Mourning Mountains - Trust Me

Rating: 5/10 Cause I've been pulling this tugboat 'round... heart on my sleeve The melancholic inverted madness that is the voice of this song stirs and pulls, fighting against the swell of the soothing guitar. Beginning in 2011 from Oakley CA, Mourning Mountains present the acoustic youth in rough and honest form.

Fort Minor - "Welcome"

the first time I did it, yeah I'll admit it, I kinda hit and quit it and left ya'll hanging Rating: 8/10

After ten long years, Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda returns to his hip hop side project Fort Minor with "Welcome". It starts with a classic Shinoda piano intro with a pretty dope hip hop beat and sounds reminiscent of Xero (LP's first name). Then comes the long awaited Shinoda raps. It's new and different, and dammit there is talent and skill in every word and every note. This time around, every single thing was played, rapped, and sung by Mike Shinoda with no guests, friends, or help. Shinoda says he has no current plans for an album, but I hope this opens the door for more Fort Minor in the near future. For a short time, you can download the single for free from fortminor.com or support Mike by buying it on iTunes or your music provider of choice. Check out the epic music video shot with a 360 camera. View it in Chrome and use your mouse to move the screen around, or use the YouTube app on mobile and tilt your device to look around.

Sabaton - "Cliffs of Gallipoli"

I already did a post about Primo Victoria about a year ago which would have been appropriate for today but I think any Sabaton song can really be appropriate today and whenever because Sabaton is awesome! This is one of my favorite song's of theirs, about the Gallipoli Campaign of World War I. It uses the keyboard for some funky stuff and uses a super fun 7/8 time signature for the solo and is just generally a super awesome song.

Rating: 9/10 Gallipoli Left their letters in the sand Such waste of life Gallipoli Dreams of freedom turned to dust

Nightwish - "Shudder Before the Beautiful"

When Nighwish released their new album, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, earlier this year me and a lot of critics didn't really think it was that great. After seeing them live and listening to it a few more times I really started liking it a lot more. A lot of the tracks sound have a similar sound to them but I really like it. Is it their best album ever? Definitely not, but it's super solid and I enjoy listening to it. This song in particular, the first track, is a solid representation of the album and if you like it you'll probably like the rest. If you like what you hear I'd definitely recommend giving the rest of the album a listen.

Rating: 7/10 We are shuddering before the beautiful, before the plentiful, we, the voyagers

MOVITS! - "Fel Del Av Gården"

This is the toe-tapping Swedish story of growing up on the wrong side of town from trio MOVITZ! (composed of the two brothers Johan and Anders with saxophone player Joakim), wherein the group scats from their childhood memories to systems of oppression with an ever-present smirk. Their modern hiphop style both pushes forth the use of traditional instruments in the largely electronic-heavy field and calls back to this band's Swedish roots. Hope you enjoy!

Rating: 7/10 men nån gång måste fördomen hinnas ikapp (But at some point, you have to catch up to the prejudice)

Twenty One Pilots - "Fairly Local"

Rating: 6/10

Tomorrow I'll switch the beat to avoid yesterday's dance Twenty One Pilots just came out with their second studio album, Blurryface a few days ago. The first single that they released was "Fairly Local", about which I was skeptical the first time I heard it. Then of course, I couldn't get it out of my head. It took a couple listens, but I am definitely on board for this shit. They've got some dope beats and a good use of electronics with lyrics just marginally short of being pleasantly morbid.

Breaking Benjamin - "Angels Fall"

After a four year hiatus, legal battle between band members, and near complete lineup change, Breaking Benjamin is coming back with their fifth studio album, Dark Before Dawn, set to drop June 23rd, with mixed responses following the release of the first three singles. There was something raw and gripping about their harder debut and sophomore studio albums that admittedly got a little lost in the later years, but Benjamin Burnley's stunning vocals are still there as good as ever and there is no lack of talent behind the music with the four skilled new members. And of course, it's nice to still hear bands using guitars in their music. This second single is a great song, and I'm overjoyed to hear no drop in quality over the break. Stoked to hear more. You can also check out the songs, "Failure" and "Defeated" before the album comes out.

The turning of the tide don't leave it all behind And I will never say goodbye Rating: 7/10

Iron and Wine - Upward Over the Mountain

Rating: 7/10 Mother don't worry... I killed the last snake the lived in the creek bed... Iron and Wine, a name for singer/songwriter Samuel Beam taken from a vitamin supplement label, is well established in folk- indie circles for soulful guitar and rather whimsical lyrics. He sets off this track with lullaby grace, soothing and strumming. Perfect for long walks between the roots of trees.

25 Days of Metal Day 18: Non-single song the Year: Within Temptation - "Covered by Roses"

Rating: 9/10 Covered by roses When this dance is over We all know our beauty will die. This song is so amazing but I really don't know what to say, everything about I just love so much, the verses are amazing, the chorus is beyond amazing, the instrumentals are amazing, the guitar solo is amazing, even the video which was released recently release with their live DVD is amazing, maybe I'll figure out something more to say before my top 5 songs of the year next week, but this song is just fucking amazing.

25 Days of Metal Day 17: Single of the Year: Sonata Arctica - "The Wolves Die Young"

Rating: 9/10 This is the day when the wolves die young They'll never see a new midnight sun The time has come to announce winners! Holy shit I am in love with this song, having listened it to a more and thought about it a bit and the song tells a really interesting, if a bit generic story which made me appreciate it even more, honestly I was a bit disappointed with the general quality of the singes released this year, but this one was certainly excellent.

25 Days of Metal Day 16: Album of the Year Nominations #4: Edguy- "Space Police: Defenders of the Crown"

Rating: ?/10 I always really liked Edguy and this album is no exception, they generally produce really solid power metal with somewhat of a comedic twist, and this album is no exception, normally Tobias Sammet has incredibly spot on vocals, and this album is no exception. Basically this album is more of the same Edguy format and is really solid for it since they are really good at what they do. See also: Edguy - "Love Tyger"

25 Days of Metal Day 15: Album of the Year Nominations #3: Sabaton - "Heroes"

Rating: ?/10 I really like Sabaton, and this album is no exception, Sabaton consistently deliver high quality songs about people, battles, and events from historical wars which as someone who is really interested in military history is excellent for me. This album focuses specifically on individuals, mostly from World War II. Although I don't like the individual tracks as much as some other albums, this album really impressed me since every single track is super good. See also: Sabaton - "Night Witches" Sabaton - "Resist and Bite"

25 Days of Metal Day 14: Album of the Year Nominations #2: Sonata Arctica - "Pariah's Child"

Rating: ?/10 This album was really interesting for me, Sonata Arctica's was generally disliked and they have been really moving away from their older heavier style and a lot of people don't like it. Personally I'm fairly neutral towards it, but I think album came out really and had a lot of really fun songs. I wasn't expecting a whole lot coming into it and it turned out really solid with a lot of really unique ideas and a wide variety of songs. See also: Sonata Arctica - "The Wolves Die Young"

25 Days of Metal Day 13: Album of the Year Nominations #1: Within Temptation - "Hydra"

Rating: ?/10 Obviously this is going to be here considering I four songs from this album have been nominated. This album was released right the beginning of the year and I really loved it then and I still love it now. Following up to their excellent album from last year, Within Temptation have quickly become one of my favorite bands. The songs are generally fairly simple but just really solid. Also they did quite a few colabs with several really high quality musicians, all of which turned out excellent. See also: Within Temptation - "Paradise (What About Us?)" Within Temptation - "And We Run" Within Temptation - "Covered By Roses" Within Temptation - "Silver Moonlight" Within Temptation - "Whole World Is Watching"

25 Days of Metal Day 12: Music Video of the Year Nominations #4: Hammerfall - "Hector's Hymn"

Rating: ?/10 Hammer high to the sky Follow the warrior and the king Call of Hector's Hymn This video is really interesting and unique, I really like the combination of the band playing with the comiclike almost pop-up-booklike style for this song and I think it fits really well. I think they nailed the visuals and this song is really good too.