Jump to content

Vampyrique

Members
  • Posts

    478
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    2

Everything posted by Vampyrique

  1. This is somewhat similar to the What Are You Listening To? thread; only here you must provide a rating and, hopefully, a brief description why. Or comment on the issue of rating an album. I often read that reviewers dislike rating albums because it detracts from the content of the written review. However, I disagree, and I've always found ratings to be of interest. I find that adjectives are so liberally tossed around that they're of such little value; trust me, I would know. I would go as far as to say that a rating reveals the true impression of the listener within the context of their own unique music tastes. It's also a snapshot in time. And like a picture, a rating is worth a thousand words; to those who take offense at too high or low a rating, sometimes a thousand swords. And that's where things get interesting. Upon hearing it one more time, I'll post my rating for Tiamat's Judas Christ.
  2. Cadaveria cast her spell on me in June of last year and she has yet to release me from it. Being mainly familiar with Opera IX's first three albums, I wondered how it was that I had never properly given her solo work its due. Witching hours by night and full moon were spent listening to The Shadow's Madame. Preceding this, I re-listened to said first Opera IX albums as well as Maleventum (the first to feature a new vocalist). Despite my devotion (get it:? how clever) to Cadaveria, it is possible that I like Maleventum more than the first three. Symawrath were a pleasant new find for me in spring of last year and their hold has persisted since. Namely, their debut album and split release for reasons listed in other threads. I didn't care to even listen to their industrial-whatever metal that they later attempted. The Cure are one of many favourites outside the world of metal. Wish and Disintegration made my playlist for a while. But everybody, their grandmother, and their dog like The Cure; only diseases and the pharmaceutical industry don't like The Cure. As you know, Tiamat has been on my mind with the effort being made to re-familiarize myself with their later works. I'm glad I did so, especially with regards to Judas Christ.
  3. I have the proof. Years ago, I had pre-ordered Alpha Noir/Omega White (the edition with the Moonspell pendant), and it arrived on the day of some sort of (rare?) lunar phenomenon. I wish I could remember what it was.
  4. I was attempting brevity for once. Terse verse for better or for worse.
  5. Sometimes albums have poor track listings; superior b-sides are excluded in favour of inferior a-sides; there are times when weak album tracks should simply be omitted; or simply said, the tracks seem to be in the wrong order. I often tack on bonus tracks to complete the album experience but occasionally think, as blasphemous as the idea seems, that certain albums could be improved with some track listing modifications. In other words, I cannot always trust that the band knows best. I don't have the lists at hand, but once for fun I re-ordered the tracks to Dusk... and Her Embrace with the inclusion of Nocturnal Supremacy '96 and Carmilla's Masque. Also, I re-worked Thornography and Nymphetamine to improve both by utilizing b-sides at the expense of a-sides. I saw potential in Ancient's Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends but deemed it necessary to create order from chaos. I even edited a couple of tracks in Audacity to ensure the album flowed nicely. Here is the result: 1. Blackeyes 2. The Draining 3. Um Sonho Psycodelico 4. Sleeping Princess of the Arges 5. A Mad Blood Scenario 6. Her Northern Majesty 7. The Emerald Tablet 8. Willowthewisp 9. Neptune 10. Hecate, My Love and Lust I wonder if anyone else does the same? And with which albums?
  6. Looking at it now.... Indeed, It seems legit, and It checks out with the one listed on discogs.
  7. Most listened to bands lately: 1. Cadaveria 2. Symawrath 3. Opera IX 4. The Cure 5. Tiamat
  8. Both are fascinating characters, both are flawed and misunderstood. Did Charlie really have control over them? Was he really a cult leader? I think there's more to the story than the accepted narrative. Charlie was a pimp and drug dealer for celebs. I wouldn't defend some of things he did, but I think he was also a scapegoat for a lot of the shady stuff that went on within certain circles.
  9. I liked their first three, didn't care for the fourth. I haven't listened since.
  10. See, now that I've re-listened to Judas Christ (as well as Prey and Amanethes) I've complicated things further. I'd imagine that Clouds is still number one. But you've listed two albums and there's only room for one on my list. Maybe Deinonychus has to go to make room for both bands...
  11. Very cool release. I've just got the Reaper Records edition CD. I don't remember if it's completely legit or not.
  12. My list looks good at gothic glance, but just how accurate is it? Perhaps this weekend I shall re-visit all of the albums listed and those contending albums not listed. But I've always had a difficult time choosing a favourite album from bands like Tiamat or Paradise Lost. These questions daunt me, press me, and continue to haunt me, even after years of listening. Perhaps Clouds and Gothic? Just now, I remembered about Ancient's much maligned Mad Grandiose Bloodfiends; but I don't know if that would even make it.
  13. Vampyrique

    Books?

    The last book I read was Terence McKenna's Food of the Gods, in rare hardcover. This Pan lookalike is an interesting fellow to be sure. Classic, this is social engineering 101; Darwinian evolutionary theory with respect to apotheosis for the enlightened and eugenics for the unwashed masses. This is a formula that never gets old. Here, he claims humans partly evolved through use of mushrooms and that humanity's best bet is a reduction of the male population until a matriarchy is achieved. I wonder if those clockwork/machine elves had any input. Hilarious, an entertaining read.
  14. After Judas Christ, I listened to Prey. Both are great albums that I hadn't given much attention to or fully appreciated. I give the edge to Judas Christ though. Next, I'll re-visit Amanethes.
  15. Vampyrique

    Tiamat

    I'm listening to Judas Christ right now. I don't know why this album never clicked with me before. It's a lot better than I remember.
  16. Vampyrique

    Tiamat

    I can't believed I've never commented in the Tiamat thread. Excellent band indeed, my favourite Swedish death metal band, The Astral Sleep, Clouds, and Wildhoney are great albums. I have some mixed feelings towards their later albums; nevertheless, I still generally enjoy them.
  17. I feel the need to update my list with a couple of new entries; they're highlighted in blue. 1. Theatres des Vampires - Bloody Lunatic Asylum 2. Cradle of Filth - The Principle of Evil Made Flesh 3. Cadaveria - The Shadows' Madame 4. Darkness of Blood - A Dream of Vampires in Astral Dementia 5. Symawrath - Scaena I - Incestuous Overture in the Crystal Auditorium 6. My Dying Bride - As the Flower Withers 7. Dimmu Borgir - Spiritual Black Dimensions 8. Moonspell - Wolfheart 9. Deinonychus - The Weeping of a Thousand Years Cadaveria's debut is outstanding. The Shadows' Madame is blackened heavy metal masterpiece shrouded with gothic undertones. This is Witch Metal meant for drawing down the moon. Cadaveria is a femme fatale, and her visceral vocal performance and presence alone deserve high magic's praise. I've already exalted Symawrath's debut elsewhere. This album doesn't just meet the vampire standard; it's a blood overdose that won't let, or let you down. Bands like Anathema, Evenfall, Paradise Lost, Tiamat, and Type O Negative will have to battle for the final spot.
  18. Actually, Marilyn Manson smells like children. Hail the first four albums! Nearing twenty years since Holy Wood's release. An ominous opening sets the tone of the album; it's bleak and black.
  19. True. I've always thought My Dying Bride, given the nature of their music, might be a difficult band to sit through live, no matter what they play. Perhaps their first album would sound great in its entirety live due to its death metal energy.
  20. It's been too long since I last listened to them. I'll give Redemption Process a spin sometime soon. When you're done gluttonously gorging on Anorexia Nervosa, I recommend Symawrath's debut album Scaena I - Incestous Overture in the Crystal Auditorium. Like nearly all bands of this 'genre', these sanguinarian symphonies from Spain feature familiar female backing vocals, vebosely vampiric vernacular as seen in song titles immortally married to magniloquent lyrics, albeit all absurd and ambiguous. Not to mention, a band of brooding poses to strike fear into the hearts of mortals at mere glance. No, this is metal not meant for the mundane. The audio quality of these youtube uploads seem sub-par to me.
  21. I'm unraveled, you're unrivaled. Now, let's all commit to a coma with blue pills and soma.
  22. What good is a thread without a needle to sharpen the mind or point us in the right direction? Does the Emperor have new clothes or no clothes? It seams we all reap what we sew. From birth, indoctrination is inescapable. But those who are not mindful of this do not mind because they have no mind. Alas, the sword of gnosis is not meant for the willfully ignorant.
  23. I tend to separate My Dying Bride into three eras. 'Classic Bride' which consists of their first four albums; these, despite the evolution of their sound, feature everything that is iconic and instantly recognizable in My Dying Bride. 'Modern Bride' which consists of the next four; that's 34.7888% up to Songs of Darkness... Maybe it has something to do with the 'modern' production style that is less raw than the early albums, or perhaps it is the further change in direction. 'New Bride' which consists of the last four proper albums: A Line of Deathless Kings, For Lies I Sire, A Map of All Our Failures, and Feel the Misery. I've definitely spent less time listening to these. It should be noted that I got into My Dying Bride after Songs of Darkness had been released so that A Line of Deathless Kings was the first new album that I had anticipated with high expectations. This dynamic of heightened expectation combined with the increased potential for disappointment has always had a peculiar psychological effect on me with regards to how I view new albums versus those already existing in a band's back catalogue. It's much harder for me to consider a new release to be a classic; however, an older album that is new to me isn't likely to suffer from that mental obstacle. But, then again, I tend to think music in the 90s is a lot better than the 00s, which is certainly a lot better than the last decade...
×
×
  • Create New...