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 February 2012 Band of the Month Is…

Modified

This latest poll was a fight to the finish between French symphonic metallers Opus Doria and Canadian hard rockers Modified. Every day we saw a flip-flop in the leaderboard: Opus Doria, Modified, Opus Doria, Modified… And in the final days of voting, Modified made a big enough push to claim the Band of the Month honors for February 2012!

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

Over 5,000 votes were cast this past month! Here are the final results:

1. Modified – 2,783 votes (54.59%)
2. Opus Doria – 2,143 votes (42.04%)
3. The Mariana Hollow – 90 votes (1.77%)
4. Voices of Destiny – 57 votes (1.12%)
5. Evenoire – 25 votes (0.49%)

It’s now time to start our March 2012 Band of the Month Poll!  Your choices are:

• Alpine Fault, a progressive metal band originally from Auckland, New Zealand. The band now resides in Brisbane, Australia, where they’re promoting their recently released debut album Iraena’s Ashes.
• Elyose, an electro-symphonic metal band from Paris, France. Elyose will release its debut album Théogyne on March 1st.
• Midnight Cry, a symphonic rock band from Spokane, Washington, USA. Originally a Christmas and Trans-Siberian Orchestra cover band, Midnight Cry finally released their first album of original music, Fight For This Crime, last November.
• Nightqueen, a heavy metal band from Genk, Belgium. Nightqueen will release its debut album For Queen and Metal via Massacre Records on February 24th.
• Pythia, a classical/gothic metal band from London, United Kingdom. Pythia’s second album, The Serpent’s Curse, will be released on February 27th.

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 Wednesday, February 29th!

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.

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!