It's time for a new Avdibeg Mixtape, and it is a seventh in the series. This time, metal doesn't dominate the list for once, but there are some really nice songs. Journey's Don't Stop Believing always reminds me of that epic ending of The Sopranos, one of the best TV shows ever. There are a few songs from the 1980s and 1990s.

I really like dark songs from Depeche Mode, and Halo is one of them. Fun fact: Jenna Elfman is one of the dancers in the video.

The final song on this tape is Weezer's The Christmas Song, which I guess is appropriate, given that the holidays are approaching. I've heard it in the TV show The Bear in its amazing episode “Fishes”.

You can see all the songs in the Avdibeg Mixtape 007 here.

I’ve heard for the first time of Mirza Redžepagić, a Bosnian composer and guitarist, and his song "Breeze of Delight". It is a fusion of jazz, flamenco, and saudade. Pretty good, and I like it.

I will include it in my next mixtape.

It's almost a year ago, I made my first mixtape, which is part of the project called Avdibeg Mixtapes, and it's been a fun project, which I intend to continue. It is fun to stumble upon a new song I never heard before or a song that reminds me of my past or some period in my life. That's how I often remember songs — I usually connect them to my life and experiences along that trip.

Isn't it amazing how small the world can feel sometimes? During my daughter's visit to Bosnia this summer, she met a lady whose son happens to play guitar in a metal band. Upon learning this, she eagerly exclaimed, 'My dad listens to metal!'.

Today, this lady shared a link to her son's band, and wow, what an incredible song it is! Their track 'The Gift' impressed me thoroughly. The musicianship and vocals are impressive, and the lyrics are equally noteworthy. As someone with high music standards, I'm usually very critical, but Dolia's music pleasantly surprised me. It's delightful that they're fellow Bosnians, offering a taste of our beautiful landscapes and rich mythology. Yet, it's the music that truly stands out. The song is quite catchy with interesting irregular time signatures. Dolia being a progressive metal band is an extra bonus.

I highly recommend giving them a listen! I'll definitely keep an eye on them.

When I was seventeen years old, I was a refugee in a Danish refugee center. It was a very small center with no more than 120 people. We were a few kids of similar age, and we would listen to music in the basement of the center. My brother and I, along with a few others, would spend a lot of hours playing games and listening to mostly heavy metal bands like Pantera, Dream Theater, and Sepultura. I remember we got hold of Sepultura's newest album sometime in 1993. It was called Chaos A.D. It was a pretty heavy album, and probably the heaviest band that we had listened to up to that point. Anyway, there was a particularly one song that I really liked, and it was “Territory”.

For almost a year, I've been crafting Avdibeg mixtapes, largely fueled by a wave of nostalgia. We live in times when everything's digital and “in the clouds”. It's my little resistance and attempt to emulate the making of real, physical mixtapes that used to thrive in the vibrant 1980s.

It's time to compile a new mixtape, the fourth in the series, and I needed a proper cover for it. So, I created these four samples with a little help from my invisible AI friend, and here are the four suggestions.

I mentioned almost seven years ago Opeth's beautiful song Burden. I still think this band, and its frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt in particular is extremely talented. Everything is of highest quality, including the lyrics. When I listen to music, I don't focus much on lyrics (hence: listening to music), but Opeth's lyrics are often a pure poetry. This time I want to emphasize the song "Den ständiga resan" (eng.: The Constant Journey).

The English rock band Muse released their fifth album The Resistance in September 2009. I remember that I was pretty impressed with the most of the songs from the album.

I just found a piece of paper with apparently my grading of every song from The Resistance. Five stars is the highest mark. The album as a whole scored 4.27/5. No too bad.