Archive for December 20, 2011

Scythia – Folk Metal Band Releases Xmas Song: “…Of Santa”

Posted in christmas, christmas rock songs, christmas songs, folk metal, Heavy Metal, heavy metal news, metal music, Music, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , on December 20, 2011 by Metal Odyssey

Folk Metal clan Scythia have released a holiday tune for fans called “…Of Santa”, which is now streaming on youtube at the following link here and can also be purchased at bandcamp here.

“Christmas has all the right elements of Folk Metal: it’s dark and wintry, it involves magic, and there’s plenty of ale and mead. This year, we figured it was time to pay homage to the season by creating our very own Scythian Christmas tale.” commented vocalist / guitarist Dave Khan.

In addition the 2011 year coming to an end, Scythia have been mentioned on a few Top 2011 lists for this year’s sophomore release “…Of Exile”.

Decibel Magazine named Scythia’s “Oboe of Death” the #2 of Top 5 Non-Metal Instruments on a 2011 Album. Check it out on pg #54 of Issue #87 Jan 2012.

So what is Scythia?

Taking its name from vocalist/guitarist Dave Khan’s infatuation with a painting of Nordic/Russian warriors riding bears while brandishing swords, Scythia not only “gives the painting musical significance,” but it is also “the name of an ancient empire spanning from the Caucasus through Russia, and even into eastern Scandinavia. The melodies used in our music have a very ancient, sometimes medieval sound, so I wanted to attribute them to an ancient civilization,” says Khan.

In 2010, Scythia released its debut, “…Of War” (originally with violin) which was produced by Shaun Thingvold who has engineered on projects with SYL, Fear Factory, Darkest Hour and many more. Now, following some line-up changes, Scythia have released their second album “…Of Exile”, again produced by Shaun Thingvold September 23, 2011.

Free Download – For The King – http://scythia.bandcamp.com/track/for-the-king-free-download

Free Download – Voice of The Sword – http://scythia.bandcamp.com/track/voice-of-the-sword-free-download

“… Of Exile Teaser Video – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yKgWHAv4E8

…Of Exile – Track Listing:

Prelude
Spirit of the Quest
Sleeping Village
Forgotten Forest
Fallen King 
Voice of the Sword
For the King [Free Download]
Fortress
Dies Irae II
Hobarth’s Inn

(Source: Asher Media Relations)

LONG LIVE SCYTHIA.

Stone.

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SCORPIONS ‘COMEBLACK’ – Heavy Metal Legends Do It Their Way, On Album Of Covers & Re-Recordings

Posted in classic rock, cover songs, Heavy Metal, heavy metal albums, heavy metal news, metal music, Music, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , , on December 20, 2011 by Metal Odyssey

SCORPIONS COMEBLACK – The Scorpions latest CD release, Comeblack, is a combination of  seven re-recorded classics from their legendary catalog of albums along with six Classic Rock cover songs. I realize there are fans who don’t applaud when a band makes an album of cover songs and I understand that. Personally, I enjoy hearing a band covering other band’s songs. I really am thrilled with Comeblack for more than half of this album is, essentially, the Scorpions covering themselves!

In my opinion, some of the re-recorded songs the Scorpions did for Comeblack are actually better than their own originals. I point to the first three songs on Comeblack to state my point: Rhythm Of Love, No One Like You and The Zoo. All three songs are outstanding Scorpions originals, yet on Comeblack each of these mentioned songs has a harder and edgier zeal to them, which I really dig, especially on one of my all-time favorites The Zoo. The harder energy on these three cover songs are so good and breathe some new life into them.

Unfortunately, I can’t state the same for the new versions of Rock You Like A Hurricane and Winds Of Change. I feel the original versions are superior to their re-recorded selves on Comeblack. Then again, these two songs are this iconic band’s biggest hits, so I imagine it would be almost impossible to improve on them. Blackout and Still Loving You are done well and both are very solid re-recordings. If there is one thing I would have done differently on this half of Comeblack, I would have included some of their lesser-known hits like Big City Nights, Alien Nation and In Trance and re-recorded them with the same updated heaviness.

Now for the cover songs. First of all, I find this a very interesting collection of songs to cover. For example, I was never a big fan of the song Tainted Love by the New Wave/Post-Punk band Soft Cell. Actually, I find it a very annoying song. Therefore, even before I heard this cover version by the Scorpions I was preparing to be disappointed. Man, was I surprised! The Scorpions came up huge here. What a terrific job the Scorpions did in creating what I would call a wuss of a song and transforming it into Metal!

Children of The Revolution and Tin Soldier are solidly done. Across The Universe is probably my biggest complaint, in terms of song selection for Comeblack. I can’t say I’m a big fan of this song. All Day And All Of The Night packs a good and Hard Rockin’ punch that I believe The Kinks would praise.

This brings me to the final song. The Scorpions end Comeblack with grand style! What do you get when you combine Klaus Meine, Metal guitar riffs by guitar legends Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs and a song written by The Rolling Stones? This is Scott Coverdale’s “Song Of The Year”: Ruby Tuesday. I can’t begin to tell you, just how much I love this cover version of Ruby Tuesday. After listening to this song over and over again, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ruby Tuesday was meant to be a Metal song and we’ve been delivered just that… 40 years later.

* Scorpions – Comeblack was released in November of 2011 on Sony Music.

* For more info on the SCORPIONS, click the link below:

SCORPIONS

LONG LIVE SCORPIONS.

Scott Coverdale.

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