Requiem

Marduk - 'World Funeral' Cracking album: Morgan, B-War, Emil and Legion. Incredible line-up.

God Dethroned - 'Illuminati' The new GD album. I haven't been listening to these guys for years, so they're still a new entity to me. This is decent but I miss the war element a little bit. Not sure what prompted them to address the illuminati, which feels a bit 90s/X-Files to me. Brilliant album.

Ex Deo - 'Caligvia' Hail Roman metal. This album is just amazing. Listen to it exclusively.

Powerwolf - 'Best of the Blessed' Cracking Maiden based thin metal singalongs. Listen or die.

Lots of great songs on that album, if you break them down into individual tracks. That's what makes the album such a huge seller. Heaps of great tracks.

Never mind your children, how is your cat going? The Melbourne lockdown continues, unrelentingly, emphatically. Nothing really to report here except that metal is proving to be quite the balm against existential ills. Metal and wine, that is.

See, when I first heard 'Around the Fur' my friend had the first album already, which we'd played to death, and 'White Pony' didn't exist. But man, those first three Deftones albums were so amazing.

Sorry darling, here I am. You were always in my thoughts. Things are tight here in Melbourne. I really feel sorry for those stuck in tiny apartments.

'Around the Fur' is by far my favourite. It came out in my last year of high school, a girl whose dad owned the local music store gave me a copy for free, and we were all awkwardly mixing our nu metal with our Peaceville Three and Cradle of Filth. It's was certainly 'My Own Summer', that's for sure.... NP: My Dying Bride - 'The Ghost of Orion' (speaking of the Peaceville Three) Great album. Sounds great to listen to, engaging vocals and some very nice doomy riffs. Reminds me of 1997 almost...

Panopticon - 'Roads to the North' Incredible one-man-band performance. The more I listen to this the more I love it. Type O Negative - 'Bloody Kisses' (digipak edition). Perfect gothic metal.

We're all working from home here in Hellbourne, so I'm taking advantage and drinking cheap white wine with a couple of drops of blood red occasionally. Then I'll slowly log on around 8:40am half naked, bleary eyed and evil.

Jesus fucking Christ. Love it.

God Dethroned - 'Illuminati' Some great songs on here, but I didn't love it at first. But like a fine wine, it gets better the more bottles I drink of it quickly.

Saor - 'Aura' Hail epic Scottish black metal.

Paradise Lost - 'Obsidian' "This one way street you're on, is gonna get you killed"

Deicide - 'Legion' Let chaos reign for 29 minutes. Powerwolf - 'Best of the Blessed' The best of this catchy gothic power metal band. Open your werewolf hearts.

Back in 1995 I spent a bit of time in Pennsylvania. The brother of the girl I was staying with as part of a school trip was going to Penn State University. I went to a school in New Jersey for a couple of weeks, but I guess I was in the area. So one day we drove out to Penn State. It was the first time I ever ate at a Subway restaurant. They told me about a meatball sandwich, and of course in 1995 I had no idea what that was, so I went ahead and had one. It was obviously delicious. The other thing I remember was that the university football stadium was huge, and as a dumb kid from Australia I had a hard time understanding why they had such a huge stadium at a university. Also the Amish were driving their carts really slowly down the streets and I couldn't believe this was happening, as all the cars were nicely slowing down and just putting along behind them. I couldn't understand why they didn't have to get out of the way. Thanks for reminding me of old times.

Paradise Lost - 'Obsidian' 'Darker Thoughts' is a real classic. What a great song.

Wow, this is amazing. I've never heard of this band before, so thanks for posting! Also, thanks for liking the Who Dies in Siberian Slush post I made, because I just had a look and discovered that the link was broken. I've fixed it now. We'd all be dying in Siberian silence if I didn't ameliorate that catastrophe. There's a great guitar tone to Funeral Mourning. The guy is actually from Australia, so sort of from my neck of the woods.

Powerwolf - 'Best of the Blessed' Are the tracks juicy, catchy, fun and a bit gothic? Yes they are. Hallelujah!!!

So a regular post from you then. I've always loved the Serbs and their romantic sensibility. Lots of good christian women there, I hear tell.

Do either of us have time for unassuming music and artwork? Requiem listens to assuming music and views assuming artwork exclusively.

Came out the same day as the jewel case lame version, I believe. Choose your listening partners well, I always say. The digipak is the best version by far. Still Playing: Type O Negative - 'Bloody Kisses' Digipak tracklist version exclusively. I couldn't understand a word...

There's a plethora of publication puns if ever I paused to perceive some. Sometimes betrayal is more of a sadness than a point of angry ignition. You can beat me, you can break up with me, you can fire me from my job. But don't end my metal magazine subscription without a clear explanation and refund! It broke me. Deep inside.

I understand that quote because I read the lyrics while King gave voice to them. We're all on slippery stairs, wouldn't you say, V? Never knowing when we'll slip and plunge to a cellar death. Me, I drink heavily, for an impending cellar death.