JonoBlade

Dawn of Azazel - The Tides of Damocles

I have a great 9 to 5 job. It is neither boring nor shitty. I guess it would be cool to make a living from music, but I don't think it is realistic, even in the ideal world I seek. The Spotify-running-at-a-loss thing has always baffled me. If it is so unprofitable, what is the point? They are remaking the world into a shittier place for nothing. You can but conclude it must be hopelessly corrupt. I bet the CEO is laughing all the way to the bank. Oh, and they won't ever pay a fair amount. They will pay what they can get away with and fight regulation every step of the way. That is how capitalism works.

Plenty of good point raised. It was something that occurred to me a while ago that the streaming thing can work and maybe even be fair for legacy bands or back catalogs. Especially if you have time/leverage to negotiate a better deal. By all means use Spotify as a radio station where you can playlist stuff, old and new. I agree, why would you want to buy a ZZ Top album when all you want to hear is that Back to the Future soundtrack song from two decades ago? Personally, I'd use You Tube like WN does and get the shitty VHS ripped video at the same time. But for a new release, some underground band is losing big time by putting it on a streaming service. Although, it would make sense to give away one or two tracks as a taster of an album. My problem with the current model is one of entitlement and devaluation of music but, for sure, the classic model of bands getting chewed up and spat out by the music industry and ending up in debt and on the street was just another flavour of shit raw deal compared to today's inequalities. There is a real opportunity now to have a "fair" system. There'll still be a bazillion bands, most of whom will never make it, but they could have a fair choice. Streaming platforms are a new form of exploitation just as the old record companies were. All the while it seems to me that shelling out $5-$10 directly to a band for a download album is fair and reasonable. But, for the most part here, I'm preaching to the converted. P.S. I don't see DAPs with huge storage capacities disappearing anytime soo. Downloading an album once is still a lot more efficient than streaming it a hundred times, where you need a permanent internet connection. What about after global societal collapse when there is no internet? I'll be trickle charging my MP3 player from a solar panel while some of you have to crank up a diesel generator to run your turntable or do without music completely as Spotify burns in the fire of hubris. Who's laughing now!!??

I have a Dual Rec and Diezel Herbert that taunt me daily. Because I can hardly ever get in a room where they can be cranked. Only used for recording into an isolation cab. Ridiculously over powered but I can't bring myself to sell them as I'd lose a fortune...although probably make someone very happy. If I had my time over I'd give one of the micro amps a go. Diezel just released a VH4 mini which has the VH4 channel 3 circuit with a solid state power stage. My day-to-day jam and demo recording set up is a Victory Kraken pre amp into a power amp/cab sim pedal (Two Notes Torpedo CAB). However, I understand that Victory now do a Kraken pedal with a solid state power amp built in. Something like that might be pretty cool. As above (tube screamer guy) I'd also recommend trying out a few booster pedals as the first thing you plug into from the guitar. Back in the day Iommi and the like had to use these to boost the signal and help the tubes break up, before high gain amps existed. I got a pedal based on the modded Rangemaster that Iommi used and, even into a high gain amp, it adds some extra secret sauce. Laney make a pedal based on this: TI Boost, but there are many boosts out there.

Some here seem to be using Spotify for all it should be good for, which is discovering new music and, if you like it, going and supporting the band by buying the album, e.g. from Bandcamp or your local store. Which is good to hear. Anyone that uses it as an exclusive way to consume music, know that you are suffocating a band's ability to make a living. The modern consumer that feels entitled to everything as cheap as possible with no thought to what resources or effort went into making it. I don't personally understand why any small to medium sized band has any of their content on there because its shooting themselves in the foot. It just became the "done thing" and there is a fear of being left behind by not having your stuff on streaming services that, at the same time, ruins their chance of making a living. Spotify could have a feature like bandcamp where if you have listened to an artist's song or album more than a few times then you are prompted to pay the going rate for the song/album. But that is not their model. Their model is to devalue music and ruin lives. Fuck spotify.

On that fateful night in 2002 it wasn't Cult of Luna's fault. They suffered from opening band syndrome where they all, including drums, were pushed to the front of stage. I have plenty of respect for those guys and they've stood the test of time. Last gig of theirs I saw was great.

This. OMG are crushing live, because it's the heaviest side of Isis and can stay focused in a coherent set list where they play the hits. But, man, the albums just wander all over the place. Same with Sumac. The genius of Isis was having guys in the band that had strong enough personalities and their own writing chops to reign in Aaron Turner. Left to his own devices (and apparently in OMG too) he just can't keep songs focused enough to produce a great album all the way through. On the other hand Palms, which is all of Isis excluding Aaron, + Chino Moreno on vocals, is too soft. The songs are constructed more better than OMG or Sumac, but they lack the Aggressive Turner OverdriveTM. Isis was pure synergy. True story: back in 2002 or so I went to see Cult of Luna open for Isis on the Oceanic tour. It's beyond me why now but, while I had heard Oceanic, I preferred CUL up until that point. For whatever reason CUL didn't really pull it off that night. But holy shit, seeing Isis was a revelation. They even leapfrogged Neurosis in my book. Although, these days Neurosis still remain the band to beat in the post metal space.

The kind of woman that has as many kids as possible in the hope that one of them is going to look after their bludger-self in old age is not the greatest starter pack of genetic material. The kind of guy that impregnates a woman of that type is also not much of a contribution. In genetics two wrong-uns rarely make a right-on. Compassion probably comes more from nurture anyway, which will be in short supply in that kind of household. There are too many people in the world and most children born today are going to end up in a mad max style dystopia fighting over scraps in the resource wars to come. There is no other endgame on a finite planet. Despite scholars proposing that human population should have reached a saturation point decades ago (and so far it hasn't happened), it is still inevitable. Earth is a closed system so you cannot infinitely fill a closed system, especially with the mindless consumer scum that are born today. The left they say I'm a facist The right calling me communist Hate hate hate hatred for all - one and all No matter what you believe Don't believe in you - and that's true -Petrus T Steele

Yeah, it's an "aspiration" more than a tally. I wouldn't like to see that count either.

As guiding principles go, that is a good one. It's a challenge for me to improve on my own upbringing as I had a pretty lucky ride. The only trump cards I have are not polluting my daughter's head with religion (and even that was pretty mild for me - but you can never underestimate the damage that the great lie of religion does to a mind - it is child abuse) and presenting a relatively anti-materialist home life with the environment and health at the core of every decision we make (my mum bought a lot of clothes she didn't need but admittedly was a whizz at balancing family finances on my dad's teacher's salary and her part time job). All we can ever do is aspire to be better than and improve on our parents. And in Dead's case be A LOT better than our parents!

I ordered this months ago on a whim but it only showed up on Saturday morning. Delighted to note that the track Brothers of the Road is cut from the LP version. Lamentably, it is still on the accompanying CD. It was an odd choice that the nine minute Return of the Sentinel finishes the album on a prolonged mellow part. I expected it to go back heavy for an epic fade out. Have only listened through once so far and generally agree with the comments of my colleagues. It is so cheesy it makes Manowar sound sophisticated. But I want to like it. Whereas modern JP comes with too much trepidation to really be enjoyable for me. Richie has just too much influence on JP songwriting with paint by numbers metal anthems. He is an incredible player and I wish him well while he recovers from a massive heart attack, but JP could release one last classic if KK was back on board, alongside Richie for lead studio and live work. Since KK had the good sense to limit the length of the album I personally prefer Sermons of the Sinner to Firepower. Fight me. It could have been way better with some less awful lyrics and more oversight on Ripper's vocals. He tends to be a bit of a one trick pony. I wonder whether he was left to record the vocals on his own in his basement during lockdown and KK just said "yeah, that'll do." The solos are ripping though. KK proved he can write a decent album on his own which is admirable for a 70 year old that hasn't played much in the last 10 years. If you check out the writing credits on all the 70s Priest albums then Glenn Tipton wrote the lion's share, before they democratically started sharing all credits in the 80s. It is clear that Glenn was objectively the bigger talent in Priest and KK may have grown to resent that, but they were the greatest dual guitar team in metal history. There's no taking that away.

Sabbat were fantastic. History of a Time to Come had a big impact on me. Ironically, I never heard Dreamweaver and the much maligned Mourning Has Broken until quite recently. Dreamweaver is good but as @Dead1 said there is a tendency for Martin Walkyier to just spit out lyrics as a dense fog which is a bit overwhelming at times. Mourning Has Broken was ill conceived. Some of the music is decent. I even thought the new vocalist was ok; he had a Russ Anderson/Forbidden vibe, but by the end of the album I had to admit....yeah, it's not great. However, History of a Time to Come is classic. I heard the track "Hosannah in Excelsis" on a student radio metal show the same day I heard Carcass and Fear Factory (Martyr) for the first time. I recorded the show on a C-90. Holy shit, that day changed my life.

Isn't that treason? +1 for practising cooking. If you're eating Chinese takeout and Dominoes you're killing yourself.

Bandcamp Friday! So get some in ya. Torn Arteries by Carcass Was going to happen eventually that I would get this, so why wait? There are some really tasty and unexpected melodies in there. Hopefully it will be a grower, despite the sterile production. A Skeletal Domain by Cannibal Corpse I am way out of the loop with CC so decided to go back to the oldest new album I haven't heard yet. Deconsecrate by Ænigmatum This has been in my wishlist for a month or so. I think I liked it so took a punt. Ghostmaker by Rumplestiltskin Grinder Someone here mentioned these guys. The band was defunct years ago but deserve a revival based on the name alone.

I don't use the car very much at the moment since my daughter can now take a bus to school. But, I did have to drive cross country from Milton Keynes to Cambridge way yesterday and as luck would have it (at 8am) there was no queue and fuel at the local Texaco. Driving anywhere in the UK sucks though. The UK needs less cars. In a hurry. I didn't have a choice in this case, but they are supposedly bringing back an Oxford to Cambridge train line. The first lockdown was glorious.

Am making my way through my big four LPs at lunchtimes, from inception to 1990 when all changed or went downhill in one way or another. Finished Megadeth and Metallica. Now onto Slayer. As I do I read the Wikipedia entries to get some background info on the making of the albums. In critical circles Show No Mercy seems to be considered adequate but not great and that Slayer really found its vibe on Hell Awaits. I don't really get that. Show No Mercy is a lot of fun and is unique in itself, not just aping what peers were doing at the time. It was interesting that Kerry King wrote the opening track Evil Has No Boundaries (apparently Gene Hoglan did background vocals on it!) and the title track. Kerry gets a lot of flack for basically not being as good a player or writer as Hanneman but writing the "first" song that introduces the band to the world counts for something. Next should be Anthrax, but I don't own nor have ever heard Fistful of Metal, although I have the rest (thru Persistence of Time). I can only find a 1983 press of FoM for £35 and I don't know if I want it that much.

Ha. "good" and "decent" hardly inspires "holy shit, you gotta listen to this!" I suppose I am on a quest to discover a hidden gem that I never heard in the distant past despite it being considered a classic to others. Something that transcends the fact it has no actual nostalgia for me but is great anyway. A few years ago I went back and did a deep dive into Pink Floyd, despite never having heard anything before Dark Side of the Moon before. What I discovered was every bit as good as the later stuff, but that was because I knew the band's sound and was already attuned to the vibe from my formative years. It seems nigh on impossible to find a band from the 60s/70s you never (or hardly) heard and convince yourself it is good now. There just isn't the nostalgia to prop it up. In my opinion the Tony Martin Sabbath albums are as good as Dio's. Dio was a greater singer and the highs are higher, but nostalgia carries the TM era of Sabbath through because it was the current lineup when I was discovering metal as a whole. NP - Cream - Disraeli Gears (I did have an Eric Clapton compilation tape when I was a teenager so there is a chance I can harness nostalgia with this one) interestingly, the stereo mix on You Tube is one of those early examples where the engineer thought it was a good idea to pan the drums all on one side. It's crazy but listening on speakers is fine.

I'm sure we all had the same conversation on a regular basis at Metal-Fi! I agree about Painkiller and backwards qualifying for regular spins. I don't have any vinyl after Painkiller (except a ridiculous 3LP Nostradamus set which has been played once). Black Sabbath has the most consistent discog in my opinion. The only real duds are Seventh Star, Forbidden and 13 which just don't have the necessary magic despite being listenable. Which Blue Oyster Cult and Uriah Heep albums are the most definitive? I have too little patience to actually do a deep dive myself. Would prefer a recommendation on the basis that we all agree Sad Wings is head and shoulders above every other Priest album.

The last drink I had was two bottles of beer (on separate days) around Christmas-time. The one prior to that was before lockdown started in March 2020; don't remember when. So I guess that means I don't drink now. I can't say it was ever a problem except when my wife worked for an alcohol company that gave, as perk, a couple hundred quid a year to spend at their on-site bottle shop. I drank way too much flavoured vodkas and gins that year. I didn't even need or want to. It was just in the cupboard. Life is better without it. And also removes one more impediment to me being able to judge everyone else around as lesser and worthless humans. The next thing to give up is a car, but I'm trying to work out the logistics of that. Although not as hard this week given that everyone is panic buying petrol and all the gas stations are empty.

I can live with a Sneap sound but it is such a missed opportunity to make a record sound great. I have to assume that bands tracking albums in a studio are still getting a decent sound there, only to be homogenised during mixing to meet a "modern" standard. One of my favourite natural production sounds is Inter Arma. The drums actually sound like you're in a jam room with a pillow stuffed in the bass drum. It's a bit murky but has charm. Too much reverb on the vocals...but again, that is their signature.

I went down a rabbit hole of looking at Hipgnosis album covers yesterday because I pondered what they may have done with the Master of Puppets field of crosses concept (it was the band's idea) if they had had a go at it. Not all Hipgnosis covers were great...but I still think they'd have done a better job. Metallica should have had money for it by then because they were signed to Elektra. Back in the hey day of the record industry Hipgnosis asked Led Zeppelin's manager (for Houses of the Holy shoot) "what is the budget?" and were told "whatever it takes, see the accountant on the way out and get whatever you need." Clients who write blank cheques are the best kind of client.

The last post made my morning. Killers was my favourite. Apologies if it has been posted before .... This is a shit album cover. The crosses are too close together and why are the hands puppeteering fixed objects? It doesn't make any sense. The grass is ok I suppose. Come to think of it, all Metallica album covers are shit. The best is probably Kill 'Em All and that is still pretty shit. And....what did Patrick Swayze have to do with Music for Nations...was he a shareholder? It is fairly obvious what I was listening to at lunchtime while having these epiphanies.

Backyard Burial - The $2 PE.EP https://backyardburial.bandcamp.com/album/the-2-peep-ep-2001

In the emoticons there needs to be something equivalent to Radar saluting the helicopter when Henry Blake takes off in the third season of M*A*S*H*. Anyway, hails @navybsn and @JohanV.

One of my good mates, from Sweden as it happens, quit his job in London, gave up his flat (rented), all his material possessions, packed a single back pack and became a "modern nomad" to travel the world for an indefinite period, working remotely when he could get jobs (in IT). It has definitely had its ups and downs and, while intriguing, I couldn't see myself wanting such a life, but I respected the hell out of him for taking the plunge. This is not quite the same as piling up all your savings and burning it on an overseas trip where you're nothing more than a tourist, because the plan was to be sustainable if at all possible and actually live in new places for extended periods. Hell, I myself quit my job and moved to the other side of the world...back again 15 years later (with a wife and kid in tow) and then back again a year after that (being towed by the wife and kid). So, I can recommend sweeping life changes when sensibly thought through ..... but beware not to think it through to the extent that you second guess and dismiss every idea you have.