TODAY, I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN LISTENING TO...

[Mjolnir]

TODAY, I HAVE MOSTLY BEEN LISTENING TO.....

Of course it's Mainly Mekal..But no matter what it is,if it's music then Music is Music....
I have a saying that goes...If i meet somebody for the first time and they tell me they "Dont like or Listen to music"....
I cannot like or fully trust that person...
How can you not like LOVE Music?
Music is the life blood...
Music keeps you strong and lifts you up when you need it...

So heres the first...
Today, i have mostly been listening to...
TURISAS..
PINK FLOYD(Barret era..)
ARKONA
POWERWOLF
SABATON
Oh and a bit of the OST from Das BOOT

[MetalBlade]

Ooh, Das Boot. I like it.
Klaus Doldinger's masterpiece.
A great atmospheric and deeply (no pun intended) claustrophobic dirge.

This week I have been mostly listening to the new Machine Head album, Unto The Locust.
So epic and incredible. Their most technically proficient offering to date I think.
Robb's vocals are particulary powerful on this, and some of the guitar work on it borders on virtuoso.

I have also been immersing myself in the new Wolves In The Throne Room record. My god, this is so dark. Fall asleep while listening to it the strangest dreams you'll have.

[Mjolnir]

i will borrow both of these thanks....
please let me know what you think of POWERWOLFs Bible of the Beast dude....
this is one of my fave albums of recent years...i need your review!!!

[Mjolnir]

I got the the New Machine Head on your Reccomendation and i fuckin love it....
I got the Delux Collectors Edition with 3 extra tracks on it which are The Sentinel(Priest Cover)
Whitch Hunt(Rush Cover) and Darkness Within(Acoustic Version)...All are Awsome but The Sentinel is Sublime and most kids will think its an origional and the Rush cover is downright Awsome concidering that i dont really like the real rush at all as i cant stand his whiney nasel vocals and all the Real harcore rush fans have been far too anul for me and are usually into guitar wanking too...i consider rush fans the trainspotters of the Rock/Metal World!!! ;D
As to quote a movie character from Revenge of the Nerds....NERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRDS!!

[Mjolnir]

Today i have mostly been listening to......
....Old Psychedelic Classics!!!!
First off is The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by Pink Floyd 1967...
Jeeze,this is before i was born but i've always listened this stuff and i cant explain why i love this old stuff better than the newer stuff but i do!!!
Arnold Layne,See Emily Play,Bike etc are singalong classics to me that are like nonsence songs but good!!
And then theres The real stuff that for me is the reason Floyd became the Titan they are today...
These are Astronomy domine And Interstellar Overdrive these two still stand up today and a lot of modern bands only wish they could write songs as good and eclectic as these two masterpieces!!!

Next is even Trippier Old stuff i found by the Iconic Acid Head that is Syd Barrett and is called An Introduction to Syd(nice snortly title i thought!)
This album has all my faves from floyd(with syd of course) and then has solo stuff that is just plain Barmy!!!
Apples and Oranges,Octopus,Dominoes,Effervescing Elephant and Rhamadan etc are weird and strange but i understand why as Syd took far too many drugs and melted his brain but still had an ear for Progressive Rock in the Psychedelic scence!!!
I would have loved Syd to have teamed up with say Rick Wakeman and seen what those two could have come up with!!!
Om and Yob and all the other Doomy Prog Metallers would have had nothing on these two had they done some nice 25min trippy prog to die for!!!!
RIP Syd and what a shame we never saw his true potential and maybe a reunion with Floyd that would have been a sell out of Football Stadiums the world over!!

[Mjolnir]

...The New Mastodon Album called the Hunter..
This Album is NOT a Concept album so that lets Brett and the Boys just write whatever they feel at the time and not be constrained to a certain theme!
This comes across as each song is its own entity and musically this album kicks butt!!
I haven't heard this enough to give it a rating overall yet as for me you cant digest Mastodon albums until the 4th or 5th listening as they are so goddamn technical and twisty..
But first impressions are very very good and i will award this a solid 8/10.

[Mjolnir]

SABATON,Sabaton,Sabaton........
Me n the Wife are off to see Sabaton today so yes im getting ready for a San Francisco meeting with the boys,oh and support comes in the form of Powerglove...Nice!!!!
I will post my review and Setlist tomorrow....

[MetalBlade]

Powerglove...
...just LOL!

I hate the concept of this band but their music belies the cheesiness of the subject matter. That version of Elfman's Batman theme is just epic.

Can't agree with you more about Mastodon albums requiring at least five listens before they become a part of you. I have listened to this new album The Hunter twice, and already each song is developing it's own identity.
I love it, it's far more accessible to the layman than it's predecessors. That's not to say it's commercial in the normal sense. Oh no, that would be like saying Reign In Blood is commercial when placed next to Hell Awaits.
The band now have a signature sound that is unmistakenly Mastodon, and with each successive album comes greater and greater production values.
Mastodon are so big right now, they even played on the David Letterman Show last week!

When it comes to Pink Floyd dude, you and me are exactly polar opposites. Where you revel in the psychedelia of Syd Barrett's labyrinthine mind, I immerse myself in the grandeur of David Gilmour's blissful guitar work and the soaring epicness of Roger Waters' writings.
Where you tap your feet and sing along to quirky yet catchy oddities like Bike and See Emily Play, I languish in the melacholy of Comfortably Numb and Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
Yet woven within all of this is the common thread which binds us. The spectacular Dark Side Of The Moon is the natural progression of visionary pieces like Astronomy Domine and Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun, and it is here we find common ground in the crossroads at the heart of Pink Floyd.

I am glad of this too, as were it not for modern counterparts Tool and Opeth, Pink Floyd might very well have passed you by completely. I seem to remember pointing out one day many moons ago that I considered Tool to be a modern day version of Floyd, and you never looked back dude.

[Mjolnir]

Opeth are by far for me the New Floyd with Tool having that vibe but just not as snortly as Opeth,years ago i would have said Tool for sure but now i say with hand on heart inside my beating Sid Influenced Heart that Opeth are The New Pink Floyd for the New Millenium..
And Amon Amarth are the new Slayer...Not in sound but in overall energy and power and Influence on a crowd just like Tom and co did many moons ago!!

[Mjolnir]

Just bought a few goodies out of the Used Section of the Metal Department at Rasputins(you would spend fuckin hours in this store dude)

Most Used Cds Are $5.95 and Used Music Dvds are $7.95...A Bloody Bargin if you ask me!!!!
And its worth it to take a risk on something you wouldnt normaly!!!!
So heres my Bargin Bin Reviews!!!!

First off i have Heard of these but never Heard em but have read Good things in a Metal mag i subscribe to called Decibel...
SKELETONWITCH - BREATHING the FIRE (2009)
Dude this Album and This Band a fuckin Amazing...
I apologise if you have told me about these,which im sure you did??
If you didnt then you must get some stuff from this band and Quick..
You cant put Skeletonwitch in any bracket but pure Technical Death Metal is the closest i can come up with...
Excellent stuff and i rate this as a very fine 9/10...

Next Bargin i got was....
MYSTIC PROPHECY - REGRESSUS (2003)
When in dought go back to Power Mekal...
Ah! Power Metal Rules and Always will for me...
I just love those type of Vocals that sear with the music and as long as there isnt too much guitar wanking going on i love the twiddly twiddly of Power Mekal also...(more to come later)
This album is just Pure Old school Power Mekal in the vain of Helloween and Blind Guardian....
I give this a Soaring Vocal prowess of 8.5/10...

Next is A Very Nice...
HELLOWEEN best of called the Best The Rest the Rare..
This has Classics like Halloween,Keeper of the Seven Keys,I Want Out,Judas,Walls of Jericho,Ride the Sky,A Tale that wasnt Right etc....
You see i dont have any Helloween on disc here as my cds are at me moms and all my vynal too...I have all the Origionals on the Black stuff..
This Is a nice compilation and i must give it a Helloween loving 10/10...

Also from the Bargin dept was two Dvds i got which are...
Visions of the Beast - Iron Maiden
This has every video maiden has ever done(31 of em!) right upto Wicker Man and Brave New World...All this for a measley $7.95...Bargin.
Next is more Maiden and this time its Death on the Road and this has 3discs one of which is a live show from Westfallenhalle,Dortmund in Chermany 2003 and this show is great as they do songs you would never hear live now...Dance of Death,Rainmaker,Brave New World..the Powerfull Pachendale,Lord of the Flies,No more Lies and the excellent Journeyman which is becoming one of my top 10 fave songs of all time!!

So there you have it dood,once a month i go to the Local Record store Rasputins with Freyja intow and i have as long as she keeps behaved so when she kicks off its time to cash em in...
I usually get about 20-35mins and thats pushing it so i have to do Power Shopping or Power Browsing as i now call it!!
The Mekal section in this store is about the size of the Corperation and thats with out the rock section which has Priest.Dio,Floyd etc....Even Metallica are in the Rock section which i found hillarious but now i think its right to clear space for bands like AmonAmarth, Nile, Skeletonwitch, Sabaton and all the other True Mekal bands of today!!
(oh god i feel a rant coming on about how Metallica sold theyre souls to the Corperate Beast and turned theyre backs on the fans that made them famous in the first place!!)

[Mjolnir]

Yes Indeedy dude..
Another trip to Rasputin's was had last week and here is what i got........

SKALMOLD--Baldur
If you like Tyr and Falkenbach etc..then this is for you....
They only sing in they're Mother tongue(which i love!!) of Norwegian and for me this only adds an Authenticity to the Music...
Excellent Wiking Mekal with great Melodies to boot!!!
A Fist raising sword swinging 8.5/10

FALCONER--Armod
this time its Swedish thats sung on this Album and again it suits the style of music...
Falconer are not Death but very heavy and Melodic at the same time..
I bloody love this band and we saw them at Wacken in 2007 for a few songs then went to see Overkill or Sacred Reich or somebody...
I then proceeded to forget them until now that is....
A rousing album that reminds me of rolling hills and vast nothingness
in the great outdoors(i really am a tree hugger arnt i)
This album makes me want to build a long ship and sail the seas to the great uncharted land far away to the East over the top of the globe...Er!!! wasn't that what i did? but mine was on a great steel Behemoth in the sky!!!
A Great album to get lost in 9/10

MEGADETH--Th1rt3en
Oh My dear gods and Goddesses,i was completely flabbergasted when i put this on for the first time...
I wasn't expecting much to be honest as the last time i saw Dave do new material was over 23 years ago at the Leeds Festival which Voi Vod no showed by the way and little did we know it at the time they became The first band to enter the Room of death even before there was a room of death....
The only reason i am even contemplating listening to this album is the fact that i am going to see them in Febuary of 2012..
I have been listening to all the classics on a best of i borrowed(sic!)
and so i didn't have much hope for this album at all really!!!!
But hey!! Old Mekalers don't get old they get Experienced in life!!
This Album f**kin kicks the shit out of anything that tallica have done in the last 15years or longer...
Opener Sudden Death is fantastically Megadeth in all its Glory!!
From here on the album just carries on with the greatness and daves voice is holding up nicely thank you very much(unlike james' broken no high notes bullshit!!).
Public Enemy no1 is fucking awesome and Dave's riffs are just as good today as they were 23 years ago...
I didn't review all the songs on the album yet as i am still getting to know it so will post a fave song list at a later date!!!
A surprising "you knew, you knew then you know now" 9.5/10

Next up is a fine album from Chermanys favorite sons RAGE
This album is called Strings to a web and is RAGES 19th album to date and is very fine melodic mekal from one of the snortleyest bands in metal!!!
Theres a song on this album that is a concept piece and has 5 chapters in it and tells an auditory tale and like i said these guys are Not one of the snorleyest bands in Metal for nothing!!!
Empty Hollow
5."Empty Hollow" - 6:20
6."Strings to a Web" (Smolski) - 3:54
7."Fatal Grace" (Smolski) - 1:21
8."Connected" - 2:54
9."Empty Hollow (Reprise)" - 1:48

A very fine Melodic gem that gets better with each playing and there is a Bonus DVD with the special edition of this album and it s a live show from Wacken 2009 in which Shmier smeagols onto stage and does three songs with em which is a very nice Bonus indeed!!(even though i did pine like a motha fucker!!!)
Snortley is as Snortley does 8.2 for album and 9.7 for DVD(3 points were deducted due to me being pissed at missing this show!!!)

[bingowingz]

I'm introducing myself as a new member, Just to let Metalblade and Mjolnir know I am in touch...and today I have been mostly listening to Amnesia....Death in the City, and Perish
check out this link Mjolnir
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rAqiBFU9g
and get in touch mate.

[MetalBlade]

Haha, they were the days! I have a DVD with the full gig from Midsummer Hoedown in about 1990 featuring all 4 songs from the demo!
NO MORE TOMORROW!
Welcome to The Room Gary!
This week I've been mostly listening to Profetus, who are a great funeral doom band. They have songs clocking in at almost 20 minutes. EPIC!
Also the new Testament album which is possibly their best ever.

[bingowingz]

I heard the new Testament is nothing really special....will have to give it a listen on your recommendation then.
Regarding the Hoedown DVD, i needs to see it, this was one of my favourite gigs....you will have drop it off one day
Today I have been mostly listening to Meshuggah - Pravus....whilst trying to learn it on guitar...top tune.

[Mjolnir]

Welcome Gary...Pleased you are here and aboard...Greetings from a Very Sunny California.