FatherAlabaster

You're a big fan of the later albums though, right? I never gave them a shot. I've always sort of lazily/stupidly figured that I just didn't like Cynic and that was that.

Cynic - Focus ...I wish I liked this album. On one hand there's the amazing musicianship, great parts, lots of cool ideas, a really unique take on death metal. On the other hand, the songs feel incoherent, a lot of the great ideas are unsupported, and the vocal melodies grate on my nerves. Been trying since I first heard it in 1996, and it's still not working for me.

I really wish I could see them more frequently, but none of us have the freedom or money to make the trip very often. I'd like to say we'll just make up for it later, but who knows. It's honestly sad and frustrating for me. I wish we lived closer together. Not looking forward to that car trip at all!

Atheist - Elements Disaffected - Vast Septic Flesh - Mystic Places Of Dawn

Welcome to the forum. I love death metal too, although I don't get into a ton of brutal DM or slam. Hope you enjoy the place.

Good to hear your father is staying active. I hope they're in good spirits. Funerals suck no matter what but I can only imagine they start hitting closer to home the older one gets... My parents have been doing a lot of gardening as well - their new place is a 3.5 acre farm in need of a lot of rehabilitation, and they've done a bunch of planting and learning about how to deal with the weird soil requirements there. It's a project they both enjoy, which is awesome. Apparently my mom hurt herself trying to learn how to use the tractor though.

Apparently Luc has been busy with other things in life while those energetic young kids he hired pursued their other music projects over the past couple of years. I think I can sympathize. It will be Black Harvest, yeah. I'm excited. Being shut in without anything on the schedule finally gave me the chance. One more song to do lyrics and vocals for! Our visit will be strange. It's a 13+ hour drive and it'll be the first time visiting at their new place out in the country. At least it'll be a welcome change of pace after being home with my son for the past several months. I'm not entirely sure how we'll handle distancing while staying with them for a few days. Nowhere else nearby to stay and I don't think we could swing a hotel for a week anyway. Hopefully we can spend a lot of time outside. How have your folks been holding up?

Metal Injection just ran a little piece about Gorguts finally starting work on the follow-up to "Pleiades' Dust" and I am psyched. Really hoping the same lineup comes back for the next recording. I've been working on my own new music since April and I'm almost done, so that's a good feeling... It's weird and painful doing vocals again after taking a couple years off. Gets easier as I work back up to it, but recording them just sucks no matter what. Also, we're supposed to be taking a trip down south to see my parents in a couple weeks. I'm really excited about that, but also nervous about health risks, despite all the precautions we've taken. I haven't seen them in a couple years and nobody's getting any younger...

Opeth - Orchid

Bouncing around in "3D" in some distressed font over a computer-generated background can make pretty much anything look bad. I didn't watch the Incantation vid but I've seen so goddamn many variations on that idea, and it detracts from the song every single time. NP: Ocrilim - The Great Silence And Emptiness

Animated lyric videos are the fucking worst. I hate them so much. That "everybody look at me/follow the bouncing ball" shit ruins the song and the lyrics for me. I always put up a different tab or minimize the window. Honestly I don't even like "real" music videos much anymore... everybody get off my lawn! NP: Enslaved - E

Ah cool. Here you go: https://prosternatur.bandcamp.com/album/abyssus-abyssum-invocat

Moved to Q&A forum. This is remarkably vague without an image to go on.

Blind Guardian - A Twist In The Myth ...huh. I don't think my opinion of this album has changed since it came out. I'm more willing to tolerate it now, but it's still a weird mix of forgettable cheese and bombastic cringe, sprinkled through with some totally amazing melodic moments that don't really save it.

Me too. I hadn't ever listened to them, although a couple of friends are big fans. I'm glad I checked it out, I'm enjoying the 90s vibe of the interplay between the vocals and the riffs and I like the big post-rock atmosphere.