Music – Powerwolf 🐺

Powerwolf, often stylized as POWERWOLF, is a German power metal band founded in 2003 in Saarbrücken by members of Red Aim. The band consists of vocalist Karsten Brill as “Attila Dorn”, lead guitarist Benjamin Buss as “Matthew Greywolf”, bassist/rhythm guitarist David Vogt as “Charles Greywolf”, keyboardist Christian Jost as “Falk Maria Schlegel” and drummer Roel van Helden. The group uses dark themes and images, contrary to traditional power metal music, as well as corpse paint, gothic-tinged compositions and songs about werewolf and vampire legends.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powerwolf

Powerwolf

Music – Smash Into Pieces

If you’ve seen some previous music posts, you may have seen a notice of this band here or there. And while this post will be mostly about my favorite songs by them, I’ll also share some general information about the band here.

For all info, please check out their official website here. Info below is from this website: Second Wiki.

Smash Into Pieces is a band Swedish of alternative rock and metal alternative from Örebro and emerged in 2008 at the hands of Benjamin “Banjo” Jennebo. In 2012 they signed a contract with Gain / Sony Music and shortly after they were named revelation group of the year according to the “Bandit Rock Awards”.

Music – Presence of Mind (Dynazty)

A song that I discovered at the end of November or early December was “Heartless Madness” by a band called Dynazty. It was recommended to me in a mix made by Spotify for “me” (while it had over 20k likes I doubt the playlist is just for me 😂 but still!).

I liked the song and decided to check out the album and band. The album is called “The Dark Delight” and it came out in 2020. I then did some research on the band as I’m always curious to where the music came/comes from. 😊

Spotify update!

Hello everyone! Long time followers have seen me sharing Spotify songs and play lists here on my posts before. I usually *try to* update a monthly playlist with a mix of 25 songs every month on the first. Due to many reasons I’ve not kept to this lots of times. But this morning I have finally updated the playlist and I’d like to share it with you.

There’s a free Spotify go home usage, with adds and all, and for about €10 a month you have unlimited access without adds and including downloads for offline “streaming”. I have had a paid version for years as I use my phone a lot for music these days and €10 a month is cheaper than buying cd’s here, which I’ll then need to convert and put on my SD card. With my data in my mobile, I can stream a very long time and ie doesn’t take up space on my SD, which means more space for pictures of Arwen! 😉

Weekly update & new Spotify playlist

Howdy folks, after a very serious topic, it’s time for a lighter one today. I had not shared my weekly Polar stats yet and I finally remembered to update the Monthly playlist I have on Spotify. I had a list all ready to share and last month I just forgot! So I waited till November 1st to update the new playlist.

Unfortunately my playlist only has 2 likes. I know it will not be everyone’s cup-of-tea. But I really hoped that more people would have clicked that little heart symbol… I shared the list on Twitter several times and I really hoped some of my friends on there would like it, to show some support… I guess 2 of them did and that really means a lot. 😊 OK lets head over to last week’s Polar Flow numbers!

Music – Cynni’s Monthly 25

A few years ago, on my old Spotify account, I used to make a “Cynni’s Monthly 25”, where I would create a new playlist every month, as the title explains, with 25 “new” songs. When I created a new account after my divorce, I had given up on making my monthly playlist. I had lost all interest, I barely listened to music and when I did, it was to a very “sad” playlist… Which I will share here with you, to give you an idea of it.

Music – Spotify Wrapped 2020

We’re coming near the end of the year and for premium Spotify users, this means you get to see your stats… They will tell you your top 5 songs, top 5 artists and such. They even provide you a playlist of you top 100 songs of that year.

As I have shared some music with you here, I also wanted to share my Spotify Wrapped 2020 music here with you all! Interested in my top 5 artists? You might know a few 😉 Keep scrolling if you want to know! I’ll even include links to the songs and artists so you can explore them for yourself if you want to!

Music and mental health

I’m guessing I’m not the only one to have a playlist for when I’m feeling good, feeling sad and feeling down in my Spotify app. There are many songs that often correspond with the way I’m feeling at the moment. Some songs I can listen to whatever the mood, some songs get played more often ad my mood changes.

A while ago I’ve shared with you some of my favorite ballads and OST (original soundtracks) songs. I’ve let you hear two songs I want played when I get cremated. You had the ability to listen to songs I’ve played when I was getting divorced.

But what does music do for me? In a way it helped me express my feelings. It gave my sadness words to hold on to, to find comfort in. It showed me how I’ve been wrong in the past. And how I messed up as well (Stay by Smash into Pieces). It gave me something to listen to, to help me calm my mind, when it was working overtime because of the messing up I’d done.

But it also helps me with my workout. Yes, of course there’s a playlist for that as well. I chose some favorite up-tempo songs that I can do my cardio and weight exercises on. It helps me a lot when the rhythm is right, helps me keep a good pace for the workout.

And it helps me when I’m feeling good. Nothing better than singing something like “Hello, you fool, I love you, come on join the Joyride!” (Joyride by Roxette) when my mood is up.

But certain songs also help me recognize when my mood is shifting. When I start listening to my “Feelings” playlist more, I know I’m not doing too good at that moment. I know I’m slipping and need to watch out. Try to prevent my mood from sliding into a depression. Would it help me to just listen to different music? I’ve tried, but so far, changing the music hasn’t resulted in a change in my mood. For me, it really works the other way round. Mood changes and then my music changes.

I’m not sure if I am the only one who experiences music this way. I know music has helped a lot of people in the past and I guess it will continue to do so in the future. But noticing mood changes by musical taste shifting… I’m curious if people experience music and moods in the same way as I do. Or maybe differently… My comment section is open so please do let me know!

I always try to listen to upbeat music when I am working out. Though during the cardio I also like to watch a series on Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+ (or even Ziggo on demand, depending which show I am currently watching). I used to listen to music when walking the dog, but I haven’t done that in a while. Dunno why, to be honest, as I do enjoy a nice song when walking. I hope that the weather will get better so I can enjoy longer walks with Arwen again.

But music and moods. Music and happiness, depression, sadness, working out… What does music mean to you? Does your taste shift as well when your mood does? Or can you do the reverse: feel better by listening to happier music? Please make good use of the comment section and let me know! I’d love to chat about it.

Thank you for your interest in my blog. I really appreciate your visit. And I do hope to “see” you back soon. If you like what I write about, please consider pressing the “Follow” button (if you’re a WP user; signing up for WP is easy and free). Or leave your email down below to receive an automated email whenever I share something new, thanks! I hope you are having a nice day and I am wishing you the best. With love, Cynni 🌹

Music – Soundtracks

Although I am not a big fan of classical music, I do enjoy a good movie/tv/game soundtrack which is fully classical. Sometimes I don’t mind singing in the songs, if it suits. But ften I find the words distracting (when it’s a song played when something important is happening on the screen). This will be a difficult chore, but I will try to share some of my (current) favorite soundtrack tracks.

I, again, will be using the free music service Spotify. There are some limitations to listening with a free account, but you should be able to listen to the songs that I share in my post.

This will mainly be just about sharing songs. I don’t have the energy (yet) to Google all soundtrack info that goes with the songs. But if you like what you hear, feel free to Google the hell out of it and find out all there is *winks*. So sit back and relax…

Music – My favorite ballads

This is going to be a very personal, and maybe even a tad emotinal, post. I will be sharing some personal favorites here, both happy and sad ones. I won’t go into too much detail about the background of the songs, I don’t have enough energy for that yet and hey, that’s what Google is for *winks*.

I will be using Spotify as music source. It’s available free of use, with certain limitations. But if you like their service and the music they offer, they have very good paid options. I really enjoy my account with them. Though in 2019 I didn’t listen to too much music. Nor did I game a lot. Guess the depression was strong in me… So if you want to here the complete songs, head over to Spotify (or use the links in this post).

Most songs will be ballads… I will make a mre up-tempo blog with favorite songs soon! Ow and I have some favorite (musical) soundtrack songs I’d like to share as well. So much good music out there. And I know, my songs may not be to your likings. And that’s ok. As long as we can be respectful to each other, it’s no problem to have different tastes at all.