It’s December 2012. End o’ the world, folks! What else can I do but feature end o’ the world songs? And laugh about people actually thinking this Mayan calendar hokum is right, and continue to think so despite thorough debunking. I do so love end of the world predictions! I especially love the morning after.
And I love a good theme. This will definitely do. Lots of end o’ the world songs out there that have been begging me to post them. We’ll begin with Xandria, which is a band that, until now, I’ve been fond of but not enthralled by. Some of their songs I do love deeply, mind you, but as far as favorites, the band as a whole was about middling on the list.
However.
Comma.
Jango recently played me a song off of Neverworld’s End, which I hadn’t heard of. Yes, I am horribly behind. This album came out nearly a year ago. Look, I’ve been bashing rocks. I’m busy. And Xandria wasn’t one of those bands I waited breathlessly for – until Jango played me this song, called “The Nomad’s Crown.” And I went, “That sounds like Xandria, and yet does not. It is delicious. I wonder why it’s so yummy?”
Anyway. Let’s have some end o’ the world music. Since we’re dealing with supposed Mayan prophecy, we’ll begin with “A Prophecy of Worlds to Fall.”
That’s still Xandria, but wow. Listened to that song three times in an hour the first time I encountered it. And to think – she didn’t start seriously singing until recently!
Okay. Now that we’ve had the prophecy, let’s get to the actual end: “The Lost Elysion.”
I think I found Elysion, right there on this album, actually. It is, the dictionary tells me, “A place or condition of ideal happiness.” Sums me up right now.
To round things out, let’s have the first song off this album I ever heard, which is actually the last song, because life is odd that way: “The Nomad’s Crown.”
If the world ended right now, it would hit me at a very happy moment. Ah, that is some beautiful stuff.
*I’ve developed a new appreciation for Lisa Middelhauve since hearing this album. She’s one of those singers who grows on me more with each passing year.
For those eagerly anticipating that promised extra autumn post, fear not: it is coming.
… And then there’s the Mayan calendar they found that extends another several years into the future.
So I think I’m safe in enjoying some new music, gracias Dana, well into the New Year. :)
That is the earliest known calendar, so it might have been prepared before the Mayans discovered that the world was going to end.
Or it could have been made by end-of-the-world denialists.
Hey Dana-
You just introduced me to Xandria, and I’m already addicted. Any odds we (your darling readers) could get a discography of your preferred symphonic metal?
I prefer this version. :)
Also, have you heard of ES Posthumus, Dana?
They’re pretty epic, but not too big on the vocals, and they have an album called Unearthed, which has a huge archaeological lean to it… And a song called Pompeii. :)