This band is the second Chinese folk metal band I encountered. I was expecting something more like things along the line of 小雨 (Mysterain) when I started listening—which is to say symphonic folk metal—and instead I got … this.

In short I got my mind blown.

This band started my dive into Chinese metal culture, and what I like best about this song, the one that started that dive (or perhaps that pushed me into the deep end of the pool) is that it showed the astonishing diversity of the scene. This is straight-up blackened death metal mixed in cunning ways with traditional Chinese melodies and instrumentation that gives it a unique voice of its own that very few others can match. (葬尸湖/Zuriaake is probably the only other band that can compare in this regard, though less on the instrumentation and more on the melody lines and lyrical content.)

And, not gonna lie, I love watching the faces of westerners when the dan voice kicks in. The "WTAF!?" look just makes me laugh and laugh.

I have not ever heard this band until today. Fell in love in Prodigy influenced sound and Die Antwoord vibes.

Music, setup, pace and style sounds just right to my ears, it's Like I'm playing Need for Speed: Underground again for the first time if you know what I'm talking about =)

If you like Prodigy, Deftones, Maxim, Hyper, Beastie Boys and maybe some Hed P.E. or something from Rob Zombie or Kidneythieves - it might be right for you. That's the feeling I got.

Tang Xianzu is called "The Shakespeare of China". I think this is grossly inaccurate. I think he's a far more talented artist than Shakespeare, mastering not only prose, poetry and dialogue like Shakespeare, but also musical and libretto composition. The masterwork he's most known for, and the one generally considered his best, is 牡丹亭/The Peony Pavilion, a stirring multi-day tour de force of the performing arts. (Because I'm a rebel and a loner I actually personally prefer his 南柯记/Record of the Southern Bough, but The Peony Pavilion is really good too.)

This particular piece is a 皂罗袍 (no translation, really, but transliterated Zao Luo Pao) structured element and is a pivotal moment in the 昆曲/Kunqu opera. It is strongly emotionally charged as the lead character 杜丽娘/Du Liniang has her emotions stirred by the garden's scenery which transforms to romantic thoughts. It is the lead-in to the (very steamy!) dream encounter with 柳梦梅/Liu Mengmei and this results in the rest of the events of the play.

There are several reasons why I adore this particular piece:

1. I'm a fan of Kunqu in general. It is the Chinese operatic form that retains the most relevance to China, despite being its oldest surviving form. This is because most other opera forms have become sterile, courtly affairs that simply recycle music and technique while Kunqu, as an entertainment form of the people, is constantly being rejuvenated as it incorporates the ever-changing culture of the folk around it. (Modern kunqu pieces have, in addition to the traditional vocalization and instrumentation, also incorporated synthesizers, modern drum kits, and even autotune distortions.)

2. Though this is not my favourite Kunqu (that one is 憐香伴/The Fragrant Companion, an openly sapphic work from 1651), or even my favourite one from Tang Xianzu (that is, as I said, Record of the Southern Bough), it is still a piece I thoroughly enjoy both reading and listening to various aria collections from.

3. This piece is a perfect embodiment of the emotional essence of the entire play.

In addition, I greatly enjoy this particular adaptation of it by the Zide Qinshe group.

1. By stripping instrumentation down to only a 古琴/guqin accompaniment to the vocals, it lets the voice shine out as the accompaniment subtly supports it and carries the tune forward.

2. The guqin player, 白无瑕/Bai Wuxia, is one of my favourite guqin performers capable of some astonishing subtleties on that already-subtle instrument.

3. The singer, 钱瑜婷/Qian Yuting (a.k.a. Sunshine), has a gorgeous voice under incredibly tight control.

十面埋伏 (trans: Ambush from All Sides) is a 琵琶 (pípá or "Chinese lute") long form solo composition dating in its first form from the 16th century, but whose current popular form stems from a 19th century publication of collected pipa works. It's written in the 武 (wǔ or martial) style¹ and is a sweeping sonic depiction of the Battle of Gaixia, the final major battle of the Chu-Han Contention, in 202BCE.

This is one of the most demanding and complicated pieces in pipa canon that strains the player's ability in every possible performance technique; if you're listening to someone playing it you're almost certainly listening to a virtuoso performer. Personally I love it because:

1. Its composition is top notch and evokes the battle it portrays with vivid musicality.
2. I admire listening to virtuoso players of any instrument.
3. I like the sound of the pipa in general.

The performance linked to is considered one of the ultimate performances; Liu Fang is, as is required to play this piece at all, a virtuoso but she adds a dimension of passion to the piece rarely heard in the staid world of Chinese classical music.

¹ As opposed to the 文 (wén or civil) style, which tends to be more bucolic in theme and style.

First of all look at the album cover with soviet brutalism - I really like it. Not soviet union though, but the cover. ^^

Overall band's music is not something I would listen, but I liked this particular song and text. I find it hilarious that I got acquainted with this song because one youtuber mentioned it as weird choice for being a "TikTok dressing videos theme song" (what!?). And it actually is. It was funny/weird to look at silly videos while hearing these lyrics (translation from random website is below, it is quite close to the original):

Судно

Эмалированное судно
Окошко, тумбочка, кровать
Жить тяжело и неуютно
Зато уютно умирать
Эмалированное судно
Окошко, тумбочка, кровать
Жить тяжело и неуютно
Зато уютно умирать

И тихо капает из крана
И жизнь растрёпана, как блядь
Выходит, как бы, из тумана
И видит: тумбочка, кровать
И я пытаюсь приподняться
Хочу в глаза ей поглядеть
Взглянуть в глаза и разрыдаться
И никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть
Никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть
Никогда не умереть, никогда не умереть

A bedpan

A window, a nightstand, a bed
Living is hard and uncomfortable
But it is comfortable to die
An enamel bedpan
A window, a nightstand, a bed
Living is hard and uncomfortable
But it is comfortable to die

And it is quietly dripping from a faucet
And life is unkempt like a whore
It appears like out of a fog
And it sees: a nightstand, a bed
And I try to stand up
I want to look into its eyes
Look into its eyes and cry
And never die, never die
Never die, never die,
Never die, never die

Absolutely in love with this song, from the lyrics to the overlaid vocals to the upbeat background music clashing with the more sinister implications of the song.

If anyone has recommendations of similar stuff please share!

I'm (was) not into such music, but these guys did it on another level. I still wonder where such level of sound work is coming from.

I love everything about this song - vibe, quality of source musical material, record and sound work, voice, texture of guitar, bass, drums, vocal and it's awesome usage of extensive tremolo effect.

It was a great song, but the way it's done in the recording in my opinion makes it awesome.

The first time I took LSD I spent the night obsessed with this song. It had this deep meaning that I can still remember and connect to, but have trouble putting into words. When I listen to it I'm right back in that (amazing) night. It felt like a realization of what it means to be lucky, but also to make your own luck, and to have the universe have your back.

Also its just a fantastic song.

I still remember how I played Need for Speed and heard this one. This song has such an interesting "lone road night vibe" for me, still listen to it pretty often. I do recommend to listen to the band if this song is something you enjoyed. They are very good.

Whenever this song comes on shuffle I end up overplaying it for a week. I love the blending vocals and music, and the repeating "la di da la a la a la a la di da" (its hard to type out music haha). Its really the whole vibe of the song, its got a very fun energy to it. I also really like the lack of buildup at the start, you've got vocals from the first second of play.

Also the bands name comes from a bible quote (its not a christian rock band)

They surrounded me like bees; they went out like a fire among thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them off! Psalm 118:12

I love any band that starts with that and ends with

me like bees

Give it a listen!

I found this song from the anime JoJo (its used as an ending) and I found myself playing it in my head for weeks. This lead to listening to the entire album, followed by most of Enigma's discography. So glad I followed this rabbithole because I love the music and its so different from what I usually listen to.

This song is still one of my favorites, I love the way the singer strains his voice while singing "stand up, join us" . He makes it sound more like "staaaaaand up... ... ... joooooiiin uuusssss"and it's amazing. If you have the patience it's worth listening to the song before on the album, "Smell of Desire" as it acts as an awesome buildup into Crusaders.

Alice's voice in this song is so powerful. She takes long pauses between her words and really brings out all of the emotions in the lyrics. One of my favorite songs to really pump up the volume and let it wash over you.

Found this song a few years back by accident. I was trying to look up a song called "Dreams Come True" by my favorite band The Killers and ran into this song instead.

Awesome band thats worth checking out. Their songs are all just keyboard, bass, and vocals which I love. You might not know that they did the music for the first two Sonic games.

This is the first song I ever heard from them and its still my favorite.

A powerful blend of jazz and hip hop that I can never skip when it comes up on shuffle

I did not expect P.O.D. to make two songs I would like this year - AFRAID TO DIE AND DROP.

Though I liked them both DROP is my favorite of two - it's more of their style from first albums. But on the other hand I do love AFRAID TO DIE and Tatiana Shmayluk from Jinjer is a really great singer. And clip is also quite enjoyable.

I did not expect P.O.D. to make two songs I would like this year - AFRAID TO DIE AND DROP.

Though I liked them both DROP is my favorite of two - it's more of their style from first albums. But on the other hand I do love AFRAID TO DIE and Tatiana Shmayluk from Jinjer is a really great singer. And clip is also quite enjoyable.

I love this guys voice so much, and I love the way he just loses it at the end of the song. I also like how when "Jenny is coming after you" starts up the female vocalist starts bopping and its like damn Jenny is right there.

Great singer. This song always gets me. So serene, so explosive. It's great.

Some Indian metal for you. I love vibes/energy of this song, it reminds me of late 90s, early 2000s, where most of my music taste formed.

Still looking for other great tracks I would like from the band.

I guess it's pretty well known and seen by many, but it turned out I forgot about it completely and ranbomly found it on youtube couple of days ago. Decided to show to my wife - we have watched it twice and added to our playlists right away.

Not only clip is astonishing and interesting to watch (I would really like to go to an industrial robot concert in live if there were any), but also music is pretty straightforward electronics I love it.

My favorite song from my favorite ELO album. The album is a concept album about a guy from 1981 who finds himself magically transported to 2095, and this is basically the first song to kick things off. I'm not particularly good at describing music, but the soaring "Twiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiight" in the chorus around 1:50 with the backup vocals falling and rising really hit me. The music sounds very optimistic and almost kind of magical, even though the lyrics are about the singer confused and already starting to wish he was home.

I'm only posting Twilight, but the song melds in with the Prologue before it and the track afterwards, Yours Truly, 2095. They're all worth listening to.

Also, I should probably mention anime dorks of a certain age probably know Twilight (and Prologue) as the music from the Daicon IV opening animation, which is iconic in its own right.

I loved a lot of Trent's early stuff. Then he went to rehab, sobered up, and his music changed. This was one of the first indications I had of his changing style. A lot of fans didn't like it, but I think his songs became much more focused (especially lyrically). And thematically, this song will never not be relevant.

The kind of song that can make you patriotic for a country you'll probably never go to. I like it for the good chorus and the interesting story of how the Belgian's, near the start of WWI, deliberately flooded the Yser Canal, which affected the German trenches and how the Entente and the Belgians successfully crushed the Germans’ hopes of continuing the Schlieffen Plan.

Links to more info: https://www.sabaton.net/historical-facts/battle-of-the-yser-begins/

https://youtube.com/watch?v=lfZACJ0LOqg

This song had a really big impact on me when it first came out. Sadly, it just seems to become more and more relevant as time goes on.

This song makes me nostalgic for a reality I never got to experience - slow paced American countryside.