For some time, Negra Modelo has been my go-to beer. The shelves are stuffed with variety, but much like metal, most of it straight-up fails by being too proficient.
9 CommentsTags: art, beer, economics, Heavy Metal, negra modelo
Meditations on Ananku
Article by Lance Viggiano.
Ananku is random stereotypical sentimentality in terms of both pseudo climactic release and legacy nostalgia underscored by the crooning of its capricious composer. One may skip to any moment of this record and find a passable to competent riff which invites the listener to further explore its contents. Yet to sit through the work in succession, the order – or lack thereof- is much akin to a dreamlike state. Waking life is a comedic but rationally apprehensive continuity; whereas the experience of dreaming is much like thumbing through to one’s favorite moments in no particular order and therefore as a whole Ananku betrays its efforts at thematic unity. The forces behind Serpent Ascending make a noticed use of genre firmament however indecisive haste fashioned for itself a fallen world.
17 CommentsTags: 2016, ananku, Black Metal, i voidhanger records, Jarno Nurmi, metal art, Philosophy, Serpent Ascending
Abomination Vinyl Reissues
Doomentia Records is releasing both Abomination albums, Abomination and Tragedy Strikes, on vinyl. Abomination was another death metal/punk hybrid band featuring Paul Speckmann of Death Strike and Master.
6 CommentsTags: abomination, doomentia records, paul speckmann, reissues, vinyl
Initial Impressions of Serpent Ascending – Ananku
Article by Anton Rudrick.
Following a tradition of Finnish death metal, Serpent Ascending first proved its allegiance to the old stream of thought on The Enigma Unsettled. The project stood out as possessing that rare gift that grants vision past forms and into the value therein encased as dormant power, codified, awaiting a worthy hero who can pull the Sword from the Stone. While using techniques and musical structures that are well-known, interesting counterpoint and chant-like melodies can be seen in that first album, inserting them in between more conservative power metal riffs that were eerie enough to belong to occult death metal but also displayed a penchant for memorable phrases. Five years have elapsed since then, and several Desecresy albums have seen the definition and reaffirmation of that band into a distinctly esoteric style. Many were keenly expectant upon the future of Serpent Ascending.
4 CommentsTags: 2016, ananku, Black Metal, death metal, Finland, Heavy Metal, Serpent Ascending
On Death Metal And Nihilism
An old interview, rediscovered, that apparently never made it to publication, so needs to find a home here.
32 CommentsTags: death metal, ian christe, interview, lords of chaos, metal faq, metal history, metal theory, michael moynihan, Nihilism, sounds of the beast
Boston Beer Company – Samuel Adams Octoberfest
The Boston Beer Company generally makes solid but unexceptional beers for a wide audience which isn’t surprising given that it is a brewery founded by a former corporate financier who was the son of a brewer to fill a hole in the market in the 1980s: domestic beers that could compete with mediocre European imports. Craft beer was just getting started and most of the big adjunct lager brewers had already diluted down the their product to the point where many wouldn’t even drink it. Jim Koch employed the same chemist and brewer who formulated Miller Lite to fine tune a beer an old family recipe he had been homebrewing for mass production. Samuel Adams Boston Lager is a genuinely good beer but what their Octoberfest eventually became in the 21st century is not. The first whiff and sip is dark fruits and toasted bread like a darker Marzen beer should be but then the unpleasantness hits you like an off-scented dashboard air freshener. The beer tastes like brown sugar and smells of artificial cinnamon and ginger. Sam Adams is hiding pumpkin spice bullshit in their Octoberfest seasonal for the Starbucks yuppies! Samuel Adams Octoberfest is one of those beers. The radlers, shandies, Zimas, pumpkin spice lattes, and mango IPAs for ex-sorority girls and effeminate homosexuals – wine cooler “beer”! The only positive attribute is that if you get this for free and drink the entire six pack, you will get drunk. Unfortunately, your excretate will smell like that of an unwashed obese man the day after Thanksgiving.
Quality: */*****
Purchase: */*****
Tags: beer, boston beer company, lager, samuel adams octoberfest, stinking shit
“C” Is For Average
Metal was born of the fusion of heavy rock, horror music, progressive rock and the nascent proto-punk movement. The history of rock is the history of rebellion and rule-breaking: from Friedrich Liszt making his strings break live at key moments on purpose, to Jerry Lee Lewis lighting the piano on fire, to the Beatles with their hairstyles and jackets which were radical for the time, to the Doors being suggestive on the Ed Sullivan show, through Hendrix burning his guitar, to Kiss being super-sexual and painting their faces, to Black Sabbath who sang about Satan and magic, to Metallica who combined neoclassical with thrash and had a hard-partying image, to Slayer’s seemingly outright Satanism. Metal is about taking things one step further, breaking the rules and being unique. Not about following them.
Good music aims for a grade of “A” by experimenting and breaking the rules, but in doing so, takes the chance that it will get an “F.” Think of good music as Icarus: he flies toward the Heavens (or in the case of metal: towards hell) aware he is taking a big chance. He may well crash and burn to the ground in pursuit of his musical ideals. It’s a risk Icarus is willing to take.
Today we have way, way too many bands following all the rules of their genre, and not enough acts pressing ahead. When I look at my local scene it is clear that the bands who have stayed together a long while, while following the rules of their genre, are the bands who have been most successful. Most of these bands have decent music and are listenable. But its not stuff I want to listen to more than once, or see live more than once. This is the curse of local bands: competent, good at following trends, but not so good that they break out and become emblematic of those trends.
63 CommentsTags: average, black sabbath, conformity, Heavy Metal, idiocracy, trends
Opening the Tomb: Decomposition
One band I was really super impressed with live was Decomposition. I got to open for them at On The Y club in Sacramento about five years ago with a death metal band I was in called Condemned to Live. That’s a key underground place to play up there.
3 CommentsTags: death metal, decomposition
Serpent Ascending’s Aṇaṅku Out September 16th
Serpent Ascending announced that their debut album Aṇaṅku is going to be released by I, Voidhanger Records on September 16th. Serpent Ascending is the solo-project of Desecresy vocalist Jarno Nurmi and previously released two extremely promising demos, Serrpent Ascending and The Mournful Pilgrimage, that were compiled with one new track in The Enigma Unsettled anthology CD. From the label’s press release:
18 CommentsTags: ananku, Aṇaṅku, Black Metal, compact disc, death metal, Finland, i voidhanger records, Jarno Nurmi, Serpent Ascending, Speed Metal, upcoming release
The Difficulties of Folk Metal: Part II
Article by Johan P.
This text is a continuation of the previously published article, The Difficulties of Folk Metal. As stated in Part I, the threefold aim of this multi-part article is, in rough terms, to: 1. Give a short introduction to the subject, 2. Point out some of the difficulties connected with integrating folk music into metal and finally, 3. Provide alternative methods of integration. Part II will be dedicated to the second part of this quest.
Naturally, there are limits regarding the scope of my endeavor – the most obvious demarcation being that the article primarily focuses on Swedish folk music. In my view, the critique of folk metal is an ongoing project, and this article should not be seen as an exhaustive treatment of the subject at hand.
So, if someone else out there finds the subject interesting, you are more than welcome to make contributions. It could be in the form of additional material (metal or folk related) and complementary ideas to enhance the project. For example, the depth and applicability of the arguments presented below would surely benefit if the scope could be expanded to include other forms of traditional music.
42 CommentsTags: folk, folk metal, genre, Heavy Metal, Månegarm, music analysis, musical analysis, neofolk, nokturnal mortum, Sweden, The Voice of Steel, Vredens Tid
