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Motorcycle fest 2 months ago. This was the first day, at the very beginning, thus so few people were present. Once the mosh pits started forming I basically haven't left any of them. That's why for the following three days I had muscle-ache (?) in my arms and legs. Great bands, great time. PS: I'm the guy in the camo shirt btw.

I'm nearly done with this piece. Let's see if photo embedding works again...

A metal hearted man... Mr. Wolf Hoffman, ACCEPT lead guitarist and musical mastermind. SK: "Hi Wolf, I wanna thank you for all the incredible riffs, solos and melodies that you've created. Your music has been a part of my life for 15 years and I'm deeply grateful". WH: "Thank you, I appreciate". SK: "You're from Solingen (German city), right?" WH: "Yes indeed". SK: "Now let me tell you this. Solingen is very famous for its blades, but the sharpest thing that ever came out of Solingen is YOUR MUSIC. Sharp as steel!". WH: "Ahah thank you, but that is not true. NOTHING IS SHARPER THAN THE BLADES OF SOLINGEN". He's a great guy! Very polite and humble. He smiled all the time and took time to sign and take pics with every metalhead around. He asked me what my name was and shook my hands twice. Being the cheesy defender of the faith I have always been and always will be, I was starstruck and in awe of him. I mean, he is the man that threw Beethoven's "FUR ELISE" in the middle of the "Metal Heart" solo. THE STUFF OF LEGEND.

So I've been accepted into a creative writing course which starts August seventh. It's a 20 week course which includes making connections with publishers specific to the genre each author favours. This is very exciting for me. Also watching the Tour De France last night I couldn't help but think those roads looked like my ideal playground. Looks like the drive to jump back on my bike is kicking in at last.

Sodom - Persecution Mania

Sodom "Persecution Mania" Vein "Terrors Realm"

^ everyone needs a copy of Cause of Death. Mandatory listening imo. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeh..and well thankyou, that's the nicest thing anyone's said to me for ages. I really appreciate that BAN. It is a pleasure and solace for me to have contact with such cool people. Thanks, man. Means a lot. Any time. We love having you here, you fit in well with the band of miscreants that call this place home. Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

Obituary - Slowly We Rot

Mercyful Fate - Don't Break The Oath

Under a funeral moon this evening as I stalked the streets in sorrow and woe. The night air was cold; the wolf within unchained; the nightspirits my only companions.

I realized I hadn't posted a pic here since I grew my hair out again. I'm in my studio/spare room/escape hatch. Hi everyone.

Here's the underpainting for another new piece I'm working on. Hands take a long time. Now for color and detail work.

The site isn't dead, but the users are. This community is unique because it allows us to communicate with each other from beyond the grave, a claim that other metal communities. Tell all your friends! All they ha e to do is commit suicide and they will be granted admission into all of our posts and discussions. Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

The original poster was definitely onto something. This is very much a friendly and open place and that's a pretty rare thing nowadays. For instance, I posted in a Gothic Metal forum without receiving derision! Incredible. I definitely feel gratitude for living a life free of severe turmoil, war, poverty etc. I have to make sure that I consciously enjoy every day and that I do my best to allow others a happy life.

Crimson Glory - s/t

Monstrosity - Millennium

Motorhead - Orgasmatron

Wardruna - Runaljod - Yggdrasil

Paradise Lost - Gothic

Satyricon - 'The Forest is My Throne' Satyricon - 'The Shadowthrone' Enslaved - 'Yggdrasill'

Darkthrone - Sardonic Wrath Incantation - Mortal Throne Of Nazarene

Danzig - Danzig

CDs I've bought recently, part 6.

Fen - Winter

Darkthrone - Panzerfaust Darkthrone - Thulcandra demo

I think we're about overdue for another round of these, since it's been a year and a half since my last addition. This is the one that seems to be getting the most attention lately, so I'll start here: Maveth - Coils of the Black Earth: Maveth is a newer Finnish death metal band that uses a more blackened approach than many of their contemporaries. It still falls more toward the death metal side of the black/death equation, so I'm placing them here instead of in the black metal section. This doesn't have much in common with the classic bestial black/death sound that Finland is known for, rather occupying similar ground to bands like newer Behemoth. There are lots of blast beats and aggression on display, but also murky depths to explore within their compositions, so it's not the snooze-fest that bands like Belphegor would employ. Finland has made quite the comeback in the death metal world in recent years, and this band is a great example of how their scene is expanding and churning out lots of great material. They split up after a subsequent EP release, so we likely won't be hearing more from Maveth, but Coils of the Black Earth is a great modern black/death album that fans of the style should enjoy. Misery Index - Traitors: Misery Index is a band that was born from former members of Dying Fetus, but their sound is less brutal/slam influenced and has a heavier influence from grindcore in their death/grind formula. Taking their name from the Assuck's final album, they still balance death metal and grindcore well and belong in discussions of both. Unlike Dying Fetus, where their focus on overt heaviness and chugging detracts from the music itself, Misery Index writes pretty catchy and memorable songs for a death/grind band without sacrificing any intensity. I don't usually like modern albums in this style, but Misery Index delivers with great songs and plenty of punch where most bands fail to capture the fury they attempt to display on the surface. Mithras - Worlds Beyond the Veil: Mithras is a UK death metal band that hasn't been making as many waves as I feel they should, based on their expansive and original take on the genre. If you were to try to briefly characterize the band, a good description would be that Mithras sounds like Morbid Angel's Covenant recorded by aliens, but there's more than that going on here. That influence is pretty easy to hear, but the band has a much larger emphasis on elongated atmospheric passages and expansive and major key melodies in many places. The feeling here is more triumphant than brutal, despite the staggering speed at which it's played, painting quite the grandiose picture throughout the run-time of the album. This is a must hear for fans of adventurous death metal such as Lykathea Aflame and !T.O.O.H.!, and fans of the heavier side of melodic death metal would probably find this enjoyable as well. A bit over the top and hard to swallow at first, but give it time to sink in and it will transport you to other planes. Mitochondrion - Parasignosis: Mitochondrion is one of the brightest stars in the modern black/death metal constellation as far as I'm concerned. While they channel a lot of the staggering brutality of the early Canadian scene from which they hail, they also progress the sound into the deep and experimental recesses also explored by the likes of Portal and Ulcerate, creating a sound that's as punishing as it is chaotic. There are a lot of layers to peel through with this one, their sound cascading as a storm that is difficult to navigate as it pummels your senses while you try to find your through it. Allowing yourself to be swept up in the tempest of Mitochondrion is quite the rewarding experience, especially as you unfold further layers on repeat listens. Highly recommended. Molested - Blod-Draum Molested is but one of many Norwegian death metal bands forgotten to the annuls of history because of being overshadowed (in terms of popularity anyway) by their black metal scene. I'm not sure why most fans can't just enjoy both scenes, because they were both incredible, with Molested's Blod-Draum being among my favorite albums that the country ever produced. You will recognize the name Oystein Brun because he founded the much more popular band Borknagar, but as much as I enjoy many of that band's albums, this is Oystein's best work to me. His style that he developed in Borknagar can still be found here, with some folky progressions buried beneath an absolutely suffocating barrage of guitars and drums. Their subtlety may be their strength, never overbearing and detracting from the nasty death metal on the surface, but providing a cool subtext that sets them apart. This is fantastic material that doesn't deserve to be forgotten, if you like dark European death metal, you absolutely have to hear this. Monstrosity - Millenium: Monstrosity seems to serve as a footnote for most supposed "death metal fans" as the first band of one George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, but they're so much more than that. After debuting with the devastating and professional Imperial Doom, they refined their craft to embody more of an early technical death metal sound on their second album Millenium. As this was before the advent of modern wank-death, this is technical without being overly indulgent and relies on the strength of their riffs and compositions, simply using a more elevated and proficient musical style to achieve their brutal ends. This is a precision assault on all fronts, with Corpsegrinder sounding better here than anywhere else IMO, and a rhythm section that is swarming with killer guitar and drums lines. One listen to this, and you'll be saying "Cannibal who?" Morbus Chron - Sweven: Morbus Chron is quite the interesting new Swedish death metal band. Their first album was steeped in the retro glory of the old-school Swedish death metal trend that is still fairly popular since its initial resurgence, but it was still forward thinking compared to their compatriots. With the second album Sweven, Morbus Chron embraced those forward thinking elements to create a psychedelic progressive death metal masterpiece that doesn't really sound like anyone else. The name Sweven meaning "slumber", this album does seem to explore the space between our waking minds and the wild world of our dreams, masterfully bouncing from delicate to haunting and heavy sounds seamlessly. An impressively mature offering from such a young band, it's unfortunate that they disbanded recently and probably won't be granting us a followup. At least they went out on quite the high note, I can't fault them for their departure since they gave us Sweven before they left. Morgion - Gods of Death & Disease: Morgion is one of the most recognizable names within the world of US doom/death, and rightfully so with the small, but sterling discography that they left us. Before they developed a taste for stunning atmospheric compositions on phenomenal albums like Solinari, they were a killer straight up death metal band in their early days. Dark Descent Records was nice enough to collect these recordings onto a compilation for us, which is very much their style, and I'm grateful for it. I don't think this will ever take the place of Morgion's definitive recordings, it is a great look into their early days and what might have been had they stayed this course. They were really great at playing death metal before adding doom to the proceedings, with a style that sounds much more Swedish or Finnish than American, and I'm not complaining about that. If you want to hear where this band was before they changed sounds, or if you just enjoy dark and heavy death metal, this is well worth your time to hear. Necrovation - Necrovation: Neuraxis - Truth Beyond...: Neuraxis is one of the longer running technical death metal acts from Canada, a second generation band that clearly owes a great deal to the likes of Cryptopsy and early Kataklysm. They're a lot more progressive and melodic sounding than either of those bands though, with their debut album almost qualifying as a brutal/melodic death metal album, and their musicianship and intricate songwriting approach has only grown from there. Truth Beyond... is probably my favorite album of theirs, being quite punishing and also quite memorable and catchy. I think if more technical death metal bands from this era could capture this kind of quality without getting lost in a sea of mostly unrelated riffs, we would all be better for it.

Slayer - Aggressive Perfector

Happy birthday deathstorm. Reporting back on the Hadal Maw/ Black Rheno Barwon Club show: I return to the forums with a small collection of new merch and a neck, sore from headbanging. Was an extremely enjoyable show overall with generally tight, entertaining performances with quality mixing throughout the night. Disappointing there weren't more people there to see it and due to a lack of people, atmosphere was not the most lively. I situated myself at the front of the crowd for most of the night, near the left hand (from audience perspective) side of the stage. I'd feel remiss not to give a brief overview of my experience with each band, shown below in order of performance. Fall and Resist: Quite a tight performance with solid energy and stage presence. Lead singer was charismatic with song introduction and jokes, songs being generally heavier than what little promotional material I had previously heard. Tone and balance was near perfect with all elements being distinguishable at all times. During the second song of the set, there was a sudden power blackout of unknown cause which the band recovered from quite well; opting to begin the song anew, which I believe to be the preferable option. Black Rheno: I heard someone say on the night (something along the lines of) "It's really good to see bands who really enjoy performing", and I think that really sums up what made theirs suck a fun set list to witness. The energy and stage presence of Black Rheno was amazing, I was really impressed with the vocalist and guitarists abilities to jump around the stage or walk like godzilla while still delivering a great performance. An impressively full sound for a band only consisting of three members (vocalist, guitarist, drummer) makes me question how a low-end fullness was achieved; I'm thinking possibly an octave harmoniser on the guitar but I wouldn't rule out a backing track (but I don't get how this would have worked as I didn't hear anything that would cue you to come in and didn't see earpeices on anyone. At some points I found it difficult to hear the singer and the guitar a little unclear and muddy, but I think this may be due to me being overly close to one of the speakers. Hadal Maw: I'm not sure what I was expecting but I think my expectations were surpassed. The atmosphere and spectacle of the group providing excellent visual and auditory respective vistas. I really like their latest album, but the songs had a much better flow and power to them live with the vocal work really popping out to attack the listener. The musicianship was admirable in all of the members, the dynamics of the songs really coming to life. A thing that I found interesting was a guitar sound in solo (or is it a riff?) of the song "Affluenza", that I previously was unsure of how it was made (thinking like myself, I though it was sweeps) that upon examination turned out to be some pretty cool tapping. An unexpected bonus was the captivating theatrics of the lead singer, it really fitted in well with the music in a way that made the performance as a whole more interesting to look at. Nemesium: Being from Geelong, this is a band that I should really keep my eye on. Liking the promotional material that I hear beforehand, I was pretty impressed with the songs they played from the unrealeased upcoming album. They were fast and aggressive while still meticulously tight, lead pars and solos landing perfectly on each note. The high vocals were a lot more ferocious in person than anything of them I'd previously heard. I think I may have become somewhat tired by this time in the night so some of this performance was likely lost on me. Also, when I asked the guy who was selling their merch if they have any of their EPs left, they only one they had one left and he just told me to take it. Gotta love that, I'll probably buy one of their shirts if I manage to see them support King. Overall a great night, but I can't help but thinking that with the small quantity of people that turned up (clearly less than 100 people including band members, staff etc.) that this must have been a loss of money and a little disappointing for the bands.

Yeah, True Belief turned me down like a virgin at a prom after-party about going, so if you were here we could go, praise heavy metal and argue over about how At the Gates and Sentenced finally got good around 1995.... What's there to argue? Both bands died in a fire around that time, and we're never heard from again... 😎 Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

Nokturnal Mortum - To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire

Burzum - Filosofem

Sodom - In Retribution

POPOV VODKA MOLOTOV BAGELS AND KALASHNIKOVS REQUIEM BLOWN AWAY WHAT ELSE DO I HAVE TO SAY ...dammit, I don't want this song in my head.

I'm actually pretty interested in hearing the new Eluvietie - thanks for the recommendation. I'm a bit nervous about Anna Murphy not being there anymore, but to be honest I sort of lost a little interest in the band even when she was there, so this could be a good move. The lyrics in Gaulish sound cool. Amazing they'll still be speaking Gaulish far into the future. What turned/turns me off are the over the top visuals and theatrics. They used to be the real deal but now they feel like a B grade Dimmu Borgir. The music is certainly amazing though and I do love those Watain albums, including this one. For some reason I actually have two copies of 'The Wild Hunt' - a regular jewel case and a special box sort of edition. I think I ordered one of them by accident during a night of drunken revels. Don't blame him. He didn't start the fire, it was always burning...

Some korn eluveitie epona love this song nice acoustic track hey requiem the new eluveitie is pretty good the lyrics are in Gaulish which is ancient Celtic language spoken between four million Bc to 4 million ad

FA's 1995 Top Ten What a year to rate. So many great albums that had a huge influence on my own development as a musician; most of these are old friends. I may have missed several, lists like this don't form themselves in my head with any ease. If I had to pick a year for Requiem's "favorite year" thread, it would likely be 1995. (These aren't ranked or in any particular order.) Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve: still my favorite statement from this unique and influential band, with varied textures and careful songwriting that's miles ahead of their debut. They would go on to become more intense and technically accomplished, but also more homogenized; this album pulled very different threads together with a focus they'd never quite match again. Suffocation - Pierced From Within: I've gushed about this album in other lists. Still my favorite Suffo, and a personal gold standard for hard-hitting brutal/tech DM from before the modern iterations of the genre. Musically engaging and sonically crushing. Opeth - Orchid: the sound of a young band with lots of ideas and energy. Disparate parts articulate awkwardly here, more of a patchwork quilt than a tapestry, but the overall vibe remains cohesive - momentous dynamic shifts, graceful melodies, passionately aggressive vocals, and plenty of creative weirdness. I've found the learning curve rewarding. Sometimes I go for years without listening to it, but this album has kept recapturing my interest over more than two decades. Dark Tranquillity - The Gallery: the crown jewel of Gothenburg melodic death metal in my opinion, along with ATG's debut. Great sound, awesome riffs, and ripping vocals. This album isn't flawless - the clean vocals in particular really suck IMO - but this is another album with a unique sense of melody, and a willingness to explore each song for its own worth, a quality that I sorely miss in their later material. Death - Symbolic: maybe the most "accessible" of their albums, and not as aggressive as their earlier stuff, this is still a prog-death masterpiece full of memorable songs with kickass riffs and excellent musicianship. The second Death album to really click for me, and an essential part of their story. Ulver - Bergtatt: what can I say about this album that hasn't already been said in other lists? Riffs, atmosphere, trees and mountains and wolves and stuff... But for all that, this album is made by the vocals. Haunting, sparse melodies that recall ancient chapels and moonlit campfires, alternating with an incredibly caustic black metal scream that remains one of my favorite harsh vocal sounds to this day. Naglfar - Vittra: the only Naglfar album I like. If I have a bone to pick with this album, it's that every song is pretty much based on the same chord progression. Nevertheless, it exemplifies a lot of what I love about melodic black metal, with consistent atmosphere, thoughtful melodies, and yet another classic vocal performance. It was hugely influential to me as a teenager and I've recently grown to love it all over again. My Dying Bride - The Angel And The Dark River: while I miss Aaron's inimitable death growl on this album, it's one of his better clean vocal outings - dark, rich, and emotive. Classic MDB riffs, tasty violin lines, and some truly beautiful sections in characteristically drawn-out, abstract songs. This one drags when I'm not in the mood, but when I am, it's perfect. Deicide - Once Upon The Cross: at one point my favorite Deicide album, and among my favorite death metal albums, this one brought home DM's potential for truly frightening impact on my teenage brain. These days I find it a little stale, and prefer the chaos of Legion, but there's no denying the power in Benton's voice here, or the infectious nature of some of the classic tracks. Fear Factory - Demanufacture: grandfathered in for its massive importance to me when I was younger. I have several criticisms of this album, and I probably listen to it once every three years anymore, but why focus on the negative? Nothing will take away my memories of countless repeats on car trips or lonely evenings, when it seemed like the perfect combination of polished songwriting and youthful rebellion. This album primed me to enjoy the combination of harsh and clean vocals that features prominently on many of my favorite recordings, and in that way it helped lay the groundwork for my own interest in songwriting. ____ Honorable mentions: Sinister - Hate: my favorite Sinister, they weren't a huge influence on me but I dig the shit out of this album. Anathema - The Silent Enigma: hated to bump this one down, but truth be told I haven't listened to it all the way through in years. Still a beautiful, haunting death-doom masterpiece, Anathema's best album and their last good one IMO. The Abyss - The Other Side: actually my introduction to black metal, when I heard "Marutukku" as a promo track on a sampler. Appropriately evil-sounding, with some really cool moments here and there. Not mind-blowing, but still fun when I put it on. Disaffected - Vast: very interesting prog death, this one's right up my alley lately. Give it more time to grow on me and it may change places with something in the top ten. Infernal Torment - Man's True Nature: another somewhat recent discovery for me, this album goes hard. Brutal, somewhat raw DM with goddamn angry vocals. Septic Flesh - Esoptron: not quite the atmosphere that they nailed on the debut, but this combination of doomy, symphonic DM and goth rock is still unique and enjoyable. Rammstein - Herzeleid: almost a top ten contender. I have to admit that I love these guys, as formulaic and shallow as they are, and although it's been a couple years since I really hammered on them, this album has gotten a ton of play throughout the years. Till's voice is one of my favorites. Doesn't hurt that my son likes them a lot. Unanimated - Ancient God Of Evil: predictable, and firmly within the bounds of "Swedish melodic DM", this was still a fun and mature step up from the previous album, without the spirit of exploration that characterizes my favorites of this scene, but also without the missteps and shark-jumping that would kill it for me within a few short years. Wicked Innocence - Omnipotence: what an idiosyncratic and catchy album. This is another one that may work its way into the top ten someday. Hieronymus Bosch - The Human Abstract: another hidden gem of entertaining prog death, which I'm only getting into somewhat recently. Alice In Chains - s/t: maybe a step down from the brilliance of Dirt, with a bit too much self-indulgent dead weight, but still has some real standouts, and it's Layne's second to last recording with them, his final appearance being the harrowingly inconsistent but genuine MTV Unplugged recording. Swans - The Great Annihilator: not in my top ten here because it's not metal. One of Swans' more sonically consistent and approachable releases. Some beautiful sounds from the tail end of their "goth" phase, with chill songs like Killing For Company sharing space with the insistent energy of I Am The Sun and Mind/Body/Light/Sound. I miss the anger of their earliest material and the gorgeous peaks of the best songs on their early 90s albums, but this one has a ton of replay value.

Ahh ok should be interesting.. Type O - My Girlfriends Girlfriend Darkthrone - Under a Funeral Moon

Fen - Winter

Burzum - Det Som Engang Var

Carcass - Necroticism....

Honestly what we're dealing with here is "black metal for people who don't like black metal". It's got the hipster quotient of Zeal & Ardor and Deafheaven. Some fans of this stuff take umbrage at the "legitimacy" argument. IMO they should be looking at the marketing decision to try and ram this stuff through as "the new face of black metal" rather than getting upset with the fans who don't swallow it. I don't think the problem is so much that it's adulterated beyond recognition, it's that the black metal elements themselves are rootless and generic. I don't even hear any untapped potential aside from the vocals. Ultimately the legitimacy argument has nothing more to do with the music than the misogynistic bullshit does. Some of that's very real, and it fucking sucks that this woman has had to deal with sexist vitriol over her music, but none of that makes this stuff good black metal, and if I wanted to listen to the folk stuff, I'd put on Trio Mediaeval's "Folk Songs".

Today is my last day of work before a Vegas vacation for the next week. It will be nice to have some time off, even if it is in that sweltering desert shithole. I'll hit some record stores and get some good grub while I'm there, but I'll probably just be hanging out by the pool with the kids for the most part. Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

Last few: Dark Angel - Darkness Descends Nocturnus - The Key Enslaved - Blodhemn Bolt Thrower - War Master Nokturnal Mortum - Lunar Poetry Nokturnal Mortum - Goat Horns Nokturnal Mortum - To the Gates of Blasphemous Fire Nokturnal Mortum - NeChrist Destruction - Release From Agony Nominon - Remnants of a Diabolical History Sent from my HTC6535LVW using Tapatalk

Today is a great day my eye is doing better got great support from my buddies on here

I'm feeling better my light sensitive l is getting it looks like everything is getting back to normal

Metal reading in the shade of the garden. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk Necromancer staying out of the sun. Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I hope this is mostly finished. I need to get to other things. I may touch up some bits here and there, but I'm happy with how it came out.

Whitesnake- 1987. Warrant - Cherry Pie Marduk- Frontschwein Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

For true kvlt tone you need to use the Burzum method. Find the smallest amp possible and use a headset as a mic.