Author Archives: Arleigh

Song of the Day: See Who I Am (by Within Temptation)

Posted on by Arleigh

within-temptation

Symphonic metal stalwarts Within Temptation was first introduced to me not by resident metal expert necromoonyeti, but through an anime music video first witnessed at Anime Expo 2010. The video was “Alchanum” and while the anime used, Fullmetal Alchemist, was entertaining enough it was the song used that hooked me in. That song and the latest “Song of the Day” is “See Who I Am” from Within Temptation’s full-length album The Silent Force.

From that moment forward I’ve been an ardent follower of Within Temptation. There’s just something about the melding of metal and that of an orchestral symphony that just makes perfect sense. I’m more than satisfied with the raw, brutal, speed and guttural melodies of what many outsiders consider heavy metal (how wrong they can be), but symphonic metal just does it for me.

And for those who think heavy metal (and all it’s many subgenres) are all about angry dues with long, unwashed hair or tatted up to no end should be surprised to see that Within Temptation’s singer is a classically-trained mezzo-soprano by the name of Sharon den Adel.

See Who I Am

Is it true what they say?
Are we too blind to find a way?
Fear of the unknown
Clouds our hearts today.

Come into my world,
See through my eyes.
Try to understand,
Don’t want to lose what we have.

We’ve been dreaming
But who can deny?
It’s the best way of living
Between the truth and the lies.

See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
Let’s show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands,
This is not the end.

Fear is withering the soul
At the point of no return.
We must be the change we wish to see.

I’ll come into your world,
See through your eyes.
I’ll try to understand,
Before we lose what we have.
See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
And show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands
This is not the end.

We just can’t stop believing
Because we have to try.
We can rise above their truth and their lies.

See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
Let’s show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands.
See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
And show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands.

This is not the end.

I hear their silence
Preaching my blame.
Will our strength remain
If their power reigns?

See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
And show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands.
See who I am,
Break through the surface.
Reach for my hand,
And show them that we can
Free our minds and find a way.
The world is in our hands.

This is not the end.

AMV of the Day: Moonlight Requiem (Sailor Moon Crystal)

Posted on by Arleigh

moonlight-requiem

It’s almost that time of the years when Through the Shattered Lens switches gears and goes into full dark fantasy and horror. While there will be the smattering posts that doesn’t dabble in all things dark and scary, it’s a month that’s become a yearly tradition and one that several writers on-site seem to enjoy. Though no one enjoys October at Through the Shattered Lens more than co-founder Lisa Marie Bowman. She’s the dark mother to all the writers at the site.

While it’s still not that month of darkness here’s a small taste of the sort of dark themes many of the posts will end up having during October.

The latest AMV of the Day comes courtesy of video creator Chiisus. The video manages to take the dark aspect of what too many outsiders to the anime scene as a light and kiddy cartoon: Sailor Moon Crystal.

This particular amv (anime music video) is titled Moonlight Requiem and combines the more dark fantasy side of Sailor Moon Crystal with the symphonic metal band’s Within Temptation and the melodic vocalizing of it’s frontman Sharon den Adel. The song chosen by Chiisus is one that many other amv creators have used in the past: “See Who I Am.” In fact, it’s the song to one of my all-time favorite anime music video: “Alchanum” by Rider4Z.

This time the song is used for Sailor Moon Crystal and, boy, if the song doesn’t fit in well with the scenes chosen for the video.

Anime: Sailor Moon Crystal

Song: “See Who I Am” by Within Temptation

Creator: Chiiisus

Past AMVs of the Day

Hottie of the Day: Lina Posada

Posted on by Arleigh

LINA POSADA

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This weekend saw the release of season 2 of Netflix’s Narcos series. Why is this relevant to the series called “Hottie of the Day.” Well, I’m glad someone asked.

It has no bearing in this series other than the show continued to highlight one of Colombia’s finest export to the rest of the world. No, I am not talking about that product made from coca leaves. I’m talking about some of the most beautiful women in the world that seems to thrive in this South American state (in addition to it’s neighbors of Venezuela and Brazil).

Lina Posada is the latest to grace the site (past profiles include the Davalos twins, Daniela Tamayo and Sandra Valencia) and just like her predecessors she also has her claim to fame being the face of Colombian lingerie brand Besame. She has grown her talents beyond the modeling world and has appeared in music videos such as Don Omar’s “Taboo” which played near the end of the action film Fast Five. She has also dabbled in designing a line of fashion ranging from evening dresses to the aforementioned lingerie.

Ms. Posada has since moved from her native Colombia to the United States (Los Angeles to be specific) to help branch out her brand to the rest of the world.

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PAST HOTTIES

What Thor Was Doing During Civil War

Posted on by Arleigh

Civil War Thor

For the past decade or so, Marvel Studios has had a major presence in Hall H of San Diego Comic-Con. They’ve made it a point to hype up their upcoming films. From their very first one with Iron Man all the way back in 2007 to this year’s upcoming Doctor Strange and next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. One film coming out next year that only got a sizzle reel of concept art was Thor: Ragnarok. By the time of San Diego Comic-Con the film had only been filming for a couple weeks so any usable footage wasn’t ready to be shown.

Taika Waititi, the film’s director, decided that a sizzle reel of concept art for the film wouldn’t do and ended up filming a short 3-minute mockumentary detailing the whereabouts of one Thor Odinson during this past summer’s Civil War event. People who attended the Hall H presentation were raving about this short film and now the rest of the world gets a chance to see it as Marvel Studios have released the footage for all to experience.

Song of the Day: Paradise City (by Guns N’ Roses)

Posted on by Arleigh

Paradise City

One cannot reminisce about the 80’s music scene without including the biggest (and most dangerous) band of that decade. Well, the band and it’s handlers sure thought of them that way. The band I speak of is Guns N’ Roses. this was the band that dared to put the word hard back into hard rock after the glam metal scene began to turn it into a joke.

Nothing against glam metal. Mötley Crüe was and is a favorite rock band of the 80’s for me. Yet, even they succumbed to the hairspray overload that glam metal would turn into. These bands became more about their look (especially in their music videos) than actually playing good music.

Guns N’ Roses still had the teased hair, but their music when they released their Appetite for Destruction album was a breath of fresh air in the hard rock scene and would grab glam metal fans from the vapors of hairnet spray into the dark, dingy bluesy lounges and then the overwhelming open air arenas.

I’ve already featured two of the bands most famous tracks from their first album, “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, so it’s time to give their third biggest hit from this album time to shine.

“Paradise City” is a place we all should aspire to visit.

Paradise City

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home (Oh, won’t you please take me home?)

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home (Oh, won’t you please take me home?)

Just an urchin livin’ under the street
I’m a hard case that’s tough to beat
I’m your charity case so buy me somethin’ to eat
I’ll pay you at another time
Take it to the end of the line

Rags to riches or so they say
You gotta keep pushin’ for the fortune and fame
You know it’s, it’s all a gamble when it’s just a game
You treat it like a capital crime
Everybody’s doin’ their time

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home, yeah, yeah?

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home

Strapped in the chair of the city’s gas chamber
Why I’m here, I can’t quite remember
The surgeon general says it’s hazardous to breathe
I’d have another cigarette but I can’t see
Tell me who ya gonna believe

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah, yeah
Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home, yeah?

So far away
So far away
So far away
So far away

Captain America’s been torn apart
Now he’s a court jester with a broken heart
He said “Turn me around and take me back to the start”
I must be losin’ my mind, are you blind?
I’ve seen it all a million times

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah, yeah

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home, yeah, yeah

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home, home

Oh, I want to go, I want to know
Oh, won’t you please take me home?
I want to see how good it can be
Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Take me home

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home?

Take me down, take me down
Oh, won’t you please take me home?
I want to see how good it can be
Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I want to see how good it can be
Oh, oh take me home

Take me down to the paradise city
Where the grass is green and the girls are pretty
Oh, won’t you please take me home?

I want to know, I want to know
Oh, won’t you please take me home?
Yeah, baby

 

Song of the Day: 1980’s Edition

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)
  2. Hazy Shade of Winter (by The Bangles)
  3. Never (by Heart)
  4. Kyrie (by Mr. Mister)
  5. Waiting For A Girl Like You (by Foreigner)

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Official Trailer Finally Arrives

Posted on by Arleigh

Rogue One

The Rogue One official trailer finally came out after weeks of fans waiting for it since last month’s Star Wars celebration over in London.

At first, people thought the trailer would be released during the celebration, but that didn’t come to pass. Then San Diego Comic-Con came and went and still no official trailer. We already seen the teaser, the sizzle reel from London celebration and even a tv spot that aired in the last week or so. Yet, there was still no full trailer. Fans were waiting with extreme patience.

Once news came down that the first official trailer will show during the Olympics the guessing game began on which day it will be. When it was confirmed that it was to be tonight people worldwide began to wait for the trailer to premiere. And waited during each Olympic event. And waited some more. I, myself, decided I needed a nap and left orders to be awoken when it finally did show.

Well, it did show just an hour into my nap and despite being groggy from being woken up that first image of the desert planet with Forest Whitaker and Felicity Jones conversing got my full attention. The wait was long, but it was well worth it and now the wait for the film’s premiere begins.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is set for a December 16, 2016 release date.

Doctor Strange Trailer Arrives At SDCC 2016

Posted on by Arleigh

Doctor Strange

San Diego Comic-Con for the past decade has always been a major mainstay for Marvel Studios when it comes to releasing their latest news and trailer for their upcoming films. There has been rumors the last couple years that Marvel Studios may skip Comic-Con and it’s venerable Hall H altogether in the near-future. Marvel Studios being owned by Disney means they have access to their parent company’s own D23 event. There’s even talk of just having a yearly Marvel Con to showcase everything Marvel.

Until that occurs many who attend San Diego Comic-Con will stand hours (some even days) to be able to get into Hall H and be the first to see what Marvel Studios has up it’s sleeves. This year we get the latest trailer on their biggest gamble to date: Doctor Strange.

A gamble in that it will delve deeply into the one aspect of the Marvel Universe it has so far avoided: magic.

One cannot make a film about Doctor Strange and not portray the magic and sorcery, the otherworldly dimensions and demons, spells and illusions. This is the bread and butter of the Sorcerer Supreme and if this latest trailer is any indication then filmmaker Scott Derrickson may have just broken the code in how to integrate this aspect of the Marvel Universe into the grounded, albeit hyper-reality, of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Doctor Strange arrives this November 4, 2016.

Wonder Woman Trailer Emerges At Comic-Con To Thunderous Applause

Posted on by Arleigh

Wonder Woman

“What I do is not up to you.” — Wonder Woman

With that single line in the newly released San Diego Comic-Con trailer for next summer’s Wonder Woman a gauntlet has been dropped on manbros everywhere.

With Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice having been received with underwhelmingly at best to outright vehemence with some, DC was now setting it’s sights on the third of the DC Triumvirate to help right the DC Extended Universe film franchise. With Patty Jenkins doing directing duties and Gal Gadot in the title role, Wonder Woman will actually beat Marvel Studios in having the first female-led superhero film by at least a year.

From the reaction written about at SDCC’s Hall H where Warner Bros. had it’s presentation the trailer was received with thunderous applause and hope that DC has learned from their past mistakes and now ready to truly show the world it’s own diverse and wondrous universe of Gods, monsters, heroes and men.

Wonder Woman is set for a June 2, 2017 release date.

Song of the Day: Kyrie (by Mr. Mister)

Posted on by Arleigh

Kyrie

There was one band during the 80’s that everyone seemed to dismiss, yet their album were selling out. It was almost as if no one wanted to admit that they enjoyed listening to this band. The band I’m talking about is Mr. Mister. Yes, even the name sounds like something that we might consider today as being too hipsterish. A name made to sound to be oh so clever.

Yet, Mr. Mister had two hit albums that many bands of this era couldn’t admit to having. The 1980’s was an era of great music, but it was also one where way too many were also quite disposable. People nowadays complain about how music has no soul and that it was all corporate driven. Well, this era has nothing on the Reagan-era of the music industry.

Mr. Mister would pump out two hit albums before breaking up in the late 80’s with most of the band members joining up with different Christian rock and music groups down the years.

One Mr. Mister song that was catchy and remained so would be their hit single “Kyrie”.

To a teenager of the time the song was memorable and easy to sing along to. It’s later on as teens became adults that we’ve come to realize that the song itself was a Christian liturgy prayer and the whole song was just a prayer backed by pop rock melodies. It’s no wonder that the band’s member would find their second wind in the music business as part of Christian rock groups.

Kyrie

Kýrie, eléison
Kýrie, eléison
Kýrie

The wind blows hard against this mountainside
Across the sea into my soul
It reaches into where I cannot hide
Setting my feet upon the road

My heart is old, it holds my memories
My body burns a gem-like flame
Somewhere between the soul and soft machine
Is where I find myself again

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

When I was young, I thought of growing old
Of what my life would mean to me
Would I have followed down my chosen road
Or only wished what I could be

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh
Whoa, oh, oh

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow?
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow)
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (yeah)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
On a highway in the light

Kýrie, eléison
Down the road that I must travel (will you follow?)
Kýrie, eléison
Through the darkness of the night

Kýrie, eléison
Where I’m going, will you follow? (will you follow)

 

Song of the Day: 1980’s Edition

  1. Everybody Wants To Rule The World (by Tears for Fears)
  2. Hazy Shade of Winter (by The Bangles)
  3. Never (by Heart)