Hell Yeah!

M: VINNIE PAUL Says New HELLYEAH Album Is 'About Three-Quarters Of The Way Done' - get ready for the reviews! :D

J: > VINNIE PAUL Says New HELLYEAH Album Is 'About Three-Quarters Horse Shit'
fixed ;)

M: :D :D can't wait to see what gems we'll have on this record. hopefully the cover will look like this :D

J: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL @ that!
did you make that? :D :D

M: yes i did :D :D :D :D :D i'm so proud of it!

J: if they ever have an album art contest, submit that :D

M: they'd blatantly go for it :) i hope so, thats the best 5 minutes work i've ever done.

J: you should have included rita on it XD

M: was going to but i had literally about 5 minutes to do that in and halfway through received some [work] phonecall of gayness - interrupted my creative flow!

J: the hellyeah cover is more important :D

M: that's what i said :D

NOT!

M: DIMMU BORGIR Frontman Launches 'The Wrath Of Shag - from the comments: "what a fuckin joke. look at this fool. oh you look so tuff with those spikes on that i think im gonna go buy the cd NOT."
scott ian posts on blabbermouth? NOT! ;D

J: i heard danny lilker posts on there.... NOT!

M: injuns :)

J: you secretly love the fact anthrax are kinda goofy ;) :P


M: yeah i do :) but only then, not now. not in the past 20 years, give or take. but i do like their goofyness, that's part of thrash :)

J: they don't goof off now - i liked their image before - from the Armed and Dangerous EP cover, though i don't mind all the surf shorts and NOTisms, but that was during when they sucked for me :/

M: umm they looked badass on the armed and dangerous thingy but i secretly like their stupid shorts and hats and whatever - thats what i associate with anthrax. i don't like when they took it too far, but for a while they had a good look with that, i think.

J: yeah, when they decided to look like run dmc XD

M: yeah, way too hip hop, not thrash enough

J: they kinda went like that when they did the song for judgement night with public enemy

M: ahh but thats an awesome film :D but yeah, that whole moving over to rap thing - i like it with some bands, but not thrash and rap. i like gothy rap LOL like korn, kinda. but not with thrash, noooooooooo way

J: gothy rap?! wtf?! :|

M: like korn....is a bit like chavvy, gothy rap :D

J: you mean nu-metal ;)

M: yes, that :) think sinister off daisy of love :D



J: yeah, a total fagwad XD

M: hey!

A perfect vision of the rising Northland

Ahoy all. Not quite the Northland, but I spent the weekend in an incredibly sunny Cornwall. It wasn't particularly metal related, so no news on that front; although Bodmin Moor would be an excellent place to shoot a black metal video. On a less sunny weekend than mine.

Okay perhaps the ponies aren't so grim - I just like that picture.

Looks that Kill

M: i really wish dark tranquillity would get a better name/decent logo/decent cover art.....when i think of favourite bands in terms of how many albums i like etc. i think i like more DT than anyone else. i know they have a lot of releases, so in terms of number they beat a lot of other bands i like - but srsly, i like a huge percentage of their stuff....but their merch sucks!!! their logo is just their name in a font (or just the DT), like dimmu, and all their album covers are weird and rubbish or insanely emo looking. the only good stuff is septic broiler but they were pretty much a completely different band back then and i don't like any of the stuff they did.
sadness :(
maybe i should make my own stuff.

J: that's the same with Job for a Cowboy or any band or festival that sounds lame or has lame merch.
DT sounds like some goth band with a female singer... to me anyway. I understand picking a band name is not the easiest thing nowadays, but don't make yourself sound like a bunch of pussies.

M: yeah, it's such a shame because they've done some really great stuff. its one of the reasons i never bothered with them for ages - their singer looks like chad kroeger and everything else about them is pretty lame looking.........their 1995 album the gallery is one of my favourite ever albums. sux the image lets their material down - but here was have proof that image is important, not just the music

Seriously, can you tell them apart?

J: as you know, i like to let the music talk, but an ounce of image IS important. don't get too obsessed about it as that will end up probably affecting the band, but don't sell yourselves short as so to speak :)

M: haha, we're so fussy :) but it's true, for the perfect band, you need to have the right amount of image - too little and people won't bother with you 'cause you're not extreme enough or just not giving off the right signals......but too much and people get put off, or the image can take over completely - like bands with themes that i posted about yesterday.

J: can you imagine motley playing in jeans and a tee shirt back in the 80's? vince does now, but you couldn't of had that back them.
i mean say like crashdiet - you expect them to look a bit dressed up, not to just go onstage looking regular. but this can also fuck a band up if certain people think too much about the image and that's all they care about. that then means you need to gtfo of doing music, because you care too much about something that isn't really that major, although it is something that needs some attention, but not too much.
you feel me?

M: yeah i totally understand. music and live performances of music have always been about making a show and what you wear is part of the show. so that's always going to matter, because the visuals are just as important. if motley crue played what they played but wore and acted like sunn do - it would never have worked. you find an image that works and then go with it...but the bands that do that best are the ones who find stagewear and stage imagery that fits them at each point of their musical careers and let the image evolve with the band. if you become too stuck with one thing, it becomes costume and everyone knows that costumes mean you're a novelty and so no longer taken seriously. usually people's image just simply matures as they grow up so it seems natural, but some people seem quite easily led so they start looking unnatural for them - rob flynn and tommy lee being obvious perpetrators of this crime!

J: > rob flynn
nice frosted tips :) I don't care how he looks now, but he he's gone full circle after turning into an idiot during their nu metal phase, same with dez from devil driver. they both dress now in cut off tee shirts and wear them lame leather wristbands that are so lame i have no idea what they're for and neither do they!
but that aside, bands like GWAR and slipknot have to pretty much keep their costumes, bands that just have an image can freely alter and change it like how motley changed image on every album, but it's when you get a band that are anal about image that then gets in the way of the music and then you have a lame band.

M: >them lame leather wristbands....i have no idea what they're for and neither do they
don't be such a man, they don't need a purpose, they're just leather bracelets :p :)

>but that aside, bands like GWAR and slipknot have to pretty much keep their costumes
see they've both trapped themselves into looking like that and if they don't want to look like that anymore, it'll be a big deal whether people like or hate the idea of it

Old news - No, YOU like him

(First sent 2-11-09)


J: The Cribs rescue fan at London show - The Cribs protected a fan from a violent security guard last night (February 10) during a gig at the London Heaven venue, after he was pushed into the photo pit after trying to get on stage.
- and if the guard let him on and he killed someone, who would be at fault?

M: you're right, but it makes it sound like you're a dimebag fan ;)
true tho, if that had been a maniac this story would have a whole different spin on it

J: > you're right, but it makes it sound like you're a dimebag fan ;)
no

M: haha, yes

J: how does it?

M: oh because he was famously killed by a "fan" getting on to the stage

J: i know, but me saying that doesn't justify being a dimebag fan, you're just clutching at straws!

M: no you're just clutching at straws now to get out of it

J: you started it, loser

M: LOSER

J: any excuse to talk about dimebag, that's you

M: no, you're just trying to subtly imply him into conversations so it looks like people are talking about him, but when its you thats obsessed

J: shut up

Glamma bomb

J: ICARUS WITCH: New Album Details Revealed - "mysteriously entitled"
how is that anymore mysteriously entitled than anything else?
also, the band name sucks! check em out on marchives: http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=32434 XD

M: drawing down the moon is some bullshit wiccan ritual, i don't see how it's mysterious at all. omg: LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL at the marchives pic!

J: there only seems to be two members now. i can't really see why anyone would want an image like that :)

M: like a gay rock pirate?

J: it's as though crashdiet and that lame pirate metal band who's name evades me collided and formed this

M: swashbuckle D:
i was trying to think of what it was, could only think of "ramshackle" for ages XD

J: them!
makes me rage hard >.<

M: yea. i wish they were called ramshackle.

J: i think that'd be worse >.<

M: i don't know. if they were stilll a theme band then i don't care...i don't really like theme bands in that 5 year old dressing up sense. i like theme bands in the tankard sense - but i dunno, whatever, i think swashbuckle are the epitome of lameness.

J: being themed as in content not appearance you mean?

M: i guess so, themed in content is okay, as most people have specific areas they're interested in...but themed appearance as well makes you seem too novelty and too much of a joke. only bm bands can be themed in appearance and content ;D

J: that.

M: X[

J: like how thrash bands always had a content theme, and crossover was usually about partying. taking to appearance means you're attention seekers, or your music sucks so much you need to.

M: that.
i know image is obvs a big part of music, across all genres - but some people take it too far and make it all a bit too cosplay, like its all just an act and it draws attention away from the music. dressing like pirates is the equivalent of the women that dress up as "sexy witches" for halloween.

J: > and make it all a bit too cosplay
motley crue don't come under this since their music is fucking amazing! as with early kiss too.

M: but at the time, glam bands weren't dressing up to "be dressed as glam bands" that was just what they were all wearing at the time - it was about being shocking and subversive and silly, pissing off the parent generation at that time who were still very conservative. they didn't come out specifically dressed up as anything.

J: kiss just look like immortal and tuff collided at high speed :)
i see what you mean - it's like with slipknot in a way, they made such a big deal about the costumes when they first came out, but their first album was good enough to not have an image, but now, it's that and the live shows people care about.

So people, to theme or not to theme? It's usually a little bit of both (metal often being highly theatrical anyway) but what happens when your image starts to overshadow any actual capabilities? Where I work, I'm pretty sure that about 80% of the people on my team have heard of KISS. But I'd bet money that not more than one of them would recognise a KISS song. I know plenty of people who've heard of GWAR, but I also know that if questioned, they'd hazard a guess that they sounded like Lordi.

For many bands, having a distinct theme helps to brand your group, which helps the fans know where they're at. You only need to see Rob Darken to understand what Graveland is all about and almost all black metal bands can be spotted without ever having to hear their music.

A little goes a long way, though. Everyone wants their reputation to precede them, but when you beome defined by ideas of how you should look and sound, you can become pigeonholed and restricted. No-one really wanted KISS to take off the make-up back in '83. Alestorm have pretty much committed themselves to singing about wenches and mead forever more. Even bands like Tankard - if they wanted to release a serious track, unless it's about serious beer drinking, most people ain't gonna want to know.

Your thoughts?

He's the one they call Dr. Feelgood

M: VINCE NEIL Cancels Plans To Promote Tequila In Cayman Islands - he got drunk somewhere else instead?

J: bad tummy ;)

M: ooooooops :)

J: that sucks tho, i was hoping he'd do it :(

M: yeah me too :( i gasped aloud in sadness when i saw it :(

J: it's tragic, you should have told [your manager] you were going home early to mourn.

M: omg best reason for a day off work ever :D "I'm sorry [mr. manager man], i just can't work like this - i'm too concerned for vince neil. he's cancelled his tequila appearance in the cayman islands!!"

J: therefore i must cancel my day at work!

M: :D when vince neil dies, i'm gonna take time off work and get WASTED in his honour :)

Interview: Metalcakes

Black Sabbath's Cupcakes Bloody Cupcakes

The love and dedication that goes into this site is of course, UNENDING - which is why I have something a bit special up my sleeve today. (Sadly, it's not some quaaludes).

Metalcakes is where heavy music and delicious ingredients come together. And not just any metal bands, oh no; you won't find any Limp Bizkits here (hur hur!). Mercyful Fate, Evile, Sleep, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden...the list goes on. It's not just any old cake site either! You get a full list of the "Metal Constituents" for each cupcake and "Merciless Instructions" to go with them.

But it led me to thinking - who is this woman who bakes such cakes? Who decides which bands are honoured? Will these become a standard after-gig treat?

So I got in touch with Kathy to ask her a few questions...and as I suspected, it turns out she's wicked sick :D

1. So I take it you're a regular metal fan - how do you pick the bands you immortalize in the kitchen?

I only bake for bands I like. I find it hard to be inspired by bands I don’t dig.

2. All the bands you choose are pretty cool - do you think you'll ever get elitist about it - would you only create cakes for bands you like?

I am a total elitist already! I know people don’t like all the bands I bake for, but that’s what’s good about Metalcakes (in my humble opinion…), even if you don’t like the band, you may still enjoy the tasty cake recipe posted in their honor!

I know that’s true for my Mom, she’s not metal AT ALL but she still likes the Metalcakes I bake. Plus if a metal head stumbles across my blog while searching for information on a band they already like, maybe they’ll try baking up the accompanying recipe.

3. Okay so the obvious - what inspired you to combine metal with cakes? Now, I've seen plenty of cakes that are decorated with a band logo or something, but you use metal to inspire the ingredients AND the aesthetic. Were you influenced by Kuma's Corner at all?

Basically I just made the blog I wished was out there. There are plenty of punk rock bakers, but I wanted a blog that sticks to cupcakes, and talks about bands I like. I’m a sucker for permeating themes.

To be perfectly honest, I started my blog before I ever went to Kuma’s. That’s probably because I’m a vegetarian, ha! Kuma’s employees are known for being rude to vegetarians/vegans and people who like any form of Miller beer. But once I did go to Kuma’s, I kind of felt that their flavor combinations didn’t really capture the essence of the band. They have burgers like:

Iron Maiden: Avocado, Cherry Peppers, Pepper Jack, Chipotle Mayo - $11
Neurosis: Cheddar, Swiss, Sautéed Mushrooms, Caramelized Onions, Horseradish Mayo - $10
Led Zeppelin: Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheddar, Pickles - $12
Dark Throne: Chipotle Peppers, Goat Cheese, Fresh Pico de Gallo - $11

It’s kind of like, “huh?”I really don’t see the connection between what they’re serving and the band it’s named after. I mean Pico de Gallo for Dark Throne? C’mon. And that’s fine if they’re not trying to make a connection. I guess they’re just naming random burgers after random metal bands. It just seems like a missed opportunity to me.

I try to have a direct connection between the band, the name of their song, or their album and their Metalcake. My intent is to express my appreciation for the band by baking for them.

The very first Metalcake - Slayer's Reign in Blood cake.

4. Do you get a lot of metal fans contacting you who have tried making the cakes themselves? I know Reign in Blonde did a post a while back on some they'd tried out. Do you think your cakes have inspired any non-metal bakers to try out new music?

I’ll admit that there are few who are passionate about Metal AND Baking, but in addition to Elise from Reign in Blonde (I love both those ladies, they’re so brilliant. I can’t believe they like my blog!), the only other metal head I know for sure that has baked any of my cakes is John Humphrey from Denver, Colorado. He’s super awesome, and usually wears a corresponding band shirt to go with his cupcakes.

I hope some people have tried listening to bands they didn’t know before they had their own Metalcake! I try to include a video clip to help illustrate the awesomeness of the band.

5. Do you think you'll be picking up a copy of 'Hellbent for Cooking'?

I don’t own a copy yet, but I’ll probably pick one up soon! I really like that it’s a collection of favorite recipes from different metal artists. I wonder if there are any cupcakes in there…

6. On a more serious note - many diehard metal fans would frown upon something as revered as heavy metal being combined with the frivolity of cupcakes. Have you ever received any criticism?

I haven’t received any criticism that I know about. Granted, I’m a pretty tiny operation flying under most people’s radar. I don’t make any money off my blog, it’s just a fun and tasty hobby. I think because I bake for a band out of respect and to honor them, it’s not very offensive. I have nothing but respect for Metal. I have nothing but respect for baking, especially cupcakes. It seems natural for me to combine the two.

Have you seen Until the Light Takes Us? I’ve seen it twice already! There’s a scene in which Gylve (Fenriz) from Dark Throne talks about how people have made fun of Black Metal and turned it into something marketable. Black Metal has totally been exploited, but what can he do? That made me so sad! I completely understand.

That’s why I’m hesitant to make a Dark Throne cupcake. I love them dearly, but I don’t want it to seem disrespectful. I don’t want to be disrespectful to any band I bake for. If they suck and I hate them, there’s no way I’m ever going to bake something in their honor. Psshh! Not bloody likely! They can bake their own cakes.

I will tell you this, if I do end up baking a Dark Throne cupcake, it won’t have Pico De Gallo in it!

7. And finally...what's the greatest heavy metal to bake to?

Personally, if I’m baking for my blog, I rock out to whatever band I’m featuring in my post.
If it’s not a Metalcake I’m baking, I usually like Slayer for the easier stuff to keep me in a good mood, and Nile for the more challenging tasks. The heavier the metal, the better I can concentrate on a recipe.

So what are you waiting for? Go try out some of those recipies for yourself! I'm not so hot in the kitchen but am quite at home with metal so I'm going to go check out Lair of the Minotaur...metal with greek mythology? I'm in!

A wild side project appears!

J: EXODUS Frontman's GENERATION KILL: Another Demo Track Posted Online - obvious signs that exodus ain't doing well... a wild side project appears!

M: and their frontman is currently the worst thing in exodus :/

J: gary holt is kinda fucking exodus up, and doesn't realise it :/

M: don't blame gary D:<

J: it's his band, just saying.... :/

M: D:<

J: they should have gotten zetro back. period!

M: but he's busy with dublin death patrol ;)

J: yeah, that fucking abortion!

M: but it has chuck billy and eddie billy in it :D

J: so, machine head has two ex members of vio-lence in it :P

M: that seems to give them more credence than they deserve

J: i'm not sure if it's good to say that their original guitarist (MH) left to start soulfly with max :/

Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash

M: back to the "problems with monthly mags" that we have - everything is old news! you have a choice of thousands of interviews of everyone online - bands have their own websites etc etc etc there's no point in magazines anymore - even weekly is too late for me. i suppose there are still people out there that aren't into the internet so much and are happy to pay stupid money to get the bullshit news people have copied from online anyways...but as times goes by, magazines ain't gonna exist anymore, at least not as we know them. if they want to survive, they're gonna have to come up with something else for us to pay for, just like bands are having to do.

J: > in magazines anymore - even weekly is too late for me
This, and everything you said
> if they want to survive, they're gonna have to come up with something else for us to pay for, just like bands are having to do.
I think they make money from tour sponsorship as well, since yeah,they're effectivly obsolete.

M: I think they make money from tour sponsorship as well, since yeah, they're effectively obsolete. yeah and online stores and shit...but i just can't see how long they're gonna hold out actually selling the magazine. even with them offering free cds and shit - as soon as the copy hits stores, it goes online straight away. any super amazing content they can come up with goes online straight away....there ain't anything magazines can do. except maybe go online, do it for free and make their money from advertising, same as nearly all online free press. i give em 10 years at best. i could check some of the figures here [at work], market research into the magazine industry would be pretty interesting - to see the figures and shit. in fact i might just do that :D

J: :D
> there ain't anything magazines can do. except maybe go online, do it for free and make their money from advertising
I was gonna suggest that, it's all they can really do..

M: well metal hammer are owned by future publishing and just from wiki the sales for MH are 49,143 from jan-jun 07 - before the recession stuff, so i imagine current figures are down from that - compared to vogue uk which has a circulation of 220,000 it's not doing so badly.

terrorizer does 13,786 - classic rock, 70,301 (figures for this from 2009)...

hmm... i dunno, when you think 49,143 x £4 (i'm assuming its about 4 quid) = £196,572 per month, so about £2,358,864 per year, not including special issues, the fact that it may cost over £4 and all the other merch and sponsorship.,...

okay they're making pretty sweet money from it. and MH is a pretty big name of the future publishing books - classic rock is bigger, but their magazines generally focus on specialist press so the MH figures are actually pretty good.

this was a more complicated email than i intially planned.

J: > this was a more complicated email that i intially planned.
I know :D
Classic Rock used to be really good - yeah, it's monthly and the news is old, but it had good interviews in it and other bits, as you say, it's specialist. MH and Terrorizor are more or less the same, with T being the less mainstream per say.
But yeah, they still seem to be doing okay, and i'm sure a lot ofpeople will still buy them, it's just the cheap fuckers like you and me that wont :D

M: > it's just the cheap fuckers like you and me that wont :D

LOL i guess thats true :) i guess i just get caught up in what i do - i just don't understand why there's so many people out there spending money on stuff they don't need to. i also don't understand why there's so many companies spending so much money on protecting material they won't be able to protect forever - i don't get why they don't spend the money finding ways that they can move with the times.

like with illegal downloading - how many milions of fucking pounds have been spent trying to stop it when its essentially impossible to stop? why don't they just realise that and save the fucking money they're throwing at an unsolveable problem - and think of the ways in which they make money outside selling the music itself.

itunes was genius in the sense that at first, you had to download stuff from itunes to be able to listen to it on a ipod - everyone has an ipod, so everyone uses itunes, it's brilliant for making money - although even that couldn't last.

J: > don't understand why there's so many people out there spending money on stuff they don't need to
This.
> like with illegal downloading - how many milions of fucking pounds have been spent trying to stop it when its essentially impossible to stop?
Yeah, they never will, but they can't seem to grasp that and just admit defeat and yeah, do shit to increase revenue.
But a lot of people still buy music. we might joke about it, but people still buy lots.

M: i think we're kinda out of touch with that - because me and you never do it, i forget that people do actually spend money on stuff. i think there are a lot of people that see you downloading stuff and figure that you're taking money away from that band and so damaging the thing you like, in that sense,

J: say, for example, you were buying metallica records from when they started - every album they released was wicked - that goes for pretty much any other band at the time - you just get album after album of good shit. now it's like, they never release anything that's even worth buying. downloading might be killing it, but they're effectively killing it themselves with content.
also, downloading music is free - yeah, it's not legal, but it's free... it's a no brainer really, huh.

M: totally. like...whichever blog it was the other day that was saying how in 1985 - you have about 300 metal albums recorded. and 90% of those are fucking cool. ffwd to 2009 - over 10,000 different releases - and a good 70% EASILY are fucking bullshit. you think i'm gonna want to pay with those odds?

J: also most bands still going are doing the music for the money, yeah, i know, that's obvious and people who want to make money from music can, it's fair game, but to release horseshit for the money is not fair.

M: if i download your album for free and i like it, then in turn, i'll pay to see you play. and if you're really fucking good, i'll buy a t-shirt or some other kind of merch and that way, you could get up to about £40 off me. times that by 200 people and you got 8000, right there. and most people who charge 20 for tickets and 20 for tshirts are playing bigger venues than 200 people. you think of the o2 (don't know why i'm all figures obsessed this evening) - if it seats about 23,000 people - if you charge £40 a ticket, that's £920,000 - then if even half of them buy a t-shirt at £25 a pop, that's an extra £287,200 - so you've already made over a million fucking quid.

J: Yeah, you'll still go see bands play. I think also it's why a lot of bands release ltd vinyls still, because there's still a market for it. Although i think vinyl is dollar to press though :
> you think of the o2 (don't know why i've got all figures obsessed this evening)
Yeah, I thought that when i opend this email ;)
O2 is making bear cash tho :/

M: well with vinyl, you're selling something there that people can't just do themselves and its something that's actually cool - you can have pictures and fold outs and stuff. if you made a cd that came with some insanely awesome case* or whatever, yeah i'd still buy that, like people always buy box sets that come with some cool kind of crappy merch.

>O2 is making bear cash tho :/

fuck yeah, considering that most of their events are easily £40 upwards to go to - the foods costs DOLLAR, the shops/restaurants have to pay rent etc etc etc the o2 are fucking made, that place makes people haemorrhage money :O

*I hate AC/DC...but props to whoever came up with this. It's an undeniably cool cool idea to make some cash.

Lameness

M: http://www.metalhammer.co.uk/news/metal-big-brother-day-1/

1. LOL @ vikernes vikernes. dummies!

2. this is one of the most pointless pieces of tripe MH have come up with so far

J: what the fuck!!!! >_O

M: i know, srsly, is there no end to the crap they come out with?

J: someone commented that it was full of win.
it just kinda distances me from people that claim to like metal but think all this stuff is cool. it's not, it's lame. these are the sort of "individuals" that claim to hate Big Brother as a rule, but a metal version? hey, that's okay, we don't mind.
yeah, fuck off!

M: it is full of LAME. people are full of talk, what they mean is that they'd love big brother if it was people they're interested in.

i'm torn between thinking that people who think everything should be in some way metal related are retards or just big metal fans and that's okay?

i.e. at first i was thinking that "ohh people who try and make everything metal or want everything to be metal are lame" YET - thats pretty much me and you. we play metal who is, we went to see razzle's grave, we want to go to festivals and have metal holidays, we dress...not normally, however you want to describe it (i look like a magician today!), we read books about metal, talk about metal, go to metal pubs - its our hobby and we're really into it. people who like golf wear golf clothes, go to golf bars and would like big brother if it was made up of golfers... :???

J: yeah, but we don't think, "oh, it's be cool to have a metal BB" or"Metal sports", or a "Metal Soap Opera" or anything like that.

M: yeah that is true. so is that where the line is drawn?

J: between us and them? we might like metal to a fanatic level, but we keep some order to it. these people take it overboard and do horseshit like a metal bb, guitar hero and take metal into the commercial stakes where it shouldn't be.

M: ahh. so is part of the reason why we like it because we enjoy it's non commercial status. and altho we complain there's no good metal anywhere - is it really just that as soon as something gets big we hate it...catch 22 etc. sunnnnnn being a perfect example.

J: i've always hated metal being in the mainstream. this is the issue i have with classic rock for going away from a specialist magazine to a regular mag to cater for the fact that people are now into rock music.
> it really just that as soon as something gets big we hate it...catch 22 etc. sunnnnnn being a perfect example.
this. i was gonna say what you said last night but forgot when we were talking about Southern Lord. sunn is a great example of a band i liked that i hate because they're got big in such a way. but maiden is big, and we love them, but it's the way it happens. bands now that get big start to sell themselves out.
you think of bands that have never gone mainstream still are cool, like seth and anal cunt.

M: thats a good point - the way they get big. riding on hipster coat tales and becoming people they're not....or building bigger and bigger effigies of eddie.... i like metal because its what i like - and it doesn't bother me that much if a band get really famous or not - but you're right, it would bother me if they changed so they could be famous or if they started to do things differently as a result of the fame. for one thing, they wouldn't be the band i liked anymore and also because it would show up their lack of integrity...

J: > or building bigger and bigger effigies of eddie....
eh :?
the thing with sunn is that they're still doing the same shit, metallica changed, maiden never (well, they got a new singer), motley never changed (see maiden), etc etc. so you kinda see the bands we still like opposed to the next band.

M: sunn getting famous is them doing gay interviews and posing for photoshoots and charging a million pounds to get into the same shows they were doing before they got big.

iron maiden getting famous is them building super awesome giant eddies and putting on a show that's actually worth £50 to get into. they didn't change, they remained the same band, just super rich and they used it to do awesome cool things and it just made their fans love them more.

metallica changed - i still don't believe they changed due to the fame, but without a doubt and whatever caused it they turned sucky.

It descends from there on into us being rude about Metallica: one of our favourite ways to pass the time.

But points well made (esp the ones by me obvz): what do you think divides us awesomely cool people from posers? Is there really anything between us? Metal has traditionally been populated by outcasts and rebels...but by seeking to define what is cool and what isn't, it seems we still yearn for some kind of validation. After rejecting one culture because we didn't fit in, we're creating the same sort of elitism in a place that was originally set away from that social hierarchy.

When I'm in a good mood - nice and peaceful - I like to think that Metal is music that doesn't care who you are or what you look like...but more often than not, that's just not the case and it never has been. From the very beginning "being cool" was a big deal.

Weird Constellations

Right, so I'm kicking off the year by telling you what you SHOULD be listening to. I dictate very rarely (on this website, at least) but sometimes...well, to be honest, I just want someone to talk to about it. There isn't even a review on Metal Archives yet!

I've never heard of Damned Spirits Dance before, but when it first came to our attention, me and J knew I was going to be up for it:

J: Damned Spirits Dance - Weird Constellations
> Genre: Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal - Electronic - Power Metal
:::::::::::::?

M: looks/sounds mental, you listen to it?

J: nah :)

M: i think i might :D

J: i bet you'll like it :)

M: i bet i will too :D i hope i do anyways, i fancy something new.

I won't put up the whole conversation; from there we just made fun of the cover (top picture) and went on to complain about various other ills.

Fast forward this story to today and OMG how I love that album! It's truly deranged: the 11 tracks loop wildly in and out of different genres, styles and tempos. Metal Archives labels them as melodic black metal, which doesn't do them any justice at all.

Across the album, you can pick up strong death metal riffs, black metal sections, but the techno, dance and electronica element is just as strong. It's also something that makes this album stand out from a million other standard releases.

Reviews suck and I'm not great at them at the best of times, so I won't go on - I just urge you to give this one a try. You might not like it, but I think everyone ought to hear this record at least once anyway, just for the experience.