BEST BLOG ENTRY

Apocalytpica is an orchestral rock band who started in Finland, 1993. The band is currently made up of Eicca Toppinen, Perttu Kivilaakso, and Paavo Lötjönen all on cello with their drummer Mikko Sirén. At times, the band will perform with vocalists such as Adam Gontier of Three Days Grace and Cory Taylor of Slipknot and Stone Sour. When the band formed, they were made up of  four cello members and no drummer. The members were Eicca Toppinen,  Paavo Lötjönen, Max Lilja, and Antero Manninen. They started off playing cello versions of songs originally by Metallica like Master of Puppets which appeared on their debut album in 1996, Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. In 1998, Apocalyptica released their second studio album, Inquisition Symphony, which still had covers by Metallica, but it also had covers by Faith No More, Sepultura, and Pantera along with three songs written by Eicca. In 1999, Antero Manninen left the group and was replaced by Perttu Kivilaakso. A year later, they released a new album, Cult, which had 10 original songs and three covers. That album also featured their first track with vocals, Path Vol. 2 featuring Sandra Nasic. Later in 2002, Max Lilja left the band leaving them with three cellists. In 2003, Apocalyptica released their fourth album, Reflections, which included all original songs. They began to work with new sounds on this album as they included drums in every song. Five of the songs were played by Dave Lombardo from Slayer and the rest of the tracks played by Sami Kuoppamäki. Neither of the drummers could permanently join Apocalyptica, so the band hired Mikko Sirén who is featured on the rest of their albums. Their fifth album was a self-titled album including guest musicians such as Ville Valo of Him who sang Life Burns on the album. A couple years later, they released their next album, Worlds Collide, and released in the United States in 2008. Worlds Collide featured the single I’m Not Jesus sung by Corey Taylor and the song topped the Active Rock and Alternative Rock charts. The album also featured I Don’t Care sung by Adam Gontier. Their most recent album, 7th Symphony, was released in 2010 featuring singles End of Me sung by Gavin Rossdale of Bush, Not Strong enough sung by Brent Smith of Shinedown, and Broken Pieces sung by Lacey Sturm of Flyleaf. Since their last album, Apocalyptica has been touring and will continue to write more original songs.

Bibliography:

http://www.apocalyptica.com/us/biography

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/a/apocalyptica/biography.html

Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold, also known as A7X, is a hard rock, heavy metal, and metalcore band and started out in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California. The band is made up of their vocalist M. Shadows, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Johnny Christ, and drummer the Rev. They are known for their different sounds as well as their logo, the Deathbat, which is popular among fans. Their first album was Sounding the Seventh Trumpet. The album was sung in a screaming style. Their second album, Waking the Fallen released in 2003, had a similar sound to their first album, but it was a little heavier sounding. After releasing the first two albums, M. Shadows decided that he wanted to do an album with less screaming. Upon making this decision, A7X released their third album City of Evil in 2005 with a mixture of screaming and melodic singing. Their sound changed even more in 2007 when they released their self-titled album. A year later, they released a live concert DVD along with their album Diamonds in the Rough which featured alternate versions of previous singles Almost Easy and Afterlife. Also on the album was Avenged Sevenfold’s version of Walk originally written by heavy metal band Pantera. Unfortunately in December 2009, the Rev passed away after an accidental overdose. The Rev’s passing took a harsh toll on the band, but they continued to make music. In 2010, the Rev’s idol Mike Portnoy, drummer for Dream Theater, recorded with Avenged Sevenfold as they released their Nightmare album. Nightmare was dedicated to the Rev including tracks So Far Away and Victims. Avenged Sevenfold toured with Mike Portnoy on the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival after releasing Nightmare. Mike Portnoy was only a temporary drummer for A7X, so after the tour the band met their permanent drummer Arin Ilejay. To this day, Avenged Sevenfold, released two new singles 4 A.M. and Not Ready To Die, and they continue to tour and write music today.

              

Bibliography:

http://deathbatnews.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/avenged-sevenfold-announce-new-drummer/

http://themusicstories.com/Stories/avenged-sevenfold/avenged-sevenfold-biography.html

Intro to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal

Hard Rock and Heavy Metal are genres of music with different branches. There are types such as thrash metal, death metal, metalcore etc. All songs and bands are much louder and more aggressive than the artists most other people listen to. Bands play in all different styles whether the entire song is loud and aggressive or they start mellow and progressively build up to the heavier sound. All bands have at least one electric guitar, drums, electric bass, and a singer who will sing in a melodic style or a screaming style depending on their specific form of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal.

Hard Rock and Heavy Metal really began in 1970 when Black Sabbath released their debut album Black Sabbath. Their sound just like many others was inspired by classical music. Many metal musicians enjoy the skill and expression that is put into their music along with excellence. Other musicians liked hearing the different styles played on a violin and wanted to play similarly in their music. Vocalists have also tried to project their voices as those do in classical or opera music. After Black Sabbath, there have been many subgenres added to Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Over the last 42 years, Hard Rock and Heavy Metal have developed into forms that sound so dark or very aggressive. The sounds created by all these different types have drawn in millions of fans.

In this blog, you will be seeing different bands and their history in music and performing. The bands will be part of different types of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal. Also, the bands will be from different eras. There will be older bands like Iron Maiden and somewhat newer bands like Avenged Sevenfold and All That Remains. Other parts to the blog will be artist tracks and concert footage by that specific band.