Walking the wilds of metal...

[MaxWolf9]

I recently came by a little cash and was finally able to get myself one of those new-fangled MP3 players all the kids are be-boppin' to these days. I picked up the 80GB Zune, mainly because of the bigger screen, Wi-Fi sync capabilities, and FM tuner that the iPods lack. 80 gigs, you ask? Isn't that a bit extreme? Why, yes, it is. But I figure, if you're gonna hit it... hit it hard!

Anyways, it's got it's own online music service similar to Apple's iTunes. It's called the Zune Marketplace. And since I've chosen to hook up with a monthly subscription pass, it lets me download just about anything they have available -- with no limits -- and carry it around on my Zune. It's kind of like having a library card. You can take out anything you like, but at the end of the day, you don't really own any of it. With the Marketplace, if you stop subscribing, your downloaded tracks will stop playing after awhile. But overall, it's a very cool way to listen to a wide variety of tunes without spending a fortune by actually buying all those CD's.

With this new-found freedom of musical exploration, I've been checking out all kinds of stuff. I've been listening to a band from the 80's called Grim Reaper quite a bit. Very cool stuff. Soaring vocals, cheesy choruses, and a galloping pace that just won't quit. I've been enjoying their '99 compilation "Best of Grim Reaper."

It's also given me the chance to check out some of Samson's old albums. They've got nearly all of them. Those of particular interest to me were their first three releases, which featured the vocals of Bruce Dickenson before he joined Iron Maiden. Back then he called himself "Bruce Bruce." Don't ask me why. As a big Maiden fan, it's been a real treat to see how he sounded back in the day with a different band.

I've also been gobbling up a bunch of old Gamma Ray albums -- can't get enough of those guys -- Iced Earth albums I was never able to find on store shelves, and even some classic David Bowie just to mix things up a bit.

What are you guys digging into these days?

 

[Helspyre]

I haven't got into the whole downloading thing yet. I've been thinking of getting a mp3 player though so I can burn my CDs onto it.

Online, I actually found a radio station I can listen to: pandora.com. You basically pick a song or artist that you like and it bases a radio "station" around that and tries to find other music that you might like. When a song plays you either give it a thumbs up (adds to your playlist) or a thumbs down (prevents it from playing again). You can also just skip a song without rating it, if you like it but just aren't in the mood to listen to it. There are bands they don't have on there but there are quite a lot of metal bands still. You can create several stations which I recommend doing because you can only skip five songs an hour per station, so it's nice to switch to another station. You can also move a song to another station if you think it fits that station better. It takes awhile to make your stations reliable because in the beginning it's just doing a lot of guessing until you refine it. Once you create a profile you can share your stations with friends. If you happen to sign up, my username is helspyre. You might not like some of my stations though.

Lately I've been listening to bands like Ensiferum, Wintersun, Suidakra, Arkona, Moonsorrow, Korpiklaani, Amon Amarth, and Svartsot. I haven't been listening to much power metal but still spin Persuader frequently. I'm also still listening to some older thrash like Forbidden, Dark Angel, and Demolition Hammer.

 

[MaxWolf9]

That website sounds like a pretty cool set-up. I think I'll check it out.

 

[MaxWolf9]

Man, Pandora is pretty damn cool! I love how they talk about analyzing the individual traits of each song, and then matching you with music they think you'll find interesting. I set up a station on their site, and so far, every song they've suggested has been dead-on. I'm working on creating my second station now.

 

[DoomsdayZach]

With this new-found freedom of musical exploration, I've been checking out all kinds of stuff. I've been listening to a band from the 80's called Grim Reaper quite a bit. Very cool stuff. Soaring vocals, cheesy choruses, and a galloping pace that just won't quit. I've been enjoying their '99 compilation "Best of Grim Reaper."

I've also been gobbling up a bunch of old Gamma Ray albums -- can't get enough of those guys

Grim Reaper fucking KILLS! Love that band. Great 80's heavy metal and Steve Grimmit, while being one of the hands down ugliest frontmen ever, is absolutely astounding as a vocalist.

I also just bought Sigh no More and Heading for Tomorrow on vinyl and it makes me realize how much better Gamma Ray used to be than today. Don't get me wrong, Powerplant and No World Order are phenominal, but Majestic was nothing that really grabbed me and the newest disc is downright boring for the majority of it.

I've been listening to a lot of Manowar, Dio-era Black Sabbath (Dehumanizer is INCREDIBLE!) Tyr (gearing up for paganfest), Domine (italian power metal a-la Rhapsody... really good/fun stuff. Recommended: Stormbringer Ruler), Paragon (great german heavy metal along the lines of Iron Savior. Recommended: The Dark Legacy). Then the random standby's. haven't been listening to much new stuff, but i'm going to start checking out some of the bands on this years Heathen Crusade since I'd really like to make it to that festival this year.