Symphonic Metal - Dutch (1 Viewer)

[Don Giro]

It's from Beto Vazquez Infinity. I never heard this album, but his "Darkmind" album is pretty cool...
www.amazon.com/Beto-Vazquez-Infinity/dp/B00005V2S1/ref=sr_1_1
Laser's Edge has it for $15, along with the aforementioned "Darkmind."
While I "researched" the Tarja track for Ron, I found something at LE that really intrigued me: A German band called Morphelia, who sound EXACTLY like Fish-era Marillion crossed with Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. In other words: AWESOME! (I realize that this is neither "symphonic" nor "metal," but if you're a fan of either of those bands, it's a MUST have...
Ron, you owe me $19.00, plus 7% NJ Sales Tax and $3.50 for shipping of the Morphelia. /img/vbsmilies/htf/laugh.gif I KNEW this early-morning research would get me into financial trouble (because I also picked up the Japanese import of Epica's "The Phantom Agony" because I misplaced my original)...
Now...Anyone wanna hear about Epica live?

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Originally Posted by Don Giro /forum/thread/282449/symphonic-metal-dutch/180#post_3657027
A German band called Morphelia, who sound EXACTLY like Fish-era Marillion crossed with Peter Gabriel-era Genesis. In other words: AWESOME! (I realize that this is neither "symphonic" nor "metal," but if you're a fan of either of those bands, it's a MUST have...
Ron, you owe me $19.00, plus 7% NJ Sales Tax and $3.50 for shipping of the Morphelia.

Ron, instead of sending that money to Don, you can just forward it directly to me since now he owes it to me.

 

[Ron-P]

Both of you guys owe me money. I just dropped near $100 this morning. Bought the following...

Beto Vazquez Infinity (Japan Import) - thanks to Don's link.
Darkmind

Nightwish - Bless This Child (The Rarities)


I did spin a few YouTube songs from that band Morphelia that you found Don but alas, not for me, didn't like it.

 

[Don Giro]

Ron, have you given any more thought to going to see Epica?
I saw them Friday, 1/29 at a very small theater in NYC...800 capacity TOPS. There were about 50 fans on a "stand-by" line. It was about 5 degrees with the windchill factor. I'm told that the fans were eventually let in at the band's request...
They were absolutely AMAZING. No picture you've ever seen of Simone does her one bit of justice. She is absolutely flawless, and she sent shivers down my spine when she walked out and sang "Non plus ultra" at the opening of "Resign to Surrender." She hit almost every high note: the ones she couldn't quite hit just went to prove that there was no INKLING of lip-synching (further proved when her mike cut out twice, and I was close enough to hear her with the mike off).
She is very personable on stage, and she tried to give every individual audience member a memorable pose for their cell phone cameras. At one point in her between-song banter, she pointed out one fan WAY in the back who did nothing but do that "hair-spinning headbanging" thing all night. She challenged said fan to a hair-spinning "contest." Mark Jansen said Simone was faster.
Hey, Morphelia may not be for everyone, but they take me back to the Fish-era Marillion that I love so much...
And, no worries...I dropped about $300 this week on CDs. I couldn't help myself...I haven't spent any money in months. I bought the Sirenia CDs I didn't have, Morphelia, Sonata Arctica's DVD, Kamelot's DVD (because of Simone's guest appearance), and a bunch more that haven't arrived yet...
And I didn't know you could still GET "Bless the Child..."

 

[Ron-P]

I'd love to go see EPICA, but, the 19th is my daughters birthday and we are doing a 3 day Disneyland trip with a bunch of her friends. The mother-in-law booked us a 2 bedroom suite a block from the park. So, I just won't be able to pull it off. Plus, we just dropped about $500 today on a second dog.

Glad to hear it was a kick-ass show. I'd love to see Simone live someday, maybe when I travel overseas I'll be able to catch them.

 

[James Lee]

I'm going to Disneyland this Saturday until next Tuesday. Then I am going to see Epica in San Francisco next Wednesday.

Don, were there any opening acts at the NY show? And did they let people bring cameras into the venue? I am SO looking forward to basking in the glorious awesomeness of Simone.

 

[Don Giro]

There were a few with digital cameras, lots of folks taking 30-second videos. but mostly cell phones. I was no more than 20 feet from Simone. Wait until you see how breathtaking she is in person. ANYTHING you've seen of her does her no justice. And if she sees you trying to take her picture, don't be surprised if she does her best to give you a picture to remember her by...

Opening acts on the tour are Blackguard and Threat Signal. Don't rush in early to see them...but the crowd liked them a lot. NYC also had two OTHER opening acts BEFORE the aforementioned bands...if you take any pics, PLEASE post them...PLEASE? I suck at pix, so I didn't bother...

 

[Ron-P]

32 days and still no Beto Vazquez Infinity CD. I ordered this through Amazon via a company called ValleyCD. They've sent a couple of emails saying it's coming, it's just being delayed. Today I requested a refund. Lets hope it goes through. I am bummed but I reordered it from a Top Rated seller on ebay. Maybe better luck this second time around.
Lately, I've been listening to a lot of Leaves' Eyes. I am really enjoying the voice of Liv Kristine and the melodies of this band.

 

[Don Giro]

If the Beto... is the one with Tarja on it, it's out of print. Requesting a refund is a good idea at this point.

I ordered a bunch of things through Amazon Marketplace a few weeks back. One of the CDs (I forget which) was fulfilled by a company called Sonic Cathedral. I''ve since ordered a few things directly through their site. They specialize in female-fronted rock/metal. Their service is awesome, and they have After Forever's "Invisible Circles" IN STOCK. It's been out of print for a while, and was killing me that I couldn't get my hands on it for a decent price. They have two self-pressed (NOT CD-R) compilations of popular and obscure acts that are a must-have, and they're CHEAP.

I have an old friend who's head of A&R at a well-known label who CONSTANTLY sends me MP3s of female-fronted bands he thinks I might be interested in, and always asks my opinion (but it never gets past that point...he told me they just "passed" on Amberian Dawn). One that I really like is from a Greek band called Elysion. The songs are good, the singer's got a good voice, and she's very easy on the eyes...

He also turned me on to the strangely-named French band YOTANGOR. They have THREE female vocalists, and they have a sound that I can only describe as Lunatica meets Xandria by way of Nightwish. The only problem is that their two-CD debut is COMPLETELY unavailable in the US. Amazon only has the MP3s for sale (blecch), but they have a bunch of videos on YouTube if you want to check them out. My favorite is "Try Again." The CD set is only available through their label's website, but at 20 euros and for whatever they're gonna charge for shipping, I'm passing. For now...

I listened to Leave's Eyes a lot last week, too, but I'm still on an Epica kick. I listened to "DYU" in its entirety on Friday night (on my iPod on my way to see Henry Rollins), and I was blown away yet again until "White Waters" brought the proceedings to a screeching halt. It wasn't until that "borefest" that I realized that I had been walking around NYC for two hours in varying degrees of rain (we got hit pretty bad in NJ over the weekend).

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Amazon still only has MP3s of the songs from the new Mr. So & So disc, too. One of these days I'm gonna break down and order it directly from them in the UK. (It's not that expensive anyway -- I think $20 or so with shipping.) Annoying though!

 

[Don Giro]

Just ordered this from Magion's website (it's unavailable anywhere else). After charging my credit card, I was able to download the entire album in FLAC while I wait for the CD to arrive from Holland. I like this band a lot. Take a look at their website, for a split second I thought they were Epica.

I also ordered this band's CD through CM Distro. The singer is no Tarja, or Simone, or Floor, but the songs are great, and catchy as hell...

 

[Ron-P]

Don, nice find bro. I just ordered Magion's CD, download a copy, burned it and put it on my iPod, some really good stuff. Love Mrythe Van Beest's voice, powerful, clear and she has very good range.

 

[Ron-P]

I also ordered up Voices Of Destiny - From The Ashes from CM Distro as well, really good stuff.

 

[Don Giro]

I'm probably REALLY late to the dance in this one, but doing a YouTube search on an all-female Finnish pop/rock group called Indica, I found this little gem:

www.youtube.com/watch

I often wondered what "Last of the Wilds" would have sounded like with lyrics, and although the lyrics are in Finnish, I can't get the song out of my head. And Indica are a cute bunch, too a YouTube search will turn up LOADS of videos. Poppy, yes, but they've opened for Nightwish MANY times in the past...I believe they have a new album coming out with lyrics in English...

Ron: glad you liked the Magion CD. I'm a "fan" on Facebook, and they thanked me for my "help," as it were...I got my CD last week: despite the world-class production and impressive artwork, it's a surprisingly self-financed endeavour. There's no record company logo anywhere on it. My only complaint is that there should be more photos of Myrthe in it. While she's no match for Simone in the "looks" department, I still find her "fetching." Maybe it's because I have a thing for redheads.

I think you'll like Voices of Destiny, too.

I've been following links that have led me to many, many MySpace pages of fantastic bands in this genre,most of them self-financed. Two of them I really like (and may have to "pony up" whatever it may cost me to obtain their music) are Teodasia (from Italy), and Andem (who sing entirely in Russian). A third would be The Rain I Bleed, a (Greek) group fronted by the absoutely stunning Mina. Her promo pictures do her absolutely no justice; but these Facebook pix sure do:

www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rain-I-Bleed/19024826906

Well, I should get back to work...

 

[Ockeghem]

Posted in wrong thread.

 

[Don Giro]

What's not available...?

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Don Giro /forum/thread/282449/symphonic-metal-dutch/210#post_3682487
What's not available...?

Sorry, Don. I mean that to mean 'non-applicable.' I posted in the wrong thread. I will change the wording.

 

[Ron-P]

Got Voices of Destiny - From the Ashes two days ago and have been listening to it non-stop, fantastic.

 

[Don Giro]

Glad to hear you like VOD! Did you get your copy of Magion yet?
I just heard a few tracks from this upcoming CD, and despite the STRONG Manowar "involvement," and will be picking it up I really liked what I heard. It reminds me a lot of Sirenia (which ain't a bad thing!), and Maria's got a strong voice. The only downsides are that the lyrics are on the cheesy side, and there IS some of what I call "guitar masturbation," but don't let that dissuade you. Also, some of you may find the melodies a bit too "predictable," but I had no problem with it...
Sorry if I keep making you guys part with your hard-earned cash like this, but hey, if I gotta, then YOU gotta.../img/vbsmilies/htf/rock.gif

 

[Ron-P]

DAMNIT Don!!! Stop spending my money. I just order up both Apocalypse and HolyHell from Amazon. I didn't see this band on CMDistro. Oh, I kinda like that "guitar masturbation,"

I did get my copy of Magion, it's loaded up in my car.