Music: Sabaton: The Last Stand: Hill 3234

One of the things I love about Sabaton is digging into history I was only marginally aware of, or completely ignorant of.

So, the next song in my ongoing review is one of the latter - about a battled in Afghanistan during the soviet occupation attempt.

History

From infogalactic:

The Battle for Hill 3234 was a successful defensive battle fought by the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment, Soviet Airborne Troops, in Afghanistan against a force of 200 to 250 Mujahideen rebels. Two of the soldiers killed, Vyacheslav Alexandrovich Alexandrov and Andrey Alexandrovich Melnikov, were posthumously awarded the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. All of the paratroopers in this battle were given the Order of the Red Banner and Order of the Red Star.[3]

 The Song

This one is one of the last to grow on me, and still not really my favorite. That said, it's hardly one I skip either. It shifts pace from the anthemic feel of the Last Stand to an almost mechanical headlong rush.  

Landed on the hilltop, soviet forces are in place
Awaiting orders!

They were only 39
They were told to hold the line
In control

Sent into battle, came from the sky
Trapped on a mountain, and into the fire

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

January 7th, hold the hilltop at all costs
Follow orders!

Holding their ground
To the final round
One by one

Fight through the sundown, into the night
Enduring the darkness, awaiting the light

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

Stand, hold your ground
Come around
Hostile land
Your last stand

Under fire, low on munitions
Make your bullets count
Push their warriors back down the mountain
Rule the battlefront

Sent into battle, came from the sky
Trapped on a mountain, and into the fire

Hold your ground
When you're fighting those who fight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill
You have to
Hold your ground
Kill the warrior in your sight
Death is waiting on the hill
No surrender, shoot to kill

Of note is that a movie called The 9th Company was made about this battle, and is the source of the film used in the video here.

(Not Quite) Metal Monday

In addition to my love of prog-rock bands like Rush and ELP, back in the 80's I also loved the explosion of "solo" players like Yngwie, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, etc. Perhaps my favorite though was not a guitarris, but a bassist by teh name of Stuart Hamm.

His albums had a strong science fiction theme. The first was titled Radio Free Albemuth, and the - IMO far better - album that succeeded it and was my first introduction to him, Kings of Sleep, had song titles like "Count Zero" and "Black Ice" explicitly referencing William Gibson cyberpunk stories.

Strap in, and enjoy.

and finally, the title track, "Kings of Sleep"

Metal Monday - Sabaton

Dug up a couple AMV's of Sabaton songs. Mostly Star Wars themed here, though one is the excellent fan-animated short, and hey, the rest are "stuff blowing up" even if it is from Rogue One, etc.

Two Bits of Awesome

What do you get when you mix the inherent awesome of Space Battleship Yamato with the inherent awesome of Sabaton?

An epic space battle set to the song "Midway."

Enjoy.

A little Metal

I was out of town on short notice to deal with some family issues, and my ISP decided, while I was gone, to bollix up internet access. That said, if only courtesy of the Didact, I still have something to post.

Go look at today's metal selection, you'll likely find something you'll like. I'll certainly be looking into more Unleash the Archers.

More Leo - Genie in a Bottle

OK. Is nothing sacred?

Kidding - I'm not an Aguilera fan, and while I'm not a huge fan of death-metal vocals, it works here.

No Such Thing

Jim Fear elaborates a bit on his earlier post on hard SF. This paragraph caught my eye:

I view what we're trying to do here in military terms. Maybe I've been listening to Sabaton too much lately, which is entirely possible, but this is how I've been conceptualizing it. There is, as I said, a crumbling edifice that I'll dub Tradpub (yes I stole that from Brian Niemeier shaddap). Tradpub is a kingdom on the decline. It ruled with an iron fist for many years, but now there are many disparate forces that are looking at the jewels heaped inside and thinking, "I'll be damned, but those would look mighty spectacular in my coffers." There are also those that just want to burn the place to the ground to watch the light show. And so, not through any conspiracy but through sheer organic growth, armies formed and began to assail the kingdom of Tradpub. The two we're concerned with are the Superversive Army and the Forces of the Pulp Revolution. [emphasis mine]

 Before I get on with any commentary - there is no such thing as too much Sabaton. Sure, it's nice to listen to Iron Maiden, Yngwie, Nightwish, I even Like Dragonforce, and of course prog rock, etc., but too much Sabaton?

Never!

Where was I?

Oh yeah, go read his post.

And since he posted Blood of Bannock Burn:

MetalMonday - the Call of the Mountains

Ok. My tastes - as noted elsewhere - are varied. I spent most of this last weekend listening to Eric Raymond's "Intricate Fire" Pandora list. It's self described as "I'm a long-time jazz fusion fan who has more recently gravitated to virtuoso guitarists and a harder, more metal-edged sound." and is rooted in bands like Liquid Tension Experiment, with odds and ends of Satriani and harder metal popping in. This also explains why my collection, even before Spotify and similar streaming services were readily available, included bands like the Cruxshadows that are kinda-sorta darkwave but incorporate violins, and Voltaire, who can be best described as "acoustic goth-punk" (though he has done country).

So on an unrelated note, I'm utterly amazed, but unsurprised to discover the following. Check out the video. Yes, those are bagpipes. and a harp, and a lute, a... nevermind.

Call of the Mountains, by Eluveitie.

Music: Sabaton: The Last Stand: The Last Stand

One of my favorite bands is the "power metal" band Sabaton, who theme most of their albums around war and warfare. The most recent album, The Last Stand, features desperate last stands. Some were indeed "last" - as in the stand of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, some were "merely" desperate.

History

This song, the title track for the album, concerns itself with the last stand of the papal Swiss guard in 1527, when the Duke of Bourbon attacked Rome in search of loot to distract mutinous troops who had not been paid.

As a result of his troops' attitudes, Bourbon decided to attack Rome, known to be filled with potential loot.[2] The city, considered to be the inviolable capital of Christendom,[2] was left almost defenseless, and, when the Pope anxiously ordered the citizens to take up arms, only 500 obeyed. Bourbon's troops quickly overwhelmed the defenders and began to plunder the ancient city. Near St. Peter's Basilica, the Swiss Guard, as the Pope's elite bodyguard unit, deployed. The captain, Kaspar Röist, intended to hold off the attackers long enough for Clement to escape across the Passetto di Borgo.

Joined by remnants of the Roman garrison, the Swiss made their stand in a cemetery well within the Vatican. Captain Röist was wounded and then killed by Spanish mercenaries, in full view of his wife.[3] The Swiss fought bitterly, but were heavily outnumbered and almost annihilated. Some survivors, accompanied by a band of refugees, retreated to the Basilica steps. Those who fled toward the Basilica were massacred, and just above forty survived. This group of forty, under the command of Hercules Goldli, managed to stave off the Habsburg troops pursuing the Pope's entourage as it made its way across the Passetto to the Castel Sant'Angelo.[3]

 The Song

The song itself slows down again from the headlong rush of "Rorke's Drift" to a steady, driving, powerful march, with the song introduced by ringing bells.

Leaving aside how rare it is in popular culture to praise or glorify men standing up and fighting - something metal hardly lacks in (see, for example, Five Finger Death Punch), and something that Sabaton explicitly has made a career of with their war and hero themed music - it is fairly rare in metal, given the number of northern European bands, to be positive towards Christianity. This song is an utterly unironic anthem to men who stood their ground in the name of God. 

In the heart of holy see
In the home of Christianity
The seat of power is in danger

There's a foe of a thousand swords
They've been abandoned by their lords
Their fall from grace will pave their path, to damnation

Then the 189
In the service of heaven
They're protecting the holy line
It was 1527
Gave their lives on the steps to heaven
Thy will be done!

For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Gave their lives so boldly

For the grace, for the might of our lord
In the name of his glory
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Come and tell their story again

Under guard of 42
Along a secret avenue
Castle saint Angelo is waiting

They're the guard of the holy see
They're the guards of Christianity
Their path to history is paved with salvation

Then the 189
In the service of heaven
They're protecting the holy line
It was 1527
Gave their lives on the steps to heaven
Thy will be done!

For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Gave their lives so boldly

For the grace, for the might of our lord
In the name of his glory
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Come and tell their story again

Dying for salvation with dedication
No capitulation, annihilation
Papal commendation, reincarnation
Heaven is your destination

Dying for salvation with dedication
No capitulation, annihilation
Papal commendation, reincarnation
Heaven is your destination

In the name of god

For the grace, for the might of our lord
For the home of the holy
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Gave their lives so boldly

For the grace, for the might of our lord
In the name of his glory
For the faith, for the way of the sword
Come and tell their story
Gave their lives so boldly
Come and tell the Swiss Guards' story again

Also, I had been told that for "The Lost Battalion", the drum sounds were actually created from sampled gunfire. Here's the interview I since found discussing that:

Metal Monday, from Heroes, by Sabaton

A double dose of Sabaton today, from the album Heroes -

The first bit is "Resist and Bite" - about the Chasseurs Ardennais of the Beligian Armed Forces, in WW2.

The second is "To Hell and Back" - about Audie Murphy.

More Metal Covers

This one, I'm torn.

Granted, the rest of the stuff by Blur I found unlistenable, and no, I can't forgive Starship Troopers for introducing me to Song2 via the trailers, but Song 2 simply rocks. When it comes to the sound of the guitars, I prefer the original.

That said, having the lyrics delivered in a aggressive, in your face manner rather than the whiny bitchiness of Blur.... epic.

Last King of Pictdom

OK - never heard of the band Eternal Champion, or the album The Armor of Ire, before Sky Hernstrom posted it to Google+.

Catchy little number. Thank you.

Take on Me - the Metal Version

Something a bit lighter for today - Leo Moracchioli does some excellent metal covers of various popular songs. He has a better ear for what works in his chosen genre than Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (who have some fun punk covers but really overdo it), as well as a better feel for what makes the song tick, and how to adapt them to metal.

So, not quite #throwbackthursday - Take on me.

Iron Maiden - Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Powerslave is still one of my favorite albums by these guys.

Very metal Noise Pollution

OK, Vox showed this vid, a metal cover of an Adele song.

OK. That was... awesome.  Sure - there's harder metal out there, but as much as, say, Amon Amarth has awesome music, death metal vocals aren't my thing. The symphonic end with Nightwish and Within Temptation, a little Five Finger Death Punch, a little Drowning Pool...

And these guys rock. And they're willing to go out on a limb, and to look silly doing so. Take a look at the vid for Gangnam Style.

Or Shakira's Waka Waka - I haven't listened past her first couple albums but the lady does have talent (not just looks), and these guys put an entirely new spin on it.

You can also find covers of Gangsters Paradise, Eye of the Tiger, The Final Countdown, and music from Frozen, among other things. Ant they're on iTunes, Amazon, etc.

#MetalMonday

A friend of mine in High School handed me a mix tape full of various rock music, and on the second side of said tape, he included the song I'm linking to here.

Until that point in time, while I had a minimal familiarity with Iron Maiden, etc., I had no idea that metal could be anything but Scorpion-glam, or annoyingly noisy stuff (with some exceptions for Priest and Maiden) compared to Floyd, Led Zeppelin, etc.

Holy shit.

I can blame my love for both symphonic and power metal on this one damn track.

Just got back from a long trip so likely all I'm posting today...

#MetalMonday - Drowning Pool - Bodies

While I was disappointed by the abrupt and somewhat Deus Ex ending to Ringo's otherwise entertaining "Black Tide Rising" zombie series, there are a number of scenes in it (as well as a lot of dropped red and purple pill knowledge that can be seen through the placement of lampshading that authors buying into grrrrl power would never insert) that are just epic.

Having lived near Jax, and visited the waterfront downtown where a critical scene takes place, I get a huge shit-eating whenever I think of that initial salvo being timed to "Bodies" by Drowning Pool.

Metal Monday

OK. I originally latched onto Five Finger Death Punch when some enterprising marine set a USMC birthday video to their cover of "Bad Company" from War is the Answer. It's in that small percentage of songs where I consider the cover vastly superior to the original, though admittedly it does help that I've never been a fan of the band Bad Company.

I also loved the answer he gave to why the album was called what it was - namely, that everything is struggle, at its base. I know some liberal heads exploded at that, if they had not already been turned into a fine mist by the title itself.

I'm including that here, as well as a couple other songs including another pretty decent cover of theirs, though one I'd not argue is better.

Have fun guys, and kick ass

A Bit of Metal for Monday

I promise to get back to the song-by-song overview of The Last Stand, but while I'm getting things together, a bit of big-hair 80's style glam and gloriousness alongside some seriously great Nightwish:

Which due to the very 80's look of the video, made me think of the Scorpions:

and