~Music~

[nonesensed]

I'm still digesting the excellent Critical Role finale, but I think it melted my brain too much for me to write anything more coherent than I LOVE D&D!!! for now XD

Thus, other topic: MUSIC!

I've had a good time with music in the last few weeks. Not only did one of my favorite over-the-top power metal bands release a new song (Beast of Gévaudan by Powerwolf - be warned that this group's whole "gimmick" is pretending to be catholic werewolf priests, sooooo, yeah, lot's of "Christian imagery but make it Metal"), this neat WIP Critical Role animation reminded me that MIKA's "Promiseland" is so sooo catchy, and this Critical Role fan-song based on ep 140 tore my heart out in the best of ways <3

I was also made aware of the Warframe space-shanty Sleeping in the Cold Below thanks to the fan-version over here, most excellent! And I found this mellow lofi summer playlist that's my current writing/editing music <3

And then! THEN! I was informed that the band The Amazing Devil are a thing because of this Tumblr post that is a whole bisexual MOOD (+ the little aside of "yes that is Jaskier" startled a chuckle out of my Witcher-loving self). Not only an A+ aesthetic, but music I've really fallen in love with as well! Two whole albums full!

If you're into folkrock(I think??? I Am Bad At Music Genres Sorry) I highly rec this band! They've got so many flavors, from creepy eerie Something Is Wrong songs to Ridiculously Cheerful Breakup songs, to Oddly Bittersweetly Nostalgic Feelsy songs, with clever lyrics and mood that varies from "classic" fantasy to urban fantasy and in-between!

Both albums have revitalized many of my old-and-current writing projects, inspired new ones, aaaaand I'm definitely requesting both their The Horror and the Wild and the music video for their King for Yuletide this year <3<3<3

Comments

[bardsley]

Thank you for sharing these cool new (to me) artists. The Powerwolf song is, regrettably not available in the US. I really like The Amazing Devil.

[nonesensed]

So glad you found new things to listen to! The Amazing Devil took me by surprised at how much I enjoyed both their albums - I'm happy you like them too :D

Argh, stupid region locks :/ Is the official (and utterly ridonkulous) music video also blocked in the US?

[bardsley]

It works! Thank you! That is so weird but cool.

[nonesensed]

Yay, so glad that worked! Indeed power metal is a genre that's full of "weird but cool", and that song/video definitely falls under such a label XD

[bardsley]

I like weird but cool, so clearly I need to look into more power metal!

[nonesensed]

I hope you find a lot of fun music to listen to! I'm not really super knowledgeable about music, but I've got a handful of recs if you want them XD

Oh, and a heads-up: if you go searching random power metal music, watch out for the hidden fascists :( They're sadly not uncommon in the metal genre - I've learned to always google bands that are new to me, so I don't end up listening to Surprise Nazis *deep sigh* (most metal bands aren't Nazis, they're just more common in this music genre than in say, pop or jazz :/)

[bardsley]

I welcome music suggestions. Surprise Nazis are most certainly not welcome.

[nonesensed]

Some Nazi-free music recs, coming right up!

Since metal sub-genres tends to be rather *makes a vague hand wiggle gesture*, I've got some power-metal-adjacent bands to recommend too XD I'll list some bands below and link a few of their songs :)

Sabaton
Swedish power metal band (though sometimes categorized as heavy metal) that write a lot about war history. Can come off as glorifying war, but also bring up kinda forgotten history, so... The music is catchy I think XD
- Night Witches (about the all-female Russian bomber crew 588 that was active during World War II)
- White Death (about Simo Häyhä, a Finnish sniper active during World War II and the Winter War with the Soviet Union)
- Shadows (not based on real life history at all - instead a song about the Nazgûl from Lord of the Rings XD)

Nightwish
Finnish power metal band heavily inspired by "fantasy" in general.
- End of All Hope (Final Battle music that starts out very End of the World, then get's more hopeful - heads-up: Nightwish uses angels a lot in their songs, like in this one, but it's more in a "fantasy" way than in a specific religion way)
- Ghost Love Score (a 10 minute long song, so not for everyone, but it chronicles the start and end of a relatioship between to immortal beings who've existed since the dawn of time)
- Romanticide (a very Extra break-up song with fantasy flair~)

Powerwolf
Already recommended, but here are some more specific songs of theirs I like :)
- We Drink Your Blood (All about blood drinking~)
- Incense & Iron (Werewolves out fighting some unholy war)
- Army of the Night (The werewolves-out-a-fighting-theme continues XD)

Gloryhammer
A Swiss-British symphonic power metal band made up of space vikings.
- Hootsforce (hype-song for the space viking army!)
- Rise of the Chaos Wizards (Yup XD)
- Gloryhammer (space himbos are gonna space himbo)

ASP
Goth metal more than power metal and all in German, but still fun! They've got a whole album that's all about a fairy tale (the one about a miller who sells his workers' souls to the devil to become rich and powerful). It's pretty neat! All songs below are from that album, which is called "Krabat".
- Denn ich bin der Meister (translates to "Because I'm the master", a song from the miller's POV as he teaches the workers - who're all orphans - how to do dark magic)
- Fluchtversuch (translates to "Escape attempt", a song about the main character trying to escape the mill but getting magically looped back to it as the miller follows him while shifting between different animal forms)
- Zaubererbruder (translates to "Wizard brother", a duet between two of the orphans, now wizards, who meet back up after years apart and tell each other about their adventures)

Van Canto
German a cappella metal band. Yup, a cappella XD There are no guitars in their songs, just human voices (though the drums are drums)
- Fear of the Dark (their cover of Iron Maiden's song of the same name)
- If I Die In Battle (about exactly what it says on the tin XD)
- Neuer Wind (translates to "New wind", a hype-song about heading out on a quest and not backing down!)


Aaaaand I'll stop there for now XD I hope the links work outside of Sweden! If not, I'll try to find better links, but hopefully just googling band + song title should help you find them too :)

[bardsley]

Thank you so much for putting this together. I look forward to listening to them and discussing them.

[nonesensed]

I hope you find something to enjoy or at least be entertained by! I love putting together rec lists, but don't worry if the music isn't your thing, I won't take that personally (I know the whole "here's some music I like"-thing can be sensitive for some people, so I just wanted to make clear there's no such feelings awaiting on my part) :)

[schneefink]

be warned that this group's whole "gimmick" is pretending to be catholic werewolf priests
...okay!

I enjoyed the Essek vid :)

[nonesensed]

Yup XD I don't know how familiar you are with power metal music, but it's always delighted me how many power-metal-inclined bands pick a gimmick and stick to it, be it space vikings, pirates, orcs, being reeeeaaaally into war history, etc XD

Crazy talented people making animations for the CR fandom!