"Creation...Through Destruction" from Pernicious Enigma really is something else.

That whole album is a total mindfuck. Out of all the albums I checked out, I'd say that one is the one that "transcends" metal. It's so crazy. And I went with Atra Mors because it seemed to have the highest reviews. I know it's a later album by the Evoken guys but I was more interested in checking out what was considered "best". The only band out of all of them that I have had a tougher time getting into was Skepticism, they seem to be the most patience trying. I do really love the production on Stormcrowfleet, though.

Atra Mors is an Evoken album, and to be fair, none of them can touch Esoteric. I'm quite partial to the last two ones, though - Circle is an absolute beast of a piece.

Has anybody ever played with an Ouija board? I would like to play with one. I really don't think Ouija boards are real to be honest.

I'm far from an expert in the occult, but maybe you could reveal to us your age and how you'd describe your personality. And I mean that seriously.

People don't do that? I mean, if it's just a normal bowl of chili sure. Not with the extra hot n spicy kind.

Damn, that last part of your comment is very ominous. I'm just curious, but why do you need my information? I'm not trying to be a dick by the way.

Ouija boards are more or less marketed for kids/teens, and most of the people I've seen play them are into odd spiritual theories/gullible (I can't think of a better way to put that), so he's probably just mocking you for expressing an interest in them.

Ouija boards are great when put on top of an electric football table.

DecemberSoul, you know I felt kind of dumb about not getting your comment. So I came to realization that I had NO fucking idea as to what you were talking about. It's okay though because English may not be your first language. French and German are probably easier for you to have a conversation in (considering you're Swiss) By the way, just because a person has interest in something that we all know is foolish, doesn't give you the right to be asshole about it. Using an Ouija board for me is at the very least like trying to test the waters. I do agree with on one point. I find it very childish to play with one. I will admit to that.

Is that your response or the Ouija boards?

The Ouija board conjured that comment my friend. I don't even know why I started talking about the damn thing. The Mars Volta played with an Ouija board in Israel when they were on tour I think. Supposedly, a lot of incidents happened and they destroyed the board. Anyways, I forgot where I read that. I think it was from an interview or something about TMV.

Plot Twist: The Ouija board was coming from inside the house!

My sister was a nurse at a mental hospital a couple of years ago. She worked with this guy who told her that he bought a Satanic bible or something. So one night he was laying in bed and the book flew across the room. What gets me is that he worked in a mental hospital. I don't think they would hire someone (but it's possible) who is mentally ill you know.

It flew across the room to use...the Ouija board?!?

It's the only way the Satanic bible knows to communicate, and it had an urgent call to make.

The RiffTrax version of When a Stranger Calls Back is entirely filled with jokes exactly like this.

Me too.

I've owned John Carpenter's The Thing on DVD for at least a decade but finally just bought it on Blu-Ray this weekend at Best Buy. The gal working there asked for my ID to buy it. I'm 30 years old. Haha what the heck. I do NOT look like I'm 16 and half the time don't even get carded to buy alcohol.

All the 16 year olds these days are going into Best Buy to illegally buy The Thing DVDs. New craze.

When I worked a gas station I was so paranoid that I was going to sell alcohol to a minor that I carded /everyone/ for the first few weeks. Some of those people were easily 40+ now that I look back but I wasn't taking any chances.

LOL apparently.



That's pretty legitimate though. You personally AND the gas station could get in BIG trouble if you sell alcohol to a minor. But I can't imagine selling an R-rated movie to a 16-year-old carries particularly heavy consequences haha.

I was that very ouija board!

A "casserole", by definition is any dish cooked in a casserole dish. How you were brought up is objectively wrong.

And yeah, cheese in chili is amazing. Sprinkle a shitload on top once the chili's done.

Yeah I'm definitely gonna have to check these other Esoteric albums. I've liked all the albums I've checked out so far in the genre, but I think Esoteric will be the band whose discography I delve into further, at first at least.

Your comedic comments are not funny!

I was just trying to set the "October vibe", considering halloween is coming up. I don't know, maybe that wasn't a good reason to use.

You might think your attempts at being facetious are comical but remember this: "When you look into the abyss, the abyss looks into you" Nietzsche said that.

Actually, not too long ago, me and a few of my cousins played with a Ouija board as part of a bet. You see, one of my cousins, Natalia, is into all kinds of stupid woo and spiritual crap, and the topic of communication with the dead somehow came up during a conversation, and she got really insistent that no, really guys, it works, this person from school whose name I conveniently forgot totally talked with her dead sugar daddy that one time. So, a bit annoyed, I told her that we should play with one the following weekend, at my house. After all, I was the only person in the group seemingly not worried about having his house haunted by dead sugar daddies after that, so I might as well host the whole thing. Bet her a Subway sandwich that it wouldn't work.

That was a very tasty sandwich. A smug sense of vindication makes for great seasoning, apparently.

Well, obviously it won't work with a skeptical mind!

Clearly, my skepticism is powerful enough to drive away apparitions. I should make a living out of this shit, getting paid to exorcise haunted houses through my sheer non-belief. Sounds much more exciting than being an English teacher

I'm skeptical of ghosts and whatnot, but I do believe many reportedly "haunted" places have high amounts of electromagnetic radiation that causes hallucinations in sensitive people.

When you look into buying an Ouija board, being cool looks into you.

"haunted by dead sugar daddies"... sounds like there's an Acid Bath song in here somewhere

Sad day today...

One of the most dedicated metal fans in Greece passed away yesterday (heart problems, he was 42). He was known by the nickname "Polonos" (means "the polish") as he hailed from Poland but everyone - and I mean EVERYONE - who has been to more than once metal concert knew him as the crazy person at the front row. I once saw him headbanging in a metal club for more than 5 hours, buy himself, grunting and banging like there's no tomorrow... Great dude, he would grunt and yell at every gig, sometimes climb on stage and admonish the audience for being too tame (Whiplash, Sanctuary come to mind).

Always up for metal talks, outspoken, crazy about Running Wild (old school german power in general, we shared a love for the Kai-era Helloween, Heaven's Gate... "1995, when Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian and Running Wild died!") and 100% genuine. He also drew some album covers, most notably for Dexter Ward, Released Anger and Jack Starr's Guardians of the Flame (Under a Savage Sky).

The whole scene, bands and fans are rather in a state of shock, just 42 years old man. RIP

https://www.metal-archives.com/artists/ ... giel/65830

We moved into our new "open office" today. This reeks of a disaster in the making.

You won't be able to get that synergistic flow going knowing people could be looking over your shoulder at any time? Maybe they'll switch to a panopticon design when they see how great a motivator that is.

That sounds even worse, and looks so after I Googled it. This already feels sterile and rather disconcerting. We're an art department, and off-white walls and gray carpet are not art motivators. I lucked out, however. I have a corner. I have two walls, which is literally two more than nearly everyone else. There is a large arm built into the desk to for our monitors, and I have mine "around me" to the open side, so it looks like a wall and I sit at an angle so no one can come up behind me.

I really lucked out in this. The open office area still sucks, though.

I also got to keep my far better chair.

Open offices are the closest we will ever come to realizing actual hell on earth. Working in one feels like you're perpetually being watched by a Bigfoot in casual office attire.

You mean you don't want to hear every conversation in the entire office?

Indeed, the open office sucks. The guy right behind me eats all day. At least twice a week he has fish soup for lunch, and enjoys snacking on apples, carrots and snap peas. The other week he busted out a cob of corn and just gnawed away at it, right at his desk!

I mean, seems like he's got a pretty health diet but I have to constantly have head phones in or risk spontaneous combustion.

Open offices are the worst. All you need is one obnoxious asshole and he'll make it a pain for everyone else around. And there is always one obnoxious asshole in any work collective.

My company has recently moved, too, and not only is it open office, I work in a "modern" sort of office, which is not only open, but also feels like you are in a freakin' factory hall. The floors are concrete (no carpets or anything - gonna be fun in the upcoming winter), the walls have unpainted concrete as well, there are metal tubes everywhere, all is grey and white and black (as in, walls painted black)... I mean, I am on the verge of quitting anyway, but this certainly doesn't help. There is NOTHING comfortable about the office. Including the fact that the tables are way too fucking low, so someone of my height (187cm) will suffer a lot.

All in all... I just think an office should be a space where it's pleasant to stay and work. Is it that hard for (some) companies to understand?

For the sake of your back, either bring this up in your next meeting or quit your job. I quit an otherwise fine job because of the same reason years ago. The workplace is gone but my back reminds me of it every now and then.