Tarja - "Never Enough"

No, never enough, never enough, I gave it all, you still want more.

Rating: 4/10

Not to be confused with Never Enough by Epica, this song is the first single to be released from former Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen's upcoming album Colours in the Dark. This will be her third studio after breaking up with Nightwish. The song starts out as a very strong symphonic metal song and I really like it, however I would say I am not as much of a fan of the second half of the song, particularly the very end where the vocals cut out and especially do not like the static at the end. The lyrics video is very well done and I appreciate the work that has gone into it, however so far I'm not convinced the new album will be good from this song but I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the album is tomorrow on August 30th.

Dio - "Straight Through the Heart"

And here it comes again, straight through the heart.

Rating: 8/10

Ronnie James Dio is basically the god of American metal vocals, he was the vocalist for Black Sabbath for 3 years and formed his own band, Dio soon after. This song is from his band's first album Holy Diver, while not as famous as the title song, Holy Diver, or Rainbow in the Dark this song is awesome. I recently discovered this song, and I love it. The music is very catchy and Dio's very iconic style of singing complements it perfectly. Unlike a lot of American metal, the guitar solo is just about the right length, perhaps a bit on the long side, but it provides a nice break between the beginning and the end. Overall a very well done song and Dio's voice is awesome.

David Gray - "Long Distance Call"

Early morning sun... Shine it and I'm gone

Rating: 6/10

David Gray is about as soulful, peaceful and longing as you'll get in a song like this. His sincerity shines through the lightly strummed guitar pieces, and the simple rock drums add energy to this piece. This UK singer/songwriter made his first appearance in 1993, releasing a studio album titled "A Century Ends". However, he did not gain popular vision until 1998, with "White Ladder". While the quality of his songs tend to vary, this is one that spoke to me.

Nightwish - Elvenpath

Long ago, in the early years of the second age, the great elven-smiths forged the Rings of Power.

Rating: 5/10

This song from Nightwish's first album, Angels Fall First, this song is both the an amazing song and a terrible song at the same time, I can't make up my mind as to which one. Basically it is one giant pile of Lord of the Rings references, if you are into that, more the better, I think it's alright but other than having a lot of Lord of the Rings references, I don't think the song itself is that good. Sometime I absolutely love this song, sometimes it is way to cheesy for me, definitely give it a listen and make a judgement for yourself. I do not get most of the references in this song and unless you have an obsessive devotion with Lord of the Rings, like some people I know, you very well may not enjoy this song.

Thirty Seconds to Mars - "Do or Die"

Time to be alive I will never forget the moment, the moment I will never forget this night we sing, we sing

Rating: 8/10

LOVE LUST FAITH + DREAMS came out on May 21st and recently their new video hit one million views after being out for only a week. It is for the song "Do or Die" off of LLFD. This video, like their one for "Closer to the Edge", is a bunch of live shots from their European tour put together along with personal interviews form members of the Echelon. The Echelon is the family of fans that is extremely dedicated to the band. Frontman Jared Leto interviewed all of the people in the video to get their story and spent his summer vacation editing it; it turned out to be a sort of love letter to the Echelon and for us is one of the most beautiful music videos. The video on this post however is not it, but you can check it out here. The music in the song is uplifing and has a beat that makes people (even ones like me) want to jump around to it. It is so incredibly beautiful both lyrically and musically. Jared's voice is amazing and his brother Shannon put together the perfect drum part for it. Overall this song is just phenomenal and extremely special to the Echelon. Provehito in Altum.

Sonata Arctica - "Wildfire"

Burn honey, burn, let the fire eat away, I never liked the look of this town, burn it down now.

Rating: 7/10

This is a very interesting song, there are two followup songs on later Sonata Arctica albums. I feel the literal interpretation of the song is that it is about a man from a village, who no one trusts, maybe because he is an outsider or whatever, everyone is very suspicious of him and blame him for everything. Eventually he hears voices telling him take his stuff, run away, and set the town on fire. However the more figurative interpretation is more broad. It is about people who generally feel like they don't fit in with society for whatever reason and do terrible to things to lash back out at society by committing arson or murder. The musical style is very archetypal of Sonata Arctica's musical style, a vocal focused power metal. This song is a good showcase of Tony Kakko's fairly unique sounding vocals. Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band with some symphonic metal influence, they were formed in 1995 and have released seven studio albums to date.

Green River Ordinance - "Cannery River"

dig our toes in that river bottom, play our music way up loud

Rating: 5/10

Green River Ordinance is a rock band from Texas. They have a soft rock style that can sound like pop rock, country, or even a bit like folk. Recently they released their EP Chasing Down the Wind which leads off with the song "Cannery River". This song, like most of theirs, is an acoustic one using a variety of string instruments. It is quiet and simple; and Josh Jenkins's beautiful voice is soothing with the acoustic instruments. It is a sweet love song, similar to most of their tracks. Green River Ordinance writes comforting and pretty music, however many of their songs are similar.

Epica - "The Obsessive Devotion"

Don't you ever blind me, don't be a foolish thief.

Rating: 7/10

This is the second song I have posted from this album and I am extremely mixed on this one. The first half of the song I absolutely love, one of my favorite songs, but the in the second half it really goes downhill for me. Something about the lyrics in the beginning are just beautiful to me. I feel having read through the lyrics that this song is about a person going through the five stages of grief, if you read the lyrics, the first two lyrical sections cover denial, the third anger, the next section is bargaining, and the rest of the song is acceptance. Quite an amazing song and I consider the first part of the song to be one of Epica's best. The album for me is fairly good, but the only two stand out songs are this and Never Enough which my review of can be found here. That actually sums up Epica as a band fairly well for me. Most of their songs are fairly good with a few absolute gems which are some of my favorite songs.

Avantasia - "Spectres"

Wide open minds will divine without reason, cold is the night as you're braving the gale

Rating: 9/10

This is the best track from Avantasia's 2013 album The Mystery of Time, which, as normal with Avantasia, is quite an exceptional album. Also as is normal with Avantasia, all the songs on the album are good, but none of them stand out to me as incredible. This song in particular I like because of the transitions between fast instrument focused sections and slower vocal focused sections. I am very impressed with this song and this album in general and it definitely is one of my top metal albums of the year.

Kamelot - "When the Lights are Down"

'cause when the lights are down, there's no more to say.

Rating: 6/10

A fairly nice power/symphonic metal song and part of a very interesting set of three concept albums ((Karma, Epica (not the band), and The Black Halo) loosely based on the German play Goethe's Faust. Overall the song is one of my favorite songs by Kamelot, but isn't really one of my favorite songs in general. It has very nice guitar intro and the backing is generally quite good, but I don't really get pulled in by the lyrics, and as such it isn't quite as it could be. Still a nice song though.

Avenged Sevenfold - "Bat Country"

He who makes a beast out of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.

Rating: 7/10

As opposed to the European metal I have posted a lot of with bands like Epica, Rhapsody, Avantasia, and Nightwish, this song is very Americany heavy metal to me, very heavy, very fast guitar riffs and less of a focus on the vocals. This is one of my favorite Avenged Sevenfold songs, and is a bit older than Nightmare which I posted earlier. It begins with an interesting quote by Samuel Johnson which to me is a quote about the fact that is is easier to do things which are bad for you such as drugs an alcohol to distract yourself, rather than face your responsibilities. This quote I feel sets the theme for the song. Overall, a quite good song by one of my favorite American heavy metal bands.

Epica - "Storm the Sorrow"

I’ve tried to peer into the core, but could not storm the sorrow.

Rating: 9/10

This song is so amazing, maybe I'm i'm a bit biased because I absolutely love European metal, but seriously, this song is really good. But I digress, for me, what I really like about this song is the combination of the powerful (one might say epic(a)) string ensemble and the guitar in the background, and really well though out and well sung lyrics in the foreground. This song is a song you can tell has some deep meaning right from the start, and was carefully crafted to convey a point. This is the meaning of the song according to the band's lead singer, "Storm the sorrow deals about all the negative criticism which everyone has to deal with in their life. Everybody has something to say about everyone and a lot of criticism comes from jealousy and envy. Besides being criticized by the public, you're also criticizing yourself. It is a struggle within and you alone can fight it." I feel this is a very relevant problem to a lot of people and is a good choice for a theme of a song. Also the music video for this song is absolutely incredibly well done, and if you think about it, it is very easy to see how the video shows the theme of the song. This song is one of the favorite songs I have found this year so seriously, give it a listen.

Matt Webb - "Stage I Remember"

push our way up front and leave it all behind, I can cross my dirty fingers and hope the stars align

Rating: 5/10

In 2011, Canada's Matt Webb released the EP Coda and Jacket. This was the first solo project from Marianas Trench's guitarist, but he assured everyone the band was very supportive, even helping on some of the tracks, including "Stage I Remember". Matt Webb has a good voice and can play music well, but I am a little disappointed in his music style: pop. The songs are catchy, but the sound is so mainstream and bubblegum pop. This song in particular is better than some of the others with its less predictable lyrics and themes. Talented as he is, I think Matt could put out better music.

Sleeping With Sirens - "Four Corners and Two Sides"

you only do what you're told you better hope that you're right

Rating: 7/10

Sleeping With Sirens is a post-hardcore band lead by vocalist Kellin Quinn. They released their sophomore album, Let's Cheers to This in 2011. Their sound often has hardcore beats and screams, but also adds cleaner vocals and lighter singing pushing them into the post-hardcore category. "Four Corners and Two Sides" is one of their heaviest songs both on the album and overall with its fast-paced drumming and screams. It has good screams, quite lovely singing, and some hardcore music. The first couple times I heard this song, I thought the screams done by Jesse Lawson seemed poor quality and unskilled; but I also couldn't get it out of my head and the more I listened I realized they sound good in the song and work well with Kellin's voice that is much higher in pitch. Most of the time I do not like higher vocals, but somehow I was taken by Kellin. Despite the fact he sometimes sounds like he belongs in a teenage-pop-boy band, he still sounds great in heavier music. I personally love this song and think it is a great track, but hardcore is definitely not everyone's preference.

Exo - "MAMA"

Careless, careless Shoot anonymous, anonymous Heartless, mindless No one care about me

Rating: 8/10

Exo's 2012 debut single, MAMA, is a blend of several different genres, spanning pop, rock, and (surprisingly) screamo. Exo is a Chinese-South Korean boy band with two branches, one that performs in Korean, Exo-K, and another that performs in Mandarin, Exo-M. MAMA is about the general problems of the world, asking why people forsake love for war and hate. (If you want to see the English translation, here it is). The song itself has a classic, driving chord progression that brings up the original backing vocals in the chorus. All of Exo's members are talented singers and dancers, and this song beautifully showcases their talents. The music video is one of the most theatrical music videos I have ever seen, making Exo look like a team of dancing superhero demigods in a fantasy novel.