metal-album-of-the-week

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PowerSymphonic Metal Thursday #20

Merry (second day of) Christmas, everyone! 💚

Hopefully I'll remember to post the answer tomorrow... XD

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Hey! May I ask questions 12, 19 & 25 from the Spotify Wrapped game? 🙂

Hi :D Thank you for asking !

12: A song you feel should be higher up

Most things are as expected but just in relation to other songs on the albums I'm surprised Flight of the Ravens (Brothers of Metal) and Spider Silk (Nightwish) were not higher up - The Day of.... somehow ranked higher than Spider Silk which Unlike way more and thus should have listened to more often 🤔 But who knows.

19: Is your most streamed song of your favorite artist your favorite of them?

Sort of yes - my favorite (at least from the new album) is currently hovering between 1589 and Sinners of the Seven Seas but my "favorite" song is hard to pinpoint anyway. But I'm not unhappy with it at all it's a banger.

25: Favorite lyric from song #100

That just happens to be one of the few without lyrics but I will post it for when you want to feel mysterious

My #99 has lyrics though and my favorite has to be

"And if you think you're doing well/ Maybe that means you're one of them/ Are you the hunter/ Or the lion?"

Thank you!

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That does explain a few things 😂 I must admit I don't know that album well I've probably listened to it a few times ten years back at most.

I'll give it another listen now!

PowerSymphonic Metal Thursday #17

I'm so glad I remembered this song, definitely the best idea for an installment I've had recently. XD

Enjoy! ;)

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Im so confused how small the hardcore fan community of Powerwolf is.

Like they are a big band, they play sold out arenas in most of Europe at least, but at the same time they have like 10 dedicated fans lol despite having a similar vibe to Ghost especially with being so theatrical.

Me and a couple of other friends came to the conclusion that it probably is the music that keeps a lot of younger fans away since they’re obviously not Ghost or Sleep Token but actual power and heavy metal.

Yeah I've been puzzling about that too. Especially here on Tumblr Powerwolf should be WAY more popular: They are catholic (in aesthetics), they're DILFs, they're werewolves, they're kind of homoerotic, funny and have good music. That is what Tumblr likes right?

I'm being facetious obviously but not by much. At concerts I feel like there is a way higher percentage of women and openly queer fans, and plenty of people come in costume, but aside from a handful of insta accounts there is very little of that online.*

It's definitely in part the style of the music, but not entirely. From my experience at concerts, there is just a large majority of fans that are average 40+ year old men, because it's semi-traditional metal and that's the demographic. 90% of that kind of fan is not active online and/or doesn't post about it besides sharing marketing posts.

To be fair, power metal is a very good beginner genre, it's how I got into metal, and while Attila doesn't do fully clean vocals, he's still very melodic.

I think the bigger part is the type of image they project and marketing style. You mentioned Ghost, but I'm also including Sleep Token because I think the mechanics are similar.

Powerwolf definitely share themes and aesthetics with both, but there's a bunch of crucial differences.

1. They do not have integrated lore to analyze - believe me I've tried. There certainly is a semi-coherent VISUAL aspect and some symbolism, but at the end of the day the themes are secondary to what the song needs, Matthew has said this several times over the years. Both Ghost and Sleep Token have extensive lore for their worlds and characters, which in itself is enough for page-long discussions, boosting engagement and drawing in new fans. Most importantly, it's super fun! My dear friend held me a PowerPoint about Eepy lore this year - I know absolutely jack shit about Sleep Token, and I loved every minute! This kind of engagement is basically tailored to online spaces.

The other difference is the type of marketing they do. Powerwolf are just openly more silly that the other two bands. They show themselves as who they are: just middle-aged guys having a blast. There's no masks, no real mystery. They're just some guys. And that's something *I* like because I'm gay and insane, but it's not as appealing to a lot of young people just coming into the genre, even if they like the music.

And lastly, their themes may just not be as appealing to online sensibilities. I love Powerwolf, but their stuff IS very male-centric in a way that Ghost and the eepies are not, and the sexualized depictions of women is something that I can absolutely see turning potential fans off**.

Ghost and Sleep Token have a more mysterious, psychological theme to base their religious lore on + their lore is tightly structured. Powerwolf are more loose and focus on the ever-present warrior theme in metal. They're werewolves, after all.

If I had to choose the one reason for the difference I'd say it's a matter of demographic, but of course that is influenced by their themes and worldbuilding. I'd love to see more Powerwolf fans on here! There's a ton of potential in their symbolism and visuals.

This got way longer than intended, oops. Thank you for the question, this is a topic I've been mulling over for a while.

--

*I will admit I haven't been posting consistently myself before the new album came out and even now my main contribution was the tournament.

** This is a big topic in itself. I'm not denying that many find the theme empowering, there's enough sexy nuns at the concerts after all, but it's still sexualization from a male narrator and that can be uncomfortable for some people.

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8, 9 for the wrapped ask please!

Hey :D thank you!

8. Longest song

This one! I had to check carefully since I got several Wintersun songs on the list, but Time is just a bit shorter at 11:44 Minutes and this one is over 12. Apparently I have a reputation among my non-metal friends for putting overly long songs on the playlist. 😂

9. Favorite lyric from your #1

This is actually hard to answer, because the entire text is super interesting - I analyzed this song for the final chapter of my thesis. I'm going to go with the bridge, which is:

1589, with all spectators stand in line

Head off, break up this beast

Because the shift from the near quiet with only Attila's voice to the pandemonium that imitates the crowd still gives me chills.

Probably not very fun fact: While in the video they show Stump being burned alive, in real life* he was beheaded before being burned. Which would be merciful if he hadn't been tortured before that. The many steps of his sentence correspond to the many different crimes he was accused of so each of them had to be punished separately. But that doesn't make a good video.

*We do not know for certain if Stump existed and if so, what his crimes were. Somehow I hope he didn't because that would mean he didn't suffer but the early modern time was fucking brutal.

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Spotify Wrapped ask game!

you know the drill, send a number & reply with songs from your top 100

Catchiest song

A song you didn't expect to see in your top 10

Sexiest song

Artist/band you didn't thought would be in your top artists (if any)

Oldest song (by release date)

Newest song (by release date)

Most streamed month of your top artist (explain if you think/know why)

Longest song

Favourite lyrics of your #1 song

A song that was also in last year's wrapped

Most famous/popular song (in your opinion)

A song you feel should be higher up

The song with the most peculiar sound (to you)

A song you think is underrated

Most danceable track

A song everyone should know

Saddest song

A song that describes your year so far

Is the most streamed song by your favourite artist your favourite of them?

Happiest song

The song you think will be in next years top songs again

Shortest song

A track that makes you think of a specific colour

A song that could be the soundtrack of a movie

Favourite lyrics of your #100 song

Favourite bassline

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PowerSymphonic Metal Thursday #17

I'm so glad I remembered this song, definitely the best idea for an installment I've had recently. XD

Enjoy! ;)

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idc about your number 1 song. whats your 100th song on the playlist?

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spotify wrapped is out and everybody is always posting their top 5 songs….. let’s see some love for number 6 that didn’t make the cut. rb and add your number 6

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The 25th song on your top songs Spotify wrapped playlist predicts your 2025. How screwed are you?

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Some surprises, some fulfilled expectations

I'm fairly sure I listened to Withing Temptation the most in Summer actually but my Charlotte Wessels obsession balanced it I guess 😂

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I only intended to buy the CD but the tour long sleeve was cute and I have no impulse control, which led to this absolutely hilarious interaction:

Merch guy: "Which size shirt?"

Me: "M, please. Oh wait are these Dutch sizes?"

"????? Wdym Dutch sizes?"

"Every time I buy from Dutch bands stuff is too big."

"????? Uhhh here's an S?"

And guess what? Guess what?? I was fucking right. Dutch people and their giant sizes 😂

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@lightineventide

They didn't play any of the old songs, which was good for me because I don't know the old albums very well 😂😂

Setlist was, iirc

Chasing sunsets

Dopamine

Vigor and Valor

Ode to the West Wind

Praise

The Crying Room

The Exorcism

Soft Revolution

Also, y'all should start listening to Vola, the headliner for this tour. I just gave them a shot briefly before the tour and their live performance was STUNNING. Very heavy riffs combined with an almost ethereal singing style, felt like being in a trance the whole time, plus they had a sick light show.

Charlotte Wessels live was SO FUCKING GOOD

You don't know catharsis until you've screamed "Stay away be gone" with a bunch of people.

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Yeah so Charlotte Wessels was a banger concert

I got my art signed

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Charlotte Wessels live was SO FUCKING GOOD

You don't know catharsis until you've screamed "Stay away be gone" with a bunch of people.

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Finally got around to listening and I like it.

Feels a bit like Beast in Black, it's got a dance vibe and a vaguely industrial soundscape. The rhythms they use are also pretty classic power metal imo, I've been told the previous single was inspired by Hammerfall? And this is definitely similar. (The rapid downstrokes in a "lull" that sound like an idling motor, that's 100% Hammerfall.)

Devilry of Ecstasy is better but I never *love* songs the first time I listen so that may change lol

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Don't look too much at the details I literally finished this 30 minutes before I had to catch my train. Don't try a completely new style a day before you want the artwork printed and signed. 🫡

I really got into Charlotte's music with the new album and I adore the visual references to Romantic paintings and Art Nouveau. The reference image is "Spring" by Alphonse Mucha and the cover for "Chasing Sunsets".