FatherAlabaster

It's up to the admin, but hopefully he can do something like that along with the rest of the housekeeping we've talked about for that section. As infrequently as I use anything other than the Activity tab, I agree that section would benefit from some more organization.

Hittman - Metal Sport demo

No point in putting yourself through it if you're not in the mood for that sort of thing, you'll just wind up disliking it even more.

Do you mean finding people to play music with? You might have some luck posting in the "Looking For A Band" section, with some info about yourself and the kind of music you're interested in playing.

Ivar Bjornson & Einar Selvik - Hugsja ...you know, I love these guys, but this is kind of toothless so far. I'll have to come back to it in a different frame of mind.

After a couple of listens, I'm liking the new one better than I thought I would. Lots of boilerplate, but I think the melodic sections are stronger and more interesting than their last outing, and I like the layers of clean guitar used as texture here and there. Tomas sounds good, too, more expressive and stronger than I was expecting. Too bad Adrian is still phoning it in - he uses the same few patterns throughout the entire album and that combines with the homogeneity of the guitars to drag things down for me. Overall I think it's a good step up from their last one, and for that matter it's more in line with my taste these days than SOTS. Not a masterpiece, but maybe a better-than-average Swedish melodeath album with a handful of parts worth looking forward to. I actually think the title track is the weakest song on the album, to the point that I'd probably skip it if I end up listening to this more frequently. I kind of get what you're saying about the strings, but I didn't mind them at all; they've always used string parts here and there, and I don't get the sense that this was an attempt to be experimental or edgy at all, just a little flourish to close out the album.

I got to see Matt Sorum do a drum clinic at a tiny local venue in North Carolina, I think in 1994. Not exactly a show, but he talked shop, did some solo stuff, and played along with a bunch of GnR songs over the PA. I vaguely remember a couple of wry digs at Steven Adler during the proceedings. I wasn't really blown away, but I was impressed by his playing and it was a unique enough experience to stick in my mind. Congrats on finding work, I hope it goes well.

Satan's Host - By The Hands Of The Devil At The Gates - To Drink From The Night Itself

"Slaughter Of The Soul" used to be one of my favorite albums, but (much like my feeling about In Flames) I've grown away from it to the point where I can barely make it through one track. I'm not a straight up Alf purist - I still enjoy "Terminal Spirit Disease" - but I do think that, for whatever reason, they stopped pushing themselves after he left. This is exactly how I feel about it. One of the most annoying aspects of listening through At War With Reality (which I bought, and really tried to enjoy) is how replete it is with missed opportunities. Every song, every performance feels like it could and should have been pushed further, but instead they collectively settled for "good enough". The gap between what they could have done and what they actually did is maddening. I'll do my best to give the new one a fair shake, but based on what I've heard of it so far, I doubt I'll love it.

It's a little strange to me how much I've come to dislike this band. I was into them along with other pillars of the Gothenburg melodeath scene in the mid 90s, and I still love some of those older albums, but I can't stomach In Flames anymore. Even Subterranean and Lunar Strain leave me high and dry. Requiem's "bubble gum" comment is apt.

Off to NYC for a wedding that I care about - two members of the string quartet I used to do vocals with are formalizing their relationship. Unfortunately we won't have the time to really enjoy the city this trip, but I'm looking forward to seeing friends.

Apollo Ra - Ra Pariah Katatonia - Viva Emptiness Katatonia - Night Is The New Day ...two of my less-liked Katatonia albums, but still good road trip music.

Running Wild - Pile Of Skulls

Not in the slightest, but I feel you on the bit about the heartbreak.

Best wishes to her.