Blog of a Prog Rocker

After some careful thought and I've been thinking about it for quite a bit of a while, so I decided 'why the hell not?' and typed this out. It's the end of the month of May, and I am going to label down on a few of the songs that were really good this month. Well, not the best ones... but the ones that I really enjoyed. These are my Top Five Songs of May 2017: (It'll be counted down from 5 to 1.) 5. Sirenia - Dim Days of Dolor My mind was blown away when I was introduced to this song for the first time live in concert when I was seeing them on May 17. Emmanuelle is such a beautiful singer, and they have quite a fantastic sound. This is from their new album which is the same title as the song, and it's the first album without Ailyn who left the band some time ago. Both Emmanuelle and Morten have signed my copy of their new album and I am quite happy to have met them. Hopefully they come again to Toronto soon! 4. Blind Guardian - Battlefield One of

Four days after the two Xandria shows that I had gone to in both Montreal and Toronto, I was looking forward to another show on the same week as it would be their very first time coming to North America, just like when Lordi came for the first time to Canada this past February. It was time for me to live the Sirenia experience. The Norwegian gothic metal band were finally coming at last to North America on a co-headlining tour with Russian folk metal rockers 'Arkona'! When I first heard about it, I gave it some thought and eventually decided to buy a ticket at the last minute a few nights before the show when I was getting ready to go to Montreal. So I took the bus on the warm late-spring day to the station and took the train from my hometown into Toronto. Because this show would be at the Mod Club, I would have to take a stop at the Queens Park location via the TTC subway. Because there was a lot of time to kill, I decided to visit the provincial parliament there.

I have returned from my trip to Montreal as of a few days ago, and I almost have no words to describe what it was like to be by myself in the province of Quebec. My alarm clock set off at the right time in the morning, and I was able to eat some breakfast before grabbing my baggage and heading on my way to the train station to get to the city of Toronto. Being that it is where I could catch the VIA Rail train, I made sure to check if I had everything I needed. Only ended up forgetting about bringing the markers for the band to sign the three CDs I was bringing, but I felt it was good. The seat on the train was quite comfy and the inside almost felt like a mix between the express trains from the Netherlands and the interior of an airplane. The train began to move out from Union Station, and my nervousness was coming back to me at every moment it could, but I was able to calm down while en route to Montreal. On the train, they had a trolley of light snacks coming around every on

Good evening to all of my readers, and you probably know what I am exactly thinking. Well, there's no doubt that I am ready for tomorrow and Saturday's adventure. Yes, it's normal to feel nervous about travelling by yourself. It's a trip outside of my province 'Ontario' to head into the next door rival province 'Quebec' where all the Habs fans are. I'm not a hockey person myself, but the city is known for them there plus the poutine apparently. Being that this is the first time ever without anyone here to join me, I always recalled many times of wanting to travel by myself to many places in the world. A good start for me would have to be Montreal in my own country, as it's close to home than I realize. Next, I'll probably plan on visiting Vancouver where my aunt lives before eventually going to explore other places around the world, starting one at a time with the United States, and work towards both Europe and Asia/Oceania locations

Alright, one more album review before I halt on them for the case of me travelling for a bit of time. Once I have got back from Montreal and written down the experiences I had with Xandria both there and in Toronto; then I will continue. So in advance, I do apologize for the delay. For this album review of one of Xandria's albums, it will be the album that was known for being the only one to feature the singer "Manuela Kraller". This is their fifth album Neverworld's End . When I first heard of this album, at the time I was only warming up and was so used to both Lisa's vocals and the album India . I was actually looking for India , but the FYI said that they only had Neverworld's End . In that matter, I actually declined on having it. Now after purchasing this album, I now own a physical copy to say the least and I am quite happy with being someone who owns it in his own hands. The whole album itself had a large sound that proved that they must h

The days are getting closer until I see Xandria for the first and second time in two days straight! For the last review, it was for their 2015 EP "Fire & Ashes". Now for this review, it'll be on their album that debuted the vocalist Dianne van Giersbergen and bassist Steven Wussow for the first time in the year of 2014... Yes, I am talking about " Sacrificium ". Looks awesome with that Phoenix on the cover, doesn't it? The mythical creature almost reminds me of Dumbledore's pet phoenix Fawkes. Even from my favorite series, the character Princess Celestia has one as well named Philomena! For the track-listing, it is from the two-disc deluxe edition that I ended up buying. So I will include the bonus track in the review. Sacrificium The opening track on the album. It almost sounds a bit like an introduction for something rather epic with the orchestra at the beginning of the song. There is narration at the beginning and then kicks

In approximately four days, the trip to Montreal begins so that I will be able to see Xandria in concert for the first time, followed by a second show in the city of Toronto the day after. They will be headlining, with the support bands being "Kobra and the Lotus" and "Once Human". I haven't checked out Once Human but I have seen Kobra and the Lotus before back in 2014 when they were opening for KISS at the Molson Amphitheatre. It should be a good two shows, and I will be making blog posts about them. For this EP review, I will be reviewing their EP that was released on July 31, 2015. This is "Fire & Ashes". Voyage of the Fallen It begins with an intro that definitely gives away an Epica feeling, but more settles in what would be a Nightwish direction. When I hear this song, I picture myself riding on a British vessel sailing the Atlantic ocean, riding along the waves in a storm. Orchestra in this song sounds amazing, and feels very