#tumblr how dare you automatically add tags for widgets

[zephiraz]

Okay, I'm home, and I'm ready to infodump, and also my tumblr is glitching out because of privacybadger not interacting well with reblogging posts containing Spotify links. Time to add more spotify links!

But under a readmore, cause this might get long.

bumblebearcompany in another reblog suggested the Turisas cover of Rasputin. They are absolutely correct!

Wow that's big. Anyway....

But on the topic of Turisas!

The Varangian Way is just about one of the most epic albums there is. Powerful vocals. Powerful strings. Beautiful melodies. A story that sweeps you right up into the Dnieper Rapids and spits you out wondering what year it is.

Now, I didn't spend near enough time gushing about Finntroll. I'll link their most recognized song—Trollhammaren—and one of my absolute favorites—En Maktig Har—but I highly recommend every one of their albums in order. To whet the appetite of those just starting to explore, Nifelvind has a cover of Metallica's The God That Failed! Finntroll sounds like a party, and they're excellent gotta-go-fast music. Out for a run, trying to finish a row while knitting, just want to get that hype up, they're perfect. One of my dearest wishes is to see these guys in concert.

(Man I wish you could resize these things to not be so tall) Fun fact, Finntroll sings in Swedish rather than Finnish as the original singer was part of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and felt it fit the band's trollish image more. The band suffered many losses due to illness and accident, but continued the tradition of singing in Swedish.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I did not spend near enough time gushing about Ensiferum. I already linked a playlist containing most of my favorite albums, so instead I'll gush about two that weren't included because the playlist was already quite long.

Ensiferum starts every album with an instrumental track to set the mood. From Afar's By the Dividing Streams is utterly gorgeous, and does a wonderful job precursing an equally gorgeous album. This album ends with a cover of Vandraren, with the singer from Tyr doing the vocals. Second time in this post the singer from one of my favorite bands featured on a song by another of my favorite bands!

Lai Lai Hei is my favorite track on the album Iron. This song had me in its grip so hard that I declared I wanted it to be the song I hear when I die a century down the line, and that's also how I wound up with the superstitious belief that it saved my life. I had the Iron album playing while I drove to work one day. Lai Lai Hei played, the album ended, so I drove in silence for a couple minutes, just to get t-bone sandwiched by someone running a red light! I credit my surviving entirely unscathed to the silence!

I should have done those two the other way around, because it's Tyr time now. The first album of Tyr's I heard was The Lay of Thrym...on youtube, out of order. I got so used to that order that when I found Tyr on spotify and discovered the official order was different, I had to rearrange the album in a playlist to be Correct. Whether you mix up the order or not, though, The Lay of Thrym is a gorgeous journey with an epic titular track. By the Light of the Northern Star is an equally invigorating album, and funnily enough it gets me in the mood for spring cleaning. Buckle down and go fast! Out of all their tracks, I want to showcase what I find to be a beautiful love song:

Platonic, familial, romantic, what have you. It's about finding your home in the person dearest to you.

And as fate would have it, today is the first day of Tyr's Battle Ballads North American tour!

Speaking of tours, Korpiklaani is will shortly start touring in North America as well!

I mentioned above that Finntroll sounds like a party. Going hand in hand, Korpiklaani sounds like fun. Just look at those guys partying on the beach up there! Manala is an excellent album to start with, and my pick to showcase there....

Metal Ievan Polkka? There's nothing better.

To round it out as I'm once again running out of time (where'd the evening go???????), I'm going back to the Youtube guys. I'll link Jonathan Young's playlist of the shanty metal collabs below. He joined up with Colm McGuinness, RichaadEB, Bobby Bass, Caleb Hyles, Annapantsu, and Peyton Parrish for most of these. They're all insanely talented and each worth a look into their own works.

And that's all he wrote!

Hey pals please recommend me your favorite metal bands/songs