My current cd collection
Hello fellow steemians! Following my last post about my vinyl records collection, I naturally have to continue presenting my music collection, so in today's post I'll present to you my current cd collection. Again it's not big, but it will get bigger in time. Having said "my current cd collection" I actually mean that I'm thinking to sell a few of my older cds in order to replace them with new bands and generally new music. Well, with no further ado, I'll start the presentation. The pictures I've taken aren't of the best quality, so please excuse me for that.
The first band presented here is called Insomnium and the album is Winter's Gate.
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Insomnium are a melodic death metal band from Finland. Recently I was reading a review or something like that about an album and I saw the reviewer calling Finland the Mecca of metal music and I couldn't agree more with that statement. So many truly good bands coming from this land of thousand lakes. The album I'm presenting here is a concept album and talks about the story of “a group of Vikings who set out to find a fabled island west of Ireland, despite the treacherous winter drawing near.” It consists of 7 tracks which are basically one and only track, one story, one epic story. Music and lyrics flow as one, regardless of being split in 7 tracks for the sake of digital format. The story is the work of Niilo Sevänen who's the vocalist and bassist of the band and I remember having read that in his home country he's earned numerous awards and nominations. Anyway, I truly love this band and I also love this guy's vocals. What's also great about the band is that they're coming over to Greece for a live gig and when I saw it I was so happy indeed.
Let's meet Insomnium again with their previous album called Shadows of the Dying Sun.
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This album here is what introduced me to the band. Needless to say I immediately took it in as if it always had been there. It's one of those times when something speaks to you in a direct way like it was intended or meant for you in the first place. I'd love to have this album on vinyl too.
Speaking about Finland and about music that I feel and love with my heart, let's move to Cataleptic and their debut album called Strength Within.
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Well... this band and album I discovered completely random. I don't think it's too much to say that sometimes when you want something, that something is going to find its way towards you, sooner or later. By that I mean that the songs speak to me in just the right attitude, the music is heavy and the vocals of Sami Iivonen are simply superb. Talking about love, my love goes to this album with no second thought, absolutely. The music genre as described by the band is Triumphant Dark Doom Death Metal.
And yet again, Finland calling. Let's meet Moonsorrow. The album presented here is called Jumalten aika.
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I don't remember what exactly drew me to listen to this band and album. It probably must have been the fact that, besides their album, they covered Rotting Christ's Non Serviam song. I don't know where to start here. I can definitely say that I bought the 2 Cd Limited Edition, one cd being their album and the second cd being their two covers, as I said one Rotting Christ cover and the other a Grave cover of the song Soulless. Both covers are great, so is their album. I hadn't heard from them before, but I'm hooked by this album and I'll gladly welcome their next works. In order to tag their music, I'll say it's Folk/Pagan/Black Metal.
Now, time to move to another country, England's turn. England is among the best countries when it comes to music and not just in one genre of music but in many different genres, from pop to rock to metal. So, let's meet Countless Skies. The album presented here is called New Dawn and it's their debut album.
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I learnt this band following on facebook a greek band called Aetherian, which will be presented a bit later. Aetherian posted in their page their friends' work and I clicked the link to play. I enjoyed what I heard and thought it's good to support new bands, so I ordered this album. Countless Skies belong to the new wave of English bands. They're from Hertfordshire and being a new band they have opened their wings to pursue what shows to be a promising musical career. They're playing Melodic Death Metal, a genre that I very much enjoy. I've even thought to attempt to do something about bringing them to play over here in Greece, but that would require me to get out of my comfort zone and that's always kinda hard. Not to say that I don't know how about to do that, since I might have all the good intentions, but I can't guarantee that things will go just fine in terms of payments, air tickets, accommodation.
Moving forward we meet Daniel Cavanagh and his solo album called Monochrome.
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Daniel Cavanagh is a well known musician being a songwriter, guitarist and vocalist in the band Anathema. He's the reason why I love Anathema the way I do and when I read he'd release a solo album I knew I had to have it. The music is meant to touch the soul like it has done so many times before with Anathema and drain you of your feelings leaving you a new person. The atmosphere, the melodies, his voice along with Anneke's voice is nothing less than perfect. But it couldn't be any different, we always expect perfect from him and the band Anathema.
Now we will meet the band Antimatter and the re-release of an older album called Leaving Eden.
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This album is the work primarily of Mick Moss. This particular edition is the 10th year anniversary and Mick thought to re-release it along with a second cd where the tracks of the album play in the background while he's talking and explaining different important aspects of how things were back then, how he felt, struggles and disappointments. This album for me is something that I'll forever cherish and I'm keeping it very very close to my heart. As seen, Mick has signed on the album and also when I ordered it, I ordered a hand written lyric sheet of my favourite song, no other than Leaving Eden. The music genre is progressive / alternative / atmospheric / gothic rock.
I've also seen Antimatter live, it was a great gig, after the gig people were coming to talk to Mick in a stand where he was selling two cd singles, in order to buy, or take a picture with him or even hug him and tell him what a great musician he is and how to keep up the good work. I also had to tell him to keep it up and I took a picture with him and of course I bought the two cd singles also. The first cd single contains 3 tracks, one being Welcome To The Machine, which is a Pink Floyd cover along with two other tracks that are live versions of his own songs.
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The second cd single contains three tracks, the first track Too Late has been unreleased until here now, another track called By My Side which is an INXS cover and a third track which is an acoustic version of his own song.
Moving on, let's see some greek stuff too. A band I discovered on the net searching for greek bands is Nekkar. The album presented here is their debut album and it's self-titled. (Sorry for the blurry photo)
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Having downloaded the album and listened to it I first thought that it was interesting. After 2-3 years I saw a post in a group in facebook where people sell their cds and vinyl records that someone was selling this album. The asking price was cheap, so I ran to get it believing that it also has to have some collectible value. The music genre is Doom metal, which is among my favourite genres. Sakis from Rotting Christ has participated vocally in one track as well. Overall it's a promising album and I'd welcome their next release to listen to.
Up next we meet Aetherian. It's the band I mentioned somewhere above. The album presented here is their debut EP called Tales of Our Times.
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The funny part with this band is that I've seen them live in a festival among 3 bands and I went there for the other two bands that I had heard their material. I asked a friend to join me and we went. Aetherian showed up first to play and I remember my friend who also didn't know them saying how he liked them. I didn't think much of them at that moment, I was just waiting to see the other two bands that I knew. Overall it was a great show from all 3 bands and we had a good time. My friend bought this EP among the cds of the bands there, I didn't buy anything. On our way home in the car we played this cd and I was thinking, this sounds great, I hadn't realized by seeing them live. So I downloaded and listened to it for more and I knew that I wanted in my collection. I ordered it in a cheap price and received it. This album is promising and by now they have released their debut full - length album, which I've also ordered. Their new work is also good and even more promising. The music genre is Melodic Death Metal and the band attends the genre with just the appropriate care and solemnity needed to make a difference. I hope they exceed their already high standards in their next works.
Next we have Daylight Misery and the album presented here is called The Great Absence.
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I had heard this album from a social media website. A friend had shared it, I've heard a lot of stuff this guy has shared and have learned good music from his sharing. I liked it straight away and then downloaded it to listen to more. After a while, can't really remember how long while I decided to buy it. I went with the same friend I mentioned above to a metal music shop to buy it in a good price and at the same time give a few of my old cds I didn't want. The music genre here is Doom/Death/Gothic Metal and it's really very pleasant to listen to and enjoy. I would have loved to see them live, but so far the circumstances haven't helped to do that.
After we meet with Rotting Christ and their album called Aealo.
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I have liked this album pretty much for a few tracks in it that stand strong in my opinion and I'm happy to have it in my collection. I bought it from the same facebook group mentioned above where people can buy or sell cds and records. I am a Rotting Christ fan and I have in mind to get more RC albums sooner or later.
Coming to the end with the greek scene, we see another Rotting Christ album. This album is called Rituals. I've shown this album in my previous post, having in on vinyl as well.
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As shown above, it's the Box Set, where inside there's the CD along with 3 stickers plus a patch plus a pin.
Next in line there's Mgła. The album presented here is called Exercises In Futility.
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I read about this band and album as a recommendation from somebody in a website's side forum where people also download music via torrenting. I remember reading in that guy's recommendation that if somebody is even the least interested in Black metal, he shouldn't miss this release and this made me go for it to download it and listen to it. I can safely say that this album is among my favourites and I have liked it from the first time I listened to it. I knew I liked it straight away. I'd also have loved to see them live and was very happy to see they would perform in a black metal festival over here, but I didn't go. The interesting part is when I read a review for this festival and the reviewer was stating that there had been people who came to see them perform but then didn't stay to see the headlining band play because they left. Personally I didn't know Mgła before, but I can safely say I know them now. The music genre is Black metal and I love the singer's vocals, their sound, the atmosphere, everything. The band comes from Poland.
Moving on we get to meet Raventale and the album presented is called Dark Substance Of Dharma.
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I learned about this album through a friend I mentioned above and his sharing of music albums in a social media website. The music genre is Black Metal or Atmospheric Black metal and as a genre it is among my favourites. I listened to it once and liked it, then I downloaded it and I just knew that it's an album that earned me. So while meeting with my friend over coffee (the friend we went to the festival mentioned above) and talking about music, I told him I liked this album and he told me that he was planning to make an order from the russian label and he would order this album for me plus the next one which follows from this same band along with his own order.
Continuing what I started we again have Raventale and this album is called Mortal Aspirations.
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This is an older album of the band when it was still an one man project as it started. Having listened to the previous album shown I had to dig to listen to more of Raventale. It goes without saying that having bought this album I've also liked it a lot. Here the music genre is Doom metal. The band comes from Ukraine.
Edit: I shall continue this post to complete it. Next we get to see Sojourner and their debut album called Empires of Ash.
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Again, I learned this band from my internet friend who's sharing music albums in a social media website. I always check his posts when he's sharing music genres that I like and this was one of those cases. Sojourner are a new band who play Epic/Atmospheric Black Metal and it's very enjoyable to listen to. I like that the members come from a far off place like New Zealand, which is a country I'd love to visit one day. Only the vocalist resides in Sweden. The singer's vocals are just great and I discovered his youtube channel where he has been presenting music album that he likes, albums actually that he has bought and it has been fun to watch him show them and talk about them. Recently though he stated that he won't continue with new videos in his channel due to other stuff he has to do and the goodbye is never an easy thing, but not that it's such a big problem to stick to it forever.
Moving on, it's Eudaimony's turn and their debut album called Futile.
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Again I heard this album from this same friend sharing music albums. What can I say about this music, listening to it I think it speaks for itself. The music genre is Post-Black Metal and it aims straight to the heart of the listener. The band is a collaboration of members from Germany & Sweden.
Next band to present here are Agathodaimon. The album is called In Darkness. (another blurred photo, sorry about it)
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I downloaded this album probably without having heard it to begin with. I guess what made me download it was the music genre which is Gothic/Black Metal. I must had thought it should be great since these genres are among my favourites. There's a chance that I listened to a sample before downloading to get an idea, but don't remember at all whether I did or didn't. This band is from Germany. After some time I searched for this band in facebook and I saw an announcement stating that the band will pause or even split because life's priorities get in the way stopping them from working on the music they like and making music not in the same high standards they always pursued or half hearted. I must say here that although I understand it with my mind, I thought that there are other bands who still go ahead and work making music even if their lives' circumstances change. However that's easy to say, not that easy to actually do it, right? True.
Reaching almost the end of the albums I'm presenting here, let me get to Agalloch. The album shown is called Ashes Against the Grain. (another yet again blurred photo)
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What a great album, among my favourites for sure! I had heard of Agalloch long time in facebook where a friend at the time had linked in his page a track from them. I had listened to it and had liked it but didn't search for anything else and naturally forgot about the band. Then, after a few years for some reason I decided to download their discography and I was stunned by this album. Agalloch used to be, now split - up, a band from Portland, Oregon and a very good atmospheric band playing and fusing different elements and genres like Post-metal, folk metal, black metal, doom metal. I truly wanted to have this album in my collection and last year my girlfriend bought it for me for my birthday. Awesome addition to the albums I've got indeed.
And last but not least we get to meet Crematory. The album presented here is called Believe.
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Crematory are a Gothic metal band from Germany. In their latest album they fuse industrial elements in their music too. This album here is a bit older. The thing with this album is that I didn't go out of my home looking to buy it, I just went with my friend to Monastiraki flea market in Athens to give some old cds in a second hand music shop and while browsing the metal cds available there I saw Crematory and thought that this band is a band I'd love to have in my collection and so I bought this. My friend encouraged me to buy it because he knows how this particular shop works in terms of the discs' condition and he made me feel positive that it would be like new the condition. Also, I thought it would be great to buy this edition, because as it says on the cover it is a limited edition shape cd. Naturally I thought it should have some collectible value. By the way, I'd love to buy more Crematory albums in cassette format that I've spotted and the older albums are very nice albums.
Right, we have reached the end here, I have intentionally left out a few other albums, greek mostly plus a remastered Metallica - ...and Justice for All album.
Kind regards for stopping by to have a look at this post, please comment if you want or upvote if you want.
i like Antimatter and Daniel Cavanagh! i also like melodic death metal ,but the vocals are too brutal for my music style now...
thanks for sharing good music ;)
I know you my friend and I know you've got good taste in music. I encourage you to share your own collection of music.
i already did in my first posts on steemit ;)
WoW !!!!!!!!!!! Δε σε είχα αντιληφθεί νωρίτερα .. following upvoted resteemed .Καλή συνέχεια !
Thank you! Follow you back.