Femme-Metal Friday: The Dark Element “My Sweet Mystery”

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It is not very often that I get the chance to review more well-known names in these features, let alone one as highly anticipated as The Dark Element, a musical project featuring ex-Sonata Arctica guitarist Jani Liimatainen, and former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon.

Perhaps it is good timing or a happy coincidence that The Dark Element's new video premiered this week; an event that occurred within just a few days of the 10-year anniversary of Dark Passion Play, the Nightwish album that first introduced Anette to the world. Whichever of the two it may be, in any case the milestone occasion is a perfect way to remind the public that Anette is still out there. Aside from a solo album in 2014 and a couple of singles here and there, not much has been heard from Anette since her greatly publicized split from Nightwish 5 years ago (another milestone that happens within the next few days). Since her solo album was more pop-oriented, this is the first time we have heard Anette in a metal setting since parting with Nightwish. That alone was enough to stir curiosity from both sides of the metal community—both the die-hard Anette fans who have stood by her, and the Anette “haters” who were never convinced that she belonged in Nightwish. So when it was announced that she was joining forces with Jani Liimatainen, a respected name on the scene in his own right, people all across the board of public opinion were curious to hear what this merger would produce.

Sounding like a cross between the Nightwish songs “Storytime” and “Bye Bye Beautiful”, the song “My Sweet Mystery” is undeniably catchy and upbeat. It is also much closer to the sound that fans want to hear from Anette, as opposed to her solo album. The majority of her fans discovered her through Nightwish, and so would prefer to hear her in a heavier style of music. The music is also reminiscent of Cain's Offering, another collaborative project of Jani's, featuring Stratovarius frontman Timo Kotipelto.

As for the video itself, it is a straightforward performance video, taking place in an old warehouse or abandoned building that is brightly-lit, with white walls and big windows. Stylistically, it may remind fans of the “Bye Bye Beautiful” video, as it also takes place in a similar setting, and Anette does many of the same dance moves in both videos (except there are no bandmembers transforming into supermodels this time!). I will say that Anette's fashion sense has improved over the last 10 years, and it hardly looks as if she has aged at all!

For more information on The Dark Element, visit their official Facebook page.

Special thanks to Dustin Hardman at Frontiers Records.

Extra thanks to Oceansouls of America.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Polarys “Trapped in the Hub”

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As many bands from Italy that I have reviewed here on this blog, I have only visited France one other time before this week's entry; which is a bit of a shame, because France has produced some pretty solid music from what I have heard. One thing about the French metal scene that I like (again, just based on the bands I have heard) is that they have this exceptional skill at combining genres that, in theory, do not sound as though they belong together; yet when they blend these sounds, it creates something so cool and unique that you wonder why more bands don't try their hand at such musical concoctions.

For example, the band I am reviewing this week is a band from Paris called Polarys, who describes their sound as “futuristic prog-power metal”, mixed with thrash elements and guttural vocals. A visit to the band's Facebook shows a list of their major musical influences, two among them being Slayer and Dream Theater. Come to think of it, those two bands might be a good way to describe the music of Polarys: imagine if Dream Theater and Slayer had a child together, and Polarys would be it.

In their latest video for the song “Trapped in the Hub”, Polarys gives viewers a glimpse into their “futuristic prog-power metal” world: the band performs in what looks like an engine control room, or some sort of underground holding cell (literally “trapped in the hub”?). Some smoke and lighting tricks give an eerie feel, and well-placed camera angles suggest that something is watching through the dark crevices, as they look above them for an escape route.

For more information on Polarys, visit their official website.

Femme-Metal Friday: Onydia “A New Safe Path”

Photo credit: Guilia Valentina Riccioni

It's been a while, but guess where I'm going this week? If you guessed back to Italy, then you are a loyal reader of this blog, and I thank you for your support!

It seems that the talent coming from Italy is pouring out faster than I can keep up, so there is never a shortage of bands to discover. This Friday's feature is Onydia, a prog-metal outfit formed by ex members of the band Elarmir, who decided to break off and put a band of their own together. The newly-formed Onydia signed a deal with Revalve Records in 2016, and this year saw the release of their debut album.

The video for the song “A New Safe Path” begins with a woman emerging from underwater, and dancing her way to the shore in quick, jerky movements. There is another woman there, standing completely still, in a long cloak and hood. The dancing woman moves around her, removing the hood in one swift gesture. She struggles to pull at the cloak until it falls away, and the dancer takes to the air in quick little jumps. (I believe the correct ballet term is “petit allegro”.) Soon, both women are gracefully moving about, as the cloak blows in the wind. Before long, the women are moving together in time, playing tug-of-war with the cloak, and ultimately finding their own rhythm as they move in their own way to the song. The second woman walks into the depths of the water and completes the cycle, showing a great metaphor for daring to step outside your boundaries and try new things; to be unafraid of the unfamiliar, and to stand alone as an individual without cutting off from the world, and its lessons for us.

For more information on Onydia, visit their official Facebook page.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Von Smith “You Don't Exist”

Von Smith

As much as this blog is dedicated to rock and metal music, once in a while I do like to explore other sounds as well. My musical tastes aren't just limited to what you read about here; from classical to R&B, I enjoy a wide range of music that, for the most part, never gets written about on this blog. However, every now and then, the occasional bright shining star from these other genres will demand that their overwhelming talent makes its presence known.

One of these is a singer I have written about before: Von Smith, a vocalist so phenomenally gifted that when I listen to him, I am completely lost in his symphonic pop world of grandiosity, wide-eyed optimism, and exuberant cheer (just listen to songs like “Carnival of Life” or “Nothing Like This”, if you need some examples). I could never completely abandon the metal, but I can run off with Von's music for a weekend rendezvous, figuratively speaking! He has a voice that captures you, and at least for me, I can listen for hours and still remain totally enraptured.

Even his songs of heartbreak have an uplifting, “I won't be beaten” sort of quality to them; anthems of empowerment that refuse to wallow in self-pity, and instead march on to bigger and better things, such as his song “You Don't Exist”, the video I'll be reviewing. The perfect post-breakup song, “You Don't Exist” puts it all out on the table and is unapologetic in its determination to beat that sadness back into its dark corner.

The video itself is a fun, playful theme: It starts out with a simple shot of Von, dressed in black on a black background, wearing his headphones and singing into a microphone. Then there is another shot on the top right-hand corner of the screen: a hand playing piano. Another image appears beneath that one: a man playing guitar. Soon the camera goes to a full shot of the band playing, while the shots of Von and the piano are each in an upper corner. Eventually some horns and a cello show up...wait a minute, there's something different about this band...it's all the same person! (Turns out the one-man band is Von's producer.) Whoever is playing the instruments, they are positively rockin' on this tune, as Von is hitting high notes left and right, and I find myself headbanging to this track, always a metalhead at heart.

For more information on Von Smith, visit his official website.

Femme-Metal Friday: Edge of Paradise “Mystery”

Photo credit: Val Rassi

Although I do a lot of writing about the female-fronted metal scene, it is impossible to know about every band out there, and admittedly, there are even some of the more popular ones that I'm not as familiar with as one might expect. I try to keep up with the latest names who are making a splash, but the great thing about the scene is that it is so diverse, and there is always something new to discover.

One name that has kept popping up on my radar for some time—over the past year, at any rate—was Edge of Paradise, a band from my hometown of Los Angeles. Several of my friends and fellow writers gave this band great praise, but I had not found the time to check them out for myself—until a friend told me the band was playing in the town where I live now, an area that seldom ever gets good rock shows, let alone any femme-metal gigs.

Suffering from concert withdrawals for nearly a year, and excited by the prospect of getting to discover some new music, I decided that the time had come to finally give this band a proper listen. As everyone else does these days, I looked to YouTube and found the most recent video, which is the song I am reviewing here.

The song “Mystery” is a lovely ballad with some spiritual overtones, and the video complements the song's fragile loveliness by not being too overwhelming or over-the-top. The video itself shows vocalist Margarita Monet sitting at a piano, playing a haunting melody. The rest of the band is dimly illuminated and wreathed in clouds of smoke, so you only ever see their silhouettes and are never distinctly visible. There are some close-up of Margarita either sitting at the piano or singing directly to the camera (what a voice she's got, by the way!), but she is the only person we see clearly throughout the video.

At video's end, a message reads that the song is in memory of someone; the YouTube comments mention that the in memoriam is for Margarita's cousin that passed away. As I cannot get official confirmation on that at this time, I will say simply that whoever it was for, it was a lovely tribute. After hearing this song, I viewed several other videos of theirs, but this song continued to stand out for me, and why I decided to review it as opposed to one of their heavier or more popular tracks. It probably goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: I am glad I finally got around to listening to this band, and look forward to seeing them rock my metal-deficient town this Saturday!

For more information on Edge of Paradise, visit their official website.

Special thanks to John Thornburgh.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Luna “Fire in Cairo”

Photo credit: Luz Gallardo

Normally this is more of a metal-based blog, but I love all forms of rock music, so it isn't too uncommon for me to explore other sides of the rock spectrum; such as “alternative” rock, or “indie” rock. I have never been one of those metalheads that subscribed to the notion that grunge rock was “the enemy”, or that I had to dislike one to enjoy the other.

Admittedly, what is considered modern alternative rock is not quite suited to my personal tastes, but the same can be said of most mainstream music. Being on the latter end of Gen-X, I am not exactly young or hip anymore (not that I have ever been—hip, anyway!), and I have always leaned more towards bands that were low on the radar, or stuff that was too “complicated” or “weird” for mass consumption. That being said, I do have a penchant for the alternative rock from the ’80s and ’90s. That distinct sound of those bands gives me a nostalgic, happy feeling, which instantly transports me to the days when I was young (and still un-hip).

So when I hear a band like Luna, who has been around since the days when alternative rock ruled the world—yet managed to stay underground and “low on the radar”—it is like discovering a cool gift left over from my ’90s adolescence. It's like rummaging through the attic of your childhood home and coming across a Christmas present from years past, still wrapped, that somehow got lost in the holiday shuffle and relegated to dusty bins and dark closet corners after being found by a parent under the couch during the next year's spring cleaning, long past the time when giving such a token has passed. Yet when you open the discarded gift all these years later, you find that it has not only retained the innocence and charm of its time, but it has been hidden away for so long that it feels new. It is both familiar and exciting all at once.

Over the years, Luna pressed on through the phases and fads of the different musical cycles, maintaining a strong underground following up until they disbanded in the mid-2000s. For nearly 10 years, the members of Luna went on to do their own things, until reforming once again in 2014. The year 2017 saw the band's first new releases since reuniting: an instrumental EP, and a covers album, A Sentimental Education, where the band pays tribute to everyone from David Bowie and Bob Dylan, to Fleetwood Mac and Yes.

For this week's video feature, Luna pays homage to The Cure, art-rock titans who have long crossed over to such levels of success that they don't need to be labeled. Covering such a legendary band is a tall order to fill, but Luna's take on “Fire in Cairo” is a smooth, mellow contrast to the poppy, new-wave tempo of the original. When bands do cover songs, I tend to like the ones that are done in a different way than the original, yet manages to both convey the unique sound of the band covering it, while also maintaing the integrity of the original.

The video itself is filmed in black-and-white, featuring actress Rose McGowan. It looks like film noir from the ’40s, with soft lighting and striking angles. The video begins with Rose looking at various drawings of herself (sent by fans, perhaps?), pinned to a wall. There are other photos and sketches as well, as she smiles and points to the ones that stand out. The next scene shows Luna, playing at a club called “Gold Digger's”. Rose is admitted through the back entrance while the band performs onstage. Rose stands unobtrusively against a wall, enjoying the show. Before long, she starts to mingle with the crowd, then with the band after the show. Everyone is shown laughing, talking, and drinking. Rose makes a friend, who we see visiting Rose at her house in the next scene. A few more shots of Rose in flattering light, and then the video ends. I am guessing this must be a chronicle of a day in the life of “show-biz” people, but I could be way off!

For more information on Luna, visit their official website.

Femme-Metal Friday: Chastain “I Live for Today”

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If you have been visiting this blog over the last few weeks, then you probably read my feature on Chastain vocalist Leather Leone. If so, then you probably also know that I have the utmost love and respect for Leather, and that she is one of my most favorite people in the world; not just in the music biz, but as a person.

While I never aspired to become a musician or to form a band, I often think that when it comes to strong female role models, the 1980s was a great time in which to grow up. The landscape of heroines to emulate was vast, and so diverse: from cartoon superwomen like Jem, and She-Ra; television characters from The Golden Girls to GLOW (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling); pop music idols from Madonna to Cyndi Lauper, rock stars from Pat Benatar to Heart's Ann Wilson.

If you were a little metalhead, like me—9 years old, reading Rip magazine and watching Headbanger's Ball—even the ultra-macho metal scene was not bereft of female role models. There was Doro Pesch, Lee Aaron, and Betsy Bitch, to name a few. And then, of course, the bad-ass that is Leather Leone: a no-nonsense woman that refuses to play by the rules and hates the gender divide within music so much that she probably would not like it very much if she were part of a feature called “Femme-Metal Friday”! But, whether she has wanted the title or not, she is considered a pioneer for women in metal, and many women who came of age in the ’80s and ’90s consider her as much of a metal icon as Rob Halford or Ronnie James Dio.

However, the band's name is Chastain, and there has always been the silent partner to Leather's visibility; the yin to her yang, the quiet force that drives the engine: David T. Chastain, a guitar genius whose name should be spoken with the same honor as the likes of Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, or Tony Iommi. Yet unlike most guitarists, he prefers to work behind-the-scenes and let the music do the talking. He is the anti-“guitar hero”, so to speak—Chastain has no inclination for noodling intricate riffs for its own sake. You won't find him up on a stage, executing 30-minute solos every night (in fact, you would be hard-pressed to find the reserved Chastain on a stage at all!).

It has been this ability to stay low on the radar that has afforded them the good fortune to remain relevant in a time when many of their contemporaries struggle to maintain their identity without painting themselves into a corner. It has also been their polar opposite dynamic that has kept the music fresh and exciting, while other bands are clearly showing wear and tear.

For their video “I Live for Today”, Chastain incorporates imagery of the rat-race business world: towering skyscrapers, visions of Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square, and piles of money. “It's all just a Ponzi scheme...your money is an illusion...betting on numbers and letters, sleight of hand creates confusion”, reads one of the lyrics that show up on the screen. Towards the end of the video, the song's message is clear when, very faintly, words such as “bankruptcy”, “dividends”, “stocks”, “bonds”, and “income” flash across the screen.

For more information on Chastain, visit the Leviathan Records official site.

Hump Day Hot Ticket: Revolution Saints “Freedom”

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In this day and age, there are a lot of rock supergroups out there—so much to the point where it almost seems there are more supergroups than the original bands they came from in the first place. So when yet another supergroup hits the scene, it almost becomes to easy to either cynically brush this off as another flash in the pan collaboration among artists who have seen better days, or to get lost in the shuffle altogether.

However, it can be said that supergroups can serve a useful purpose in today's musical climate. While on the one hand, they obviously have a built-in audience of fans from their “brand-name” bands, a supergroup can attract new audiences on two other levels as well. For one, you get the demographic of older music fans who bemoan that “there's no good music anymore”. Many of these people may not have been fans of the original bands, or maybe only liked one or two of the groups, so this brings them in out of curiosity, and introduces them to the talents of musicians they had once passed by, because the music was not to their liking. Then on the other token, you have the younger music fans, who consider the original groups to be “dinosaur bands”, and wouldn't be caught dead at their concert. Yet, under the guise of a supergroup, this is “new” music, and therefore, new to them. Now an audience who never would have given these musicians a fair chance when in their original bands, now they have been introduced to seasoned veterans in the rock world, without ever feeling as if they have fallen into a “Dad-band” pit trap.

One example of these many supergroups to crop up on the scene is Revolution Saints, consisting of some heavy hitters of ’80s hard rock: Doug Aldrich, of Dio and Whitesnake fame; Deen Castronovo, former drummer of Bad English and Journey; and Jack Blades of Night Ranger, and another supergroup, Damn Yankees. Put them together, and Revolution Saints is a perfect fusion of straightforward classic hard rock, and modern-day heavy aggression.

In the video for “Freedom”, the Saints rock out onstage while the lyrics flash upon the screen. The band is all smiles onstage, having a great time while the camera pans out to an enthusiastic crowd. A highly-charged, energetic tune that is sure to get people up on their feet!

For more information on Revolution Saints, visit their official website.

Special thanks to Wayne Joyner.

Femme-Metal Friday: Blame Zeus “Speechless”

Photo credit: João Fitas

As my musical discoveries take me across Europe, one place I had yet to visit: Portugal, the home of Blame Zeus, the featured band this Friday. With a heavy-hitting, hard-rocking sound, Blame Zeus has all the gritty, raw power of straightforward, classic rock and roll.

Originally forming in 2010, Blame Zeus took a few years to get up and running before breaking out on the Portuguese concert scene. Now with a second album under their belt, Blame Zeus has released a music video and is looking to expand their fanbase beyond Portugal.

In the video for their song “Speechless”, a plainly-dressed woman enters a dressing room where a bunch of scantily-clad, sexy women instantly give off an intimidating vibe. As the “mean girls” laugh and joke around, the plain girl looks through a bunch of skimpy outfits that do not appear to be her style at all! Finally, she finds an unadorned white dress on a hanger and decides to try it on. As she sits at the makeup table and begins her transformation, her confidence grows. Meanwhile, the other dancers are chatting it up onstage, completely unprepared for the unobtrusive little nobody in their midst. Once she hits the stage, she soon starts leading the others in a racy burlesque routine, proving that there is always more to what we see than just outer appearances!

For more information on Blame Zeus, visit their official website.