I had this experience recently when I met Inger Gossamer from THE NUMBER ZERO in Tokyo and I also felt this way when I met Sophia at Metal Female Voices Fest in 2013. Back then, no music was out yet by her new band SEASON OF GHOSTS. I only knew her former Band BLOOD STAIN CHILD and found them interesting because of the mixture of metal and electronic elements. One year later, “The Human Paradox” was released and the whole package of great music, Sophia‘s personality and knowing some facts about her life and her career made it special to listen to the album – a totally different and intense experience.

Before I listened to “A Leap of Faith”, we had a chat with Sophia and her fiancé and bandmate Zombie Sam and both were super open with us. Sophia told us that on the whole album, she is talking to her (former) self most of the time. With that in mind, you of course focus on the lyrics.

SEASON OF GHOSTS’ “A Leap of Faith” is music for grown-ups.

Even though, Sophia said there is no love song on the album, ‘Asteroid’ is a very romantic song: Beginning with a short sung introduction, which BTW already is kind of romantic:

“Through the corners of the earth I have travelled just to find you.”

The vocal line is followed by the direct response from Zombie Sam on guitar, responding to both – the melody and the message – with tons of emotion in it.

Musically, “A Leap of Faith” differs a lot form its predecessor. While “The Human Paradox” was very electronic with a lot of different vocal styles and samples, “A Leap of Faith” is a real rock album. The songs are down to earth – while the former album was kind of from outer space – the sound is grounded and the vocals do not change that often between singing, speaking, whispering and growling. In fact, there are no growls at all on “A Leap of Faith”.

SEASON OF GHOSTS recorded in a studio in Turin and worked with an experienced producer. So the band sounds grown up, the music is more serious, like a person who found its focus on reality after being lost somehow. While “The Human Paradox” sounded (and was?) a solo project, the successor seems to be a co-production of all band members plus the producer.

SEASON OF GHOSTS tell personal stories to encourage the listener.

As I mentioned, Sophia is talking to herself in the songs – encouraging, but also looking back on and reappraising her past. ‘Listen’ appeals to people, who are close to you and pretend to take care of you like family or close friends but are not interested in you as a person, because you are weird to them (Sophia calls herself an alien, because she’s been alienated so often). ‘What A Time To Be Alive’ questions our lifestyle(s) and ‘Almost Human’ is a song about someone (Sophia) trying to save the world (or individuals) and realizing, she doesn’t have the power to fight all the fights.

All the lyrics on “A Leap of Faith” are serious and honest, and so the title track is perfectly placed in the middle of the album. This song is the most encouraging one on the album and sums up the other songs as if it would say:

“No matter what happens to you, don’t give up. It’s worth the fight.”

It tells you that you might feel and even are alone, but it is important that you follow your dreams and plans, because you are only responsible for yourself in the end. You might find the right people, you will of course get in touch with people that stand in your way and it is totally ok to not be everybody’s friend, because at the end of the day, you’ll have to look in your own eyes in the mirror and be ok with yourself.

“A Leap of Faith” tells the story of a person who finally found themself, which doesn’t mean, you have no worries at all. Life goes on, no matter what happens, and even though you’ve made mistakes (like everybody else), you can find a way to move on if you just try to make the best out of your situation. For me, the call to action on the album is: take a leap of faith to stand up and care for yourself. And that’s one of the most difficult things one can do in life. Many people fail, but with SEASON OF GHOSTS‘ new album to encourage you, you can do it.

If you want to know more about Sophia and Zombie Sam and the circumstances for recording “A Leap of Faith”, listen to our podcast episode with them both as guests. Very personal topics, but of course also music!

SEASON OF GHOSTS – “A Leap of Faith” Tracklist:

1. The Road so far
2. A Place to call Home
3. Asteroid
4. Listen
5. A Leap of Faith
6. How the Story ends
7. Almost human
8. What a Time to be alive
9. You are not your Pain

Are you a SEASON OF GHOSTS-fan? Are you looking forward to the album? Tell us in the comments and share this review!

Interview with Inger from Japanese band THE NUMBER ZERO:

THE NUMBER ZERO released the song ‘Web of Truth’ in June. The band is working on an album, which might be released in October 2018. If you want to know more about the band and stay updated, follow them on Twitter!

Our upcoming podcast episode will feature parts of the interview which Pia and Kiki talk about and Pia recaps her trip to Tokyo in August.

Heta organizes a lot of stuff around Tuska Festival, she also promotes bands and was the editor-in-chief of a magazine once. She’s done so many things, I can’t mention them all! So let her tell you herself in our interview.

Her thoughts on Spotify, YouTube and so on are also very interesting and by the end of the chat, she has some advice for people – especially young women – who want to work in the metal business.

Photo: Jesse Kämäräinen for Tuska

“Bands are like skateboards – everybody has one.”

Have fun with our interview and tell us which one is your favorite quote!

If you want to know how Kiki and I feel about Tuska 2018, read our report.

Photo by Jesse Kämäräinen for Tuska.

THE CHARM THE FURY’s Mathijs Tieken: “we always [write music] at home… it’s hard on the tour bus”.

Have fun with our chat and also keep an eye out for other interviews and listen to our podcast about TUSKA festival 2018, where this interview with THE CHARM THE FURY took place. You can also read our festival report about the festival, where we discuss the band’s gig.

I especially love the idea of creating a unique sound but also albums of different styles. Because of Caroline‘s unique voice, we will always be able to recognize THE CHARM THE FURY and so there is a chance, the band can make their plan happen. I’m really looking forward to new songs and if you ever have the chance to see the band live, do it – they are a blast on stage!

Photo by Jesse Kämäräinen for Tuska Festival.

Pia S.: Hello again, beautiful Finland! After going to Tuska Festival in 2017, I came back this year with Kiki to have a good time in Helsinki and celebrate with metalheads and other beautiful people. But before we went to Suvilahti, where TUSKA takes place, we spent a day in the city walking and biking around, doing some tourist stuff, visiting Suomenlinna and having a good time. But you are not here to read our vacation stories, right? So I’ll skip them. If you follow the Metal & High Heels Instagram, you’ve probably seen some pictures of our trip anyway. And if you want to know everything about our stay in Helsinki, you can listen to the Tuska Recap Episode of our podcast or watch our video on Facebook live from Helsinki.

Kiki G.: On Thursday, June 28th, MEDEIA prepares us for TUSKA with their gig at the warm-up party. The Finnish band has an amazing energy and female power on the keyboards. When Laura Dziadulewicz sings backing vocals, the contrast to the harsh growls and screams is haunting and lovely.

June 29th – TUSKA FESTIVAL Friday:

Kiki: Our festival weekend started with a discussion panel called “Critical headbanging” that aimed to talk about the role of political and ethical topics in Metal music. I think organizer and metal scholar Toni-Matti Karjalainen (with whom Pia and Steffi had an interview  last year), wanted to keep the debate general and open, but the conversation went very much into the topic of sexism in metal – which was fine for me, personally, since feminism interests me a lot and also seemed necessary, since Karjalainen stated women made only 4% of all artists performing at TUSKA 2018. Sadly this was the only one of three panels that was held in English, but it was interesting and an exciting format that other festivals should adopt, too. If you go to TUSKA, attend the panels!

“You don’t have to, but you can be political as an #artist. Some of my favorite artists are very political” says @leprousband– singer. We agree. Take a stand and use your platform to spread love and good values.

— Metal & High Heels (@MetalHighHeels) 29. Juni 2018

Pia: Next we did an interview – we didn’t have as many as last year, but still, we had good conversations and you can watch them on our YouTube channel. This time, we had Mathijs Tieken from THE CHARM THE FURY and he told us the band is working on new material already. Of course, we asked some girly questions which obviously surprised him, but he answered everything. Right after that, we saw MANTAR playing the Inferno Stage, followed by an interview with them shortly after. The band is actually a duo – drummer Erinc and guitar player/singer Hanno, which looks a bit unfamiliar. Drums and microphone were placed on stage so that they could look at each other, which distanced them from the audience. But it somehow fit the whole concept of the band (which they pretend not to have – as you can hear in our interview) and also the music, which is pure, powerful and also distant. The guys hold on to their image every time and it truly is an experience to see MANTAR live.

We caught a glimpse of LEPROUS, who played TUSKA‘s Helsinki stage (the one in the tent) and this is a band I’ll definitely check out – they are already in some of my streaming playlists. But how can you watch LEPROUS, when THE CHARM THE FURY is having their gig on Inferno Stage? So we went back into the building and after just a couple of songs, we managed to enjoy them from the first row. The setlist was a good mixture of old songs from “A Shade Of My Former Self” and songs from the new(er) album “The Sick, Dumb And Happy”. No new songs revealed, but I didn’t expect that. There was a party crowd in the middle of the room who changed from moshpit to pogo to circle pit, everytime vocalist Caroline Westendorp told them to. The band has so much energy on stage that they manage to please every audience. Brilliant songs like ‘Colorblind’, ‘Down On The Ropes’, ‘The Future Need Us Not’ and ‘Weaponized’ where great choices. People were taught to sing the chorus in ‘Echoes’, which worked pretty well and made band and fans happy. Of course, every THE CHARM THE FURY concert – even a short one like this – has to end with ‘Carte Blanche’, including another singalong part.

Kiki: After seeing a great frontwoman in action, another one delighted us with her growls. ARCH ENEMY performed their ever-strong set, with which I could make no emotional connection whatsoever this time around. Much more impressed I was by BODY COUNT! On the festival lineup, the show was described as “BODY COUNT ft. ICE-T“, which made it sound like a one-time cooperation to me, who didn’t know that gangsta rapper ICE-T actually founded the band back in the 90s. Now that I know, I understand why the group’s performance was cohesive and well-rehearsed. I wondered if the heartbreaking lyrics of BODY COUNT really touch the mostly white male audience at TUSKA when ICE-T sings the many lyrics denouncing police brutality and racism. Hopefully, they do get everybody to think, more than only headbang to their gripping riffs.

The headliner makes it clear to me that the question posed by Toni-Matti Karjalainen at his afternoon-panel has only one right answer: yes! Metal music has been criticizing several aspects of society and it should definitely keep doing so.

June 30th – TUSKA FESTIVAL Saturday:

Kiki continues: We kicked off our Saturday with OMNIUM GATHERUM‘s listening session. The upcoming album makes a good first impression, with a lovely atmospheric intro, followed by a heavy yet melodic demonstration of their musical evolution. Metalcore-ish guitars, long instrumental passages scattered throughout the album, and melodies that reflect exactly what the songwriter describes in the press release: bittersweet love, melancholy, a lovely sadness in sight of the tragedies and successes of today’s world. Keep an eye out for Pia‘s full-length review of this great album. 

In the afternoon, after attending the #HelsinkiPride parade, we get a look behind the scenes on a tour with TUSKA CEO Eeka Mäkynen (who also gave us an interview last year) – and we get to step onto the festival’s main stage during the great party that was MOKOMA‘s gig and get the beautiful view above.

Pia: Entering the stage – even if it’s just from a viewer’s perspective – is always impressive! I can’t imagine how awesome the TUSKA crowd looks like when a headliner like KREATOR is playing. Frontman and bassist Mille is a natural born entertainer with a unique voice, even in the kind of shouting-vocal-business that is Thrash Metal. I personally listened a lot to the “Hordes of Chaos“-album and so I was really happy KREATOR played the title track from that one. But songs like ‘Phobia’ are never missing in a setlist and even though, KREATOR are not local heroes in Finland, they had a lot of fans in the audience. Before the gig, Kiki wasn’t that thrilled to see them, but during the gig, she was headbanging all the time.

So, @MHH_PiaS was like “KREATOOOOOOR ” and @kikigege87 was like but now she’s like: pic.twitter.com/OuwLdTwPjw

— Metal & High Heels (@MetalHighHeels) 30. Juni 2018

I saved my headbanging energy for GOJIRA! A band that I’ve listened to a lot, especially during “The Way Of All Flesh“ and “L’Enfant Sauvage”. Right after their first song(s), singer Joe Duplantier thanks their crew for putting the show together despite adversities with their gear truck and I get emotional because there are so many unsung heroes of heavy metal, like the hard-working crew of every touring band in the world. The French eco-metallers always rock their socks off on stage and even though the music is kind of brutal, it is also a very emotional band with serious topics that touch the hearts of at least some people at TUSKA. Okay, maybe a bit more, because when I took a look around in the crowd, I saw a lot of people totally lost in the music in a kind of trance.

That’s what GOJIRA can do with their music and I don’t know many bands out there with this ability! Songs like ‘Backbone’, ‘Flying Whales’ and ‘Vacuity’ were a blast, but also calmer songs like ‘Liquid Fire’ were impressive. I had the typical ‘after listening to GOJIRA‘-feeling after the gig, which is a mixture of feeling lost and seeing things clearly or from a different perspective. I think that’s what they do: put everything into perspective, showing you the brutal way that we are way too egoistic on the one hand and on the other hand we can’t keep away from things and people who do no good to us. Poor species we are, but everyone has the chance to live their own lives and change this fact for themselves.

I was looking forward to writing about the GOJIRA gig that I forgot to talk about an achievement that I made that weekend: I saw AT THE GATES live for the first time in my life. I’m not into the band that much, but they are Melodic Death Metal legends, so I was curious to see them on stage and I wasn’t disappointed! The guys still have a lot of energy and combine their brutal, heavy music with beautiful melodies perfectly.

July 1st – TUSKA FESTIVAL Sunday:

Pia continues: Damn – it’s already day 3 of the festival? Time flies when you enjoy life! So don’t forget to suck in every single moment and live on it for the next couple of weeks. Sunday started relaxed for us because we didn’t have any arrangements in the morning/middle of the day and started with a nice chat with Heta Hyttinen, a woman with countless jobs behind the scenes of TUSKA. We caught a glimpse of the TEMPLE BALLS-gig and both of us felt the urge to ask the guys for some hair care advice.

On our way to the cocktail bar, we stopped at the Helsinki Stage to see STICK TO YOUR GUNS. Even though they had played like three gigs in 24 hours or something, they rocked like hell and had some political statements for us. The songs changed between heavy with shouts and calm with clean vocals only. It’s a band with a message and the music has to fit this message, not the other way around. STICK TO YOUR GUNS is a band I always had on my check-them-out-list, but for some reason, I didn’t know they’d play TUSKA. My happy surprise of the weekend!

“Being at a #metal show and screaming our lungs out is an act of #resistance” – powerful statement by @STYGoc earlier today, a show full of such strong messages – @kikigege87 is now a fan

— Metal & High Heels (@MetalHighHeels) 1. Juli 2018

After that, Kiki and I parted ways. But have no fear, we reunited later! I watched LAURI PORRA AND THE FLYOVER ENSEMBLE, which was a big contrast to the other bands playing TUSKA. Lauri has been the STRATOVARIUS-bassist for some time, but this project was kind of an elitist jam session with only a little bit of interaction with the audience and tons of beautiful instrumental songs. This went in the direction of LONG DISTANCE CALLING and I immediately added them to my “Keeping Focus” playlist.

Kiki: Yeah, that experimental, intellectual stuff was like the Jazz of heavy music and not at all for me, much less for a festival-mood. So I left Pia to enjoy her musical “yoga for the brain” as she described it and made my way back to the Helsinki Stage to watch IHSAHN. Now, I’m not exactly an EMPEROR-fan, but Norwegian musician Ihsahn has a beautifully captivating voice and strong growls that made the performance with his namesake band an emotional one and an absolute highlight of the last day of TUSKA 2018 and a live recommendation.

Pia: I can’t say much about the EUROPE gig. I was happy to see ‘The Final Countdown’ live for once in my life and found out, that they also have some more cool songs, but not my cup of tea.

PARKWAY DRIVE started when we were chilling with some vodka next to the stage and they started with what sounded like gunshots! That totally terrified me, but during the gig, it was all good. The band also was kind of emotional but they had a really, really great show. I’ve seen a lot of pyro stuff, but I never saw the whole stage on fire like that! And the band didn’t step on it even once. When I saw the drumkit sitting in a “cage”, I knew something would happen to it, and in the second half of the set, it started turning around, so that the drummer played upside down. As I said: Impressive show! And another band that found it’s way to my playlists.

Kiki: My first time at TUSKA also becomes my first PARKWAY DRIVE-gig and I had been looking forward to that headliner. I’ve kept my eye out for the Australian band since a good friend from Ecuador told me about them years ago – and hell, do they put on a great show! PARKWAY DRIVE were literally on fire, not only with their powerful music but also with their pyro, lighting, and whole stage show. A real high note to end this great festival weekend!

Photos courtesy of TUSKA FESTIVAL by Jesse Kämäräinen, except for embedded material that belongs to the respective social media channels unless otherwise noted in the posts.

People who know me also know that I am a very lazy person when it comes to styling. I am willing to invest some time in how I look, but I don’t want to check every couple of hours. What I put on in the morning has to stay at least until I come home again (which normally is 11 hours, sometimes more, when I go to elder school or sports after work), otherwise I will replace the product. Many lipsticks found their way into the trash bin (sorry, waste-reducing lifestyle) and I was thinking about just not wearing lipstick until I found a solution: long-lasting lipsticks.

I finally found a lipstick that stays on all day.

Lucky for me, the first brand I tried worked. I also tried cheaper lipsticks, but the results were horrible (you can see them below). I have to mention now, that Maybelline doesn’t pay me a single cent – they get a lot of money from me instead – and this is not a paid content article. But if Maybelline wants me to test some products, just get in touch with me.

So I started with Maybelline Super Stay 24 in color 185 Rose Dust – I also wore that to my wedding, btw. – the start of a long friendship! With time, I tried more and more colors like orange (460 Infinite Coral), pink (130 Pinking Of You) and red (542 Cherry Pie) and loved all of them, even though, the pink one doesn’t look very good on me. Another recommendation is 640 Nude Pink, which is more a kind of light brown and you can use it for nude looks.

All the colors I mentioned are glossy ones. When time went by (about six months), I wanted to have a lipstick for a matte look that stays the whole day. Instagram showed me some ads for long-lasting lipstick and I ordered three lipsticks that were supposed to stay the whole day. I tried the first color and really liked it! The smell was strange at first, but ok. That day, I had a kebab for lunch and – thank whoever you pray to – I was working from home because the fat in the kebab smeared my lipstick and made my face violet… I think it would stay on my lips if I wouldn’t eat or drink anything (but who likes that kind of date/night out?! – editor’s note). The other two colors I never really tried, because they already looked messy when I put them on, as you can see in the pictures.

Lipstick? Make it matte!

It was Maybelline again, that saved me on my search because shortly after that, they started selling Matte Super Stay lipsticks as well! I now own five colors and that’s only because the others I want are always sold out. I started with 20 Pioneer, which is red like 542 Cherry Pie, but matte. I got a lot of compliments for that one and added 05 Loyalist and 50 Voyager to my make-up bag. I hardly ever wear both, because 05 Loyalist is really light and 50 Voyager’s really dark, so none of them really fits an everyday look. But Maybelline added more colors quickly and now I own 80 Ruler and 15 Lover and both look a bit like 185 Rose Dust in matte. 15 Lover is the one I often add to my looks these days when I am not wearing 640 Nude Pink, which I use a lot at the moment (and will run out of very soon).

Talking about running out of something: when I like a lipstick, I use it until there is nothing left. If I wore the same color every day, I think it would last me two to three months. It’s not so much like with eyeshadow palettes, that will never be empty until passed the expiration date. But lipsticks last enough to wear them for a couple of times. I’m still excited to get more colors – looking for a matte brown that suits me – and looks to create. Maybe I’ll try an ombre look one day…

Some results:

BudK metal matte Lipstick in 13 apricot

BudK metal matte Lipstick in 10 Kristen (last pic after my usual removal routine).

Maybelline Super Stay 24 in 460 Infinite Coral.

BudK Metal Matte Lipstick (last pic after kebab).

Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink in 05 Loyalist.

Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink in 20 Pioneer (pic in the middle after a long day with a lot of fatty food).

Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink in 15 Lover (pic in the middle after kebab).

What is your favorite lipstick and why? Can you recommend other brands? I’m thinking about trying one of the super extreme colors that Nyx is selling now. Share your knowledge with me in the comments!

But after their selt-titled debut album, they were gone suddenly. They released another album called ‘Meir’, which I listened to but didn’t really like. The band was just not able to repeat such a blast that ‘Kvelertak’ was. I wrote a review for the album, but after that, I didn’t listen again, I have to admit. When I started listening to Spotify, I found out they have a third album out called ‘Nattesferd’, but  I only listened once and knew that KVELERTAK somehow lost the special ‘ingredient’ that made their debut so special. The music’s elements didn’t change, but it doesn’t work together anymore like before. So after only one album, I had to say, the band lost it’s appeal for me. And not only for me – other people who loved the very first album didn’t get along with the new stuff, neither.

Special styles of music

I started thinking about the phenomenon and realized quickly that bands who are really successful are known for more than one album. So I had to think about less famous bands and albums I really, really like. One of them I can mention here is SLAVES TO FASHION. I got to know them during my years at powermetal.de and met the guys in person twice. Really cool people and they produced a very good progressive rock album called “Artistic differences”. I listened to that album a lot, because it enlightened my mood and I love the lyrics. I sang along to the songs in my car very often – but they didn’t release a second album since then.

I know that all of them have day jobs and the band is more or less a hobby for them. But they produced a music video for their song ‘Mrs. Hero’ and  made some fans around Europe. They parted ways with their singer and presented a new one later, but I’m still waiting for a new LP. Also because the singer sounds interesting!

Another example is a band that changed my view how metal has to sound: BLOOD STAIN CHILD with their album “Epsilon”. The Japanese released albums before and after this one, but I think they were not before and not after that album successful in Europe. I sometimes listen to their older and newer stuff, but there is no album that convinced me like “Epsilon”. The band mixes metal, techno and whatever comes to their mind, but the older albums are kind of traditional and the stuff they released later was to electronical for me. So “Epsilon” is the one and only album for me. Whenever people ask me for interesting band advice, I mention BLOOD STAIN CHILD with the addition that only this album is really good.

Speaking about Japan, everybody knows BABYMETAL. When they appeared, it was something different, something new for us. Their self-titled debut was successful and many people listened to it and visited their concerts. I think, the latest is still the case, but with “Metal Resistance”, the second album, the spell was gone. I still celebrate and have to say that ‘Megitsune’ is one of the best songs I ever listened to, because it has everything a good metal song needs (speed, heaviness, drama, guitar, traditional influences of the band’s country, a great vocalist)! But there is no song on the successor that I’d they is a blast.

Melodic death metal! And some black…

A band that won the Wacken Metal Battle award and released their debut album through them is my next example. The album is perfect. Nothing more to say about it. And the second album the band released years later is also good – but it took me months to even find out they released one. I found them accidently because of a cooperation with Anneke van Giersbergen but I don’t think, many people still know their name: THE FADING. Goosebumps instantly appear on my skin when I start listening to “In sin we’ll find salvation”. The album is melodic death metal at it’s best and I’m surprised the CD is still alive, because I listened to it for ages. But, yes, the new album ‘Till life do us part” wasn’t promoted very well and when you are the successor to one of the greatest albums on earth, you can only fail. Still a good album, nothing to say about that, but I love the debut much more.

Some of you might know the band NORTHER or at least their singer Petri Lindroos, who also is a part of Ensiferum. The band is not active anymore, but they had the highlight of their career with their album “N”. I remember the song ‘We rock’ was most popular, even though the band said that it’s ironic – they are a metal band, not a rock band. Petri left the band because of Ensiferum and NORTHER tried it with another vocalist and an album called “Circle unbroken”, but it wasn’t the same niveau anymore and so they quit.

I knew STORMLORD before, because I was looking for a symphonic black metal band. Some of their songs were interesting, but when “Mare Nostrum” came out, I knew I found one of the best songs I will ever listen to in my life when I listened to the title track. The whole album is a masterpiece on it’s own and the only thing the band could have done better is putting the title track to the end. Now, the album starts with the best song that casts a long shadow. Five years later, they released “Hesperia”, which wasn’t that bad, but to be honest, I don’t remember much of that one.

I think, I could go on like this forever. I have to mention the band DREAMSHADE, because their album “What silence hides” was so good! They had two albums after that one, which are both great, but a different music style. “What silence hides” was 100% melodic death metal and the band was kind of innocent. Now I would describe them as metalcore and grown-up. If you like fluffy keyboards, give them a chance!

Randomness

Some bands maybe only have one album wonders for me, because I listened to one of their outputs a lot without paying attention to the rest – maybe because I didn’t really like it or just didn’t look for it: TRACEDAWN – “Tracedawn” (but, well, “Ego anthem” is good, too, but not that successful, I think), DARK AGE – “Acedia”, ETERNAL TEARS OF SORROW – “Children of the dark waters”, PAIN – “You only live twice”, OMNIUM GATHERUM – “Spirits and August light”, STREAM OF PASSION – “Darker Days”, DEADLOCK – “Hybris”, MOONSPELL – “Night eternal” (these are albums I listened to a lot – of course, there are bands I only know one album from, but I didn’t celebrate that albums much).

Are there bands you really like but only know one album or only listen to one of their albums a lot? Let us know!

Steffi’s 2017 started with IGNEA:

On Steffi’s video that can’t be embedded for whatever reason, she talks about her highlights of 2017. The year started well for Steffi with IGNEA’s release of “Signs Of Faith”. Her next personal highlight is CELLAR DARLING’s “This Is The Sound” and another of her favorite albums of the year is the latest release of Tunisian band PERSONA, “Metamorphosis” – she also mentions our interview with PERSONA at Female Metal Event.

Tuska Open Air 2017 was another great event in the summer and some of the gigs Steffi saw there were lovely memories of the year. For 2018, Steffi is looking forward to the Within Temptation tour.

Kiki discovered TRIVIUM in 2017:

I wanted to keep things short and talked about:

• The album I was looking forward to the most for 2017 and that totally delivered: XANDRIA’s “Theater Of Dimensions”
• Unexpectedly best album of 2017: CELLAR DARLING’s “This Is The Sound”
• My discovery (and obsession) of 2017: US-Metalcore band TRIVIUM! Absolutely love their music and look forward to seeing them live this year.
• Lifestyle highlight of the year: the awesome tool for easy winged eyeliner, The Vamp Stamp
• And my personal favorite Game this year: Life Is Strange: Before The Storm

Pia is in love with Anneke van Giersbergen’s VUUR:

For her end of the year review 2017, Pia talks about THE CHARM THE FURY’s “The Sick, Dumb & Happy”, as well as, WE CAME AS ROMANS’ “Cold like war”. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE’s “Under Your Spell” was also something Pia was looking for VUUR’s debut album, about with she talked to Anneke van Giersbergen at Tuska. Another favorite moment for Pia was CHILDREN OF BODOM’s gig in Hanover in March 2017. Pia also mentions The Vamp Stamp and Maybelline New York’s lipsticks.

Metal & High Heels looks forward to 2018:

The video is quite long, but you can listen to us on the go, on the Metal & High Heels Podcast episode number 16.

What releases are you looking forward to this year? What were your favorites of 2017? Tell us in the comments, we love to hear from you!

Three bands from two Nordic and very cold countries – perfect mix for The Arctic Circle Alliance.

OMNIUM GATHERUM tour with SKALMÖLD – special guest STAM1NA

When bands from Finland (OMNIUM GATHERUM, STAM1NA) and Iceland (SKALMÖLD) tour together, there’s a cool breeze in the air. Both countries are said to be cold and during this time of the year, when days are getting shorter, I can understand pretty good that those people want to leave their countries and go on tour. In Finland, there are only very few hours of sun, now, and in countries like France, Spain and Portugal, they’ll be able to catch many more and to enjoy the ‘warmth’ (wouldn’t wonder if they run around in shorts and t-shirts…).

But enough about clichés! OMNIUM GATHERUM is a great live band and everybody who is in melodic death metal will fall in love with them right from the beginning. That’s what happened to me when I listened to their album “New World Shadows” back in 2011. Even the very old outputs “Steal the light” and “Spirits and August light” are nothing the band would have to claim as their first steps. In 2016, they released “Grey heavens” and since then, they had some time and opportunities to practice the new songs. Seeing the new songs on stage will be a blast for sure!

SKALMÖLD also come around with a not-so-new-anymore album called “Vögguvísur Yggdrasils” (damn, yes, I copy and pasted that name!). The band was found in 2009 and became famous very quickly. They put a lot of effort and love for the detail into their music, which is influenced by their countries very own traditions. You can, of course, also hear that in the lyrics. Musically, SKALMÖLD play a mixture of death and thrash metal – some people describe it as battle metal, but I’m not a fan of pseudo genres that tell nothing about the music.

Support from Finland – and this band is more than just support

Last but definetly not least, STAM1NA will tour with them. The band celebrated it’s 20th anniversary last year with the output “Elokuutio” (copy and paste for the win!). Most of their songs are in Finnish language and it somehow fits their trash metal pretty well! The main reason for their success, maybe. I have the in mind as a really technical band and since Finnish sounds kind of hard to me, it would support the rhythm like in a good death metal band.

So whoever loves heavy music and an exotic touch, come and see this package on tour! There is a “chapter 1” written in the tour title on the poster, so there might be a chance to see at least OMNIUM GATHERUM and SKALMÖLD touring together again. Would be a great opportunity for those who won’t be able to see them this time. Now prepare your horns! We hope to see many of you on the gig in Cologne (Köln).

Tourdates of The Arctic Circle Alliance tour

25/10 DE – Frankfurt – Nachtleben
26/10 NL – Amstelveen – P60
27/10 UK – London – Underworld
28/10 BE – Oostende – Elysée
29/10 FR – Paris – Le Petit Bain
30/10 FR Nantes – Le Ferrailleur
31/10 FR Limoges – CC John Lennon
02/11 PT – Porto – Hard Club
03/11 PT – Lisbon – RCA Club
04/11 ES – Madrid – Penélope
05/11 ES – Murcia – Garaje
06/11 ES – Barcelona – Razzmatazz3
07/11 FR – Marseille – Jas’Rod
08/11 FR – Lyon – CCO
09/11 IT – Milano – Legend
10/11 CH – Sion – Le Port Franc
11/11 CH – Bern – Gaskessel
12/11 DE – München – Backstage
13/11 CZ – Prag – Futurum
14/11 HU – Budapest – Barba Negra
15/11 PL – Krakow – Kwadrat
16/11 PL – Poznan – U Bazyla
17/11 DE – Berlin – Bi Nuu
18/11 DE – Hannover – Mephisto
19/11 DE – Köln – Jungle Club