Sheol

I've been able to finally start reading again last year, after many years of struggling due to excessive work etc. I've mainly stuck to lighter fantasy/ scifi to keep it fun. Here's some of my latest books. The Broken Earth trilogy by N. K. Jemmisin. Currently on book 3 and struggling, she's lost the plot a bit, but the first two books were really good! The Fourth Wing and Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros. Romancy/fantasy. Not deep but very entertaining and with some great plot twists. Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller. A fictional re-telling of the story of Achilles and his lover Patroclus from the Illiad. Incredible language, beautifully written, and of course tragic as hell. The Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. Dark academia, set in Yale. All the secret societies practice actual magic, and the ninth society Lethe is tasked with keeping them all in check. Also a very well-written book, with a very compelling lead character.

I personally think most of Bruce' solo albums are better then any full album Maiden put out since.... Fear of the dark. Some singles heralding new albums: Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will 22 March My Dying Bride - A mortal binding 19th April Acathexis - Immerse 20 March

I think except for the brutality of the landing scene, Saving Private Ryan was boring as fuck. Felt kind of shallow and the plot was... there but I remember nothing from it. I hate Tom Hanks so that probably factors in.

Not bad, I agree, the vocals was not the usual fare. More like deathcore. But I enjoyed them.

And let's not forget that BC recently unionized, and by chance, a majority of the layoffs hit union actives. https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/bandcamp-bargaining-union-layoffs-songtradr-18432047.php Whoops. There's a browser plugin called Batchcamp that lets you mass-download your BC purchases in your desired format. Very handy, and advisable. I know that Greg (?) from Woe is working on a DIY alternative to BC called Ampwall that hopefully will be good. We'll see. Someone will undoubtedly want to fill the ethical hole BC leaves. https://ampwall.com/

That's the Volbeat-guys death metal project, right?

Revenant Marquis - All the pleasures of heaven Last and final album by the enigmatic S. At first I hated the blown-out, subterrenean production of RM but i've since come to love it. No one wuite nails the suffocating atmosphere and slightly perverse, clammy feel of the melodies. This one is probably as accessible as RM has ever sounded. Highly recommended.

Haha that must be the most inefficient and confusing revolutionary conspiracy ever. How would that even work? By using more than two pronounce you will have the violent urge to install a socialist dictator in your country?

An article written by someone calling themselves "Tyler Durden" commenting on wokeness immediately disquallifies him from any serious consideration. That said, this is comics, any character can be resusicitated at any time for any reason. I wouldn't think too hard about this. Besides, depending on who writes him Punisher can be a interesting counterpoint to other Marvel characters, or a fucking slog of a revenge porn chauvanist fantasy to read through (looking at you Ennis).

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

To me the first, self titled, album is thrash with hardcore vocals and a death metal production. They leaned in on the death metal aspects more with ...made me do it when it comes to the riffs and the new vocalist. But yeah, I'd say only the first album is thrash. I think the second album is much better written than the debut. More focused songs. He's hypercommersial, sure, but he did say that the express goal is to live on his music so I'm not surprised.