So since I get a bunch of new CDs in each week, usually daily, I figured I'd share some of the awesome songs I come across. I'll try to update this each day (I'll edit this first post), and I'll leave the MP3s up for a week before deleting them. Hopefully some of you will give the tunes a listen and discover some new bands. So here goes...
June 20, 2008:
MONKEY BUSINESS - SEPARATE WAYS (Journey cover)
* The song has some jitter errors toward the end.
I've been saying for ages that I wished a metal band would cover this tune. Monkey Business is no metal band, but this is a cool cover. Their album The Noble Art of Wasting Time is just $5 from CD Baby. Well worth it, if you like gritty, sleazy, 80s rock.
CROWN OF THORNS - THE RAIN
Wow! This song is flat out kicking my ass! It's so damn good. I almost passed on this disc called Breakthrough today. The cover looks cheesy as hell, and the band members look like Bootsy Collins rejects. Seriously. Something about the song titles caught my eye, though, and at $1.99 for a limited edition two-disc album, I figured it was worth a try. This was either going to be funky R&B kind of crap, or rock.
Rock it is! AOR awesomeness, to be precise (and cheesy). But seriously, I bought 20 CDs today, gave each a quick run-through to see if I want to keep it or trade it. Outside of that, though, Breakthrough hasn't stopped playing. I ripped both discs and have had them on shuffle for a few hours now. Absolutely fantastic album.
A little research tells me they're a long-running AOR band, with band leader Jean Beauvoir once being a member of the legenday Plasmatics. He kind of sounds like Michael Bolton, to be honest. Either way, "The Rain"—which is on the bonus disc—is awesome! And it's pretty damn sweet that I scored the limited edition 2CD UK version of Breakthrough. Now I need to find their other albums.
6/21/2008:
MANIFEST - BUDAYA
Years ago, a girl I knew online sent me a cassette dub of a compilation called Myx Metal Assault. It featured a bunch of unsigned bands from Singapore, where she was from. The compilation is pretty killer! Many years later, I was able to find a CD copy at Sentinel Steel for $5.88. Well worth it! It features six bands—Noize Unit, Tri-Ryche, Zeotz, Dethmute, Manifest, X-Concept—and each band does two songs each. Manifest and Zeotz are my favorites from the CD. I've posted the Zeotz tracks before, because they sound like lost Metallica demos from the early 80s.
Anyway, this one track is called "Budaya." Who knows what it means. The whole song is sung in another language. It has a sort of Sepultura tribal groove, and I love it. Dig it!
July 2, 2008:
ICED EARTH - A CHARGE TO KEEP (Barlow Version)
Don't really need to talk about this one. It's the iTunes exclusive track from the I Walk Among You EP. Kind of lame it's not on the CD, but here it is all the same. It is awesome, too!
"A Charge To Keep" is my favorite track from Framing Armageddon, and Barlow does a killer job. Not sure which version I like better, though. Right now I'm leaning toward the Owens version, as I think I like the way Owens raises "charge"—in the "It's my charge to keep" line—up an octave. Barlow's version is great, though. And he does nail that high note before the second chorus!
This song is just awesome all around. Top 10 Iced Earth tune, in my book.
MYLIDIAN - CHAOS PROPHET
MYLIDIAN - LUST WITH SUCCUBUS
I was listening to Birth of the Prophet by this band today, and it's still fantastic. A few years ago I happened across an MP3 from the album on some random French forum. I thought the song—"Chaos Prophet," I believe—was awesome. So I went about seeking out the album. Not an easy task. Eventually I settled for a Russian import on Irond, which turned out great because it was an officially licensed version through the band. Nothing cheap or bootleggy about it.
The album is a concept album, the first in a series of three. The next installment will be called The Seven Lords, or something like that. I reviewed the album HERE, if anyone cares to read a bit more into it. Stylistically, the album is a mix of symphonic metal, like After Forever, power metal and black metal. The male singer wears a lot of hats on this one, and he does a great job, but his gruff vocal—the beginning of "Chaos Prophet," for instance—can take a bit getting used to. But give it a chance because I think that's part of what makes it all a bit unique.
July 3, 2008:
Today, instead of a song, or songs, I upload an EP from a band called Heathendom. They're a doom metal band from Greece. Like Solitude Aeturnus, they're not strictly doom, mixing in a lot of power metal and old school metal reminiscent of King Diamond. A fantastic band. They have a new album coming out in a few days called Nescience. So in celebration, I upload their long out of print self-titled debut demo (cover art here, if you'd like it).
The demo is awesome! I still play it all the time. Samples from the upcoming album can be found here. I encourage downloading the demo and buying the new album.
HEATHENDOM DEMO (Zipped)
More to come...
Subject: Eyesore's Outstanding Upload(s) at Random Times 
