Brian - A Small Sampling of the Mighty Sunn O)))

Experimental doom/drone titans Sunn O))) are one of my favorite groups, and I've wanted to put some stuff of theirs up for a long time. I saw them live twice a few weeks ago, and that gave me the impetus for this post.

I saw them in Chicago and Detroit. Two of the best gigs I've ever been to. The place is filled with fog, and there's four hooded figures onstage in front of a WALL of cabinets, making the most earth-shaking racket you've ever heard. A jet engine going off in your chest, hearing a building collapsing from the inside, being overrun by a wall of sound as you scream your exhilaration back at it. The sound actually becomes a physical element, like you can grab it and pull it into you....

And despite what you may have heard, there is a a show going on onstage. The mighty Attila Csihar spends the first part of the gig in a monk's robe, intoning and screeching, gesturing with his hands through the fog. It's captivating to watch. Then, after a break, he comes back out in this black outfit with mirrored shards all over it. He's got small lasers in his gloves, which reflect off his face and outfit as he's howling. It's an amazing sight, if you can remember to keep your eyes open while being pummeled like an anvil by their sound. Great show. They rarely tour the Midwest, and I was honored to see it twice. You don't look into the void; you're enveloped by it...

Anyway, on to what I'm giving you. I have their entire discography, but wanted to just give a small sampling. The first thing is their album Black One. It was their first record to heavily feature vocals, and is an amazing, dark masterpiece. There is also a link for Solstitium Fulminate, which was a bonus disc that came with rare vinyl editions of the album. A few of you already downloaded this awhile ago, since I had misplaced a link on that "penguin" post

Next is a link for their EP Oracle, featuring two warped 18 minute tracks. Also included is the rare 45 minute collage "HeliO)))sophist" as well as the track "Her Lips Were Wet With Venom", the bonus track from their collaborative album with Boris, Altar. Beautiful cacophony.

The last file is their live album Domkirke. It was recorded in a very old church in Norway, in front of a captivated audience. If you crank this one REALLY LOUD, it can just approximate what one of their gigs feels like. While I admit this file sonically pales when compared to my vinyl album, it's still a great listen. When the applause comes at the very end, it's great; you can tell the audience had to be snapped out of the state they were in. I know what that feels like!

I hope the adventurous among you find something to like here. And if you ever come across actually copies of their material - especially vinyl versions - buy something. A group this committed to boundary-pushing should be supported.

The Melvins "Basses Loaded"

A clever concept here from an always fine band.......The Melvins are Seattle legends, we all know that, they have been featured here before.....this project is interesting. On their latest release, the  band utilizes various bass players, most notably Steven McDonald of Red Kross and Krist Novosoelic )of Nirvana of course).......to be honest haven't listened to it yet, likely will tonight or tomorrow, but I love the Melvins (one very inventive, imaginative band), and I think the concept is a good one.....if this sucks (experiments sometimes do), well, sorry, but at least again we strive for variety!

BASSES LOADED-01 The Decay of Lying/02 Choco Plumbing/03 Beer Hippie/04 I Want to Tell You/05 Captain Come Down/06 Hideous Woman/07 Shaving Cream/08 Planet Destructo/09 War Pussy/10 Maybe I Am Amused/11 Phyllis Dillard/12 Take Me Out to the Ball Game

More Garage Rock from Freedom End

(scott) Yesterday this guy sent a track from a band he played in, fine by me, I wish every garage band
in the world would send in a tape.....short on sound quality, long on energy......today he sends several links of sound/video (I haven't had the chance to check them yet), and I'm going to try and piece his story together from the emails I've gotten from him:
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drummer of freedoms end, more songs coming your way within the hour or so.. more info,,,last recording featured me on drums, anthony lead guitar, ruben lead guitar frank bass this one coming up only feature me drums anthony lead guitar ruben is replaced with big mike lead guitar no bass was available, all live all loud all raw all original this one is heavier, mikes influences slayer, anthonys influence king diamond mercyful fate , me john bonham ,psychedelic rock 

rubens main influence el tri (three souls in my mind) metallica 


http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/DRNhgIea/file.html
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/TwaXbveE/file.html
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/yzbmQBLo/file.html
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/sVpXa164/file.html
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/XAnlvRXi/file.html
http://www108.zippyshare.com/v/WWpXCxYu/file.html

which you prefer this one or the other one. 2 different sounds anthony used different gear on this one, not as psychedelic perhaps pantera was a influence on anthony not on me thats for sure. but its heavier, anthonys voice is more blown here not up to his usual high standard. deep purples ian gillan comes to mind. glad I can give something back to you for all you do on this web site, lets you know im grateful. thank you steve I may give up metal anyway and join a country band , were see. I go deaf sometimes 

ruben sadly has moved on to a new band fz10 a pretty famous mexican band, he does have some level of fame and is friends with the leader of el tri. rest of us are nobodys.. but tomorrow I will have a special treat. me drumming with fz10 on 2 songs black sabbaths and ted nugent stay tuned... 

fz10 roadhouse blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-4Sx-VEvsQ ruben is with the hat, the recording with ruben from yesterday was a old recording were not in our twenties, this one here is a more recent recording of a semi reunion of the original band. like I say we never played a gig, all garage gigs and some studio sessions 

but honestly this recording gives me a headache somewhat now. the heavy tone in it, but I think it rocks certain parts.. what do you think of it scott? a review? 

thats not a great video of my friends band, he has played some pretty big places long beach arena for one, tomorrow also I take out my two man band me drums/lead vocals ruben lead guitar this one really rocks. and its a bit different as well and were hear the 2 unreleased fz10 tracks I play on. only recordings I made with them. have a good day thanks for listening 

I wont take up any more space, but I also should add, yesterdays recordings were from 1988ish maybe 1989 we were on drugs at that time, thats why on this one anthonys voice has lost some of the gusto is more recent. I never shopped these recordings to anyone, I have 100 or so of these in my collection of freedoms end. some sound better than others. we formed in 1985 but were too fucked up to ever get anywhere. 

in a sense then we were at that time in our twenties and you were correct in that assumption in 1989 I was 24 anthony 22. this recording were old men on .. take care steve G 
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Wellll, OK then.......ya certainly can't say we don't give a fair chance to ANY submissions here.....rock on steve!

A Black Sabbath Tribute

First of all, I have not the slightest doubt that Brian could have done this up WAY better than what we have here, just saying, and giving a shout out to Brian's skills at this type of thing..... in general, I hate slavish tributes/slavish cover projects,  I thought that we may have that on this Black Sabbath tribute, but, really, there are some legit interpretations of some of the Sab's great tunes here!

OK, this here is a two disc set, obviously plenty of modern metal owe a debt to Black Sabbath......so what have we here? Well, Disc 1 Biohazard leads off with a good "After Forever", Megadeth rip up "Paranoid", 1,000 Homo DJ's infamous version of "Supernaut" is here (it's fab), Sepulturea turns in a fine "Symptom of the Universe", and Faith No More turn in a good live "War Pigs"..... just the highlights, but I thought it was MUCH better than I had expected.

The second disc has a few gems also..... Godsmack comes through with "Sweet Leaf", Slayer turns in a "Hand of Doom", Monster Magnet CRUSHING "Into the Void", other stuff too (Bustah Rhymes? oh well)....

I think there have been a few other Sabbath tributes over the yearas, I may (or may not) have posted some here...... I think this one is the best, so dig in!

NATIVITY IN BLACK DISC 1-01 BIOHAZARD-After Forever/ 02 WHITE ZOMBIE-Children of the Grave/ 03 MEGADETH-Paranoid/ 04 1000 HOMO DJ's-Supernaut/ 05 OZZY OSBOURNE W/THERAPY-Iron Man/ 06 CORROSION OF CONFORMITY-Lord of This World/ 07 SEPULTURA-Symptom of the Universe/ 08 BULLRING BRUMMIES-The Wizard/ 09 BRUCE DICKINSON WITH GODSPEED-Sabbath Bloody Sabbath/ 10 UGLY KID JOE-NIB/ 11 FAITH NO MORE-War Pigs (Live)/ 12 TYPE O NEGATIVE-Black Sabbath/ 13 CATHEDRAL-Solitude

NATIVITY IN BLACK DISC 2-01 GODSMACK-Sweet Leaf/ 02 MACHINE HEAD-Hole In the Sky/ 03 STATIC X-Behind the Wall of Sleep/ 04 MEGADETH-Never Say Die/ 05 SYSTEM OF A DOWN-Snowblind/ 06 PANTERA-Hand of Doom/ 07 PRIMUS W/OZZY-NIB/ 08  SLAYER-Hnd of Doom/ 09 SOULFLY-Under the Sun/10 HED (PE)-Sabbra Cadabara/11 MONSTER MAGNET-Into the Void/ 12 BUSTAH RHYMES- Iron Man (This Means War)

More Japanese rock from Jonder

(Scott)-this one I know, and it is worth your while..... Used to have this one, actually maybe I still do, but PLEASE don't let the Japanese language scare you away from this one.....really, really, great stuff, AND, I strongly suggest you read the book in the bonus section on the Jap Rock scene, it's really tremendous as well!
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Bleach (known in the US as Bleach 03 or Bleachmobile) is a different kind of trio: they are "Three Girls from Okinawa" as the title of their compilation album describes them.  Bleach sound nothing like High Rise or those three girls from Osaka, Shonen Knife.   Bleach combine spazzy punk, thrash metal breakdowns and funky riffs.  All three members sing, and bassist Miya unleashes some guttural screams worthy of Cannibal Corpse.  You can see the band's virtuosity in these live performances:  youtu.be/pFX0A7jSzTU  and youtu.be/Ibns1U6vg7w

The first Bleach album came out in 2000, and they announced their breakup in 2009 upon the release of their fifth album, Bleachstone.  Their self-titled album came out in Japan in 2003, and was reissued in the US in 2005.  It ends with a hidden track that doesn't begin until 3:00.  

There is a bonus in the comments section for those who are interested in reading a well-researched history of Japan's rock scene in the 1960's and 1970's, written by a famous Drude from Liverpool. 

01 Kuropen Bigaku Tenshi-Chan to Kangaemashita (My Sweet Angel and I)/02 Sun-Dance--Moon-Dance/03 

Canary Teikoku No Gyakushuu (Canary Empire Strikes Back)/04 Chousen (Challenge)/05 Raiko-Kareki Ni Hana Wa Sakanai (Lightning-Flowers Don't Bloom)/06 Nils/07 He (Hips)/08 Howling/09 Arigato Gozaimasu (Thank You Very Much)/10 Taiyou (Sun)/11 Untitled Track

Return of the "What Is Heavy Metal?" Project

Like it or not, here comes Disc 3 of the "What Is Heavy Metal?" project......as before, I HOPE to inspire
others to make a similar compilation of what defines "metal' to THEM.....before, the first disc was taken from an old Creem magazine article, and the second disc pretty much fell into place.....I had to put some thought into this one, trying to span across eras, pick the "right" songs, and, mostly, ignore/eliminate what I consider to be the posers of the genre......one of the, if not THE most interesting comment/suggestion from the first part was The Beatles "Helter Skelter"......VERY creative choice, and I CAN see the point, but after listening to it a few times, I can't see it....it's a great track and ripe for covering by some metal band (I know a few have tried it, notably Motley Crue, ughh), but it just might be one of those things that is simply "too good" to belong here...anyway, thought provoking suggestions such as this are the kind of thing that this is meant to incite, of course, the inevitable "you're an idiot" comments are welcome as well, although they generally don't accomplish much......here is disc 3:

01 THE STOOGES-Search and Destroy-The Stooges make a return from the first volume, with the highlight track of "Raw Power".....crushing riff, Iggy's tortured vocal, demented lyrics ("a heart full of napalm")....I believe it has been used some in advertising, which, anyway you slice it, is pretty sad.





02 NAZARETH-Razamanaz-Like I said before, pretty
much the only listenable track they ever produced....McCafferty's vocal isn't TOO awful here (or, at least not as awful as it often was), and this track REALLY does bash some serious skull.

03 HARD STUFF-No Witch At All-Not too well known, Hard Stuff was an Atomic Rooster offshoot who produced two fine hard rocking albums in the early-mid 70's....."No Witch at All" is from the debut, "Bulletproof", and if you've never heard it, treat yourself

04 PAT TRAVERS BAND-Heat in the Street-Not a HUGE fan of Travers, he's done some fairly good stuff, but the title track from what I think is his best album is a real smoker.

05 PEARL JAM-Once-before they became infatuated with themselves, Pearl Jam made one tremendous
album ("Ten") which is a slamming retro-70's/metal affair. Much of early 1990's alt/grunge drew influence from 70's metal, and this great song is one of the best examples of that

06 GOLDEN EARRING-Candy's Going Bad-A return engagement for Golden Earring, this track is from "Moontan" as was "Radar Love"...... this one is nearly as good if not better, was done up in  a wretched cover version years later by one of the worst bands I've ever heard, The Godz.

07 SIR LORD BALTIMORE-Kingdom Come-Someone pointed
out that they missed the first comp, and yes, they should be here, ANY track off the album "Kingdom Come" would suffice.

08 TOOL-Ticks and Leeches-Do Tool belong here? I don't know, they could almost be in the hendrix/BOC list of bands that transcend this, but DAMN they did do up some heavy, gloomy stuff.... I chose this (from "Lateralus"), but there are a handful more that could have been here, "Prison Sex", "Bottom", lots more.

09 THE RUNAWAYS-School Days- maybe you thought I was kidding last time? Like the 90's grunge
rockers, some of the hard punk bands of the 70's owed a debt to metal as well. Lita Ford was a good metal shredder, as well as being a goddess. Did I mention she was a goddess, also?





10 ATOMIC ROOSTER-Seven Streets-Someone last time suggested this band, I don't know, I loved this album ("Death Walks Behind You") and not a lot else that they did, I thought that they really didn't belong here, maybe, but actually, yes, especially this killer track.




11 SPOOKY TOOTH-Evil Woman-Winding up with a
long, slow, bluesy, keyboard driven screamer..... Spooky Tooth were a HEAVY band, really, and this was them at their very best (from "Spooky Two).

OK bring it on...... if you don't like my choices, again, where is YOUR compilation, I'd love to hear it...... otherwise, investigate, listen, argue, criticize...... it's all in good fun, and whether or not you agree with my selections, you cannot argue that this collection cranked at full volume is a motherfucker to listen to. Enjoy.

Iced Earth

Well, I've always loved metal, as ya know, and Iced Earth, despite a far less than constant lineup, have
certainly lived up to that goal.......formed in Tampa in the mid-80's, Iced Earth were basically about guitarist Jon Schaffer, a Judas Priest/Iron Maiden style slammer (not a put down). Scaffer was the only constant in the band, there is no fucking way I am listing everyone who teamed up with him, although, interestingly and unlike  alot of metal bands, they went through a myriad of vocalists which we WILL investigate......

So, ok, the first offering I have from these boyos is the self titled 1991 debut.....Gene Adam handled vocal chores on this one, but it's really NOT about vocals, rather, it's a showcase for Schaffer's guitar antics......it's really a fairly good piece of work, actually, if you are a fan of bone-crushing metal, "When the Night Falls" and "Written on the Walls" are pretty damn good, and the rest isn't bad at all.

"Night of the Stormrider" came out shortly after and utilized John Greely on vocals......it's got a conceptual theme, dealing with religion/apocalypse type things, but, I'll tell ya, this motherfucker rocks as well...."Pure Evil" and "Travel in Stygian" stand out, but a good old fashioned and overlooked slammer of metal, of which these guys did up on all their albums......slamming shit, no question.

Matthew Barlow took over vocal duties for 1995's, "Burnt Offerings".....I may like this as well as anything they did, it's really dark, gloomy, and heavy as fuck, somewhat innovative as it includes the really cool 16 minute "Dante's Inferno", as well as cool shit ala the title track and "Burning Oasis", this is a REALLY under appreciated slab of metal, and also came with (included here) a bonus disc with rough mixes various Iced Earth tunes, which is REALLY cool, it sounds like a fucking garage band trying to play Iced Earth tunes and works VERY well.....the "main" disc might be thier best/my fave effort, and the bonus disc really DOES work in this context....if you hate this kinda stuff, you're not going to like the set, but real metal-heads will thrill to the whole thing, including the (imo) very fine and fitting bonus disc.

The follow up to "Burnt Offerings" was 1996's "The Dark Saga"....ok, I gotta say, while not "bad", it's also not that good, either, sounded at the time for all the world like they were trying to gain (gag) "mass acceptance"....certainly, it is listenable, but does not replicate the dark-metal crunch of its predecessors.

Next we have the 2-disc "Days of Purgatory", which is interesting in that it features Barlow on vocals on some of the pre-Barlow tracks..... "Written on the Walls", for example, from  their self titled debut, is given a complete overhaul , with a complete set of new lyrics and even a new title, "Cast in Stone"..... a BIT redundant, but not terribly so, myself I wouldn't have made it a 2 disc set,but if I had a brain I'd be licking off Drew Barrymore's tattoos....wait, did I do that one yesterday?

They turned the amps back up a bit for 1998's "Something Wicked This Way Comes".....my friend Tim who loves this band to pieces, really likes this album, not sure I concur......it's OK, but ONLY OK, honestly, it's heavy-heavy metal, lovers of metal should find a slot on the shelf for this one, if you are not big time into metal, likely you will pass.

The THREE(!) disc "Alive in Athens" is more than a little excessive,
the band DID have some live chops, but THREE discs? I'm a metal fan, as you can see, but in general NOT a fan of live metal albums, they tend to go on a bit long, and this effort defines my complaint......if you're a fan, this is for you, if not, well......

Around this same time they released an EP entitled "The Melancholy".... while not horrible, it does contain a highly questionable cover of Bad Company's "Shooting Star" (a bad song to begin with, sez only me), as well as a version of Black Sabbath's "Electric Funeral" (and a decent one at that)... again, for fans ONLY of this type of thing.

Next, they released a 5-disc box set, "Dark Genesis"... while I do happen to have one, I'm not posting the whole thing here, as three discs are remasters of the first three albums......however, also included is the rare EP "Enter the Realm" (1999 and really very good), as well as a disc entitled "Tribute to the Gods" (Gods?) which contains cover versions of a bunch of tunes that apparently influenced the band.... it's not bad, but there are no real surprises here, AC-DC, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden.....you know how I feel about these things, the versions here are so close to the originals, for the most part, that imo there was not really a point in bothering.

2001's "Horror Show" is not a favorite of mine, at all, it's a conceptual affair with a bunch of tunes inspired by various horror films, see the track list below, but I think this one tries WAYYYY too hard and doesn't work....again, my friend Tim would not agre with me, for certain (It's great to be open minded like myself, and not a slavish sheep like TIM (just kidding fucker you know I love ya!))...

Tim "Ripper" Owens, who would serve as Rob Halford's replacement on vocals in Judas Priest takes over singing duties on 2004's "The Glorious Burden", and imo, it's a good one, one of their better works actually....while often conceptual metal alabums fall flat, this one works, as it is themed around various battles and moments in military history....call me crazy, but I really like this one, I think perhaps Owens gave them a needed shot in the arm. The disc-length "Gettysburg" is nothing if not ambitious, and in my estimation, this is certainly the band's most overlooked work, many thought them to be past their peak, but do not miss this one.....a fine and seriously hard rocking, bone crushing 2 disc set.

"Framing Armageddon" is next in line, and takes the concepts sprouted on "Something Wicked" and expands
on them......a lot of instrumental guitar hijinx here, and this would be Ripper's farewell....still, all in all, this is not a bad effort either, these guys (or, more accurately, Schaffer), were a hell of a lot more ambitious than 90% of other metal bands of the day. Released in tandem was the EP "Overture of the Wicked", and features perhaps their best known tune "Ten Thousand Strong".

There is yet another segment to the "Something  Wicked" series, "The Crucible of Man", which I was pretty sure I have but can't find, I'll look some more tomorrow, but there is, in either case, a hell of a lot of stuff here, metal fans, if unfamiliar, you have no excuse......they compare somewhat favorably to Iron maiden or Judas Priest, perhaps a notch beneath those bands, but if you are a fan of headache inducing metal, you won't go wrong here...I gather they've released an album or two since, fuck, they might still be kicking it now, but nothing I've heard (I need to talk to Tim I guess).....anyways, here is some fucking hard rocking, ear piercing, semi-intellectual heavy metal for ya, as always feel free to discuss, comment, or contribute any of the stuff I don't have........I know some metal-heads (HI Tim!) listen to NOTHING but hard core metal, but me, I just consider it another nook in the rock n roll universe.

Enjoy these, there is some good stuff here.

ICED EARTH-01 Iced Earth/02 Written on the Wall/03 Colors/04 Curse the Sky/05 Life and Death/06
Solitude/07 Funeral/08 When the Night Falls

NIGHT OF THE STORMRIDER-01 Angels Holocaust/02 Stormrider/03 The Path I Choose/04 Before the Vision/05 Mystical End/06 Desert Rain/07 Pure Evil/08 Reaching the End/09 Travel In Stygian

BURNT OFFERINGS-01 Burnt Offerings/02 Last December/03 Diary/04 Brainwashed/05 Burning Oasis/06 Creator Failure/07 The Pierced Spirit/08 Dante's Inferno

THE DARK SAGA-01 Dark Saga/02 I Died For You/03 Violate/04 The Hunter/05 The Last Laugh/06 The Depths of Hell/07 Vengeance Is Mine/08 Scarred/09 Slave to the Dark/10 A Question of Heaven

DAYS OF PURGATORY DISC 1-01 Enter the Realm/02 Colors/03 Angels Holocaust/04 Stormrider/05 Winter Nights/06 Nightmares/07 Before the Vision/08 Pure Evil/09 Solitude/10 The Funeral/11 When the Night Falls

DAYS OF PURGATORY DISC 2-01 Burnt Offerings/02 Cast In Stone/03 Desert Rain/04 Brainwashed/05 Life and Death/06 Creator Failure/07 Reaching the End/08 Travel in Stygian/09 Dante's Inferno/10 Iced Earth

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES-01 Burning Times/02 Melancholy (Holy Martyr)/03
Disciples of the Lie/04 Watching Over Me/05 Stand Alone/06 Consequences/07 My Own Savior/08 Reaping Stone/09 1776/10 Blessed Are You/11 Prophecy/12 Birth of the Wicked/13 The Coming Curse

ALIVE IN ATHENS DISC 1-01 Burning Times/02 Vengeance Is Mine/03 Pure Evil/04 My Own Savior/05 Melancholy (Holy Martyr)/06 Dante's Inferno/07 The Hunter/08 Travel In Stygian/09 Slave to the Dark/10 A Question of Heaven

ALIVE IN ATHENS DISC 2-01 Dark Saga/02 The Last Laugh/03 Last December/04 Watching Over Me/05 Angels Holocaust/06 Stormrider/07 The Path I Choose/08 I Died For You/09 Prophecy/10 Birth of the Wicked/11 The Coming Curse/12 Iced Earth

ALIVE IN ATHENS DISC 3-01 Stand Alone/02 Cast In Stone/03 Desert Rain/04 Brainwashed/05 Disciples of the Lie/06 When the Night Falls/07 Diary/08 Blessed Are You/09 Violate

THE MELANCHOLY (EP) 01 Melancholy (Holy Martyr)/02 Shooting Star/03 Watching Over Me/04 Electric Funeral/05 I Died For You/06 The Ripper/07 Colors

ENTER THE REALM (EP)-01 Enter the Realm/02 Colors/03 Nightmares/04 Curse the Sky/05 Solitude/06 Iced Earth

TRIBUTE TO THE GODS-01 Creatures of the Night/02 Number of the Beast/03 Highway to Hell/04 Burning For You/05 God of Thunder/06 Screaming For Vengeance/07 Dead Babies/08 Cities on Flame (With Rock N Roll)/09 It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock N Roll)/10 Black Sabbath/11 Hallowed Be Thy Name

HORROR SHOW-01 Wolf/02 Damien/03 Jack/04 Ghost of Freedom/05 Im-Ho-Tep (Pharaoh's Curse)/06 Jekyll & Hyde/07 Dragon's Child/08 Transylvania/09 Frankenstein/10 Dracula/11 The Phantom Opera Ghost

THE GLORIOUS BURDEN DISC 1-01 The Star Spangled Banner/02 Declaration Day/03 When the Eagle Cries/04 Don't Tread on Me/05 Greenface/06 Atilla/07 Red Baron Blue Max/08 Hollow Man/09 Valley Forge/10 Waterloo/11 When the Eagle Cries Unplugged

THE GLORIOUS BURDEN DISC 2-01` The Devil to Pay/02 Hold at All Costs/03 High Water Mark

FRAMING ARMAGEDDON-01 Overture/02 Something Wicked (Part 1)/03 Invasion/04 Motivation of Man/05 Setian Massacre/06 A Charge to Keep/07 Reflections/08 Ten thousand Strong/09 Execution/10 Order of the Rose/11 Cataclysm/12 The Clouding/13 Infiltrate and Assimilate/14 Retribution Through the Ages/15 Something Wicked (Part 2)/16 The Domino Decree/17 Framing Armageddon/18 When Stars Collide (Born Is He)/19 The Awakening

OVERTURE OF THE WICKED-01 Ten Thousand Strong/02 Prophecy/03 Birth of the Wicked/04 The

Coming Curse

Oh, and hey...these are all (or mostly, I forget) FLAC files.....some love them, some hate them, as I've said before, how I have them is how you get them....but they are a bit more work for me, as most of them need split....this is a rather large project, but it's cool, if you want an album that is split, download ALL parts and it will work fine, trust me......yeah, yeah, when I originally downloaded them I should have converted them, but the cold hard fact is I didn't.......so this is what you are getting....no bitching, there is a lot of good shit here, and if it's too much work for you to DL multiple parts or convert them (free converters are available online), then you are a bit too self-entitled.....we work each day, practically, to make a wide variety of music available to you, and it's not THAT much work to fix it up the way you prefer.......think about it, it's not that hard, and, hey, believe me, it's much more work for us than it is for you.......sorry to rant, but I do get tired of people bitching about the free music they get through me and my wonderful team of helpers......good shit here, take the extra five minutes and GET IT DONE......and of course, let me know what you think, or what you'd like to see here........as Brian likes to say "One Love"!

Good Spanish prog-metal-Avalanch

Formed in Spain in the early 1990's and with a nice edgy hard/metal prog sound to them, Avalanch suffer from the same fate, stateside, that so many non-English speaking bands do, they are virtually unheard of. However, this is a pretty good selection of their stuff, although I am pretty sure not their entire catalogue....a bit hard to get info on them, other than what I already know, which is not all that much. Lets see how much we can piece together.

The first album (there were an earlier EP or 2 butI don't have) hit in 1997, "La Lama Eterna" and, at this point the band consisted of vocalist Juan Lozano, bassist Francisco Fidalgo, Drummer Fernando Arias, flute player (I don't know how to spell the "correct term" for it. Fuck you.) Fernando Arias, and guitar-whiz/multi instrumental/resident musical genius Alberto Riaondo, who would be the band's focal point throughout their run. The album is fair-to-good, somewhat Tull-tinged metal with fine Spanish language vocals (yes, as always, I'm a sucker for foreign language rock vocals, I know many Yanks don't share my enthusiasm)... Rocks out (and "progs-out") pretty good, the title track, "El Despertar" and the 12-minute "Avalanch" are good ones and I'd give this a solid 3-star rating. "Eternal Flame" is the English language version of this album, I listened once so I could attempt to learn a bit lyrically, but the English vocals just don't get it for me. If any of you prefer this, the English version, please inform me, it'd be interesting.

My favorite release is 1999's "Llanto De Un Heroe"......as far as I know they did not release an English version of this one, this a more complex, instrumentally/musically issue than before, and I think new vocalist Victor Garcia is maybe a small improvement.......this album sounds like it wants to be a "classic", and hell, maybe in Spain it is considered one.....of just always like this one, nice trippy/spacy, far less metallic......I just really do like this one.

"Dias de Gloria" is a good sounding live recording, in which the band shows in no uncertain terms that then can crank the amps up.......an fine and unknown live metal release from 2000. "El Angel Caido", from 2001 is about as good as "Llanto", returning to the earlier, more power rock sound and still keeping the cool proggy touches... listening this second as I type this to the metal throbber "Corazon Negro" as I type this, sounds perfectly good (I must point out the very good hard rock drumming on these albums, don't think I noticed it as much first time round back in the early 00's.

Changing course again in a more sometimes almost folk/prog, but still hard rocking (this band showed excellent growth along the way, some NEVER learn about the concept) was "Los Poetas han muerto"......still plenty of Riaondo's guitar antics and Garcia's vocal theatrics to keep it interesting to me.......not as good as "Llanto" or "La Lama", but if you've liked this up to now, this is certainly not disgrace. Perfectly good album. There is also (not sure if a "bonus disc" or seperate release" entitled "Los Petas no han muerto", a live set recorded in Madrid, again showing off these boys's considerable live rock n roll chops.

The next LP the guys delievered was 2004's "las Ruinades del eden", focusing back more on the band's hard-rock/metal side, lots of riffing and soloing and yelling, sounds perfectly respectable to me......."Juego Cruel" and "Lucero" are standouts, maybe, but this is another good effort from this criminally underappreciated rock band.

"Mother Earth" was another attempt to find a US audience with an English language version of "Los Poetas han muerto".....deosn't work for me, at all, and if the oppurtunity to hear these amigos take on U2's "Where the Streets have No Name", HERE is your big chance!

IN 2005, they released "El Hijo Prodigo", another quite good collection of guitar-driven riff rocking......perhaps it's my prejudice in favor of non-English vocals at time, but what exactly was these guys low point? Pretty good consistent hard rock career, better, than, say, Rush IMO.....(think that might start something? Darn wouldn't that be a shame)....."Papel Roto", -"Semilia Rencor", and "Le Cara Oculta De la Luna" stand out to me as perfectly serviceable hard rock tunes for an old hard rock guy like me.

"Un Paso Mias" is a good enough best of, with a few bonus tracks tacked on to keep it interesting... perhaps if you are not such a fan of non-English rock as I am, you may wish to start here.....this is good stuff here, a career that was a much better run, musically, than a lot of other bands get......the remind me, not in sound (obviously) but in just comparing the careers, somewhat, of Skyclad, folk/prog laced metal tunes that don't ever forget the metal.......-Skyclad of course always had brilliant lyrics, and I don't know about them here as I also prefer NOT to translate lyrics I can't get, but they sure SOUND good, and I bet more than one of you out there consider this something of a "find".......I hope so.

LA LLAMA ETERNA-01 La Llama Eterna/02 El Mudno Perdido/03 El Despertar/04 Vicio Letal/05 Esclavo de la ira/06 Avalon, la Morada del ray/07 Excalibur/08 Sigue Asi/09 Rainbow Warrior/10 Juego Cruel/11 La Taberna/12 Avalanch/13 El Cierre De la Taberna

ETERNAL FLAME-01 Eternal Flame/02 The Lost World/03 Awake/04 Lethal Vice/05 Slave of the Anger/06 Avalon, the King's Abode/07 Excalibur/08 Following/09 Rainbow Warrior/10 Cruel Game/11 The Tavern/12 Avalanch/13 Closing the tavern

LLANTO DE UN HEROE-01 Intro/02 Toruqumada/03 Por me Libertad/04 Pelayo/05 Vientos del sur/06 Polvo, Sudor y Sangre/07 Cid/08 Dias de Gloria?/09 No Pidas Que Crea En Ti/10 Cambaral/11 Aqui Estare/12 Llanto de un heroe

DIAS DE GLORIA-01 Intro/02 Torqumada/03 Por mi Libertad/04 El Despertar/05 Vicio letal/06 Vienos del Sur/07 Excalibur/08 Pelayo/09 I Want Out/10 Epilogo/11 Save Me

EL ANGEL CADO-01 Hacia la Luz/02 Tierra De Nadie/03 El Angel Caido/04 Xana/05 La Buena Nueva/06 Levantate Y Anda/07 Alam En Pena/08 Corazon Negro/09 Delirious de Grandeza/10 Antojo de un Dios/11 El Septimo Dia/12 las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 1)/13 Las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 2)/14 Las Ruinas Del Eden (Act 3)/15 Santa barbara

LOS POETAS HAN MUERTO-01 Lucero/02 Cien veces/03 Nino/04 Jamas/05 Alborado/06 El viejo Torreon/07 Del Cielo a la tierra/08 Los Poetas han Muerto/09 Madre Tierra/10 Ecos de vida

LOS PUETOS NO HAN MUERTO-01 Cien veces/02 Nono/03 jamas/04 El viejo Torreon/05 Interludio/06 Vientos del Sur/07 Lucero

LAS RUINADES DEL EDEN-01 Juego Cruel/02 Delirious de Grandeza/03 Xana/04 Lucero/05 Vientos del Sur/06 El Angel Ciado/07 El Viejo Torrieon/08 Corazon Negro/09 Pelayo/10 Leavantate y Anda/11 Antojo  de un Dios/12 Cambaral/13 Las Ruinades Del Eden

MOTHER EARTH-01 Lucero/02 One Hundred Times/03 Come To My Arms/04 No more Damage/05 Dawn/06 Old Fortress/07 Heaven and earth/08 Echos of a Life/09 Where the Streets Have No name

EL HIJO PRODIGO-01 Alas de Cristal/02 Semilla de Rencor/03 Aun Respiro/04 La Cara Oculta de la Luna/05 Tu Fuego En Mi/06 Papel Roto/07 mar de Lagrimas/08 Un paso mas/09 Lagrimas  Megras/10 El Hijo Prodigo

UN PASO MAS-01 Agora Non/02 Alas de Cristal/03 Nino/04 Antojo de un Dios/05 Delirios de Grandiza (Acoustic)/06 mar de lagrimas/07 Xana/08 Juego Cruel/09 Lucero/10 Cambaral (acoustic)/11 No more Damage/12 Where the Streets Have No name/13 El Principe feliz

So what do you think? I continue to try and deliver shit of the most varied nature, many don't know this troup, and they are BAD ASS, for fans of metal, prog rock, non-English language rock, etc......this is a bunch of good shit here, don't let it go by and notify me three years from now asking me to re-up them......