A MetalBearish Welcome

Greetings, fellow Metalheads

I’ve been meaning to start this blog for a few years now and offer my humble bearish thoughts on metal albums, both new releases and archive materials, with the clear understanding that there will be ones of proportions so epic the fragile human mind can barely grasp and some that turn out to be seriously disappointing attempts (likely a rather rare occurrence). However, with hibernation, cubs, work duties (roaming forests in search of decent Rubus fruits or honey can be quite time consuming) and other activities (yes, Bears do like sports – just check out the plentitude of sports teams out there carrying a Bear-related name), I struggled to find the determination and time to get to this.

Hopefully, from today onwards this blog will see a sustained posting activity from MetalBear’s side throughout years to come and it won’t be just a one-time post thing mimicking Rick Astley’s rise to stardom (in all fairness to Rick, he is by far not the only one in this category but his one-hit tune is among the best in the space – MetalBear seal of approval).  And hopefully, and most importantly, this blog will turn into a sort of occasional sanctum for metalheads worldwide who would just stop by at the end of a tiring day/week to read about the latest release of a favorite band, potentially discover a new artist, or simply grieve alongside fellow metal brothers/sisters in the comments section over disbanded metal acts that played an instrumental role in one’s metal upbringing.

Before we jump right into it with the first metalomeaningful post of the year (and for that matter last as well as I seriously doubt Bear’s productivity right in the middle of the festive hibernation period will suffice for more than one post in the remaining 5 days of 2023; this intro obviously doesn’t count as metalomeaningful the same way a good portion of the “Intro/Overture/etc.” tracks of albums can be skipped), let’s set some expectations straight.

First, a somewhat small fraction of all metal genres will dominate MetalBear’s reviews and this isn’t because there is a lack of greatness among the various genres, but rather down to the one-man-show nature of the blog which has certain implications on the available time a Bear can spent listening to the most epic music of all (see the part about hibernation, cubs, work duties, etc.). Generally, I have tried to get immersed in as many metal genres as possible over the last 20 years of my metal journey, and would ideally love to cover more genres but one has to work with the resources at hand. Well, of course personal preferences also do come into play here and certain genres will always be left out as they just seem to not be clicking with Bears (sludge and grindcore, for instance). Below is a sneak peek into the genres that will be mostly covered along with a list capturing some of MetalBear’s all-time favorite bands:

• Heavy Metal: from Iced Earth, Judas Priest & Saxon through HammerFall, Grand Magus & Primal Fear to Spirit Adrift, Night Demon & Black Sites
• Power Metal (most sub-variations: Melodic; Symphonic; Epic; Progressive; etc.): Borealis, Vanishing Point & Nocturnal Rites through Pyramaze, Excalion & Thunderstone to Unleash The Archers, Helion Prime & Judicator
• Melodic Death Metal: from Amorphis, Insomnium & Mors Principium Est through Be’Lakor, Omnium Gatherum & Swallow the Sun to In Mourning, Duskmourn & Suotana
• Symphonic Metal: Nightwish, Epica & Avantasia through Therion, Dragonland & Twilight Force to Within Temptation, Seven Spires & Visions of Atlantis
• Progressive Metal: from Shadow Gallery, Redemption & Ayreon through Evergrey, Threshold & Seventh Wonder to Fates Warning, Symphony X & Dream Theater

And second, as active as possible engagement via the comments section is massively appreciated as Bearish experience has revealed this to be a great way to find new acts, learn about upcoming gigs and/or exchange thoughts on festivals, venues and any other live performance-related stuff.

Thank you, fellow Metalheads, for coming to MetalBear’s blog and making it to the end of this welcome/intro post – hopefully the first of many to come. Beers!