![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miko2So today after depositing my check, and my other check, and my other other check (regular paycheck, vacation paycheck plus an extra day's pay for having a full sick leave bank for a full year) I drove over to Southcenter and went to Silver Platters.
Really, I didn't want to spend very much money because I have bills and stuff to pay, but I've been poor for over a month now so I felt I should do something. My goal was the Wintersun cd, which is by the guy who was the singer/guitarist for Ensiferum, so it's very similar, not as folk-oriented but otherwise like his old band.
I didn't know if I should buy anything else. I have ordered several cds in the last few weeks using my credit card, so in that sense I've already spent some of my bonus money. But I looked at other cds. I looked at cds by Einherjer and Thyrfing, two prominent "viking metal" bands. Viking metal is a sub-genre of death metal that involves highly melodic music, death metal vocals, and viking-related themes. In other words, Einsiferum is sort of the Finnish equivelant to a viking metal band, and there's a good chance I would like other viking metal music. But I'd already ordered a cd by Einherjer -- "Odin Owns Ye All", which is apparently very scarce (has been unavailable on Amazon for a while, or is sometimes offered used for $65.00 or more). This is a cd that I've had on my wish list for 2-3 years, and had checked out the sound clips several times and was very interested in. So I ordered it this week through gemm.com for only 15.98 plus s&h, but the outfit I ordered from does not have a great track record so it'll be interesting to see if I actually get it.
In the meantime I wasn't ready to pick up any more viking metal until I was sure I would like what I'd already ordered. I looked at other goth metal bands -- Nightwish, The Gathering, Leaves' Eyes. I will certainly pick up the other Leaves' Eyes cd eventually and probably everything Nightwish has ever done, and I like The Gathering enough to probably pick up anther of their cds one day, but I decided that today wasn't the day.
I looked at other bands, Blind Guardian, some bands that I'd recently read about/researched. Once again, what I'm most interested in picking up at the moment is Within Temptation, and I can't find them in any Seattle store, and I have that one cd already ordered but it's been 2 full weeks and it still hasn't shown up. Korpiklaani also has a new cd coming out on the 23rd, I would love to have that now but I'll just have to wait -- even if it's already available in Europe (I haven't checked) it would probably take just as long or longer to order it from an overseas outfit.
Another band I'm interested in is a Japanese death/power metal band called Blood Stain Child. Some people on Amazon said that they were similar to Einsiferum -- I take such reccomendations with a large grain of salt, but they're Japanese and they've got some great reviews and now I at least want to hear what they sound like. But like Einherjer they are a pretty obscure band and not easy to come by, or not cheap at least. And I don't know if I'd want to buy one of their cds without hearing them first. But I could probably find them through gemm.com or even cdjapan.
And another band I came across which I very much want to hear is Skyforger. They are variously described as black metal, pagan metal, and folk metal -- it is the pagan/folk metal portion of that description that got my attention, as they apparently incorporate a lot of folk music into their songs and sing about pagan gods and folk history (which would make them similar to the viking metal of Einherjer and the Finnish folk/viking metal of Einsiferum and Korpiklaani). But they could not be a viking metal band, because -- surprise surprise -- they are Latvian! They sing in Latvian, and incorporate Latvian folk music and pagan history into their music.
I must hear this band!
Unfortunately when I was at Silver Platters I couldn't remember the name of that band, not that any store in Seattle probably has them for sale. This looks like another very-hard-to-come-by group that I might be better off ordering through gemm.com. But I need to do some research on them first to see if I can find any sound clips that would confirm for me that they are the kind of band I really like.
So anyway, unable to decide on any other cd to buy, and thinking that I probably shouldn't be buying two cds at full price, I made the decision to look through their bargain bin and if I found one of these bands or something else similar, I'd buy that. Hey, it could happen -- I picked up one of my Finntroll cds that way.
So I look through the bargain bin, and what do I find? None of the bands I've been researching, but something that looked interesting in its own right, a cd titled "Eurasia" by Avalon, which was only $5.00.
Now, Avalon is one of those names that tend to scare me off, because there are probably twelve dozen bands calling themselves that and thinking how cool their band name is. But the cd had a really interesting cover with a Chinese budda statue and a scene clearly out of Central Asia. After looking a little closer I saw that the cd came from Germany, and decided that maybe -- just maybe -- this was German metal band, possibly a melodic power metal band along the lines of Blind Guardian, who also combined a lot of Central European influences. I mean, I had no idea if they were even a hard rock band or not, but I imagined that the cd could be really really cool.
Or really really cheesy. I had no idea.
I went to their sound listening station, and in fact there were sound samples from this cd to listen to. And it was in fact a metal band. And it did in fact have some Asian influences. One song was titled "Temujin" which I believe was the actual name of Central Asian conquerer Tamerlane. And it was only $5.00 so I picked it up.
It was an excellent way to spend $5.00. After listening to it a few times and doing some web research, I now know that Avalon is a German progressive/power metal band. They really are a bit like Blind Guardian. On their 3rd and 4th cds they have a new singer who hails from Sri Lanka, and on the 4th cd, "Eurasia", they try to cover themes from all the countries of Eurasia, and incorporate Indian sitars and buddhist monk chants and other Asian influences into their songs. Very cool indeed. ^_^
They also do a cover of Kyrie, the Mr. Mister song. It makes a pretty good prog metal tune!
The cd is from 2000, and their web site contains no information on the band past the year 2000. They even list tour dates under recent news that are from their 2000 tour. I'm not sure what that means, but apparently the band hasn't done a thing since 2000, and probably isn't together anymore.
But anyway, I went looking for a cheap "grab bag" cd that would surprise me, and I actually found a really good one. ^_^
Really, I didn't want to spend very much money because I have bills and stuff to pay, but I've been poor for over a month now so I felt I should do something. My goal was the Wintersun cd, which is by the guy who was the singer/guitarist for Ensiferum, so it's very similar, not as folk-oriented but otherwise like his old band.
I didn't know if I should buy anything else. I have ordered several cds in the last few weeks using my credit card, so in that sense I've already spent some of my bonus money. But I looked at other cds. I looked at cds by Einherjer and Thyrfing, two prominent "viking metal" bands. Viking metal is a sub-genre of death metal that involves highly melodic music, death metal vocals, and viking-related themes. In other words, Einsiferum is sort of the Finnish equivelant to a viking metal band, and there's a good chance I would like other viking metal music. But I'd already ordered a cd by Einherjer -- "Odin Owns Ye All", which is apparently very scarce (has been unavailable on Amazon for a while, or is sometimes offered used for $65.00 or more). This is a cd that I've had on my wish list for 2-3 years, and had checked out the sound clips several times and was very interested in. So I ordered it this week through gemm.com for only 15.98 plus s&h, but the outfit I ordered from does not have a great track record so it'll be interesting to see if I actually get it.
In the meantime I wasn't ready to pick up any more viking metal until I was sure I would like what I'd already ordered. I looked at other goth metal bands -- Nightwish, The Gathering, Leaves' Eyes. I will certainly pick up the other Leaves' Eyes cd eventually and probably everything Nightwish has ever done, and I like The Gathering enough to probably pick up anther of their cds one day, but I decided that today wasn't the day.
I looked at other bands, Blind Guardian, some bands that I'd recently read about/researched. Once again, what I'm most interested in picking up at the moment is Within Temptation, and I can't find them in any Seattle store, and I have that one cd already ordered but it's been 2 full weeks and it still hasn't shown up. Korpiklaani also has a new cd coming out on the 23rd, I would love to have that now but I'll just have to wait -- even if it's already available in Europe (I haven't checked) it would probably take just as long or longer to order it from an overseas outfit.
Another band I'm interested in is a Japanese death/power metal band called Blood Stain Child. Some people on Amazon said that they were similar to Einsiferum -- I take such reccomendations with a large grain of salt, but they're Japanese and they've got some great reviews and now I at least want to hear what they sound like. But like Einherjer they are a pretty obscure band and not easy to come by, or not cheap at least. And I don't know if I'd want to buy one of their cds without hearing them first. But I could probably find them through gemm.com or even cdjapan.
And another band I came across which I very much want to hear is Skyforger. They are variously described as black metal, pagan metal, and folk metal -- it is the pagan/folk metal portion of that description that got my attention, as they apparently incorporate a lot of folk music into their songs and sing about pagan gods and folk history (which would make them similar to the viking metal of Einherjer and the Finnish folk/viking metal of Einsiferum and Korpiklaani). But they could not be a viking metal band, because -- surprise surprise -- they are Latvian! They sing in Latvian, and incorporate Latvian folk music and pagan history into their music.
I must hear this band!
Unfortunately when I was at Silver Platters I couldn't remember the name of that band, not that any store in Seattle probably has them for sale. This looks like another very-hard-to-come-by group that I might be better off ordering through gemm.com. But I need to do some research on them first to see if I can find any sound clips that would confirm for me that they are the kind of band I really like.
So anyway, unable to decide on any other cd to buy, and thinking that I probably shouldn't be buying two cds at full price, I made the decision to look through their bargain bin and if I found one of these bands or something else similar, I'd buy that. Hey, it could happen -- I picked up one of my Finntroll cds that way.
So I look through the bargain bin, and what do I find? None of the bands I've been researching, but something that looked interesting in its own right, a cd titled "Eurasia" by Avalon, which was only $5.00.
Now, Avalon is one of those names that tend to scare me off, because there are probably twelve dozen bands calling themselves that and thinking how cool their band name is. But the cd had a really interesting cover with a Chinese budda statue and a scene clearly out of Central Asia. After looking a little closer I saw that the cd came from Germany, and decided that maybe -- just maybe -- this was German metal band, possibly a melodic power metal band along the lines of Blind Guardian, who also combined a lot of Central European influences. I mean, I had no idea if they were even a hard rock band or not, but I imagined that the cd could be really really cool.
Or really really cheesy. I had no idea.
I went to their sound listening station, and in fact there were sound samples from this cd to listen to. And it was in fact a metal band. And it did in fact have some Asian influences. One song was titled "Temujin" which I believe was the actual name of Central Asian conquerer Tamerlane. And it was only $5.00 so I picked it up.
It was an excellent way to spend $5.00. After listening to it a few times and doing some web research, I now know that Avalon is a German progressive/power metal band. They really are a bit like Blind Guardian. On their 3rd and 4th cds they have a new singer who hails from Sri Lanka, and on the 4th cd, "Eurasia", they try to cover themes from all the countries of Eurasia, and incorporate Indian sitars and buddhist monk chants and other Asian influences into their songs. Very cool indeed. ^_^
They also do a cover of Kyrie, the Mr. Mister song. It makes a pretty good prog metal tune!
The cd is from 2000, and their web site contains no information on the band past the year 2000. They even list tour dates under recent news that are from their 2000 tour. I'm not sure what that means, but apparently the band hasn't done a thing since 2000, and probably isn't together anymore.
But anyway, I went looking for a cheap "grab bag" cd that would surprise me, and I actually found a really good one. ^_^
