the twentysecond video is alive but dead by rage. this is a live version of a song from a metal band for an orchestra with amplified guitars, played with the lingua mortis orchestra from minsk, belarus. other bands did such projects earlier, but this is still one of my favorite orchestra and metal combinations (next to waltari, but more about that later ;-) ). the lyrics can be found here.

this is metal. it also has an orchestra. try it if you want.

i like it because… it’s a really good blend of classic and metal. in my opinion, one of the best. i also first heard this on the dark winter nights sampler, which i already mentioned several times during this series :-)

this will be the last best-of-list for this year. this time, i want to list the albums which influenced and intrigued me most during this year. this time, in chronological order.

1. moonsorrow: viides luku: hävitetty.
2. moonsorrow: verisäkeet.
3. timo rautiainen & trio niskalaukaus: hartes land.
4. finntroll: visor om slutet.
5. distorted: memorial.
6. orphaned land: mabool — the story of the three sons of seven.
7. swallow the sun: ghosts of loss.
8. bolt thrower: those once loyal.
9. the 3rd and the mortal: tears laid in earth.
10. rage: lingua mortis.
11. kari rueslåtten: other people’s stories.
12. primordial: to the nameless dead.

after making a best of concerts list for this year, i decided to make a best of albums list for all albums i have bought until now. i divided this up into several categories:

• prog;
• punk/punk rock;
• trip hop, alt rock;
• other non-metal;
• metal: atmospheric;
• metal: death/black;
• metal: doom;
• metal: extreme prog;
• metal: folk/pagan/viking;
• metal: gothic;
• metal: power;
• metal: prog;
• metal: other.

note that this list reflects a snapshot of my current interest and remembrance of most of the albums. it could already be different in a few days. but feel free to comment or discuss this with me.

prog.

1. porcupine tree: deadwing.
2. pure reason revolution: the dark third.
3. frost: milliontown.
4. opeth: damnation.
5. porcupine tree: the sky moves sideways.

punk/punk rock.

1. die ärzte: die bestie in menschengestalt.
2. wizo: uuaarrgh!.
3. die toten hosen: kauf mich!.
4. die ärzte: planet punk.
5. die ärzte: 13.

trip hop, alt rock.

1. kari rueslåtten: other people’s stories.
2. radiohead: ok computer.
3. portishead: portishead.

other non-metal.

1. kari rueslåtten: spindelsinn.
2. nine inch nails: the downward spiral.
3. eläkeläiset: humppasirkus.
4. bohren & der club of gore: black earth.

metal: atmospheric.

1. the 3rd and the mortal: tears laid in earth.
2. finntroll: visor om slutet.
3. tool: 10 000 days.
4. anathema: a natural disaster.

metal: death/black.

note that i took out the prog death/prog black (avantgarde) albums into its own category, called metal: extreme prog.

1. bolt thrower: those once loyal.
2. moonspell: the antidote.
3. wintersun: wintersun.
4. amorphis: elipse.
5. childen of bodom: hatebreeder.

metal: doom.

i think this is the category where i could have made the longest list. there are many really good albums missing, for example down and love and death by sentenced, the other swallow the sun albums, sunn o))) and boris‘ altar, some candlemass albums, unholy‘s the second ring of power, and some more.

1. sentenced: frozen
2. swallow the sun: ghosts of loss.
3. type o negative: world coming down.
4. tiamat: prey.
5. unholy: rapture.

metal: extreme prog.

this category is dominated by opeth; therefore, i decided to list the top seven instead of the top five.

1. opeth: still life.
2. orphaned land: mabool — the story of the three sons of seven.
3. opeth: blackwater park.
4. distorted: memorial.
5. opeth: orchid.
6. borknagar: epic.
7. edge of sanity: crimson (part one).

metal: folk/pagan/viking.

1. moonsorrow: viides luku: hävitetty.
2. moonsorrow: verisäkeet.
3. primordial: to the nameless dead.
4. finntroll: jaktens tid.
5. moonsorrow: voimasta ja kunniasta.

metal: gothic.

1. lacuna coil: karma code.
2. tristania: beyond the veil.
3. lake of tears: a crimson cosmos.
4. poisonblack: lust stained despair.

metal: power.

1. nevermore: dead heart in a dead world.
2. nevermore: dreaming neon black.
3. symphony x: paradise lost.
4. communic: waves of visual decay.
5. nightwish: oceanborn.

metal: prog.

1. dream theater: train of thought.
2. the gathering: mandylion.
3. ayreon: the human equation.
4. dream theater: metropolis pt. 2 — scenes from a memory.
5. dream theater: images and words.

metal: other.

1. timo rautiainen & trio niskalaukaus: hartes land.
2. rage: lingua mortis.
3. samael: solar soul.
4. annihilator: king of the kill.
5. apocalyptica: cult.

besides apocalyptica, there’s another creat classic/metal crossover to mention, lingua mortis by rage and the symphonic orchestra prague. this is not simply a version of some songs with an orchestra in the background (that’s more common, see, for example, metallica‘s s&m and dream theater‘s score), but a complete rewrite of several older rage songs for orchestra together with the usual rage instruments. my first contact with this really excellent piece of music was, again, the sampler dark winter nights, which contained the alive but dead.
this year, rage was on tour with the lingua mortis orchestra, playing in Київ, Санкт-Петербург, Москва, vizovice and, finally, at the wacken open air. originally, they were supposed to also play at the metal dayz in pratteln, but as these were cancelled, i had no chance to see them… :-(