#morocktober

[loiterer87]

Want to hear epic power metal about warrior princes Vs evil wizards in the ancient magical kingdom of Fife? Yes, that one in Scotland? Where they sing about hammers? And the Knights of Crail? And undead unicorns? Go check out Gloryhammer! They're dead silly. And can play pretty damn well!

For some awesome tracks, try 'The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee', 'Rise Of The Chaos Wizards' and 'Keeper Of The Celestial Flame Of Abernathy'! 

Quite pleased with how the unicorn turned out here. I don't normally draw horses...

[loiterer87]

Late late late! Ugh... Hate my job, sometimes. Anyway! Got four of these to get through so let's make this quick! 

Sabaton are a Swedish Power Metal band who sing awesome songs about military history! They are brilliant and I really want to see them live again...

Recently they made a couple of concept albums focussing on World War 1, so I decided to make that the main element of the piece. Spent a fair bit of time researching the British Military looks and equipment. Not the most accurate, but I only had so much time. Some good tracks from them include 'To Hell And Back', about Audie Murphy and his struggles with PTSD, 'Primo Victoria', about the D-Day landings, and 'Fields Of Verdun', about one of the longest and costliest battles in human history. Great stuff for learning history!

[loiterer87]

I asked a friend what I should do for this. He suggested Herman Li. He also added he should be naked. I drew the line at that. Not literally... So I did him with a guitar, doing his thing. 

DragonForce play power metal. Really fast power metal. It's like their thing. I know they have lyrics, but I couldn't tell you what they were. 

They've some good songs but just for the sake of triggering PTSD flashbacks for the Guitar Hero crowd, go listen to Through The Fire And The Flames. It sums them up best I reckon. 

And that's the end of Monsters Of Rock-tober! I've listened to a fair few new things, some I liked, some I didn't. Either way, I drew some stuff and tried my damnedest to get it out on time. Deffo think I've improved on hands and guitars if nothing else. Maybe unicorns, and stuff which requires reference. Tanks, for example. Anyway, tired now.

[loiterer87]

Well, here we are, October and let's start this nonsense with a band whose visuals are probably more recognisable than their music. Kiss! You've probably heard at least one or two of their biggest hits, I Was Made For Lovin' You or God Gave Rock 'n' Roll To You II (A cover of the Argent song and you heard the Kiss version from Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey). Other good tracks to look out for are Detroit Rock City and Crazy Crazy Nights.

Formed in 1973 in New York City, Kiss had the makeup from the start. Paul " The Starchild" Stanley, Gene "The Demon" Simmons, Ace "The Spaceman" Frehley and Peter "The Catman" Criss are the original and probably most famous lineup. They used Pyrotechnics, fake blood, levitating drum kits, all sorts in their live shows and probably inspired some of the modern live shows today in some way or form. 

Had to do Gene in his Demon persona to start with. Just looked cool IMO. Was considering doing Ace, partly for the challenge and because I've also been listening to his solo stuff which I dig, but ultimately Gene won out.

[loiterer87]

One of the big ones today. Started by bass player, Steve Harris back in 1975, Iron Maiden should be familiar to even people who aren't metalheads. With hits such as 'Number Of The Beast', 'Powerslave' and 'Two Minutes To Midnight', the band are still going strong today. 

The Derek Riggs mentioned here is the original artist who came up with the band's mascot, Eddie The Head. Seen here as part of my recreation of their second album cover, Killers. He also provided covers for their other albums, including Number Of The Beast, Somewhere In Time, and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. 

Quite pleased with this one! Yes, it's my interpretation of something that already exists but I still like how it turned out. The pose is slightly off and some of the background isn't 1 to 1 accurate, but it's alright. Also nice to see what I can do with some dying pens...

[loiterer87]

Day two and a bit of a different sound and style. Bloodywood is what happens when three lads from New Delhi decide to combine nu-metal with traditional Indian folk music! There's bits of Bhangra in there, some rapping, traditional instruments and some really good growling! If you're curious, check out Dana Dan or Ari Ari, or their first album, Rakshak! 

Don't know why, but I decided on the Hindu Goddess Kali with a Flying V guitar. That was the vibe I was getting while trying to come up with a concept for the picture. Think it turned out pretty decent! Especially the hands! Went for the four-armed version instead of the ten, because there was no way I was fitting all them arms on an A5 bit of paper...

[loiterer87]

Censored, because those udders don't look like udders...

Behold, human filth! The Scumdogs Of The Universe, the band GWAR are here! The band started as a spin off of original vocalist, Dave Brockie's band Death Piggy. Usually, it was Death Piggy and some other guys dressed up as weird space barbarians pretending to be a completely different band called Gwaaarrrgghhlllgh, opening up for themselves. They eventually shortened it to just Gwar. 

As time went on, Gwar became more popular and their look and costumes became more elaborate. As did their stage show. At any live show of theirs, you are likely to see blood, several celebrities and public figures being slaughtered, alien bodily fluids being sprayed about wantonly and some really good music! And offensive! 

These guys are one of the most fun bands I've heard in a while. With songs like 'Sick Of You', 'Bring Back The Bomb', you can tell how firmly their tongue is in the cheek. Personally, one of my favourite's is 'Metal Metal Band', a song about a wondrous place of "booze and cooze and weed and speed" and heavy metal of course...

This here is their second vocalist, Blothar The Berserker, who took over after the original frontman, Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) died in 2014. He's flanked by guitarist, Balsac the Jaws of Death, while he sprays the crowd with... I don't know if I want to finish that sentence... The udders are a defence mechanism! Shut up!

[loiterer87]

Back on track with today's prompt, Blind Guardian! Formed in 1984, originally called Lucifer's Heritage, they are one of the most influential Power Metal bands to come out of Germany. Where a lot come from anyway... 

A lot of their songs are influenced and take inspiration from literature. You ever wanted to hear a kickass power metal track about Peter Pan? You can! It's called 'Fly' and it's ace! Want an album about The Silmarillion? Go listen to 'Nightfall On Middle-Earth'! It's fast, epic and has some soaring vocals courtesy of lead singer, Hansi Kürsch. 

Tried doing a moody piece based around the idea of a dark, mysterious library, filled with these tales and songs and a robed, blindfolded writer keeping and curating... I dunno...