Ethereal Metal

Hello music fans, Putting my iTunes on shuffle, today’s bringer of melody is Italian gothic rock band Lacuna Coil. The original lineup in 1994 consisted of vocalist Andrea Ferro and bassist/composer Marco Coti Zelati, Raffaele Zagaria on guitars, and Michaelangelo on the drums, with which they released two demos. They originally called themselves Sleep of [...]

Celebrate Celesty!

From the oft-frozen land of Finland comes one of the best power metal bands among the many from this particular area of the world. Celesty was formed in 1998 in Seinäjoki, Finland. The original lineup of the band included bassist Ari Katajamäki, drummer Jere Luokkamäki, and in 1999 guitarist Tapani Kangas. This quartet apparently released [...]

From the Russian unknown

Hailing from Moscow, Russia, Dark Princess reminds me of all of the great gothic metal bands of Scandinavia. There is a great list for you to check out on Facebook. Formed in 2004, the blistering guitar work of guitarists Aleksandr Lubimov and Ilya Klokov compliments the seemingly love-hate nature of the lyrics in the powerful [...]

Irishness: Irish-American-style

For the final shot of Irishness during this most Irish of months I bring you a band that is a little closer to home. Formed in 1997 by Irishman Dave King, Flogging Molly eventually got all the right characters in place: Dave King on guitars, vocals and bodhran; Dennis Casey on guitars and vocals; Matthew [...]

Waylander- hardcore folk metal at its best

Continuing with our theme this month, today’s band comes to us from Armagh, Northern Ireland. Formed in 1993 by brothers Cíaran and Dermot O’Hagan, Waylander originally envisioned their style to resemble that of an ’80s metal band. As if by accident, or perhaps fate, the first song they wrote turned out to be more in [...]

U2 for a Happy St. Pat’s

Happy St. Patrick’s week! Albeit one day late, today’s installment comes from none other than one of the most famous and successful bunch of musicians to ever come out of Ireland, indeed of all time- U2. This iconic group of rockers has been entertaining the masses since forming in 1978. Although they didn’t know much [...]

Around the world Irishness abounds

Greetings, Since St. Patrick’s Day is coming up, I thought I would dedicate this month’s Melodic Mondays to that joyous day of celebration. Normally you might expect to find a great band playing traditional Celtic folk music in Ireland, the birthplace of such music. In 1992, however, longing to perform fairly exclusively classic Irish music, [...]

The Gentle Sounds of Metal

Hey there music lovers, This week I bring you The Very End, a melodic death/thrash metal band from Ruhrgebiet, Germany. Unfortunately, since they formed in 2005 (?) and do not seem to be a very well known band, there isn’t much information out there to share with you. So, just check out their video for [...]