What are you listening to right now?

[introclaus]

NP: Liv Sin - Burning Sermons (2019).
It's such a fun album. Swedish power metal with a great female vocalist - Accept meets Doro meets Sabaton.

[GaetanL]

Asia "Alpha" at home.
Symphony X "V" in my car.

[devomeister]

Nothing More 'Spirits'

One of this year's better releases if you like this alt/prog stuff like I do.

[introclaus]

NP: PAIN OF SALVATION - One Hour by the Concrete Lake
Such a classic! Every time I listen to it, it sends me right back to that first time I heard this monster of an album.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Manticora "To Live to Kill to Live"

Great set of albums! I was initially skeptical as "Black Circus" was a bit of a letdown, but they bring it in spades on these.

[Mardoch]

Since we're finally getting some wintery weather I've got Ihsahn's After on right now. Love this album so much.

[LarryD]

Evership / The Uncrowned King - Act 2. Very disappointing indeed. I got this with the new Arena and I thought I would be 2 for 2... nope.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Evership / The Uncrowned King - Act 2. Very disappointing indeed. I got this with the new Arena and I thought I would be 2 for 2... nope.

I skipped this one as I wasn't overwhelmed with the first one.

NP - Symphorce "Unrestricted" (Andy B Franck, very "ehh" songwriting)

[LarryD]

Evership / The Uncrowned King - Act 2. Very disappointing indeed. I got this with the new Arena and I thought I would be 2 for 2... nope.

I skipped this one as I wasn't overwhelmed with the first one.

NP - Symphorce "Unrestricted" (Andy B Franck, very "ehh" songwriting)

****The first one actually grew on me after awhile ..... so I figured this one would at least be as good or better. You were wise to skip it.

[Mardoch]

Grabbed the last two Intervals albums on a whim this morning, still great. I've got the new Polyphia queued up again after them, though, because I cannot get enough of it. Playing God and Ego Death just hit so good on every listen.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Glory "Wintergreen" - I'm a slappy for anything Goran Edmund. Not sure how you categorize Glory, but somewhere in the hard rock / AOR range with a few mild neo-classical and prog touches. Melodic as hell.

[ToddinMN]

Listening to the new Threshold. This really hits the spot. After one spin through, my favorite track is Let It Burn. That track is a banger.

[LarryD]

Listening to the new Threshold. This really hits the spot. After one spin through, my favorite track is Let It Burn. That track is a banger.

***Mine just arrived courtesy of The Lasers Edge express flight delivery - cracking it open right now. Good to hear - I'm looking forward to this and I'm hoping it hits me better than the last one did, which I think it will ........

[RickyRock]

Tad Morose, the last 4 albums on shuffle. Ronny Hemlin to me is a metal vocal god. The albums are, (from first Ronnie Hemlin to the newest) Revenant, St. Demonius, Chapter X, and March of the Obsequious. I would say if I had to pick one it would be Chapter X. I’ve always dug Tad Morose but Hemlin raises the metal vocal bar for me.
https://youtu.be/bls3NslGPdQ

[introclaus]

New Threshold.

Loved the singles - first spin through was somewhat disappointing- sounds more like Evergrey than Threshold and that’s not how I want my Thresh’.
Need many more spins …

[LarryD]

MAGENTA / The White Witch -

Those of you who know Magenta, you know that they are a prog rock band fronted by the great Christina Booth. They have tried something different this time around, and they created a concept CD complete with narrated story, except the music is performed by an orchestra, without drums or bass .......
It's brilliant, it's long, and it's incredible. However, it is daunting at times, not something you would put on all the time. This is story telling material, the kind you shut the lights off, grab your drink, and go for it .........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-z1AiwEiW0

[Sir Exar Kun]

Yngwie Malmsteen - Alchemy

Not as good as the previous "era" material overall, but still classic Yngwie at heart with Mark Boals on vocals.

[jhallum]

Soen -- ATLANTIS

First pass through it as I finish for the day. Very much a lighter version of the tracks from prior albums with an orchestra and some nice backing vox. Worth listening to.

[introclaus]

New Threshold … again again … for an album I’ve deemed “disappointing”, it’s crazy that I’ve probably already listened to it 25-30 times haha. I’m gonna go on the record and state that I love this very much, and the 3 songs that annoy me are only partially bad My problem with “Run”, “Lost Along the Way” and “Let it Burn” is in the 80’s synth production all over the keyboards on those songs, and the fact that something in the songwriting of them reminds me of another band, which is obviously not how I prefer this band to sound. The rest of the album is absolutely amazing and would have been one of their very best if they hadn’t included those three songs (and like I said, I’m slowly coming around on those three as well).

[introclaus]

Yngwie Malmsteen - Alchemy

Not as good as the previous "era" material overall, but still classic Yngwie at heart with Mark Boals on vocals.

Been a while, so … here we go … the first three songs “Blutzkrieg”, “Leonardo” and “Playing with Fire” are awesome tunes.
I always felt this album was more in line with the two Vescara-fronted albums than anything else in Malmsteen’s discography, and listening again now, I still think that holds true.

[introclaus]

Happy thanksgiving all.

Been listening some more to Threshold (lol, I’m so going to eat crow on this one - I’m loving it now) while running an 8k Turkey Trot Race this morning.

Then listened to the debut album of MMXX (doom metal) on the way home.

[LarryD]

Happy thanksgiving all.

Been listening some more to Threshold (lol, I’m so going to eat crow on this one - I’m loving it now) while running an 8k Turkey Trot Race this morning.

Then listened to the debut album of MMXX (doom metal) on the way home.

***Happy Crowsgiving bro !!!! Dine well. " Quothe the crow, nevermore " ......

[introclaus]

Now playing ANTIMATTER “A Profusion of Thought”. It’s a new album, but not really … Mick apparently had a bunch of songs written over the last 20 years that he never found the proper time to record and release. As expected it’s beautiful, and hits right in the hurt-zone as all his music tend to do. Had this been marketed as a new album instead of “just” a collection of leftovers, it would go straight into the top 3 of my AotY list.

[Mardoch]

I was late to In Flames' 2019 album I, The Mask, but I absolutely adore it now. I go back to it a lot when I'm feeling kind of listless musically, such as tonight. There's really no weak tracks on it imo.

[introclaus]

Now playing: GRAHAM BONNET "Day Out in Nowhere". I've been going back to this album a ton of times this year. Love it.

[Ghost Wind]

Bloody Heels - Rotten Romance. Some really good stuff and some so so tunes on the Frontiers label. Kind of darker (maybe it’s just the production), hard rock. There’s just something I really enjoy about the vocals. Crow’s Lullaby and Burning Bridges are great tunes.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Lana Lane - Covers Collections

Just one of those voices that keeps pulling me back. Discovered her around the Garden of the Moon era if I recall correctly, as one of our local CD shops (Harmony House) stocked a few LMP releases and at that point those were almost a blind buy. She's one of those artists that I hoped for years would go just a TOUCH heavier, but never has quite done that, but despite that puts out solid album after album......

This album has a few standouts on it, highlighted by a cover of Enuff zNuff's "Innocence" which I thought was just a wild track to pick....

[introclaus]

This album has a few standouts on it, highlighted by a cover of Enuff zNuff's "Innocence" which I thought was just a wild track to pick....

Wow that is an odd choice for sure. That said, the first 3-4 E’z’N albums were absolutely amazing. “Strength” (their second) is my favorite hair metal album of all time… I was lucky enough to see them live once … drove to southern Germany from Denmark (~12 hours) to catch these guys. I can’t remember all the bands that played the festival to be honest, (I think it was Tyler’s of pan tang, demon, jaded heart, and a few others), as I was there primarily for those guys and a melodic hard rock band called Push that I was really into back then (who I believe were there only because one of the other bands had canceled).

[Sir Exar Kun]

Zierler "Esc" - Aggressive, chunky as hell Finn Zierler post-Beyond Twilight project. Kelly "Sundown" Carpenter on vocals if I recall (at work, CD not in hand, too lazy to look it up). I love Finn's composition style, and really wish he were more active in the scene as pretty much everything he has done has been gold (only exception I can think of was the "one song" Beyond Twilight album that just didn't work at all for me).

[LarryD]

Zierler "Esc" - Aggressive, chunky as hell Finn Zierler post-Beyond Twilight project. Kelly "Sundown" Carpenter on vocals if I recall (at work, CD not in hand, too lazy to look it up). I love Finn's composition style, and really wish he were more active in the scene as pretty much everything he has done has been gold (only exception I can think of was the "one song" Beyond Twilight album that just didn't work at all for me).

***For whatever reason, I didn't care for that Zierler disc, I don't even see it in my collection but I agree with you on the fact that whatever he touches turns colors......and also, I didn't care for that one-song BT disc either..... that is a VERY fatiguing listen.

[Mark]

Galderia - Endless Horizon
These guys sound Italian, but according to Metal Archives they're from France. They play very infectious, happy anthemic power metal a'la Lost Horizon. The first band I've heard in many, many years that takes me all the way back to the innocent early years when I was just discovering power metal and every new band I was hearing was blowing me away because it was all so fresh and new. I can't help but bounce around my room like a teenager again when playing this album. No cynicism, jadedness, too-cool-for-school attitude or anything like that, just joyous, singalong power metal.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Galderia - Endless Horizon
These guys sound Italian, but according to Metal Archives they're from France. They play very infectious, happy anthemic power metal a'la Lost Horizon. The first band I've heard in many, many years that takes me all the way back to the innocent early years when I was just discovering power metal and every new band I was hearing was blowing me away because it was all so fresh and new. I can't help but bounce around my room like a teenager again when playing this album. No cynicism, jadedness, too-cool-for-school attitude or anything like that, just joyous, singalong power metal.

Good call! I need more of this music in my life..... When I first saw the name, I thought it was Galneyrus (sp?) from Japan, who I don't care for, but I like what I hear on this one..... Very oldschool, like you said.

Speaking of oldschool, this morning's first play at work is Skylark's "Fairytales"..... Likely headed to the trade-in pile, I'm afraid. One of those bands that production just holds back.

[Mardoch]

The new one from The Interbeing is really landing with me and I'm running their discography the last few days. I'd forgotten how much their singer reminds me of the singer from Sybreed, who I love.

[introclaus]

Behind the Curtain - Till Birth Do Us Part.
One of the most underrated prog albums of all time.

[Sir Exar Kun]

Behind the Curtain - Till Birth Do Us Part.
One of the most underrated prog albums of all time.

Yeesh, strong disagreement on that one. I found it almost unlistenable, to the point where I traded it in before I was even trying to clean out the collection.

To each their own on that one, I guess!