Maldia

It's rare for me to be this on top of something. The band in question here is Spanish metal act Maldia. Granted the band has been around since 2006, so they aren't exactly new. However, they sure took their sweet time with their self-titled debut: it just came out last month. As far as I can tell, the band doesn't have much of an international audience. All the info I could dig up on them was in Spanish, and I don't intend to confuse you with my pathetic attempts at translation. The music more than speaks for itself.

Royalty-free music for professional licensing

I am...honestly still in shock. Spanish lyrics aside (I understand that many of my fellow Americans don't share my love for foreign bands due to the language barrier), Maldia is one of the most impressive metal acts I've come across in a good while. Often, when a metal band is undiscovered, it's for a very good reason. Or two. Or twenty. Not only are there countless unsigned metal bands out there, most of them are almost physically painful to listen to. Either the lyrics are painfully trite, or the vocalist's attempts at "singing" are so subpar that it makes you wonder how drunk the other band members were when they decided to hire him/her. Often as not, these bands churn out the same riffs and the same patterns as everyone else on the metal scene. There are so many talent-less metal bands in both the songwriting and performance departments out there that the actually decent bands get lost in the shuffle. I'm hoping that doesn't happen here.

What Maldia offers is a bit of fresh air to the indie metal scene. You rarely find indie metal bands that can both write decent songs and actually play them. Except for some moments with the vocals, Maldia's debut is a surprisingly solid piece of thrash. Yes, there are awkward moments with the singing. For the most part, it's pretty good, but some overly dramatic moments and extremely out of place sound effects (burping mid song? Really people?) prove to be a touch annoying. However, anyone willing to look past this will find an impressively brutal and melodic album. What's more, it's free to download courtesy of the artist. I recommend you keep you eye on Maldia. They definitely have potential, which is something that could pay off for them big time in the long run.

Trick Seventeen

Since it's been a while since I posted anything, I thought I would pass on a band I just discovered about twenty minutes to you. Honestly, if I don't do these things promptly, there's no way I can remember to do it later. Ahem. Moving on.

The band is Trick Seventeen, a pop-punk group out of of Braunschweig, Germany. Braunschweig. I'm rather glad to be typing this and not orating. German names tend to through my tongue for a loop. Anyways, here they are: three albums for your listening and downloading pleasure. As always, the music is yours to use as you please, provided you abide by the terms established by the artist. Basically, you can't profit or take credit for it. Anyways, here's the music:

Catalogue professionnel de musique libre

Royalty-free music for professional licensing

Royalty-free music for professional licensing

Ok, the three albums are in chronological order, first at top and latest at bottom. As such, don't be turned off if you just listen to the earliest album. The reason I put them up here isn't because they are particularly novel or unique. Pop-punk bands are practically a dime-a-dozen these days. My point is that Trick Seventeen showed potential early on, and if their 2012 album "We Own The Night" is any indication, they are more than capable of capitalizing on their talent. They are, frankly, amazing. Oh, and before I forget, THE LYRICS ARE IN ENGLISH, NOT GERMAN. I just needed to make that clear for all those people out there who refuse to listen to foreign music because they can't get past the language barrier. Although I have no problem with it, I didn't want people to ignore me after I said they were from Germany. Anyways, it's energetic, melodic, and free. Download it.

Consider your horizons broadened

Hey, I'm sorry to say that I haven't been feeling too well lately. Health issues of various magnitude have been keeping me down, but I at least am well enough to share something with you that I hope you'll find interesting. If you don't find it interesting, or at least amusing, then this probably isn't the blog for you. Sorry. Now then, moving on...

As with last time, this music is free to download, courtesy of the artist.

Royalty-free music for professional licensing

The Diablo Swing Orchestra is one of the most stylistically intriguing bands I've ever encountered. Hailing from Stockholm, Sweden, DSO mashes together elements of swing, opera, jazz, flamenco, and metal. After reading this last sentence, you probably have at least one of the following three questions:

1.) What on earth compelled these people to try mashing those seemingly incompatible genres together?
2.) How the heck did I, Guitarman, manage to stumble across such a bizarre Swedish band?
3.) ...is it any good?

I honestly don't really know about the first two questions, but I assure you: it is indeed good. It is extremely good. Seriously, give it a listen. Once you do, however, PLEASE let me hear from you about it. I intended this blog to be a collaborative experience between writer and reader, and it saddens me that everyone has thus far remained silent. I invite you to tell me what you think about this.

My, look at the time...

Dang, has it really been that long since I've posted anything? I apologize for being silent for so long. Schoolwork, a mission trip to Guatemala, and toe infections have kept me occupied lately. Now that I have a moment to spare, I think it's high time I put up some music here. No, I don't mean a review, I mean music. MUSIC. What's more, it's free. No, this is NOT pirating. As long as I don't profit from it or claim it as my own, I can distribute this music as much as I want, thanks to the Creative Commons license used by the artists. You get free music, they get free publicity, everybody wins. So, here it is:

Royalty Free Music - Stock Music Library | Jamendo PRO

Royalty Free Music - Stock Music Library | Jamendo PRO

The first one is instrumental funk-rock from Germany, and the second one is melodic power metal from France. The latter absolutely blows my mind, despite it being difficult to tell if the singing is in French or English because it gets buried in the mix. Aside from that, it's absolutely phenomenal. Go on, listen to them both.