FatherAlabaster

I get that a lot... I need a straw hat and some overalls. Amish-themed black metal about goats. This could work.

I gotta shave my neck, or it gets way too itchy. The rest of it doesn't bother me so much, though I usually don't have a mustache because it makes me feel old. I'll stick with what Iceni memorably referred to as a "cowcatcher":

You're both right. I agree with Iain, none of the parts really has enough character or textural variation, and they don't allow for any of the ebb and flow that might lend a narrative arc to a song like this. The repetitive structure robs it of whatever remaining interest it might have had. It's far too obviously an attempt to impress. It's worth saying that this kind of structure isn't necessarily a bad thing; if they'd slotted in some more meaningful riffs and payed attention to pacing, it could have worked. But in this case they spent eleven minutes doing what it only takes most tech death three minutes to do: bore me to tears.

I heard a couple of songs from the new Massemord (POL) on youtube and liked them, especially the guitar melodies in the fourth track from the album. I'll try and find the whole album to listen to. NP: Furia - W Melancholii I can't say I'm really enjoying this at the moment, far too drawn-out and spacey. Not black metal at all anymore, which is fine, it's just not what I want to hear. I'll have to listen to it when I'm in the mood.

FUCK yes, one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.

To be fair, I think the glasses and the pinched facial expression might have had something to do with that...

Two of my friends sent me demos of songs they're working on today. It's nice to hear what other people are working on, hear their thoughts on songwriting, etc. No names, nothing finished... just song ideas, basically. I'm happy to hear them.

Seriously, dude, "brony"? Ugh. Of course, we can't ignore the fact that many will grow beards in compensation for the fact they have no chest hair. Edit - I'd just like to add that men worthy of "mandom" would probably not react in any way to a new Twilight book, which is obviously for beardless sissies.

You'll go far here.

Too late. I'm listening to the "Seventh Son" album now. You keep looking through the Polish black metal. You might like Morowe, I didn't think they were mind-blowing but they had some kinda cool stuff going on.

Oddly enough, I'm listening to Iron Maiden - Wasted Years.

That doesn't count. Iceni's black hole sucks you in once again. He stands on his plateau, assurance against further annoying non sequiturs; I remain on my mountain. My hill.

Holy shit, the Jedi Mind Trick works! Ok, how about this: News Flash! Opinionated person with dubious command of English joins metal discussion forum, admits little desire to engage in meaningful discussion, posts ignorant blanket statements that betray lack of interest in or knowledge of much metal music! Enraged metalheads leap to respond! Here's Bob with the weather.

Although the unique spatial phenomena your brain has generated cannot fully annihilate your hill, they cause a local distortion which renders it a gentle slope at best, perhaps topped with a wide and sweeping plateau, on which you stand, looking outward, ruler of all you survey. Then the clouds move aside, and you see in the distance a high mountain, untouched by your black hole's grim destructiveness. That, sir, is my hill.

They're all up, separately, on Youtube. Try searching with English spelling instead of special characters, if you haven't - they were all available as recently as two days ago.

Martwa Polska Jesien is fantastic all the way through. I can't wait for my CD to get here. I'm also enjoying that newer one, but the first full-length is my favorite. I've only seen a couple of translations but it doesn't seem like they talk about religion, just death and depression.

Try reading the rest of them. You beat me to it.

Furia - Grudzien Za Grudniem Polish black metal with really good melodies and vocals. This album is not as immediate as their previous album, Martwa Polska Jesien, but it's very good. More of a "post-black metal" sound (ugh, I hate that descriptor) - some big chords, drawn-out melodies, atmospheric clean guitars, even some vaguely jazzy parts.

Lots of good discussion on a similar topic here: http://metalforum.com/general-chat/3264-do-you-think-metal-could-ever-become-massively-popular-again.html And some discussion in other threads, throughout. Personally, I think the question is an oversimplification. "Metal" is a wide umbrella; it shades into rock and pop (and even hip-hop). I don't care for discussions about where people draw the dividing lines, because everyone puts them in different places, and they're generally uninformative, but those discussions are ubiquitous here and on other forums if they do anything for you. There's more to those other genres than you give them credit for, not least in performance and production; and I've often found metal music criticism to be guilty of exactly the flaws you point out elsewhere. I think that a lot of more obscure stuff is destined for niche markets at best - it takes a lot to be able to wade through hours and hours of abrasive garbage in the hope of finding something meaningful. And, near the top end of a reeling yet bloated industry, you have the same forces toward marketable conformity regardless of whether a band is "pop", "rock", "metal" or whatever. I think the difference between your average mainstream metalhead and a fan of pop music is in the degree to which they've invested their social identity in appearing to care about music. Underneath the battle jacket, you're just as likely as not to find a shallow appreciation for sonics and a desire to seem to be a certain kind of person; to "look the part". Witness all of the threads people have started here complaining about "posers" and "scene kids". I think of a lot of metal as being hard music for soft people; and I know just as many outsiders who regard the entire metal community as juvenile and shallow, as I do committed metal listeners who (just as mistakenly) think there's less under the surface of other scenes. And don't forget that more extreme bands seem to have a greater chance of rising farther in some smaller countries that support the arts more than the USA. Metal has been more appreciated in some places, and during some time periods, than in others. The basic point you keep coming back to is that if more people liked metal, metal fans would somehow be in danger of becoming less special. I think that's a silly concern that has more to do with self-identity than it does with music, and I say that not to poke fun at you, so much as because I think I kind of remember being there when I was younger. But for the sake of argument: no, I don't think that would be the case at all. More people investing the time and energy that a lot of metal requires could only benefit all of us: more ideas, more viewpoints, more great music. Not that there isn't already more than anyone could possibly hope to hear.