Also, attending a BG concert at the old Graceland in Seattle back in 2004 or so and singing along to "The Bard's Song" with a few hundred other fans who knew all the words was definitely a peak geek moment.

One of my favorite things about metal is how diverse it is and sometimes it just gets silly even if it appears absolutely serious - I think seeing the bands when they are having the most fun let's them try things you won't see in their music or videos or even on a regular tour.

In case anyone is into video games and power metal and lives somewhere near Madison WI there is a festival called Mad With Power my wife found last year that falls into the bucket of how is this even a thing but it's a joy to experience.

There are also a few metal cruises I've been on that are absolutely not what you'd expect and are mostly people hugging everyone and have things like cupcake decorating classes.

Sadly, Vitalij Kuprij just passed. :/

https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/music/trans-siberian-orchestr...

What cruises are you talking about? I've been on seven iterations of the US-based 70kTons cruise, which AFAIK is the oldest and biggest metal cruise. And while people there are generally very friendly and awesome, I've never seen cupcake decorating classes. Instead, people were discussing drum techniques, beer and whisky, metal music and concerts...pretty much exactly what you'd expect on such an event. The most exquisite topics were probably politics and costumes (there's sort of an unofficial costume contest on the last day of that cruise).

When I was a kid I loved some of their classics like Mirror Mirror, but I wasn't as much into them as some of my entourage, as I preferred other styles of vocals. Recently however I've come to appreciate them again because Spotify suggested "Sacred Worlds" from the album Edge of Time. I love fully orchestrated metal - Metallica's S&M with the San Fran Symphonic or Nightwish's Once with the London Philarmonic - and "Sacred Worlds" is an absolute banger within this rare subgenre.

I used to "hate" ANATO for a long time but now it's easily my favourite from them and every time I listen to it it gets better. It's one of a handful of albums that to this day I can sit down and do nothing but listen to the music. No multitasking. (Though I guess trying to pick out each vocal track is a very multitasking activity).

One thing of note: I essentially only listen to metal and classical. Everything else is dead boring to me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Except in Japan (1).

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwPlMB_dAo8

My initial comment was moreso based on the number of limited releases that Japan's gotten from metal albums over the years, coupled with touring there being more complicated - so when bands _do_ get to tour over there, it's usually a crazy good show. Drives demand, etc.

Let me remedy this https://youtu.be/i-IcX_bccFc

Some say they are still chanting to this day.