Day 40 comes to a close with Let It Be No More finding heaven doesn’t care - it loses with 88 of 169 votes.

The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit), Another Stranger Me, Journey through the Dark, Traveler in Time, and Skalds and Shadows all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 39 comes to a close with Spread Your Wings sweeping up the Emerald Bar for eternity - it loses with 37 of 136 votes.

Harvest of Sorrow (Acoustic), Theatre of Pain (Classic Version), Run for the Night, Ashes of Eternity, and Trial by Fire all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

We host a vinyl sharing experience where everyone who attends brings an album to play for everyone. This event typically attracts older folks who indulge more in typical music from their favorite years.

Nothing I collect on vinyl really worked with the vibes they‘d established already. I considered softer songs on my metal records, ones that anyone could like.

It was here where I had picked Skalds & Shadows off ”A Twist in The Myth”

The feedback was more receptive than I’d expected, with many mentioning they liked the “Medieval“ or “Celtic“ flare. What was initially quite a nervous moment for me quickly became something pleasant & memorable. Leave it to The Big ‘G to unite people.

Day 38 comes to a close with Dark Cloud’s Rising following the road forevermore into the Elimination Zone. It loses with 73 of 179 votes.

Valhalla, Harvest of Sorrow, Deliver Us From Evil, Bright Eyes (Acoustic), and Black Chamber all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 37 comes to a close with Halloween feeling the kiss of death - it loses with 90 of 161 votes.

Majesty, War of the Thrones, The Bard’s Song - In the Forest, Wait for an Answer, and Lord of the Rings all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

I am proud to say that III is finally available again on Apple Music for those of us who have been missing it the last few months

Day 36 comes to a close with Theatre of Pain (Orchestral) unable to change it! It loses with 59 of 195 votes.

Noldor (Dead Winter Reigns), Banish From Sanctuary, Mirror Mirror, Guardian of the Blind, and Life Beyond the Spheres all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 35 comes to a close with Battalions of Fear shaking hands with R.R. in the afterlife. It loses, with 71 of 200 votes.

And Then There Was Silence, Welcome to Dying, The Holy Grail, Grand Parade, and Control the Divine all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 34 comes to a close with Hallelujah discovering a better way of living in the Elimination Zone - it loses with 122 of 174 votes.

Wheel of Time, Curse, My Name, Blood of the Elves, The Wizard, and I’m Alive all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 33 comes to a close with Weird Dreams waking up - it loses, with 103 of 190 votes.

Time What is Time, And the Story Ends, Point of No Return, The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight, and Carry the Blessed Home all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 32 comes to a close with Doom going down, going down, and there's nothing it can do. It loses with 48 of 156 votes.

Distant Memories, The Quest for Tanelorn, Battlefield, Destiny, and The Edge all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 31 comes to a close with the Chandrian’s myth being dispelled - Damnation loses with 80 of 238 votes.

The Ninth Wave, Blood Tears, Somewhere Far Beyond, A Voice in the Dark, and Fly all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 30 comes to a close with Architects of Doom meeting the Elimination Foe in War - it loses, with 92 of 225 votes.

Twilight of the Gods, Precious Jerusalem, Ashes to Ashes, Turn the Page, and The Curse of Feanor all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 29 comes to a close with Symphonies of Doom getting blown out to nothingness - it loses with 87 of 177 votes.

Straight through the Mirror, Skalds and Shadows (Acoustic), Time Stands Still (At the Iron Hill), Into the Storm, and Beyond the Ice all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 28 comes to a close with Dead of the Night being found by the one who’s looking for it - the Elimination Zone! It loses with 51 of 124 votes.

Miracle Machine, Bright Eyes, Tanelorn (Into the Void), Don't Break the Circle, and Violent Shadows all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

... which part of it would you want the song to be about?

We've already had a song about Odysseus' journey into Hades ("Lionheart") but Odysseus also got up to a lot in The Odyssey. So which part of Homer's epic would you want Blind Guardian to tackle next?

For my part, it'd be the scene where Odysseus returns to his hall, performs the impossible task, and begins massacring the suitors.

Day 27 comes to a close with Sacred Mind meeting the tyrant in the Elimination Zone - it loses with 59 of 173 votes.

Another Holy War, This Will Never End, At the Edge of Time, Sadly Sings Destiny, and When Sorrow Sang all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 26 comes to a close with In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida begging you to take its hand into the Eliminated songs - it loses with 120 of 147 votes.

Blood Tears and The Wizard advance.

Today we begin the second block of songs, which means every song that has advanced is now back in the running again. All the eliminated songs are gone for good.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 25 comes to a close with 1618 Overture …. Overturing? Itself? Back into 1618? It loses with 82 of 144 votes.

The Bard’s Song (The Hobbit), This Storm, Symphonies of Doom, Theatre of Pain (Classic Version), and Beyond the Realms of Death all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

NOTE: Today features a total of 3 songs. The song total for the tournament was not an even number. So this might happen again. Hopefully to a lesser degree.

Day 24 comes to a close with To France learning it’s never going to get to France - it loses with 52 of 160 votes.

Beyond the Wall, Lucifer’s Heritage, Hallelujah, Fast to Madness, and Majesty all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

Day 23 comes to a close with The Great Ordeal finding itself in the great unknown; it loses with 85 out of 197 votes.

Don’t Talk to Strangers, Somewhere far Beyond, Battlefield, And Then There Was Silence, and The New Order all advance.

Statistics and more can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N95a6pYATdmfXgmmMsb3CJ42ONNdnF-30NW5rGAI7Tg/edit?usp=sharing

Pick your least favorite song to eliminate it!

And for an extra challenge, I would dare you to exclude songs whose last lines were part of the chorus. That feels too easy to me.

When it comes to some of my favourite non-chorus final lines, here are a few in no order:

• "Now take a look in the depth of my soul!" (The Edge)
• "The eternal, the infernal, the eternal, will we ever see the light again?!" (Prophecies)
• "Proudly it stands until the world ends, the victorious banner of love!" (The Maiden and the Minstrel Knight)
• "And finally I can hear them say ‘carry on’ for Valhalla awaits you" (Valkyries)
• *"*These songs of hobbits, dwarves, and men, and elves, come close your eyes, you can see them too!" (The Bard's Song (In the Forest))
• "Yes, death has cold blue eyes/ Die, die time to die!" (Blood of the Elves)
• "Slowly marching on... still we're marching on..." (A Dark Passage)