Iceni

Re: Christian Black Metal OK, seriously, I just went downstairs just now to learn that opening riff. I'm back up now. I was done in about thirty seconds or less. It's tremolo on open E string, 1st fret, 5th fret, 4th fret. Then you start again.

Re: Christian Black Metal If you want me to be completely honest I thought that kinda sucked, musically. They used the same riff, I think, up until 1:38, at which point they switched to hitting the same chord over and over at a slow tempo. After that they went back to the same riff again. The drumming wasn't really that bad, but I thought the guitar was terrible, and trust me, I'm no. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not prejudiced against this music: I heard a Christian death metal group Antidemon and they were also monotonous after a while. I definitely prefer more varied black metal stuff like Dimmu Borgir and Melechesh. Melechesh owns.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal I suspect you like Ilium and Dungeon as well? Funny, I actually saw a Dragonland band member wearing a Dungeon t-shirt.

Re: hammer fall!

Re: Christian Black Metal Yeah...fair enough. I've heard Vaakevandring: svPdUqbbwxE Then there's Far Beyond: kbzkEs357Co But Slechtvalk is by far the best. (OK, maybe a demon head is a bit ironic) B_WMhcBF2QM Hopefully this will add to the discussion since people can evaluate these bands now...

Re: greetings I'd say g'day...but that'd be rather stupid. Well, you do sound like a typical Australian metal fan, you all seem very into the death/thrash thing. Psycroptic or Mephistopheles fan much? There are a lot of pretty great tech death bands in your country/continent. Still though...Voyager is good and I love Vanishing Point.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal Fair cop, but you say 'harder hitting'. I found that Manticora usually packs a wallop. For that matter, the darker symphonic metal bands usually do. Divinefire alters moods but they have a very atmospheric assault either way. I don't know if you'd consider Firewind symphonic - they do have a keyboardist - but that's another pretty powerful group.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal Perfectly fair...I've never like one-sided debate. Well, I started the topic in what I think was a bipartisan fashion, so now that we're into posts I figure I can state my own views. Maybe you're the other side of the debate. It does seem that you're more a fan of the traditional material. . If you want to tell us why, I'd be happy to hear it.

Re: Christian Black Metal Thank you very much. I'm not much of a disciple if I can't cogently defend my own theology. In the meantime, what exactly are your problems? I realize this isn't related to the the thread - maybe I ought to make a theological thread in the 'Off Topic' section. I want to find out whether your opposition is to Scripture itself or just generations of crooked priests, myopic pastors and stupid parishioners in your life. I'll admit, if I had to judge by adherents alone, I'd probably be a very bitter agnostic. I've been lied to and treated like a pet rather than a person by many people and it annoyed me witless. But obviously you do judge. You've made your judgment already; if you hadn't judged you wouldn't have any opinion. As for avoiding any kind of Christian message, that's pretty darn hard. If you want to avoid speaking positively about any element of Christianity I think even John Dewey would admit you're on morally unstable ground, especially since other theologies commonly share principles with Christianity. Then again, you did also say that you objected to parts, not the whole. Perhaps there are only certain themes you don't like. IF, however, you don't like OVERT Christian themes, I can sympathize...a bit of subtlety is useful if you want to draw in an audience. That's why I've tried to roll with the punches and figure things out here instead of quoting Scripture and stating the Apostle's Creed over and over.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal Obviously. It's just that usually, they're curmudgeons. for example, it'd be a fair cop to say that most people in America who appose gay marriage are religious. It's probably not completely true, but as a general statement it holds up. I don't usually like traditional power metal, but I do like older HammerFall as many people here know. Rising Faith is also traditional power metal, and the riff for 'Rage' is one of the best I've heard in a while.

Re: Threshold Er...anything before Critical Mass, if you want to hear Damian Wilson. He'll also, apparently, be on Threshold's upcoming album so you can look forward to that. I personally would recommend Phenomenon off of Critical Mass. It's the first one I heard, and it's nice and simple. Now I say that because I liked everything they did after Wilson left, so that's all the way from Critical Mass to the present, basically. I'd consider Andrew MacDermott the real voice of Threshold, but that would be at odds with what the keyboardist Richard West thinks. I'll have to consider the opinion of a man who can play three keyboards at once.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal Oh, OK. I thought you were so cheesed off you needed to cool down before you punched a hole in your computer. Well, I took issue with the idea that Christianity didn't belong in metal, and I brought up a truckload of metal themes which I thought were Biblical in nature... If I want music that works well for representing good metal when I'm driving around in my hometown...Sabaton is the answer. Seriously, if Joachim Broden were on a recruitment poster I'd think a lot harder about joining up.

Re: What Are You Listening To? Just finished listening to some screaming toddlers. Will soon start on Division By Zero's new album.

Re: Traditional vs. Symphonic Power Metal Well, I'm very glad you like it, MetalMaiden. I apologize if I seemed a bit blunt on the Christian black metal thread, but at any rate, I'm glad to see you posting again. I'm a sucker for keyboards. I'll admit it, I am. When I hear the intro to 'Rust of Coming Ages' by Serenity or 'Words I Never Speak' by Morifade, I am always drawn in immediately. I figured it might be good for discussion because people seem very polarized on this issue - there are plenty of older, crotchety metal fans who say 'Manowar is the only good band on here, f**k the rest \m/', and then the people who only want the intimidating, dark music, so they say 'Lars Larssen is a god! Manticora FTW!!'. It definitely does depend on my mood. If I want angry, raw power metal I'll put on Iron Savior or Symphony X for sure. If I'm in a better, carefree state of mind I find Dragonland pleasant. If I want music with gravity, dignity and power, I head over to Serenity or Harmony. Happy to see you like my topic!

Re: Ban the user above you! Banned for failing to realize that it is not bad grammar...it's just very lazy English.

I think there's a bit of debate on this topic. Many people stick with the older, traditional power metal like Iron Maiden, Manowar, Jag Panzer, Lord, Persuader, Hibria and Cellador. On the other hand, there are a lot of symphonic power metal bands becoming more and more popular and respected...Angra, Kamelot, Statovarius, Rhapsody of Fire, Dark Moor, Manticora and Derdian come to mind. Which genre do you think is better and what are the relative merits and drawbacks to either style?

Re: Månegarm I take it you're a Middle Eastern metalhead...maybe you'll like Narjahanam or Arsames as well. If you could do an introductory thread that'd be great.

Re: Rate the song above you! Dark Tranquillity YEAHHH Probably 8.5/10 or better...I think it's the only song from Damage Done that I don't have. As I recall you like HammerFall as well, that's great. Qr-wa9IZvwc Let's have some symphonic power metal from one of my absolute favorite groups!

Re: Most Metal thing to eat for breakfast? Only Cain's Dynasty puts vampires and metal together...

Re: Ban the user above you! Oh, YOU just struck a NERVE, bub... Banned for not writing an introductory thread when there is clearly a place for you to do so.

For those of you who don't know, Threshold is a progressive metal band from Surrey, Great Britain. I think they're very underrated and quite good, with nice melody and groove alongside a reasonable level of technicality. In addition their lyrics are pretty good. I'd put this in the underrated bands section but I think the progressive metal area could do with expansion. They've got nostalgic value for me since they were the first prog metal band I really liked and 'Long Way Home' from the Hypothetical album is still my favorite song. Anyone else a fan of this group?

Re: 334 members and where is everyone??? I used to think the same thing about my music...then I found out that it's more useful when your party's gone on for too long and you need to clear a room. If you need everyone out in five minutes flat, just put on ONE death or doom song. Pantokrator works well.

Re: Anti Black Metal What d'you mean by a stinking radical outcast with a chip on his shoulder? Do you mean to say he was a smelly, foul type one wouldn't want to meet, or that he wasn't very well regarded by most of the Jewish clergy and the dislike was mutual? I don't really understand your statement about which view is more historically AND theologically accurate. The latter is Biblically consistent. And I for one I haven't got the least problem with Christ being Hebrew/Arabic. As for magic, I've been sifting through why people oppose Harry Potter so much for the same reason...and I sure don't see a theological basis for the backlash. And so I listen to power metal... I find the Bible is a lot smarter than most people, even Christians, believe it it to be. I am well and truly fed up with all of the Christians telling me I need to be a 'fool for Christ', so that I must by extension be illogical, myopic, belligerent and anal-retentive. As for this whole anti-black metal thing, I believe the poster needs to realize that this is the real world. If he believes in free speech, then Os Guiness and Gaahl are equally within rights to say what they like. If, however, he does NOT want totally free speech, he should definitely expect some laws legislating against overt Christian symbolism on public property, protests near abortion clinics, teaching Creationism, etc. Lack of free speech hurts everyone. I don't like black metal but it doesn't matter - if I try to legislate against it then not only will Dimmu Borgir suffer, but so will Slechtvalk.

Re: Rate the user above Yeah, 10/10 so far for you too. I'll be offline for a while...I have to go get me some hamburger buns for lunch.

Re: Ban the user above you! How is that improper grammar? Am I supposed to say 'for the interim' or 'in the interim'? Bah. Banned for predictably listing Opeth as your favorite death metal band.