Announcing the Winners of Our 1st Annual Readers Choice Awards!

Thanks once again to everyone who voted in our 1st Annual Readers Choice Awards! Over 1,100 votes were cast and 46 albums nominated!

Our original plan was to feature the top 10 vote-getting albums. However, due to a three-way tie for the last spot, we have 12 albums instead! Let’s see if you can identify the albums in the collage below!

Thanks very much to Mimi of the UtF staff for putting this image together!

So, now you see the covers of the honored albums.  Here is a more detailed list of the winners:

1. Modified – Modified
2. Dama – Eirwen
3. (tie) Stream of Passion – Darker Days
3. (tie) Echoterra – Land of the Midnight Sun
5. Crysalys – The Awakening of Gaia
6. Nemesea – The Quiet Resistance
7. Amaranthe – Amaranthe
8. Only Fate Remains – Breathe
9. Benedictum – Dominion
10. (tie) Cassandra Syndrome – Satire X
10. (tie) Draconian – A Rose for the Apocalypse
10. (tie) Noctura – Surrender the Sun

Once again, thanks to everyone who voted this year!  The Awards were a great success – so let’s have it again next year, shall we?

Our Band of the Month for January 2012 Is…

Cassandra Syndrome

We had an awesome turn-out for our tribute poll to Flight of the Valkyries V! Most of it was due to the top two vote-getters: Benedictum, and Cassandra Syndrome. Benedictum jumped to an early lead in December, but Cassandra Syndrome gradually caught up to take the lead. In the end, the difference was 202 votes – in Cassandra Syndrome’s favor. That’s why the operatic metallers from Maryland are our first Band of the Month for 2012!

Click here for Cassandra Syndrome’s Band of the Month page.

Just one vote shy of 4,000 were cast this month! Here is how the results shaped up:

1. Cassandra Syndrome – 1946 votes (48.66%)
2. Benedictum – 1,744 votes (43.61%)
3. Brave– 110 votes (2.75%)
4. Serpent Witch – 60 votes (1.5%)
5. Desdemon – 56 votes (1.4%)
6. Echoterra – 48 votes (1.2%)
7. Flames of Fury – 35 votes (0.88%)

Now, it’s time to announce the nominees for February 2012 Band of the Month. Here they are:

• Evenoire, a gothic folk metal band from Cremona, Italy. Evenoire’s full-length debut album is due out later this year and features guest appearances by German soprano singer Gaby Koss and Derdian keyboardist Marco “Garry” Garau.
• The Mariana Hollow, a progressive/alternative metal band from London, United Kingdom. The Mariana Hollow will release their second album, Velvet Black Sky, on February 13th and is in the midst of planning a headlining tour across the UK to promote the album.
• Modified, a hard rock trio from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Modified’s self-titled full-length debut album, which was released at the end of December, is now available on CD Baby.
• Opus Doria, a symphonic metal band from Aquitaine, France. Like with Modified, Opus Doria released its debut album Infraworld at the end of December.
• Voices of Destiny, a melodic/symphonic metal band from Germany. Voices of Destiny’s second album, Power Dive, will be released on January 27th in Europe via Massacre Records.

As always, visit our WordPress site and scroll down to find the poll on the right-hand sidebar. Vote once a day, every day through Tuesday, January 31st!

Which bands would you like to see featured in our next Band of the Month Poll? Let us know by sending an email to unleashthefuriesmetal@gmail.com.

Oh, by the way – Happy 2012 from Unleash The Furies!

Our December 2011 Band of the Month Is…

Devilskin

Sometimes, we have a fight to the finish between two – or three – bands for this title. Other times, one band takes a huge early lead and no one is able to catch up. The latter scenario is what happened this month for Devilskin. Shortly after we launched our Band of the Month Poll for November 2011, fans of this quartet from Hamilton, New Zealand stormed the poll and helped Devilskin leapfrog over the other nominees.  Good enough to win the title? You bet! By the way, a fact for you: Devilskin is our first Band of the Month from an island nation.

Click here for Devilskin’s Band of the Month page.

Here are the official results of last month’s poll:

1. Devilskin – 327 votes (56.09%)
2. Adrana – 115 votes (19.73%)
3. Nemesea – 63 votes (10.81%)
4. Trillium – 52 votes (8.92%)
5. Cardamon – 26 votes (4.46%)

And now, it’s time for our January 2012 Band of the Month Poll! Our staff still feels the thrills of this year’s Flight of the Valkyries Festival. (The show was held at Sonar in Baltimore, Maryland USA on November 19.) So, how about we give our new poll a FotV 5 theme? Here is this year’s line-up, and your choices for our first Band of the Month for 2012:

• Benedictum, a heavy metal band from San Diego, California, and this year’s headliner at Flight of the Valkyries
• Brave, a progressive rock/metal band from Washington, DC
• Cassandra Syndrome, an operatic metal band from Frederick, Maryland
• DesDemon, a symphonic power metal band from New York City, New York
• Echoterra, a symphonic metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota featuring Melissa Ferlaak (ex-Visions of Atlantis, ex-Aesma Daeva) on lead vocals
• Flames of Fury, a power / heavy metal band with members that live in the states of New York and New Jersey
• Serpent Witch, a doom metal band from Bethesda, Maryland

You know the rules by now. Visit our WordPress site and scroll down to find the poll on the right-hand sidebar. Vote once a day through New Years Eve (Saturday, December 31st)!

Which bands would you like to see featured in our next Band of the Month Poll? Let us know by sending an email to unleashthefuriesmetal@gmail.com.

~ Sara