Make a recommendation to a fellow member of The Guardians

If you think one of your clan-mates might really dig something you can make a recommendation to them here.

Equilibrium - Rekreator (Also recommended this in The North for Folk metal) for symphonic metal. If you like your Symphonic Metal with a flair for folk this is best, or their album Sagas but i think it's less symphonic.

Other lesser loved Symphonic Metal bands to check out include:

Syrenia

Rhapsody (aka Rhapsody of Fire)

Amberian Dawn

Delain (Within Temptations' Martijn Westerholt band after he left)

Lovebites (Best Japanese band power metal band but try all different subgenres and do it all well)

    I do have a soft heart for women vocalists.

Time for a bit of rec'ing!

For fellow Guardians, I've been really enjoying Brothers of Metal lately. I got to review (a re-release of) their first album a little while back, loved it, and they've just put their 2nd out with much the same style, power metal that hovers on that tongue-in-cheek line:

Emblas Saga fell a bit short for me as a Power Metal release compared to what 2019 has to offer, but it's still an incredibly fun album that I go back to every now and again just for the absurdity. "Powersnake", "Chainbreaker", and the title track "Emblas Saga" are easy favorites since they hover that tongue-in-cheek line you mentioned a bit more gracefully than some of the other tracks. 

Tymell, if you haven't already heard this then I'd highly recommend that you do as you'll definitely love it. It's not to my taste but if you dig Savatage then it'll more than float your boat.

Saxy, have you ever given this one a run?

Hey there, Xephyr! Yeah, that new Kamelot studio album The Shadow Theory was not the Kamelot release we wanted, but maybe its new live album is! I Am the Empire – Live from the 013 has many of the band's greatest hits all played in an epic performance, and the only songs from The Shadow Theory that were performed are what you consider the highlights or "a cut above the rest" ("Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire)", "Ravenlight", "Burns to Embrace"). Just ignore the unnecessary extensions and the fact that some songs are in their radio edits and you'll have a grand time with this live offering.

And how about some live heavy/power metal as well with the new HammerFall live release Live! Against the World! I haven't given it a full listen or review yet but I have a great feeling about it, and maybe you will too.

Andi, I'd recommend that you give our monthly The Guardians feature release (i.e. Riot's "ThunderSteel") a few spins as it's a quality example of the US power metal sound.

Bruce Dickinson - "The Chemical Wedding" (1998)

I'd suggest that Bruce's best solo work might be up your alley saxy.

Hey there, Xephyr! You seem like the kind of person who would appreciate the speedy power metal of DragonForce. Why not give their third album Inhuman Rampage (this month's feature release) a listen, maybe even a review? Maybe you would enjoy this as much as I do...

Hey there, Xephyr! Good reviews for my April featured release submissions (DragonForce and Within Temptation), though for the former, your review shows that I was wrong about you enjoying the DragonForce album and you've fallen into the group of Metal Academy members who do not like it as much as I do. Oh well, sometimes I can't please everyone... For the latter, I see you like the Within Temptation album Enter in almost the same level as I do, and while I agree that the instrumental "Blooded" is a fine transition in the middle part of the ending trio of songs, it's quite a struggle for me. Anyway, seeing how you haven't listened to any of their pre-The Silent Force material before your encounter with Enter, there is one album I think you might very well enjoy, Mother Earth! I strongly suggest giving their grand second album a listen, maybe even a review. Maybe you would enjoy this epic masterpiece...

I'll give it a listen sometime this week, only fair that I round out Within Temptation's discography while I have it on the brain. Review probably isn't going to happen though, I can't churn out reviews on a whim, but who knows, maybe I'll have a lot to say about it.

So this was an interesting turn of events. Within Temptation immediately decided that they didn't care for the Gothic side of things and pivoted into a more fully symphonic and theatrical sound for Mother Earth. The Metal aspects of their sound honestly take a tremendous backseat for a good portion of the album, with most of the songs being slower, plodding orchestral pieces with de Adel's vocals being more front and center than they were in Enter. I think for people who want a classic, softer Symphonic Metal experience this is the album for them, but I found myself really missing the Gothic atmosphere they had on Enter. It gave their songwriting that slight edge that it needed since I found Mother Earth to be pretty bland on the whole. 

It starts out well enough with "Mother Earth" and "Ice Queen" being good starting tracks, even though some of the orchestral mixing in "Ice Queen" is perplexingly loud as the guitar and drums get suffocated into the background. "Caged" and "Deceiver of Fools" are fine as well, but the back half of this album after "Intro" feels utterly pointless, drawn out, and de Adel's vocals really don't hold up on "Dark Wings". It's like she's trying to go for this sultry but theatrical performance and her voice just doesn't have that kind of power behind it. 

Mother Earth honestly reminds me of Therion's Vovin, where they decided to say screw it and go fully symphonic with just enough Metal in the background to keep it under the same genre. As someone who isn't a fan of Vovin, I feel like I'm bored by this album in the same ways. Sure the symphonic elements are nice and some of the ballads are beautiful, but nothing else is really added to the experience by removing the other aspects of what made the band interesting in the first place. To me this feels like a step back from Enter, but a strange stepping stone into The Silent Force where they're able to gain their footing back a little bit. Sure, The Silent Force is definitely less experimental than this album, but I think it fits Within Temptation's style better than whatever this is. 

Plus, "In Perfect Harmony" hilariously sounds like it belongs in a wide, panning shot of The Hobbit; not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but it's a thing. Also the album cover is giving me some serious David Bowie from Labyrinth vibes for some reason. Also not sure how I feel about that.

Lost Horizon - "A Flame To The Ground Beneath" (2003)

Xephyr & Andi, I suggest you check out this Swedish power metal album if you haven't already.

Crimson Glory - "Transcendence" (1988)

Xephyr, saxy & Andi, I would think this one should be essential listening for you guys.

Work has been going pretty crazy so I've got quite a backlog to go through, haven't forgotten about these yet, hopefully getting to them sometime this week!

These were really good Daniel, I haven't checked out older Guardians releases for quite some time. Transcendence was the obvious winner for me here, definitely going to be relistening to it more this week. It has that obvious 80's, early Heavy Metal influence but does a ton with it. 

Lost Horizon was a bit tougher, the first listen didn't leave me with high hopes, but I gave it some time and room the breathe and I ended up liking it way more the second time around. The cheese factor is super high and the incredibly high register singing normally isn't my thing in a lot of cases, but the dude showcases some serious pipes throughout the album in really cool ways. "Highlander" caught me incredibly off guard because that song has been memed to death in certain corners of the internet, even though I've only seen it once or twice. Really awesome song and even though I have some overall issues with the album as a whole I'll definitely be checking it out more, not quite done with it yet.