The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

I've gained an appreciation for Symphonic Metal over the past several years, with my favorite bands in the genre being Within Temptation, Epica, and After Forever. I recently stumbled upon a band called Delain whose music eerily reminded me of Within Temptation. Well, come to find out the band's founder and keyboard player is Martijn Westerholt who is the brother of none other than Robert Westerholt...who cofounded the band Within Temptation along with Sharon Adel. Martijn was actually in Within Temptation at one time. Delian's singer Charlotte Wessels has a much different voice than Sharon and other singers in the genre, which distinguishes them quite a bit from similar bands. Below is a song off their latest release:

And here we have my namesake "Strange Wings" by the band Savatage. Interesting fun fact: Ray Gillen (who went on to become the singer of Badlands) is featured on background vocals. *RIP Criss Oliva and Ray Gillen*

I've always been a huge Iron Maiden fan since I first heard them in my youth. My favorite albums are Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere In Time, and Seventh Son. I was very unhappy when Adrian Smith left and even more so when Bruce Dickinson left shortly after. Even though they both returned many years later, to me they still haven't quite recaptured the magic of that earlier period. There have been songs I liked on the newer albums, but overall I have felt that something has been missing and the new material has just not lived up to the legacy. The latest album "Book of Souls" has finally been very close. I have enjoyed this album like no other Maiden album since Seventh Son. The first video from the album "Speed of Light" has also finally captured Eddie in a video game setting better than ever before. To my knowledge all other attempts to do this (I'm looking at you Ed Hunter) have been absolutely horrid. Check out the video: