Monday is again upon us, and I don't know about you, but I'm experiencing some metal withdrawals, and I don't just say that because I'm off the mercury treatment (my doctor suggested it was the perfect way to prepare my body for the application of leeches and draining of my humors).

Last week was an edition without metal, and so it shall be again next week, so this week I'm giving you nothing but metal music.

Up first is one of my favorite bands, already featured on a previous edition: Arkona. They hail from Russia and perform a brand of metal probably best described as blackened pagan folk metal. Their music features traditional Slavic instruments such as flutes, bagpipes (look up the history of bagpipes, you'll find there's much more than just Scottish pipes), and the balalaika fused with a modern metal sound. In this song, Na Moey Zemle, they host a number of vocalists from other folk metal bands:  Månegarm of Sweden, Obtest of Lithuania, Menhir of Germany, Skyforger of Latvia, and Heidevolk of the Netherlands. The result is one of the most interesting, varied, and sublime mashups in the history of heavy metal. The story of the song is simple: a warrior of ancient Russia leaves his homeland and travels through Europe searching for meaning, and the people he meets on the way all tell him the same thing: the importance of a sense of home. Here's Na Moey Zemle by Arkona:

Second on our docket is a band that needs little introduction (but I'll introduce them briefly anyway), OPETH!!!(!)

Opeth hails from Sweden and are one of the oldest practicioners of the melodic death metal sound, although in more recent years they've steadily transitioned away from death metal to what could probably be termed as progressive rock. Here's a song from their best album (IMO), Watershed, which was a key point in their transition. This is Burden:

Third on the list is a song from Symphony X, one of the foremost exponents of the American power metal sound. This is from their finest album, Paradise Lost, which was an adaptation of John Milton's epic poem. This is the magnum opus of that magnum opus: "Seven."

I'm not going to say much about the next one because I think the music speaks for itself. They're from Inner Mongolia. They combine throatsinging and traditional Mongolian instruments with kickass modern metal. This is "Tennger Cavalry" by Tennger Cavalry.

Last in our medley is a song from American metalcore band Killswitch Engage. There's something terribly charismatic about lead singer Howard Jones's vocals as he belts out the clean notes alongside the growls. And how about that riff? This is "My Curse."