The new chat thread - now with bitter arguing
- Thread starter rahvin
- Start date
Zach.Zhang
Member
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
VultureCulture
Member
- Apr 3, 2006
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Uncha!!
How's it going? I was listening to Mago de Oz (it's been a while!), and due to a random train of though, Rahvin the dwarf came to mind, so I came back to say hi. I hope he's doing fine.
I see Siren, Villain and some others are still around, I hope you guys are alright too!!
Well... that's all I wanted to say. Ahhh, old times
Chupi.
|ng.
Woha, a blast from the past! Are you still living in Barcelona? I'm gonna be there in mid-February for a week... Don't fear, I already got a place to stay
VultureCulture / Malaclypse
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
La Rocque
I am that I am
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Nice video! Must've been great to go to भारत गणराज्य (India)!
Two things I notice:
01. I don't like how Indians scream
.02. The band sounded very "industrial"; I love that.
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stizzleomnibus
Decisively Human
@Maxim: Fuck you and the beautiful country that you live in. Our natural landscapes look nothing like that, and our cities are far, far worse!
Defiance
I vårens ljusa kvällar
Haha well the US does have some nice parts.
Congrats on the site Maxim! I'm going to release mine soon too.
NarkalepticNinja
satirical member
Lol and I'm thinking the Netherlands is pretty boring actually. Europe (and the rest of the world as well) has got far better places when it comes to nature. I'm going to Scotland in June, and Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland are on my list as well. Furthermore, I'm going to Austria (where the last three pics in the "landscapes" section were taken as well) in a week again and in July as well. But the US isn't all that bad is it? The Rocky Mountains should be good, and there are some amazing national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite national park. I'd like to visit New England as well sometime, and I want to go stormchasing in Tornado Alley. But well, I probably shouldn't complain
Oh yeah, I just discovered there's a city in Turkey called "Batman", how awesome is that
Oh yeah, I just discovered there's a city in Turkey called "Batman", how awesome is that
But the US isn't all that bad is it? The Rocky Mountains should be good, and there are some amazing national parks like Yellowstone and Yosemite national park. I'd like to visit New England as well sometime, and I want to go stormchasing in Tornado Alley. But well, I probably shouldn't complain
The U.S. takes up basically half an entire continent, so a lot of it is quite gorgeous... and a lot of it is really boring. I've driven cross country, except through the Big Sky and southwest states (that would be Arizona / New Mexico / Utah / Nevada and Idaho / Wyoming / North and South Dakota). Northwest USA and British Columbia is, imo, one of the most gorgeous places on earth. New England is really pretty too, problem is that it's chock full of economically depressed town and cities in the interior, where you find the most gorgeous scenery (i guess Vermont / New Hampshire are exceptions to this).
The ugliest part of the country is the big empty that stretches from Ohio to Oklahoma. It's interrupted by Kansas, which in spite of being smack in the middle of that morass, is actually quite pretty, hilly, quaint and small-townsy, much like the Wizard of Oz. And I've spent, cumulatively, a month and change living in Kansas for research in Abilene. People are friendly and if you stay away from the towns that border the interstate, or parts of towns that border the interstate, you'll find the real remnants of small town America. I've only driven through Nebraska briefly, but it seemed pretty, too.
The South has a bad rep because of its inhabitants, and I'm not going to vouch for Alabama and Mississippi, but much of that is overstated. The east coast southern states are quite pretty; Virginia and North Carolina especially, and while large parts of Texas are just dust and deserts, central and south Texas are really neat (a combination of rocky desert and greenery, you don't see anything like it except in Mexico).
One thing though... U.S. cities with bad reputations have well earned them. Stay the fuck out of Detroit, Baltimore, Gary, etc. Detroit is on the mend because it's shrinking into a normal city, but fuck Baltimore.
stizzleomnibus
Decisively Human
1. System of a Down is a fucking incredible band.
2. Aerials is one of the best System of a Down Songs.
3. A classical, buttoned-down metal band doing a perfectly-death-metal take on a nu-metal song is an incredible opportunity.
At the risk of offending everyone who ever reads this forum, most of the things that make Dark Tranquilly such a standout death metal band are elements that they have in common with nu-metal. Don't believe me? Actually listen to Projector.
While we love to typecast nu-metal by a handful of bands (Korn, Deftones, SoaD), that entire non-genre is basically the anything-goes grab-bag of sharp-edged music. Note the funk and progressive elements that Anders started working into the drumming (compare to Abe Cunningham), or the almost rock & roll guitar breakdown in Nether Novas. The long, instrumental breakdowns and variety of vocal styles throughout the album are also standouts. While bands like Amon Amarth and the In Flames of '99 were still doing traditional metal (with some improvements), Dark Tranquillity took after alternative rockers and numetallers and applied the dynamic of complete artistic freedom to death metal.
Granted, there's a lot more to it. One could say that In Flames eventually took the same lesson; the differing results between the two bands (one becoming the greatest thing that ever happened to music and the other sucking hard enough to leave bruises on the ears of every death-metaller on the planet) suggest that the actual artistry expressed within that freedom is a significant factor.
I think that the historical implications of an album like Projector are not sufficiently understood. While most metal-heads would probably mock and deride the descendant genres, Projector took one of the most serious forms of music and blew it open so wide that anything would fly afterwards. Fuck, the album is practically an amendment to the constitution of metalcore (which itself predates the album). Projector may not be remembered as reverently as The Gallery, but it is one of those "artist's albums": no one making metal these days does not own that album.
I agree on all those points actually. Amon Amarth covering System of a Down just wasn't quite something I expected. To be honest, I love SoaD, they basically got me into metal.
I think it's good that bands take a risk. In the end it's necessary to remain interesting. And it can go either the right way or the wrong way. Honestly, I still like In Flames. Admitted that A Sense Of Purpose was their worst album, Come Clarity was actually pretty amazing. I suppose I don't need to mention DT here as you already did, Projector is indeed one of their best albums, even if it were only for being so experimental.
Amon Amarth, however, is another case. Don't get me wrong: I love all their albums, and their style is getting more refined with every new album and that's great. The thing with Amon Amarth is that after nine albums in (almost) exactly the same style, it may get a little boring. I was afraid of that to happen to Surtur Rising, but gladly, it didn't. Somehow, this album is different. They already experimented with different elements a bit on Twilight of the Thunder God (e.g. cellos in Live for the Kill), but that seemed to be more of a let's-just-try-that-for-once thing.
Surtur rising has a lot more of this though. There are fewer uptempo songs, and somehow it sounds different. The album didn't convince me in the beginning, but it's one of those albums that requires a few spins before really getting to you. Or perhaps it was because of my expectations. Sure, there are some typical Amon Amarth songs on there such as War of the Gods and Slaves of Fear, but just listen to a masterpiece like Doom Over Dead Man. That's probably one of the sweetest Amon Amarth songs I've ever heard right there. The songs also seem to be longer than before. Where most of the songs clocked around 3-4 minutes on Twilight of the Thunder God (Embrace of the Endless Ocean being an exception), Surtur Rising has its fair share of songs well over 5 minutes.
That said, Surtur Rising might just be one of the greatest Amon Amarth albums in a long time.
I think it's good that bands take a risk. In the end it's necessary to remain interesting. And it can go either the right way or the wrong way. Honestly, I still like In Flames. Admitted that A Sense Of Purpose was their worst album, Come Clarity was actually pretty amazing. I suppose I don't need to mention DT here as you already did, Projector is indeed one of their best albums, even if it were only for being so experimental.
Amon Amarth, however, is another case. Don't get me wrong: I love all their albums, and their style is getting more refined with every new album and that's great. The thing with Amon Amarth is that after nine albums in (almost) exactly the same style, it may get a little boring. I was afraid of that to happen to Surtur Rising, but gladly, it didn't. Somehow, this album is different. They already experimented with different elements a bit on Twilight of the Thunder God (e.g. cellos in Live for the Kill), but that seemed to be more of a let's-just-try-that-for-once thing.
Surtur rising has a lot more of this though. There are fewer uptempo songs, and somehow it sounds different. The album didn't convince me in the beginning, but it's one of those albums that requires a few spins before really getting to you. Or perhaps it was because of my expectations. Sure, there are some typical Amon Amarth songs on there such as War of the Gods and Slaves of Fear, but just listen to a masterpiece like Doom Over Dead Man. That's probably one of the sweetest Amon Amarth songs I've ever heard right there. The songs also seem to be longer than before. Where most of the songs clocked around 3-4 minutes on Twilight of the Thunder God (Embrace of the Endless Ocean being an exception), Surtur Rising has its fair share of songs well over 5 minutes.
That said, Surtur Rising might just be one of the greatest Amon Amarth albums in a long time.
stizzleomnibus
Decisively Human
Agreed on Come Clarity; there's actually a pretty hefty dose of the hyper-melodic heavy metal riffs plus death metal groove of old In Flames on that disc. I have noted certain complaints previously (the vocals).
Amon Amarth is an interesting band. It's like they don't give a fuck about growth or experimentation. At the same time, they make some of the best death metal EVER. Those melodies are so dramatic, those riffs are so goddamn groovy, it's perfect. It's like every album is a subtle re-calibration on their already perfect metal format. I haven't heard the new disc yet, but I am excited to do so.
Have you ever noticed how many Amon Amarth songs are like slow jams? For example, Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags. That's a song for the whole band to sit down on bar stools and play. Despite the frantic tempo of the percussion and grinding, the melody is actually really down-tempo.
Amon Amarth is an interesting band. It's like they don't give a fuck about growth or experimentation. At the same time, they make some of the best death metal EVER. Those melodies are so dramatic, those riffs are so goddamn groovy, it's perfect. It's like every album is a subtle re-calibration on their already perfect metal format. I haven't heard the new disc yet, but I am excited to do so.
Have you ever noticed how many Amon Amarth songs are like slow jams? For example, Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags. That's a song for the whole band to sit down on bar stools and play. Despite the frantic tempo of the percussion and grinding, the melody is actually really down-tempo.
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