Requiem

Bathory - 'Bathory'

The Countess, the blonde vampiria and I are in the Castle, keeping the drawbridge up and the moat filled with crocodiles. I've actually learned the vampire children's names, and tomorrow I'm hoping to tell them apart. This virus is bringing us closer... I called the local council today to come quickly as there was a wolf on the property, only to find out it was the family dog which we've had for ten years.... So I'm learning lots of new things.

Insomnium - ‘Heart Like a Grave’ ’Mute is my Sorrow’ is the only real song worth listening to, but oh what a song.

I like Carpathian Forest and own the grand 'Through Chasm Caves and Titan Woods' and the dark and disturbing 'Strange Old Brew'. Great titles by the way. Overall, though, they haven't really grabbed me and held my attention over the years and I don't often play them these days. Maybe I should revisit them a bit more. As far as the rest of their catalogue is concerned, there could be some gems out there, but nothing on the two releases that I own has really prompted me to get out there and complete the collection.

Love the Roxette, Whitesnake and Alice Cooper tunes. Good call on the new Paradise Lost track - you know my thoughts. I'm NP Tormentor - 'Anno Domini' from 1988. I've always loved 'Elizabeth Bathory' of course, but damn if the rest of the demo isn't amazing too. This is a great first wave release and I realise that I won't rest until I have it in my sinful wandering hands.

Looks like they'll need a few more tests when I'm done with them. Also, I just texted you a selfie. Enjoy.

Anathema - 'The Silent Enigma' I feel 15 again.

My Dying Bride - 'The Ghost of Orion' CD version finally arrived in the, but have been listening to it for a while on digital. I really like it. Not quite sure how much yet, but I like it a lot more than the last few previous albums. Worth a chat in the MDB thread.

in response to Coronavirus, Castle Requiem has closed the castle gates and raised the drawbridge. All nubile and buxom wenches have been brought into the enclosure for their own safety and my own gratification.

I've given up on Alice in Chains and didn't buy 'Rainier Fog', which is the only release of theirs that I don't have. Even 'Black...' and 'Dinosaurs...' were just so flat and uninspiring, sort of like the self-titled album with Layne. Huge fan of 'Dirt' - one of the great rock albums - as well as 'Jar of Flies'. The debut is a bit unexciting. Actually I used to walk around with a 'Dirt' shirt back in the mid-90s. I thought I was the shit. NP: Marduk - 'Dark Endless' Pretty ordinary death metal album with some minor pretensions to blackness. This is definitely a 'sometimes food'.

Ah sociology. Thousands of dollars/pounds spent on surveying people's reasons for being into metal or 'insert your interest here'. All a useful contribution to the sum total of human understanding, no doubt, but wow what an open book universities are these days. You pays your money and you takes your choice, or whatever that saying is... Good luck on it though. Pardon my teasing.

Oh yeah, I can sort of see what you mean. That's how he looked in the 90s.

Yeah, well it's just an official release of the bootleg hahaha. I'd never heard it before and don't think I'd come across it. Now that I have it I've also come across it.... So much Mayhem material. The most scandalous thing about this band is that they recorded so much rehearsal/live material when just starting out. Not to mention more photos than True Belief's mom's facebook page. It's an industry!

Alright, I bought the DVD, watched it, and here's my take. Firstly, the actual quality of the filmmaking is really good. It looks fantastic, real, and isn't fake or corny in any way, which was one of my fears. As an actual movie, it's really well done. I'm so pleased that it turned out that way. But I have some serious misgivings. Here they are. Firstly, while Rory Culkin was a pretty good Euronymous, despite his googly eyes, I just hated the way that Euro was portrayed. He was weak, uncertain, doubtful and clutching at other people's achievements. There may be a truth to this, but I didn't feel that we had a sense of the massive impact that this guy had, through his letter writing, and more than anything his songwriting. Yes he was human like the rest of us, but his musical vision was squandered in this movie - it was as if he just happened to be floating through events. This is the guy who sat down with his guitar and wrote 'Freezing Moon', 'Deathcrush' and 'Life Eternal'. The man is a musical genius, and this didn't come across at all. I think it would have been nice if they spent just a couple of minutes worth of screen time showing this side of him. That something really magical was coming out of his guitar and his vision. Another thing that bothered me was the use of humour. Yes, black metal is funny as hell, but not in the way it was shown in the movie, with people tripping over things and generally being awkward. A movie like this definitely needs its comedic relief, otherwise it's just too heavy, but it didn't work. Snorre Ruch was a presented as a mentally disabled clown, and maybe he actually is (doubt it), but it came off pretty bad for the guy.. Varg was ok but just lacked any real sense of danger that the actual Varg has and he was too chubby by half. And the Kristian/Varg name joke just went on and on. Maybe Varg was overly insistent that people called him by that name, but surely they wouldn't have kept forgetting this. Metalion looked amazingly like the real Metalion, with that fat kid playing him. It looked just like the photos, quite incredible. Faust also looked like Faust. It would have been good to have a bit more dialogue with these guys though, as Faust just watched some horror movies and then stabby stabby. Why'd you do it Faust? Horror movies. Speaking of which, I found it really hard to watch Euronymous's murder scene. Whereas the Dead suicide scene was pretty traumatic, at least he had control over the situation, and yes it was hard to watch, but also very fascinating and engaging. When Varg started stabbing Euro I started to feel really sick, and it was appalling to watch. Seeing a guy get stabbed a heap of times isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. And when Euro is pleading for his life and saying "I'm all talk", it just sucked. He wasn't all talk - he might have said it to try to save his life - but the whole movie suggested he was all talk, so his life felt so deflating and pointless. And I'll finish with the lack of musical composition. Right now I'm listening to 'Filosofem', and it's amazing. All the music from that period was amazing. Faust playing on 'Nightside', Euro on 'De Mysteriis', the Darkthrone guys (where were they?). Where was Samoth who burnt a church with Varg? I wanted to see these guys. Great ending though with Euro saying "What have you done lately" or whatever he says. Just a brilliant moment. But damn, what a hard movie to watch. Not sure I'll watch it again. And what ever happened to @jonnybagofdonuts? He signs up to the forum, loads up a profile pic, and posts a single link about an interview in a single post, never to be heard of again. What fucked up mystery is behind this I wonder. God bless you Jonny, wherever you are.

Live black metal holocaust tonight. Earth Rot are headlining with Christ Dismembered as main support. I'm not in the mood as it's been a big weekend already, but I'm prepared to give it one last shake and the last bus leaves in 20 minutes. Hail and kill.