Nasty_Cabbage

NP: Kobold - Chaos Head I posted the link and cover a while back so I'll spare that, but I've been coming back to this album a lot lately. That intro to Medieval Cam-Whore Punk has got to have one of the weirdest lead ins I've heard in years, and when that guitar chug actually kicks even though it's slightly more in the background than some of the higher notes it still has the heft to cave in some sternums. Thing is the whole album is sorta like that. There's no mistaking this group for a different band for sure. Of course it's not in the league of something like Bonded By Blood but I mean it when I say every single track has something interesting to show. What a unique band.

Are you more of a true crime/serial killer guy? I ask because I gravitate toward the supernatural in my horror films, and Hereditary definitely hit the right notes for me, but I know people who simply can't stand make-believe in horror, and that was their problem with the film. They usually enjoy movies like Fincher's Zodiac and it's ilk, and I definitely respect the craftsmanship of those films, they just don't really work for me on a horror level. It's sort of like talking to the "hard" sci-fi guys who will carefully discuss and dissect the details of terraforming down to a granular level, but absolutely hate the twist in Event Horizon because it doesn't work for them on an objective and practical level.

Not a tone, but definitely a musically defined style. This happens every so often, and in most cases a lot of the bickering comes from a corner of the metal world that typically rejects and dislikes whatever style their talking about. Just a few weeks ago I nearly had an aneurysm when I saw bands being referred to as "pizza thrash". It cuts both ways though. For the most part I really don't think "groove" is a very apt sound description, and the argument could possibly be made that the term djent, though somewhat nebulous, at least has an onomatopoeian aspect in it's function that could apply as a general catch-all for sound description. That said though, I have no problems leaving the term behind and just going with Meshuggah-esque or some such. It's really not a hill worth dying on.

NP: Ingested - Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering ▶︎ Surpassing the Boundaries of Human Suffering | Ingested | Unique Leader Records (bandcamp.com) Wow. For a brutal/slam band whose first full length came in 2009 this album seemingly has a ton of defenders who regard this album as a classic. Every once in a while I'll go in for this type of thing. Devourment or Skinless are usually my go-to in that case. Weird I hadn't heard this one.

NP: Dream Death - Journey Into Mystery

Hey. Thank you guys for your encouraging words. It seriously means a lot. Nah. I know what I believe to be right, but better? No way man. If anything I've seen your general sense of empathy on this board and the way you fret over this little cobwebbed corner of the internet is... What's the metal equivalent of heart warming? I'll have to think on that. The stinky human element is honestly something that I'm the least worried about. Grandpa is primarily suffering from something hard to pin down that's causing blood pressure spikes, and loss of balance. If this continues to worsen before they know what's going on, it may come to full time care. We're not to the point of ass-wiping yet, but it's certainly a possibility. I know nobody's quite as quick mentally in their eighties as they were before, but I've been told that mentally he has detectably lost a step. His wife (my grandmother) died about seven or eight years ago with dementia among other problems, and those last few years were very hard on him, but from what I understand he's still self aware and able to read and write and speak. He just gets a little lost sometimes when in conversation and has trouble tracking the course of discussions that get a little lift off. Typical two alarm stuff for his age. Financially I can live like a Spartan if I have to, and speaking as a stinky bag of offal and meat myself, I've seen what we all look like turned inside out, and I don't consider it an indignity personally. Only real concern in that regard is if my aunts and uncles believe I'm responsible enough for the task, and I honestly relish the chance to prove my worth in that measure. Ahh. The sacred rite of the elderly to make the young people around them uncomfortable by talking about their own death. Is it weird that I'm actually looking forward to that for myself? One really awful trait I've always had is my staunch belief that there are few things in life funnier than frightening children, and making young adults squirm. I don't know how I would have ever made it to my thirties if I wasn't allowed to laugh at some wealthy people getting crushed in a depressurized submarine or some backwoods fellow pouring half a bottle of whiskey up his ass to fire firecrackers from his torched lower GI system. These things are funny, and on witnessing them I will exercise my right to laugh. As far as my own death I have expressed in no uncertain terms that I am to be taken to the Henry Dorly Zoo with a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 and not to be stopped from trying to ride the rhino. A victory for both of us.

NP: Calvana - III┼ III┼ | Calvana (bandcamp.com) Weirdo Italians and their weirdo black metal. I was initially thinking it was going to be more dissonant in keeping with the times, but that only crops up occasionally. After that it's almost sparse and dry black metal that doesn't care about you or it's audience like some crazy old man ranting at full volume at the ceiling about the sleestacks and straightjackets for days on end.

Gary Oldman wouldn't be a bad choice. Pratt? As the Judge? Nah. I've got no beef with Pratt and he seems like a nice enough dude, but there's no way he could convey the sense of fear and fascination fused together that would be required of him. I lean a little more toward Clancy Brown myself. Just keep Tom Hardy and his travelling peripatetic affectations away from it. Then again, who knows, we could end up with a Heath Ledger/Joker situation.

Could be facing some slightly drastic lifestyle changes coming up here. Short story even shorter my remaining grandparent is hitting the age where his health and overall well being is experiencing problems. My brother is in the early stages of raising his family and my sister just took up a new career and needs to be able to continue her education where she's at. My parents are enjoying their early retirement years and, even though they'd be there if anything were to happen, they've taken to their more or less nomadic lifestyle of seeing the whole country via their RV-ing. My job is fine right now, but nothing I couldn't walk out on so that makes me the likely candidate to take full time care of my grandfather on a live-in care status. First off, I'm actually more proud than anything that they would ask me to do that if future Dr. appointments show further decline. I am more than willing to do the dirty work when it comes to full time care. A elderly home is not an option. Grandpa did a fantastic job with his children and by extension his grandchildren so we owe him peace and unconditional love in his waning, and if he were to move in with me taking care of him he'd be closer to his children and be able to see them much more often. When I was talked to about this I didn't detect any malice or lack of faith in my ability to care for him, but it was made clear that it would effectively be my full time job, and everything else that comes with that responsibility including putting my own personal plans on hold for possibly years. I have no problems with this. Afterall, like I said, he's earned his peaceful twilight years and built a strong growing family. This is at the absolute minimum what we owe him, and what they mean when people talk about being an adult and what you owe the humans in your life that made you. We'll know in a week or so what the general health prognosis is, and whether this will be a necessary step. Whatever the old boxing adage is that says everybody has a plan until they get hit holds true, but honestly, more than anything else I feel a lot of self pride in being asked and entrusted to do this that I'm going to have to watch internally.

Excellent. Blood Meridian is absolutely soul destroying in the best possible way. McCarthy was one of the few greats the English speaking world had left. I vividly remember passages from that book that would plunge me into a kind of terrifying living unreality that teased and prodded at the fear of a hell beneath, and around us in a way nothing else could. Now the real question becomes; Who would you cast as The Judge for a film version?

NP: Temple of Gorgon - Leviathan (ep) ▶︎ Temple of Gorgon - Leviathan [RAUM-024] | Geistraum Records (bandcamp.com) It's black metal. It's not raw black metal, but also not in the German style either. Closer to say, something like Denouncement Pyre, but less boring (sorry to any of the fans out there, but for the life of me I can't pay attention to that band). Also not as ponderous and sprawling as Aosoth (Again, sorry. See above). Executed with confidence and relish for what it is.

NP: Master - Saints Dispelled ▶︎ Saints Dispelled | Master (bandcamp.com) Always game for some Master. Hadn't realized these guys had a new one. The guitar tone on the solo of the first track is very tasty.

That is some heavy nasty stuff. That entire post is like a cautionary tale for anybody in the habit of 'just trying to be nice' by asking unassuming people in public what they're listening to on their headphones. NP: Moon Oracle - Ophidian Glare Ophidian Glare | Moon Oracle (bandcamp.com) Nothing to get too excited about, but for what it's worth, these guys have some nice slow-downs and tempo shifts. That's a quality I usually associate with death metal so this was worth a listen anyway.

NP: Antioch - Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow ▶︎ Antioch VI: Molten Rainbow | Antioch (bandcamp.com) I realize that these guys being traditional heavy metal where references to things like rainbows without even registering how silly that sounds is pretty par for the course, but it's worth considering that Rainbow had RJD as a vocalist and anything with Dio on vocals you can call whatever you want without calling your metalness in to question. This guy is emphatically not Dio. He's capable, but maybe a little overambitious. In fact he sounds like he'd be a better fit for a Testament style thrash band with some occasional falsetto shrieks for fun. That said, what we've got here is no more and no less than what you'd expect. Traditional heavy metal in the Cruz Del Sur style. It's all about your threshold for this sorta thing.

I missed this yesterday. Condolences. I seriously wish the best to you and yours, and I hope you have family and friends around you right now. The entire process can feel as if you're moving through things at light speed and trapped in quicksand all at once so make sure to make time for yourself, and lean on the people around you if you feel weak.

NP: Funeral Winds - 333 ▶︎ 333 | FUNERAL WINDS | Osmose Productions (bandcamp.com) Enjoying this. I was honestly not expecting that punk-influenced anthemic four chord chorus halfway through the first track. Very well done.

NP: Motorowl - This House Has No Center ▶︎ This House has no Center | Motorowl (bandcamp.com) Instant points awarded for having a name as cool as Motorowl. Fantastic band name. The album isn't even out yet except for a few tracks, but they're both excellent. A little Cathedral/St. Vitus style doom. A little bit of Uriah Heap and old school rock centered Pentagram makes for a really satisfying listen. I have to say the way this dude sings the chorus of Future Nostalgia ("Fyooo-tur nostalgeeeyuh") has got me psyched. Alright Motorowl, I'm buying the hype on this one, and if there's no hype I'll make some and then buy it.

NP: Xion - Between Shadows and Gods ▶︎ Between Shadows And Gods | Xion (bandcamp.com) Not bad. Thrash that goes full on for the grandiose mythical comic book imagery that a lot of other thrash bands miss entirely, and hits with efficiency and speed funneled through more melodically European styles. Only problem I have is the vocals. Look dude, I know you were born with the voice you have and there's really nothing to be done about it, but you sound like Puppets era James Hetfield. Like similar to the point of being a distraction. I've made my peace with Metallica being the metal band non-metalheads think of when they hear metal. I'm just so tired of talking about them. They need a different vocalist.

Damn. Good job to whoever did that artwork. Looks standard enough at a passing glance, but filled with a ton of cool details that really help sell the comic book hand drawn vibe. It draws the eye to the corners and makes less and less sense the longer you look. I haven't heard these guys before so hopefully the music lives up to it. The cover art alone earns a listen from me. EDIT: Hey now, this is pretty good. For some reason it's reminding me of Geisha Goner with some Voivod influence for good measure. NP: Devouring Saturn - Fortis Rebis ▶︎ Fortis Rebis | Devouring Saturn (bandcamp.com) Woke up in the mood for some instrumental stuff today, and there's no richer vein to mine than progressive rock/metal when that's what I want. This isn't mind blowing, but the compositions are tight and concentrated and of course each member's bringing a high level of technical skill and acumen to the proceedings. Weird music for a weird mood and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Whoo. Finished Steelrising a few weeks back. I enjoyed it, but I think they made the correct decision to keep it fairly abbreviated for their first entry into the souls-like genre. The game does feel like it might be moving at almost too brisk of pace, and you can tell it's a French studio since their are a number of actual historical figures in the game, and when they get a scene or two to forward the plot the writers pretty much indulged in a full on academic lesson on the french revolution. Still, it remains interesting. Most US residents these days don't really know much about that particular topic other than A Tale of Two Cities. Diving into that stuff can be a little daunting to some I suppose. Combat was a lot of fun since you can pretty much carve out a viable strategy from any starting class and stat range. This does have the effect of making the game a little too easy for the souls crowd though. One thing I particularly appreciate is that you don't need to have razor sharp parry and block timings. I almost never start a build with parries being a key component. I know that's sacrilege to some for whom the entire souls genre is the parry mechanics, but I'm just not about that sort of play style so it's really nice to not be funneled straight toward that strategy like Sekiro did (and for what it's worth I actually really liked Sekiro, but man that can be brutal to first timers.) I also played through Disco Elysium again when I needed a break. Now it's onto the next game: Lost Eidolons. Don't know why, but I've had a hankering for a Fire Emblem style combat system, and since I'm not on that Nintendo crush that sometimes happens, think I found a good alternative for PS5. I probably won't go back to Nintendo. Lots of fond childhood memories until I actually start to play on somebodies Switch. Zelda games don't feel like Zelda games to me anymore, and I don't really have much fun with what they replaced it with, but I've always enjoyed Fire Emblem style combat. Should be fun.

Kankar - Ascension ▶︎ Ascension | KANKAR (bandcamp.com) Whew. I thought for sure this would have been another Amon Amarth clone. That's not the case here. I do have to say a lot of the material here actually stands on its own rather well. A little more Windir influenced and more professionally recorded than some people might like. I've always been of the mind that, even though we're still dealing with the hangover from all those blackened folk bands that we had a glut of a few years back, the Ensiferums and Forefathers of the world can be very enjoyable in smaller doses... Except for Forefather. They just rule. Still on occassion my patience can be tested with the more progressive side of folky black metal (let's say Summoning or Enslaved for the sake of the example). It all depends on how much else a band has going for them. If it's not only Scandinavian folkish chord progressions and has more to offer than just that I can be won over despite my misgivings. This album certainly works in that regard.

They were certainly a product very specific to a very brief time in the subculture, that's for sure. I never felt the desire to sit down and actually listen to one of their albums since their focus was clearly more about spectacle than anything musically substantial. The live shows (never caught them after Oderus, so I can't really speak to that) were fun though. A lot of that may have been due to them rolling through mid-size cities that most recognizable bands just skipped more often than not. Never underestimate the power of bored people with excess energy and no real socially acceptable outlet to exhibit it I guess. NP: KRSNĪ - Svoboda ▶︎ KRSNĪ (UZBEKISTAN) - SVOBODA | MASTERS OF KAOS (bandcamp.com) Black metal much in the vein you'd assume from the cover. Vocals are of the shrill shrieky variety. Guitar is a little repetitive.

Sounds like you had fun, and handily solves the cruise ship problem of having seen and done everything by the second day. Joke bands like Nanowar of Steel always weirded me out a little, but I do sort of get why somebody would enjoy them. I've seen Gwar a few times when I was younger. I just never understood the idea of getting tacit permission to laugh at your own ridiculousness. I don't really need a deliberately goofy band schtick for that. I mock myself quite enough in the real world as is. I think I saw Blood Red Throne once way back when for me. If I recall they and Krisiun did a really good job making the most of an unenthusiastic crowd in a basement venue with sub-par accommodations for that type of sound. Also the person I was with was starting to get scared as more people who were there to see the headliner shuffled in. It was more the neighborhood than the fault of the headliner in question who I wasn't particularly keen on seeing either, but I've been to so many shows in seedy venues at this point I sometimes forget how it feels to be so far out of place and outside your comfort zone. Regardless I actually did eventually take the hint from the poor girl and we left about halfway through the headliner's set. Sorry. Looking at that now I realize that has almost nothing to do with Blood Red Throne. Sometimes seeing those long time bands with a great work and tour ethic can make for some of the most unexpectedly excellent shows if the crowd starts to feel it, and Blood Red Throne strike me as just that type of band. Oh no. Absolutely not. This can not be what we're calling this stuff. Good God, no. That hurts my head. If that's what we're calling it, just make sure that label stays online only. I don't think I could endure hearing that spoken aloud.

I always felt that by the time Nevermore got to This Godless Endeavor, which is for sure some of their strongest material, Dane's voice was sort of shot. Still a good album, though. Somebody just should've told Dane he wasn't playing the lead in a Dracula cabaret.

NP: Far Beyond - A Frozen Flame of Ice ▶︎ A Frozen Flame Of Ice | Far Beyond (bandcamp.com) You know, I occasionally need a reminder not to be so closed off to clean vocals when perusing metal on the extreme end. Doubly so for melodic death metal. Every so often I stumble onto a band that wins me over in spite of my negative impression of other bands doing much the same thing. Clean singing in metal where it's usually absent is often very flimsy. The cleans here are definitely of the character and quality I would expect of a Dark Tranquility or their ilk, and they make liberal use of them. The thing is the guitar solos (oh yeah, they also use traditional guitar solos in abundance, and they're equally impressive) and grandiose nature of the music keeps them from sounding out of place as so many clean vocal lines do. They also avoid both the falsetto alternating power-ish melodic hooks, and the sort of low limited range mumbling some bands seem to like. They opt instead for martial military beats more suited to the baritone. The full vocal harmonies are also well executed, most often going for matching three harmonized voices when they crop up; so full chords instead of two voice harmonies. It's not perfect by any means, but it's good enough to constitute a stand-out sound for me.