This week's theme is newer/underground bands. They may not all be completely unknown or new, but they are probably new to a lot of people. Hope to spread the word.
Check this tag for my other “Songs of the Week” posts.
I enjoy music, as most of you know, so I thought I'd post a song everyday during the week using my Blip.fm station and tweet it at the same time (if you wanted to follow at home.) Every week, I'll recap my choices and write a little blurb about them.
Hopefully, it's a good chance to hear some new music (or old music) and get my take on it. I do tend to lean towards Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, so most songs will probably be in that general area, but I will veer from time to time. I know music is very much like religion and politics, so I'm not pushing anything onto you. If you don't like something, I respect that. But, if you do, I'm more than happy to get you more info on it, just let me know.
Most entries will have a Wikipedia and Last.FM link at the end for you to get more information and listen to other songs at your leisure.
Monday
Redemption – Peel – Redemption is a progressive metal band, similar to Dream Theater. I was introduced to them when they opened for Dream Theater during their 2007 tour. The group includes previous members of Fates Warning, who were very influential to the progressive metal genre. Basically, if you enjoy Dream Theater or Fates Warning, than you should enjoy Redemption. This song is off their latest album, which is very good, “Snowfall on Judgement Day.” [ Wikipedia | Last.fm ]
Tuesday
Dirge Within – Force Fed Lies – We were introduced to Dirge Within when they recently opened for Trivium in Milwaukee. They are similar to Trivium and Five Finger Death Punch. I like them because of the great musicianship and they have the raw metal sound, but without being too screamy. We were able to understand their music live, which is usually tough to do with metal bands that you're not familiar with. I currently have their “Force Fed Lies” album in my car and it's very good. [ Last.fm ]
Wednesday
Halestorm – What Were You Expecting? – Halestorm is a female-fronted hard rock band. I like her voice since it's tough and is a very good, clean, strong rock voice. I would personally compare it to Theory of a Deadman or possibly Nickelback, in terms of sound and attitude. Last.fm mentions close similarities to The Veer Union and Burn Halo, but I'm not familiar with them so I can't say for sure. It's not technically amazing or very heavy, but it's good, simple, fun rock music and sometimes you need that. [ Wikipedia | Last.fm ]
Thursday
Rodrigo y Gabriela – Santo Domingo – This is one is sort of from left field. Rodrigo y Gabriela “are a Mexican musical duo who specialize in playing fast, rhythmic acoustic guitars.” I'd say my interest in them comes from my enjoyment of the guitar as an instrument. What usually amazes me about Rodrigo y Gabriela is that they do everything on their two acoustic guitars (for the most part) including the percussion parts. They came together due to their love of thrash metal, so it started well, too. I originally came across them when I found an amazing cover they recorded of Metallica's “Orion” instrumental. If you like the guitar and amazing sounds that can be made from it, check them out. [ Wikipedia | Last.fm ]
Friday
The Sword – The Black River – I first ran across The Sword when they had a cover version of their song, “Freya”, in Guitar Hero II. But, more recently, we saw them open up for Metallica in 2009 and this song was also included in the Guitar Hero: Metallica game. They're definitely heavy metal, but I would also describe them as having a “retro metal” sound, almost Black Sabbath-like but with a more modern feel including the very dark and crunchy guitars. Most places put them in the doom/stoner metal genre. Also, a lot of their songs and albums have a fantasy/sword-and-sorcery theme and feel to them, especially the latest album and its Conan the Barbarian theme, which made them great to play when doing Sons of Hodir dailies. [ Wikipedia | Last.fm ]
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