Just got my hands on a copy of Crimson Glory's self-titled debut. Cost me twenty bucks (English import at a generally overpriced local record store), but fuck it was worth it. I have not been this impressed with an album on my first listen since I got ahold of Angra's "Aqua".

Wait 'til you get to Transcendence.

I wish I could find some Crimson Glory's CDs here

I'm excited to get Transcendence. If it is anywhere near as good as the self-titled, I'll be fucking stoked. This album is incredible.

On the Bathory topic; Hammerheart is in my humble opinion, the better album. To the point where it actually is one of three definite all-time favourite albums of mine. Twilight of the Gods is a great record as well, but something felt a little lacking compared to the former. Blood on Ice is my favourite concept album, the storyline is great, the album cover is great, the individual songs range from good to excellent, really good all-round. However, if I had to say Hammerheart had a true successor, the Nordland albums would be them. Those two records are simply breathtaking as far as I'm concerned.

I just listened to Twilight of the Gods again today, and though I liked it better than I had in the past, it still felt like it lacked a certain fire, like Abominatrix said. It's a pretty dividing album for me because there is a lot there than I genuinely really dig, lots of cool riffs and subtleties, several awesome solos, and as was said before it does have a certain cohesiveness from track to track (especially nice how melodies and motifs are referenced in different places through the entirety), and it does have a mature sensibility to it, but in the end I just don't feel like each song as an individual song really grabs me...there's this odd sense of floating-in-the-middle-ground to it that doesn't excite me very much, not to mention that the vocals are not any better than usual, a few beating-a-dead-horse compositional blunders are scattered around, and there are several sections of awkward, lurching key changes throughout the album that really kill the momentum a lot. It feels to me like there's a lot of unrealized potential there, I guess. I think it might grow on me, though. It's definitely not a bad album, I'd give it a 75% or so.

Blood on Ice I prefer not only for the inclusion of the exemplary tracks "The Lake" and "The Woodwoman," both of which trump the entirety of Twilight in themselves for pure awesomeness, but also I'm drawn to its far more vivid atmosphere, the colder sound, the higher heights and the darker darks.

I'm listening to this Diamond Plate full length...ugh, what a travesty. Honestly, some of it isn't so bad at all, but "Tomb with a View" is terrible and sounds like shitty metalcore/melodeath and the vocals are just atrocious. Sometimes, when he really pushes his voice, it's a passable thrash shriek, but mostly it's just bad metalcore territory. It's a shame as some of the tunes are pretty good. Also, the lead guitar tone is pretty lacking/digital sounding. Waste of talent and a potentially good album.

Edit: It also ain't got shit on THRASHTRUCK. Just sayin'.

The occasional melodeath/metalcore influences help seperate them from the 45,287 bands currently playing old school thrash. The vocals are pretty poor though, they remind me of Matt Heafy, which is never a good thing.

Oh come now, the EP was excellent and didn't have the slightest hint of metalcore, then they jumped to a major label, slowed the riffs down (man, "At the Mountains of Madness" sounds so slowwwwww) and added metalcore influences. Coincidence? Not likely.

I haven't heard the EP yet, need to get around to it, I've only heard good things about it. I was just listening to At The Mountains of Madness and for some reason it sounded similar to Whiplash's song Hiroshima.

Unrelated, but shame on you Noktorn for giving Maiden's debut a lower rating than Waking The Cadaver's.

Haters gon' hate.

Okay, so I recently came across $50 and being the responsible person I am with cash I'm planning to blow it on CDs in less than 24 hours. I've already chosen Lykathea Aflame's Elvenefris, Cannibal Corpse's Butchered at Birth, and Katatonia's Tonight's Decision. That leaves me with $13, and I'm now trying to decide among these:

- Altars of Madness
- None So Vile
- Pleasure to Kill
- Agent Orange
- Outre' by Portal

Considering I want them all equally and I'd hate myself if I changed my mind after the fact, I'll just let you guys choose one for me. So...suggestions?

You'll regret taking advice from a human. Just flip a coin.

I would reccomend Altars of Madness, but it might be Too Extreme for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYVO5bUF ... re=related

Pleasure To Kill. In my opinion, the greatest thing to ever come from Germany and a must. Get it.


On 'vacation' at a family reunion. I know about 8 people, including my immediate family. Going to be a very long weekend... I'm not even sure what state I'm in now.

Agent fuckin' Orange for sure!

Bastardfest tonight here in Brisbane. Psycroptic, Blood Duster, Extortion, The Kill and d.usk, who are apparently diSEMBOWELMENT under a new name. NECKS SHALL BE BROKEN.

I am so ready to see Down and In Solitude later this month.

EDIT: Looks like Deceased and D.R.I. will be playing shows near my residence in the next few weeks. Metal gods, I am eternally in your debt!

I have a lengthy review in store for the Diamond Plate album. Just you wait.


Aaaaanyway, I've often alluded to the fact that I'm the most useless person in a kitchen this side of an armless corpse, but rarely do I actually step up to prove it. You know how whenever somebody says they're bad at cooking they say they're "I could screw up Easy Mac/Ramen Noodles bad"? Well I think I've just raised the bar. Just a few minutes ago, I screwed up Kool-Aid. I'll give that a minute to sink in.


Kool-Aid

Seriously, fucking dumped out a pitcher of Kool-Aid because I apparently don't know the difference between granulated and powdered sugar. I FUCKING WISH I WAS KIDDING.

\

Yes. This story may seem retarded, but I was in grade 9 and I was really stupid back then. So in art class I traded a pipe I had for an oversized sharpie and some caffeine pills. The next day I did a retarded amount of caffeine pills in the morning. The reason was that I took a few and I didn't feel anything so I kept taking more. Fucking stupid, because it doesn't kick in right away, you have to wait a while. So finally it does and what happens must be the equivalent of being on ecstasy. I couldn't stop moving around (luckily it was drama class) and suddenly I was extremely social and very, very happy (at that point in my life I was usually pretty antisocial.) I bummed a cigarette and my heart started racing uncontrollably and I started almost having what felt like a seizure. After that I felt like shit the rest of the day. Yeah, pretty stupid.

In other news, I just picked up Neurosis's Souls at Zero. Holy fuck, I can't remember the last time I took a chance on a CD and it was that good. The title track alone is worth the money.

BastardHead

Neurosis is great music to zone out with. You took a good chance.

Souls at Zero is a masterpiece. I get freaked every time I hear the opening samples of To Crawl Under One's Skin.

I'm sure Kool-Aid made with powdered sugar woulda been just fine. Did you give it a taste before dumping it out?

Yeah, it tasted like straight up water with a really bitter aftertaste that somewhat resembled the orange flavoring I put in. I made another pitcher with the granulated sugar and it tastes fine (albeit a bit watery, but I added a bit too much water I think). Just seriously, fucking Kool-Aid.

...Bitter? That wasn't powdered sugar, that was arsenic!

I don't know, powdered sugar has a bit of corn starch, which would have thickened it up, and made it all lumpy.

That's why I'm dying!

Anyway, Diamond Plate review finally finished. I ramble an awful lot, but this band means a lot to me and this album really let me down. Quit being a bitch and read it.

Just do what most of the people here would do and start asking every girl of suitable age for sex.


Your dad is going to be SO pissed off when he finds out what happened to his stash of cocaine.

Look, it's me.

On the Bathory discussion, The Return is my favorite of the BM albums, I think. It might have something to do with the fact that it usually gets lost amongst the s/t, BFD and Black Mark.

so i'm back to smoking after a year and some months of a nicotine-free healthy life and the first cigarette felt like sex with a Valkyrie FUCKING GOOD. Good health can go fuck itself for now, i'm miserable any way

haha man I get that too. Don't smoke when I'm on break but when I'm back up at the mine I can't wait for that first ciggie and some decent plunged coffee There's a reason why people smoke!

Mid-90s Bad Religion, I can't remember that one... but I didn't care for Blood On Ice. The Nordland stuff isn't too bad, either, but it does reek of him going back to the Viking sound again after failed experiments. I was surprised when I first heard Twilight of the Gods, just because it sounded a lot more professional than the other Bathory I'd heard, that and the Joey Demaio-esque bass solo in the first track sounded quite cool and funny. I general I prefer the earlier stuff to the 'Viking' era; it's just obviously a lot less clunky to my ears, and Under the Sign of the Black Mark is certainly one of the best metal albums of all time.

I'm just not keen on the song 'Hammerheart', itself. The "Quire of Quorthons" sounds so silly.

I'm fond of rolling my own, mostly with Bali Shag. People I've met outside of California all seem to think it's shit though, for some reason. I don't think Bugler (what seems o be most popular in the Midwest) is any better.

Yeah, the vocals. Listened to it once and I though it was pretty decent for a new thrash release. I don't remember hearing metalcore influence though, although some songs were quite melodeathy. The vocals though, . Made we want to bang my head, really hard against my desk. Instrumentally it was really good, I think.

What band shirt is that? Defeated Sanity?

I think the new Diamond Plate is pretty good. I have some beefs with it here and there, but overall I've found it pretty enjoyable. While the vocals still aren't brilliant I actually think they are an improvement on previous releases. I can understand where the criticism comes from, but I wouldn't call it a travesty.

I think that's the bassist of Abhorrence, am I correct? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtyW1yf2YQo

Man, it's amazing that this is still being performed live. And such a good performance. Watch in HD.

I don't think so. Im not sure.

I can't think of who else it would be, because I know he isn't Olli-Pekka Laine, Amorphis' ex bassist. Why don't you think it's him? I'm nearly positive.

Any James Randi fans here? You might be interested to know that it was 10 years today that Sylvia Browne accepted James Randi's million dollar challenge. She still hasn't taken the challenge on.

New Tjolgtjar album available for free download. It's pretty good; probably his most accessible album for normal BM fans if it weren't for the hideously garage mix. No immediate stand out tracks. Seems to have gone about halfway back to the style of "Holnijimnjok" with a bit of outsider first wave-cum-doom vibe integrated into the riffing and composition.