blackmote wrote:

This one is dedicated to Ghul:

atmospheric... melodic... epic... progressive power metal from Germany: ATLANTEAN KODEX

https://atlanteankodex.bandcamp.com/

Thank you, added to my library!

and now for something a little less 'underground' and a little more global - nay, universal! - I offer unto you from Sweden my favorite heavy metal band: THERION




Ginnungagap
[The Black Hole]

[In the beginning there was a void, a big gap of darkness, filled with the primal forces of creation. The heat of Muspel and the ice of Nifel made the essence of life come forth from the void. The first living being, The Giant Ymer, was born out of darkness and he is the ancestor of the creatures of the universe. The world was formed from his slaughtered body. Ginnungagap is the black hole from which everything came out and into which everything will return in the end.]

Fall deep into Void
(in the) black hole of Nothing

[Soprano:]
Hail, Flow of Vergelmar
Hail, Flow of Vergelmar
Hail, Flow of Vergelmar
Hail, Old Void!

[Alto:]
Hail, Flow of Vergelmar
Heat of creation
Hail, Flow of Vergelmar
Hail, Old Void!

[Tenor/bass:]
Spark in the Nothingness
Heat of creation
Make the ice start to melt
Life wake up in the void.

Ymer is born, fire and ice
Chaos will form, Megin will rise

Fader Ymer drack från urkon
En ström av mjölk som gav oss liv.

Öppna gapet i rymdens mitt
Flöda av blod från Ymers kropt
Världar skapas utav hans kött
Nio (till) antal på Yggdrasil.

Ymers gap - Ymers runa
Ymers ond - Ymers urlag

[English translation of Swedish part:]

Father Ymer drank from the primal cow
A stream of milk which gave life to us all.

A void has opened in the middle of space
A rush of blood from Ymer’s body
New worlds take shape throughout his flesh
All the nine of them upon Yggdrasil.

Ymer’s mouth – Ymer’s rune
Ymer’s suffering – Ymer’s primal law

:::




















 

Tell me someone here knows about these guys already ... I can't stop listening to this record (hahaha! ... I just said "record"!) ....
​

Yeah, it's been making the rounds in gaming circles for about the last six months or so. Good stuff!

ARGUS - another underground band that I've had the pleasure to see on stage, as well as work with when they headlined a show I produced here in Atlanta several years ago. They've repeatedly been to England and Ireland in recent years, and are due to tour Europe this year. They're also due a new album very soon, so if you like what you hear, bookmark their bandcamp page and their Facebook and watch for news. \m/

side note to Ghul... their vocalist is Brian Balich (Arduini/Balich). 





 

Whilst the rest of the world's youth embraced the grunge movement, this is what young, 20-year-old ghul was listening to:

In my early D&D days, this is the sort of stuff I was listening to while I rolled up characters, dreamt up adventures, etc. ...









 

foxroe wrote:

In my early D&D days, this is the sort of stuff I was listening to while I rolled up characters, dreamt up adventures, etc. ...

 

These are the very cornerstones of my musical upbringing. Love all three!

Ghul wrote:

Hey, blackmote, any thoughts on Helloween and Gamma Ray, German masters of power metal?

I recall a friend picking up the vinyl of Walls of Jericho back in the day, and though I listened to it I didn't give it much of my time because nothing really grabbed me. The first 'Keeper...' album was released, and I remember digging a few more songs on it, but it still didn't blow me away. And the name Helloween more or less slipped my mind for a while. But when the second 'Keeper...' album was released, and the video for 'I Want Out' was in rotation on the Headbangers Ball on MTV, I did a double-take. It was then that I returned to the first couple of albums to see what it was that I missed. I'm uncertain what that was, but something finally clicked and I started putting the first three albums in heavy rotation. 
But then I went to [get this] Germany in 1989 for a couple of years while in the USAF, and I again lost track of them - which reading about their tumultuous history and horrible early 90s releases, was likely a good thing. I later heard tracks from their mid 90s releases, and each time I was underwhelmed. I missed Kiske I think. I didn't pick up on them again until very late in their career: Keeper of the Seven Keys, the Legacy - which still wasn't a return to form. But then Gambling With the Devil was released, and I was hooked again. I've been keeping up with them since.
I shamefully never got to see them with Kiske. But I have seen them twice in recent years; one of those shows included the tour along with Gamma Ray. That tour happened during the ProgPower USA festival I attend and work for. Very cool to see both bands in one night, sharing the stage and having a blast. I'm now hearing/reading that there may be a reunion tour in the works featuring both Kiske and Deris? O.o

I'd never even heard of Gamma Ray until just prior to the release of No World Order - which I did pick up and loved more than any of the 90s Helloween releases. And for that tour I was able to see them on stage at ProgPower USA 3 in 2002 - where I also saw Blind Guardian after finally discovering them in 1999 (but that's another tale, eh? hah hah). I've been a Gamma Ray fan since the early 2000s, though I have yet to go back and listen to their early discography. I do own the compilation Blast from the Past and the live album Skeletons & Majesties.

So the short answer should have been yeah, I dig them both.