JonoBlade
-
Posts
733 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
9
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Events
Posts posted by JonoBlade
-
-
11 hours ago, markm said:
I'm considering. :
- Bowers & Wilkins P7 Wired (lowest profile of the bunch)
- Hifiman Sunandra
- Sennheiser HD 660, 650 or Sennheiser 6XX(not low profile)
- Meze 99 (not low profile)-I know Navy is a fan of these
If anyone has experience with any of these, holler!
I've been using HD 650 for years. Been through several cables because I kept stepping on it and tripping.
Not at all portable and they're open back. but sound good. I think I got them originally because they're considered neutral and suited for mixing.
Anything more expensive than that would be diminishing returns for me.
I paid up for custom iems and don't regret that at all, but still a fraction of what some must spend.
-
28 minutes ago, navybsn said:
I have all Mastodon's stuff, seen them a bunch of times. Awesome show every time. This is the album everyone always points too as their best, but I prefer Once More Around the Sun. As a bass player myself, I always have extra appreciation for bands with a solid bass player that also sings. Troy is pretty badass at both. Just picked up the gatefold reissue of this last weekend and it sounds amazingly good to my ears. Better than the CD version.
This will not be the full list I'll pick up for BC Friday. I've missed the last few and have a bunch built up in my wishlist I've been waiting to pick up, and I need to check out some of these you posted.
Black Pyramid | Emperor Guillotine (bandcamp.com)
Covenant of the Blackened Woodlands | Ithilrå (bandcamp.com)
Distorted Romance | EBOLA (bandcamp.com)
That's why I like the new stuff most I think. They have three ace vocalists; they all write songs. It's like Queen but without the embarrassing disco phase.
I have only seen them twice; the last with Gojira in Auckland. That was a good night. But I lament having missed the Masties in the early days at a basement bar in London on the Remission tour. Any band is better in a dive bar. I haven't been to a "big" gig in years - not since that Auckland show in fact.
Will check oot some of your recos, except Blind Guardian. I am not ready to strap on the gag ball just yet.
14 hours ago, AlSymerz said:Bruce Dickinson - The Mandrake Project
How is it? I've watched a few of the music videos which weren't the best promo tool, but I'd be willing to give it ago. More likely to make it through than Senjitsu.
...holy shit, it is on bandcamp: The Mandrake Project | Bruce Dickinson (bandcamp.com)
I will cue up next when this Mastodon finishes. It just passed a track which sounded exactly like Call of Ktulu.
-
One last one for Bandcamp Friday.
-
New
I think I have some nice variety in the collection today, rounded out by this Italian purveyors of a cosmic amalgam of stoned out, progressive sludge rock.
-
-
Some more:
-
This has been in my wishlist for ages but not sure if I actually listened to this mix before. The bass is a lot more prominent and better than the original CD...which I assume I still have in the garage. Fun fact, Human was the first CD I ever bought, back in 1992 with some of the money I was supposed to spend on textbooks for Uni.
-
New
I've had Distance Collapsed for years and never realised there was an earlier release. Still not been able to stump up $18 for the old diSEMBOWELMENT album, so this is better value at $6.
-
-
Bandcamp Friday! Get some in ya.
Found in my wishlist. It was in NZD so I presume a kiwi band, even though writing about Scottish ghosts or something. Sounds decent.
-
New
Got a few albums by these guys. This must have been from an AOTY list. -
New
Why not? This is one of those bands I go through phases on. I don't have all of their albums and not that bothered by the supposed masterpiece Crack the Skye. I had a renaissance with The Hunter, and big fan of Hushed & Grim, but the older material never particularly resonated. A rare band that, for me, gets better the more they sell out. It doesn't make any goddamned sense.
By the way....an observation for @JamesT, the only other person here that would care. Halford's vocals on that new Priest track sound incredible for a 74 year old or whatever he is. The modern Richie-generated generic Priest riff machine still does nothing for me, but vocally it is spot on.
-
-
New Inter Arma:
▶︎ New Heaven | Inter Arma (bandcamp.com)
Sounds nice and cavernous.
Cramming ready for gig on 8 March....
Death Atlas | Cattle Decapitation (bandcamp.com)
I think I prefer this one to Terrasite.
Some local boys, who also have a gig coming up on 16 March...
The Cull | Verminthrone (bandcamp.com)
Won't be changing the world, but a good cheap night out.
New MBD:
A Mortal Binding | My Dying Bride (bandcamp.com)
Fairly reliable. Sounds more stripped back than the last album.
-
On 2/23/2024 at 7:46 PM, Thatguy said:
Yeah, baby. I picked this up a week or so ago but didn't post it because, well. It is a bit weird but not scary and some here could get into this.
Giving E.A.R a go. Quite like it.
Like a snake charmer on acid. Was happier when the distorted guitars kicked in. Probably a bit djenty (is that what the kids call it?) but perfectly digestible.
It looks to be 3 hours long though.
-
22 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:
Ceramic in the Warpig will give you a bit of a firmer feel, more aggression in pick attack, and more bite in the highs than alnico 5. A bit more output too. I wanted that for my rig but the change might not do anything beneficial for you... maybe fun to try anyway though?
Watched a video of how to do it and it looks fairly straightforward. But not sure if I'm motivated enough to source a magnet and pull everything apart.
What I really need is a "guitar whisperer" that would do a session for a day to optimise complete chain. Teach a man to fish.
-
1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:
This all comes down to your guitar and your rig and personal preferences. I hate actives. I had three guitars with the Fluence Moderns in, and I wanted to like them, but they just didn't have teeth through my setup. If you're an EMG 81 player, the Fluence Moderns have a lot to offer, I just don't find them dynamic enough or strong enough on the attack, and somehow their EQ profile gets on my nerves.
I'm a Bare Knuckle fan. My two main guitars are Gibsons - a 6 string Explorer and a 7 string Les Paul. They're both warmer-sounding guitars that benefit from brighter pickups. I have a Rebel Yell in the Explorer and a ceramic Warpig in the LP. The Warpig had an alnico magnet when I got it, but I swapped the magnet and it really brought the pickup to life for aggressive stuff. I also love their Cold Sweat bridge pickup. But again, these guitars are heavy in the low mids and they're going into an amp (Fryette Pittbull 100CL) that loves being hit with a high mid spike, so the pickups balance them out and add some sparkle and make the amp break up in a pleasing way. I wouldn't recommend a Rebel Yell in a bright guitar, but maybe it could be a good fit with the right pot values.
Worth mentioning that both guitars have the bridge pickup wired to the jack, again not something that works on every guitar or for every pickup. I just happen to like it this way. Bypassing all the pots can make pickups sound harsh and unnatural. That's been the case with all the Duncans I use and in all of my brighter guitars. The 7 string LP came with a JB and it was almost great. I have another 7 string with a Distortion in the bridge and a Schecter 6 string with a set of Invaders. They're all ok. If I played simpler stuff I'd probably love them, but for what I do they feel a bit muddy.
+1 for Bare Knuckles . I use Warpigs in one guitar (Jaydee iommi custom) and Aftermaths in the other (regular SG special from the 90s). I had EMGs in the SG for many years but I just liked the look of the Aftermaths.
I wonder if I should go ceramic for the Warpig.
I never thought about this stuff too much. You stumble across a sound you like and stick with it. I've recently been using an original Marshall Guv'nor pedal for a bit of boost. It sounds a bit HM-2ish but not so in your face.
I got that pedal about a year ago and never got a useful sound out of it. I tried again a few weeks ago and loved it.
-
21 hours ago, Thatguy said:
I'm sure it's a badge of honour here to say this, but I too have never consciously heard her music and have no idea what it is like.
Same.
19 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:I had managed to avoid most of it until today. I had to listen to a second album on the way back home. I now feel as though my brain has been scraped out of my ears. I didn't hate most of it but it's a bit much in aggregate. It turns out my wife is a massive Swiftie.
My wife won't touch pop music with a barge pole. She was brought up listening to baroque (her family thought Mozart was too modern and a sell out). on the one hand and Pat Metheny elevator music jazz on the other. With a side helping of Genesis.
She actively hates my favourite vocalists: Halford, Mercury, Steele and Scott (with especial loathing of Dickinson, although I agree he's overrated anyhow); but tolerates the grunting and shrieking stuff with only minor dissatisfaction just because it's not even pretending to be singing in the first place.
-
14 hours ago, AlSymerz said:
Mark has said that's not what happened. Kerry's also said that's not what happened. But hell I'll believe it because the interwebz said it
My opinion evolved from Kerry's comment:
"I saw Mark a few years back singing covers of MINOR THREAT and cameo in THE WEDDING BAND with members of METALLICA. It was different from what he does in DEATH ANGEL, and he sounded great. He's super versatile. He took steps to make this different than DEATH ANGEL. I don't touch on probably 50 percent of what he can do on the album."
I interpreted "took steps" as "make it sound like Tom" or at the very least Kerry chose him because he already sounded like Tom in the covers.
The irony is that the only Death Angel album I ever heard is Act III. I spin the LP every now and then. On that he does not sound like Tom Araya.
I thought I'd better check a recent DA album on YouTube for context and the few seconds I sampled sounded to me pretty similar vocally to the KK track anyway. It certainly sounds more Arayan than I remembered from the 30 year old album I knew.
So, my original point about it being a slap to Mark to ask him to sound like Tom is clearly wrong. It turns out he sounds like that anyway. But I still think he was chosen because he sounds like Tom so Kerry can keep it as close to the Slayer vocal delivery as possible.
I doubt he'd want to explicitly admit that though. He talks about the riffs being Slayer riffs and being unapologetic, but it's a step beyond that to choose a vocal clone.
Ironically, he said he'd rather have Rob Halford singing if Rob would do it. Whether it would have worked or not, at least that combination would have been something different.
That's my take. I guess I just don't like cover bands much, which is why I'm not interested in seeing Priest live either.
-
52 minutes ago, AlSymerz said:
Not sure why it's odd. Kerry's said from day 1 that anything he writes is going to sound like Slayer, the song was written during the studio recording of the last album, and it's all he's done for 40 years. Whether people like the song or not it was always going to be Slayer 2.0.
Musically, sure. They're Slayery riffs. But to tell Mark to sound like Tom ( the front man Kerry resents for ending the band) is a bit of a smack in the mouth to a guy who's been in the game 30+ years.
-
12 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
Kerry King's Slayer Mk II is terrible. Judging by the promo teaser Orca posted anyway. Every bit as rubbish as Arch Enemy or post-2000 Slayer. Don't think the addition of Loomis would be enough to save it.
Probably true. I couldn't help myself and listened to the KK ( not that KK) new promo yesterday morning.
It was inoffensive but nothing to grab onto. The choice for Death Angel guy to merely do a Tom Araya impression was odd.
Loomis is too virtuoso to work with Kerry. Even Hanneman wasn't a groundbreaking technical player by any measure...but those evil riffs. That was groundbreaking.
-
9 hours ago, navybsn said:
And on to Eternity. This is where Anathema lost the doom. Beautiful album, gorgeous sound, and starting to incorporate some weirder elements that will go on to play a big part in their later alt-rock turn. I believe Vincent is on vocals at this point. I think it's a weird middle ground tbh between what they were and what they would go on to. Definitely my least listened to album in the discog.
Judgement - more of the same. A little better developed. Some definite Pink Floyd vibes on this one. I will say that Fragile Dreams is my favorite mid-period and possibly overall song by them although Scars of the Old Stream is right there. 2nd least spins.
I won't bother with any of the rest of the discog. Fine Day is my favorite of theirs but full on Radiohead worship at that point. And tbh, I prefer new Anathema to old. I guess I let my affinity for everything post 2000 color my impressions of the whole Peaceville 3. After a good 2 day marathon, I think I'd rank them as such:
MDB - best overall for doom, most consistent (well if you throw out 34.788%).
Anathema - although strictly based on the strength of the post 2000 stuff.
Paradise Lost - Not a big fan. Draconian Times and Gothic are the only 2 I've ever cared for and I stopped somewhere around One Second. Their earlier doom phase is a little choppy at times. Their turn around One Second never did it for me and I was off to other fields to play in. Can't say I've given them much second thought since or even a fair eval the past 2 days. Listened to a few tracks from Obsidian and it's decent. Might have to go through the whole catalog to see what I have missed. But not tonight.
NP: Green Carnation - The Acoustic Verses
I'd put MDB way ahead on consistency alone.
The best song on Anathema Eternity is Hope, which was written by David Gilmour. That was a low point in their career. They've done some solid albums since, but just too far outside my remit now. Serenades at the time of release was equal to any MDB but it hasn't aged all that well.
Paradise Lost have had a consistent renaissance which began with The Plague Within. It's really solid. However, I listened to the rerecording of Icon and, as you would expect, can't fathom the need for it. For a fan, new or old, you'd just want to pick up an original on eBay.
The economics must be fairly marginal for rerecording a classic. You're better off tacking some modern interpretations as bonus tracks on a new album. Just use the studio time efficiently to blast out some standards from the set.
-
13 hours ago, JamesT said:
Great call with that Nevermore album! "This Godless Endeavor" is my favorite from them, although "Dead Heart in a Dead World" and "Politics of Ecstasy" aren't far behind it. Dane had a unique voice - such a shame that we lost him so soon.
It's my favourite one too, although I'm not that familiar with the discography.
Certainly a great vocalist, backed by phenomenal guitar work. Loomis should really start something new along the lines of Nevermore as chief songwriter because he was wasted in Arch Enemy.
-
19 minutes ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
My 'hipster doom in the midlands' was a combo reference to your being stuck at Crewe station in anticipation of a train that's never coming, (which is where I always picture you now when you're not toiling away at your desk) and I worked in a mention of your professed love for Inter Arma, a hipster doom band from Richmond Virginia, which seems to be the capitol of mid-Atlantic eastern seaboard hipsterdom. Inter Arma is the default band I imagine you listening to over there in Milky Beans any time you haven't specifically stated otherwise. Pallbearer is unbearable hipster garbage. Inter Arma might have some redeeming qualities, hard to remember it's been so long since I checked them out. But they're clearly hipsters, look, lots of beards, no bullet belts.
Oh. I didn't realise Inter Arma were hipster. They wear socks and have ungroomed beards.
The only other band I knew or cared about from Richmond was Gwar. I am aware that Lamb of God is from Richmond, but they're not hipster are they? Is "mainstream normie metal" synonymous with "hipster" now? If only Dead were here to tell us.
Deafheaven developed the archetypal hipster image in metal which seemed somewhat justified because they looked like floppy haired indie kids playing black metal. Although, I associate the term "hipster" with style over substance. The first few Deafheaven albums I really like (being decidedly neither grim nor necro), until they fell off a cliff with the last one. Inter Arma are still bringing it, but I don't get the vibe they care about their image.
Also, Jono don't do "toiling." I'm afraid the protestant work ethic passed me by.
-
1 hour ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:
Thanks for the disclaimer Jon! Now tell me what is up with this Godspeed You Black Emperor? I've heard the name before but they're from out of the metal world so I'm really not familiar. Threw on the Fawlty Towers one and it's like ambient background music, is the whole thing like this, or is this some kind of extended intro? I hear discordant orchestra instruments making silly noises like they're warming up, haven't actually started yet. But now the track is over. I'm thinking there aren't any vocals here, amirite? When would we want to listen to something like this? Sounds like some chill wind-down music for the long train ride home after one of your tech death or hipster doom gigs up in the midlands.
Godspeed You! Black Emperor: I never thought about it being outside the metal world too much because the name is pretty metal. But it's a fair cop that musically it is beyond the edge of the metal spectrum.
I picked these up for nostalgia's sake. At least a decade ago I really enjoyed "Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada" at the recommendation of my drummer...but then, he likes some weird shit. It is very ambient. The first track is somewhat conventional. The second track is a spoken word piece set to music and I find it quite cathartic. I do recommend this album for something different. I only heard the Fawlty Towers one today. I'd need to really dig in to make comment. You can call that an impulse buy. It could be that every other album than Zero Kanada is shit, I don't know yet.
I suppose you'd call this stuff experimental and not at all what I'd normally go for (not exactly Hell Bent for Leather) but I could listen to it all day...as chill wind down music.
For the record, I've never been to a hipster doom gig in the midlands. The only hipster doom gig that stands out is seeing Pallbearer in Auckland 6 years ago. And, I shit you not, I have not listened to that band once since that day. The second guitarist was a dick to the soundman and I wrote them off after that. No great loss.
oooo. One album I got recently, that you might dig, is this one:
Ψευδομένη | Ὁπλίτης (bandcamp.com)
That was a recommendation from the buddy when we compared notes on my current favourite BM band: Weigedood.
From the incomprehensible band name and description it is designed to be as inaccessible as possible. Gotta respect that.
-
Bandcamp Friday
- New
- New
-
-
-
Some old and new.
I liked the Scorn one although it veered into tech death territory sometimes the dilution of which a capricious blackened veteran wouldn't like.
-
On 1/29/2024 at 5:58 PM, FatherAlabaster said:
I saw them on tour three times and they weren't too good. It seemed like Pete really didn't want to be there and the rest of the band kind of felt the same. I wrote them off for a few years and then finally saw them play on home turf at L'Amour, and they were fantastic. I got to see them twice more there and they were outstanding every time. Pete's energy was totally different, he was funny and humble and charismatic.
This makes me think some bands just shouldn't tour. Instead, play home turf gigs that they can really enjoy and stream them. I know it's a bit late in Type O's case because that technology barely existed back then, but you get the idea.
Nothing beats a great live gig. But, so too the level of disappointment of a half-arsed gig.
I reckon there is a real market for interactive online pay-per-view content. There are a lot of bands I'd be just as happy to spend fifteen bucks on to see at a bespoke live gig, say with a Q&A afterwards, than travel to see live.
As the technology catches up, you could even have live gigs with musicians remote from each other.
-
1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:
Not to take away from Kenny, he was always on point when I saw them and his vocals added a lot to the band dynamic. I can't get into any of his post TON stuff though.
I only saw the band once, on the LiKM tour and Kenny seemed to be the grown up holding the show together. Peter was a mess and it was worse in the Carnivore reunion I saw a few years later because Kenny wasn't there.
Silvertomb is particularly good in my opinion. The new Eye Am stuff didn't seem quite as good. But hopeful that an album will pull it off. Not interested in singles and I don't get why they thought releasing piecemeal would be a good idea.
-
On 1/26/2024 at 7:00 AM, GoatmasterGeneral said:
So wait, "the dog's bollocks" is good or bad? Dog's breakfast is bad, his bollocks must be good. (I should think, because he spends enough goddamn time licking them)
LIKM is certainly an unsung hero, but it's not a Dead Again level masterpiece. WCD is the one that gets old for me, it was my favorite for so long that I might have worn it out a bit. Still consider Creepy Green Light probably my favorite Type-O song of all though. Anesthesia starts out with that great riff in the first half but then I think it falls apart later in the song. I'd really like to know which riffs Pete wrote and which ones Kenny came up with across all their albums. I don't think Kenny gets nearly enough credit for the insanely good riffs packed into a lot of their songs, and of course his vocals.
I never thought about it, but yes dog's bollocks must be good because they sure do love 'em.
Not sure how Anesthesia falls apart later in the song. It's actually fairly economical compared to many type o tracks. The line "I don't feel anything" is a highlight of the album.
Peter is credited with writing every type o song. Kenny never had a songwriting credit (to my recollection ) which I do wonder about, because his post o bands Seventh Void and Silvertomb were excellent. He's all we have now and still does good work and sings great.
-
NP: Goatess | Goatess (bandcamp.com)
I wondered what these guys were up to, checked their facebook and they've only gone and broken up!
It was never the same when the vocalist (who was in Saint Vitus for a bit) left after the second album, but the third album was still passable.
This first one probably has my fav tracks on it, even if it is too long overall of course.
-
On 1/21/2024 at 7:16 AM, BloodHornVital said:
Someone here with a deeper knowledge may feel free to correct me, but I recognize Life is killing me as TON’s most mainstream album at the height of their career. It’s just so catchy and enjoyable and has a lot of nostalgic value personally. I keep learning new insights about it as well, like the song Todd’s ship gods is based on Peter visiting his father’s grave for the first time after several years since his father passed away. The man wasn’t even at his father’s funeral because of personal reasons.
Dead again I remember having good reviews when it came out, but I guess their fame was settling down by that time and it has a more doomy atmosphere without the gothic feeling their earlier albums had, which is why it didn’t catch on so much. I can see why GoatmasterGeneral likes that one.
I’ve never actually bothered to check TON’s earlier albums prior to October rust. I mean I’ve listened to a track here and there but never spinned one whole album through. The four albums October rust, World coming down, Life is killing me and Dead again have always felt all the Type-O-Negative I ever needed.
October Rust was Type O's commercial/mainstream peak. That record was specifically written with "getting chicks" in mind, after the success of Bloody Kisses (BK being the only one to go platinum and Roadrunner's most successful record at the time). In my view Type O were coasting at a similar level from World Coming Down through to the end. I wouldn't say LiKM is a mainstream album, nor at the height of their career.
For a long time I considered Dead Again their best album, for all the reasons @GoatmasterGeneral mentioned. However, more recently I find Life is Killing Me to be the unsung hero of the catalog. The closing tracks Anaesthesia thru The Dream is Dead are just perfect.
But that is the power of the green man. Any of those albums could be the best.... except October Rust; but even that one I might give another go some day.
It's ironic that October Rust was the current album when I first heard Type O (my guess some time in 1997) and I liked it well enough then, but Bloody Kisses was the dog's bollocks ....I've just played it too many times for it to be my favourite anymore.
-
1 hour ago, Thatguy said:
Thanks for the heads up. there is a lot of interesting stuff there.
With Dev it's Ocean Machine, Terria and Ki for me.
Century Media went from being most loathed to most choice label when they started releasing the back catalogue to BC.
Surely Inside Out must be gg's favourite label?!
What Are You Listening To?
in Forum Games
Posted
That is admirable. Not sure I have any bands left where I have a self imposed media blackout but understand the principle.
In the old days it was fairly irrelevant because Judas Priest was unlikely to release a single (let alone several) before the album that I was likely to hear.
You would hear a new album was coming out and hope you beat your mates to the record store to pick up one of the few copies.
I remember when Painkiller was released, rushing down at lunch break from school. ... And then having to wait to get home to actually play it.
I'm not sure when I am going to hear the new priest. I'll wait for your review, divide the enthusiasm by 10 and then maybe be not too disappointed.