Heavenly – The Dark Memories
Today’s MSMOTD
Heavenly – The Dark Memories (buy this song
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I’m not sure why, but most Power Metal comes from places with lots of snow and hair and leather. Germany and Finland come to mind. Northern Europe in general. Heavenly, however, are from sunny France! I don’t know if they’re seen as traitors in their homeland though, as they sing mostly in English (and occasionally in Japanese) but never in French. It doesn’t really matter though, since power metal lyrics are almost always entirely disposable. I never pay any attention anyways, haha, beyond the occasional chorus or sing-along section. I have no idea what these guys sing about, beyond that “Dust to Dust”, their 2004 album, is about vampires. I surmise that “Virus”, their latest album, is about viruses, but I could be mistaken. Regardless, Heavenly produces KILLER power metal and do all the important communicating with their guitars, drums and unintelligible wailings. If this stuff doesn’t make you go \m/ >__< \m/, then you may be dead inside.
I'm not really sure what's going on with the vocalist's shirt either. That may also be the first time I've seen a collared shirt in a metal band photo (is that Samwise?). At least the 2 guys in back look normal... for a power metal band.
The Dark Memories is perhaps a perfect example of distilled Power Metal brilliance. It’s the lead track from Heavenly’s 2006 album “Virus”, and you can tell these guys both love what they do, and can play this backwards in their sleep. Power Metal isn’t supposed to be serious or really that dark, and despite the name this is neither. It does, however, totally kick ass. From the opening metal scream (man do I love those, hahaha) to the crunchy guitars, catchy chorus and one of the best solo sections I’ve heard in a long time, this song doesn’t let up at all until the last power chord. I am fairly certain that most police departments are now accepting this song as a valid excuse for speeding and/or weaving in and out of traffic like a maniac. Not that I condone such dangerous and reckless behaviour, but it might be good to keep the song on hand just in case.
(Is it just me or does the singer not match the voice?)
I’ve also included Kingdom Come, my favourite song from Heavenly’s 2004 album “Dust to Dust”. It’s epic, powerful and beautiful all at the same time. Again, it’s about vampires, and it SOUNDS like it’s about vampires. Vampires who like to party and sing and rock the hell out! Or maybe it’s about vampire HUNTERS who like to party and rock out? This is why I don’t pay attention to lyrics. Anyways, this is a pretty classy tune. I love the harpsichord and catchy falsetto melodies. The solo section again will melt your face, and it leads into my favourite section of the song. 5:24 sees a bit of a breakdown, with vocalist Benjamin Sotto slowing things down for some story telling and some woah-oah-oohhs before launching into VICIOUS FALSETTO ATTACK MODE at 5:50 backed by awesome pounding drums and a great riff. Unfortunately it doesn’t last nearly long enough.
The last song I’ve included is actually the Japanese version of Spill Blood on Fire, seen above in the video. Apparently Heavenly is *huge* in Japan. Ultra huge. Metal is actually really popular in Japan, perhaps even more popular than it is in the countries which spawn all the bands. So anyways, hilariously, in this song they actually SING IN JAPANESE hahaha. I love it. I guess the Japanese do too. I don’t even want to guess how horrible it is. Does anyone speak Japanese and can tell me? I imagine it’s about as good as Avril Lavigne’s attempts at Mandarin Chinese on her latest album. It’s a pretty good mid-tempo rocker from “Virus”, but the Japanese vocals just make it more goofy than necessary. Still, catchy stuff.
Anyways, hope some rocking out was done whilst listening to the MSMOTD, and at least a few \m/ (metal horns). Want more posts with this style of music? Want to see other stuff? Let me know in the comments!
\m/ >__< \m/
- Mons
More music from Heavenly
Heavenly – Kingdom Come (buy this song
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Heavenly – Spill Blood On Fire (Japanese Version) (buy this song
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Further info about today’s MSMOTD
Official Website: http://www.heavenly.fr/
Wikipedia Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavenly_(French_band)
Featured Review: “Jeff”‘s review of “Virus” for Metalstorm.
Support the band (and me!) by buying Virus
I can’t say these guys were my favourite out of the ones you’ve posted. I keep comparing them to Kamelot, and they just don’t seem to quite make the cut. However, I give kudos to Samwise Gamgee the Hardcore Hobbit. He’s been through a lot, right? The natural response is to join a metal band and sing about fire! I really liked the video for this, (and I also liked the lead singer’s jeans. They were really cool.) I think my favourite part was the explosion sound with the flash of light in the video. The timing on that was perfect. I think, though, that as a song Spill Blood On Fire was probably my favourite out of the three! Keep the music coming! I really like the Barcelona/Owl City/Loreena McKennitt/Mons Chan type stuff more, but that’s only personal preference, so I think it’s great that you’re still posting the stuff you like, like metal. I just wish they all sounded like Kamelot, haha.
Haha, if I only posted bands as good as Kamelot, I wouldn’t have much material to work with. I think Kingdom Come and The Dark Memories are up there with Kamelot’s stuff, but the rest of their catalogue is not quite as strong. I have some bands yet to post though that are easily as awesome as Kamelot, and some even better, believe it or not! I’m trying not to post all my absolute favourites all at once, hahaha.
Are there really bands better than Kamelot, haha? Well, I’ll stay “tuned” (harhar).
Looking forward to your next postings, then!