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MaxFaust

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Everything posted by MaxFaust

  1. We know that there was a time when "hard rock" = "heavy metal" ... or whatever. The lines were blurred. Black Sabbath, although being credited as the founders of heavy metal, vehemently denies having ever had anything to do with any of that ... which of course is what Shakespeare was talking about with his "the lady protests too much". In practical terms, hard rock and heavy metal are the same. But you should probably respect the owners of the actual music. I don't know. It seems reasonable to me. What we do know is that the times changed in 1980, when MTV and all that came to be. Metal was born at the same time. Coincidence? I think probably not. Our genre of music is very very commercial.
  2. Meshuggah. This will take some time.
  3. I don't know what in Brazil you would say to cover the same category of meaning as when in Norway we would say "that's typically Swedish" ... and leave it at that, lest we wish to become rude. It's typically human. A peaceful period, we fight among ourselves. A time of war, we unite against a common enemy. Either way, we will be fighting. I digress. Fucking Swedes get 7/10 for the intensity of it all. This is slightly different ...
  4. @Athame, I have no idea what they call it. It's from the 90s, and I think Apoptygma Berzerk is "someone" in electronica, that has probably fragmented into as many strange subegenres as has metal. Being a child of the 70s, I tend to simply call it "synth pop". I like some of that, some of the time. I'll give your song 7/10 ... and change directions a little, to this: PS ... the word NAXALITE is worth reading a little about.
  5. Good grief. That's the sort of shit hippies will put on at about 4am in the morning, after way too much red wine all night, while ambushing you into a conversation about "the things that matter". Rating? I hate it ... 3/10 just because I'm so nice. Now for some dance friendly stuff:
  6. Ngh. Not my thing ... the death metal band that ate Thin Lizzy? A decent enough job though, so 5/10. Something a little different:
  7. To my understanding, black metal ended in 1993. Just like punk rock ended in 1978. WTF they are doing with those labels now is a little south of making sense to me. With that caveat, I accept that genre theory requires a set of standards, and if these standards may be retrofitted onto any particular band's sound (and/or "image" in a more general sense), they get sorted into that category. I may not personally agree with that sort of thinking, but I accept it for what it is. Some feel very strongly about that shit. That being said, there are some newer bands that have been taking the essential musical tricks of the trade to new and interesting places, such as Batushka and Rotting Christ. Akercocke and Der Weg Einer Freiheit have also done some great work. But lots of water has passed under the bridge since back in the day, when black metal was considered something new and edgy. Teenage chicks are now walking around in tee shirts that say Darkthrone and Mayhem, for fuck's sake. (Also Sex Pistols, for that matter.)
  8. MaxFaust

    Mayhem

    That's another nugget of proof ... that there is no "right" way to see these things ... because my opinion is that OAC is probably their best album ever, even though I tend to like Maniac era Mayhem the best (starting with Wolf's Lair Abyss). Be that as it may, I think Blasphemer is a uniquely gifted artist who brought Mayhem back from the dead, in a manner of speaking. The 90s were hard on them, to put it mildly. I'm uncertain what this "new" guitar player (it's not like he hasn't been around the block) will bring to the band, but I guess we'll see. Or hear, rather.
  9. Here's a couple of old school "heavy metal" albums to consider: Leaf Hound - Growers Of Mushroom (1971) Bolder Damn - Mourning (1971) Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come (1970) Bedemon - Child Of Darkness (1974) Nazareth - Razamanaz (1973)
  10. The phrase "heavy metal music" was coined by William Burroughs, in 1962, to describe the preferred tastes of "the heavy metal people on Uranus" ... I think the book was called Soft Machine ... which is also the name for a progressive rock band from the 70s (that's worth checking out). The concept was strongly associated with "drug culture" in its early years, that is to say before 1975, when Judas Priest decided to create a unique image for themselves, with various paraphernalia from sadomasochism (the studs and the leather and all that malarky) and a way sharper focus on the guitar shredding. They were the first to describe themselves as a heavy metal band ... a label that Black Sabbath has vehemently denied for their own work all along ... even though it's customary to name them as the founders of the genre and the first "real metal band". Inspired by Burroughs, the band Killing Floor released an album (in 69 or 70, I don't remember) called "Out Of Uranus". Knowing that obscure beatnick language connection will make it easier to see the pattern all along the way. When beatnicks said "heavy" they meant something very serious, or profound, either way something that had a heavy impact on you. Like drugs. However that may be, "drug culture" peaked between 1968-73, and has been in decline ever since, so that's hardly even relevant anymore. Nowadays, people mean only the sound (and some of the image) when they talk about what is and what isn't "metal" ... but for those who can remember the old times, there will always be the "brown acid and pink amphetamine" connection. Liking melody might mean that one of the real classics, "Rising" by Rainbow, could be of interest.
  11. I have a tendency to let an album roll, several times over (and over and over) on the car stereo. The last thing that was lingering was Meshuggah's "The Violent Sleep Of Reason". Now ... as far as I know, a "meshuggah" is an idiot, in the Yiddish language ... but I sincerely doubt that someone named Francisco Goya (relative to the album title) was Jewish, so there may be some kind of joke hidden in there somewhere. Be that as it may, today I changed the CD to Judas Priest's "Painkiller". What an album! Generally speakimg, I don't much like what JP did in the 80s ... but they sure as hell "raised the Cain" with that one.
  12. Agreed. However, I've tried some brands that were just fucking awful, that hade some kind of weird "soapy" or perfume-like aftertaste. Since I drink so little, I tend to go for ONE bottle of something awesome (and expensive) rather than a sixpack, or worse. This time it wasn't, though. It was the cheapest brand available in Norway, called "Gran's" (gran being the Norwegian word for spruce, the tree). But it was absolutely on par with shit that's two and three times its price.
  13. I can think of at least one other reason: That I have already consumed a sizeable inland lake's worth of beer during my lifetime. The problem with beer is that it contains so much water. What you need to get properly hammered is "white lightning" ... moonshine, home made rocket fuel style liquor. It will get the job done without all the pissing. Fast, cheap and ugly. Like certain thrash and/or black metal bands. What I experienced yesterday was undoubtedly "inebriation" at its basic level, which made me a little cheerful and gigglish, but not by any standards drunk (as a skunk). The reason why I hardly ever drink alcohol anymore is that like so many people of my age, I seem to have gotten much more sensitive to the effects of alcohol, both for better and worse. It is the "worse" parts that I wish to avoid. They tend to outweigh the betters. Fortunately, the good lord also gave us cannabis.
  14. When I was in Berlin, I discovered (and stuck with) the Jever. But today, at home, I bought two cans of IPA.
  15. I'm having a beer. IPA. But you can't get drunk on beer. Not for real. Although, given that I hardly ever drink alcohol, it does indeed have a remarkable effect. Very trippy.
  16. So ... time flies. Moving house bumped me offline for a while. (Remote area, nuff said.) "Special arrangements" had to be made. However that may be, just a few hours ago, I bought no less than ten Grateful Dead CDs, from some dude on the net, with stuff for sale. Not exactly heavy metal, nor, to be honest, a band that I really know anything about, except they've been around like forever and all the hippies like them. It was a good price though. How bad can it be? I expect some proggy shit, like if Fleetwod Mac ate the Allmann Brothers, sprinkled with some Curved Air, or something along those lines. I guess we shall see. Or hear, rather.
  17. Starting with the last one ... it had me thinking that after a one minute acoustic guitar intro, they better bring some Opeth level shit to make up for that or I'm signing off. But they kind of did, so that's a decent enough metal song in the pompous deathsy genre or whatever, not brilliant but good work. Then there is the first one. Hey ... how is this folk metal? was what I was thinking ... then aha. Got it. I guess death-folk makes sense in Romania, much like black metal makes sense in Norway. I want to hear more by that band. None of the other three appealed to me, but I'm very picky. Two out of five must be considered good. And one out of five that's interesting is very good.
  18. Mayhem, Emperor, Darkthrone. Not because there is a lack of other good bands but because those are (still) my three main BM bands. Can I have another three? Satyricon, Tsjuder, Mysticum.
  19. Assuming that you mean to say "GoT fan" ... I very much doubt you're alone in that. I don't like to watch the episodes one by one with the waiting inbetween though. I wait until the DVD release, then I binge the entire season. It's better that way. They can be *nasty* with those cliffhangers. The other "special show" is of course The Walking Dead. They break a few rules too. It's hard work keeping your crooks horrible these days.
  20. Meh ... this is so not my kind of Sabbath. 5/10. Now for some Germans (not Accept) who have made a nice song about Stalingrad.
  21. Hehe ... ska comes with a flavour of carnival. And the 80s. Bad Manners get 6/10. Let's try something along the same lines ...
  22. Interesting Sabbath choice. I was thinking about Sabbath Bloody Sabbath earlier, as a 10/10 song that's also pretty much the template for Metallica's Master of Puppets, in my opinion. They even have the same kind of weird time change tucked into the middle of the song. But I agree, it's a strong choice. You won't get much discussion, I think. As for the others, I agree with Painkiller and Overkill, of course. 10/10, hands down.
  23. How many of those actually exist? Seriously. Tastes being different and all. You probably won't get much discussion for suggesting that "Electric Eye" is a great metal song ... to simply start somewhere. But I don't know if this is acceptable for everyone. So ... imagine that we were tasked with finding ten metal songs that properly represent metal culture on earth, to go with a Voyager sort of space mission. Undisputable classics that stand out as such, on their own merit rather than because of your personal taste. I imagine the problem is, you must pick ten songs ... but any song that gets even one vote against it is out. Care to suggest a couple that you think will make it?
  24. That's pretty funny. I remember that album. It was either love or hate, as far as my friends went. I loved it, so I'll give it 7/10 but I think in hindsight what was unclear is that the genre "power metal" was slowly starting to manifest itself in true form. Here's something nobody could argue with:
  25. 8/10 ... for fuck's sake! That's precisely the kind of thing I like to listen to when driving ... only I tend to go for Turbonegro, Backyard Babies and that sort of thing. Straightforward rawk ... that makes the miles fly. But now for something completely different, from before metal existed. A psych band that I like.
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