Tobias Sammet.

Sooooo, lately I've been absolutely smitten with Tobias Sammet. Like, hella.
To be honest, I think he's my first celebrity crush. He's got it all, the looks, talent, personality, humour, and intelligence. I haven't been able to stop thinking about him! :|
He's pretty much the German version of Jon Bon Jovi.

I got into Avantasia about 3 years ago. I've always admired Tobias's voice. It's only recently that I've become more into him, along with Edguy. I mainly just listened to Avantasia, but ever since I gave Edguy the time of day, I've been absolutely smitten!
He has the perfect voice for both Power Metal and Heavy Metal.
If he ever comes back to San Francisco, I'll be damn sure to go!

One thing I love about him is his sense of humour. I've read people's opinions on him who've met him in real life, they all say he has a wonderful personality and good sense of humour. He also incorporates his humour into some of his songs and videos.
For example, Lavatory Love Machine, Judas at the Opera, Life and Times of A Bonus Track, Superheroes, All The Clowns, etc.
Tobias truly is a metal god. He's a pure genius!!
Here's a few videos showing his lovely sense of humour. ;)

First we have Lavatory Love Machine!
"Lavatory Love Machine" is one of the band's several joke songs and is unusual in that it is more accurately described as hard rock than heavy metal. The similarly joke lyrics, featuring much over-the-top innuendo (the song is about Tobias sitting in an airplane headed for Brazil that is going to crash and him having sex in the toilet with the stewardess)


Oh, I love it when Tobias cries. ♥

Superheroes.


BUNNIES! ♥

&
All The Clowns.


Tobias makes such a cute clown. ♥

Now for a couple Avantasia songs. He has the short hair now, a more mature look in my opinion, but he looks amazing no matter what. These songs are from his albums that have more of a heavy metal/hard rock sound. Contrary to his first two albums, The Metal Opera Pt 1. & 2. Which are Power Metal albums.

Dying For An Angel (Feat. Scorpion's Klaus Meine)


Lost In Space


A little bit of nostalgia for ya.
Back when Tobias had his long hair.


P.S. He has a bad-ass signature. ;)
♥

P.P.S.
Some people have been comparing Tobias to that of Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden.
I admit, I think they sound a weeeeeeeeeeeee bit similar, vocally. I don't know.
What are you opinions?

P.P.P.S. People have also been comparing Avantasia/Edguy to similar bands, for example, "It's like Bon Jovi meets the Scorpions" or, "Bon Jovi meets Dream Theater", "Bon Jovi meets Helloween" or pretty much just calling them the German version of Bon Jovi. I think it's safe to say that they resemble Bon Jovi alright. :P
Your opinion?

P.P.P.P.S.
Edguy.


Possibly the most bad-ass picture in all of humanity. Fucking with fire.

Rock Operas.

I recently realized that I have a thing for "rock/metal operas"
If you don't know what that is, here's a little briefing on it.

A rock opera is a musical work that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include metal opera and rap opera (sometimes also called hip-hopera). A rock opera tells a coherent story, though details are often vague. A rock opera is similar to a concept album (of which it is a subset), though the latter may simply set a mood or maintain a theme.

Typical instruments would include:
Vocals - Guitar – Bass – Keyboards – Piano – Drums – occasional use of Flutes, Clarinets, Violins, Violas, Stringed basses, Cellos, Saxophones, Trumpets and Trombones


Some bands have been inspired by rock operas for their albums, Savatage, Dream Theater, Kamelot, Avantasia, Blind Guardian, Dimmu Borgir, Rhapsody of Fire, and even Green Day.

For example, Avantasia's first two albums, The Metal Opera Pt. 1 & The Metal Opera Pt. 2.
The album (The Metal Opera) was split into two parts (The Metal Opera and The Metal Opera Part II), with the second part being released a year after the first. The albums features many artists from various power metal bands such as Helloween, Gamma Ray, Stratovarius, Rhapsody of Fire, and many more.

The main character of the story is the young Gabriel Laymann, novice of the Dominican order in the abbey of Mainz. It's the year 1602 and, with the rest of the order, Gabriel joins in the witch hunts. But when he is unexpectedly reunited with stepsister Anna Held, who is awaiting trial as a witch, Gabriel begins to doubt. He sneaks into the library, where he reads a forbidden book. His mentor Bruder Jakob notices him, and Gabriel is thrown into the dungeon.

While there, he meets an old man, Lugaid Vandroiy, who introduces himself as a druid ("Reach Out for the Light"). He tells Gabriel about another dimension, the world Avantasia, which is in great danger. Vandroiy offers to help rescue Anna if Gabriel agrees to help Avantasia. They manage to escape ("Breaking Away"), and Vandroiy takes Gabriel to an old stone pit, which hides a portal between the two dimensions, and uses it to send Gabriel to Avantasia.

In the meantime, Johann Adam von Bicken, bishop of Mainz, Bruder Jakob and the bailiff Falk von Kronberg are traveling to Rome to meet the pope Clement VIII ("The Glory of Rome"). With them is the book Gabriel read. Old documents tell that the book is the last of seven parts of a seal, which will help its owner to absolute wisdom if he brings it to the tower in the center of Avantasia.

When Gabriel arrives in Avantasia ("Avantasia") he is welcomed by two inhabitants, the elf Elderane and the dwarf Regrin ("Inside"). They tell him about a war against the forces of evil, of the pope's plan, and its consequences ("Sign of the Cross"). If the pope uses the seal, the link between Avantasia and the human world will break down with grievous consequences for both worlds. Gabriel arrives at the tower just in time, and while the pope talks to a mysterious voice from the inside, Gabriel manages to steal the seal and, in the chaos he causes, bring it back into the elvish city, Sesidhbana ("The Tower"), which marks the end of the first part.

But Gabriel isn't satisfied yet. He wants to find out more about Avantasia, so Elderane sends him to the tree of knowledge. There Gabriel has a vision of Bruder Jakob enduring great pain in a lake of flames ("The Final Sacrifice"). Elderane tells him about a great golden chalice in the catacombs in Rome, in which innumerable tortured souls are trapped, and warns him of a beast that guards the chalice. Despite the elf trying to discourage them, Gabriel and Regrin go back into the human world. They find the chalice and knock it over, allowing many souls to escape ("Chalice of Agony"). The beast awakes and attacks both of them; the dwarf is killed but Gabriel manages to flee.

Afterwards, Gabriel returns to Vandroiy, who has been waiting for him. The druid now fulfills his part and sneaks into the prison by night to free Anna. In the process, he finds a "refined" Bruder Jakob who plans to do the same. Falk von Kronberg, who has been having doubts of his own ("Memory"), catches them and approaches to arrest them. A fight breaks out; Vandroiy is killed by Kronberg who is then slain by Bruder Jakob. Anna escapes and is reunited with Gabriel, and together they go into their unknown future ("Into the Unknown").

The project is described as a "Metal Opera" because it has an underlying plot and each role has its own singer, though it's not an opera by the classical definition. It's merely a collection of pieces, which refer to the individual points of the plot printed in the booklet.

From a stylistic view, the majority of the songs are melodic power metal meshed with a voluminous sound, many orchestral passages and choral parts, gaining Avantasia recognition as symphonic power metal. One song from each part, "Inside" and "In Quest For" respectively, is accompanied almost exclusively by piano. The first part also contains three short instrumental pieces.

The most complex piece is the first song of Part II, "The Seven Angels", featuring seven of the eleven singers. The song is over 14 minutes long and contains a classical "stanza/refrain" part, two guitar solos, choirs, a passage with piano accompaniment, and an epic finale. It also plays an important part in the plot, as it serves as summation of the first part, and has caused discussion due to the inclusion of lyrics not printed in the booklet.

Cast:

Instrumentalists:
Henjo Richter - Guitar
Jens Ludwig - Guitar
Norman Meiritz - Guitar
Timo Tolkki - Guitar
Markus Grosskopf - Bass
Alex Holzwarth - Drums
Eric Singer - Drums
Tobias Sammet - Keyboard, Bass
Frank Tischer - Piano


Singers
Tobias Sammet - Gabriel Laymann
Michael Kiske - Lugaid Vandroiy
David DeFeis - Bruder Jakob
Ralf Zdiarstek - Bailiff Falk von Kronberg
Sharon den Adel - Anna Held
Rob Rock - Bishop Johann von Bicken
Oliver Hartmann - Pope Clement VIII
Andre Matos - Elderane the Elf
Kai Hansen - Regrin the Dwarf
Timo Tolkki - Mysterious Voice of the Tower
Bob Catley - Tree of Knowledge

I just love a good story filled with many talented musicians.
<3

Favourite Violinists.

Instead of doing it by genres, I think I'll just list my favourite violinists normally.
And these are in no specific order. Same goes for the singers, and any other favourites I happen to do.

Olli Vänskä of Turisas.


Nurgaisha Sadvakasova of Ulytau.


Jaakko Lemmetty of Korpiklaani.


Anna Phoebe of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.


Thomas "Inve" Riesner of Dornenreich.



♥

Favourite Singers.

Well, since I don't think I could choose just ONE favourite singer, I'd figure I'd do it by genre.
So I'll pick out my favourite singer from some of my top favourite genres.

Let's start with Power Metal. This one is easy, the winner is....Tobias Sammet of Avantasia/Edguy!


Tobias Sammet (21 November 1977) is the vocalist and primary songwriter of the German Power metal band Edguy, as well as the creator of the metal opera Avantasia and a member of the metal project Final Chapter. He also made guest appearances on the Rob Rock album Holy Hell and the metal opera Aina. Prior to Edguy's Theater of Salvation, Tobias was also their bassist and keyboardist. Afterwards, he decided to focus mainly on singing. He himself enjoys many bands such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Kiss, Tom Petty, Helloween etc.

Ooof. I love everything about this man. His voice, his face, his hair, his clothing style (he always wears cool looking clothes, rocker style mostly). He makes sexy look even sexier, and he's probably the only power metal vocalist who can actually look good with short hair. I wanna make love to his vocal cords. <3

On to Folk Metal! Hmmm...this is tough. Folk Metal has a lot of varied vocal styles.
I guess I'd have to go with Chrigel Glanzmann of Eluveitie.

Picture taken by moi, back in November of 2009. :)
Born in 1975 in Switzerland, his vocal style is more of a death metal type style, but he's pretty good, along with the backing vocals of Meri and Anna occasionally. He also plays the mandola, whistles, pipes, gaita, acoustic guitar, and bodhrán in Eluveitie and Branâ Keternâ.

Black Metal. This will be fairly easy. There's lots of Black Metal vocalist I love, and think are amazing, buuuut, my favourite would have to be... the one and only... Neige (Stéphane Paut) of Alcest.



Oof. Where to start with Neige. Well, He's French, I believe he's in his early twenty's.
There isn't much about him on the internet, really. He's been involved with loads of bands, some would include Amesoerus, Lantlos, Mortifera, and Peste Noire.
His vocal style is mainly clean, shoegaze-y type vocals, with some harsh black metal vocals.
In Amesoeurs he did harsh vocals with Aubrey on clean vocals. In Alcest, it's mainly clean. Only on his latest album, Écailles de Lune, are there harsh vocals. In his EP, Le Secret, we were introduced to his odd, yet heavenly vocal style.
In his first album, Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde, it consists of his clean angel-like vocals, a humming, almost muffed style as well. I suggest that every Black Metal fan listen to at least the EP, Le Secret.

Now on Écailles de Lune he does phenomenal clean and harsh vocals. Mainly he has the harsh vocals sing along side with the clean. I can't decide which I prefer! they're both simply perfection. His clean vocals are mesmerizingly haunting and soothing. And his harsh vocals are throat-tearinginly melancholic, and the traditional black metal shrieks don't influence the album into a dark spiral. It retains it's atmosphere and beauty the whole way through.

Kay. A few of my other favourite vocalists from varied genres would include....

Corey Taylor of Slipknot.



Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails.


Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.


Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco.


Anders Nyström of Diabolical Masquerade/Katatonia



Shawn Milke of Alesana.


La Sale Famine of Peste Noire.


Satoshi of Girugamesh.


Vladimir Cochet of Mirrorthrone.

Now I do have more favourites, I just can't be arsed to list them ALL. :P

MOAR Past Gigs! (Outside of Fresno)

Well, now that I covered the gigs I've been to in the city of Fresno, it's time to discuss the one's I've been to outside of Fresno! mainly in San Francisco.

Lets' see....
The first show I ever went to in SF was Seether in 2007 I believe. My friend dragged me along at pretty much the last minute, we got to the venue right as they were about to go on stage. It was pretty cool, the venue was really nice, I believe that was at the Warfield.
Then 2008... I can't remember much that year, I had wanted to go to Pagan Fest, but I didn't have the money at that time, so 2008 I stuck to shows here mostly. In 2009 I went to PaganFest Pt. 2 with Blackguard, Swashbuckle, Moonsorrow, Primordial, and Korpiklaani. That's also where I met my friend Tracy in real life for the first time. It was an amazing show. :D
In September I went to see Psyclon Nine with Imperative Reaction in SF. Twas my first industrial type show, and it was pretty feckin' awesome!
In October I went to see Stratovarius in SF, and they were just...orgasmic, especially Jans. I wanted to jump on stage and rape his hair. Mmm. <3
Then in November of I went to Heathenfest in SF. Where I saw Kivimetsan Druidi, Vreid, Alestorm, Belphegor, and Eluveitie. Brilliant show. Alestorm and Eluveitie were my favourites.
Then early this year I went to the third PaganFest in January, with White Wizzard, Swashbuckle, Tyr, and Korpiklaani. Tyr were actually pretty good, I had heard good things about them, I just never took the time to listen to them!
Then in March I went to SF to see HammerFall w/Powerglove. It was a pretty epic show. I hadn't listened to Powerglove in ages!


I think that's all for now. I'll be going to a couple more shows outside of Fresno in the upcoming months as well, I'm looking forward to those! :)

Favourite Album Covers.

Well, this is a hard one. There's loads of album covers I think are beautiful works of art.
Buuut, these are the ones I find most beautiful, and not sickest. You won't find any gore-y album covers from any Death Metal band here.

A great representation of the decaying urban life that is humanity.


Another one of Fursy's amazing art works.


Of course I'd favour almost anything with violins. ;)


I really like the colour blue, and I think this album cover fits nicely with the album itself.


Now this..this cover is THE representation of Power Metal. The long blond haired man on a unicorn holding a sword, facing a mighty dragon in some fantasy land. THIS is what PM is all about! This one picture IS Power Metal.



Ah, this brings me back. Nine Inch Nails. I can't be arsed to explain the entire story behind this album. Let's just say I was completely hooked on the album, and the story. This picture makes me wonder what's really out there.

Violins.

As stated in my previous post below, I'm a sucker for violins.
They're my most favourite and beloved musical instrument. I even bought my own violin a few months ago and have been slowly learning. But I don't think I'll get very far if I just teach myself. This isn't like a guitar, in order to properly learn how to play the violin, I'll need a teacher!

Anyways. I'll automatically love any band that uses violins. Which is why I'm so fond of Folk Metal, with their heavy usage of fiddles, along with some Power Metal bands.
I've always admired a lot of violinists, they make it look so...incredibly amazing. I always find myself in awe whenever I see TSO live, like last year, the violinists had so much energy and emotion when playing. It was truly orgasmic.

Not much else I can say about violins.
I just love them oh soooooooooooooo much.

Power Metal.

So recently I've been mentoring a friend of mine about the epic ways of Power Metal. I must say, he's a quick learner and is doing quite well. I'm very proud of him. Someday he'll be as epic as me. :D

All this teaching has rekindled my love of Power Metal.
I downloaded the new Derdian album, along with 3 albums from Rhapsody of Fire, 2 albums from Kamelot, and 1 album from Revolution Renaissance. All are incredibly amazing bands!
I don't know why I didn't listen to them sooner.
I love Rhapsody of Fire's and Kamelot's use of violins. I'm an absolute sucker for violins.
I love everything about these bands. From their guitar harmonies, to the melodic keys, and to the enchanting choirs. Tis what Power Metal is all about, baby!
Mmm. Love love love it.
Those Germans and Italians know how to make goooooooooooood Power Metal!
And Kamelot is pretty damn good for an American band, even though their vocalist is Norwegian and their keyboardist is German. :P

Another thing I've happened to notice with PM, like, they all seemed to be connected.
Ya know...vocalist or other musicians being in other bands, or doing guest vocals or guest whatever for other PM bands. A good example of this would be with Avantasia, I can't be arsed to list all the guests Tobias has used for his Avantasia band, also, he himself has been a guest vocalist. They're aaaaaaaaalllll connected, like one big, happy, powerful, epic family.

Here's an example of Kamelot's guest musicians.

Guest musicians
Miro − studio keyboards (1999-2007)
Günter Werno − keyboards (on The Expedition)
Luca Turilli − solo guitar on "Descent of the Archangel" (Epica)
Simone Simons − guest vocals and video appearance on "The Haunting" (The Black Halo), guest vocals on "Blücher" and "Season's End" (Ghost Opera)
Shagrath − As Mephisto: vocals, video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo); vocals on "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo)
Snowy Shaw − As Mephisto: vocals on "March of Mephisto" (One Cold Winter's Night)
Jens Johansson − keyboard solos on "March of Mephisto" and "When the Lights are Down" (The Black Halo)
Mari Youngblood − As Helena: vocals, appearance on (Epica), "Abandoned" and "Memento Mori" (The Black Halo), video appearance in "The Haunting" (The Black Halo) and various tracks of the One Cold Winter's Night concert of 2006.
Elisabeth Kjærnes − video appearance on "March of Mephisto" (The Black Halo and One Cold Winter's Night) and "The Haunting" (The Black Halo), vocals in "Nights of Arabia" (The Fourth Legacy and One Cold Winter's Night)
Matt Knowles (Royal Anguish) − As Mephisto when playing in Florida
Sascha Paeth − guest appearance on One Cold Winter's Night as additional guitarist on "Moonlight", and Ghost Opera
Amanda Somerville − guest vocalist for "Mourning Star", "Love You to Death" and "Ghost Opera"
Anne-Catrin Marzke - live female and backing vocals
Sebastian Bilodeau - Saxophone on "March of Mephisto"
Sean Tibbetts - live bass during the 2006-2009 tours
Dirk Bruinenberg − guest drummer on "The Silent Goddess" and "Alexandria" (The Fourth Legacy)


I should make a chart of all the connections in the world of Power Metal. Hmmmmm. Sounds interesting. Wikipedia, here I come!

P.S. If you're wondering who that lovely person is in that picture up there, that, my friends, is Jens Ola Johansson. Current keyboardist for Stratovarius.
I love him. He's a PHENOMENAL keyboardist/pianist. In my opinion, of the best musicians ever. EVER!!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

So, lately I've been listening to a lot of TSO.
I just downloaded their album, Night Castle, and I'm already in love with it.
I remember during their live show back in December they played a few songs from this album, and I was like, "wow, I really love those songs, I need to download that album" but my procrastination got the best of me, until now!!
Ahh, listening to them REALLY makes me wish it were Winter already. I'm already so excited to see them again. After every show each year, I count the days till they return.

They recently did their first ever Spring tour, sadly the tour dates were very limited, and California wasn't on the list. :(
So I'll have to wait till November/December.

Here's a little info about TSO, for you n00bies. Courtesy of Wikipedia. :P

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an orchestra founded in 1996 by Paul O'Neill, who brought together long-time friends Jon Oliva, Robert Kinkel, and Al Pitrelli. The band's musical style incorporates neoclassical, symphonic and progressive sorts of hard rock/metal.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra has recorded and performed renditions of traditional Christmas songs, and these have been among their most popular works. They are also known for their elaborate concerts, complete with a full light show and dozens of pyrotechnics that are synchronized with their performance.

O'Neill has managed and produced rock bands including Aerosmith, Humble Pie, and Scorpions, later writing for and producing Savatage, where he began working with Kinkel and Oliva. The concept for a band playing Christmas carols in a rock opera style was not received warmly by the industry, but quickly proved a success with adults as well as young people.

In the recording studio, Trans-Siberian Orchestra uses a full 60-piece orchestra and a choir. As of 2004, their touring band included 14 vocalists, 14 musicians, and 2 narrators.

Current members.

Composer:
Paul O'Neill - Composer, lyricist, producer
Jon Oliva - Composer
Robert Kinkel - Co-Producer, Keyboards, music director
Al Pitrelli - Guitars, music director

Vocals:
Adrienne Warren
James Lewis
Tommy Farese
Anthony Gaynor (also Narrator)
Alexa Goddard
Kristin Lewis Gorman
Erin Henry
Steena Hernandez
Jay Pierce
Bart Shatto
Brad Lewis
Steve Broderick
Danielle Landherr
David Kretzer
Andrew Ross
Scout (Scout Ford)
Bryan Hicks (also Narrator)
Jeff Scott Soto
Tim Hockenberry
Jamey Garner
Valentina Porter

Guitar:
Al Pitrelli
Chris Caffery
Alex Skolnick
Angus Clark

Bass:
Johnny Lee Middleton
Chris Altenhoff
John Weir

Drums:
Jeff Plate
John O. Reilly

Keyboards:
Jane Mangini
Derek Wieland
Luci Butler
Donald Rooney

Violin:
Anna Phoebe
Alison Zlotow
Roddy Chong
Caitlin Moe


Ah. I could go on and on about TSO.
I love them oh so much.
I can't wait for this upcoming winter. It shall be my 4th time seeing them, and many many MANY more to come in the future.
Every year I always get a headache from the light show they put on, cause my eyes are very sensitive to lights, but it is damn worth it.
Anyways, I'm orf to have an eargasm, courtesy of TSO. <3

More Past Gigs. (In Fresno)

Now, as you may or may not know. I live in Fresno, California.
We get pretty decent shows here once in a while, but ever since our main venue, The Exit, closed down, there haven't been hardly any decent shows. :/
We have a few others as well, like The Save Mart Center. That's used for mainly sports events, and really big concerts. The Exit was used for like...smaller ones. Mostly hardcore scene kid bands would go play there. I loved The Exit, and was very sad when I heard that they would be closing, because the owner couldn't afford the rent for it anymore.
But alas, we have a few other venues around here. The Starline (great late night dance club), Rainbow Ballroom. Tower Theater. Club Retro (very nice. big open area. clean.) I'll be going to see Whitechapel at Club Retro on the 14th, I'll ALSO be seeing Straight No Chaser at The Rainbow Ballroom on the 14th as well. Two shows in one day, gonna be epic. I'm glad I bought my tickets early for Straight No Chaser, sold out quickly. :|
If you don't know who they are, they're a male A cappella group. With some amazing singing voices.


I'll also be seeing Bring Me The Horizon on the 21st of June at The Starline. I'm going just to take the piss, I wonder how long I'll be able to stay there without wanting to bludgeon someone to death. And I recently saw A Day To Remember w/ Silverstein, Enter Shikari, August Burns Red and Veara at the Rainbow Ballroom. ABR were really good, and ADTR as well. Enter Shitari were....well, shit.

Anyways. My first show I ever went to at The Exit was Suicide Silence back in 2007 I believe. Oh man it was amazing!
By the end of the show, the adrenaline was hella pumping through my veins. It was also my first time seeing Suicide Silence as well. If I remember correctly...August Burns Red was also there. And Craig Mabbitt was there, ex-Blessthefall and current singer for Escape The Fate. I took a few pics of him, AND he even signed my shoe! and I still have it to this very day. :D
The next day I saw Moria, back when they were still together. And that was another amazing show. This was all during October for my birthday, so I went to like, 3 shows over 3 days. The last show was with Parkway Drive, and they were amazing! I couldn't believe I actually got to see them live. After the show I got their autographs. :P
A few months after that I saw Alesana for the first time, and seeing as they were my most favourite band ever back then, I went mental when I found out they were coming to Fresno. Granted, they're still one of my top favourite bands, just not my number 1. ;)

Now fast forward to about middle of 2008 I think. I went and saw The Medic Droid w/ The White Tie Affair, two bands I really enjoy. That was a fun show. Lots of dancing and singing a long. Haha, oh I remember it like it was yesterday, however, the only reason I can remember all these shows is because of the photos I took, and looking at them brings back all the wonderful memories.

Oh! then around...sometime in Autumn, Calabrese came to The Exit. It was their first time in Fresno, and of course, my first time seeing them as well. I was so excited that I was FINALLY getting to see them. I took a couple pics with them, and got their autographs, which I actually still have! I have it kept in a safe place. If they ever come back to Fresno, I'll be damn sure to see them again. :)

Few months after that I went to see Abigail Williams w/Decrepit Birth and Veil of Maya at The Exit.
Amazing show as usual. I had only went to go see Abigail Williams and Decrepit Birth, and it turns out Veil of Maya were actually pretty decent.

Tis all I can be arsed to talk about for now.

Past Gigs.

The other day I was looking at all the old photos I had taken at the gigs I went to, and so many memories came back. Those were truly some amazing times.

One in particular would have to be the first Rockstar Mayhem Festival back in July of 2008.
It was one of the best gigs I went to that year!
The line-up the year was:

Main Stage:
Slipknot
Disturbed
DragonForce
Mastodon


Jägermeister Stage:
Machine Head
Airbourne
Five Finger Death Punch
Walls of Jericho

Hot Topic Stage:
Underoath
Black Tide
Suicide Silence
36 Crazyfists
The Red Chord

Probably the best line-up they've had so far.
Anyways, All the bands were amazing, minus WOJ, and The Red Chord. I don't like them.
Suicide Silence were amazing as always. But my favourite bands there was probably Disturbed. I'd never listend to them much before seeing them live, and it was the first time seeing them live as well. And damn they put on an amazing live show! I'll definitely see them again if they ever come back to Fresno. Slipknot were amazing as usual! DragonForce gave me a headache, but it was kind of lulz watching them.
I'll always remember that day. There lots of vendors there as well, after the bands finished playing they would go to their vendor and sign autographs and take pictures.
The Metal Mulisha freestyle motocross team was there as well, which was very entertaining to watch.
Also, seeing as it was in the middle of July in the middle of California, it was very hot. I should have worn sunscreen. I got sunburnt on my cheeks, nose, and scalp, but it was worth it!
All in all. Epic day.

They haven't come back to Fresno, yet. But I don't really care, the last two line-ups have been shit, like this years is...

Main stage
Korn
Rob Zombie
Lamb of God
Five Finger Death Punch

Mayhem Festival stage
Atreyu
Norma Jean
In This Moment
3 Inches of Blood

Jägermeister stage
Hatebreed
Chimaira
Shadows Fall
Winds of Plague

All fail bands. I suppose Winds of Plague is alright, but meh.

Onto more past shows.
Hmmm....OH!
Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Now THEY put on an amazingly orgasmic show every year. It is now a tradition that I see them every Winter when they tour.
This upcoming Winter shall be my fourth time seeing them. Roll on November/December!
Last year they had a new violinist, and he had such energy! I loved every second of it.
There's been many other past shows that have been amazing, but I can't be arsed to talk about every one of them. So yeah.
Tis all for now!

Current bands I'm smitten with.

Lately I've been listening to loads of Green Day, Lady Gaga, Alcest, Les Discrets, and Eluveitie.
However, I'm getting rather bored of some of them, I want something....new, to be honest.
Speaking of new... I had downloaded the two new Avantasia albums couple weeks ago, and I found them to be quite, boring. I really wish Tobias would make more Power Metal, the first two albums Avantasia came out with were The Metal Opera pt.1 and The Metal Opera pt. 2. Both power metal albums, and the only the come from him. He's decided to focus more on heavy metal now. He has an amazing voice, and I only really appreciate it in his first two albums. In fact, I'm listening to TMO right now as I type this. Brilliant stuff.
Anyways, enough about Avantasia.

Ah, Green Day. How I love thee. They're probably my second favourite band ever, right after Alcest.
I've seen them twice, soon to be thrice on the 31st of August. :D
I've always liked them, since I was about...13 I believe. It's only been up until the beginning of this year did I begin to LOVE them. I'm actually in love with them. Mmmhmm.

Now..onto Alcest!
If you're wondering who they are, well...they're a shoegaze/black metal band hailing from France.
The musical GOD behind all this is the amazingly talented, Neige (Stéphane Paut).
In the beginning there were 3 members, Neige, Aegnor and Argoth, and they made one pure BM demo in 2001. Soon after that, Aegnor and Argoth left. He came out with his first EP in 2005 titled, Le Secret. Which is amazingly orgasmic, if I do say so myself. ;)
And released his debut album, Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde, in 2007, and his second album, Écailles de Lune, in 2010, even though he said he was gonna release it earlier. ¬.¬
However, I am surprised he released a new album so soon. Everyone was expecting a new album in AT LEAST 5 years or so. I actually like the new album a bit more than the first one, however, my favourite song from Alcest will always be Tir Nan Og.


Did I mention that Neige has been in like... 4137197398901 other bands as well? yup. He's just that awesome. :D

One of the many lovely live photos of Alcest from their recent North America tour. If only they had come to California. ._.

If only I could get a lock of his hair...
Oh! look! there's Fursy on the left. :P


Speaking of Fursy...
Les Discrets. Definitely one of my top favourite bands.
Les Discrets is a French shoegaze/acoustic project. It is the sole musical creation of Fursy Teyssier who also played in Amesoeurs and has created artwork for other bands including, Alcest, Amesoeurs, Arctic Plateau, Agalloch, Neun Welten, and The American Dollar, and Fursy also plays live bass for Alcest. They came out with a new album the same day as Alcest, and I must say...it's simply perfection in MP3 form.
Now this guy...is also truly a gifted person, not only as a musician, but as an artist as well.
I've seen most of his artwork he's done for bands, as well as the animated films he's done. All are brilliant works of art.
My favourite pieces of art from him would have to be....

The logo from one of his animated films, Tir Nan Og.

The album cover for the Lantlos album.

The album cover for the Amesoeurs album.


<3

Intro.

Sooooooooooooooooo. I decided to make a separate blog to talk about music, since it's one of my greatest loves in life.
I'll talk about certain genres, bands, gigs I go to (past ones as well). Etc etc.
I'll give my own personal review of new albums, if I can be arsed to download them that is.

I love almost all genres of music, from black metal to...dance to uhhh, metalcore. :)
The only ones I can't stand are, rap, hip-hop, R&B, country, ska, punk, and pornogrind.

So yeah. Pretty simple for you humans to understand.