The artist formerly known as Evening Star has returned under his real name, Marcus Warner. As a thank you to the fans who’ve been there for him since day one as well as a tribute to the show itself, he’s put together Reprise, an EP full of ES tracks from way back then, remastered and reimagined in an epic orchestral style. Along with him are a number of guest vocalists and musicians, such as Brione Jackson, who provides live cello to the tracks Octavia and To Build an Army, and Rory Sherman, who in addition to taking part in choir vocals across the EP, also shows off his skills with the flute. In terms of stand out tracks, Starswirl the Bearded definitely hits a high note with its strong atmosphere crafted by a dark choir alongside a viola before building up to add punchy drums and plenty of epic string progressions to top it off. Land of Equestria – the EP’s closer and sole lyrical track – was originally produced a year ago and features fandom musicians Silver Note and Sterling Fusion on vocals. Now it’s back, and with a new beautiful orchestral coat of paint. This EP is nothing short of amazing, and a beautiful way to pay tribute to the show that brought us all together and will continue to inspire. Thanks for the memories, Marcus!
Album post
Albums and EPs, with further details about individual songs.
Tw3Lv3 – Release | Album | Lo-fi
The debut album from the fandom’s lo-fi giant Tw3Lv3 is finally here! It has 20 tracks, some of which will be familiar if you follow his channel, such as Old Vibes, Starlight’s Dream, Canterlot Suburb, Tsukimi and so on. Quite a few of the songs are collabs with other producers, such as TheTaze, Steryotype, Power Note and Astral. A couple guest vocalists also appear, such as ShobieShy on the vocal version of Starlight’s Dream, and MC Arch on the closing track I Will Still Think About You. Standout tracks are Memorias for its catchiness, Autumn Breeze (featuring The Empty Tomb) because of the chilled out nature, as well as the aforementioned Tsukimi, Under the Rain and I Will Still Think About You, which displays Arch’s singing abilities really well! Overall, this album is nothing short of fantastic, and an amazing debut that’s well worth the wait. Pick it up when you can!
Frozen Night – Thorn of The Frozen Star | Album | Orchestral / Metal
Breathtaking, astonishing, mesmerizing. The superlatives are lacking to describe this majestic album.
If you decide to embark on this journey Frozen Night has crafted for us, you will be hearing the incredible fusion of orchestral and metal we know and love him for. Half of the tracks include gorgeous lyrics sung by the equally gorgeous voice of Velvet R. Wings.
Each piece is a chapter of a well thought-out story which you will be able to discover in the document that comes with the album, along artwork accompanying every track and detailed explanations. It tells the tale of a kirin trying to save her kin from a looming threat of olden times. Zenith is about an epic fight between the protagonist and her nemesis, told with creative sound design exploring different electronic elements, all while empowering Velvet’s extraordinary operatic singing. Thorn of The Frozen Star creates spellbinding soundscapes throughout the track which has multiple phases including ones of respite with heartbreaking melodic percussion and the absolutely stunning climax with the guitars and strings working in unison to create a memorable experience. The album closes on a beautifully emotional ethereal piece centered around a piano and strings.
Together with Radiarc they coordinated their respective album releases to be simultaneous, and you should check out Radiarc’s album too, and remember physical copies of Thorn of The Frozen Star are available!
Brilliant Venture – Legacy : In the Mix | Album | Dubstep / Drum & Bass
Here it is! Brilliant Venture’s long awaited album is now upon us and boy was it worth the wait. Including many remixes of classics of both community and show songs, as well as original tracks, this album is truly a love letter to the fandom.
Brilliant’s signature wubs are very much present as one could expect and the musician also ventures in drum and bass giving a refreshing new spin to the Ponies at Dawn-featured track I Love This Fandom. Time honored Party With Pinkie by Alex S. gets a remix keeping the spirit of the original while making it sound quite novel. You will also find their take on iblank2apples’ I’ve Been Dreaming of Sunshine and Celery Stalks, adding it to the ever-growing list of wonderful remixes of this now absolute classic, giving it a new feel with heavier dubstep parts in true Brilliant Venture style.
I most definitely invite you to discover the many delightful gems treasured in this album full of adorable pony vocal chops, uplifting beats and marvelous melodies!
Pinkamena Party – GABBA-CA-DABRA FOR PONIES | Compilation Album | Multi-Genre
It’s Nightmare Night, and the Pinkamena Party crew got a bag full of treats for you all to savor, in the form of a compilation album themed for the occasion and featuring Abra-ca-dabra on the cover art! The contributing musicians did awesome venturing in the roads less traveled once again, while having heaps of fun, and you can definitely hear it! Gabber, play on pony vocals, experimental endeavors, eerie atmospheres, ambient adventures… So many lovely initiatives are so wonderful to see, as we celebrate the shenanigans of this spooky night along with everypony on the album! And if you missed the live release party, you can watch the recording of it!
noise.horse – Music for the Headless Horse III | Compilation Album | Multi-Genre
For Nightmare Night, we can always count on the #1 pony music label venturing in the obscure and dark musical roads less traveled, to bring us something tasty to bite! The organizers went all-out and so did the contributing musicians who deliver many treats and creative musical experiences to savor while trick and treating. Many familiar faces as well as regulars of the experimental music scene had fun joining and partaking in the madness for all kinds of spooks and silent walks in dark forests and abandoned amusement parks, empowering the experiences with the power of music! Get the album from Bandcamp here, check out the recording of the live release party here, follow noise.horse’s Twitter to stay updated, and go follow all the contributing musicians too!
Ponyville Ciderfest – 2019 Official Convention Album | Compilation Album | Multi-Genre
Ponyville Ciderfest, the MLP:FiM convention coming up this week in Milwaukee, Wisconsin has just released a new compilation album featuring many of the musicians that will perform at the big concert! This year, the convention is holiday-themed and several of the songs on this album are new or remastered holiday tracks! The range of music is extremely diverse and flows very nicely from start to finish. Here are just a few of the many highlights on the album.
The first track is an unreleased song from Vocal Score and really sets the stage for the whole CD. Extremely festive and flowing beautifully into The Heart Carol from the original Hearth’s Warming Episode.
Prince Whateverer makes a few appearances on the Holiday Album, most notably with his new metal cover of the classic, Nightmare Night. John Kenza and loophoof, who will be performing a back-2-back together, feature remixes of each other’s songs. Galen of the Wonderbolts band and Brilliant Venture release brand new holiday hits. MC Arch also has a brand new and powerful track entitled Oathkeeper.
Other well-recognized names include 4everfreebrony, Black Gryph0n and Baasik, JoinedTheHerd with CadetRedShirt, Seventh Element, Nevermourn & TCB, MelodyBrony, Francis Vace, and more!
All proceeds go to Generations Against Bullying – the Ciderfest charity which aims to reduce childhood bullying through research and education, so be sure to help out if you can!
Slitherkitty – Versus III: Endless Nightmare | Album | Electronic / Soundtrack
In continuation to the previous installments in the album series, Versus and Versus II, Slitherkitty crafted more OC-themed and canon pony-themed tracks, designed as BGM for “versus” battles with all those characters! The Soundtrack inspiration is a delight to hear, and the tracks are quite creative with their progression, and calling back to melodic styles of OST tracks of the past too. With tracks dedicated to Alicorn Trixie, Cozy Glow, Tantabus as a last battle theme, and even Pinkie vocal chopping in the second track of the album, there’s definitely a whole lot to appreciate and explore! Who knows what you may find! Beware of Psycho Lyra and Fury Heart…
Steryotype & Ditherer – Community Service | Album | Hip-Hop
New album full of pony tributes and brony thoughts everypony!! With Steryotype on the beat, Ditherer raps about various lovely topics and character depth of ponies, including Sunburst, Maud Pie, Twilight, LyraBon, Jasmine Leaf, kirins, and more! Always so delightful to see, along a traditional new remix by Steryotype, and this time even some cute freestyle! Check it all out with the individual uploads on YouTube from Ditherer’s channel, and download the album from Ditherer’s Bandcamp!
Viricide Filly – Yet Sightless | Album | Experimental / Dream House
In tandem with This Place Will Never Let Me Leave, Yet Sightless is the mane album and showcase of what Viricde has been up to, that we’ve been excited about for a while. And oh boy, was it worth the wait! Such incredible compositions are blowing us away and that from the start, as Eleanor’s story unfolds in musical form. Check out the full story from the description on Bandcamp! Experimental, refined, creative, and harmonious, the masterpieces are bringing such melodic bliss along the amazing basslines and vocals in pure Viricide Filly style, as we dive in atmospheres from unseen realms!
Horse Music Herald 