Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Moon Above, Sun Below by Opeth

Today's Metal Track is Moon Above, Sun Below by Opeth. It's really more progressive rock than metal but who cares. This is off of their latest album, Pale Communion, which was just released last month. 1:25 -1:55 is just fantastic and the solos throughout the song are free flowing and fit really well with the song.

The entire album is really a progressive rock album with all clean vocals that is sending many Opeth faithfuls into tizzies right now because they want their old Opeth back! I'm really enjoying this album but I didn't go into it expecting the traditional death metal Opeth from Blackwater Park and Deliverance. I look at it as the great progressive rock album it was intended to be.

Scott's Instrumental Track of the Day - Arpeggios from Hell by Yngwie Malmsteen

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is Arpeggios from Hell by Yngwie Malmsteen. As stated in the video, this piece was put together for an instructional video and was simply dubbed Arpeggios from Hell. An Arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played in sequence instead of all at once. It was later released as a bonus track on his 2010 album Relentless.

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - The Weight by The Band

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is The Weight by The Band. This is off the their 1968 debut album Music from Big Pink. This song is about a traveler who visits a southern town called Nazareth and meets different characters when trying to find a place to stay; The Devil, Carmen, Miss Mosses, Luke, and Crazy Chester. The band Nazareth got their name from this song.

When I first heard this song when I was little I thought the chorus said "Take a load of Fanny" and it always reminded me of my Aunt Fannie. Then for years I thought I was wrong and that it was actually Annie until I looked it up today. Turns out I was right to start with. There is a character named Anna Lee but there is also a character named Ms. Fanny who charged the traveler with the responsibility (The Weight or the load) to send her regards to the people in the town.

Weekend Wildcard - Lady by Styx

This Weekend's Wildcard is Lady by Styx. This is off of their 1973 album Styx II. After the song became a hit a couple of years later, the band switched record companies. This is the only song from the band's four Wooden Nickel-era albums that is still performed live. They have disowned all other songs from that era.

The singer wrote this song for his wife. He initially wrote it on an electric piano but when he got to the recording studio, there was an acoustic piano there and he liked the sound so much that he ended up recording it on that instead.

In hindsight, I should have worked this into our wedding reception! This was used in Old School as at Frank the Tank's wedding reception performed by the The Dan Band.



Old School

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - World Ablaze by Killswitch Engage

Today's Metal Track is World Ablaze by Killswitch Engage. This is off of their breakthrough album The End of Heartache which was released in 2004. This was the first album to feature Howard Jones on vocals and the first where Adam D was the lead guitarist. Prior to this album he provided the drums.

This particular YouTube video added the instrumental And Embers Rise to the end for some reason (The last 1:10). I couldn't find a version with just World Ablaze.

"Let it all fall!!!!
Set this world ablaze"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - A Warrior's Call by Volbeat

Today's Metal Track is A Warrior's Call by Volbeat. This is off of the Danish band's 2010 album Beyond Hell/Above Heaven. It is dedicated to Mikkel Kessler, a world champion Danish boxer who provides guest vocals in the song ("Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight").

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Eyes of the Insane

Today's Metal Track is Eyes of the Insane by Slayer. This is off of their 2006 album Christ Illusion. This song won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance in 2007.

This is a really cool video that portrays the hardships and mental anguish of an American soldier through the reflection of one of his pupils. The reflections show horrific scenes of war and flashbacks of his family at home. I really like the part at 2:40 when the bomb drops and he is covered in debris before waking up in the hospital.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Salt the Wound by Exodus

Today's Metal Track is Salt the Wound by Exodus (Featuring Kirk Hammett). This is off of the band's upcoming album Blood In, Blood Out which is scheduled to be released October 14. This is the first album with vocalist Steve Zetro since 2004. Kirk Hammett, the original Exodus guitarist before joining Metallica, provides a guest solo on this song.

Scott's Instrumental Metal Track of the Day - Plateau of the Ages by Agalloch

Today's Instrumental Metal Track is Plateau of the Ages by Agalloch. This is my favorite song off of their newest album The Serpent & The Sphere.

The band is named after a resinous wood found in larger evergreen trees that are native to Souteast Asia. When the wood becomes infected with a certain type of mold, the trees produce a resin to fight off the infection which results in a dark and dense heartwood. The resulting wood is valued in many cultures for its fragrance and is use for incense. When I saw them live earlier this year they burn some of the incense during the show.

Easy Like Sunday Morning Track - Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn

Today's Easy Like Sunday Morning Track is Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn. This is off of his 1991 self-titled debut album. This one hit wonder landed Marc Cohn a Grammy for Best New Artist in 1992.

Weekend Wildcard - Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil

This Weekend's Wildcard is Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil. This is the opening track off of the Australian band's 1987 album Diesel and Dust. The band had many more songs but this was by far their biggest hit.

This is a protest song about giving native Australian lands back to the Pintupi, who were among the very last people to come in from the Gibson Desert in Australia. In 1984, due to a severe drought which had dried up all of the springs and depleted the bush foods, a group of the Pintupi people who were living a traditional semi-nomadic desert-dwelling life, walked out of the desert and made contact for the first time with European-Australian society.

"The time has come
A fact's a fact
It belongs to them
Let's give it back"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Mist by Protest the Hero

Today's Metal Track is Mist by the Canadian progressive metal band Protest the Hero. This is off of their latest album, Volition, which was released in 2013. Chris Adler, from Lamb of God provided drums on this album because the previous drummer and founding member left before the recording process started.

This is  a pretty neat song that the band wrote honoring the people of Newfoundland. It's explained in more detail in the video but one of the big things they talk about is the fans holding up the stage and the drummer for them to finish a song after they almost knocked it down by rushing to the front.

Music starts at 1:55

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - People of the Lie by Kreator

Today's Metal Track is People of the Lie by the German thrash metal band Kreator. This is off of the band's 1990 album Coma of Souls. After this album the band began to experiment with other musical genres before returning to their thrash roots in 2001.

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Funeral Bell by Black Label Society

Today's Metal Track is Funeral Bell by Black Label Society. This is off of their 2003 album The Blessed Hellride. This rhythm guitar in this song is pretty brutal. I think the song is about self-destruction through excessive lifestyles.

"Ohhhhhhhh
So high, and then I fell
Ohhhhhhhh
Can't stop the ringing of my funeral bell"

Scott's Metal Track of the Day - Jake Leg by Baroness

Today's Metal Track is Jake Leg by Baroness. This is off of their 2009 album Blue Record. Jake Leg is a reference to an ailment caused by a Jamaican ginger extract (Jake) that was used to bypass the Prohibition laws. In 1930, Jake users started to lose the use of their hands and feet and had difficulty walking. Those that were afflicted were said to have Jake Leg.