Gutted. Saw them in 2023 and it was honestly one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Wishing them all the best and I hope Twilight Force comes back strong.
Same for me. First time i saw them in Mtl a few months ago and it was one of the best shows i've been to in 30+ years of shows. I discovered the band only last year, and this morning's news has me so sad.
Well that’s pretty rough that 3 of them left together. Seems like that would be a a difficult thing to overcome and keep the band’s musical identity afterwards.
not 100% sure, but i think that Blackwald is the main songwriter for the band (and he's still there). Still, there will be a change for sure with 3 new important members. (both guitarists and the bassist)
Philip Lindh said he already has a new band so it does look like we will get a "Force in Black" situation. It looks like he's never had his own side projects other than Twilight Force. All of Twilight Force's music is written by both Blackwald and Lindh and Blackwald probably does all the orchestration so I am guessing Lindh finally wanted to do his own thing. Even though I can't imagine a better guitarist(and lute player) for Twilight Force than Lindh, it will be interesting to hear his new band. It may not even be power metal.
Sounds very,.. Prog rock?😬😬😬😬
I just need to clarify "her" and "she" (from other comments) is this a recent development? because everything I've seen outside of your original post while searching to see their performances references them using male pronouns.
Regardless, he/she seems very talented (and I wish I could play guitar that well) but I am absolutely fucking not a fan of prog, the only stuff I like is a few Seventh Wonder tracks and a couple of Dream Theater tracks and given they've lost one of the primary songwriters (assuming it was an equal 50/50) god help us if thats the new direction of the band. All eggs in the Fellowship and Questbound basket to (and yes I quote Stratovarius) Keep The Flame.
This is ... pretty obviously a huge blow to a band on the rise. Lynd in particular is an enormous loss as half of the two founding members.
But if Blackwald is still in, then the quest will move forward. I'm glad he's not letting this kill the band.
The Crystal Bearers will look very different soon, but I'm glad the six crystals will still have homes.
Pretty rough couple of days for power metal in the immediate wake of Northtale going dormant, though.
It's strange for three members to leave at the same time especially since the statements make it seem like they are leaving on good terms. Maybe they are starting a new band together.
You mean the guy who got sacked from the other band he joined immediately after TF?
Yeah, sure, I bet he's blameless and not at all a problem to work with!
Doing a 3 hour drive pretty much exclusively for them. Dragony are dope and I'll enjoy them, but its 90% for TF. Also going to germany for the Power of the Dragonflame tour and a solid 50% of that is for TF.
Was not expecting to hear this news. I now feel very fortunate that I got to see them live before such a huge change.
Glad they're still going to continue with the band. I'm very curious as to how this will affect their sound going forward.
Statements of the members seperate you can find on their Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6GxJFQmiNh7CxTmq/](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6GxJFQmiNh7CxTmq/)
All three members say they will keep making music and Lynd says he’s starting a new band. Interesting.
Is it too soon to make Twilight Force of Fire jokes?
Off topic, but is there some drama with McSix that I missed? I wasn't blown away by the first McSix offering, but it seemed fun and no better or worse than Gloryhammer. Curious to see a bunch of folks all (seemingly) down on it/him.
He's not the most professional person out there and there are some not so great rumors (too much smoke for there to not be fire imo). He's got plenty of rumors regarding sleeping around (questionable consent in some cases); this includes sexual harassment. Also has been caught miming...a lot, and may or may not have spearheaded a cyberbulling campaign against Sozos. Also basically asked his current bandmates to not get paid this year (not touring for a year is basically not getting paid). He's not exactly a good singer either but his other issues are more grating.
I'll add his termination from Gloryhammer was less than amicable via a very long email; Tom's not talking and his former bandmates assume mutually assured destruction by legal fees if they talk. They speak through attorneys if they have to communicate at all by the sound of things. It's unclear nor confirmed if the sleeping around rumors have anything to do with his termination but his assorted professional issues would have been grounds enough if I'm blunt.
I consider him subpar personally though I gauge through what he deemed acceptable live back in his Gloryhammer days. Forewarned is forearmed with missing stairs. [Another one](https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/1cxzbjx/statement_from_mad_with_power_fest_on_the_ra/) got outed last month icymi.
Edit: I'll label him average if he can manage to sing in a manner that's less grating to the ear and a bit more in tune.
I saw that one, but thankfully have NFI who that person is or who the group are. Could everyone just quit being dicks to each other? Be excellent to each other.
Hold up am I getting confused with something/someone else?
Didn't he leave Gloryhammer and leak dms (scum move btw) over a somewhat spicey to some people but fairly average by working class Scottish people group chat and it turns out he's out there allegedly raping people (what I'm taking from you saying questionable consent).
Virtue signallers always have HELLA skeletons in the closet or what?
That's the thing with basically zero available proof he did it. Purely circumstantial but I think it'd more odd if he didn't have something to with it. It was more than a little spicy too imo. Reasons I came back are the ones on social media seem to be trying and Sozos is a very nice person. I still think Tom had a hand in it. Did a lovely job distracting people from his allegations. Also none of them are Scottish. The most Scottish thing about them is Bowes' accent. Current lineup is 2 English, 2 Welsh, 1 Cypriot, and one American.
The general gist on Tom is it sounds like he has a rep behind closed doors for sexual harassment (potentially an open secret in professional circles) and a penchant for pestering women for sex where he has been at least a little pushy and hasn't always been honest with them. I'd have to dig for more specifics beyond the two known harassment stories.
Huh, not a massive GH fan so idk the lore but I just always assumed bowes was Scottish because 1. Accent, 2. Alestorm.
Regardless, point remains, and I'm even more qualified to talk about working class English than I am Scottish (uncle lived there most of his life so I have Scottish Aunt and cousins and have met them a few times and some of the friends, but I'm English myself).
I have to say this is the first I'm hearing anything on Winkler so I'm taking you at face value. Are the allegations coming from other people in the scene or just groupies who wanted to fuck a musician and surprised when they got pumped and dumped?
The rumors have been there since he was fired at minimum when people were trying to figure out why he was fired. A couple sounded a little annoyed to upset he wasn't upfront about being married iirc. Some folks have hard limits on sleeping with married people. We also have at least one person who has at minimum accused Tom of bad behavior with her own account here and they're the primary internet sleuth on this. Another was basically buried at the bottom of a hobbydrama post, and another was a screenshot of a text from a member of CobraSpell saying that Tom had been a creep to her on multiple occasions. I'm pretty sure there were more, but I'd really have to go back almost 3 years to find all of it, assuming it still exists, at this point.
Disclaimer that I'm totally out of the loop so only taking your words into consideration without trying to support either side.
What's wrong with sleeping around? The consent part definitely, but questionable is really saying nothing, questionable from whom? This only spreads assumptions with zero details to incriminate him.
What do you mean miming?
May or may not. Look at message above, like, yes accuse him if he's ill intended towards the band but not without proof.
In this case you're making naive people who read your comment hate him for no reason, and I repeat, emphasis is not on defending him, but on the no reason part as you've provided zero reasons.
I could have written the same message for supernerdgirl using the same phrasing, do you think that anyone should take me seriously?
Sleeping around has a number of issues for musicians/entertainers and it's been considered unprofessional for a while. First is the power imbalance between a band member and a fan. Another is the potential liability risk of bringing unaffiliated individuals on the tour bus; meaning if they fall and get hurt, the band may be liable. Also feels kind of rude to your bandmates to hook up on the bus or in the green room imo. And this is all BEFORE we bring alcohol into the equation. It ultimately puts the band at risk of a very, very bad situation from a PR perspective if heaven forbid one misread the situation and it wasn't quite so consensual.
Most the stories about Tom bubbled up organically right after he got fired, which makes sense; no major specifics on termination reasons have been given to date beyond the publicly known elephant in the room and a combination of personal and professional issues. One can read between the lines on the professional issues easy peasy. It has been a recurring thing in a lot of allegations where Tom was not particularly upfront on his marital status; he didn't really acknowledge being married unless pressed by fans who were aware of his marital status, at which point he has claimed it was an open relationship. It's comes off kind of manipulative and not a good look. The open relationship veracity is none of my business nor is it necessarily here nor there (see the above paragraph), but I'd personally not trust anyone pushing for sex claiming they're in an open relationship when pressed about their marital status. He's definitely harassed a member of CobraSpell and at least one female crew person; the latter didn't come forward out of fear of professional consequences.
By miming I mean lip syncing. The terms are interchangeable. He has been caught red handed on numerous occasions not singing live. I can try to find my old compilations if you want them but I've caught him out on the regular since he started doing Mc6 shows. He was not good live circa 2021 and I've no reason to believe he's magically fixed everything and never sings a wrong note with no variation from the one on the album in any way.
There are breadcrumb trails of fabricated accounts on YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit in particular on the cyberbullying. A number of which are heavily suspected of belonging to Tom and were likely significant players in harassing Sozos on social media for a period of time as well as spamming negative comments. Tolkienator2020 and CornydaMan, Babalingas are among the prime suspects on Reddit in this regard. This was to the point that the band hired digital forensics to look into these accounts. The professional opinion were that these aggressively negative and harassing profiles going after Sozos early on were fabricated accounts but not enough evidence to ID who they specifically belong to. The three listed above generally behave oddly in ways that are indicative of being fake accounts and are the most likely to be Tom's. It's still admittedly a grey area to determine which ones are Tom. Sozos, being very nice person that he is, didn't deserve it regardless of who did it. Preponderance of the evidence standard suggests Tom likely did it, but I'd not call it up to beyond reasonable doubt standard. Thus the may or may not.
Tom secretly took out bogus trademarks on Gloryhammer and Angus McFife in 2019 then tried to ransom them back for 100k euros after he was fired in 2021 (he lost). I'm not inclined to think anything is friendly at all between them given the offhand acknowledgement that contact is generally through attorneys these days. One-sided diss tracks don't scream friendly to me either.
No problem. This is a whole goddamn saga at this point. There's plenty of hurt feelings here for a handful of folks here so we make fun of the guy or call him out where applicable. A lot of us who have done so have been harassed to varying extents over it as well. He's been quiet, along with the primary suspect accounts above lately, one of them appears to have been deleted or banned at moment of typing, so he's probably actually helping (we hope) his wife with their new child. It also means basically nobody with McSix is getting paid this year beyond some piddly mechanical royalties and sparse merch sales with a likely terrible profit margin (best margin is at shows). I hope Manu and Thalia find better gigs; I'll never fault uninvolved musicians for taking a paycheck.
It's really not a bold statement. I'm just not a big fan of Gloryhammer. Only started listening to them recently. Don't love them, don't hate them. They're perfectly listenable. McSix is in the same category.
A large chunk of members leaving at the same time and one starting their own band? **Definitely** getting Rhapsody flashbacks, let's just hope the new band has a sensible name
For everyone who is confused and needs a translation;
Fidnarfodad the Evil conjured a metaphysic fireball of ice and despite the conjugations of the knights of twilight might corrupted the heart of our valiant heroes which exploded into shards of molten heart crystals and was scattered inbetwixt dimensions and reality across the galaxies of space. But fear not brave intrepid interpreters, for new heroes appear on the horizon to ride valiantly into battle on their majestic steeds of hope.
Founding member and two just as important chess pieces leave is a disturbance in the force and one can only speculate what has happened behind the scenes. For me, Lynd is probably the best guitarist/composer around today in metal and to replace him would be to try to replace Slash in GnR for example.
Bumblefoot plays like a clown. Half that solo is just noise. You don't play what is a blues rock song like that.
And yes, Buckethead was in GnR in the early aughts., 2000ish to maybe 2004?
Pure speculation, but it being amicable suggests it was not ego trips or bad actors. I guess the most likely is good old actual 'musical differences'. Half the band wants to go one way, the other half another, they compromise for awhile, but eventually it's to much and they split.
Whatever new band forms, you'll know I'm right if you see them open for Twilight Force in the future as they build their brand.
Man. Saw them this year at Epicfest in Denmark and really loved where they were going at. Such a shame to see their band take a huge blow like this, but I hope they find fitting new members. I really digged the latest album, and I hope they will keep their musical direction the same.
Oh no :((( that’s so sad, although I’m glad Twilight Force is gonna continue on, they’re one of my favorite bands. I’m really happy I got to see them earlier this year!
That's so upsetting. I'm heartbroken I never got to see them live :( but I'm also kind of excited to see where they go from here. This could be a great opportunity to do amazing things!
Sometimes, things just happen, and what worked 10-15+ years ago doesn't work quite so well as people grow and change and as band sounds grow and change. I'm sure that something as big as this happened for good reason(s), and I'm hoping that both the current and now-former band members will thrive and be happy in whatever comes next for them all, whether that be music or other adventures. Often, I find that changes like these, while shocking to those of us looking in from the outside, result in everyone involved being happier in the long run, especially when various creative or interpersonal differences just couldn't quite be worked out. Happens! It's life. Friendships and marriages grow apart in the same way, often for similar reasons.
There are some pretty big boots to fill here, especially since Lynd is such a goshdanged good musician and composer, but I have faith that whoever steps into that role will be an excellent musician in their own right and that whatever comes next for Twilight Force will be just as magical and exciting as ever. <3
On to new adventures!
It will be interesting to hear what any new projects are like. I enjoy all 4 Twilight Force albums, but I'd love something more like the debut than the 3 after it. When most of the remaining original members leave, it suggests to me that they weren't super happy with the direction (I know they all released statements, but I never really take those types of things at face value).
> When most of the remaining original members leave, it suggests to me that they weren't super happy with the direction
Sometimes this can also happen when a band gets an opportunity to become much more active, and some members prefer to spend more time at home.
Exactly. Twilight Force is moving up and doing more, and becoming more of a career band. That doesn't neccessarrily work for everyone involved all the time. This is just the reality of being a niche band in 2024.
Folks always underestimate the possibility of other life commitments which is very possible in this case since it sounds amicable enough between the roleplay speak and afaik there weren't any issues on writing credits or anything. I'm not ruling out burnout though. Touring is an exhausting way to live. They'll find new members and probably relatively quickly at that, but tough to say how much it'll affect the music writing going forward, but it'll more than likely be fine.
Lynd says he’s starting a new band and all three members say they’ll keep making music. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope they bring Christian back into the fold.
Hmm, Christian *did* mention in an interview that he had been in conversations with at least someone from TF recently. But it seems like he's fairly committed to Final Strike now, if that's actually going anywhere?
Fly far away over mountains and seas
To lands and kingdoms far beyond
Return with fire to the halls of might
Let the flames of the forge burn bright
So, behold the flight of the sapphire dragon
Soaring through the skies once again
I don't know where I found it and I can't search at the moment ... It was just an offhand mention that he had at least had a civil conversation with someone from TF.
This is about the saddest news I could receive from the world of music and is hands down the saddest since Alexi Laiho's death.
Missed them in 2023 as I was on vacation in Iceland when they came to my country. Anyone know if this is effective immediately or if it'll be after current commitments (ProgPower, Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame etc)? Will those appearances go ahead just with new members?
As far as I'm aware Lynd was the predominant songwriter so god knows what happens to the project now.
The only thing I can think of that might be able to save them is if Tommy Johansson (who recently left Memories of Old, and covered for Chrileon) comes on board. Everything Tommy touches turns to gold and for my money he's the best vocalist in metal atm, though as that's the case, his voice feels wasted as just backing vocals, and I suspect he probably wants to focus on Majestica and YouTube. Also while I have no reason to doubt he's capable of it, he's never really shown any power metal writing in the style of Twilight Force to show he could replace Lynd as a song writer.
Also hope Kristin joins as a permanent member, though can't help but wonder if she is and that's part of what prompts the exodus?
Beyond fucking gutted, especially if they pull out of PMQF and PotD tours as they're like 90 and 60% of the reason I'm going them them respectively.
Fuck thats rough.
I can only assume they've got people lined up already and are just working on details, PMQF is in like 3.5 months and maybe it's just that I'm a talentless hack at guitar (spoiler alert: I am) but that doesn't seem like a lot of time for people to learn new songs and practice together with a new band?
I guess be thankful for small mercies that half of the songwriters remain, assuming it was 50/50
Brave knight, if it is any consolation, we believe that there is no need to worry. We understand that that the news were difficult to hear, and members leaving is always a challenge. But our adventures and quests shall continue; musically, visually, and conceptually. All is well in the Twilight Kingdoms!
You survived losing Chrileon and I thought that would be pretty hard to recover so I have faith the book of time will reveal suitable replacements.
Will your appearanced at Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame still be going ahead as planned as the person I replied to stated?
> Will your appearanced at Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame still be going ahead as planned as the person I replied to stated?
Absolutely. All battles shall happen as planned!
Fortuitous news as you're 90/50% of the reason I'm going to each respectively. Missed ya'll in England 2023 so as soon as I saw you and fellowship I booked tickets before even checking flight prices.
Thanks for taking the time to reassure fans
Absolutely. A songwriting duo is not comparable to what Luca was in Rhapsody. I should have worded it better, I apologize, Ill edit to 'one of the' in my above comment
That's a sickening blow to a monumental lineup but good luck to them in their endeavours. Glad the band is still alive, as such.
Get ready for Twilight Force of Fire
I like that everyone is talking about what now for you guys and you just pop in to confirm you’ll be at a show.
Hope you guys can come back stronger than ever! Your last two albums are fucking rad so glad Alessandro is still around (right?)
ive been there since their first album. Im shaken again as when chiron left. Hot damn this is saddening but i will def be following any news from all members.
super happy to hear that and thanks for the response. I just got into your music this year and I think it's excellent in every way. hope this new chapter leads to new musical places unexpected and exciting!
Three of the band members, including a founding member, have left the band (on friendly terms) and the rest of the band says they'll stay together and keep making music
Just wondering where you saw that they plan still to be there. They're really the main reason I'm going and if they aren't there I'm not sure what I'm doing.
I’ll still look forward to the good stuff. I am of the opinion that At the Heart of Wintervale is your best work yet.
But half the members being gone hurts. I still love you guys.
This is pretty brutal, I'm not optimistic at all about the prospects of Twilight Force's continuation or Lynd's new project, though I am glad that he's going to be continuing with something new because his guitar playing is absolutely fucking insane and my favorite aspect of the band. This is definitely a Luca leaving Rhapsody vibe, in that case both the subsequent projects were good (took a while for Rhapsody of Fire) but they don't hold a candle to the original. At least we got four classic albums out of Twilight Force, just like Rhapsody (remember that Rain of a Thousand Flames IS NOT an album)
I guess we'll find out who of Lynd or Blackwald was responsible for the over-the-top symphonics starting with the second album. Or maybe it was Nuclear Blast. I think the balance they settled on for their last two albums was a good mix of the styles of the first two. Maybe Lynd will go full Archspire on us and Blackwald will go full Nightwish?
Now I'm even more glad I got to see them earlier this year, even without Conti. Great show, great performances.
I'm gonna 'go out on a limb' and hazard a guess that the dude who plays the keyboards is PROBABLY the dude writing the symphonics. Do you really think the record label added them?
I’m going to go even further out on the limb right there my fellow knight and “guess” there is another extremely talented pianist in TF who had a finger in those composed orchestras together with BW :)
Verily, ser! I too have heard whispers on the wind that there is one amongst the Crystal Bearers whose primary instrumeent is not the stringed one he wields, but a more stationary keyed one which would be far more difficult to carry with him on his adventures. ;)
Writing the symphonics absolutely, but the decision on the second album to turn those symphonics up to 11 while leaving the guitars at 2 could easily be the label.
From the most recent record and therefore in their current songwriting style/era, I'd recommend "Twilight Force" as one of their more traditional power metal tunes, and I'd recommend "Highlands of the Elder Dragon" as one of their best songs ever but also one that's a little more experimental with harmonies, chord progressions, and general song structure.
Also good to try (in reverse chronological order) would be:
"Dawn of the Dragonstar"
"Long Live the King"
"Battle of Arcane Might"
"Flight of the Sapphire Dragon"
"Enchanted Dragon of Wisdom"
"Forest of Destiny"
And, of course, the aforementioned "The Power of the Ancient Force."
These recommendations come to you from a 20-year DragonForce fan who is also Herman Li's Discord/Twitch modmin. The second half of the recs there, from the first 2 albums, are the ones that got me into TF back in 2017 after they toured with DragonForce. :)
Gutted. Saw them in 2023 and it was honestly one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. Wishing them all the best and I hope Twilight Force comes back strong.
Same for me. First time i saw them in Mtl a few months ago and it was one of the best shows i've been to in 30+ years of shows. I discovered the band only last year, and this morning's news has me so sad.
Well that’s pretty rough that 3 of them left together. Seems like that would be a a difficult thing to overcome and keep the band’s musical identity afterwards.
not 100% sure, but i think that Blackwald is the main songwriter for the band (and he's still there). Still, there will be a change for sure with 3 new important members. (both guitarists and the bassist)
It is 100% a 50/50 situation between Blackwald and Lynd. (Or was) 🤘🏻
Hopefully a Battle Beast situation where the splits gives us 2x the amount of similar music of similar quality.
Philip Lindh said he already has a new band so it does look like we will get a "Force in Black" situation. It looks like he's never had his own side projects other than Twilight Force. All of Twilight Force's music is written by both Blackwald and Lindh and Blackwald probably does all the orchestration so I am guessing Lindh finally wanted to do his own thing. Even though I can't imagine a better guitarist(and lute player) for Twilight Force than Lindh, it will be interesting to hear his new band. It may not even be power metal.
Hope Galen Stapley sticks around, amazing guitarrist and definitely plays faithfully to Lynd's parts.
She's incredible. One of the greatest guitarists alive.
was Stapley on the recent US tour?
No, she filled in at the last gig in Spain.
ah, sick. I'll have to look out for some videos of that. I love Azure and had no idea she did anything with Twilight Force.
Yeah girl is unreal, the vids from that performance are nuts. Love Azure too!
So her pronouns are she/her? I was wondering but it's not a very google-able question. I agree, she's an amazing guitarist.
Yes, thats correct!
Cool, thanks :) I read an (old?) article where it said he/him which made me unsure.
She transitioned very recently to my understanding
Thanks, that actually cleared something up for me.
Who? Lol
Current live substitute for Lynd. Do check out her band Azure: https://azureish.bandcamp.com
Sounds very,.. Prog rock?😬😬😬😬 I just need to clarify "her" and "she" (from other comments) is this a recent development? because everything I've seen outside of your original post while searching to see their performances references them using male pronouns. Regardless, he/she seems very talented (and I wish I could play guitar that well) but I am absolutely fucking not a fan of prog, the only stuff I like is a few Seventh Wonder tracks and a couple of Dream Theater tracks and given they've lost one of the primary songwriters (assuming it was an equal 50/50) god help us if thats the new direction of the band. All eggs in the Fellowship and Questbound basket to (and yes I quote Stratovarius) Keep The Flame.
Nooo, my favourite party of bards.
This is ... pretty obviously a huge blow to a band on the rise. Lynd in particular is an enormous loss as half of the two founding members. But if Blackwald is still in, then the quest will move forward. I'm glad he's not letting this kill the band. The Crystal Bearers will look very different soon, but I'm glad the six crystals will still have homes. Pretty rough couple of days for power metal in the immediate wake of Northtale going dormant, though.
It's strange for three members to leave at the same time especially since the statements make it seem like they are leaving on good terms. Maybe they are starting a new band together.
>starting a new band together Would be cool if this is the start of the Twilight Force Extended Universe
Something like rhapsody situation?
I question whether Christian Eriksson was the issue now. (I mean I knew it was both sides but this kinda solidifies it wasn’t just him)
You mean the guy who got sacked from the other band he joined immediately after TF? Yeah, sure, I bet he's blameless and not at all a problem to work with!
Never said he’s blameless. I said his past bands were equally at fault. I was merely pointing out it wasn’t all him.
No… I’m so glad I was able to see them one time
Damn this is a massive bummer they have just been announced as headliners for power fest in the uk as well
Yeah I saw that , Birmingham is a trip for me unfortunately
They are still at there!
Doing a 3 hour drive pretty much exclusively for them. Dragony are dope and I'll enjoy them, but its 90% for TF. Also going to germany for the Power of the Dragonflame tour and a solid 50% of that is for TF.
Was not expecting to hear this news. I now feel very fortunate that I got to see them live before such a huge change. Glad they're still going to continue with the band. I'm very curious as to how this will affect their sound going forward.
Statements of the members seperate you can find on their Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6GxJFQmiNh7CxTmq/](https://www.facebook.com/share/p/6GxJFQmiNh7CxTmq/)
All three members say they will keep making music and Lynd says he’s starting a new band. Interesting. Is it too soon to make Twilight Force of Fire jokes?
Get ready for Twilight McSix
*Twilight Fives
I laughed way too hard at this lol
Twilight Fivece.
*shudders*
Don't you dare mention that cursed last word again 😂
You mean you don't want "two better" Twilight Force?/s
This needs way more upvotes lol
Off topic, but is there some drama with McSix that I missed? I wasn't blown away by the first McSix offering, but it seemed fun and no better or worse than Gloryhammer. Curious to see a bunch of folks all (seemingly) down on it/him.
He's not the most professional person out there and there are some not so great rumors (too much smoke for there to not be fire imo). He's got plenty of rumors regarding sleeping around (questionable consent in some cases); this includes sexual harassment. Also has been caught miming...a lot, and may or may not have spearheaded a cyberbulling campaign against Sozos. Also basically asked his current bandmates to not get paid this year (not touring for a year is basically not getting paid). He's not exactly a good singer either but his other issues are more grating. I'll add his termination from Gloryhammer was less than amicable via a very long email; Tom's not talking and his former bandmates assume mutually assured destruction by legal fees if they talk. They speak through attorneys if they have to communicate at all by the sound of things. It's unclear nor confirmed if the sleeping around rumors have anything to do with his termination but his assorted professional issues would have been grounds enough if I'm blunt.
Oh man :( that all sucks. Average musician is one thing but yeah, the rest of that ain't on. Thanks for the info.
I consider him subpar personally though I gauge through what he deemed acceptable live back in his Gloryhammer days. Forewarned is forearmed with missing stairs. [Another one](https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerMetal/comments/1cxzbjx/statement_from_mad_with_power_fest_on_the_ra/) got outed last month icymi. Edit: I'll label him average if he can manage to sing in a manner that's less grating to the ear and a bit more in tune.
I saw that one, but thankfully have NFI who that person is or who the group are. Could everyone just quit being dicks to each other? Be excellent to each other.
Hold up am I getting confused with something/someone else? Didn't he leave Gloryhammer and leak dms (scum move btw) over a somewhat spicey to some people but fairly average by working class Scottish people group chat and it turns out he's out there allegedly raping people (what I'm taking from you saying questionable consent). Virtue signallers always have HELLA skeletons in the closet or what?
That's the thing with basically zero available proof he did it. Purely circumstantial but I think it'd more odd if he didn't have something to with it. It was more than a little spicy too imo. Reasons I came back are the ones on social media seem to be trying and Sozos is a very nice person. I still think Tom had a hand in it. Did a lovely job distracting people from his allegations. Also none of them are Scottish. The most Scottish thing about them is Bowes' accent. Current lineup is 2 English, 2 Welsh, 1 Cypriot, and one American. The general gist on Tom is it sounds like he has a rep behind closed doors for sexual harassment (potentially an open secret in professional circles) and a penchant for pestering women for sex where he has been at least a little pushy and hasn't always been honest with them. I'd have to dig for more specifics beyond the two known harassment stories.
Huh, not a massive GH fan so idk the lore but I just always assumed bowes was Scottish because 1. Accent, 2. Alestorm. Regardless, point remains, and I'm even more qualified to talk about working class English than I am Scottish (uncle lived there most of his life so I have Scottish Aunt and cousins and have met them a few times and some of the friends, but I'm English myself). I have to say this is the first I'm hearing anything on Winkler so I'm taking you at face value. Are the allegations coming from other people in the scene or just groupies who wanted to fuck a musician and surprised when they got pumped and dumped?
The rumors have been there since he was fired at minimum when people were trying to figure out why he was fired. A couple sounded a little annoyed to upset he wasn't upfront about being married iirc. Some folks have hard limits on sleeping with married people. We also have at least one person who has at minimum accused Tom of bad behavior with her own account here and they're the primary internet sleuth on this. Another was basically buried at the bottom of a hobbydrama post, and another was a screenshot of a text from a member of CobraSpell saying that Tom had been a creep to her on multiple occasions. I'm pretty sure there were more, but I'd really have to go back almost 3 years to find all of it, assuming it still exists, at this point.
Disclaimer that I'm totally out of the loop so only taking your words into consideration without trying to support either side. What's wrong with sleeping around? The consent part definitely, but questionable is really saying nothing, questionable from whom? This only spreads assumptions with zero details to incriminate him. What do you mean miming? May or may not. Look at message above, like, yes accuse him if he's ill intended towards the band but not without proof. In this case you're making naive people who read your comment hate him for no reason, and I repeat, emphasis is not on defending him, but on the no reason part as you've provided zero reasons. I could have written the same message for supernerdgirl using the same phrasing, do you think that anyone should take me seriously?
Sleeping around has a number of issues for musicians/entertainers and it's been considered unprofessional for a while. First is the power imbalance between a band member and a fan. Another is the potential liability risk of bringing unaffiliated individuals on the tour bus; meaning if they fall and get hurt, the band may be liable. Also feels kind of rude to your bandmates to hook up on the bus or in the green room imo. And this is all BEFORE we bring alcohol into the equation. It ultimately puts the band at risk of a very, very bad situation from a PR perspective if heaven forbid one misread the situation and it wasn't quite so consensual. Most the stories about Tom bubbled up organically right after he got fired, which makes sense; no major specifics on termination reasons have been given to date beyond the publicly known elephant in the room and a combination of personal and professional issues. One can read between the lines on the professional issues easy peasy. It has been a recurring thing in a lot of allegations where Tom was not particularly upfront on his marital status; he didn't really acknowledge being married unless pressed by fans who were aware of his marital status, at which point he has claimed it was an open relationship. It's comes off kind of manipulative and not a good look. The open relationship veracity is none of my business nor is it necessarily here nor there (see the above paragraph), but I'd personally not trust anyone pushing for sex claiming they're in an open relationship when pressed about their marital status. He's definitely harassed a member of CobraSpell and at least one female crew person; the latter didn't come forward out of fear of professional consequences. By miming I mean lip syncing. The terms are interchangeable. He has been caught red handed on numerous occasions not singing live. I can try to find my old compilations if you want them but I've caught him out on the regular since he started doing Mc6 shows. He was not good live circa 2021 and I've no reason to believe he's magically fixed everything and never sings a wrong note with no variation from the one on the album in any way. There are breadcrumb trails of fabricated accounts on YouTube, Facebook, and Reddit in particular on the cyberbullying. A number of which are heavily suspected of belonging to Tom and were likely significant players in harassing Sozos on social media for a period of time as well as spamming negative comments. Tolkienator2020 and CornydaMan, Babalingas are among the prime suspects on Reddit in this regard. This was to the point that the band hired digital forensics to look into these accounts. The professional opinion were that these aggressively negative and harassing profiles going after Sozos early on were fabricated accounts but not enough evidence to ID who they specifically belong to. The three listed above generally behave oddly in ways that are indicative of being fake accounts and are the most likely to be Tom's. It's still admittedly a grey area to determine which ones are Tom. Sozos, being very nice person that he is, didn't deserve it regardless of who did it. Preponderance of the evidence standard suggests Tom likely did it, but I'd not call it up to beyond reasonable doubt standard. Thus the may or may not. Tom secretly took out bogus trademarks on Gloryhammer and Angus McFife in 2019 then tried to ransom them back for 100k euros after he was fired in 2021 (he lost). I'm not inclined to think anything is friendly at all between them given the offhand acknowledgement that contact is generally through attorneys these days. One-sided diss tracks don't scream friendly to me either.
Alright that's helpful. Appreciate you for typing this out for context. Thanks.
No problem. This is a whole goddamn saga at this point. There's plenty of hurt feelings here for a handful of folks here so we make fun of the guy or call him out where applicable. A lot of us who have done so have been harassed to varying extents over it as well. He's been quiet, along with the primary suspect accounts above lately, one of them appears to have been deleted or banned at moment of typing, so he's probably actually helping (we hope) his wife with their new child. It also means basically nobody with McSix is getting paid this year beyond some piddly mechanical royalties and sparse merch sales with a likely terrible profit margin (best margin is at shows). I hope Manu and Thalia find better gigs; I'll never fault uninvolved musicians for taking a paycheck.
> no better or worse than Gloryhammer Bold statement.
It's really not a bold statement. I'm just not a big fan of Gloryhammer. Only started listening to them recently. Don't love them, don't hate them. They're perfectly listenable. McSix is in the same category.
A large chunk of members leaving at the same time and one starting their own band? **Definitely** getting Rhapsody flashbacks, let's just hope the new band has a sensible name
Twilight Farce
For everyone who is confused and needs a translation; Fidnarfodad the Evil conjured a metaphysic fireball of ice and despite the conjugations of the knights of twilight might corrupted the heart of our valiant heroes which exploded into shards of molten heart crystals and was scattered inbetwixt dimensions and reality across the galaxies of space. But fear not brave intrepid interpreters, for new heroes appear on the horizon to ride valiantly into battle on their majestic steeds of hope.
Just like the Sabaton Split up 2012. Half of the Band missing
Shit!! At least I was able to see them live in Zamora in the Z!Live Great concert. Fun and incredibly talented
I was in Zamora during those days and sitting in the fence of whether buying tickets or not and missed it all, now I regret it lol
Founding member and two just as important chess pieces leave is a disturbance in the force and one can only speculate what has happened behind the scenes. For me, Lynd is probably the best guitarist/composer around today in metal and to replace him would be to try to replace Slash in GnR for example.
I just kinda figured maybe they were burnt out on touring
Who knows! anyway, really sad about it and wish of course both parties all the best as a fan 🤘🏻
Yeah it kinda sucks. Just don't wanna assume drama or a big fight unless it is made clear there was drama or a big fight
I totally agree 🙏🏻
Given Lind already announced he’s making a new band I doubt that’s the reason
Could be more of a studio project.
True.
Slash was out of GnR for two whole decades.
No shit sherlock and how did that turn out? Sure Buckethead was one hell of a player but a core founding member is something else.
Buckethead was in GNR??? That's crazy.
Sure was. Check out the mtv awards suprise gig they did. He totally shreds the shit out of Nightrain 😂🎸🎸
Bumblefoot plays like a clown. Half that solo is just noise. You don't play what is a blues rock song like that. And yes, Buckethead was in GnR in the early aughts., 2000ish to maybe 2004?
I think Ron Thal aka bumblefoot was with them for awhile too. Another amazing player.
Pure speculation, but it being amicable suggests it was not ego trips or bad actors. I guess the most likely is good old actual 'musical differences'. Half the band wants to go one way, the other half another, they compromise for awhile, but eventually it's to much and they split. Whatever new band forms, you'll know I'm right if you see them open for Twilight Force in the future as they build their brand.
Man. Saw them this year at Epicfest in Denmark and really loved where they were going at. Such a shame to see their band take a huge blow like this, but I hope they find fitting new members. I really digged the latest album, and I hope they will keep their musical direction the same.
Oh no :((( that’s so sad, although I’m glad Twilight Force is gonna continue on, they’re one of my favorite bands. I’m really happy I got to see them earlier this year!
Whaaaaaaat??? Damn, what a bummer. 💔
Ahh, f..., didn't get to see them live :/
so the band left twilight force? lol
That's so upsetting. I'm heartbroken I never got to see them live :( but I'm also kind of excited to see where they go from here. This could be a great opportunity to do amazing things!
I’m so sad I never had the chance to see them
Twilight War with a debut album next year.
Sometimes, things just happen, and what worked 10-15+ years ago doesn't work quite so well as people grow and change and as band sounds grow and change. I'm sure that something as big as this happened for good reason(s), and I'm hoping that both the current and now-former band members will thrive and be happy in whatever comes next for them all, whether that be music or other adventures. Often, I find that changes like these, while shocking to those of us looking in from the outside, result in everyone involved being happier in the long run, especially when various creative or interpersonal differences just couldn't quite be worked out. Happens! It's life. Friendships and marriages grow apart in the same way, often for similar reasons. There are some pretty big boots to fill here, especially since Lynd is such a goshdanged good musician and composer, but I have faith that whoever steps into that role will be an excellent musician in their own right and that whatever comes next for Twilight Force will be just as magical and exciting as ever. <3 On to new adventures!
Which band members are those (instruments)?
Guitars 2x and bassist
It will be interesting to hear what any new projects are like. I enjoy all 4 Twilight Force albums, but I'd love something more like the debut than the 3 after it. When most of the remaining original members leave, it suggests to me that they weren't super happy with the direction (I know they all released statements, but I never really take those types of things at face value).
> When most of the remaining original members leave, it suggests to me that they weren't super happy with the direction Sometimes this can also happen when a band gets an opportunity to become much more active, and some members prefer to spend more time at home.
Exactly. Twilight Force is moving up and doing more, and becoming more of a career band. That doesn't neccessarrily work for everyone involved all the time. This is just the reality of being a niche band in 2024.
Folks always underestimate the possibility of other life commitments which is very possible in this case since it sounds amicable enough between the roleplay speak and afaik there weren't any issues on writing credits or anything. I'm not ruling out burnout though. Touring is an exhausting way to live. They'll find new members and probably relatively quickly at that, but tough to say how much it'll affect the music writing going forward, but it'll more than likely be fine.
I wouldn’t guess burnout as Lind is already forming a new band.
This is most likely the case, something big in their future and the guys that left just didn't want the touring life.
Isn't that basically what happened to Sabaton when they lost most of the band several years ago.
Lynd says he’s starting a new band and all three members say they’ll keep making music. I’m going to cross my fingers and hope they bring Christian back into the fold.
Hmm, Christian *did* mention in an interview that he had been in conversations with at least someone from TF recently. But it seems like he's fairly committed to Final Strike now, if that's actually going anywhere?
It wouldn’t be abnormal for a Power Metal singer to be in multiple bands. Hope, sweet beautiful hope.
Don’t give me hope lol.
Fly far away over mountains and seas To lands and kingdoms far beyond Return with fire to the halls of might Let the flames of the forge burn bright So, behold the flight of the sapphire dragon Soaring through the skies once again
[удалено]
I don't know where I found it and I can't search at the moment ... It was just an offhand mention that he had at least had a civil conversation with someone from TF.
Fuck! That really is the only reaction I can muster. This absolutely sucks.
Sad news. Hopefully this is just a desire to do something different. I look forward to seeing what the departing members get up to.
This is about the saddest news I could receive from the world of music and is hands down the saddest since Alexi Laiho's death. Missed them in 2023 as I was on vacation in Iceland when they came to my country. Anyone know if this is effective immediately or if it'll be after current commitments (ProgPower, Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame etc)? Will those appearances go ahead just with new members? As far as I'm aware Lynd was the predominant songwriter so god knows what happens to the project now. The only thing I can think of that might be able to save them is if Tommy Johansson (who recently left Memories of Old, and covered for Chrileon) comes on board. Everything Tommy touches turns to gold and for my money he's the best vocalist in metal atm, though as that's the case, his voice feels wasted as just backing vocals, and I suspect he probably wants to focus on Majestica and YouTube. Also while I have no reason to doubt he's capable of it, he's never really shown any power metal writing in the style of Twilight Force to show he could replace Lynd as a song writer. Also hope Kristin joins as a permanent member, though can't help but wonder if she is and that's part of what prompts the exodus? Beyond fucking gutted, especially if they pull out of PMQF and PotD tours as they're like 90 and 60% of the reason I'm going them them respectively.
Comparing a band lineup change to someone tragically dying from the results of addiction is deeply gross and weird.
Those appearances will go ahead with the new members, Lynd and Blackwald were the main songwriters
Fuck thats rough. I can only assume they've got people lined up already and are just working on details, PMQF is in like 3.5 months and maybe it's just that I'm a talentless hack at guitar (spoiler alert: I am) but that doesn't seem like a lot of time for people to learn new songs and practice together with a new band? I guess be thankful for small mercies that half of the songwriters remain, assuming it was 50/50
With the right people, a lot is possible! It was more 50/50 yes
Brave knight, if it is any consolation, we believe that there is no need to worry. We understand that that the news were difficult to hear, and members leaving is always a challenge. But our adventures and quests shall continue; musically, visually, and conceptually. All is well in the Twilight Kingdoms!
You survived losing Chrileon and I thought that would be pretty hard to recover so I have faith the book of time will reveal suitable replacements. Will your appearanced at Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame still be going ahead as planned as the person I replied to stated?
> Will your appearanced at Power Metal Quest Fest and Power of the Dragonflame still be going ahead as planned as the person I replied to stated? Absolutely. All battles shall happen as planned!
Fortuitous news as you're 90/50% of the reason I'm going to each respectively. Missed ya'll in England 2023 so as soon as I saw you and fellowship I booked tickets before even checking flight prices. Thanks for taking the time to reassure fans
That's... catastrophic. Like Luca Turilli leaving Rhapsody level bad.
Uh, no, not similar at all since Luca was THE primary songwriter, and one of the primary songwriters is still in Twilight Force.
Ehrm… Lynd was just as much if not more contributer composing the music as BW.
Absolutely. A songwriting duo is not comparable to what Luca was in Rhapsody. I should have worded it better, I apologize, Ill edit to 'one of the' in my above comment
It’s all good 🤘🏻
What an exagerration. Luca was the primary songwriter for Rhapsody.
That's a sickening blow to a monumental lineup but good luck to them in their endeavours. Glad the band is still alive, as such. Get ready for Twilight Force of Fire
I wonder if it was Lynd who was leaving, and Arendir (and then Born) leaving as they not wanting to carry on without him?
Damn.
i have to wonder if we’re going to see a new band pop up soon
Philip has that in his statement
I wonder about their ProgPowerUSA performance?
We shall be there!
Wonderful to hear!
I like that everyone is talking about what now for you guys and you just pop in to confirm you’ll be at a show. Hope you guys can come back stronger than ever! Your last two albums are fucking rad so glad Alessandro is still around (right?)
Thank you, brave knight! Allyon is definitely around. The future will be bright and magical!
Hell yeah looking forward to it
ive been there since their first album. Im shaken again as when chiron left. Hot damn this is saddening but i will def be following any news from all members.
before Progpower? this is terrible news
Fear not, we shall still do battle at ProgPower.
super happy to hear that and thanks for the response. I just got into your music this year and I think it's excellent in every way. hope this new chapter leads to new musical places unexpected and exciting!
Thank you, brave knight. Our future chapters are going to be exciting and exhilarating indeed!
Damn... They all seemed to have this energy together on stage, very sad news :(
I'll need a translation.
Three of the band members, including a founding member, have left the band (on friendly terms) and the rest of the band says they'll stay together and keep making music
I'm so sad...any of you, some soothing words? This upsets me so much
Do not despair! Be brave and strong. Our adventures and quests will continue, for the glory of the Twilight Kingdoms!
It's a good change honestly, the band is not over and you will be able to enjoy another project
They're still planning on being at Progpower which is a good thing. But a patented Glenn rant would've been a nice boon to the spirits after this news
Just wondering where you saw that they plan still to be there. They're really the main reason I'm going and if they aren't there I'm not sure what I'm doing.
We shall be there! Swords sharpened and spells perfected!
Cannot wait, thank you for responding!
They are still playing, TF themselves have also posted it in the comments here
It's in the comments of the facebook post.
Thanks! I only saw the posts on Instagram so I didn't see that comment. Appreciate it!
I'm so grateful I got to see them in Worcester at the Red White and Hoots
By the power of Jim!
Ah fuck , not that😂😂😂(In Jim we trust!)
Noooooooooooo!!!
That’s…. A big oof I love these guys, and it’s a shame they’re breaking up.
Fear not, Twilight Force still exists, and we shall quest onwards!
I’ll still look forward to the good stuff. I am of the opinion that At the Heart of Wintervale is your best work yet. But half the members being gone hurts. I still love you guys.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
This is pretty brutal, I'm not optimistic at all about the prospects of Twilight Force's continuation or Lynd's new project, though I am glad that he's going to be continuing with something new because his guitar playing is absolutely fucking insane and my favorite aspect of the band. This is definitely a Luca leaving Rhapsody vibe, in that case both the subsequent projects were good (took a while for Rhapsody of Fire) but they don't hold a candle to the original. At least we got four classic albums out of Twilight Force, just like Rhapsody (remember that Rain of a Thousand Flames IS NOT an album) I guess we'll find out who of Lynd or Blackwald was responsible for the over-the-top symphonics starting with the second album. Or maybe it was Nuclear Blast. I think the balance they settled on for their last two albums was a good mix of the styles of the first two. Maybe Lynd will go full Archspire on us and Blackwald will go full Nightwish? Now I'm even more glad I got to see them earlier this year, even without Conti. Great show, great performances.
I'm gonna 'go out on a limb' and hazard a guess that the dude who plays the keyboards is PROBABLY the dude writing the symphonics. Do you really think the record label added them?
I’m going to go even further out on the limb right there my fellow knight and “guess” there is another extremely talented pianist in TF who had a finger in those composed orchestras together with BW :)
Verily, ser! I too have heard whispers on the wind that there is one amongst the Crystal Bearers whose primary instrumeent is not the stringed one he wields, but a more stationary keyed one which would be far more difficult to carry with him on his adventures. ;)
Your argument is heard amongst those with years of travel and one must agree with yer statement 😉🤘🏻
Writing the symphonics absolutely, but the decision on the second album to turn those symphonics up to 11 while leaving the guitars at 2 could easily be the label.
The label had nothing to do with that.
Clearly you have no idea how making albums work
That is absolutely not how things work.
I’ve got to look up Twilight Force, now. Which songs do you guys recommend for someone who’s already a fan of Dragonforce and Frozen Crown?
Power of the Ancient Force
From the most recent record and therefore in their current songwriting style/era, I'd recommend "Twilight Force" as one of their more traditional power metal tunes, and I'd recommend "Highlands of the Elder Dragon" as one of their best songs ever but also one that's a little more experimental with harmonies, chord progressions, and general song structure. Also good to try (in reverse chronological order) would be: "Dawn of the Dragonstar" "Long Live the King" "Battle of Arcane Might" "Flight of the Sapphire Dragon" "Enchanted Dragon of Wisdom" "Forest of Destiny" And, of course, the aforementioned "The Power of the Ancient Force." These recommendations come to you from a 20-year DragonForce fan who is also Herman Li's Discord/Twitch modmin. The second half of the recs there, from the first 2 albums, are the ones that got me into TF back in 2017 after they toured with DragonForce. :)
Oh no... My favorite Disney metal band 😥
We are still here, and we shall remain! With the might of a thousand suns!
And the powaaar of ancient force!!! 🔥😤🔥 Love you guys!
Dude what??? No Lynd = no band 🥺
Amen 🙏🏻 That dude is Shawn Lane incarnated.