Our October 2012 Band of the Month Is…

El Cuervo de Poe

Well, this was a fun poll to watch! The lead for this poll switched between three different bands, until Danish symphonic metallers Akoma and Mexican alt-prog metallers El Cuervo de Poe pulled away midway through September. Fans made strong pushes in the last few days for both bands. And in the end, El Cuervo de Poe emerged as the Band of the Month for October 2012!

Click here to visit El Cuervo de Poe’s Band of the Month page. And here’s an interesting fact: El Cuervo de Poe is the first Band of the Month winner to perform most of their songs in a language other than English.

The complete results are as follows:

1. El Cuervo de Poe – 833 votes (42.5%)
2. Akoma – 768 votes (39.18%)
3. The Forsaken Creation – 244 votes (12.45%)
4. Embracing Soul – 65 votes (3.32%)
5. Stone Cold Outlaw – 50 votes (2.55%)

So, who are our nominees for the November 2012 Band of the Month Poll? Here they are, without further ado:

• Apparatus, an alternative metal band from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Apparatus self-released their second album, Evolution, on September 8th.
• Destiny Potato, a Djent metal band from Belgrade, Serbia. Destiny Potato will release their highly anticipated debut EPsoon through Century Media Records. In the meantime, the band will play at EuroBlast in Cologne, Germany on October 21st.
• Pursuing The End, a symphonic metal band from Parma, Italy. Pursuing The End released a three-track EP, Withering, in early September. The band is currently working on their first full-length album.
• Seven Kingdoms, a power metal band from DeLand, Florida, United States. On October 9^th, Seven Kingdoms will release The Fire Is Mine, their second album with female singer Sabrina Valentine and their third album overall.
• The Mystery, a melodic heavy metal band from Heiligenhaus, Germany. The Mystery released their second album, Apocalypse 666, on September 8th via Pure Steel Records / Pure Legends Records.

Visit our WordPress site and scroll down to find the poll on the right-hand sidebar. Vote once a day through the spookiest day of the year – Wednesday, October 31^st (a.k.a. Halloween)!

Which bands would you like to see featured in our next Band of the Month Poll? Let us know by posting a suggestion on our Facebook page or emailing us at unleashthefuriesmetal@gmail.com.

UtF Looks Back on 2011 – and Looks Ahead at 2012

Yup, it’s that time of year: to take a look back on the year that was 2011. In female-fronted rock and metal music, of course. However, while every other media outlet out there shares Top 10 or Top 20 lists of favorite albums, we decided to do a different kind of year-end wrap-up.

Instead of highlighting albums, we chose to highlight bands. All of us at Unleash The Furies discovered a wealth of female-fronted rock and metal bands this past year – some of which didn’t actually release any albums in 2011, but got heavy rotation in our music players regardless. With this idea in mind, four of our staff writers sat down and picked their favorite discoveries of 2011. They also shared their predictions for up-and-coming bands who could make major breakthroughs in 2012.

Let’s start with…

Check It Out: Seven Kingdoms

Yes, everyone, it’s power metal time! But not the female-fronted power metal you’re used to hearing. No choirs, no classical instrumentation, no operatic singing whatsoever. Just plain ol’ in-your-face power metal with lots of solos, fantasy lyrics, and one of the most versatile young singers on the scene. Oh, and some death growls, progressive twists, and bits of speed and thrash metal thrown in for good measure. This is how Seven Kingdoms does power metal, and boy does it kick ass!

Seven Kingdoms actually originated out of the Florida (U.S.) death metal scene. The band’s original vocalist, grunter Bryan Edwards, who was a big fan of author George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novel saga A Song of Fire and Ice. (FYI: The series’ first book, A Game of Thrones, is now a hugely popular TV mini-series.) Hence, Seven Kingdoms’ name and the lyrical content of band’s debut album, Brothers of the Night, were all inspired by the series. Fast forward to 2008: The band shifts its style from death metal to power metal – and opts for a versatile female vocalist in Sabrina Valentine.

Seven Kingdoms, released in July 2010 through Nightmare Records, is currently the band’s only release as a female-fronted band. The best way to describe the album is a heavy metal soundtrack to a fantasy film. Different songs on the album could represent battle cries, calls for vengeance, the epic climax, and even the mournful dirge. The most impressive part about Seven Kingdoms is Sabrina’s vocals. She has the range, emotion, and projection that could rival Floor Jansen and some of the other well-known big voices in “femme metal.” I could tell you so much more about this album – but then we’d be here a while! So if you’d like to know more about my thoughts on Seven Kingdoms, just click here to read my review of it at Sonic Cathedral.

Which songs by Seven Kingdoms would I recommend? Well, to start off, here’s “Somewhere Far Away,” the first song I had ever heard by Seven Kingdoms (thanks to Femme Metal’s Beauty & Brutality compilation album). It’s one of their shorter and more straightforward songs, and  a great example of their fierce sound.

My fellow Sonic Cathedral and UtF writer Robin is also a huge Seven Kingdoms fan. (She’s actually the one responsible for me discovering the band – so thanks, Robin!) If she was writing this article, I know she would urge you to check out their ballad “A Murder Never Dead.” I do, too. It’s such a beautiful, heart-aching piece, and one of my favorites on Seven Kingdoms.

And I have to share Seven Kingdoms’ namesake song with you. It’s the longest and craziest track the band has done to date – and that’s why I adore it. Here’s a video of the band performing “Seven Kingdoms” during their North American tour with Blind Guardian this past fall.

If you live in Florida or on the U.S. East Coast, chances are you might be able to check out a Seven Kingdoms gig this year. Click here for the band’s current list of upcoming dates. More shows may be announced in the near future, too!

Seven Kingdoms are:

• Sabrina Valentine – Vocals
• Camden Cruz – Guitars
• Kevin Byrd – Guitars
• Keith Byrd – Drums
• Aaron Sluss – Bass

Learn more about Seven Kingdoms by visiting their official website, Myspace, Facebook, LastFM, and ReverbNation pages. You can buy Seven Kingdoms at Nightmare Records’ webstore, Sonic Cathedral, iTunes, or Amazon.

~ Sara