Non-gay bro thread a.k.a. Random offtopic stuff.

[ThePhobiac]

Tristania often showed up on my Pandora radio stations back in the day, mostly from their Illumination album. Some really great stuff.

Here's ten from my Spotify for this evening:

1. "Everasia" - Novembre (2001): One of my favorite bands of all time. Fantastic track. Nobody combines metal and atmosphere like these guys.
2. "Abandoned, Pleased, Brainwashed, Exploited" - Sonata Arctica (2003): Used to be one of my favorite bands. Winterheart's Guild, Reckoning Night, Unia, and The Days of Grays is an incredible run of albums.
3. "Do It Again" - Steely Dan (1972): A classic from one of the greats. It's dad music but these guys know how to write a song.
4. "Living Dead Girl" - Rob Zombie (1998): This is the only album I had by Rob Zombie. From my nu-metal days. A different style than run-of-the-mill nu metal.
5. "Emotional Winter" - Anathema (1999): When these guys put out a good song, it's incredible. One of my favorites by them. Hard to believe they started out as a doom metal band.
6. "My Secret Window" - Mercenary (2006): Solid band, just pure fun. I like the choruses on this album. It's just the singer going "YAAAAAHH" all the time and it's great.
7. "By the Light of a Black Sun" - Pillorian (2017): One of the successors to Agalloch, but not as good I would say. Probably the best song on their only record. A neat combination of folk metal and black metal.
8. "Surface the Infinite" - Dark Tranquillity (2010): Good song, though a little filler-esque. I think WATV is over-hated. Construct is the bad one
9. "Damage Done" - Dark Tranquillity (2002): Killer track, one of my favorites from the album of the same name. Played this one on repeat when I was in high school.
10. "Mercury Shadow" - Soilwork (2002): This is a fun song. Personally I find post-TPB Soilwork to be on a completely different level than what they were before, but there are some highlights in their earlier career for sure.

 

[DE4life]

Sonata Arctica lost me at Unia, unfortunately, and although I did check in from time to time they never got me back. Ecliptica - Reckoning Night is where my SA journey begins and ends, with Ecliptica being my favourite by far. A sensational debut album. The rerecording sucked though. Oh god it sucked.

Mercenary, great band. Not even entirely sure how to classify them... they've got a mixture of various genres in their music. 11 Dreams/The Hours That Remain/Architect of Lies is a fantastic trio of albums.

WATV is under-hated. Fucking atrocious album. Construct is marginally better but they are DT's SC/Battles tier albums.

 

[DE4life]

Today's 10 will come from my phone as I'm in Finland at the moment, and my HDD with full catalogue of music is at home.

REO Speedwagon - Can't Fight This Feeling (1984) - Yo, it's a classic.

Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes to Midnight (1984) - Also a classic. My phone appears to be trapped in 1984.

Altaria - The Lion (2006) - Fallen Empire is probably my least favourite of Altaria's classic albums, still good, just not as good as what had come before it.

Helloween - As Long as I Fall (2007) - I think this is the only song from Gambling with the Devil that I listen to. I don't even remember any of the other songs.

In Flames - Enter Tragedy (2011) - The structure of this song is a little unusual, but I like it. Goes without saying SOAPF in general is an album I very much enjoy.

Dark Tranquillity - Insanity's Crescendo (1997) - Best song from The Mind's I by some distance, imo.

Powerwolf - Kiss of the Cobra King (2019) - The rerecorded version of the original, in this instance definitely an improvement.

In Flames - Egonomic (2002) - One of the strangest songs IF have ever put out. Only 02:36 and one of the verses is literally 8 seconds long the chorus sounds like a demented nursery rhyme. With all of that said, I like it.

Percival - Ghosts (2021) - The guitarwork on this track is really nice.



First 30 seconds or so, that's how you start a metal song. Fuck yeah. Rest of the song is OK, but the opening and ending are where it shines.

Petra - Godpleaser (2011) - lmao, OK so for the record I am not Christian or indeed religious in any way, but for some reason I really dig Petra's 2011 'Back to the Rock' album, where they rerecorded a bunch of their classic songs. I basically just treat the lyrics as fantasy mumbo jumbo, as musically I really enjoy pretty much every song on this album and to my ears Greg X Volz has a great voice. To be honest though if you treat the lyrics as just fantasy nonsense, a lot of the old school Christian metal bands actually sound quite good, similar to bands like Maiden.

 

[Xpyro125]

Sonata Arctica lost me at Unia, unfortunately, and although I did check in from time to time they never got me back. Ecliptica - Reckoning Night is where my SA journey begins and ends, with Ecliptica being my favourite by far. A sensational debut album. The rerecording sucked though. Oh god it sucked.

Mercenary, great band. Not even entirely sure how to classify them... they've got a mixture of various genres in their music. 11 Dreams/The Hours That Remain/Architect of Lies is a fantastic trio of albums.

WATV is under-hated. Fucking atrocious album. Construct is marginally better but they are DT's SC/Battles tier albums.

I haven't listened to much of either DT album, but I've quite liked the few songs I've listened to (Save for one from each so far). I get the feeling that I just hit the gems. "Iridium", "Uniformity", "The Fatalist", "Dream Oblivion", "The Silence In Between", and "Immemorial" are the ones I listened to, and I absolutely love all of them. I also listened to "Arkhangelsk" and a song I can't even remember from Construct, and I really didn't care for either one. Absolute filler.

That being said, the more I listen to Atoma, the more I realize just how fucking incredible it is. It may just beat out Fiction for my top spot when it comes to DT albums. Crisper, less sterile production and a greater variety in songs? I'll fucking take it. The only songs I haven't listened to from it are "Neutrality", "The Pitiless", "When the World Screams", and "Merciless Fate", and the only one I haven't loved so far is "Faithless By Default", which is still damn good. It's such a shame that Moment is as standard as it is- Atoma was so fucking adventurous for them in a way that leaned more towards aggression and a blackened sound (I know they've done that before, but it was a long time ago) over atmospheric melodies like in Projector (Which I still really need to listen to). It's an incredible album, and stacking it up against Battles just makes Battles seem that much sadder. To Drink From the Night Itself was pretty good too. Haven't listened to all of it though.

 

[ThePhobiac]

Sonata Arctica lost me at Unia, unfortunately, and although I did check in from time to time they never got me back. Ecliptica - Reckoning Night is where my SA journey begins and ends, with Ecliptica being my favourite by far. A sensational debut album.

Yeah, I think a lot of people tend to like their first four albums and view them as their golden era, since they're all pretty much power metal (WG and RN are more diverse and complex, though). I always thought Ecliptica and Silence were good, but a little too simple. WG is where they started to really come into their own sound, IMO.

Unia took me a bit to get into, but it wound up being a huge grower for me.

I'd say WATV is one of the weaker DT albums, but I don't think it's anywhere near bad. Just not up to their usual standards, I'd say. Putting it on Battles' level is a bit harsh

I understand what they were going for with Construct, and I'm always up for experimentation, but I thought the results were far below DT's standards. When I first heard Apathetic and Endtime Hearts, I thought it was a joke.

That being said, the more I listen to Atoma, the more I realize just how fucking incredible it is. It may just beat out Fiction for my top spot when it comes to DT albums. Crisper, less sterile production and a greater variety in songs? I'll fucking take it. The only songs I haven't listened to from it are "Neutrality", "The Pitiless", "When the World Screams", and "Merciless Fate", and the only one I haven't loved so far is "Faithless By Default", which is still damn good. It's such a shame that Moment is as standard as it is- Atoma was so fucking adventurous for them in a way that leaned more towards aggression and a blackened sound (I know they've done that before, but it was a long time ago) over atmospheric melodies like in Projector (Which I still really need to listen to). It's an incredible album, and stacking it up against Battles just makes Battles seem that much sadder. To Drink From the Night Itself was pretty good too. Haven't listened to all of it though.

Atoma is my favorite DT album from the '10s. The only thing I don't quite like is that Stanne's lyrics are cringey in places -- too conversational and lacking in poetry. But yeah, great variety and a fairly unique sound. It's very airy and light, yet still manages to be heavy, if that makes sense. Sundin once described it as a mix of atmosphere and aggression.

Moment is about on Atoma's level, IMO, maybe a little lower. I thought it was a little weak the first time I heard it, but after a relisten I realized it's actually pretty great. Depeche Mode is all over that album.

Projector is tied with Fiction as my favorite DT album. A stone-cold classic.

And yeah To Drink is great, lots of fantastic tracks on that one.

 

[Xpyro125]

Listened to Overgivenheten's title track and "The Quiet Place" again today. The former's seriously grown on me, even if I don't feel that it breaks the mold of catchy Soilwork song #89. I guess if it's not broke, don't fix it. I also enjoyed the latter more than I ever have, which feels really weird to say. I dunno, I always felt that it was a song that was pretty good, but just pretty good, though the melody just clicked this time around.

I also never said it before, but I love "Dial 595-Escape"'s verses and hooks a ton, even if the chorus does nothing for me. It's pretty much the opposite problem of "In Search of I", funnily enough. I'm hoping to listen to STYE again at some point when I have the free time, but I have no idea when that'll be.

 

[mindd]

Oh boy, I was thinking that this gem was lost in oblivion, but someone has reuploaded and posted it on reddit.
Have a nice laugh.

 

[Xpyro125]

The sad part is that the string section does a wonderful job here. Anders puts on a decently good performance, but his vocals just feel a bit too strained. It's clearly just out of his vocal range.

I guess Bjorn and Niclas are here too. It seems like they're genuinely playing the notes and all, but if you told me that they were just strumming in all the non-chorus parts too, I'd totally believe you. It just doesn't sound good, which is so unlike In Flames.

The biggest crime here, however, is Anders' haircut and look. He looks like a ripoff Ihsahn, and those are the only words that can justify actually describing it.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I remember that performance when it was new. Always thought it was a cool rendition of the song. Wish there was a studio version of it. The guitars are the same as they are on the album version, though they cut the leads in the bridge.

Spoiler

I also think Through Oblivion is a great song to begin with.

I'm also an Elvis Costello fan so seeing him in the same room as my favorite band continues to blow my mind.

 

[DE4life]

Random 10 for this glorious Friday at the end of September...

HIM - The Funeral of Hearts (2003) - Jeez, I remember in the UK at least that this song was everywhere for a while. It's OK as far as goth metal is concerned.

Linkin Park - Leave Out All the Rest (2007) - As we've discussed before, MTM is an OK album. This song is a nice, chill track.

Soilwork - Shadowchild (2000) - It's amazing how much Speed's clean voice evolved in a short space of time. He sounds a lot different here to how he would sound on NBC just two years later.

High $tatus - Tarantvla (2018) - This band is objectively garbage, but for some reason I still like them

Bodom After Midnight - Where Dead Angels Lie (2021) - Really good cover of the Dissection original. RIP Alexi.

Tom Petty - Free Fallin' (1989) - Idk, I just like it.

Lisa Miskovsky - Sing to Me (2003) - I checked out Lisa Miskovsky's music after she appeared on Dead End. She has some good songs, if you're into pop music.

Addis Black Widow - Innocent (1995) - Gotta be honest, I have zero idea what this song is about, and half the time the vocalists sound like they're drunk/high catchy track though.

Adventus - Dame una Razón (2021) - One for my man @eochaid to be proud of, some decent metal from Spain.

Atrocity - Cold Black Days (2004) - Not really sure what to make of this band, generally. They've released a bunch of albums under various genres. Some hits, some misses. This track is off their 'Atlantis' album which is decent enough. Vocals are very much that typical German industrial type which you either like or you don't.

 

[eochaid]

Some decent metal is more than we deserve

 

[Jester Slave]

Holy shit the new Slipknot record you guys... what a shitshow. It doesn't do them any favors that their previous record was pretty amazing, not to mention the crisp production, so it was some real whiplash listening to this new abomination.

 

[DE4life]

I heard a few of the new songs on their Wacken set and they sounded okay, nothing special but not terrible either. Haven't listened to the album yet but am not expecting anything groundbreaking.

 

[eochaid]

I've listened to it. Is boring. But I also don't like the previous one.

 

[eochaid]

Maga on the run.

 

[DE4life]

Lmao, maybe the Oath Keepers have "silenced" him - isn't their trial coming up very soon?

 

[Xpyro125]

Holy shit the new Slipknot record you guys... what a shitshow. It doesn't do them any favors that their previous record was pretty amazing, not to mention the crisp production, so it was some real whiplash listening to this new abomination.

Yeah, I kinda have to agree, for the most part. I don't think anything was really that bad here, and it all feels like it wasn't rushed, but the guitarwork especially is seriously lacking, and the vocals very much feel like they're... As good as usual, but also kind of just there, if that makes any sense. None of the songs aside from "H377" are going to be replayed much for me, whereas "All Out Life" and We Are Not Your Kind made me a Slipknot fan in the first place. I love the experimentation and all on The End, So Far, but the foundation just isn't there whatsoever. It's good, but just good, whereas WANYK fucking blew me away (Most of it, anyways).

 

[Jester Slave]

Yeah, I kinda have to agree, for the most part. I don't think anything was really that bad here, and it all feels like it wasn't rushed, but the guitarwork especially is seriously lacking, and the vocals very much feel like they're... As good as usual, but also kind of just there, if that makes any sense. None of the songs aside from "H377" are going to be replayed much for me, whereas "All Out Life" and We Are Not Your Kind made me a Slipknot fan in the first place. I love the experimentation and all on The End, So Far, but the foundation just isn't there whatsoever. It's good, but just good, whereas WANYK fucking blew me away (Most of it, anyways).

I'm sorry, but how old are you if AOL and WNYK were what made you into a Slipknot fan in the first place?

The vocals just being there is a very apt description. It's also true that the record isn't exactly bad per se, like how people hate SC or Battles from IF, because it doesn't stray far from what makes Slipknot Slipknot, but it's like listening to a collection of B-sides. You nod your hand understandingly as to why they never made onto any record, you hear some good ideas here and there, then forget about them entirely. Instead it's being packaged as this brand new record.

I'm aslo going mental from all the "it's experimental!!" fanboyism. Motherfuckers, the singer of Stone Sour and Slipknot making a record which sounds like the mix of Stone Sour and Slipknot is NOT experimental.

And I swear to god, whenever a popular band like them make an objectively bad record, fanboys turn on the heat and take a ride on the most extreme hyperboles. You'd expect people to be vocal about them still liking this record despite the hate, but holy fuck reddit is filled with "I genuinely think this is the best Slipknot album ever" and such. How? Why? This need of overcompensation makes me puke. Sure, I defended SC for what it was and expressed that I dig it, but I never deluded myself into thinking it's actually IF's best record ever.

Seriously, as I got older, I had to realize that the worst thing about everything is their fans. The moment I follow or subscribe to any fan forum or subreddit about the movies, tv shows, personalities, music I like, I want to set the world on fire. I don't think I have ever bonded with someone based on our taste in something. I vividly remember telling a roommate of mine that I like NIN and he probably does not know them. He said he knows them and he likes a few songs from them as well. Neat. That's pretty much where the conversation ended, and while we ended up being on good terms for those 3 months, it had nothing to do with him also liking my favorite band.

Honestly, the only proper benefit of fanpages are the insider informations and materials. Having to deal with all the morons is just collateral damage.

 

[DE4life]

So you finally understand why we were banging our heads against a wall when it came to you during the SC days.

 

[ThePhobiac]

I haven't listened to Slipknot since Vol. 3 was new, but I hear very good things about We Are Not Your Kind.