Here is my entry for 
- 2 Bands starting with the letter D, my choices are:
1) Dark Tranquility
Style: Metal / Melodic Death Metal
Country: Sweden
This band is what we call... an acquired taste for me. The first time I listened to it was in the early 90's, with the original vocalist Anders Fridén. I must admit I really hated that sound at the time. Dark Tranquility became one of those names I refused to listen...
But by the end of 1993, the vocalist Anders Fridén left and the guitar player Mikael Stanne took over the vocals, in what it seemed like a temporary fix... just until they could find a better replacement.
Well, apparently the freaking dude didn't know how good he could sing!!! The public loved him... and he became the vocalist of the band, permanently. To this day, they are still giving shows with Mikael Stanne in the vocals!
It's been 17 years now... and 10 Studio Albums and 3 Live Albums later, Mikael Stanne is still the lead vocalist of the band! Not so shady for a temporary solution, eh?
They are working on a new album and I'm very excited about this one, since just about a month ago, Dark Tranquility have hired Christopher Amott from Arch Enemy to play the guitars on this new release! Wow!!! 😲
To everyone who says that Metal fans and musicians are just a bunch of aggressive guys, pay special attention to these 2 videos:
Here's the Live Performance of Insanity's Crescendo (in Milan, 2008), with the guest participation of Nell Sigland (from Theatre of Tragedy), in the vocals:
Did you notice how Mikael Stanne has intereacted with Nell Sigland around the 2:05 mark?
And also, how he made sure that the crowd knew her name, at the end of the song, around 7:07? This guy is a gentleman! 😁
The next song is from the same show and it's called Misery's Crown:
Did you see what happened around the minute 2:43 when Mikael realises that a girl from the crowd has managed to get up on the stage? He goes to her, hugs her and brings her to the center of the stage! Epic!
She then kisses him and jumps back to the crowd! 😊
2) Dead Sara
Style: Rock / Hard Rock
Country: USA
The way I got introduced to Dead Sara was quite peculiar. There I was, playing Need For Speed on the Playstation and going crazy as I made the car jump from high rooftops into the roads... when the coolest song starts to play...
I had to pause the game and go online to search for that track and I found it. It was a song called Weatherman, by a group I had never heard about: Dead Sara. This song is really cool. 😎
Apparently this song was a huge hit in the USA but not so much in Europe. If it were not for that Playstation Game, I would probably never heard of this band. Or the song.
Dead Sara was formed by two teenagers - Emily Armstrong and Siouxsie Medley - when they were 16 and 15 years old, respectively. Emily became the lead vocalist and Siouxsie the guitar player of Dead Sara. A very interesting band! 😉
If you want to join the challenge, visit the announcement post, here: Music A to Z Challenge #D.
See my previous entries here:
- A) The Agonist & Arch Enemy / Atakama & Amely Sky [Metal]
- B) Багира & Blind Ivy [Metal]
- C) Conquer Divide & Cripper [Metal]