Ikard

Alright folks so i discovered a fucking gem. There is a barbecue restaurant, that is also a gas station, with the best god damn barbecue i have ever had. It is in Scottsdale Arizona, and the brisket was a spiritual experience. I got it with the habanero barbecue sauce. Seriously, worth a trip. Place is called The Thumb

18 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Ceviche at my god-daughter's birthday party. One of South America's finest creations.

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I second that sentiment. You just put me in the mood for seafood sir.

On 5/4/2018 at 2:04 AM, True Belief said:

This my friends is what we call a hot donut snack-pack. Covered in Ferrero Rocher chocolate. Lucky we ordered the small.

Holy fuck that looks like a good time and a half. Where is this.

Tonight I am having chicken apple sausage baked with apples, sweet potatoes and onions.

2 hours ago, MaxFaust said:

Not at all !!! Whereas not many people would describe me as "positive" I am at least of the mind that any- and everything can be turned into something useful. To be honest, I find the type of people who wants to "save the world" a rather scary bunch of monsters. There can be no escaping the innate selfishness of any type of biological organism that has a will to live. No matter how we twist and shake, everybody (and everything) wants something. However, this may not be a point of clarity in those people who advocate selfless sacrifice for "the greater good" (whatever the hell that means).

That being said, I happen to think that a little socialism can be a good thing ... as long as it doesn't turn into an ideological beauty contest. After all, what sane individual think it's all good when some people complain about not owning all the latest and greatest gadgets of comfort while others are more or less starving to death?

Right. There are definitely merits to the marxist way of thinking and i am certainly not against the idea of tax dollars going toward education and healthcare rather than war profiteering and politicking. 

13 minutes ago, MaxFaust said:

These aren't the words of a nihilist, brother. Rather those of someone who once held high hopes.

Far be it from me to diagnose the American malady ... but it seems like it's quite common to harbour an illusion about "moral certainty" ... on either (or all) side(s) of the political spectrum. Rather than being practical and focus on that which works, many are into what they think is "right" (which basically makes everybody not in agreement with their moral certainty, "wrong"). This will invariably lead to locked positions of conflict ... where the only thing that's open for change is how intense the conflict is allowed to become ... and the only workable position of stability is that of passive aggression.

It's too easy to fall into disgust with the human race, all things considered. I think this is the place many wind up manouvering themselves into, over time, resulting in a more or less pronounced state of depression. Dante had an inscription on the gates of Hell (in the "Inferno" part of the Comedy) that said: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here ". Which of course jives with the quite common trope (not least in the metal business) that this world is in fact Hell ... and that the best we can -- realistically -- hope for are some glimpses of happiness from time to time, within the more general state of hopelessness and misery.

But what's wrong with the little things? Why are we expecting so much from life? At the age of 20, ten years seems like a lot of time. But when you turn 50, you'll realize that it's just a fistful of moments that pour out between your fingers like so much dry sand ... going only that much faster the more you try to clench your fist and hold on to it. Like I keep telling people: Getting old sucks, but it's better than the only alternative we know about.  

Do not mistake my views on human beings as bitterness. Obviously there are exceptions to the rule i stated or i would be locked up in my room instead of having a discussion. What i may have misarticulated is that there is no "ism" that is going to save humanity. But you are absolutely right. When i was young(er) i thought that socialism was going to fix the problem. The problem is humans dont function that way on a large scale. Greed is inate in us it seems. Sorry to derail your post, dude.

18 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

All the proof you need is in the results. Both sides create superficial conflict to distract us while their constituents that pay them off through heavy lobbying benefit. They make money, we lose money, and because of the distractions, we blame each other or whomever they've decided to allocate as the scapegoat of the week. If they truly do represent our best interests, then they're doing a fucking horrible job of it, too much so for it to be accidental.

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It all comes down to the simple truth that humans as a species are nasty, selfish and self defeating. We are an invasive species and we will eventually drain this world of everything beautiful. Its only a matter of time.

14 minutes ago, deathstorm said:

Hey @Ikard check out burn the Priest it’s lamb of god  doing punk covers 

That sounds fucking delightful. Thanks man!

Today im eating a sandwich. Tonight i may make chicken parm with pasta and garlic bread.

My fiance vehemently believes in them. I entertain the idea as it is fun to think about but i do not hold any firm beliefs on the subject. It is fun to go to supposedly haunted places and look around but thats as far as i go.

9 hours ago, MaxFaust said:

I see a vague joke here somewhere, involving Elf and Dio and "somewhere over the Rainbow" ... but I shall behave myself and stick to the point, which is that Tolkien based his entire universe in Norse mythology. The place where I live is actually called "Greater Elf Valley" ... which is obscured by the fact that in modern Norwegian, the word "elv" also means river (adding a double layer to the name Rivendell), whereas in ye aulde days, the word was å. (A wovel not found outside of Scandinavia anymore.)

I was into Tolkien for a while, quite some time ago, but the black metal boys kind of ruined that for me. All those Tolkien references had me facepalmed whilst grinding my teeth. Anyone remember the first "Lord of the Rings" movie? Cartoon-based, with real actors in the mix, particularly as templates for the orcs. Being a lover of the cult movie Bad Taste, I was kind of skeptical when I heard that Peter Jackson was directing the new movie(s) ... but was pleasantly surprised when it premiered.

Nowadays, Middle-Earth seems to be located in New Zealand ... which is about as far away from Norway as you can possibly get without actually leaving the planet alltogether. Which is funny, if you have a somewhat bizarre sense of humour. I'm definitely going to see the new movie though, as soon as it hits the market.

Well from what I understood from letters written by Tolkien himself he wanted to write a story that was strictly English. But I think that may be impossible to do without including Norse ideology after the Viking raids;additionally, the language of Elvish is essentially bastardized Gaelic. So i think what tolkien actually accomplished was something representative of the U.K. in general including its run ins with nordic peoples.

10 minutes ago, BlutAusNerd said:

It's definitely a scam here right now, the two party system has failed us. There would need to be a massive upheaval to undo the corruption, and even if the system collapses, I don't foresee that happening.

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The more i begin to look at things as they really are the more of a nihilist i become.

26 minutes ago, MaxFaust said:

One of my all-time favourite bands, hands down. I tend to think of Black Flag before Henry Rollins as a completely different thing though. As charismatic frontmen go, he's up there with the best. In my opinion, they should probably make him the next president of America. Seriously. At this point in time, I bet many yanks pine for someone who isn't corrupt and full of shit, basically representing the same old conglomerate of corporate interests and lying, thieving bastards. He's also very human ... but that may not work to his actual advantage.

The thing is man, the American left and the American right are both full of shit at this time. They have become a false dichotomy in which both sides oc the aisle represent the same thing. Maybe ive just become cynical but i have very little hope for any significant change any time soon.

I mean unless we could get Lee Ving from FEAR to run lol

On 4/28/2018 at 10:55 PM, MaxFaust said:

(Raises hand.)

I used to be one of those individuals at a certain age period of my life. I was heavily into the "punk" thing in 77 and 78, thinking of myself as a "merciless warrior soul". Fucking ridiculous, of course, but in my defence, I was just a kid. Anyway, the spirit was that of "if you can't say it in two minutes or less, don't speak" ... which was a flagrant negation of my even younger self, when I was heavily into guitar solo worship (I am unsure when the air guitar was invented but it was definitely before my time). 

Interestingly, I considered my musical tastes to exist within a continuum before my punk rock years. At that point in time, my taste for brutal, nasty shit kind of separated from my more eclectic (and somewhat closeted) attraction towards musicmanship and production values, etc. I would have that split personality for many years after. I probably still do, in some respect ... but at least I'm not ashamed of anything anymore. It was a little weird for some time ... having to explain my Frank Zappa fixation to those of my friends who we into Crass, Poison Girls, and that sort of thing. 

On the other and, you can hide a lot of inept musical skills behind that "wall of sound". On the third hand ... there is the fact that when you go to some hard rock show only to get violent in the mosh pit, you don't care so much about whether the stage act at hand can actually play for shit. All that matters is the violent energy. 

That is one of the reasons Ronnie Reyes cited for leaving Black Flag. He basically said "i could have recited doctor seuss up there and they would have beat the shit out of each other anyway"

Indeed. It all began with the Elves after all.

58 minutes ago, Ekthelion said:

The Fall of Gondolin's coming out in August. It's pretty much my most anticipated release out of anything this year. 

Fuck yes dude. I welcome anything that adds more depth to the Middle Earth narrative.

Let this thread be a place for discussion of all things Middle Earth. Personally I have been thinking a lot about how the first age was such a shit show for the Elves.

4 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Indeed you should. That Uncanny album is incredible as well, probably my 2nd or 3rd favorite Swedish death metal album. It has the aggression of many of the bigger and more well known bands in the scene, but with a deep and sorrowful brand of melody that sets them apart from the pack.

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I do love me some swedish death metal

1 minute ago, BlutAusNerd said:

That Brutal Truth album is incredible, one of the best in all of grindcore.

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Ill have to hunt it down.

That germs cover is so fuckin rad.

I think Darby Crash would be amused

3 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

What interests someone changes from one person to the next, but whether or not the flash works within the context of the song tends to be telling, or if the focus is disproportionately placed on one instrument over the others. This isn't always the case, but it does feel a lot more natural for explosive technicality to be showcased within a song that is complex and technical in and of itself, and if those explosive elements from multiple instruments work together towards the same goal. It's not always just The Great Kat styled shredders that get shit on in this way, but when a progressive metal band or a technical death metal band (for instance, since these two genres tend to contain the most culprits of this), it often seems like the musicians, while talented, recorded their parts in the same room with their metronome set to the same tempo and are given a scale/tuning to use, and them they just do what they please regardless of what the other members are doing.

While it is unfair to dismiss technical bands as a whole, some people do throw the baby out with the bathwater simply because this is all that they have been exposed to with flashy playing. Much like people who write off all black metal as sounding like shit because of a few bands with demo quality production, or writing off all doom metal as minimalistic and boring because of a few bands that strive for that, it sometimes takes some convincing and showing people that their experience wasn't the whole picture.

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Certainly. Music is art and art is subjective. Also ones tastes are subject to change. I can assure you i have a much broader taste than i did when i was 16 and im sure itll be even more broad down the road. 

10 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

As far as I know, tours called "The Big Four of Thrash" came later, "The Big Four" was a marketing term indicating that they were the best selling artists in the genre.

The post was pretty convoluted and confusing in general though, especially ending a discussion of "The Big Four" by indicating that they were his/her three favorite thrash bands of the era...

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Maybe youre misinterpreting the post and its an absurdist slam poem.

5 hours ago, Requiem said:

Firstly congratulations. I’m sure your chicken won’t taste like fish.

I love travelling to the US for fast food. It’s something your country does so well. The Countess Requiem can’t understand it, but I’m always excited by in n out burger and the like. 

Our Chinese meal was not brilliant by the way. 

I can understand that. When i travel anywhere i try to eat what that place is known for. If i went to Vietnam i would eat pho, if i went to thailand i would eat tom kha and so on. We are known for fast food the world over.

2 hours ago, BlutAusNerd said:

Yep, born and raised in SLC. I would welcome anyone to visit, but I don't know why anyone would be motivated to do so.

Because I dig meeting people and also it has been eons since ive been to utah. 

25 minutes ago, MaxFaust said:

Classic problem. Is that which you think is good based in skillful playing or "band personality"? 

Case in point, there are loads and loads of singers that are much "better" (in the technical sense) than Ozzy ... but on the other hand, Ozzy's voice has something eerie about it which makes it perfect for that sort of thing. It's not all about range. Then there is the guitar. It's possible to find clips on YouTube that boggles the mind, in terms of how technically skilled those people are ... but was there ever a better riffman than Tony Iommi? 

There is some alchemy going on in music. An X-facor, if you like. That's what I mean with "personality". 

Yet there must obviously be at least some minimum requirements with respects to skill. Which is more important though?

I'd wager that skill is what you need to get to a certain level, but from then on it's all about personality. After you've reached the minimum standards, skill actually has a tendency to work against you. I base this assertion in private opinion only, after having watched thousands of bands come and go over the years. Is skill counterproductive for "staying power"? I'd like to hear how other people see this thing. Perhaps I'm way off and just floating around in a theorethical ocean of little merit and even less importance.

When i first got into heavy music, i was really into punk rock music. As a result personality and showmanship were really important to me both as a musician and a listener. That mentality has transitioned into all the genres i listen to whether it be folk, jazz, punk, metal, etc. You can be as skilled as you want if your music lacks attitude it wont grab me. I'll be mildly impressed at best.

21 minutes ago, Requiem said:

My sister and her husband are obsessed with Mexican food in California. It's pretty good, but I don't really get the fascination that some Americans have with it. My sister had these taco stations at her wedding in San Diego and all night I thought the fish tacos were chicken. It was only the next day that someone told me. I'm like, "This chicken is pretty dry". 

I'll have to try some of your recommendations next time I swing through the 'Zona. 

My guess in regards to American obsession with Mexican cuisine stems from an otherwise typically bland diet. Mexican food is spicy and involves a lot of exciting flavors which are a far cry from the "meat and potatoes" archetype that is often associated with American culture. 

Interestingly enough we are also featuring a taco bar at our wedding; although, our meats are going to be beef chicken and pork.