Requiem

Make that three incredibly good records. Yes, the first two are untouchable, but 'Subhuman Race' is an underrated classic. Tracks like 'My Enemy', 'Frozen' and 'Eileen' are anthems. Seb Bach is touring Australia later in the year and Belief and I are going. I actually quite like his solo albums too.

Firstly, thanks for your question. It's basically a type of tomato based pasta sauce. I doubt it has anything specifically to do with Naples and is more likely an Australian misnomer.

I can't imagine the difficulty or running a print magazine in this day and age. Actually getting people to pay money for the written word that can easily be found online. The terrible pain in the ass it would be to go to the trouble of producing a quality magazine only for people to not buy it. At least back in the day all the hassle would have been worth it for the fans' enthusiasm and buy-in, like you were adding to their lives. Journalists like Mick Wall were practically celebrities (with the egos to match), getting flown intercontinentally to cover bands and events. Hard to imagine now. If anything I would have thought Classic Rock would outlast most others because its older readership might appreciate the tactile nature of a magazine more than nowadays kids. I guess everyone is too busy making their one-man bedroom black metal project and posting it on forums to read mags. I'm actually reading 'Fargo Rock City' by Chuck Klosterman at the moment so I have heightened awareness of old skool ways of thinking about music. Amazing book if you haven't read it.

Chicken schnitzel with Napoli sauce, bacon, cheese, avocado and hollandaise sauce with chips and salad, two glasses of Cabernet merlot, followed by chocolate cake with whipped cream.

I think the promo section definitely has a place, and I certainly dont want this site to become the online equivalent of Mexico City population-wise. But when more people have projects than want to talk about projects then we have reached critical mass as a genre. I think I'm using 'critical mass' correctly here but I may be confusing the term. Anyway it just struck me as funny and not a little tragic.

Nordic Metal Tribute to Euronymous We are down on the peninsula and, after losing my will to live spending 45 minutes trying to get my youngest vampire to stay in her coffin, I went for a walk around the dark tree-lined streets under a full moon listening to this majestic compilation, the perfume of the ocean and woodsmoke in the chill winter breeze and a myriad stars painting the welkin with unfathomless triumph. Now I feel my soul restored and renewed with the black energy of the woods and wind. Hail Euronymous. Hail the winter full moon.

Due to nekrotic undead qualities of frostbitten grimness, True Belief and Requiem's images can only be captured via ghost hunting equipment exclusively. Breaking news: An innocent dinner party ouija board game ended in disaster in the neighbourhood of the infamous Castle Requiem last night. A witness at the conservative Christian soirée reported that the board suddenly spelled out TRUEBELIEF before bursting into flames, destroying a whole suburban block. Another witness claimed to hear 'Operation Mindcrime' playing faintly in the distance against the sound of the flames.

Doomsday at Castle Requiem.

That was a great night.

You love this album, don't you. It's a great debut. It really stands the test of time. NP Whitesnake - '1987'

Don't listen to any of these guys, C_Rams. What you want is the black metal look. See below: But not like this lame band below. They just don't seem to understand what corpse paint is about:

Cool, I hadn't realised that Deathy! I was wondering what they would be doing next. This is excellent news.

You're right. You know, it's funny because people always look back at magazines as being better when they were younger. I have a copy of Kerrang from 1989 and it's all the hair metal bands and Motley Crue etc. So it's always been about the in trends. Terrorizer have always been about the same level of 'underground'. They've always covered the popular bands as well as the little known ones - a quick glance at the magazine covers from the early days (I think they started in 1995) will show you that they've always been in touch with the big bands. When I was young though I didn't realise Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth were anything other than underground...

That's a tough one as I know virtually nothing of 1700s Japan. I'd want to be rich in both of those, as I don't think it'd be too great to live in these places poor. I'll go with 1600s England and just try to duck the civil war. Would you rather be a samurai or a viking?

Have fun! I hope the car you like drives faster than that other cars! I had heard, but I didn't watch it or anything like that. I really only keep half an eye on Geelong, and no eyes on the rest of the teams. Richmond is my second team though so I enjoy their wins. I promise I won't tease you too much when Port lose...

The songs are practically note for note, beat for beat the same as the originals. So one way to interpret it is to see that the band just want to re-release their glory years material a second time for people who have never heard the originals. But like all great songs the first time around, you can't recapture the magic. It's like changing peanut butter brands. It's still peanut butter, but something just isn't quite right...

'Square Hammer' and 'Cirice' are the reasons why I purchased 'Meliora'. Those two tracks are amazing ('Square Hammer' is on a bonus disk for some reason and not the main album which is annoying). They seem to have great songs hidden away in a lot of filler. It makes buying an album really hard. They do have some great songs though. Check out these two modern classics:

It's a great sentence and its meaning is loud and clear.

No one seems to blame Ozzy, not even Bob Daisley. I just think on some level he has to be held at least partly responsible for hiding away behind foolish behaviour and alcohol. Obviously he has a drinking problem that is beyond his personal control and I'm not going to be one of those people who says "Why don't you just drink less?", but at the same time, all the backstabbing that he let go on of his friends... It's like, damn Oz. I only say all this out of love for Ozzy Osbourne.

You're right, this is a platinum post! Amazing stuff. You're also right about my list leaning towards the end of the decade and the mega-sellers. I think this is because as a kid my musical consciousness only came about with the release of 'Dr Feelgood', 'Cherry Pie' and 'Slave to the Grind' (when I was 9, 10 and 11 respectively). The albums you've listed were all before my time and also flew under the radar in my limited knowledge of music at that time. Then as I grew up and my musical tastes expanded beyond hair metal into other genres I didn't have the compulsion to go back and explore these other bands. It's only now in my late 30s that I'm looking back and discovering what I've missed. True Belief helps with this too because he often talks about these bands and he's very persuasive as I guess everyone knows. Another winner from the Kollektor!

I count this as progress. At this rate, in 12 months you'll be getting a Popoff tattoo and opening the Martin Popoff museum in Panama City!

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked to keep my clothes on...

Opeth are a funny one for me. I like them but don't love them and hardly listen to them at all these days. But yes, Akerfeldt would be up there in a broader list. Certainly as far as his approach to songwriting and innovation in metal, he was at one time pretty extraordinary. I actually don't like him all that much as a guy though with his complaining on stage and lack of passion in his shows, and that impacts my choices. I know that sounds silly having never met him... As for Ivar, I just don't really rate him up there as a guitarist. I love him as a guy though. I love what he represents too: a bridge between modern society, the universe, and the northern European past.

Rotting Christ - 'Rituals' This album just slays everything around at the moment. I can't believe it.

Favourite bass players. I can't say I've given this much thought or every really sat around getting horny over the bass, but here are my picks: Bob Daisley - Ozzy Osbourne etc Peter Steele - Type O Negative Nikki Sixx - Motley Crue Steve Harris - Iron Maiden Geezer Butler - Black Sabbath Lemmy - Motorhead Duff McKagen - Guns n Roses Rudy Sarzo - Ozzy Osbourne