A couple of months ago, I did a series of 2-part posts detailing bands whoโd undergone such a dramatic shift in sound that I could readily write separately about their early and late output. While Katatonia might have seemed an obvious choice for that run of bands, thereโs two main reasons they didnโt make the … Continue reading 363: KATATONIA
King Diamond is heavy metal royalty. Itโs right there in the name. As the frontman for Mercyful Fate, he (and the band as a whole) were instrumental to the first wave of black metal, as well as influencing metal as a whole in the early 80s. Mercyful Fate incorporated the 70s rock sound, particularly prog … Continue reading 350: KING DIAMOND
As the first vocalist for Nightwish, and now a successful solo artist, Tarja Turunen is Finnish music royalty. Her incredible voice has front hard rock and metal as well as enchanting Christmas performances, and she remains a hugely influential presence in symphonic metal circles. It was the combination of Tarjaโs singing style and the heavy … Continue reading 336: TARJA
Combining elements of doom, gothic metal, death doom and more, Draconianโs sound is one of beautiful darkness, haunting and passionate in its performance. Draconian are another band I discovered quite late, coming across them via early singles for their seventh album, 2020โs โUnder a Godless Veilโ. Iโm eternally grateful I did, though, because that album … Continue reading 283: DRACONIAN
As a teenager, Coal Chamber were one of my absolute favourite bands. Itโs really not hard to see why. In the age of nu-metal, where there was an expected look and sound, Coal Chamber were truly unique. They had a sound unlike the others - dramatically downtuned guitars, keys and samples, and then Dez Fafara, … Continue reading 241: COAL CHAMBER
Iโm sadly late to the Woods of Ypres, which seem to be a band combining elements of multiple metal subgenres I adore. What started as a somewhat melodic black metal evolved into a melodic death, doom, gothic sonic masterpiece. Covering esoteric topics like life, death, and nature, Woods of Ypres released four full-lengths plus an … Continue reading 173: WOODS OF YPRES
a band a day. 