I am not ashamed to admit that I enjoy World of Warcraft, or the Warcraft Universe in general. Though some of my fellow Shamoozal staffers may mock me and act as though they are somehow above a game like WoW, I’ve decided to start writing about aspects of the game for this site. With my Blood Elf Priest on track to hit level 35 tonight, I think it’s safe to say I’m back in the game for the long haul.

Anyone who has spent any length of time in a zone doing quests, grinding mobs, or gathering mats for their profession knows that even though Blizzard’s music initially sets a lush aural landscape… three hours of the same 5 minutes of music looping can drive you bat-shit insane. Plus, listening to an album or playlist really helps you break up your time into smaller chunks. So, without further ado… I present some of my favorite music to play World of Warcraft to. So go to your in-game Sound Settings, un-check ‘Enable Music’ and start swinging that battlehammer or summon up an imp! After the Jump…

Demons and Wizards - Touched by the Crimson King
This band is a side-project of the vocalist for Blind Guardian, Hansi Kürsch, and the guitarist of Iced Earth, Jon Schaffer. Stern fans will recognize Iced Earth as the band that Richard Christy used to play drums for prior to becoming a regular on the radio show. This album is full of powerful anthems like Beneath these Waves and Terror Train. It also features an amazing cover of The Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin.

Cradle of Filth - Lovecraft & Witch Hearts
Anyone who has ever rolled an Undead will enjoy this one. Lovecraft and Witch Hearts is a 2 disc retrospective of some truly standout CoF songs. The second disc also has some cool remixes and alternate versions of songs. Nothing says “killing worg in Silverpine Forest” like this album!

DragonForce - Sonic Firestorm
If Cradle of Filth are the Warlocks of WoW, DragonForce are definitely the Paladins. These guys are all about sweeping through the battlefield with a 2-Hand Mace, ridding the world of evil. DragonForce has gotten pretty popular in the past couple years, so I won’t spend too much time on them. Suffice to say that if your doing some PvP, this album will get you pumped up.

Battlelore - Sword’s Song
I’m a sucker for this band. I picked this album for this list because it’s the first one of theirs I owned. However, all their albums are 100% WoW-Friendly. Brutal Guitars, Cute Elf-girl vocals coupled with scary Ogre-guy vocals makes for an amazing experience. Like Phil said once about video games, I want to be Battlelore.

Nightwish - Highest Hopes: The Very Best of…
While we’re on the topic of metal bands with cool female vocals, it would be sacrilege to not mention Nightwish. Again, this is a “best of” album and features most of their greatest songs. However, you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to check out their full albums… like a node of Iron Ore, there are some real gems in there. You probably already know a bunch of songs by these guys as they’re (over)used in just about every WoW AMV on YouTube.

Dargaard - Rise and Fall
We’re gonna slow things down a notch for a minute and talk about one of my favorite groups on this list. Dargaard is another side-project type thing, but it completely departs from the Metal sound and goes in a totally different direction. Some of the music is almost Baroque in it’s presentation, which I totally get in to for some reason. This is very relaxed, chilled out gothic music. Next time it’s raining in your zone of choice, throw this on and tell me I don’t know what the f_ck I’m talking about.

The Appleseed Cast - Low Level Owl: Volume 1
Okay, I’m sure up to this point you’re probably wondering If there’s any other type of music I like other than this stuff. Well, truth be told I listen to a lot of stuff. This is a great CD to check out for playing WoW (or just to listen to). Standout tracks include Blind Man’s Arrow and Steps and Numbers. I’m a big fan of this band, and they’ve got some great tunes to grind out some XP to.

Midnight Syndicate - Born of the Night
More ambient Gothic music. You’ve probably seen these CD’s on the counter of your local seasonal Halloween Super-Store. Don’t be put off by the fact that it’s being sold in a Spencers… this is pretty symphonic stuff. It’s kind of like a soundtrack to a horror movie that doesn’t exist. They have a few other albums and some side projects worth checking out.

Dieselboy - The Dungeonmaster’s Guide
Sometimes you just want some beats to play to without the pounding of battle-axe guitar work (and I stress the word sometimes). This is a great album with a mix-match of styles to get lost in. Plus, it features original voiceover work by Peter “Optimus Prime” Cullen… how can you go wrong?

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So there you have it, THE BIG LIST! I actually listen to a lot of stuff when I play depending on the mood I’m in. These CDs just seem to fit the WoW motif a little better.

In case you’re wondering, I tend to use Winamp when I play because it consumes less memory and processing power than iBloat, er… I mean iTunes. There are some interface addons for WoW that enable you to control your mp3 player from within the game, but I’ve found them to be rather unstable. It’s easy enough to Alt+Tab (or Apple+Tab if you’re one of those types) and do your business.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this even if you’re one of the non-believers that have not been bitten by the bug. Till next time…