May 2021 "The Guardians" Playlist - Metal Academy Radio
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3w8wz5HBOoks78mYzldAMq?si=36a45b100c6e41ec
Tracklisting:
01. Samson – “Thunderburst” (from “Head On”, 1980)
02. Hitten – “Take It All” (from “Twist Of Fate”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]
03. Týr – “Empire of The North” (from “Hel”, 2019) [Submitted by Xephyr]
04. Within Temptation – “Jillian (I’d Give My Heart)” (from “The Silent Force”, 2004) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
05. Iron Maiden – “Phantom Of The Opera” (from “Iron Maiden”, 1980)
06. Riot – “Out In The Fields” (from “The Brethren Of The Long House”, 1996) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
07. Firewind – “The Land Of Eternity” (from “Forged By Fire”, 2005) [Submitted by Xephyr]
08. Striker – “Head First” (from “Play To Win”, 2018) [Submitted by Vinny]
09. Nightwish – “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” (from “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, 2015) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
10. Herzel – “La flame” (from “Le dernier rampart”, 2021)
11. RAM – “The Usurper” (from “Svbversvm”, 2015) [Submitted by Vinny]
12. Cauldron – “Nitebreaker” (from “Tomorrow’s Lost”, 2012) [Submitted by Vinny]
13. Tony MacAlpine – “The Raven” (from “Edge Of Insanity”, 1986)
14. Running Wild – “Bad To The Bone” (from “Death Or Glory”, 1989) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
15. Traveler – “Starbreaker” (from “Traveler”, 2019) [Submitted by Xephyr]
16. Axxion – “Back In Time” (from “Back In Time”, 2016) [Submitted by Vinny]
17. Epica – “Abyss Of Time – Countdown To Singularity” (from “Omega”, 2021)
18. Löanshark – “Fast, Heavy, Loud 'N Proud” (from “Fast, Heavy, Loud 'N Proud” single, 2020) [Submitted by Vinny]
19. Hammerfall – “The Dragon Lies Bleeding” (from “Glory To The Brave”, 1997) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
20. Sonata Arctica – “Don’t Say A Word” (from “Reckoning Night”, 2004) [Submitted by shadowdoom9]
21. DragonForce – “Seasons” (from “The Power Within”, 2012) [Submitted by Xephyr]
22. Kamelot – “The Black Halo” (from “The Black Halo”, 2005) [Submitted by Xephyr]
23. Megaton Sword – “Verene” (from “Blood Hails Steel – Steel Hails Fire”, 2020)
24. Orden Ogan – “In The Dawn Of The AI” (from “Final Days”, 2021)
25. Steel Prophet – “Lucifer / The Devil Inside” (from “The God Machine”, 2019) [Submitted by Xephyr]
Nice one on the Herzel inclusion Daniel, I don't think I could find it on Spotify at the time and really wanted to include it, fantastic song and album.
My thoughts on some tracks (including my suggested ones):
Within Temptation – “Jillian (I’d Give My Heart)” (from “The Silent Force”, 2004)
5/5. An interesting song based on the Deverry Cycle fantasy novel series by Katharine Kerr, twisted into astounding divinity. An awesome song to seek the amazing truth! Not as slow as their debut Enter, but not as fast as DragonForce, a good balance that I found for the first time via this album, The Silent Force!
Iron Maiden – “Phantom Of The Opera” (from “Iron Maiden”, 1980)
4.5/5. Lol... Right after listening to that Within Temptation song, I saw the song title and thought it was Nightwish's cover of the song from that musical, but nope!! It's the unrelated Iron Maiden song. I still don't feel up to the more mainstream bands like Iron Maiden, Motorhead, or System of a Down, but it's still a cool top notch old classic.
Riot – “Out In The Fields” (from “The Brethren Of The Long House”, 1996)
5/5. I also know that Nightwish covered a Gary Moore song, but I only brought that up because we've come to Riot's cover of a different Gary Moore song, "Out in the Fields"! Gary Moore and Riot guitarist Mark Reale are two brilliant legends who sadly passed away within a year from each other, both in their late 50s. They covered it perfectly!! I respect this band as one of my current favorites. They're always f***ing great, and they make some of the best covers! Riot really keeps their legacy going. The song is also covered by Sonata Arctica, which I haven't heard yet but I probably should. Maybe it might have the brilliant majesty that Riot's cover has. There probably could've been some more energetic flare, but it still rules!
Nightwish – “Endless Forms Most Beautiful” (from “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, 2015)
5/5. I've talked so much about Nightwish in my comments so far, but now here we are! It's like a theme to a boss fight during world evolution, and remains one of my favorite Nightwish songs, probably more than the Tarja and Anette eras. Floor Jansen is a sensational angel of symphonic power metal!
Running Wild – “Bad To The Bone” (from “Death Or Glory”, 1989)
5.5/5 (not exaggerating). I can't think of what to say about one of my absolute current favorite heavy/power metal songs. You're gonna f***ing love this song whether or not you're a metalhead! SO AWESOME!!!
Epica – “Abyss Of Time – Countdown To Singularity” (from “Omega”, 2021)
5/5. Once again, Epica are back in full force with their new offering Omega! The music is perfect enough to last a thousand years, a possible reference to the Book of Revelation. Epica are still epic and will continue to be!
Löanshark – “Fast, Heavy, Loud 'N Proud” (from “Fast, Heavy, Loud 'N Proud” single, 2020)
4/5. Yes, it's fast. Yes, it's heavy. And yes, it's loud! But am I proud of this band? No, but it's still cool...
Hammerfall – “The Dragon Lies Bleeding” (from “Glory To The Brave”, 1997)
4.5/5. Another speeder which might have inspired DragonForce with this speedier sound and fantasy lyrics about dragons. But I don't quite a lot more of the fantasy themes in the other songs so far, but probably in the next few...
Sonata Arctica – “Don’t Say A Word” (from “Reckoning Night”, 2004)
5/5. One of Sonata Arctica's more epic regular-length songs! I definitely love the solos here, which happen during the beautiful bridge. The emotional love is so familiar in a good way. It's so perfectly amazing! The chorus is so immense. I loved this band so much, especially Henrik Klingenberg's keys and Tony Kakko's voice. It's so epically good, and I definitely prefer the longer version over the radio edit.
DragonForce – “Seasons” (from “The Power Within”, 2012)
4.5/5. This is a more mid-tempo song compared to DragonForce's usual faster works that sounds inspired by the radio singles of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius, and also borrows some of that slow tempo from Ultra Beatdown.
Kamelot – “The Black Halo” (from “The Black Halo”, 2005)
5/5. This driving track is one of the best ever Kamelot songs! I have nothing else to say about this brilliant piece...
My thought on one more track:
Týr – “Empire of The North” (from “Hel”, 2019)
5/5. Now here's another masterpiece! Maybe this could get me interested in Tyr after a few failed attempts in the past few years...
My thought on one more track:
Steel Prophet – “Lucifer / The Devil Inside” (from “The God Machine”, 2019)
3.5/5. A nice powerful ending to this playlist, but doesn't reach my level of interest...
Had a very enjoyable morning blasting this playlist whilst working (which I normally avoid doing as I can't focus on the music enough as a result). I am finding that my resistance to Power Metal and the more Symphonic bands is slowly being broken down overtime as I listen to more of these lists. I am not saying that I am actively seeking out these bands discographies but I am not hitting skip as much on the likes of Epica etc.
That Týr peaked my interest too and like Andi, I have had a few failed attempts over recent years to get into them so maybe they will be one act I do explore more. I will be seeking more Cauldron and Ram as I picked up on them during my research for this playlist but didn't get much chance to explore much of their discogs.