Requiem

A few of the latest arrivals: Mercyful Fate - 'Don't Break the Oath' Got the 2020 Metal Blade vinyl replica release. It's a beautiful package. Satanic Warmaster - 'Opferblut' Been meaning to pick this up for ages, so finally pulled the trigger. Atmospheric, unpretentious, yet emotional and moving. Emyn Muil - 'Elenion Ancalima' A flat out rip-off of Summoning, but enjoyable nonetheless. It's Summoning basically. Panopticon - 'Roads to the North' Everyone has been raving about this band, so I bought this without having heard them. What a cool album. Kind of hipster black metal mixed with bluegrass Kentucky music. Amazing one man band musicianship. I feel very inferior listening to this. Gehenna - 'First Spell' This is the 2014 re-release with no fewer than 10 bonus tracks in the form of demos etc. I just need this for the collection more than any great urge to listen to Gehenna's keyboard heavy black metal.

The only thing that I can remember drinking in Denmark (which essentially means my memory is faulty, because I would have consumed all sorts of brews) is warm mulled wine at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen. For an Australian, walking around in that fantasy land was quite an experience and the drinks were so good. I haven't had a cider in ages, but it could be time to freshen up with one in the coming days. Too much beer in one night becomes really cloying and dry on the palate I'm finding in my old age. Some cider is just what I need.

Here's a really good lyric video with a nice approach, although it's still very 'flicky'. I love the idea that the lyrics are being typed out on an old typewriter, as if a story is being written - which it more or less is. Our focus is being directed to the lyrics, but I think in this case it works because the lyrics are important to the tune. Also, I tend not to enjoy music videos at all as I find them too distracting from the song - hence I think I don't like Behemoth until I actually listen to 'The Satanist' without any videos whatsoever and I realise that it's a pretty happening album! Here's an example of a video that works really well for me as it reminds me of my trip through Norway but also because it's got that real rock n roll freedom vibe:

You haven't seen your parents in a couple of years? Wow, that's tough. Nearly as tough as a 13 hour car trip with a child...! My father turns 70 tomorrow so we're heading down to see him and mum (2.5 hours in the car). Three nights is our (my) patience limit there though, then we're getting out of Dodge... Looks like I'll have a few nights to myself next week, which I'm also looking forward to.

Ex Deo - 'Caligvla' Wonderful Roman Metal album. Hail the Emperors of us All!

Nearly finished 'The Two Towers'. I read Tolkien and listen to Northern Silence Productions Tolkien album exclusively.

Paradise Lost - 'Obsidian' First three tracks are amazing. The rest is also very good.

Those first two Turisas albums are so good, especially 'The Varangian Way', which I think is one of the great epic albums of metal. It doesn't get talked about all that much anymore, but I remember they were the darlings of metal magazines back in the day, mostly due to their red and black painted image. I saw them live in 2008 and they were just amazing. It's sort of sad the direction that they ended up taking, becoming more goofy and esoteric.

Shortly after posting this someone from Missouri tried to hack my account three times apparently. Jari's mafia henchmen? Fuck off cowardly criminal scum. I guess it's not that Jari or anyone wants to make money from music. Money is great - who wouldn't want to? It's just that it's all a bit shady - the concept of needing enough fan donated money to actually purchase land and build a studio with residential/sauna/living areas or else Wintersun can't make their albums properly is what sticks in people's craw. As a business idea, building your own studio/house is a pretty good one - taking subscriptions to build things. It was a popular approach in the 19th century for buildings, churches, clubs etc. But it's the strange excuses and justifications, added to the hilarity of the 'Time' albums' delay, that makes the whole thing strange. For instance, Jari hit back at critics who asked where the first $700k had been spent, by telling them that when they buy a can of coke they don't demand to know where the Coca Cola company spends that money. Strange, false dichotomies like that...

Ok, but they're just 'card sleeves' without the actual booklets and liner notes, right? I only ask because I really want 'Once Upon the Cross' but don't really want a simple paper card sleeve.

Can Bardd - 'The Last Rain' Absolutely amazing epic black metal. Track 2, 'Celestial Horizon' is one of the greatest epic songs I've ever heard. Give it a a chance and think of Tolkien.

What's in the box set exactly?

Graveland - 'Memory and Destiny' One of the dreamiest albums in the viking/pagan genre; a journey back in time, when heroes were heroes and seas were made to be sailed upon. The sound effects of the waves and the "Odin" arrow shooting sample from '13th Warrior' are delicious additions.

Well, I'm not sure if anyone here has seen this yet, but the Wintersun crowdfunding saga is far from over. A few years ago Wintersun ran a crowdfunding campaign which raised about $524,000US, for the express purpose of building an entirely new studio with sleeping quaters and all of the frills. Obviously, this raised a few eyebrows at the time, as Jari was claiming that he can't make the Wintersun albums he wants without a proper studio. Anyway, apparently we were wrong about the plan, because now the story goes that they can't build the studio yet, and that they've always had a plan to run three (3) different crowdfunding campaigns. I've just checked the original video, and yes, they did claim that they were going to do three campaigns until they made 750,000 euros! And yes, they've now started a Patreon page as well, with a monthly subscription fee to watch live videos and behind the scenes footage. https://vimeo.com/407298479/ddff87cefc? ... &utm_term= No new album. No new nothing. Just another crowdfunding campaign and now a patreon page. This is just too funny. The whole saga was a joke back when 'Time 2' was supposed to be out fifteen years ago, and it never eventuated. Notice in the vimeo video that it's stated that the first crowdfunding campaign allowed 'The Forest Seasons' to be recorded and released. "Thanks to your huge support we released 'The Four Seasons' album". I double-checked the footage. Well, the fact is that 'The Forest Seasons' was already recorded and it was released initially to those who contributed to the campaign as a thank you! It wasn't recorded with the funds the campaign raised. The original crowdfunding price was 50 euros, with 'The Forest Seasons' being the big drawcard, then they went ahead and released it on CD anyway for about fifteen bucks hahaha. Apparently all they've been able to do is set up a temporary studio, which "part" of the first campaign contributed to. Where did the rest of the cash go? Yet they say in their original video that with heaps of cash they could make all their albums faster. Well, nothing has been released since 'The Forest Seasons' back in 2017, and yet they made over half a million US dollars. Here's the original crowdfunding info: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/wintersun-crowdfunding--3#/ Just an incredible, embarrassing, scenario, although it's reminded me about how good 'The Forest Seasons' actually is, and I'm now blasting it. Great album, and great band. Just sad to see them morph into this sad used-car marketing entity.

It's Saturday night and I'm ready for anything. 1. Woods of Ypres - 'Suicide Cargoload' 2. Sirenia - 'Blue Colleen' 3. My Dying Bride - 'Base Level Erotica' (yes, what a classic. One of the great erotic songs of all time) 4. Saor - 'Autumn Rain' (now I can't go on, I'm too emotional and destroyed!) 5. Moonsorrow - 'Raunioilla' (I'm on a great run here. Hope it continues) 6. Marduk - 'Castrum Doloris' (yes, it's continuing) 7. Anathema - 'Shroud of Frost' (amazing) 8. Darkthrone - 'Inn I De Dype Skogens Fabn' 9. Paradise Lost - 'Shades of God' from Draconian Times (Holly shit what a run!) 10. Taake - Inntrenger' (two Norwegian songs with the word 'Inn' in them. Google translate tells me it just means 'In'. So there you go) Great run of ten songs there. Holy hell. Classics all.