One Hit Wondersauce

So, I have quite a few bands in my collection that are there simply because of one freakin' song. Something about it is awesome! And since I hate having single songs, I have their entire cds - and the rest of that CD is completely useless garbage. Or at least, I find all of it to be pretty uninteresting, as a whole.

Anyhow, I feel like I should share some of my precioustreasures with you. Yeah, that's creepy sounding.

HERE'S SHIT THAT YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO

I don't think I am going to be able to dredge up samples for some of these songs, to be honest - my criterion for these songs being on here are that they are by pretty unknown bands. It is unlikely that anyone has uploaded all their stuff to Youtube. You can probably procure it somehow, but I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader.

Golem - The Tower
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)


From their sole release, "Dreamweaver," The Tower is just a pummeling piece of music which I am fairly certain is inspired by Stephen King's "The Dark Tower." It's big, bombastic, and has one of the best rhythms I have ever heard. The final solos, the progressive guitar work through the entire thing, the insanely technical drumming, and the epic scale make this a really fucking excellent song. The rest of the CD, sadly, is kind of boring technical death metal. There are some decent moments in them but nothing compared to this song.

Morian - Warmonger's Ball
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)

I can't think of a catchier opening five seconds. The way the vocal melody slowly edges upwards through the verse is nearly perfect, as well. The chorus seems kind of unfulfilling after all that promise, but thankfully they get back to the point soon enough.

I am certain that it is terrible English, but the phrasing that they use in the verse is also very poetic.

Could it be so we're torn and shaken
Could it be so we are awakened
Could it be so that in all these years I have never seen your face?

Onward - Night

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q9uAzax4lQ

I really don't know what to say about Michael Grant's (the vocalist) faces in this video. In fact, I'm not so sure about his lace-up frilly shirt, either. But I do declare, the vocal line he is singing has been stuck in my head ever since I first heard this song. No matter how many times I play it, it persists. In fact, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to listen to this!

John Sykes - Cautionary Warning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIZF50kMlKc

The really worthwhile parts of this song are (surprise) the guitar work (by John Sykes, of Whitesnake and other assorted acts) as well as the...outro, I suppose? The vocals take a darker edge and slowly begin to fade out, and it's probably one of the best uses of that effect I've heard in quite a while (barring "Fade To Black").

This version of the song is from Black Heaven - the original mix is instrumental.

Crimson Tears - Steal My Heart
(sadly not available streaming on the internet)

This song owes all of its awesomeness to a ten-or-twenty second bridge where the key changes and a small part of an earlier track on the CD is played - it more than makes up for some of the really bad lyrics and the debatable "ai-ee-ai-ee-ai-ee" thing the singer does a few times. The bridge starts right at 3:05 on my copy and is basically everything a bridge should be - deeply melodic and catchy, surprising in direction, and makes you want to listen to the song again just to hear it.

 
Lords of Decadence - The Dreamcatcher

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDnnglH1VI 

Lords of Decadence are a little silly, but the interplay between the one(?) vocalist's styles here is superb. The backing keyboards have a bit of a 'creepy kid's nightmare' vibe going on, and the guitar work is slick even if the production is not. The ascending scale under the lyric Scream! - and the overall groove of the song - make it actually one of my favorites when I'm in a particular mood. No, not that mood.

Imperanon - Shadowsouls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jgCeDwKXDU

The defining element here is the female vocalist's duet with the perpetually-soloing guitar. I don't know what exactly you would call the characteristic of her voice that makes it sound sharp or harsh, but it's doing what it's doing exactly as it should. The slight touch of keyboard in the background, the driving drums - solid, solid song for a Children of Bodom clone that never really went anywhere.