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Iceni

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Iceni last won the day on November 3 2017

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About Iceni

core_pfieldgroups_99

  • Biography
    Born in Santa Fe, NM to an American mother and a South African father.
  • Location
    The Atomic City (Los Alamos, NM)
  • Interests
    Drawing, writing fiction and metal lyrics, reading good fiction, politics, philosophy and theology
  • Occupation
    Studying International Politics - Working Summer Conference Assistant and Research Assistant

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    : The Capitol Swampy (Washington DC)
  • Interests
    Drawing, writing fiction, African politics, religion, weapons

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Iceni's Achievements

  1. On July 27, 2018, Redemption released their seventh full-length album, Long Night’s Journey Into Day. The release was mastered by Jacob Hansen, who has also worked with Amaranthe, Doro, Primal Fear and Volbeat. It is the first album to feature Evergrey vocalist Tom Englund on vocals, replacing longtime frontman Ray Alder, also of progressive metal institution Fates Warning. Englund’s highly emotional, husky vocal style could lend a rougher edge to Redemption’s simultaneously melodramatic and contemplative approach. It is also worth pointing out that in the band’s new promo shoot (https://www.redemptionweb.com/) he looks quite a lot like the 30-year-old Boomer (https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/30-year-old-boomer). It’s a good choice, however, considering that Evergrey and Redemption are strongly reliant on their vocalists to define their sound. The Art of Loss was the band’s most eclectic effort, but Alder’s singing provided the basic foundation that defined it as a Redemption album. Englund could be better off in Redemption, given that Evergrey have been meandering for the last couple releases while the former band have been musically top-notch for most of their oeuvre. Chris Poland, formerly of Megadeth, returns for this album, having appeared on The Art of Loss for a very noticeable shred outing on the title track. He will be joined by Italian guitar veteran Simone Mularoni, of Empyrios and the estimable prog-power heavyweights DGM. Also, after an extensive coma after a 2014 aneurysm (https://www.facebook.com/Bernie-Versailles-379611832240834/), the band’s longtime lead guitarist Bernie Versailles returns to the lineup. The title Long Night’s Journey Into Day is (according to the label, Metal Blade: https://www.metalblade.com/redemption/) an inversion of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the title of a play by Eugene O’Neill concerning a dysfunctional family being destroyed by addiction. (Interestingly, the album title itself is also the title of a movie about life under apartheid, as revealed during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In other words, the most South African documentary imaginable.) The album itself sees more varied lyrical content. The video for “Someone Else’s Problem” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQKHm_l-vcc) sees alternating shots of the band playing out in a very Bonneville Salt Flats-looking area, and of a woman luxuriating amongst various high-end items seething with unsubstantiated ennui and vindictiveness. Hilariously, like the divergent plot points in an episode of The Good Guys, the woman drives up to where the band are playing and contemptuously chucks a presumably very pricy set of pumps out the window at their feet. The band, consummate prog heads as they are, ignore this amusing display of human behavior completely and keep playing. It’s hard to tell exactly who is going to be someone else’s problem. It seems like it’s the woman, as the guy in this interaction is totally absent and the band seem to be slightly on the receiving end of this annoyance. Englund was added in the hope of finding a replacement for Alder who could address the same themes with the right tone. The press release notes both bands cover the human condition – though it should be said that Evergrey often takes on a pessimistic approach. Nonetheless, Englund is best when he can exercise the full range of his voice, which a Redemption album certainly would permit. Long Night’s Journey into Day tracklist 1. Eyes You Dare Not Meet in Dreams 2. Someone Else’s Problem 3. The Echo Chamber 4. Impermanent 5. Indulge in Color 6. Little Men 7. And Yet 8. The Last of Me 9. New Year’s Day 10. Long Night’s Journey into Day Redemption is: Tom Englund – vocals Nick van Dyk – guitars Sean Andrews – bass Chris Quirarte – drums Vikram Shankar – keyboards
  2. I invite you to come with me to a time before 2008. It may surprise you to learn that at this point, Circle II Circle was actually a pretty damn good band. They did eventually become prog Godsmack, as history will record with bitter regret chronicling the storied tale of Savatage. For now, however, let’s make like boomers and complain about how things used to be better. Burden of Truth sounds like sentimentalism, at times. It feels rather like Skid Row filtered through Phantom of the Opera, in that characteristically Trans-Siberian Orchestra fashion. The difference, though, is that Circle II Circle crank the technicality and bite of their music significantly higher than TSO’s comfortable bombast. It’s certainly a little saccharine, but performed with such conviction and talent as to make that nearly irrelevant. Zak Stevens’ voice is vital to this whole undertaking. His overbored bass resonates unstoppably through every song, an unmistakably mature vocal delivery that dignifies even the album’s most banal emotional turns (“How can we learn to live as one…” “I walked by the church and saw the children, and the world through their eyes…”). Moreover, it is very identifiably American, and that’s the biggest selling point of this album. It’s worth noting he layers very nicely with his backing vocalists. The “The Black” and title track have particularly good harmonizing. One might be tempted to snicker at some of these lyrics and the melodies. How antiquated the notion of melodic music without dizzying rhythmic changes or production magic out the ass. Yet, the sheer power behind it all is impossible to deny. The piano line on “Heal Me” would be insufferable if it didn’t drag you in immediately. Despite the sugar content, Burden of Truth is largely fat-free. It doesn’t fall victim to most metal tropes, including the prevalence of vibrato. It’s endearing too, in a sort of Andie McDowell in Five Weddings and a Funeral kind of way, or perhaps of Joy Davidson in Shadowlands – very American. The opening to Revelations? Badass. The crunchy riffs of A Matter of Time? Some slick shit. The entirety of Evermore? One of the most masterfully tight, pointed pieces of prog metal out there that still pounds away at the ears like a cannon blast. If you wanted an aspirational American soundtrack, this is it. Songs for an endearing everyman with more behind his ears than you might guess.
  3. I seem to be one of the few people who correctly predicted that comedy would suck balls during this administration. Very few comedians know how to mock someone like Trump because it's way too easy to just come off as angry rather than amusing (i.e. the George Carlin dilemma) Since the start of his campaign I've counted about 7 good jokes about the man. Most of these good jibes have been either gentle jokes that create humor through stark contrast with the man's character, or searing indictments by conservative religious people who voted against him. Anyhow, this review is interesting considering most highly ideological metal has sounded pretty shit - so much that even if I agreed with them I couldn't enjoy it. Elgibbor is a very Christian and very polemic artist but the music is pretty mediocre. I remember Jon Schaeffer's Sons of Liberty being kinda crappy, and this was back was I was really into libertarianism. Halcyon Way started sucking after their first album, and what a pity because they had some real potential.
  4. I'm a sucker for symphonic/dark melodies so I may well have skimmed guitar for them. That being said I remember thinking it was an improvement in every way. Nyn is hilarious. You'd absolutely hate them, they're basically Archspire with symphonic elements, but I enjoy them. You can't beat being able to capture a band's sound by humming Phantom of the Opera, making barking noises and blowing the occasional raspberry to imitate the kick drums.
  5. After two singles – 2014’s poppy “inner Enemy” and the somewhat more straight-laced “The Promise” in 2016 – Swedish progressive metal maestros Seventh Wonder have recently announced their new album “Tiara”. The release is being mixed by Oyvind Larsen, the man responsible for mixing on the already-mentioned singles. The album has undergone mastering by Jens Bogren at Fascination Studios. Bogren has previously worked with other progressive metal stalwarts such as James Labrie, Katatonia, Opeth and Symphony X. ( Frontiers Records will oversee the worldwide release of the 13-track concept album, including as a double LP. The band used the following lyrics in their promotion: “’We've watched you since the dawn of time, with every moment gone by. A million suns fade and die, this is the end?’ Beware, for they're coming..!” These are presumably an allusion to alien forces, given the cosmic imagery. The precedent for a concept album about exists in the band’s widely-lauded “Mercy Falls”, and more within melodic progressive metal more generally, perhaps most notably in Evergrey’s “In Search of Truth”, which also concerned aliens and isolation. Musically it’s very much in keeping with the band’s tradition. From the promo, the work sounds rather more like “Mercy Falls” than the preceding “The Great Escape”. It’s less melodic (of course this should be taken with a grain of salt given the general character of their oeuvre) but slightly darker than their previous work. From the musicianship I trust this will work; Anubis Gate attempted this in 2017 and failed, as did Adagio who despite employing the preeminent “dark prog” master Kelly Carpenter (Beyond Twilight, Darkology, Epysode, Outworld, Zierler) dropped their neoclassical edge and therefore their unique appeal. If anything it sounds like SW might be making the opposite ‘mistake’, but their style is developed enough that for them churning out the same stuff would be at least to my ears an entirely acceptable route. The tracklist is unknown, but Seventh Wonder’s promo video can be found here:
  6. I would have thought the potato's texture would clash with the dough and cheese. I guess that's not the case for pierogis though.
  7. Last day at Target. Wasn't that bad, but I am happy to be out of that job and looking forward to Christmas. Unfortunately I wasn't up at the checklane so I couldn't use my Duke Nukem impression on any irritating customer.
  8. Iceni

    Hi

    Im curious to see what Trump would do in a bailout assuming he doesn't shit the bed. Technically his party should be all about letting the market run so he presumably wouldn't bail the banks out. That being said, I'd be a moron to think the Republicans aren't severely compromised.
  9. Iceni

    Hi

    That is definitely worse than anything I've experienced. Too bad you can't tell them that they're the kinda people who helped cause the 2008 financial crisis... Dicky Fatwallet. God damn. Gotta remember that one, beautifully British.
  10. Iceni

    Hi

    You know I can almost handle the stupidity. It's the angry stupid people that get on my nerves, and more than that the angry entitled people. Honestly the customer base at my store wasn't that bad but boy howdy the bad people got pretty bad. The worst guy was someone who wanted to get a cash refund despite having no receipt and no card. It gets better: the item in question was a bottle of vitamin water. MSRP: $0.88. He kept saying "it's no big deal, so just gimme the cash refund." That's not how it works, dipshit. The correct line is "it's no big deal, so I will quit holding up the line to shake you down."
  11. He's good at that...he pulled the US out of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which I have no choice but to assume was done specifically to piss me off just in case everything else (including his transparently cynical pandering to Christians) hadn't already soured me to him.
  12. Iceni

    Hi

    Well that certainly explains your music preferences. Godspeed you peerless altruist taking upon yourself the unrelenting negativity of the nation's aggregated dimwits, assclowns and shitheads. I worked retail part-time for the last year and from what light interaction I had with customers in that capacity I can't even begin to imagine how stark raving mad I would have gone if I were in your position.
  13. Alabama didn't vote for Moore, thank God. I'm excited about some of these applications. One school I didn't actually apply to until I was pleasantly surprised by a promo email from them. My professors had good impressions of the program and judging from how enthusiastically said program bombarded me with emails after my GRE results I would assume I could not only get in but also expect pretty good financial aid. There are more prestigious schools I'd choose over them if I had the option (three, to be exact), but I really do have to take cost into consideration and that being said I think I could have a really good time with these guys. Courses look damn good, and it'd be nice to get away from this stuffy East Coast atmosphere and live in a proper city with more than two metal gigs a year. Who knows, I might even interact romantically with a woman at some stage.
  14. "Lost Innocence" by UnSun. Stupid poppy 'gothic' metal song. Don't care. Catchy as hell, lead riff kicks ass. I've enjoyed this one for years.
  15. I actually liked Robin Williams. Brian Regan is phenomenal, or at least he used to be. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Godfrey, and Bill Burr are probably my favorite American comedians. There are any number of British comics I've enjoyed: Michael McIntyre, Simon Evans, Miles Juppe, David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Frankie Boyle, Jo Caulfield, Zoe Lyons, Romesh Ranganathan, Stephen K. Amos, Alun Cochrane, Rhod Gilbert, Sean Walsh, and of course Bill Bailey.
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