GREY SKIES FALLEN- Tomorrow's In Doubt

Title: GREY SKIES FALLEN- Tomorrow's In Doubt
Size: 77mb
Description: Second release from this great Progressive band.

Download:
http://www.greyskiesfallen.com/

And another one tonight.
I've been a little busy compiling a couple new things, so expect those soon. Things are bound to slow down quite a bit in the near future, as I'm starting to run out of compilations. The next step is advertising the blog to various sites.

Review
Another pretty good release here. I actually liked it better than their first album. The songs are longer this time (8tracks), so expect a lot more of those progressive elements throughout. The material is quite varied too. I'm interested to see how the newer stuff holds up in comparison, as the two newest only have 4 and 3 tracks respectively (EPs? or perhaps just exceedingly long).

Classical Metal Vol.10

Title: Classical Metal Vol.10
Size: 128mb
Description: Barely any metal, but here's the 10th installment.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?obk2hlm71lye4bg

Been a couple of days...
I've been a little lazy, but here we go.

Review
There's not so much metal on this one as a whole. There are a whole bunch of tracks by a group called Vadrum, and there are no guitars or anything in them, so it's pretty much just straight up Classical. That doesn't make it a horrible album or anything, but if you're only here for Metal then you're not gonna like this one as much.

There are some pretty good Metal ones sprinkled throughout though, so maybe just avoid the Vadrum ones?

INNERSIGHT- Meandering

Title: INNERSIGHT- Meandering
Size: 30.5mb
Description: Third effort by an awesome, and very diverse band.

Download:
http://innersight.hu/
(Third from bottom, listed as Blue Shadow, but it is Meandering. See above for cover)

2 songs. One is loooooong.
This may seem like an Ep, but the first track is almost half an hour in length itself, and the other one is around 6 mins or so. In any case, this is the group's third complete release.

Review:
Another excellent release! This is another melodeath album with progressive movements intertwined. The first track has 8 parts to it, all pretty easily decipherable, and all awesome.

You'd think they'd slow it down for the final track, but they really don't. In some ways, the epilogue is better than the rest of the album. Then again, in some ways not... Anyways, get this whether you liked their previous ones or not.

IN ELEMENT- Synthesis

Title: IN ELEMENT- Synthesis
Size: 51mb
Description: This is either a long EP or a short LP. Maybe both.

Download:
http://freemetalalbums.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/in-element-synthesis-oscillating-through-waves-of-symmetry/

Wait... I've heard this before!
This is the second release from this awesome group. I was mistaken with their last effort, I hadn't actually downloaded their previous album before and not listened to it. It was this one. And I HAVE heard it before. It's really good, and I'm astonished that I don't have it in any of my old folders... maybe on an older computer.

Review
This one is even better than their debut, if a little bit short. It definitely shows progression, and each track is pretty standout in its own way. I especially like the third track, I think I put it on one of my car mixes some time ago too.

I will not be posting their newest album on here, as I believe it is a commercial effort under a major label. Or minor label. Some sorta label that sells stuff. They do have a free live album if you wanna pick that up from the site above.

That's all I have to say right now, get this.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.13- MEMEtal

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.13- MEMEtal
Size: 72mb
Description: Memes Metalified on youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qtg9x2owbkqyze6

WTF is right!
It was time for something really different again. If you're up to par on your youtube memes, you should find this stuff hilarious. If not... well you don't really matter then, do you? It should go without saying we probably won't be seeing another one of these in the future either, as I found these were the best ones available and there's no room for a continuation.

Review
Most of these are pretty funny. I added a couple extras in for kicks, Spice Girls, Shania Twain, another track by LukHash (go to his site and get his albums, they're pretty cool). Anyways, I think this covers all the best memes out there: Nyan Nyan Cat, Chocolate Rain, Tunak Tunak Tun, All Your Base, Amazing Horse, Charlie the Unicorn, the list goes on. There's even a Rick Roll one, haha!

This isn't something you'll wanna chill and listen to more than once or twice, but it's good for a laugh. The Amazing Horse cover by ReinXeed is extremely excellent though, check them out.

Classical Metal Vol.9

Title: Classical Metal Vol.9
Size: 114mb
Description: Some metal... but mostly violins.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7dh5cmsbpsv7n7p

Read the description.
Seriously. I love me some violins though, so I wasn't bothered by this. It's definitely a step in a different direction, and it made this volume feel more comprehensive as a whole. Not sure what's up with the cover, btw.

Review:
This compilation is more or less just okay. There are quite a few tracks that seem to be by one guy, rather than a band, and sometimes it shows. It's not to say these tracks are bad, but they're definitely less grand and not quite as exciting as we've heard with past collections.

Worry not, none of these players are as bad as any of the players in KISS. That cover is just amusingly misleading.

Taking the day off uploading and posting.

Spent most the morning working in the garage, and the rest of the afternoon finding new tracks for future compilations. Will post new stuff tomorrow.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.12- S.N.S.D. (Still Not Sicka Dis)

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.12- S.N.S.D. (Still Not Sicka Dis)
Size: 74mb
Description: Even more Kpop Metal renditions from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?rypuufn0ex5wdrm

And even more Jessica Jung.
We're over the Japanese pop crap, anime or regular. However, I couldn't help but push forward and compile some more Kpop. There are just too many good ones out there to pass up (hurray for Youtube users with a buttload of time on their hands!).

Review
At only 15 tracks long this time, this is still probably the best of the Kpop Metal rendition volumes. The recordings are pretty clear, there are some wicked solos throughout, the songs are decently heavy, and you've got a bunch more awesome SNSD throughout.

BoysGenerationJKT's newest cover is here as well (Time Machine), which is as awesome as ever. There's another one from KmetalPT as well, and it sounds like their recordings are getting clearer and louder. A user by the name of Loobie has made a couple amazing ones here too.

I have to admit, only about 2 or 3 tracks in this collection AREN'T highlights. So if you liked the previous Kpop ones, or have yet to try them, you should get this.

VALKIRIA- Thur Kuarankharn Sthorn

Title: VALKIRIA- Thur Kuarankharn Sthorn
Size: 42.5mb
Description: First release, a demo, but also a very full album in itself.

Download:
http://freemetalalbums.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/valkiria-thur-kuarankharn-sthorn/

A decent release.
While the sound quality isn't the best you'll find on this site, this release was full enough and interesting enough that I had to include it. At least, I consider it to be their first full release, as they have an even older, shorter, crappier demo that exists.

Review
I liked it. It isn't extarordinary like other albums I got from the site above, but it was definitely a worthy experience. There are a couple instrumental tracks in there that really help push the progressive atmosphere, and they have sort of a doomy feel to them, if you're into that.

I would recommend it if you're okay with lower production quality. If that's a pet peeve of yours, skip it and move on to the next. There's something very natural and fitting to me with harsh production sounds, so I tend to be pretty forgiving when it comes to that (old Suidakra albums for the win!).

Classical Metal Vol.8

Title: Classical Metal Vol.8
Size: 91.5mb
Description: More Classical music done by Metal bands.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?00jq7ocbfvvwqje

2/3 of the way through!
I've listened to at least one of these every day so far, and it's been a pretty good start to each day. Kind of relaxing, actually. Each volume can be a lot to take in though, so I don't really recommend hearing them all in a row. Just take each one in individually until you're sick of it. Then, and only then, should you move on to the next.

Review
I don't know any of these bands, aside from Rhapsody, who we've heard before in previous volumes. Actually, the Rhapsody one here sounds really familiar, and it quite awesome. This volume has a few good tracks along the way, but it's probably my least favorite thus far. In fact, a bunch of the tracks aren't even metal, some some are without guitars, or are completely acoustic.

I don't recommend starting with this one by any means.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.11- ANIMEtal

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.11- ANIMEtal
Size: 61mb
Description: Anime metal mashups from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7jt0y2fzcyoyhdq

Something else again.
After the failure that was the Jpop/Metal compilation, I decided to try out anime metal mashups instead. Still Japanese, but a little more catchy and competent. The results are a little better, but still not my cup of tea.

Review
Most of these are done by Coverguy88, a pretty good player overall. I have my reservations about some of the tracks he decided to cover though, as they're kinda boring to begin with. On the other hand, he does what he can to be as diverse as possible. The few he didn't do are a mixed bag, and one is extremely weird (I think it was a meme, but I'm not sure).

Some of these are really short too, like 1 and a half minutes long, so it's a shorter collection. I think it gets the job done, and I won't be repeating this with a followup anytime soon (probably ever). If you liked the Jpop compilation, you'll like this one too. If not, well, give it a shot anway. There's more Kpop coming up next :)

Classical Metal Vol.7

Title: Classical Metal Vol.7
Size: 142mb
Description: seventh volume in the series of metal covers of classical music.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?9v6r5m7o0aa1ju8

There goes my morning.
Is it me, or are these just getting bigger and longer all the time? It certainly seems like it! Anyways, here's the seventh volume in this 12-part epic series. The 3 bonus tracks at the end are lower quality than the others, but they're pretty badass anyway.

Review
This one opens with a really awesome track, which is followed by a rather boring one. As usual, as the album progresses, it's kind of a mixed bag. There were a lot of repeats on this one again, but I was surprised about halfway through at some of the different stuff.

Haggard has always really interested me, and their two tracks on here are quite possibly the best in the volume. Trans-Siberian Orchestra makes another appearance with 2 songs, again with varying results (they like the most popular ones, it seems). The volume starts much weaker than it finishes, so give it a chance.

TORTURE DIVISION- Evighetens Darar

Title:
Size: 52mb
Description: 2nd compilation of TORTURE DIVISION EPs.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?d90cymsm524hdvy

Can't wait for new Project Hate!
I finally got around to listening to this one the other day. It consists of  EPs, all labeled Evighetens Darar (parts 1-3), so it isn't like they're really meant to be split up anyway. I also included one song they did for a different compilation at the time of these recordings.

Review
I liked this one a bit better than the first compilation. The hooks are much better this time around, and the experience feels much more cohesive. Again, I'm no fan of traditional death metal, so I'm not the best judge for this kind of material. I didn't dislike it though, and these guys truly are the masters of brutality (J's vocals are so devastatingly gut wrenching, it's inhuman!). Once again, the awesome Dan Swano handled mixing.

If you're a fan of traditional death metal, or you like the Project Hate (make that LOVE, because there can be no less when it comes to TPH), you'll probably wanna give this a try.

GREY SKIES FALLEN- Fate of Angels

Title: GREY SKIES FALLEN- Fate of Angels
Size: 78.5mb
Description: Another great free melodeath album.

Download:
http://www.greyskiesfallen.com/

I keep getting lucky.
It's crazy, the first 3 albums I find through freemetalmusic are all spectacular! While this one isn't quite as diverse and either INNERSIGHT or IN ELEMENT, it's still a real treat for melodeath fans.

Review
I can't really compare this album to anything specific, so I won't even try. It's a fun listen, through and through, and that's pretty much all I can say about it. It felt as though it got better as it wore on too, so stick with it.

Title: INNERSIGHT- Insight
Size: 57mb
Description: Second album (3 EPs in one).

Download:
http://innersight.hu/

What do we have here?
This is labeled as INNERSIGHT's second full length album on their website, but it is actually 3 separate (and quite different) EPs compiled into one long LP. The 3 EPs included are 2000's "A Divine Quest In Hell", 2001's "The Most Powerful Weakness", and 2002's "My Death of Dream".

Review
This is every bit as great as the first LP, just exploding with variety!

The album opens with the 2002 EP, which is a crazy mix of instrumental, clean, harsh, and female vocals with varying degrees of melodeath. It's awesome. It then leads into the 2000 EP, which is full on melodeath at its (almost) finest. The last EP is instrumental, and a bit of a mixed bag all in all. Rearrange them however you'd like on a playlist and you'll love it as a whole. This works great as a followup to "Blue Shadow", and is definitely not where you would have expected a band like that to go.

Go to their website now and download it!

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.10- Better With Dancing Girls

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.10- Better With Dancing Girls
Size: 126.5mb
Description: More Kpop Metal Mashups from Youtube!

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fz3ccnz377cz335

Back to kpop!
Be mine, Jessica Jung, be mine. In other news, after the failed experiment that was the Jpop compilation, I decided I'd go back to Kpop. Unfortunately, I was unable to credit a couple user creators again, but I'll try and remedy that for next time.

Review
This is another big collection, and I think it's pretty on par with Vol.8, aside from only having one track by BoyGenerationJKT (an acoustic version of Gee). Tracks by KmetalPT are always pretty good.

While there's a severe lack of SNSD on this volume, it's still pretty awesome. Standout tracks with time are Kara's "Wanna", LukHash's short little diddy, and well... pretty much all the untitled ones I couldn't find again.

Classical Metal Vol.6

Title: Classical Metal Vol.6
Size: 129mb
Description: Metal covers of Classical music.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?l47gnxdx1h9iakh

Halfway through!
Only 6 more to post after this and we're through the whole series. It's actually pretty amazing how many of these there are out there, and props to the original compiler for finding all of these. It's quite the feet. I actually tried tracking down his original website, but couldn't find anything attached to his name. Oh well.

Review
This holds up better than the last one for sure. There's a lot more variety to be had here, and most songs are standout tracks themselves.

The two that absolutely astounded me on this one would be the consecutively placed tracks by Metalmaniac and Kenziner (tracks 5 and 6). Friggin' awesome. The collection begins and ends really strong, so it feels like this is my favorite so far of the bunch. There's a steady mix of tracks with and without vocals, so that's a plus as well for those who aren't as into the instrumental-only ones, or vice versa. I did find most of the vocals pretty generic though, but it didn't take away from the experience too much.

IN ELEMENT- Evolution: Begins in Chaos

Title: IN ELEMENT- Evolution: Begins in Chaos
Size: 75mb
Description: Atmospheric/Progressive Melodic Death Metal.

Download:
http://freemetalalbums.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/in-element-evolution-begins-in-chaos/

Another good one here.
The above link is actually where I found INNERSIGHT as well. It's a decent site overall, but a lot of the links need updating, as I was only able to get a select few working. This was one of them, thankfully. Anyways, have a look through yourself and see if there's anything you like.

Review
I can't recommend this one enough. It's one of those "I can't believe it's free" sorta deals that come up oh so rarely in life. I loved every track on this beast. I wasn't sure how exactly to label them in terms of genre, but I found them very atmospheric in their approach to melodeath, and there were definitely elements of progressive metal in there as well.

When I was a writer for Metaleater, I liked to occasionally find new and rare albums to review. Ashamedly, I think I actually downloaded this when it was first released and never got around to listening to it. Glad I did now, as this is one of the most impressive debuts I've heard in a long time. It says a lot about the state of the industry that bands like this are being completely overlooked. Anyways, they're still active. They also have a free live album, their second release (an EP) is also available, and I believe their newest LP is available to buy. Moving up in the world, I guess!

INNERSIGHT- Blue Shadow

Title: INNERSIGHT- Blue Shadow
Size: 66mb
Description: A Post-rock instrumental trip.

Download:
http://innersight.hu/

A delightful surprise!
So I was trying to come up with some new albums to post, and I ran across these guys. They have like 11 or 12 albums, so it's gonna be a fun ride if this cd is any indication. You can download it directly from their site (link above), and if that goes down I'll post a link myself.

Review
This album is fucking beautiful. It's relaxing, but not overly slow or repetitive, and it's quite technical for what it is. If you're a fan of Omnium Gatherum, Nightingale, Amorphis, or even Katatonia, you may just find yourself getting right into this. Not to say they're a lot alike, but there are definitely moments when I though of all those bands.

Of course, if instrumental-only albums aren't your thing, you should probably stay away. It'd be a real shame though. I believe later albums include vocals, and experiment with different genres of music, so don't write them off completely.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.9- Jpop Goes The Weasel

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.9- Jpop Goes The Weasel
Size: 119mb
Description: (Jpop Metal Renditions from Youtube).

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?s65tz8sgv2mgrae

Not one of the better ones...
This little experiment didn't turn out nearly as well as the last one did. And is it just me, or does that chick on the cover have man hands?  Anyways, this is technically the only Jpop compilation in the series, so it's not so bad as a one-off. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find the user creators for this one because the songs were all titles something like dhfoe9rjfi33kf or whatever, so I'm sorry about that.

Review
Where to begin...? The metal instrumentals themselves are actually really good! Like, all of them! The problem lies with the jpop itself. Have you ever listened to it? It's terrible. Not only do each and every one of these chicks sounds exactly the same when they sing, but they're completely off key and have the thinnest range I've ever heard. It isn't Macy Gray bad, but it's bad enough. Simply put, it makes this collection feel boring and annoying, which is really too bad, because the user creators do a bang up job on the metal parts.

To describe the instrumentals themselves, the artists really capture the spirit of Japanese styled Metal itself. If you haven't ever heard it before, think 80s NWOBHM with a twangy, ancient Japanese vibe to it. It's spectacular! Again though, bogged down completely by the songs being covered. It's a rare occurrence for catchiness to ensue.

I threw in a couple of tracks from Baby Metal for laughs. They're a pop metal band that uses three 10 year olds as the vocalists, it's quite amusing. Anyways, I still recommend this since it's different, shall not be repeated, and the cover parts are really well done.

Classical Metal Vol.5

Title: Classical Metal Vol.5
Size: 122mb
Description: More classical metal works.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?dpry40qvi33wd7a

This one is huge!
Definitely the meatiest of these thus far, I have very mixed thoughts about it overall. I'm starting to see patterns of bands covering the same songs over and over again. It's nice when they are able to put their own spins on the material, but some of them just aren't able to do that as well as others.

Review
By this point, there will be those that you'll want to skip over since you've already heard them a number of times before (and virtually unchanged in some cases). That being said, there are still some great renditions to be heard here from bands that you probably won't recognize. The Speed Metal Symphony by Cacophony deserves special mention for blowing me away, and Immortal's Lair by Derdian was a nice change of pace. There are actually quite a few great ones here, amongst a few cookie cutter covers along the way.

I really wanted to get into Rainbow's track, but it's much too crackly. And where's Dio? Anyways, this is really long and in-depth. I don't recommend listening to it all in one sitting, and I highly doubt it will all fit on a burned cd (I'll find out soon enough). Another essential for those who are digging this collection though, accessible or not.

Torture Division- With Endless Wrath We Bring Upon Thee Our Eternal Torture

Title: Torture Division- With Endless Wrath We Bring Upon Thee Our Eternal Torture
Size: 67mb
Description: Traditional Death Metal from the Project Hate MCMXCIX guys. (3 EPs/demos)

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1voilygvsfosjtm

EP Compilation.
Ever heard of The Project Hate MCMXCIX? No? Go buy every album from them that you can get your hands on. NOW! Anyways, Torture Division is a side project/subgroup/affiliate to that, and they play traditional Death Metal (as opposed to the Symphonic/Progressive/Orchestral/Blackened/Dark/Experimental Death Metal they play in TPH). This compilation includes their first 3 demos, which I consider to work pretty well as a whole. Visit their site to learn more:

http://www.torturedivision.net/biography

Review
I'll admit, while TPH is one of my favorite bands ever (read: top 5), traditional death metal has never really been my thing. That said, this is pretty decent for what it is, and definitely brutal as hell. The three demos included here feel pretty cohesive as one, so I decided I'd mash 'em together.

The mix was done by none other than legendary Metal producer/performer/creator Dan Swano, of oh so many different sources of fame (Nightingale anyone?). Dude is just the best there is when it comes to this, and if you don't believe me, check out any TPH album or the 2 latest Omnium Gatherum albums.

Anyways, download now if you're into this kinda stuff.

8BIT Metal Vol.6- Ultimate 8Bit Metal

Title: 8BIT Metal Vol.6- Ultimate 8Bit Metal
Size: 81mb
Description: Another collection of 8bit Metal songs.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ibyzenfz224ewvw

Coming to an end. 
This is the last complete compilation of 8bit Metal I have, although a seventh one is almost finished. I guess I'll have to put that together pretty soon. Shit, I'll hafta find some other stuff to post pretty soon or the blog will be full of nothing but Classical Metal in no time! Eep!

Review
A couple Amorphis ones this time. Sweet! No new bands though, aside from Pain (Peter Tagtgren FTW). A lot of the regular ones that have been popping up are here  (Bodom, Born of Osiris, Soilwork, Sonata Arctica, etc).

Anywho, yet another fine collection of 15 tracks here.

Orchestral Metal

This one has no image. I'm lazy.










Title: Orchestral Metal
Size: 58.5mb
Description: Orchestral Metal renditions ripped from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?6uh11dv7c2p9g6g

Small one this time.
13 tracks in all, another one-off (like Piano Metal before it). I feel like this one wasn't really completed, but here it is. I found it on a disc with the 8bit compilations yesterday, which was a nice little bonus (I thought I had lost it for good). Anyways, lost the credits, and they're most likely pretty hard to find, but have a look yourself if you're interested in hearing more.

Review
Same bands as Piano Metal, so don't expect anything new or really different. They're all pretty well done though, so check 'em out if you liked that one.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.8- Run, Kpop, Run

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.8- Run, Kpop, Run
Size: 109mb
Description: Kpop/metal mashups ripped from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5ercuc5jbe0mcuw

A. Maze. Zing!
Bored of the regular pop/metal mashups yet? Enter the world of kpop metal. It's much cooler. I'm not really sure why, but there seems to be a whole bunch of metalheads who love kpop as well, or at least judging from the comments underneath the vids for all these. Something about the speed or something? Maybe it's that some of these chicks actually have talent, unlike the Katy Perrys, Britney Spearses, Keshas (who incidentally passed on "Run Devil Run", which is on here by SNSD), etc. Or maybe it's because they actually switch things up from time to time, making it easier to fit with metal covers and renditions (good ones, anyway). Or maybe it just feels nostalgic, since kpop is a lot like 90s western pop.

Review
I can't tell you how many listens I've had of this. It's awesome, through and through. Pretty much everything is a highlight here. Even Soshi Boy's boring guitar work on "Tell Me Your Wish" fits so well, I don't even care if it never changes (that song is actually pretty good on its own).

I don't normally put full covers in these, as I find tracks that leave the original singers in them, but this had to change for BoysGenerationJKT. They cover Girls Generation songs only (SNSD), and I have to say, they are amongst the best full on covers I have ever heard. They even manage to make "The Girls" sound epic as fuck at the end, which is an amazing feet, 'cause the original (The Boys) bleeds of lame.

Other special mention goes out to KmetalPT. While their recording equipment isn't the greatest, they still manage to make some awesome stuff.

Get this NOW.

Classical Metal Vol.4

Title: Classical Metal Vol.4
Size: 134mb
Description: Classical works performed by Metal Artists.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?g1h3cqy5h5iesks

The journey continues!
I've made it my mission to listen through at least one of these per day. They're fun listens, for the most part, but so very long. It's a lot to digest in one sitting, so please take my reviews with a grain of salt. They're more like first impressions than real reviews, nor do I bother to try and go in depth with them. Anyways, I've already managed to meet my quota for the day.

Review
This one was a bit more hit and miss for me. 3 Epica songs... I know I'm the only Metal fan on the planet that can't seem to get into them, but I liked their works enough on the previous volumes. Not so much here.

On the other hand, there are of course the standout tracks here and there. Dies Irae by Liva was a pleasant surprise, and probably my favorite one on here. There are a bunch of bands I don't recognize on this one, which is always a welcome feature. I feel like the latter portion of the cd is the better half, so stick with it.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.7- City of Popportunity

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.7- City of Popportunity
Size: 134mb
Description: A final collection of Metal Renditions of bad Western pop music.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?3o3lf783xkx0x5j

Okay, not really "final", but for a while.
This was the point at which I got bored and moved on to something else afterward. It's actually a pretty decent collection, all in all, but much too similar in feel to the previous 2 or 3.

Review
Expect to hear a few more Master Farsheed mixes, some from a guy called wenca who's crazy about T.A.T.U... There's a cool Game of Thrones TV series intro done in metal, some more Gagacore, and Fallen Superhero does a pretty good job making a J.Lo song listenable. Lol, and there's also Ricky Martin.

By this point you'll most likely be ready to move on to the next thing as well, assuming you listened to the other 6 in the series thus far. The novelty wore off, I guess you could say. Still, it fits the bill, so here it is, take it or leave it. Might be worth at least a couple of listens.

Up next we have kpop metal. Oh. Fuck. Yes.

8BIT Metal Vol.5- ULTRA 8Bit Metal

Title: 8BIT Metal Vol.5- ULTRA 8Bit Metal
Size: 65.5mb
Description: Metal songs converted to 8bit. A few more this time.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?4kubmurh34bemwa

I found it!
I didn't have to dig out the old computer to find this one after all! Which is a good thing too, because that bugger takes forever to load up and I really don't feel like doing that right now. Or tonight. Or this week. Or ever, really. Anyways, here it is. I even managed to find my Orchestral Metal compilation along with it! What a great day this is turning out to be.

Review
16 tracks long this time. Mostly the same bands as usual, but a couple other ones pop up like Catamenia, Decrepit Birth, Opeth, Threat Signal, All Shall Perish, and Katatonia. Pretty awesome.

Unlike the previous ones, I haven't used the music from this one in any of my game making exploits. Maybe I will someday though. They really are pretty cool, given the right gameplay style. Anyways, being the longest so far, and the most varied (as well as having another Soilwork conversion), I'd say this is the best of them all of the ones I've posted. Get it now!

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.6- We Found Hate in a Really Gay Place

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.6- We Found Hate in a Really Gay Place
Size: 108.5mb
Description: Even more pop metal renditions from Youtube.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?3wn7rm95xmp7dph

More of the same.
I figured I'd post another one right now, since I have nothing better to do. Only one more left after this and we enter the realm of Kpop, Jpop, memes, and anime metal renditions. Did I forget to mention "spoiler alert"? Woops.

Review
This one is almost on par with the two previous ones. It is, however, more of the same, and I started to get a little bored with these at this point. If you liked those two though, you'll still like this one (tired of it or not).

Highlights: 2 Shakira renditions, 2 Cascada ones, a death metal rendition of "Like a G6", and the end of "Frozen" by Madonna is really well done too. Oh, and there's a power metal version of Katy Perry's most famous slut tune in there as well. I was finally able to find an Ace of Base one to put in there, it's not as heavy as I'd like it to be though.

Just another worthy addition to this ever-expanding series, and nothing more.

Classical Metal Vol.3

Title: Classical Metal Vol.3
Size: 99mb
Description: More awesome Classical to Metal conversions from great Metal bands.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?13zmw3ntd1vwyxo

Now THAT is a cool album cover!
As mentioned before, I'll post these as I listen to them. It's quite a lot to take in, this one especially really gripped me from start to finish. They're all pretty long too (and yes, each volume is roughly as long as these have been).

Review
I'm gonna hafta pick me up some of these bands' albums! Rhapsody (of Fire) especially. There are so many highlights here, I don't even know where to begin. Okay, that's not completely true. Virtuosity's "Secret Visions" is pretty much the best thing I've heard yet on any of these. That could change though, with 9 more volumes to go. Concerto Moon has a great one here too, right after said track. We also finally get to hear one from Yngwie Malmsteen (I was wondering when we'd run into one of his).

This is even better than the second volume, I think. Even though only slightly. There were a few I recognized, and a bunch that I didn't, but they're all damn good. Yet another essential compilation album for Metal and Classical fans alike, and not compiled by me (damnit!). Download now!

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.5- Whip It Out

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.5- Whip It Out!
Size: 89mb
Description: More Metal renditions of bad pop, ripped from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?z9vvel3jrskt0xi

12 posts in 2 days? 
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. Yes, I should have re-thought that title when making the cover art. Totally not my fault her song's called "Whip My Hair". Anyways, I hope to post a bunch more of these tomorrow as well. Just finished making cd number 15 too, so there are plenty more to come!

Review
This is one of the better ones again. Painfulexistence1 makes a return from volume 1 with his "Moves Like Jagger" rendition (which is just awesome). Other really good ones feature Adele, Shakira, Enrique (seriously), and yes, "Whip My Hair" is also a riot. Actually, anything done by Karl0939 is pretty awesome here, so check out his Youtube page if ya like it.

I guess this is kinda where I found my swing in finding these, as it's arguably the best one thus far. The two that follow kinda follow the same line, and it becomes a bit dull. Still, that's no reason to disregard this one at all. There's a bit more djent goodness to be had here as well, if that's your thing.

Classical Metal Vol.2

Title: Classical Metal Vol.2
Size: 98mb
Description: More Metal covers of Classical music.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?qaimubmrrav5wtv

Confession time...
I actually just heard this one for the first time today, although there are a couple I recognized. I'll give the other ones a listen before I post them here, for the sake of my quick reviews. One thing of note before you download, the Nightwish track (Phantom of the Opera) seems to be skipping a bit, which is too bad, because it's really good. You all have their albums anyway though, right? Righttttt... moving on.

Review
This one holds up a bit better than the first volume because it is much more varied. I didn't recognize some of the songs, so that was also a nice surprise and a breath of fresh air. There are 17 songs in total, and a lot of them have vocals accompanying them this time.

Again, this feels pretty essential if you like both Metal and Classical music.

8BIT Metal Vol.4- Super Duper 8Bit Metal

Title: 8BIT Metal Vol.4- Super Duper 8Bit Metal
Size: 48.5mb
Description: Even more 8bit metal track conversions.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?k0jtlc5c8ai0lbt

This may hafta tide you over for a bit.
I left the fifth volume on another computer, so this is probably it for these (for now). Of the four uploaded so far though, this is probably my favorite. Either that or I just got sick of listening to the other ones due to my games.

Review
13 more 8bit metal conversions this time. It's familiar ground, with a mix of Soilwork, Sonata Arctica, Eluveitie, etc. In fact, I think the only fresh appearance comes from Mors Principium Est. Anyways, epic as hell, as always.

Piano Metal

Title: Piano Metal
Size: 76mb
Description: Piano covers of heavy metal tracks ripped from Youtube. Plus some extra stuff by accident.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?ct7y7a3dzctdw54

Finally, a one-off!
This is one compilation I most likely won't ever compile a follow-up volume to, as I remember them being pretty difficult to find (mostly because I wanted high quality sounding ones). When my RPG series graduated to 16bit, I decided to move to piano music instead of more 8bit stuff, so that's where this came from.

Review
This is a pretty awesome collection. Some very talented cover artists are included here, and again, I wish I were able to find all of them again.

There are a few non-metal covers that were included by accident, but you can probably pick them out pretty easily. Sorry about that. Some of my favorites include bands like Disarmonia Mundi, Insomnium, and Nightwish. Despite my little accidental inclusions, it's well worth the download!

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.4- Another Bad Touch

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.4- Another Bad Touch
Size: 138mb
Description: Metal renditions of your most hated pop songs, ripped from Youtube.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?i9eoxb6tljpjnbg

This is where it gets goooood!
This one is pretty friggin' awesome, and it marks the point where I started to find more obscure user creators with better quality and technicality. Unfortunately, I was unable to re-find some of the videos on youtube, so I was unable to give credit where it was due. Maybe you'll have better luck, if you know the names of the unnamed songs.

Review
This one, in my opinion, is even better than volume 1. It's pretty varied as far as metal influences go, and there's even an 80s style Lady Gaga one (reminiscent of Iron Maiden). Some very talented guys featured on this one, like MwmurrayM (actually, all 3 Kesha songs are phenomenal). I hate Kesha, so that's saying a lot. Another song I hate is The Bad Touch, by Bloodhound Gang, but it's actually quite listenable here thanks to sindremyskja.

This also marks my initiation in kpop, with the metalcore rendition of Gee (consequently beginning my love affair with SNSD and all things Jessica Jung related... seriously, HOT). The track isn't the greatest thing ever produced itself, but it's pretty hilarious, and opened my world to some kpop metal renditions that are actually amazing. Not to spoil things for ya, but later volumes of pop/metal mashups are kpop-oriented, and so much better than these western pop ones, I can't even begin to explain.

Anyhow, if you're into more technical instrumentals, like me, this volume is much better than previous ones. Karl0939 has some beautiful work in some of these tunes, like Hotel California. The sound qualities varies from track to track, as always, but I think a lot of it has to do with volume levels, moreso than clarity.

This one comes highly recommended!

8BIT Metal Vol.3- Super 8Bit Metal

Title: 8BIT Metal Vol.3- Super 8Bit Metal
Size: 46mb
Description: More metal 8bit conversions fromYoutube

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?q9pcip2xv3jwrzj

These are fun!
Yep, you guessed it! I used these for the third game in my RPG series (which I'll post some other time). I still remember staying up late at night on Youtube trying to collect my favorites. This one fits pretty well with the second volume, since they feature mostly the same bands. It has a really epic feel to it.

Review
This one is pretty on par with volume 2. It has more Inflames, Nightwish, Bodom, BTBAM, Kalmah and Alestorm. I even managed to find one by Skyfire and a Scar Symmetry one as well! It's a must have if you like vol.2. 13 tracks in all, and they're in higher quality than previous ones, I believe.

Classical Metal Vol.1

Title: Classical Metal Vol.1
Size: 102mb
Description: Various metal bands performing classical works of old.

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?23zpd8ode3ply0l

Essential, but not mine.
The Classical Metal volumes were not compiled by me, unlike the other compilations found on this site so far. I do believe they fit pretty well with this blog though, so I decided to link them to you all. You can, however, find them elsewhere on the net pretty easily. There are 12 of them in all, and I'm linking to someone else's mediafire folder for these (in other words, if they stop working, let me know and I'll re-up them myself). The ongoing theme with this particular volume seems to be Vivaldi's Four Season, even though one is missing and another one has a bunch of versions in it. All of them are good though.

Review
How could you possibly call yourself a Metal fan if you dislike Classical music? This collection feels pretty essential if you like metalized classics. Most of these renditions are done by famous Power Metal bands, so you'll most likely recognize a bunch of these. I myself am more partial to other subgenres, but have heard some stuff from most of these bands previously. My personal favorite track has to be the one by Rhapsody, it's fantastic. I'm also a Therion fan, so I was happy they are included in the mix.

Overall, there isn't one single let-down track on this thing, so go ahead and download it now!

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.3- I Just Had Sex With A Bed Intruder

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.3- I Just Had Sex With A Bed Intruder
Size: 104mb
Description: Pop and Rap Metal Mashups and Renditions from Youtube

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?orzfkavphmfz4ot

It's getting super serious, guys.
I've been able to find the user creators pretty easily so far, luckily, so posting these has been going fairly smoothly for the last couple of days. This one is another 20 tracks long, and a bit of a one-off as far as the elements of rap go. This is probably the last compilation to feature many of the most popular renditions seen on Youtube, as future ones were done by more obscure users and feature older songs (but to be fair, they are much better than this one, IMHO).

Review
This is a hard one to review. The sound quality is a bit worse than the previous two compilations, and there's a heavy focus on rap music than pop. A majority of these are done by Master Farsheed, who does a pretty good job overall but his recording equipment isn't quite as good as I wish it was.

There are a couple joke songs in here as well, which were inspiration for the name of the album ("I just Had Sex" and "Bed Intruder"). The compilation as a whole gets better with some listens, but it is probably my least favorite of at least the first 5 pop/metal compilations. If you liked the first two collections, you may as well try this one out though. There are some catchy ones in here, as always, and no other collection features this much rap either, it's definitely unique in that sense.

8BIT METAL Vol.2- 8Bit Metal Plus

Title: 8BIT METAL Vol.2- 8Bit Metal Plus
Size: 30mb
Description: More metal songs converted to 8bit

Download:
http://www.mediafire.com/?1mkdkjpdq7k1nv7

Another short collection
16 new 8bit metal tracks, another one I've been sitting on for a few years. And yes, I used these in a game as well (the sequel to the other one).

Review
The sound quality varies a bit more on this one. For instance, the one for Sonata Arctica sounds actually more like 16bit in comparison to most of the others, and volume levels also vary a bit. Overall, this is better better collection than the first, hands down. While the first collection was mostly just for a laugh, I actually found myself listening to and enjoying select songs from this one (the Nightwish ones work especially well in 8bit for some reason, for example).

The genres vary a bit more too. There's some more Inflames and Bodom, but there are power metal bands, Between The Buried and Me has a couple tracks, Born of Osiris, and a few more. Pretty interesting stuff, if you're willing to give it a try.

Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.2- Poker Face and LADYr GAGAonit

Title: Pop/Metal Mashups Vol.2- Poker Face and LADYr GAGAonit
Size: 99mb
Description: Metal/pop and Rock Mashups and Renditions Ripped from Youtube.

Download
http://www.mediafire.com/?sc9wqug8mw1sqk6

It continues...
Here's another one for tonight, the second volume of pop/metal mashups. This one has a few more rock-oriented tracks in it, but there are some heavier metal ones as well that are pretty decent. It's a little more varied this time, but suffers from just a tad too much Katy Perry (then again, any Katy Perry is too much for me).

Review
This one is slightly worse than the first one, in my opinion, but it does have some highlights.I'm not a huge fan of Bliix, who's become quite well known for his rock renditions of famous pop and rap tunes, but I chose a few of his for this compilation that I found to be pretty good. His rendition of Perry's E.T. has a pretty fun ending. I take offense to HughRistick labelling Born of Osiris as "Bad Deathcore", but the mix works pretty well. There are a couple gems sprinkled throughout, so try it out for yourself if you liked the first volume.

Title: 8BIT METAL (VOL.1)
Size: 37mb
Description: Metal songs converted to 8bit

Download Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?29ahm248bcpx72i

Being Retroactive
I decided I'd post this one tonight as well. I compiled this a long time ago, even used them in a game I made. Maybe I'll post it here someday as well. For now though, these are just fun little tunes that are good for a laugh.

Review
Pretty much all melodeath stuff (which is my favorite metal genre). Everything from Soilwork to In Flames, to Bodom, to dark tranquility, to arsis, and then some. I haven't compiled one of these in quite some time, and I need to go back on my old comp to get the fourth one, but I seem to have the other 4 on here (as well as one that is incomplete thus far). Don't expect to be blown away by these, they're mostly just funny. For oldschool RPG boss fights, however, you can't do any better than these!

POP/METAL Mashups Vol.1- Blind Eye Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Title: POP/METAL Mashups Vol.1- Blind Eye Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Size: 105mb
Description: A compilation of various pop/metal mashups and renditions from Youtube.

Download Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?cbav6t6y6ko6eov



Welcome to my new blog!
I'm LegalMetal, and this is my new blog where I'll be uploading downloads to various metal related MP3 albums that I've compiled from youtube. This first post for the the album "POP/METAL Mashups Vol.1- Blind Eye Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", the first compilation I ever made. None of these mashups, renditions, or covers were done by me, and I tried to give credit to all users who made these by posting their names in the track names. I have a whole slew of these to come!

Review
These served as my first introduction into pop/metal mashups and the like. Some of them, like the Michael Jackson/Iron Maiden one don't quite match up very well, but there are some extremely awesome metal renditions on here (anything done by Painfulexistence1 is GOLD). There's a bunch of Djent type stuff on here, a bunch of In flames mashups, a buttload too much of Lady Gaga (research: Gagacore), and a couple Soilwork crossovers (my fave). If you've yet to discover how entirely possible it is to turn awful pop songs into listenable metal tunes, this is a really good starting point.

What's also great is that some of these are great for a laugh. The Rebecca Black/Symphony X mashup is hysterical, for instance. Since these are all ripped from Youtube, the sound quality varies from track to track. But I promise, some of them are much clearer and hard hitting than you would expect (again, Painfulexistence1 does some amazing stuff).

If you're up to it, give this a download. You may be back for more!