Sheol

What a wonderfully weird cover. Feels like something from an issue of 2000AD. Any idea who made it?

It's all personal preference as you said, but I think that by purchasing music/merch you support a douchbag person, and in effect makes it easier for him to continue spreading bullshit. It's not the same as endorsing an ideology, but it is supporting the person backing the ideology. I def. have some stuff in my collection that I bought without knowing who was behind it, but now that I know buying a new record from the bands make me feel a bit uneasy. It doesn't make a difference in the big picture as you say, but on a personal level it would feel wrong to wear a Arghoslent or Clandestine Blaze shirt. In Aspas case you know that at least some of the money he makes from his music and label most likely goes into funding neo-nazis.

Have you considered the possibility that "working twice as hard" not just refers to the actual work but also the fact that women most likely have a lot less degrees of freedom when it comes to presentation, skill and persistance than men? Meaning that there's very little room for them to mess up, not look perfectly presentable at all times, not have a "bad night", not being to drunk, too loud without being judged or dismissed. As well as enduring countless times being viewed as a piece of meat before reaching a level of success where they are acknowledged for their accomplishments. If a dude is a shitty singer it's on him. If a woman fucks up, it's implied that it reflects poorly on all woman. So yeah, I'd say women, still, has more of an uphill battle then men to succeed in metal. Just because men are the norm and women are considered "the other", a quaint novety. As such, I see no problem with special awards for women. All awards are meh anyway. And if it brings more rolemodels to young girls and women, why not? Where's the harm?

Hail of Bullets - Ordered eastward Not only is the opening riff+drum part absolutely tits and instantly memorble. Then they follow up with another excellent marching riff at 0:42. Then the bridge at 2:45 where Dan Swanö growls "We were ordered eastward", gives me chills everytime, knowing that east was almost certain death by.... frost or war. In total, just a masterpiece of a song. Pink Floyd - Time Everyone knows this song. What makes it is of course the lyrics. Incredibly poetic and poignant, and actually carries different meanings as you grow older and you move in and out of phases of your life. The Gilmour guitar solo is of course beautiful, and the delicate vocals of Richard Wright.

So I pulled the trigger on the ATH-M50. Hard to beat for €130. Haven't done any critical listening yet but they fit will on my head and the sound seems to be pretty flat and clear.

Manii - Innerst i Mörkret. Hypnotic and meditative norwegian black metal from the veteran guard. Manii is basically the continuation of Manes if they had never gone down the Ulver-route.

Das Boot is amazing, but quite slow from what I remember. Peter Jacksons "They shall not grow old" is a documentary using recolorized WW1 footage, but it's very good and gives a great feel of the real soldiers in the war. Not at all as sluggish as "recolorized WW1 footage" make it sound😄

Well since I spend 7-8 hrs a day at work, often listning to music when I'm not teaching, so it's the one place where I actually have proper listening-time. I got Bose' QC IEM's for travel and when I'm out, but I couldn't have those in my ears for so many hours without developing fucking sores or something. I remember the Meze 99 going around on Metal-Fi, eveyone seemed to love them. Forgot about them, I'll have a look.

Yeha the beach landing in Saving private ryan is very gory, but the whole movie is pretty disturbing emotionally with the US soldier sparing the life of the german only to slowly be murdered by him etc. If she's fine with that it's a good movie, despite Tom Hanks.

Started wathcing the Stand tv series on HBO from a few years back. Really good actually, episodes move along and doesn't drag.

I think the best decision we ever made as parents was not letting our kid play games, use social media or the internet, save for streaming movies/shows. Instead we steered her into painting, LEGO, music, creating and tinkering. She's almost a teenager now and I think her mental health are all the better for it.

I'm thinking of getting a new set of HP for my work office. I currently have a V-moda M100 and they're nice but the earcups are a little small and not comfortable for prolonged listening. I used to use a Philips Fidelio X1 which I loved but they have been moved to my livingroom where I listen at home. I'm thinking a ATH M50x, they seem to get good reviews and have large over-ear cups. Thoughts?

I was just going to say, that type of attitude is really really hard to acheive and still have a healthy work/life balance (or a healthy, connected family life). It takes a toll. Good on you for being insightful and aware of your positives and negatives, and I'm guessing having an understanding family. If I didn't have a family I think I would work way too much, it's fun and I enjoy the challanges I encounter. I've had long bouts of working evenings/nights and weekends to hit deadlines or just catch up, but it's def. taken a toll on my family. Trying to scale it down to a more sustainable level now, but if I were single I think all I'd do would be work and go to concerts, haha.

Never heard that word in my life, must be US slang?

Black Lion records are in some financial trouble and are running a 70% off sale on https://blacklionrecords.bandcamp.com/artists (code: blacklion70) I'm listening to Sarcator - Alkahest trying to figure if it's worth a buy