My rainy day craft box

I don't remember what I was doing when I found this video on YouTube but few bands have made me go "Shut up and take my money!" recently quite as much as this one has. As soon as I get some money I will shut them up and make them take it. I think the last one to get me this excited was Ancient Bards and that was almost a year ago. The whole "beauty-and-the-beast" (a.k.a. "soprano and gravel") has almost become a cliche unto itself, but they way the blackened screams mesh with the female singer's big, brassy voice is really refreshing. It's rare for bands that use this vocal style to actually have the vocals try and work together.

Now I'm sure you might watch this video/story and say, "Hey! He was in full heavy plate armor. Why couldn't they just outrun him?" Well, duh! They can't outrun him because he's like, magic and stuff. He's a magical dark general! That means no matter how fast you run he will always be right behind you. That's what magical dark generals do. Read your Tolkien, people. I've got better things to do than explain this shit.

Since Orion appears to be such a big hit with the ladies, (who knew?) here is more of him from the same night.





Now remember not to fight over the hulking black metal teddy bear. There is more than enough of him to go around.

Tonight megiloth and I caught the Decibel Magazine tour headlined by Behemoth. This was one of the more exotic metal shows I've been to in a while in that every single band represented a different metal genre.

First up we got some no-frills classic heavy metal from In Solitude. These nice young men dress like they're in Accept or Judas Priest and it's 1981. Lots of leather vests, studded wristbands, and classy, cherry-finish Gibson guitars. Then there's the vocalist who I suspect may be a zombie. Let's just say he looked unhealthy and of dubious personal hygiene and leave it at that. He also wore what I thought at first was some kind of boa or scarf but which actually turned out to be a fox pelt. Possibly more than the pelt. I think there may have still been bones and organs in there. Anyway, their recording has very rudimentary production and I thought their sound had a bigger "umph" to it live. The singer's vocals are kind of odd though and they couldn't ever seem to get them just right in the live mix. He was enunciating clearly but his voice still came out like he was mumbling. Maybe not his fault. Still a pleasant band to start the night with. megiloth described them as "Mercyful Fate meets Tesla" and I think that's a fair descriptor.

Next up were The Devil's Blood whom I would classify as pagan metal. I had never heard them before tonight and had no idea what to expect. When they came out and did their sound check they looked like a bunch of dorks from a 90's alternative band and the riffs they played did nothing to downplay this. One of the guitarists even had what looked like some kind of 60's surf rock guitar. Then they left the stage and came back as completely different people. Shirtless and covered head to toe in what I hope was fake blood, they proceeded to tear into some very hypnotic, very primal sounding metal. They were then joined on stage by their vocalist: a very charismatic high priestess/earth mother type woman. She stood almost motionless for the band's entire set, barefoot and with her arms upraised and fixing everyone in the room with the most intense STARE. Afterward I felt like I had been initiated into something and like I should strip naked, go into the woods, and kill a wild animal with my bare hands and teeth.

The only band I've ever heard that I can really comapre The Devil's Blood to is the 60's/70's death rock band Coven. They've got the sound and definitely have the vibe. I'd say I want to see them again but I'm afraid of what I might do...

Third up were straight-up black metal band Watain. I may not know what a Watain is, but I know fellow lovers of the dark and theatrical when I see them and these Swedes more than qualify. They had the longest set-up time of any band. Every time I thought the roadies were done they'd bring out another five foot tall inverted iron cross, or another totemic array of animal bones, or another length of metal chains to hang. Finally Watain came skulking out under layers of armor, ripped fabric, and corpse paint like they'd just robbed a thrift store in Mordor and they just went completely insane. Believe it or not, their music is actually quite beautiful and melodic in places and their lyrics can be quite introspective. There was one song in particular where the singer was speaking about the darkness between the stars that I found really haunting. Black metal constantly walks a razor-thin line between scary and silly. Watain are one of the few bands I've found that are never in danger of falling to the silly side despite setting themselves up with every possible opportunity to do so.

Finally the headliners and the band I had most wanted to see, Behemoth, took the stage. Extreme metal just doesn't get better than this. Nergal, the lead vocalist, is a controversial public figure in his native Poland thanks to his persistent trolling of that country's religious establishment and he was no less on-message tonight. You can tell he's playing a character when he takes the stage, but he's so intensely committed to it that you get as into it as he does. He also looks extremely good for having just gone through a near-fatal battle with leukemia only a few months ago. Also, if you watch the video in the link above, you'll notice him wearing a crazy Magneto/Galactus/Batman helmet in the later half of the video. He actually wore it tonight at the concert. I respect the hell out of any man who can beat leukemia, piss off the religious establishment, and be the goddamn Batman all at the same time. Unrelated: Behemoth's bassist Orion is a huge, musclebound ogre of a man. This guy is so big and so ripped that if Peter Steele were still alive and had to fight him I... I'm not sure Peter would win! I know, it seems impossible but I'm telling you, this guy walks down the street and Japanese businessmen run away screaming. I think Orion may be the reason why Watain have so many cattle bones to decorate their stage with. He ate the cows whole. You'd think him standing side-by-side with a frail, skeletal scarecrow like Nergal would be funny but it's not. You just wonder which one needs the nourishment from your pale, soft body more and is going to fight you harder to take it from you.

Met some cool people at this show. Normally at concerts I talk to no one, no one talks to me, and that's the way I like it. But friendly people just kept coming up to me and starting conversations and in a move that is completely unlike me, I really enjoyed it. Two guys who drove over from Springfield, MO struck up a conversation with the two of us as we waited for the show to start and just handed us CD's of their bands, no charge. I got to listen to them a little bit on the drive back from Megiloth's house and they are incredibly good, as in way better than I'm used to unsigned bands sounding. So that was a pleasant surprise.

Great music I paid money to see and great music that was just given to me to keep for free. I don't think you're going to find a better deal at a metal show or any other kind of show. I'll call it a win for sure.

This is who I'll be seeing tonight along with a few other exciting bands.


Tomorrow, by contrast, will suck. I have to get up early in the morning to go do five hours of standardized patient work at KU Med Center immediately followed by an eight hour shift at my regular job :/

The Woman In Black turned out to be a pretty fun little scary movie. I wouldn't nominate it for Best Picture or anything, but that' s not because it's bad. It knows exactly what it is supposed to be (a jump scare horror movie,) tries to do it very well, and succeeds. Daniel Radcliffe proves once and for all that he's more than just a one-trick pony, especially during the many long scenes of him by himself, no dialogue, just reacting to the bizarre happenings around him.

The movie also has some gorgeous scenery porn. It's worth seeing for the haunted house sets alone. Best of all, it's a Hammer Film and it succeeds in updating the great qualities of the early Hammer movies for a new century. Hopefully this means they are back and will keep delivering good, interesting horror movies.

Of interest to probably no one besides me, (as if anything else I say is - Ha!) I have repeatedly mistakenly referred to the film as "The Lady In Black" due to the title's similarity to Queensryche's amazing early song, "The Lady Wore Black." Since the lyrics and atmosphere of said song are actually kind of appropriate for The Woman In Black here it is, complete with pretty graphics some kid with editing software compiled into a Youtube video.

I had never heard of this band but came across them today when surfing metal videos on Youtube. I like what I'm hearing! Yeah, the singer is nothing to write home about but that bassist can fucking groove! Adding her to the list of motivation to get my fingerpicking up to where it needs to be.

Yes I am aware that it is four hot metal chicks all wearing practically nothing and yet I am more interested in the bass line. I don't care. Fuck you.

I have been meaning to write this entry for two days but have just been too tired. This past Saturday night my two month blitz of concert-going slammed to its epic conclusion with a huge treat: a chance to see my Viking metal heroes Amon Amarth.

Surprisingly, I've had a hard time coming up with stuff to say about this show. For one thing, Amon Amarth totally delivered from start to finish. For another, there were no opening acts. It was just Amon Amarth performing two full-length sets. But since one cannot see a band one has longed to see for years and just not talk about it, I will do my best.

megiloth and I made an uneventful drive to Lawrence, KS during which he shared with me Stryper's new album of covers of classic metal songs. (More on that later.) We arrived at the Granada right before doors were set to open and... Wow. I think the last time I saw a crowd that big for a show there was for Type O Negative three or four years ago. Amon Amarth are a big deal apparently. This makes me happy but I don't think they'll be able to play at the Granada much longer. It just won't hold the crowd.

Despite being at the back of the line we nevertheless managed to get near the front. I am a tall gentleman and how the five people in any given hall who are taller than me always find me and decide to stand directly in front of me I will never know. Fortunately Amon Amarth are tall fellows of Swedish descent and I had no problem seeing them. Especially vocalist Johann Hegg whose stature could impress one of the Norse deities he sings about.

To my sorrow, the band did not take to the stage in a Viking longboat as they have been known to do. But then again the Granada's stage is not very deep. I mean, if it could not contain the very petite Zoe Jakes how is it going to hold an entire Viking longboat? Anyway, Amon Amarth's set consisted of their new album Surtur Rising played in its entirety. For those of you taking notes at home, Surtur is the champion of the mythical fire giants who, in a scenario eerily evocative of nuclear holocaust, is prophesied to exterminate nearly all life on earth by means of his colossal flaming sword. The massive backdrop of Surtur wielding said sword more than made up for the absence of any boats. I do not own the new album, but damn do I want it after hearing it live. Now I understand why they call themselves Amon Amarth. (You probably know it better as "Mount Doom."): Because like the fires of Mount Doom, once you encounter what Amon Amarth produces, you wants it. It is the precious.

The second set consisted of songs spanning Amon Amarth's twenty year career. They rocked the anthems like "Twilight of the Thunder God" and "Death and Fire" and soothed us with ballads like "A Thousand Years of Oppression" and "Cry of the Black Birds." Keep in mind that their ballads are heavier than most bands' heavy songs. I just... wow. I really need to say that Amon Amarth have the best sound techs/sound set-up out there right now. It's one of the few shows where I could hear every note that was played clearly. And Johann Hegg joked at one point that it's okay to sing along even if you don't know the lyrics because no one can understand death metal lyrics anyway. But I actually did understand damn near every word he said. Then again, he does enunciate better than most death metal vocalists. As a musician I was totally absorbed by everything I saw and heard in their playing. They may be obsessed with scary Viking images of ransacking and rapine, but musically they are true professionals.

megiloth mentioned in his post that for a bunch of mean Vikings Amon Amarth were very jolly and happy on stage. Of course, Johann Hegg has admitted that actual Vikings probably wouldn't understand their music since all they had for instruments were flutes and bongos. So they definitely don't take themselves too seriously. This is one band that knows how to treat the crowd like friends and the crowd responded to that in a big way. They are also incredibly generous with their merchandise, selling their t-shirts for about $15 less than most bands. It was the first time I've been able to buy a band t-shirt in at least five years.

In closing I want to say how impressed I was at the diversity of the crowd. Quite a few women and older people (as in, my age or older,) in the crowd. And except for a stray flung beer can that sought me out as surely as the very tall men, the crowd was very respectful of one another. Mosh pits called time-outs long enough to help the fallen up off the floor and none of the many female crowd surfers got their lady bits grabbed or their clothing torn that I saw. It just makes me feel all kinds of good to see that the metal scene is becoming a community in the true sense rather than merely a shared affectation of a certain type of dysfunctional young male.

There are no concerts on the horizon for the foreseeable future. This may be a good thing. These aging bones need a rest.

Vote for the metal queen!!!

I don't know what's worse, that Cristina Scabbia only has 8% of the vote or that Tarja Turunnen has 25%. Then again I voted for Simone Simmons so don't blame me!

It's a dark time in the metal world.

First Peter Steele and now this.

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio.

Obituary here.

Election day tomorrow and I am ridiculously pumped about it. I really want to see how this all plays out and it's just close enough for me to be very nervous. I expect it to be a crazy day tomorrow, just as bad if not worse than in 2000. I'd be delighted to be wrong on that.

I tried to do writing this weekend, but still managed to get nothing done creatively. Minimal progress made on the D&D module I'm writing and on my novel. It's a good thing I'm not doing Nano because I'm already screwed. But it was an enjoyable weekend overall. Even when my wife is vigorously studying for an algebra test she still finds time to put excellent cooking skills to use. We've been married two years today and I'm reminded just how much I love her.

So now it's Monday. Here's hoping I can get caught up on all the stuff I didn't do over the weekend.

( In case anyone's interested, here's a recap of the concert I went to Friday night. )

It's three days later now and my legs are still sore from standing all Friday night. Being metal is hard work.