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The other day I came across a pretty interesting articles about a study that had been done in the UK relating the type of music that people listen to to their personality traits. While a lot of the results may not be too surprising, it's interesting to see an actual professional study done about it.

Personally the result was pretty much dead-on. Being a big fan of both rock/metal, classical, and combinations of the two, the different personality traits for each type really match up with me. Personally I wasn't really that surprised in the similarity between metal and classical. Most people will stereotype listeners of both styles based on the image or what they think about it without actually paying attention to or knowing anything about what actually matters matters; the music. Both styles are very similar in their structure as well as the amount of talent and virtuosity that goes into the mastering of songwriting and playing the instruments in these styles. I heard someone say once that if Beethoven was alive today he'd be in Led Zeppelin or something like that...

I guess I'm not alone in getting strange looks when I tell someone I like classical music and metal.


See the full story and the breakdown for a bunch of different genres here.


For anyone interested, there are many bands that mix orchestral elements and heavy music. Here are some of the more well-known ones:

Kamelot
Rhapsody of Fire
Nightwish
Epica
Trans-Siberian Orchestra

Work and sleep have been dominating my life and my music-listening has suffered terribly. From about ~350 tracks per week down to ~15 (not counting the mp3 player).

Thankfully the Kamelot concert is coming up plus the possibility of seeing Edguyand Sonata Arctica.

Well, it only took 1 year and 9 months, but I've finally hit 10,000 tracks (although if i factored in my mp3 player I'd expect it to be close to double this number) and I can proudly say that I've listened to every single one. Never would I leave music on when I wasn't there. When I first started my top artists we're dominated by Hammerfall and Helloween so you can see how much my musical tastes have expanded since then.

Top Artists Overall
Blind Guardian
Kamelot
Edguy
HammerFall
Helloween
Sonata Arctica
Gamma Ray
Demons & Wizards
Freedom Call
In Flames



Top Artists in the Last 3 Months
Blind Guardian
Kamelot
Gamma Ray
HammerFall
Sabaton
Freedom Call
Falconer
Children of Bodom
Helloween
Edguy

Is the majority of the music you listen to metal, in one of its multitude of forms? If it is we'd be happy to have you join our forum!

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(Top 6 Artists on Darkwold (for connections))
Iron Maiden
Blind Guardian
Metallica
Apocalyptica
Nightwish
Sonata Arctica

The day before I was going to order tickets to Blind Guardian in Toronto, they sell out. Checked around everywhere and there's not a ticket to be found (unless you wanna pay some site $135 . . . each).


*Goes and kills self*

The Emotion Game V 1.0

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Which song makes you feel...
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Acceptance - Peace of Mind - Boston
Agitation - Fire in Our House - Astral Doors
Amusement - All The Clowns - Edguy
Anger - Mein Teil - Rammstein
Anticipation - The Greatest Adventure - Glenn Yarbrough
Apathy - Over The Hills and Far Away - Nightwish
Apprehension - ...Of Silence - Sonata Arctica
Awe - This Will Never End - Blind Guardian
Bitterness - Hope V.2 - Apocalyptica
Boredom - Do You Know What You're Fighting For - Helloween
Calmness - Carry the Blessed Home - Blind Guardian
Comfort - Glory to the Brave - HammerFall
Confidence - Get It Up - Helloween
Confused - Soul Society - Kamelot
Courage - Courage - Manowar
Depression - Down Where I Am - Demons & Wizards
Disappointment - We Don't Need a Hero - Edguy
Desire - Headbanger's Ballroom - Masterplan
Frustration - Wounds - Masterplan
Grief - Where Death Seems to Dwell - Amon Amarth
Guilt - The Boy Who Wanted to be a Real Puppet - Sonata Arctica
Hate - Out of Control - Edguy
Homesickness - Wander - Kamelot
Hope - Carry On My Wayward Son - Kansas
Humility - Skywards - Elvenking
Joy - The Great Eternity - Majestic Vanguard
Jealousy - The Haunting - Kamelot
Loneliness - Full Moon - Sonata Arctica
Longing - If I Could Fly - Helloween
Love - Day Eleven: Love - Ayreon
Nostalgia - Imaginations From The Other Side - Blind Guardian
Pain - Dark Wings, Dark Words - HammerFall
Peace - Dust in the Wind - Kansas
Pride - We Got The Right - Helloween
Remorse - In Quest For - Avantasia
Sadness - Punishment Divine - Blind Guardian
Self-pity - Bright Eyes - Blind Guardian
Suspense - Your Bedtime Story is Scaring Me - In Flames
Worry - Fear of the Dark - Iron Maiden
------------------------------------

Feel free to add your own categories.

About a year and a half after their last record, HammerFall has released their newest album, Threshold. When I heard that it would be using a lot of material that was written at all different stages of the bands life, I expected a somewhat mixed-bag of songs. And that is exactly what this is; for good or for bad. Die hard fans will like everything as it is all very well-produced and doesn't differ too much from any of their old stuff with speedy songs in the like of the ones from Legacy of Kings and Renegade to the more mid-tempo songs they've been putting out recently. Although, the variety in the songs ensures that there is something for everyone, it can also be a bit of a negative for anyone who prefers one style of song over another. As has been the case with the past few albums, Threshold is not a huge leap forward compared to other albums, but rather a reuse of their trademark formula with a few twists.

My first impressions of the album were not as high as they may have been seeing as only a few of the songs have that initial catchiness. Upon further listening a lot of the songs did grow on me more as I became more familiar with them. Particular songs worth mentioning would be Natural High and Dark Wings, Dark Words. Natural High is a speedy song with the trademark soaring chorus that you would come to expect from Hammerfall. Dark Wings, Dark Words on the other hand is a much slower, atmospheric piece. I can't get over the dark, gloomy mood that it portrays really well.

Overall, I'd say that this album should have something on it for any fan of Power or Heavy Metal. I've come to like the album more over repeated listenings, so make sure you give it a chance to grow on you. While not their strongest album ever, Threshold is a high-quality listening experience if you can look past the 'been-there-done-that' feel and varied songwriting.

77/100

So...

Me and my friend (Dragonique on Last.fm) were somewhat bored so we decided to do a cover of Natural High by HammerFall. Basically it's him on vocals recorded on a computer mic and I mixed it up and I must say it turned out a lot better than I expected, especially considering the crappy equipment we were using.

Anyway, on to the good (or bad) stuff.
Check it out here for your listening pleasure:

(Oh, yes, and if you think it's half-decent, don't forget to give him a shout)

http://www.venteconline.com/nh2.mp3