FatherAlabaster

That's a good quote, hah. It's been such a long time that I'm willing to give them another shot. Still really excited by !T.O.O.H! and the new Gorguts, and I like to give albums a chance to sink in before moving on. But I can't listen to anything for fun right now because of my fucking ear! Aaaaaaghhh... uh. It's really demoralizing.

I love Carnivore... but you're putting that song up against decades of stuff like this? CE8ooMBIyC8

Oh jeez, I wasn't trying to start a brilliance contest! Just watching some old George Carlin and it made me laugh. However, as much as I like Pete, George Carlin was more brilliant, so there.

Some of George Carlin's brilliance - "have you ever seen anyone actually clean a church? A cleaning crew with pails and mops and shit? No... they clean themselves overnight. That's how you know it's a church."

Doesn't get much more "80s metal" than that...

It may still be my favorite Diabolical Masquerade release, although I like all their stuff. It's been a while since I listened to it. I know it was a big joke to them, but actually I think it's cool to try to write an album as a movie score. It's a different framework for your songs. A different sort of flow.

Epiphone, never liked Fenders, even the good ones are hit and miss for me. 7-string or baritone 6-string? (there is a wrong answer here...)

Well, the go-to program for sequencing drums for a recording these days seems to be Superior Drummer (or EZ Drummer). I'm happy with Fruity Loops, but it's an odd, cumbersome way of working, and I don't know that I would recommend it to anyone else. And there are good standalone drum machines, although those have changed a lot since I was in the market. But if you wanted to go the "Samael industrial" route, program your drums with whatever, then record that, and get some used toms and cymbals with stands at a pawn shop or something. Some real drums for your live "percussionist" to hit after he presses play on the drum track. So you'd be playing along with the recording (cd or computer - you'd need a PA for any of this stuff), but there would be the live element to the percussion, and you'd have some of the richness of live drum sounds. I wouldn't bother investing in an e-kit - you still need a skilled drummer to play that, real drums sound better, and none of the drummers I know have ever really liked playing e-kits. I guess what I'm saying is, either hold out for a good drummer, or write and do a recording (it doesn't have to be THE recording) with programmed drums, and experiment with someone playing some basic live drums over the top of that. So, say, your kick, snare, hihat, and ride could be programmed and recorded a la Godflesh, and the toms and cymbals and maybe another snare are all performed live by whoever. It really comes down to finding good-sounding samples that work with your sound, and embracing the electronic aspect of it somehow. It will be a lot of work to prepare, but it doesn't have to be super expensive, and it doesn't take a super-skilled dedicated drummer to perform. I do get the feeling that you and BAN would be much happier with a real drummer, and it would probably gel better with your sound, but there's no harm in experimenting. One other point I'd make is that if you do a recording with programmed drums, and get it sounding good, it'll be that much easier to attract a real drummer for live/recording/writing. It doesn't hurt to put that recording out there and show what you're capable of.

Interesting little blog here about why Ripping Corpse didn't get picked up... Their vocalist's "look". Who knew it was always this superficial? Gives me a little less hope. Ugh.

Not that I'm recommending you use electronic drums, but if you go that route, instead of using triggers, it could be as simple as a guy with you onstage with some toms and cymbals or something - not a full kit - and he doesn't have to be awesome, just good enough to play along with the cd or computer or machine or whatever. His job would be to start the drum tracks, accentuate them with his live drums, maybe back something up with keyboards if you're using them, and generally to look cool so you're not just a two piece playing to a rhythm track. But as far as your stuff that I've heard on soundcloud/youtube, I think your best bet is to hold out for a real drummer, at least for live shows.

I've always been a big fan of "Passion", Peter Gabriel's soundtrack/companion CD to Scorsese's "The Last Temptation Of Christ". The "Dracula" soundtrack from the late 90s had some good stuff on it too. I'm supposing that "Death's Design" shouldn't really count here...

Solitude Aeturnus, believe it or not... Andy Sneap or Neil Kernon?

Actually, this might be of interest to you - a lot of bands have drummers who use trigger pads for additional sounds, but Samael did the opposite a few years ago on tour. They had programmed drums for their set, controlled by a guy who had a small acoustic percussion setup (I think some toms and cymbals..?) so they had an electronic sound but kept the resonance of some acoustic elements, and had the visual impact of a guy sitting in the back playing along as well. It's possible for stuff like this to work. FWIW I think it would go over better in doom than it would in straight death metal, because the easy accusation to make there (an accurate one!) is that you couldn't find someone to play your drum parts as tight as you needed. If you really work it in as part of your sound and have someone controlling it who's part of your stage show, it could make sense.

Swans' "Swans Are Dead" and Angels Of Light's "We Were Alive" are two live releases that I consider excellent and essential, but they aren't traditional live CDs in that they aren't playing album versions of the songs. They rework their songs constantly, so the groove is there and the lyrics are there, but a lot of the time the live tracks have more energy and a heavier, more organic feel. Admittedly this wouldn't work as well for most metal bands. The AIC live unplugged recording is one of my personal favorites, as mentioned - its flaws don't detract from it for me, if anything they add to its value. Some of my other favorite live DVDs include MDB's "For Darkest Eyes", Anathema's "A Vision Of A Dying Embrace", Emperor's "Emperial Live Ceremony", Rammstein's "Volkerball", and Opeth's "Lamentations". But I disagree that there should always be a DVD along with the recording. It's nice watching these bands perform, but the music should be enough, and in a lot of cases it is.

For me it's like Artemisia said, the vocals are just awful. Every time I listen to them, it turns me completely off to whatever else they're doing.

Peyton Manning, at least he doesn't think he's a mouthpiece for jesus. Frost or Hellhammer? (the drummers)

At funeral doom shows, wouldn't you just fling yourself to the floor in agony and despair instead of shoving others?

Usually they're just using it for extra sounds, like bass drops or kettle drums. Sometimes they're triggering longer samples - sound effects or intros or whatever. No different from having a keyboard player doing the same thing. That's where it really depends: is it enhancing their musical performance, or are they using it as a crutch?

You're an outlier. Now don't you feel elite?

It's kind of a grey area, but I wouldn't count triggers by themselves, especially if you are just using them for sound reinforcement rather than all-out replacement. If you're replacing everything or using an e-kit, you better have a good reason because you're missing out on the potential of all that great acoustic sound that a real drumkit can produce in the right hands, which is the big element missing from a recording done with programmed drums. Even programming with hits taken from a live recording in a real space, you miss out on a lot of it. But especially for metal, I think it's an issue that can be overcome.

Sure they do, just in slow motion. You shove the guy next to you really hard once every five minutes.

I don't follow sport much, but I'll go with Omega Pharma Quickstep, though weren't they sort of the same for a while? Velocity or H Plus Son?

Shoulda gone with Garm. Hm, I don't like cars, but I guess the Lamborghini. The real question: SRAM, Shimano, or Campy?

There are a lot of places without stages that are pretty fun to play in, although then you have to worry about getting hit by moshing audience members...