden. The music doesn't stray too far from the traditional black metal mold but if your looking for a solid, go to, black metal band NAGLFAR has stood the test of time. Staying in Sweden, MITHOTYN ("King of the Distant Forest") was next. Unfortunately, these guys disbanded after 3 excellent albums in the late 90's but the legacy they left has been a big influence for today's new viking metal bands. Another band that disbanded of their own accord was EINHERJER which we played next. The song was "Naar Hammeren Heves" from the 1997 EP Far Far North. As I mentioned on the show, I have never never seen such variance among metal fans as I see in the opinions on EINHERJER albums. Some people claim that one of the albums is mediocre and yet to others it's a viking metal masterpiece. Regardless, everyone agrees that this was an important and influential band for the genre. This weeks show ended with KAMPFAR ("Ravenheart") from Norway. The word KAMPFAR is an old norse war cry to Odin and this band is a testament to Norwegian black metal.

Saturday March 29th 2008: Episode 14 rocked so hard! Things got started with a staple of everyone's viking metal collection... WINDIR ("Arntor, Ein Windir) which translates to "Antor, the Warrior." Valfar played all but the drums on this epic masterpiece which features excellent guitar riffs, atmospheric keyboards and softer melancholy interludes. R.I.P. Valfar. Next was a new band from Finland called DEAD OF NIGHT ("Follow the Misery"). This was off their debut full length release and it has some excellent guitar work and vocals that just pour out misery. The production quality could be a little better but still a stellar release and I am expect big things from these guys. Up next was my favorite song of the episode. ("Der Zeiten Wende") from NEBELHORN, a one man band project from Germany. Start to finish this song thunders along with a catchy main riff and ultrasonic drumming. Impossible not to rock to! We closed the show with a prominent black metal band from Norway called RAGNAROK ("A Nights Kingdom").  This band has had a lot of members coming and going over the years but their albums have remained at a high quality. Currently the band is fronted by Horst who is the main man in TAAKE, which we played a few weeks ago. Shagrath from DIMMU BORGIR was also a member a few years ago. Their albums received great reviews from the sources I trust and today's song pretty much demonstrates that.

Saturday March 22nd 2008: Episode 13 premiered the new epic intro taken from BATHORY "Prelude" off the Nordland I album. This is my favorite album intro, it really sets an epic tone for the show. Russian band SVARTBY was the first played today. These guys hail from St. Petersburg but the name of the band is Swedish for "The Black Village" and they sing in Swedish as well. ("Skogens Ursinne') was the name of the track played and I really enjoy this one because its upbeat and the folk instruments mirror the rhythm guitars which gives the song a richer sound  while keeping the song light and upbeat. Germany's RIGER was next with ("Brandschiff"). This one is great because the melodic melody that hovers over the rhythm guitars is so clean and powerful. One can't help but to rock during this one! Up next was Finland's MORS PRINCIPIUM EST with ("The Unborn") . As I mentioned on the show, I really dig how they used the keyboards in this song. It was the perfect amount and to the perfect effect of creating the uptempo atmosphere. That combined with the angelic voice of the female background singer produced a great track. England's mighty BAL-SAGOTH were next with ("Shackled to the Trilithon of Kutulu"). This band produces some great keyboard driven symphonic black metal but the real gem is the band's mastermind Byron Roberts.  Byron's signature voice over narrative vocal style created one of the most epic sounds in metal today. After a brief venting session, where I called out the loser who wrote the worst review ever about our last band on metal-archives.com, we played that very band... XIV DARK CENTURIES. That guy did not know what the hell he was talking about when he rated their 2006 album a 45% and to prove it we played ("Thing") from that album and it totally rocked! If anyone out there writes reviews for metal archives, do the metal world a favor and write a new review for XIV DARK CENTURIES' (2006 Skithingi).

Saturday March 15th 2008: Episode 12 opened with ABUSED MAJESTY from Poland ("A Burning Army"). These guys are currently without a label which surprises me because the high quality of their music is very high. Next we played GWYDION from Portugal ("Turning of the Wheel"). This band has a very interesting vocal style. To me the guy sounds like an evil court jester from medieval ages. Nonetheless this is excellent Viking / Folk metal from yet another great band on Trollzorn Records out of Germany. This is the third band we have played from that label and there will be several more coming up. The next band needed no introduction if you have seen Metalocalypse on the cartoon network. DETHKLOK rules! We played ("Thunderhorse") which is on The DethAlbum but this version was taken from one of the early episodes because it is slightly different from the album version and I think a little better. Finnish powerhouse CATAMENIA was next with ("The Day The Sun Faded Away").  These guys are know as a Melodic Black Metal band and the main melody for this song was stuck in my head all week, I could not wait to play this. Closing out the show was a melodic death metal band from Australia, our first Australian representation on Hollywood Metal. Be'lakor ("Tre'aste") is just a great example of well performed and well produced melodic death metal.

Saturday March 8th 2008: Episode 11 opened with a band from Sweden called TME ("The Worlds Collide"). TME features some members from various Swedish metal bands like Vintersorg, Otyg and Fission. Finnish rockers AMORAL ("Mute") were next up with a melodic death metal song that sounds completely different from most Scandinavian MDM bands. The guitars have an upbeat quality to them that totally makes me want to party and rock out! "Buffalo's metal saviors" were next, a band called DRAGONWIND, hailing from my hometown of Buffalo, NY. The song was ("Above the Storm") and it's just a quality piece of melodic death metal that features some excellent guitar work throughout the song. Sweden's ANACHRONAEON were next with ("The English Wizard") This is a truly great piece because it combines a number of different song elements similar to a multi-movement symphony. A smooth melody pierced with groovy almost bluesy interludes lead up to one of the best solo's I've heard in a long time. Let it be known that any song that features a 2 minute solo is automatically awesome! Right now this is a studio only project by the two guys in the band but they should definitely get a full band together at some point and tour because they rock!

Saturday March 1st 2008: Damon was in the studio again and we played a wide range of metals today. We opened the show with Norway's OLD MAN'S CHILD ("Felonies of the Christian Art"). I love this song because it has great usage of keyboards and yet the guitars still kick ass. Typically, what I've found in black metal, is that you usually get one of those elements featured prominently at the expense of the other. Not in this case, great guitar work and haunting keyboard ambiance. After this we played some NIGHTWISH ("She Is My Sin") from Finland. This is Finland's most well known and liked metal bands and for good reason. The songs are crisp and sharp and the gothic style female vocals are angelical. It took me a few years to get into this type of metal but I truly appreciate the epic nature of the songs and stories behind them. On this particular song the guitars are searingly sharp and if you play this song at high volumn it could cut your hear off! Canada's VERBAL DECEPTION ("Voyage") was next. A true pirate metal band, these guys use traditional instruments like accordion's to create a "pirate raid party" sound. It sounds like they recorded this album from the deck of "Queen Ann's Revenge" just before a raid on Tortuga. Up next was the history connection segment of Hollywood Metal. Today's feature subject coincided with the latest TURISAS release called "The Varangian Way" for more information on the histoical context of this album please visit God (aka wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varangian. The song we played from this Finnish viking metal staple was ("To Holmgard and Beyond") the keyboard and according mix give the song an epic adventure quality. Up next was Portland, Oregon's OAKHELM ("Of Wood and Blood"). Just an excellent Black/Folk/Viking metal band playing epic songs about the days of yore. These guys will open for Pagan Fest at the Hawthorne Theatre on May 6th so go check them out.

Saturday February 23rd 2008: Damon Wang (aka JG) was in the studio today and Delia, host of "Delia's Tales From the Darkside" stoppd by as well. This week I led the show off with VINTERSORG ("Till Fjalls"). It's an interesting song because the vocals are so unique that it takes some getting used to. As I mentioned on the program if Vikings were around today, I believe they would sing like VINTERSORG. Following this I played THE DUSKFALL ("None"). This was off their 2001 Demo called Deliverence. One of the best demo songs I've ever heard but it's not surprising since this band was formed when the GATES OF ISHTAR split up. It's hard to believe that I waited 9 shows before playing METALLICA because I grew up on this band. Even though they haven't been a prominent part of my playlist for a few years I still love everything they put out even if it's below the quality of their first 5 albums. The song was ("My Friend of Misery") from the Black Album and it's a song that isn't usually on anyones METALLICA playlist, but the song rules and I love the baseline. The fourth song played was WOLFCHANT ("A Pagan Storm") followed by the final song by SUIDAKRA ("Highland Hills") which we had to cut a little short due to time. These last two are just good quality black/folk metal songs from Germany, a country that has a never ending supply of good black/folk  metal.

Saturday February 16th 2008: Metal Jake was guest hosting this week. It was good to have someone else in the studio to help me pronounce some of the material I play. It's something we have to deal with here in the states because most metal never gets any airplay so we never really get a chance to hear the bands and songs pronounced correctly. Thus, we are forced to sound it out phonetically and that doesn't always produce the correct result.  Occasionally a band will release a live album and they can be heard saying the name of their band but those are generally well known bands anyway. The first song played was the song we had to cut short last week, IMPERANON ("Blade"). This song has some of the best sweep picking i've ever heard. True there are a lot of good guitar players who use sweeps as a soloing technique buts its rare to find a band that is capable of expanding those melodic sweeping riff throughout the whole song (exception: a few neoclassical guitarists). BATHORY ("Nordland") was next. This is one of my favorite bands because he (Quorthon) hits on two fronts for me with his music, namely, Viking and Black Metal. Considered the father of both of these metal styles, it was truly unfortunate to learn of his death due to heart failure in 2004. GERNOTSHAGEN ("Gernotshagen") was the next song we played. This is just a quality, quality black metal band from Germany. There is a perfect mix of guitars and keyboards with the latter providing some great haunting tones throughout the song. On top of that the vocals are incredibly strong and clean. Up next was ARTHEMESIA ("Celebration of the Heaven Lost") from Finland. This song is a great guitar driven melodic black metal song. However, towards the end of the song it picks up its cadence and goes to the next level in my book. I'm fairly certain that this is Jari Maenpaa's contribution to the song because it totally sounds like his riffing style, a style that is impossible not to headbang too.

Saturday February 9th 2008: I expanded the show to a half hour. This marks the official beginning of the show, no more 15 pilots. Next week I will be bringing in a co-host to discuss the music and all things metal. I led off with MOONSORROW ("Ukkosenjumalan Poika") (Translation: Son of the God of Thunder) from Finland. This band is one of the foremost in the genre, and for good reason because their songs are unbelievable an they have a great on-stage image. NOUMENA ("Misanthropolis") was next. These guys are just a superb melodic death metal band from Finland, pretty much a staple of the genre. The next band was HORDAK, a viking metal band from Spain that I recently discovered. The song played was ("Fog on the Battlefield") and it's a quality track with many parts and great production. THIASOS DIONYSOS ("Thyrsos, The Stick of Mainades") was the next song. This is a one-man viking /folk band from Germany. I'm really impressed with the quality of sounds from all instruments. Usually one man acts have one instrument that is great and the others are so so. This one hits on all parts. The production quality could be better but its still amazing. TAAKE ("Over Bjoergvin Graater Himmerik Pt I") was played next. This is a controversial black metal band from Norway (no surprise there). I particularly like the guitar driven aspects of this band which are different from the symphonic nature of most black metal bands. With only a few minutes left in the show I played a portion of a song by IMPERANON ("Blade"). Since I had to cut this short this song will be leading off the show next week because it is simply too good to cut short. The sweep guitar picking throughout the songs is amazing.

Saturday February 2nd 2008: Recorded episode #6, a 15 minute pilot episode. The first song played was DOOMSWORD ("Heathen Assault"), I love this band because the vocal style fits the music so perfectly. You can hear the desperate pleading in Gabriele Grilli's voice as he speaks of the impending doom from the infamous "Great Heathen Army" of Danish Vikings that overran Jorvik, England (York) in 866 ad. Keeping with the theme I played AMON AMARTH "In Pursuit of Vikings". The thing people have to realize about this band is that yes, they are a bunch of vikings, but no this is not viking metal. This is Melodic Death Metal but I understand the confusion since they look like a group of vikings on stage and their songs are viking in theme and content.

Saturday January 26th 2008: Recorded episode #5, a 15 minute pilot episode. This should be the last 15 minute episode until we expand the show. The first song played was DREAM EVIL ("The Chosen Ones"), a power metal band from Sweden. Followed by that I played some EQUILIBRIUM ("Unter Der Eiche"). EQUILIBRIUM is an absolutely great Viking Metal band from Germany that came out of seemingly nowhere with their 2005 release Turis Fratyr. The show closed with IMMORTAL ("Damned in Black") from their 2000 release of the same name. Recently reformed, we should hear plenty of great stuff from them in the coming months.

Saturday January 12th 2008: Recorded episode #4, a 15 minute pilot episode. The first song played was DISSECTION ("Black Dragon") because it skipped during last weeks show. Side note: all DISSECTION album covers rule but "The Somberlain", "Storm of the Lights Bane" and "Where Dead Angels Lie" are my absolute favorites. Next I played a band I recently discovered. A viking metal band from Germany called VARG ("Wolfszeit"). This was off the bands first full length release and this albums is really a great new addition to my viking metal collection. The song goes into an amazing cadence at 4:25 after an awesome opening movement, it then returns to the previous melody for the last minute or so, truly a masterpiece. Lastly, I played UNANIMATED ("Life Demise") which is one of my favorite melodic death metal songs because of the opening scream. This song was used on the "Haggard: the Movie" soundtrack by Bam Margera. Ryan Dunn's character mimes this particular scream in the early part of the movie.

Saturday January 5th 2008: Recorded episode #3, a 15 minute pilot episode. Hopefully next week will be the final 15 minute episode before the show gets expanded to at least a half hour. The first song was from DISSECTION ("Black Dragon"). Unfortunately the song skipped in the recording studio so I had to cut it out from the show afterwards. I am going to play it again at the top of next week's show. WINTERSUN ("Winter Madness") was the next song. Combining elements of Black, Folk, and Power Metal to create an extremely EPIC Viking Metal sound, Finland's WINTERSUN is one of the top metal bands in the world. The long awaited second release "Time" should be released later this year. Once the show is expanded we will discuss the genius of Jari Maenpaa in more detail, for now, just enjoy the insanity of the guitar solo at 3:06. The last song was by AMORPHIS ("Drowned Maid") off "Tales from the Thousand Lakes (1994)." Amorphis was a pioneer of the Melodic Death Metal Genre back in the early 90's.  Around the turn of the millenium they had evolved into a progressive/psychedelic band but after a few lineup changes an the release of "Silent Waters (2007)" they are slowly getting back to their melodic death metal roots.

Saturday December 29th 2007: Pre-recorded pilot episode #2. My timing is getting a little better as I have become more familiar with the control boards. The goal is to do 2 more 15 minute episodes and then expand the show to 30 minutes and eventually an hour or more. The first song played was from Swedish power metal band DRAGONLAND ("Contact") followed by some Finnish melodic death metal from INSOMNIUM ("The Elder"). The last song was from CHILDREN OF BODOM ("Downfall"), COB is hard to place into a particular metal genre because their style is very unique. Probably the closest match is melodic death metal but I have often chosen aggressive power metal or power/black metal to describe them. Anyway, they rock and we'll be hearing more from them in later shows.

Saturday December 22nd 2007: Just pre-recorded the pilot episode of "Hollywood Metal" hosted by Brendan Biryla. It was a 15 minute session so it was hard to fit 3 epic songs and still do the required PSA and run 3-30 second commercial spots. However, I don't have a choice in the matter, yet, so we had to cut the last song, KALMAH  ("The Black Waltz"), a little short. I wanted listeners to hear the solo in this song (at 3:20) because it is particularly heavy and it fucking rules. I led the show off with my two favorite bands, ELVENKING ("White Willow") and ENSIFERUM ("Hero in a Dream"). Since Jari left ENSIFERUM, ELVENKING is in the top spot, although there are several bands not far behind.