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1.
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Iron Maiden - Powerslave (Ace's High - England - Ok, I lied. It's a metal site, so I listed a metal band. Truth is I was listening to "The Queen Is Dead" by The Smiths as despite listening to Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Motorhead, Joy Division and my favorite band of all time being The Cure as well as a host of other stuff, nothing is more British than Moz, Marr and The Smiths.) |
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2.
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Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini (Waruun - Norway - flying in to Bergen seemed most fitting. Favorite album by my fave Bergen Band. While in Norway I drank beers with Milena and her Husband. You think she's awesome? Click them both up another notch on the Awesome Meter.) |
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3.
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Entombed - Left Hand Path (Left Hand Path - Sweden - only fitting, my first Swedish metal band and due to a train being canceled we were re-routed through Gothenburg.) |
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4.
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Skepticism - Alloy (The Arrival - Finland - Golly, see what I did there. Aren't I clever?) |
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5.
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No Mercy - Lay Down Sally (Eric Clapton Cover - Estonia - Well, we took a Cruise ship across the Baltic and had some cool dude playing Cash and other classic tunes in an acoustic solo set, but lingering memory was a band on a bigger stage called No Mercy playing Clapton. Sounded like a thrash band name, played like a house cover band on a cruise ship. Met up with Ivor and he tried to help me kill the memory with the best Estonian cerveza. I wish I had hair like he does.) |
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6.
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Seinfeld - The Conversion (Riga - Latvia - Is there one aspect of the faith that you find particularly attractive? "I think the hats. The hats convey that solemn religious look you want in a faith. Very pious." Shortened episode here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ick7CcASccQ&t=1s .) |
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7.
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Au-Dessus - End Of Chapter (VII - Lithuania - Vilnius. Was back on the slow bus and Metal trip. Reviewed these guys years ago and when searching our handy MS database for Lithuanian acts they popped up and I had Total Recall. If you are reading this, please, open a new tab and fucking start playing this album. Great then, great now.) |
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8.
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Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle Earth (When Sorrow Sang - Germnay - Shocker?!? I know. [band]Ahab[band] clearly my fave German band. But flying into Berlin seemed something Power Epic was in order. POWER!) |
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9.
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Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath (A Dangerous Meeting - Denmark - Flying in to Copenhagen, knowing I would be meeting up with Mr. Doctor, seemed "A Dangerous Meeting" was in order. Tried to kill him with beer. Not as successful as last time in Santiago, Chile, he kept pace and the biggest damage was to our bank accounts. Fuck $13 beers. Our evening at War Pigs ended with them blaring [band]Death[band] and us altering the lyrics of the song ont the fly to "Pull The Pork", is it seemed fitting.) |
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10.
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Vader - The Ultimate Incantation (Testimony - Poland - Flying in to Gdansk, went back to my DM roots. Found this album on an Air Force base in Guam in 1991. No joke. Loved it. Still love it. CONQUER YOUR FEAR! EMBRACE AFFORDABLE BEER! (Our place in Gdansk was a 2 min walk from a state liquor store with a WALL of craft beer. FUNKY FLUID SOURS ARE ONE STEP TO SALVATION!)) |
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11.
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Prague Conspiracy - Renegades (Where's Michael - Czech Republic - Brno. So why a Ska Punk Band and not \m/? Because in 2013 we visited Amsterdam (so I could meet up with Marcel, drink beer and talk 70s soft rock). We were staying on a ship in Westerdok... 5 minutes after we checked into our boat we heard tromping on the dock. This band asked us (tourists in country less than 30 minutes) if they could film a vid on the dock. We shrugged, "sure!" And so it happened. We stayed to the left of the screen for the dock scenes. Have a pic with the entire band minus the singer as she took it. Vid here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-BPzANZxWE) |
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12.
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Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Freezing Moon - Hungary - Budapest. Ok cheated here and went with Mayhem, but hey, my fucking list and Attila is on vox so this counts.) |
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13.
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Negură Bunget - OM (Ceasuri Rele - Romania - Every Train Trip Across The Entire Country. Romania being a non-Schengen country left us more time to explore. Stayed in five cities. This played the entire fucking time, every slow-ass train ride. Also Radu tried to murder me with beer and harder drinks. Suffered a mild head-ache. Maybe from the booze. Maybe from DiscoMix.ro playing shitty 70s/80s (racist) German and Italian disco tunes.) |
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14.
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Obsidian Sea - Between Two Deserts (Flaming Sword - Bulgaria - Loved reviewing this album back in the day, loved it again. Stayed several places (Hail Non-Schengen). Drink Sudaka Brewing Beer.) |
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15.
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Shattered Hope - Absence (The Utter Void - Greece - Shattered Hope are the first band to ask me to review an album/demo. I loved it, love them. So despite being in more of a BUS mood, paid respect to my longest Greek love (aside from Gyros).) |
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16.
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Ashes You Leave - Songs Of The Lost (The Feast - Croatia - slim pickings, no prior awareness. Wasn't going to fly into Dubrovnik listing to the Fucking Game Of Thrones soundtrack. And long before Tyrion existed in pop culture, I was already guzzling barley sodas and dropping knowledge.) |
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17.
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Hellcats - Divja Pot (Heavy Metal - Slovenia - As with Croatia, slim pickings. These ladies would likely have been on posters on my wall if they released back in the mid 80s. Love the attitude, shame they were born after the years they would have made the biggest impact.) |
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18.
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Mortuary Drape - Tolling 13 Knell (Dreadful Discovery - Italy - Could have gone with [band]Ufomammut[band]. Since entering Italy most of my train ride soundtracks have been NightLight's synthwave (Stranger Things Upside Dream) cover of [band]Death[/band]'s Symbolic. But really enjoyed listening to this reissued release older than most reading this... and likely NONE of you read the review. Shame. Do so now. Fun old school Black Metal. Well, NightLight, Sinatra and Dino.) |
