Hollywood Metal Episode 93 (audio)

It was a sad week for Metaldom as the iconic Ronnie James Dio passed away after a valiant battle with cancer. Hollywood Metal extends a sincere horns up to the man who, either directly or indirectly, influenced 100% of metal as we know it today. \,,/ \,,/  R.I.P. DIO

Dan Serper joined me on the show for a remote broadcast via skype. I invited him to pick out a few of the tracks this week because Dan has a highly trained ear for metal so i’m always interested to hear what he has to say about one band or another in terms of what they are doing technically and music-theory wise, with the music. His first selection was SCAR SYMMETRY “Holographic Universe.” These guys are a melodic death metal band from Sweden and they perform at the higher end of the melodic metal spectrum in terms of technical ability and song complexity. Up next was my selection of WHISPERED “Blindfold”. This band is a melodic power metal band that has similarities with CHILDREN OF BODOM in the sense that they use coarse vocals over charging power metal and neoclassical riffs. The theme of their album is the Japanese Samurai warrior culture which is, of course, metal. It’s also a nice change from the usual Finnish themes of nordic culture, darkness, sadness or diabolical stuff. (Which are also awesome.) At this point the show myself and Dan said a few words about Ronnie James Dio and I played the immortal song “Holy Diver” as a tribute to this legend of a man. Not wanting to dwell on the sadness and in the spirit of metal we proceeded to get right into Dan’s next pick for us, SIKTH “Summer Rain”. This is another very complex band, musically speaking. They do a number of things in their songs that push the boundaries of their instruments and progressive metal genre. A mutual favorite KALMAH was next with “Rust Never Sleeps.” I’ve said a lot about this band over the last couple years but it bears repeating. These guys exemplify quality melodic death metal. I’m glad to see these guys gaining traction world wide. I’m fully expecting a US tour in the very near future. Lastly, GWYDION, Portugal’s premier viking metal horde have released their second full length called Horn Triskelion. It’s a great album that hits hard right from the start. After and epic intro track “Fara I Viking” and its thunderous drums and riffs remind listeners why we bow to the Æsir