I want to take a moment and say thanks to all the new subscribers I have from SpicySallads.com, HeavyMetalTruckWorks.com, and FancyCarnavalMasks.com! These web domains may in fact rank pretty high on www.StopForumSpam.com, but hey, that’s ok. I am the most non-discriminatory guy you will meet. I’m totally fine if my fans are bots, malware, A.I., Spyware, whatever. Each person or virtual person matters to me.

And if you are indeed a Russian bot, please take advantage of my music deal: $5 for 11 songs!!

In the Earbuds: The Quest by LEAH

Leah is a remarkably unique artist in several ways, and not just in her Celtic folk metal sound. She exists entirely independent of the record industry, has enough business prowess to make a comfortable living off music from her home without touring, and still finding the time to be a married, home-schooling mother of five.

On her latest album, The Quest, the “Heavy Metal Enya” went in to the recording studio and cranked the “MAJESTY” knob on everything. It is vast, epic, experimental, and breath-taking. It’s a bit like if Iron Maiden got 8-string guitars and recorded the Lord of the Rings soundtrack with Arwen on lead vocals. This album has more of a symphonic feel then some of her prior work, if that’s possible. It seems that the heavy guitars are lower in the mix to give deference to the non-heavy metal instruments: pipes, flute, keyboards, saz, and oud. Leah’s characteristically gentle voice blends well with the array of instruments, and the melodies are among her best. But don’t worry metalheads: there are still some great scalp-igniting moments, such as the guitar solo on “The Edge of Your Sword”.

This is a beefy sound mix. The first song is called the Quest. It contains 131 instrument tracks, if that gives you an idea at how lush the aural assault is. More background on the recording can be found in the “making of” video.

I commend this album to you. If you like epic metal/rock and it doesn’t grab you right away, give it another listen. There is so much packed in here that it takes a while to absorb it all. You’ll be glad you did.

Things To Come

• A Matt Bankert Christmas song??
• A music video cover of the Interrupters
• Two brand new studio songs that will be done sometime before the world ends! Unless that is next week