Requiem

I got into these guys back when they started up in the aftermath of Emperor. I was (and remain) a huge fan of Trym's drumming and was really interested in Zyklon. I actually really like most of 'World ov Worms' but I find 'Aeon' to be a little bland for my tastes. When 'World ov Worms' came out, gosh, 16 years ago or whatever, I used to play it a lot. I too need to drag these out and dust them off. I doubt I'll get much more out of them now than I did then but they're there and I should listen to them occasionally.

I don't know much about the A team. I'll go with Murdoch I guess. Is he alright? Also I had to lol at the suggestion that partying on Ed Force 1 was comparable to a Delta flight. Either Delta has come up in the world or Captain Bruce has clamped down on anti-social cabin activities. Would you rather go out for dinner tonight and have Japanese or French?

So you fancy yourself as a bit of an artist do you? The truth is I'm a pretty fast runner and an absolutely terrible drawer. I'd easily be the worst drawer on this forum I reckon, although with practice I could be ok. I'm glad you gave my options a decent airing there. The Ozzy question was definitely loaded as I think a convo with Bill and Geezer would be much more revealing and interesting. Also I can't believe you remembered my Mona Lisa post hahaha. Also also I was hoping you wouldn't get to answer the drawing question as I'd have to throw the towel in before we even got the canvases out... Whitewater rafting for sure. Easier and I like rivers. Camp in a tent in beautiful wilderness or stay in a five star hotel in a great city?

I'm watching the Tour de France, as I do most nights while it's on. We have really good coverage here in Australia. I'm not the hugest cycling fan, but I'm a massive France fan. The landscapes, villages and chateau are stunning, and I love it how the cameras show almost more of that than the actual race, with the commentators talking about it all too. Great stuff.

Various Primordial songs. I'm seeing them tomorrow and forgot that I need to brush up on their repertoire. They don't really do it for me on disk but I know that live they are great and I'm really looking forward to it.

Do you mean to catch one or to be one? Either way I'm going with Great White. Would you rather challenge me to a running race or a drawing competition?

Requiem's Top Ten Self-Titled Albums This was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be as I couldn't think of any damn self-titled albums. 10. Wintersun (2004) History has proven these court jesters to be entertaining in more ways than one, but there's no denying this is a cracker album. Jari's first musical release after parting from Ensiferum, this album has become something of a classic amongst some people and remained their only release until 'Chinese Dem'- sorry, 'Time 1' many years later. I have no idea how they reached festival headlining status based on this, but there you go. 9. Thyrfing (1998) The debut album from these Swedish vikings is their most organic work before they polish things up later on. This is a great viking metal album with just enough melody to keep the oars moving without any of the syrupy sweetness of some of their peers. Features one of my all time favourite vocalists in Thomas Vaananen. 8. Bathory (1984) Hard to argue with this little satanic nugget. For me it's the first 'proper' black metal album, and there's just such a great atmosphere going on here. It's pure, it's dark and its meaningful. 7. Skid Row (1989) One of the all time great rock albums. 'Big Guns', '18 and Life', 'Youth Gone Wild'. Sebastian Bach's vocals are out of this world, with his ego soon to follow... 6. Borknagar (1996) I had to double-check the date for this one because it really feels a lot older. This is the band's most viking/pagan sounding release and it lacks the progressive bells and whistles of their later incarnations. This is an amazing album and harkens back to the idea of art rather than career. All song titles are in Norwegian, Garm is on vocals, Ivar Bjornson from Enslaved is on keyboards and Infernus from Gorgoroth plays the bass in a black metal supergroup. 5. Whitesnake (1987) More commonly known by the year of its release, I'm in love with this Coverdale/Sykes masterpiece. 'Still of the Night', 'Is this Love' (yes it is, Dave), 'Cryin in the Rain', it's just hit after hit of 80s rock perfection with a once in a lifetime production. 4. Theatre of Tragedy (1995) The debut from these Norwegian gothic metallers, this is where the world first heard the divine Liv Kristine and Raymond's Elizabethan theatrics. It's a touch rougher than their masterpieces to follow, but this is a fantastic album and really does feel like one's listening to music from the past. Look, I'm one step away from wearing frilly white shirts and lighting candles. I've come to peace with this. 3. Black Sabbath (1970) The classic debut that arguably started this genre called metal, it's not quite the masterpiece that everyone makes out as far as I'm concerned, but there's no denying its weighty awesomeness. Obviously the title track is a goddamn masterpiece, while 'N.I.B' (as if it doesn't stand for Nativity in Black...), and 'Behind the Wall of Sleep' (title has always reminded me of the Lovecraft story 'Beyond the Wall of Sleep') are Sabbath classics. One of the greatest album covers too. A true part of history that defies mere music. 2. Burzum (1992) So many great Norwegian releases making an appearance on this list. They love a good self-titled album, the Norwegians. This is black metal head and shoulders above most others, with a tracklist that reads like a second wave best of. Varg before he lost his way from the dark path to the crazy path. 1. Paradise Lost (2005) This is a brilliant album and I'll tell you why. It sits right at the crossroads of the band between the 'Host' era beeps and squeaks and the heavy form of the band that bookends their career so far. This album here is heavy-ish, yet has an almost pop sense of melody throughout it with a near perfect production. It's just brilliant, and is one of my favourite Paradise Lost albums and comes in at the number 1 position for self-titled albums for Reqqers.

God Dethroned - 'The World Ablaze' This is great. Can't believe I never got into these guys before.

Lord BlutAusNerd and Major Requiem arrive at an English island resort in the 1930s with their families in tow. The vacation begins well with games of bridge and tennis, with cucumber sandwiches and gin and tonics being served on the lawn. During the evening both Lady BlutAusNerd and Mrs Requiem mysteriously leave the party for short moments of time, claiming they need to "powder their noses". After failing to come down at the breakfast bell the next morning, servants find both men dead in a room that has been locked from the inside! On the floor next to the bodies is a handwritten top ten note, a smashed laptop and a copy of Lords of Chaos with random passages underlined and circled. The faint smell of arsenic remains in the air. The wives have recently advertised significant heavy metal collections in Town and Country magazine, going cheap. Inspector Hercule Poirot, who happened to be staying at the same resort, is making enquiries...

The Children of Bodom melodeath controversy proved to be too much for the wives to handle and they snapped. Homicide detectives later reported that the wives "Couldn't take it anymore" and that they "didn't sign up for this foolishness". When a magistrate heard the details of the grisly murders, the wives were let off on the grounds of "self-defence against juvenile fanboydom". It is believed that extensive music collections owned by the deceased have been binned and pulped.

I'll check it out for sure. Thanks Deathy.

It's a maybe because I believe there is a distinction within common parlance between death metal with melodic aspects - like the examples FatherA employs - and 'melodeath'. The new God Dethroned album has aspects of death metal and also a lot of melody, so that's probably more likely to fit into the melodic death metal paradigm that you're touting, because it is actually death metal that is melodic. 'Melodeath' in 2017 is a much broader church and I think even the name 'melodeath' has come to mean more than just death metal with a few melodies here and there. Interesting, wikipedia states that Bodom are melodic death metal/power metal/thrash metal, which bespeaks of their multiplicity and cross-genre straddling. I'm not going to sit here on the internet and argue about which genre Children of Bodom fall into. But what I'm saying is that I can certainly see why Bodom are often shucked under the aegis of 'melodeath' in casual conversation. That you personally have the breadth of interests to listen to old school death metal and early Children of Bodom probably puts you in the minority, and thus supports your view, because while I do believe 'melodeath' works for Bodom, even my nan - were she still alive god bless her mothballed heart - can tell that 'Follow the Reaper' doesn't have a lot in common with 'Effigy of the Forgotten'.

I only just saw this post for some reason. Yeah, maybe. There are definitely elements of power metal's songwriting approach in their music due to the guitar and keyboard theatrics, but Children of Bodom are ultimately more of a melodeath band when you throw the vocals into the mix - and I think we have to include the full package. The full package in my hands. If they had a falsetto power metal vocalist then I'd have no qualms calling them straight power metal. Maybe we can split the difference and call them melopower. You're gonna hate this BAN, (and FatherA, Relentless - well, basically all the bullshit hating/old skool loving regulars) but this is for those who voted melodeath over thrash. Check out the last half of this track off their latest album 'I Worship Chaos'. The Wildchild downtuned the guitars! Put on the black nail polish, down a bottle of Jack, get your bros together for some gang vocals, and pump this track up:

Lemon lime and bitters with ice. I mixed it too strong though and it packs a bit of a hit. Was going to head out to the pub but by the time we got everything organised (zombie children and chores of damnation and destruction) it was too late. Maybe tomorrow night. Requiem wants to stretch his batwings.

By the sound of it I think our wives really would get on very well.

I own this album and remember finding it a little slow and uneventful. I haven't heard it in years, so I'll be sure to dig it out again and join you in aural communion. Often I find 30 something Requiem enjoying things that 20 something Requiem found anathema and that teen Requiem would have set fire to. NP: God Dethroned - 'The World Ablaze'. Yet another act that True Belief got me into.

There's really not much time for checking out nu bands with so many great established bands putting out albums this year. By the time I've gone around and picked them all up the year's ended and we're on to 2018!

It's so amazing, isn't it. I don't know how you feel about Anathema's 'Serenades' album, but for me 'Turn Loose the Swans' and 'Serenades' just go so well together. Like steak and red wine. They both have a stunning blend of heavy doom/death with moments of fragile beauty. What a great year 1993 was.

It doesn't impact the degree to which I enjoy the music, but it does impact my appreciation for the full package in my hands. I like a good weighty package in my hands...

You're probably right about this, but I tend to hang on to things until the grim end. I remember at school I used to swap tapes/CDs all the time and sometimes live to regret it while my friend kept all of his had no regrets. Where do you guys purge your CDs/vinyl anyway? I figure I could make maybe $3 each for a CD at a second hand store or just keep it in my collection and wait for it to click in a few decades time. If I brought home a haul like that Mrs Requiem would burst a blood vessel or two. How does Mrs Nerd take it?

In many ways the Sear Me triptych is their best work. The original is a great, if a little primitive, and 'Sear Me 93' and 'Sear Me 3' are just haunting meisterwerks. MDB should put out an EP with all three tracks on it, but I'm afraid they would try to do a fourth and fail miserably, thus diminishing the whole.

Hauls this large are hugely exciting and I must admit I salivated a little, even if I don't know who a couple of these bands are. It's going to take you a while to get to know these bad boys.

It has the lyrics (on close to blank backdrops) and basic production notes, but precious little else. I was sort of hoping for a deeper exploration of the front cover idea. I think it really deserves it. There are no other visuals to speak of apart from a bizarrely poor semi-close up of the band looking like goons. The whole thing looks a bit 'high school art project' (except for the awesome cover). This is a pretty personal gripe, I know, but these days you really have to deliver for the person who shells out their dosh something worth paying for (like the package for 'A Map...' for instance, which is great. Even though I don't personally love that cover at least there is a whole delicious booklet of images and ideas that go with it). Maybe it's a specific statement/attitude from the band that I'm missing in some way. It's just caught in a no-mans-land of good cover, demo quality everything else.

I'm posting so much that I now no longer actually speak to my wife, I simply write a message on a sticky note and post it on the fridge. If she wants to answer she has to pin one up underneath it. This evening I wrote a Requiem's Top 10 Dinner Table Comments post in descending order from 'How are you?' down to 'Pass the salt', each with a short description of my thoughts. My wife commented that she prefers my earlier material and can't get into my gothic phase.

So I come back to this forum 7 hours after my last post to find that it's still the most recent post! Where's that somerandomguy guy when you need him?