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  • Hurt By the Ones We Love

    A few years back, Apocalyptica and Cristina Scabbia (of Lacuna Coil) collaborated on “S.O.S. (Anything But Love),” a song that touched upon mental abuse and control.  I think it’s particularly haunting given some friends’ terrible relationships.   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFZ9e4wx1H8&w=560&h=315]

  • At the Sharp End

    This was the runner up for last week’s Memorial Day edition of Metal Monday.  Like Five Finger Death Punch, Avenged Sevenfold has done a lot to support members of the Armed Forces by putting in their time with tours.  “Danger Line” is a pretty intense song about a soldier’s last moments and the chaos of…

  • Memorial Day Metal Monday

    Today’s Memorial Day in the United States.  I’ll let my West Point classmate Jaimie explain the holiday, as she did it very eloquently nine years ago. Unfortunately, Jaimie gave the last full measure of her duty to the country on 8 June 2013. So, without further ado, I think we’ll roll with Five Finger Death…

  • Unity of Effort

    Some of the best scores don’t necessarily come from a movie.  Without further ado… [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72KbtAK4z0k?start=41&w=560&h=315]

  • Lonely and Waiting…

    There are a few movie soundtracks that have held up for decades.  Tastes indicate what albums make your personal list, but Queen of the Damned makes that list for me.  Even better is the fact that several of the songs have two versions thanks to record company shenanigans.  For example, the angst-ridden hit “Not Meant for Me”:…

  • Tumbling Over A Cliff…

    Relationships come in many different forms.  One of the tried and true ones in writing is the couple who suddenly, irrevocably realize they’ve fallen in love.  If done really well, it surprises the author as well as the reader. Today’s Metal Monday song strives to capture that feeling in a power ballad.  Without further ado……

  • A Lion's Legacy (Music Monday)

    I’m a huge fan of Game of Thrones.  Even if I’ve given up on George R.R. Martin ever finishing the series (writer’s block is a thing), I do enjoy what HBO has done with Westeros and the story arc. One of the big things is the evolution of the Lannisters.  Without getting too much into…

  • Metal Monday–Simon and Garfunkel Edition

    No, your eyes do not deceive you.  For some reason, Simon and Garfunkel seem to well and truly appeal to heavy metal bands.  A lot of readers may remember Disturbed did a cover of “The Sound of Silence” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4&w=560&h=315] Well there’s also the less famous Leaves’ Eyes rendition of “Scarborough Fair” [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qYEHVvZsQA&w=560&h=315] Both…

  • Metallica Does the Tenth Plague

    Heavy metal, as a genre, often gets a bad rap for being nothing but screaming and guitar riffs.  As I’ve alluded to when discussing several other bands, there’s often a lot of higher concept work involved.  As one of the undisputed “Masters of Metal,” it’s pretty much unsurprising that Metallica has quite a few songs…

  • A Little Apocalyptica

    For those not familiar with Apocalyptica, feel free to read more about cellos and heavy metal here. So on their song “Deathzone,” there was a hidden track entitled “En Vie”: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR-8Enw4z_A?start=41&w=560&h=315] People liked it so much, they decided to produce an English version: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwjeKFbw760?start=41&w=560&h=315] It’s a haunting tune about how even someone who…