LogFAQs > #950077598

#7 Galneryus - Raise My Sword
Rating: 9.4/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: @Janus5k (2/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prBxPljqt0M

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

You know, you can really tell that a song is going to be great when it just starts out with a long loud scream. I don't know if this was picked out specific to my tastes I've projected all these years, or if Janus and I just have the exact same taste in non-VGM music. I'm leaning towards it probably being the latter, if the "Favorite song about:" topic series is anything to go by.

Galneryus is just a great band! Every time I see them come up in the power metal streams/playlists I always listen to, I know it's going to be a headbanger. Back when I was watching the anime Hunter x Hunter, my jaw slammed to the floor when I heard one of their songs used as an ending theme. I (very slightly) do prefer Hunting For Your Dream to this, but Raise My Sword is still one of my favorite Galneryus songs. Syu is one of the best guitarists in the power metal scene, mixing in a lot of neoclassical metal elements, as is the case with a lot of Japanese power metal, but let's be real here he does it the best. This high energy high speed kind of power metal is my favorite, it's gotta have FAST GUITARS

Japanese Power Metal is a weird rabbit hole I've dived pretty deep into, and there's a whole bunch of really good stuff to be found there. I could go on and on about it (and go even deeper if we start talking about the doujin power metal scene). Japan actually produces some of the best in the genre (along with Finald, Germany, and Brazil). It's actually disappointing that there's not much good stuff like this coming from here in the USA, but there are a few amazing artists to note such as....

#6 Symphony X - Inferno (Unleash the Fire)
Rating: 9.4/10
Have I heard this before?: Yes
Nominator: Janus5k (1/5)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzmZtXDI22M

Okay so Symphony X is one of my favorite bands EVER, as in Top 10 for me. Not only that, but The Odyssey is one of their best albums (spoiler the title track would have placed all the way at NUMBER ONE but I'm also glad that I didn't get swarmed by a bunch of 24 minute-long songs thank you guys, but yeah it's the one "super long" song I've listened to in full several dozen times, okay back to this song). I LOVE how this is the album opener (huzzah for this being the one song in the ranking where I've previously listened to its entire album start to finish), and it just starts out with a meaty, juicy guitar riff. Just like the other music these guys have done, this manages to strike the perfect balance between heavy and melodic, and even with the musical repetition, they still manage to squeeze out a good chunk of Russell Allen's vocal range. Even the slow "ballad-y" part at 3:23 manages to sound cool.

Symphony X is one of those bands where it sits on the line where it doesn't really know whether it wants to be progressive metal or power metal (or neoclassical metal or symphonic metal), but they've managed to carve out their own sound and it sounds cool as hell. Russell Allen is seriously one of the most deserving-of-appreciation vocalists in the genre and it's amazing how much a heavier voice (still with a lot of range) can do for the music, where a lot of other singers in music like this will go for a more falsetto sound. Michael Romeo is another top talent power metal guitarist, even if this song specifically doesn't showcase some of his crazier riffs (although the opener still has that cool signature style).

WELCOME TO THE ANARCHY ENIGMATIC ENTITY god I love these edgelord lyrics

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