Your Favourite Delain Album...

To celebrate the release of Delain's new album Moonbathers, this month's poll asked for your favourite of the band's previous studio albums. There was a clear winner this time: April Rain!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

April Rain - 38.24%

The Human Contradiction - 26.47%

Lucidity - 17.65%

We Are The Others - 17.65%

Are you enjoying Moonbathers? Let me know in the comments!

With Sirenia's new album recently announced, they're the subject of the next poll. Check it out over in the sidebar.

Your Favourite Tarja Album...

The results are in for the latest poll - this time you voted for your favourite Tarja rock album ahead of the release of her upcoming record. And the winner is... What Lies Beneath!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

What Lies Beneath - 50%

Colours in the Dark - 31.82%

My Winter Storm - 18.18%

Her record The Shadow Self will be released in August, and the "prequel" album The Brightest Void is out now.

On to the next poll: with the news this week that Delain have finished in the studio, this time we're asking for your favourite Delain album. Check out the poll over in the sidebar.

Your Most Anticipated Album...

The poll results are in - this time we asked you to choose your most anticipated upcoming album from a selection of 2016's symphonic and female-fronted metal offerings. And the winner is.... Epica!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

Epica - Unknown Title - 36.17%

Within Temptation - Unknown Title - 25.53%

Tarja - Unknown Title - 12.77%

Avantasia - Ghostlights - 8.51%

Lacuna Coil - Delirium - 6.38%

Serenity - Codex Atlanticus - 6.38%

Delain - Lunar Prelude EP - 2.13%

Rhapsody of Fire - Into The Legend - 2.13%

Extreme band Fleshgod Apocalypse sadly missed out on getting any points for their album King.

As details of Tarja's new album are due to be released soon, the next question is this: which is your favourite Tarja album? For this question, we're looking at her studio rock records only as opposed to her classical work. Vote on the poll over in the sidebar on the right.

Your Favourite Endless Forms Most Beautiful Track...

The Nightwish Endless Forms Most Beautiful poll results are in and the winner is... The Greatest Show On Earth!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

The Greatest Show On Earth - 27.08%

Shudder Before The Beautiful - 20.83%

Alpenglow - 12.5%

Weak Fantasy - 12.5%

Élan - 8.33%

Yours Is An Empty Hope - 8.33%

Endless Forms Most Beautiful - 6.25%
Edema Ruh - 2.08%

The Eyes of Sharbat Gula - 2.08%

The epic 20 minute track is a deserving winner, and one that is sure to be a great spectacle if they play it at Wembley this weekend. A few songs didn't score any votes: Our Decades In The Sun, My Walden and Sagan.

Since we're nearly in 2016, the new poll is looking at our most anticipated albums. Head over to the sidebar to vote for the upcoming record you're most excited for!

Your Favourite Leaves' Eyes Album...

The Leaves' Eyes poll results are in and the winner is... Vinland Saga!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

Vinland Saga - 29.03%

Symphonies of the Night - 25.81%

King of Kings - 16.13%

Njord - 16.13%

Meredead - 9.68%

Lovelorn - 3.23%

Since we're getting excited for Nightwish playing Wembley Arena, the next poll will be another Nightwish one. This time the question is: what's your favourite song from Endless Forms Most Beautiful? Give your answer over in the sidebar.

Your Favourite Within Temptation Album...

The Within Temptation poll results are in and the winner is... The Silent Force!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

The Silent Force - 36.67%

Mother Earth - 20%

The Unforgiving - 16.67%

The Heart of Everything - 13.33%

Enter - 6.67%

Hydra - 6.67%

Now it's time to look at the studio albums from another of our favourite bands, whose new record we'll be hearing next month... Cast your vote for the best Leaves' Eyes album over in the sidebar now!

Your Favourite Symphonic Metal DVD...

*drumroll* And the winner is... Within Temptation - Black Symphony!

Here's the full list in order of percentage of votes:

Within Temptation - Black Symphony - 29.17%

Nightwish - Showtime, Storytime - 23.61%

Nightwish - End of An Era - 18.06%

Epica - Retrospect - 11.11%

Kamelot - One Cold Winter's Night - 6.94%

Within Temptation - The Silent Force Tour - 4.17%

Within Temptation - Let Us Burn - 2.78%

Within Temptation - The Mother Earth Tour - 2.78%

Leaves' Eyes - We Came With The Northern Winds - 1.39%

The DVDs which just missed out were Nightwish's From Wishes To Eternity and Tarja's Act 1.

To celebrate Within Temptation's victory in the poll, this month we're asking for your favourite WT album. Cast your vote over in the sidebar on the right of the page.

Your Favourite Female Symphonic Metal Vocalist...

The results are in, and we have another landslide victory... for Floor Jansen!

Here's the full list in order of number of votes:

Floor Jansen - 33.87%

Simone Simons - 19.35%

Sharon Den Adel - 14.52%

Tarja Turunen - 12.9%

Dianne Van Giersbergen - 6.45%

Anneke Van Giersbergen - 3.23%

Charlotte Wessels - 3.23%

Liv Kristine - 3.23%

Other - 3.23%

Those who selected "other" forgot to leave a comment, so I guess we'll never know who they picked... Ailyn, Anette Olzon and Manuela Kraller unfortunately all missed out in the votes.

To celebrate Floor's win, why not listen to a new Nightwish song? Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat are streaming Shudder Before The Beautiful for free until the 26th of March. Check it out here.

Stay tuned for a new poll - it will go up in the sidebar shortly.

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This post is dedicated to the memory of my favourite author, Sir Terry Pratchett, who sadly passed away yesterday. If you're able to, please spare a donation for the Alzheimer's charity he supported in his memory.

One of my favourites of his books is Wintersmith - here you can listen to the beautiful song based on the book by Sons of Seasons, featuring Simone Simons.

Your Favourite Male Symphonic Metal Vocalist...

The votes of the latest poll have been counted - this time we have a runaway winner. You guys picked Marco Hietala as your favourite male symphonic metal vocalist! 

Here's the full list in order of number of votes:

Marco Hietala - 40.43%

Roy Khan - 25.53%

Tommy Karevik - 17.02%

Tony Kakko - 8.51%

Fabio Lione - 2.13%

Georg Neuhauser - 2.13%

Mark Jansen - 2.13%

Morten Veland - 2.13%

Congrats Marco! Of course, there were a few who unfortunately didn't score any votes - Alex Krull, Henning Basse, Jari Mäenpää, Russell Allen and Sander Gommans all missed out.

Continuing the theme, the new poll is now up over in the sidebar. This time you can pick your favourite female vocalist. This should be a tough one!

Your favourite MFVF 12 Bands...

Results are in for the poll of your favourite MFVF 12 bands and things are looking a bit close! This time we had a three-way tie, and the winners are Therion, Xandria and Ancient Bards. 

If you want to see what I thought of those bands and all the rest, you can now read my full MFVF review over at Muses of Metal.

Here's the full list in order of number of votes:

Ancient Bards - 15.15% 

Therion - 15.15%

Xandria - 15.15%

Diabulus in Musica - 12.12%

Leaves' Eyes - 12.12%

Stream of Passion - 12.12%

Arkona - 6.06%

Sirenia - 3.03%

Skeptical Minds - 3.03%

The Sirens - 3.03%

Bands who unfortunately walked away with 0 votes were Draconian, Holy Moses, Jaded Star, Dark Sarah and Enemy of Reality. I'm particularly surprised to see Draconian down there - such a wonderful band and one of my highlights of the festival. We also had a mysterious vote for "other" from someone who left no comment, so that unfortunately could not be counted.

You know what this means - time for a new poll! If you check in the sidebar on the right, you will see that this time we're voting for our favourite male symphonic metal vocalist. If your favourite isn't on the list, vote "other" and leave a comment on the poll using the button below it.

Stay tuned for the results, as well as all the usual news - plus a review of the new Amaranthe album is coming soon.

(Blog News) Top Once Tracks, MFVF Press, New Poll

This month you voted for your favourite tracks from Nightwish's iconic album Once, but with a twist: no-one was allowed to vote for Ghost Love Score, because we all know that would win. 

So the results are in and... we have a tie! The winning songs are Dark Chest of Wonders and Nemo.

Here's the full list in order of number of votes:

Dark Chest of Wonders - 25.93%

Nemo - 25.93%

Planet Hell - 14.81%

The Siren - 14.81 %

Wish I Had An Angel - 7.41%

Dead Gardens - 3.7%

Romanticide - 3.7%

White Night Fantasy - 3.7%

Creek Mary's Blood - 0%

Higher Than Hope - 0%

Kuolema Tekee Taiteilijan - 0%

Live To Tell The Tale - 0%

(Have to say, no votes for Higher Than Hope - that's a surprise!)


Nightwish - Dark Chest of Wonders (Live at Wacken)

Nightwish - Nemo

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There is also some great news to share with you: as part of the other site I write for, Muses of Metal, I have once again received a press pass for Metal Female Voices Fest. Tayla and I will be reporting for you from the festival and reviewing all three days of the event. We will be doing interviews with anyone we can get hold of, so if you have a question for any of the singers that will be attending, let me know in the comments.

To celebrate this, the new poll asks: Which of the MFVF 12 bands is your favourite? Go and vote over in the sidebar.

You can find my full guide to the festival here. Hope to see some of you there!

The blog also recently passed 80,000 pageviews. Thanks for your support!

Your Favourite Nightwish Album...

Results are in and the winner is... Once! The classic album scored a win with just over 30% of the vote. Thank you to everyone who picked a favourite - and there were a lot of you!

Here's the full list in order of number of votes:

Once - 30.43%

Century Child - 15.33%

Imaginaerum - 15.33%

Dark Passion Play - 13.04%

Wishmaster - 10.87%

Oceanborn - 6.52%

Showtime, Storytime (Live) - 6.52%

Angels Fall First - 2.17%

And we had a few losers - nobody picked these records as their favourite: 

From Wishes to Eternity (Live)

Over The Hills and Far Away EP

End of an Era (Live)

Made in Hong Kong (Live)

The Score (Soundtrack)

A strong victory for Once, which was released in 2004 and recently had its 10th anniversary celebrated by the band with a special merchandise range. To celebrate this, the new poll will be asking you to pick your favourite track from Once, but with a twist: you can't pick Ghost Love Score! We all know GLS is a huge fan-favourite, so let's see what other songs people love from the album.

(Blog News) The Poll Has Returned! Pick Your Favourite Nightwish Album

Some of you may have noticed that Blogger's poll system has been down for a worryingly long time. Unfortunately it's still not been fixed, but never fear - I've found another way to get a working poll. Shortly before the widget broke we were voting for the best Nightwish album (including live albums and EPs!) so that will continue. 

I look forward to seeing what you guys will choose - which Nightwish album deserves the crown? Vote over to the right in the sidebar.

Your Favourite Epica Album...

You guys voted for your favourite Epica album this month, and the results are in! It was more of a close call this time, but the winner was Design Your Universe with 29% of the vote.

Here's the full list in order of votes:

Design Your Universe - 29%

The Divine Conspiracy - 20%

The Quantum Enigma - 17%

Requiem for the Indifferent - 14%

The Phantom Agony - 11%

Consign to Oblivion - 6%

The Classical Conspiracy - 3%

Since Nightwish have begun work on the demos for their next album (coming early 2015), it's a great time to celebrate with a new poll. What will you pick as your favourite Nightwish album? We're going all out this time so you can not only vote for their main studio albums, but also live albums, the Over The Hills EP and The Score. You'll find the poll in the sidebar over on the right. Get voting!

Your Most Anticipated Album...

You guys voted for your most anticipated upcoming album, and there was one clear winner! Epica's The Quantum Enigma is out in front with 52% of the vote. The album is looking amazing from what we know so far - check out my buying guide for what editions you can get.

The results were as follows:

Epica - The Quantum Enigma - 52%

Delain - The Human Contradiction - 12 %

Tuomas Holopainen - The Life And Times of Scrooge - 12%

Xandria - Sacrificium - 12%

Anette Olzon - Shine - 4%

Lacuna Coil - Broken Crown Halo - 4%

Sonata Arctica - Pariah's Child - 4%

So in honour of this victory, and the release of the new album, the next poll has an Epica theme. You can now vote for your favourite Epica album over on the right of the page - and yes, The Quantum Enigma is a choice, just in case it becomes your new favourite!