Vampyrique

Who doesn't love a telegraph? (Actually, this is still cool.)

Read freely and of your own will... and leave something of the happiness you bring.

That, too, is a red herring. A small fish in the ocean, nothing next to .... fear the impending wrath of Cthulhu!

This is all preparation, nothing more than a beta-test. But speaking of which, alphas are slowly being replaced by betas. Spectrum deltas and epsilons are on the rise. Modification of food and people, drug dependency. The Orwellian move is too obvious. Insidious is Huxley's new world blueprint led by noble science and technocrats.

1984 is the red herring whilst a depraved new world slips in silently. Beware the Fabian wolves in sheeps' clothing!

The Owls are always watching. They are much like the They. Without effort they rotate their head to see in all directions.

Dimmu has always been top five metal band for me. Akercocke is not for everyone. They can be odd, avant-garde, and absurd. Their albums are all very different so it may depend on which album you listen to. Darkness of Blood is a one-album enigma. But if you like Dracula film scores, Castlevania, Cradle of Filth, and black metal, then this is as essential as blood itself. The Meads of Asphodel are most bizarre and have always been among the top thanks mostly to the Red Gleaming Serpent demo. Excommunication is similarly excellent as is Damascus Steel, and Yeshua is also pretty good but I wouldn't start with that one. Panzerfaust may actually be my favourite Darkthrone album. I just meant to imply that they are ravishing grimness incarnate. Arcturus has really grown on me over the years. I can always appreciate those bands who are creative and unique. Don't tempt him now, you may just end up being his next victim... or meal. One of the two.

With some last minute letting of the veins.... This list is subject to change. Hack commentary included for reasons of amusement and abusement. 20. Carcass : The spirit of Carcass is found in Symphonies of Sickness and Necroticism. The other albums are good, but they are faceless cadavers next to these. These are words straight from the coroner's report. 19. Nile : Let the Eye of Horus guide you through ancient Egypt with unparalleled Ithyphallic Metal. In Their Darkened Shrines may be their pyramidal peak. 18. Morbid Angel : Morbid Angel occupy a unique place in the metal pantheon for many reasons. The band’s alpha-eccentric personalities alone make for an interesting enigma. I’m not sure I could single out a favourite album if I tried to, but I enjoy both eras of the band. Not so much the ensuing Insanus, but only Trey and David are that morbid, too extreme for mere punnery to encapsulate. 17. Paradise Lost : Once lost was Paradise, but it hath since been regained. I have a difficult time picking a favourite here. Probably Gothic, but their debut haunts me equally. 16. Emperor : Thus Spake the mighty Emperor! Even though equilibrium was lost later on, their first two are black metal epics. 15. Mayhem : The precise definition of mayhem is this band. Even Oxford agrees. Undoubtedly De Mysteriis dom. Sathanas is the definition of black metal. 14. Arcturus : Avantguardians of the galaxy, astral travelers of the higher frequentseas. But only Garm is real. 13. Darkthrone : Forever hypnotic and trve. The quantity of quality albums is impressive, ravishing grimness unmatched by any other. 12. Moonspell : Full moon madness indeed. You only need to examine their catalogue to get a sense of this. But Wolfheart, Irreligious, Memorial, and Extinct eclipse the others. 11. Agalloch : Grey metal for a rainy day. Campfire companions. More than just a clay urn on the mantle, life itself. 10. Darkness of Blood : Blood libations, dramatic adrenochromatic hallucinations, psychopompic incantations. Symphonies of the night bled to aztec vampire rite. 9. The Meads of Asphodel : The ecstasy of suicide making love to open wounds! Unearth the Holy Grail that is Metatron and the Red Gleaming Serpent now. 8. Akercocke : Immaculate, pure, devout! Satanically suited for occult occasion. No Hammer Horror Satanism here. This is the real deal, done fashionably Faustian. Here The Devil rides out. 7. King Diamond : Only King’s ghostly falsettos can reach the paranormal plane of existence and capture such atmospheres of haunting horror. The band’s phantom run from Fatal Portrait to The Eye is legendary, much like the King himself. 6. Burzum : From black melancholic metal mastery to transcendental Casio meditations, Varg is a Norse God and Burzum is your journey to the stars. 5. Satyricon : Magically medieval are their early masterworks. Rebel Extravaganza and Volcano are worthy and underrated albums, but lackluster are their later works. 4. Dimmu Borgir : Sometimes a band’s most passionate followers are their very detractors. This is the band that The Church of Black Metal warned you about… yet secretly worship. Their run from For All Tid to Death Cult Armageddon is a peculiar one because the quality of output remained high despite the line-up changes and drastic evolution of sound. They’ve since stagnated, but that doesn’t tarnish their Luciferian legacy. 3. My Dying Bride : Whilst, stylistically, I prefer a Bride of death metal-infused doom and gloom as performed on the first two albums, I hardly notice on albums like The Angel and The Dark River or Like Gods of the Sun due to their excellence. The Dreadful Hours and Songs of Darkness are the best of the modern era. 2. Cradle of Filth : Superior lyrics, attention to aesthetics, and a healthy bloodline from the crypt of Countess Bathory tracing masterpiece after masterpiece. Another victim of the The Black Metal Vatican. Yet the Filth whispers my name…again and again. 1. Theatres des Vampires : Mater Mater Inferorum! Metallum Vampirorum! Til the last drop of blood!

Beware of the crOWLeyan OWLiens! And don't tell Hillary I told you!

Code missed. Validation invalidated.

I've never tried Aussie coffee before but now I must.

You're telling me I got my hopes up too high?

Sexism, xenophobia, anglo-privilege, toxic masculinity, and only two genders? Killing that many birds with one stone will have PETA outraged. But I'm adding this to my list of books I need to look into.

Sadly, the future we're entering won't include any molokos. But Huxley now, he knew the plan. He created the blueprint and opened the doors of perception. It's a brave new world after all.

Do you know what the name Phil means? Look it up. No wonder he needed the K to break up the union of those two words, just in case. That sounds/looks very cool, but I've never read any of those Conan stories. Are you familiar with Graham Hancock's work, or John Anthony West, and friends? Interesting work about how we're (possibly) a species with amnesia. How pyramids and such are older than archeologists believe, and how cataclysms rocked the earth etc. Whether this is true or not, it's great fantasy for the mind.

I'm sure social media trending will wash the masses anew. But the future looks dim, dystopian already. GMOs will be the only 'viable' food source. Just wait for the propaganda. And how about meat plants? Like plants that grow meat. They'll have those too, I'm sure of it. Just so people can feel good about eating fake food.

Almost done. Just need to rank them.

Definitely. You two should've already been doing podcasts. Besides, nobody reads anymore anyways.

Chicken is usually the kryptonite to vegan ethics. Sometimes bacon. I've seen it happen before many times, but it's understandable. It requires some serious mind-over-matter monk magic to deny taste and choose broccoli over bacon, or celery over chicken. What are your thoughts on lab-grown meat? With heavy promotion, I can picture this being a hit with vegetarians/vegans in the future with regards to the sustainability and ethical concerns they have.

How romantic. I intend to submit my list before Saturn's day, 'tis written in blood. Will audio of said analysis be available?

How about Cradle of Filth 15 times?

O wise Tortuga, reveal unto me the cards of destiny...

Coincidence? Oh those Craft(y) Fellow(s)... nuthin' but a G'thang. And yet my lips are (hermetically) sealed...

I agree. I do like their later works, but they seem to have lost a bit of the magic in recent years. They tried something slightly different, production-wise at least, with At the Gates of Sethu, but I had mixed feelings on that album like many others did. I remember they were always well received in the metal press until about the mid-00s when the backlash came. People acted as if Nile was just a gimmick band constantly shoved down the throats of reluctant metalheads everywhere; not that these metalheads would ever deign to read metal magazines lest their credibility take a hit. I remember people were even presenting Nile's lyrics to university professors just to see if Nile's grasp of ancient Egyptian was suspect. That is basically how I am approaching this. My list is at about 15 right now...

With studies, it depends on what is truly being compared and meant by a vegan diet, or what is meant by an average person's diet (which I generally wouldn't say is healthy), or what is meant by a typical meat eater's diet. For example, are you referring to a diet that includes meat in the form of grass-fed steaks, oysters, and beef liver, or a diet that includes Big Macs and hotdogs? Just like when a person says a vegan diet, I'm sure they don't mean potato chips, candy and Coca-Cola. But I understand what you're saying. I'm not trying to convince you to eat animals products, only that I think you should just be cautious in the long-term. You can always try it and see how your body reacts, which I think is the best indicator of your own health.