And now for something completely different

It’s without question that Finland has been delivering some seriously amazing Metal bands to the scene for the last few years and while there are numerous favorites among the fans, I have to cite that Nightwish was my first foray into their provisions.  I first heard of the band in 1999 and was not even doing my Metal Scribe thing yet but they remain one of my own personal top picks to this day.   From this point I began to look into some of their other groups such as Sonata Arctica, Finntroll and so on.  All of these wondrous sounds would come in handy to my mental musical palate once I began to write about it.  Since becoming the Master and Commander of the PiercingMetal universe I have attended a score of concerts that the Finns have brought to our shores and based on the coverage on the site have been fortunate to meet a lot of wonderful musicians from this faraway land.

Today this bountiful provider of Metal celebrates their 94th Independence Day and I just wanted to send them all a hearty “Happy Independence Day” and raise my glass with a very loud “Kippis”.   To celebrate the occasion I copied the tag for “Finnish Metal” which was used on every concert piece that features one of their bands.  Clicking the Finnish flag below will launch that search and you can enjoy the findings.  My hope is that most of you know all the bands already but if you do not, then it is high time to do a little research and eventual purchasing.  I am pretty sure you will like what you hear.   The core website can be searched for those bands via the main page.

Click The Flag To See "Finnish Metal" Postings

One day I will get myself over there and absorb a little more of their culture.  Having seen some of my friends photos and knowing there is even more cool music makes me pretty firm in this idea.  When I do that you can be rest assured that there will be both Metal and Personal blogs written up about the journey.  Of course I will need to learn a little Finnish but luckily I have Sammy The Ambassador to help me along in that regard. Stay tuned.

It’s been a few years since Katatonia had come over to visit, but thanks to the “Night Over America” tour which was sponsored by the Metalsucks.net folks we would get them again in full force.  The tour was all the more intriguing to me since it was also going to include Swallow The Sun and Orphaned Land as the support bands and we had enjoyed them over the years as well.  As a bonus treat the band Gwynbleidd would be our cities “local support” and kick up the value a notch more.  I wasn’t going to miss a minute of this gig so got inside nice and early and gave attention to everyone who was playing.  To read the whole concert report just click the bands logo below to be taken to the article on the main PiercingMetal.com site.  I also encourage scrolling down the rest of the blog header post as there are some side images that you will only find presented here from this very night.

(continue reading…)

The Trolls were back in town this evening and April was off to a pretty solid start for the Metal legions.  You could not argue with me when you consider how the juggernaut Metal powers of Sonata Arctica opened up our week and led us in good order for the full-scale Finnish assault that would be moderated by Finntroll.  New York  City’s Metal Brother and Sisterhood all seem to have embraced the Trolls and how they dish out the goods and that made this evening’s show something really great to take part in.  Check out the full story and photos of all performers by clicking the logo below, it will take you to the article on the main PiercingMetal.com site.

One can never get too many shots of a bands name up in lights and one has to wonder if they ever thought that they would see such a sight for themselves in a region such as this one.

Now Playing - "The Finnish Metal Tour" starring Finntroll!!!

It has been awhile since Soilwork had headlined a tour over here in the states and while continuing to support their “Sworn To A Great Divide” CD, they would make and appearance and hit the Highline Ballroom in NYC. The bill was an interesting one and would also feature Darkane, Warbringer and Swallow The Sun who are all fantastic bands when it comes down to it. To learn more about the show and see photos of each group that performed that night just click the logo to be taken to our article on the main PiercingMetal.com site.

Katatonia are an incredible Dark Metal band and their dramatic style of music would be the entertainment at B.B. King’s this evening. The tour also featured Scar Symmetry, Insomnium and Swallow The Sun so there was a very interesting mix of styles going on. We were there for everyone on the bill and if you want to see more just click the logo below to be brought to our article on the main PiercingMetal.com site. We reviewed and photographed everyone for all to enjoy.