Exercise is very important. When I quit taekwondo last year I definitely noticed I'd be feeling tired much easier than usual.

I've been running again once in two days and it's been great. Still working on getting my condition back but I'm slowly getting there. I just hope I'll be able to survive running during the summer.

Yo M_D, don't do anything stupid. We appreciate having you around.

You okay, Metal_Detector?

Hope he is, that last post was... strange.

Not to be overly crass, but most actual suicide notes I've seen have been more on the longish side. That seemed more like a drunken, pity me post.

Okay, I am so sorry guys. I was drunk as shit last night and didn't even know what I was doing on here. By 'out', I meant 'about to sleep', which I did. I'll try to refrain from drunk-posting and causing unnecessary confusion in the future, though I do appreciate it.

By the way, I only have two days of high school left. Right now I don't know whether graduating is a bitter or a sweet occurrence... but for now, I'm leaning towards the latter.

It's the opposite for me, most I've seen were pretty short, "Sorry for the blood" kind of notes.

Edit: And the mystery was solved!

I guess it all depends on the humor of the individual. Most of suicides that I've responded to have a lot to do with monetary issues or a general depression that things can't get better with notes left for loved ones trying to explain why they are doing it in the first place.

Most of the people without loved ones usually don't bother with a note.

Edit: Glad you're OK M_D

I just read BastardHeads review of Mastodon - Crack the Skye.. Damn, that album sure is the epitome of hate it or love it. I'm in the love it category.

It's sweet in that you don't have to go to high school every day and deal with dumb high school drama ever again, it's bittersweet in that you'll never see like 90% of your friends again and you have a hell of a lot more responsibilities now that you're a kid-ult/man-baby.

Edit: This is coming from a guy who's been out of high school for almost a year now, I tried the university thing for a while but I hated the program I was in. Now I'm working a crappy job so I have more than enough money to pay off my college program fees (computer tech course, yo) in September and not owe my parents any money like I did last fall. 'tis exciting!

Yeah, I was kind of confused about that post. It was a bit suicide-y, but you don't seem like the type of person who'd randomly drunkenly off themself. Honestly, I'm surprised that I haven't posted something stupid or incoherent after drinking. Guess I just save that for facebook.

Ending high school was definitely a good thing for me. I'm very glad I went to university. It's a much smaller workload than high school and I'm not complaining about the parties. A lot of the material is much more interesting, too (provided you don't take the wrong things). My Excess and Ecstasy course (more or less the philosophy of getting fucked up) was definitely one of the most interesting experiences of my life. What was especially interesting was when he told us about the old prof he TA'd for, who lived his life according to Georges Battaile. He visited every country in the world, tried every drug known to man, tried all this weird sex stuff I won't get into and held house parties where he'd serve food out of human skulls.

Why couldnt I have taken interesting shit like that at University, instead of pointless garbage I coasted through? Oh well, off to somewhere I can actually learn practical things next semester.

Does anyone know what happened to oogboog?

He's been doing a shit ton of site updates lately... Maybe he just needed a break from all the bullies.

It's really been contending with Somewhere Far Beyond for the position of my favorite BG album lately, so yeah I definitely adore the hell out of it. It just kind of has the same problem Land of the Free has where the great songs are so astoundingly flawless, the rest of the tracks (despite also being very, very good) seem somewhat tame in comparison.



I get why people love that album so much, I just think it falls flat on its face and Mastodon really has no idea how to make that style work properly. Plus the vocals are atrocious and the fact that nobody seems to hear the Mudvayne similarity but me still blows my mind four years later.

Lately I've been leaning more towards Imaginations as my favorite from them instead of SFB, actually, but yeah, their first five or so are really very well done in general. The first two I've also been listening to lately a bit, not as multi-faceted or layered as the mid-era stuff, but holy gods, that energy, those riffs. Pretty damn awesome.

Huh, I didn't even know he does site updates.



especially the ringleader jk

I prefer the pure speed metal bursts heard on BG's first two albums, but I've slowly come to appreciate the hybrid of speed and modern power metal implemented on Somewhere Far Beyond. I've never really been as into the band as many have, honestly, but maybe one day I'll finally fall in love with 'em.

@BH

I never listened to Mudvayne, so I can't comment on any similarities, but I actually really like the vocals. Sure, they are nasality ad infinitum, and I would probably despise them in any other band outside Mastodon, but they really work with the overall atmosphere and lyrical content of the album. It's mesmerizing.

EDIT

Ow yeah, oogboog is a machine when it comes to modification, I remember being absolutely baffled the first time I saw his point count.

Metal_Detector's alleged suicide note would have been the shittiest suicide note ever. No literary talent whatsoever in that piece of crap.

Completely agreed. Even a witty limerick would have been better...


As far as the Blind Guardian talk, I find myself most partial to Imaginations From the Other Side. I enjoy everything they've put out so far, but IFTOS is where it's at for me: the epicness of the newer material without going overboard on the symphonic and bombastic elements; and it still has plenty of kick and speed to it.

Apparently my drunken self is no Proust, or even Hemingway.

The "best of both worlds" argument is terribly cliche, but in the case of Blind Guardian I think it's entirely true. My taste just naturally leans towards their earlier stuff, but Imaginations truly does manage to capture everything that made them great early on and inject it with enough new ideas and epic bombast to become this entirely different beast.

Honestly, their first five (or six, if you can stomach the flaws in Nightfall and just focus on the fact that it has like five of their best songs) are among the best in heavy metal, period.

Like I said, I like everything BG has done up to this point. Nightfall was actually the first BG album I ever listened to and I still love it today. "Mirror, Mirror" and "When Sorrow Sang" are two of the best tracks they've ever done. There's just something exceptionally special with how it all came together on Imaginations.

I've never actually listened to Imaginations. Maybe I should check it out, especially if it combines their early sound with their later stuff.

Nightfall has some great stuff, but also some terrible stuff too. That one, ANATO and ATEOT are all decent but overrated albums - while I hate to use that term, I really never agreed with the kind of people who claimed BG was the only worthwhile power metal band, based on those albums mostly. Which, surprisingly, quite a lot of people think...

M_D, you've never heard Imaginations? Wow, that was one of my first from them..."Mordred's Song" is my pick for their best track ever, personally. "Bright Eyes" is pretty close too. It's just a kickass, heavy as hell album. Their most original sounding I think, too.

Yeah, quite surprising really, especially considering that Nightfall was one of the first metal albums I ever listened to. I remember bringing it to school one day in 3rd grade and feeling so badass...

But yep, I'll make a point of listening to IftOS today. I'm quite intrigued.

I have a quick question: When you are washing graphic tees and Band shirts, are you suppose to turn them inside out before you put them in the washing machine? I've been doing that for a few years now and I was wondering if I was washing my band shirts/graphic tees right.

You were into awesome stuff at third grade, then. I listened to Bomfunk MCs, Darude and Rage Against The Machine.

Nightfall is the first and only Blind Guardian album I've heard, and I did while reading the Silmarillion, which really helped me appreciate it I think. I'm only just getting into power metal anyways. Just throw me some recs and I'm gonna check it out no matter what.

As an RPG aside to all of this - the more I see of Dungeons and Dragons Next the more I am sure it will be colossal flop that pleases neither the old school guys nor the 4e people. It's good that WOTC is doing the 2nd edition ADnD reprints this may - mine are beat up as hell so I might buy those. I love me some 2e ADnD.

I'm still here, boy. I just have nothing to say for the moment. After all, I'm working on my social life outside of MA, so I'll have more interesting things to say to annoy Tony. After all, you know what happened to Metaldiscussor666. I could end up like him, which I think I've come close to.

For beginners...

USPM: Crimson Glory, Prodigy (As Darkness Reigns), Kamelot (preferably Epica or The Black Halo)
Euro PM: Labyrinth (Return to Heaven Denied), Scanner (Hypertrace), Lost Horizon
Brazilian PM: Hibria (Defying the Rules), Angra (Temple of Shadows), Shaman (Origins)

Pretty general, but that should give you some good stuff.

Hypertrace gets spun regularly since I saw Scanner live in autumn. Apart from that, cool thanks.

@Metal_Detector; I don't think that you can put Kamelot in a USPM list. Sure, they're American, but that's the only thing they have in common with the likes of Crimson Glory or Fates Warning. Their actual sound is much, much closer to Europower.

Aww, lucky. How was it? Hypertrace is one of my favorites, so I would have loved to see them. I was thrilled recently to score an original copy on CD for under twenty bucks And no problem.

True, I was simply going by country rather than the style associated with said country. They definitely fit closer to the Euro power sector, as Hibria would had I forgone the Brazilian tag.

That is the best way especially if they are screen printed tees. I do it inside out and usually with cold water. Of course, every shirt is different and I've had shirts fade after 3 washes and some that look exactly the same 4 years later.

Pretty good I think, they had fun, we had fun, I have no complaints. Helstar were also there. Also: Free admission. Good day.

Except, of course some hardcore dancing brootal kids had to show up

lol, I actually believe that Metaldiscussor666 is worst than me. But I think I'm safe because I'm not THAT annoying to people to make atleast 1600 accounts (I'm just exaggerating) and make dumb threads.

Edit: sorry, left the bold text on.