Metal Reviews

Hmm..... I get an impression from that interview that I wouldn't get along really well with these guys......

heheh, i'll second that, what a bunch of loosers. alex, you were right on the end records 8)

"I understand and I support that kind of movements. We have some blacks, Asians and mostly Muslims in Slovenia. I don't know how they are able to live with such incredibly stupid, sick mentality.

Now, this is the reason why a lot of labels don't want to support us and it's one of the reasons why The End Records broke the contract. We had some problems with Nuclear Blast... but that won't stop us."

I agree, but to clarify what Gast1 quoted .. the first part was the words of the interviewer, and the second was the words of Knjaz. I can't help but wonder if this whole issue is largely the reason for all the lineup changes in the last couple of years. And because of that, I don't automatically assume the rest of the band entirely agreed with him.

-Tyrion

My 5yr old daughter constantly brings stuff from preschool ... and promptly passes it to my 4mos old son. It is unbelievable how fast they can exchange bodily fluids.
Combine that with the constant stress at work and moving the business altogether - edgy is my middle name, but I am trying never to snap.
I wish your kids quick recovery. Gotta watch for that flu ...

Does it mean you were thoroughly unimpressed??
My fav by them is Goat Horns.

Thanks, man, the same for you and yours... we already had the flu; and you're right about stress; my wife and I are lucky if we spend enough time together alone to watch a movie on Saturdays, ... my son will be 1 yr. old the 25th of this month, and it is the same thing with us: my daughter brings something home from school and before you know it, we all have it.
I don't know how you find time to listen, analyze and submit reviews...
V.

Very unimpressed. I posted a link to one of the new tracks at the bottom of the previous page of this thread.

"Goat Horns" is great, but I think I actually prefer "Lunar Poetry" over it. But as I said earlier, if you like folkish BM, you can't go wrong with either one.

-Tyrion

I listened to the link that Tyrion posted. That is some weird music. Sounds like a very bluesy laid back rock song with a little bit more distortion and a black metal vocalist. I'm normally a big fan of folk touches in metal music, but the folky parts sounded pretty cheesy, almost like a parody of folk parts in metal music. All it all, not god awful, but definately not what I was expecting from the band that sparked this long ass thread

I don't have incredibly high expectations for this album after I heard The Taste Of Victory for the first time a year ago or something... sounds like a folkier version of newer Graveland, only with overlong and potentially boring structures. I hope the full length will make me change my mind.

I really liked Lunar Poetry, and I still remember how blown away I was the first time I listened to it. I haven't really looked into their new stuff, and from the luke-warm reactions people are having to it here, I may not bother.

Well, lots of reading for me to catch up on!
Let me say firstly that I doubt there is a race/country in the world that is 'innocent' when it comes to making wars on others because they are different (even Jews, in the Bible (Joshua, specifically) the Children of Israel were commanded by God to wipe out the various tribes and nations living in then-Canaan). The plain fact is that hatred of Jews is something that has consistantly gone on through the years, from the Spanish Inquisition up to the Holocaust, and to see that in the music I love there are people who hate others because they are different (and trust me, most Jews ain't 'different'!). Why is it a valid argument to say that the NSBM groups are patriotic? How will removing all the Jews from your land make it better?
Yes, present day Israel is a troubling issue. This is not helped by the fact that a large percentage of the world media (including especially our own BBC) percieves the Palestinians as the underdogs and so reports in their favour.
I do not wholeheartedly (apart from the fact that people of my own race are being killed) support the Israelis-despite my religion- because the Israeli government has, since its conception in '48 used financial methods to try and destroy the minority of ultra-orthodox Jews in the country (eg by higher taxes on larger families, reducing funding for their schools, etc). This has largely gone unreported outside of Israel, and yet this causes a major split between Ultra- and not-so-Ultra orthodox types. So don't get me wrong, I cannot fully support the heavy-handedness of the Israeli government in the 'war'.
Yet I find it ridiculous to support the Palestinains, because of their methods (in all the years of Jewish oppression, there have been very few times when Jews have risen up against their tormentors. The Warsaw ghetto is one, yet in all the deathcamps why did they not mass-attack the guards??? They went like sheep to the slaughter), and to say that the Israeli conflict is worse than, say, Serbia in the 90's is wrong. To be blunt, if the Jews can put up with all the shit we've recieved from the world over the last 2000+ years (at least back to Ancient Roman times), the minor inconvenience of having a few terrorists weeded out of your midst (something that most Palestinians agree with - the terrorists in no way help the peaceful majority) is nothing. America in its various campaigns has killed many more innocents ('innocents' being people who aren't threatening your life) than Israel has. But to get to the point:
Yes, Cannibal Corpse etc are not serial killers, but the NSBM bands are anti-semitic, and this disturbs me. I don't think that I deserve it-I have never oppressed anyone in my life (don't tell me that they use Israel's treatment of the Palestininians as an excuse), and I honestly do not belive that 'goyim' (non-Jews) are animals. I have a lot of personal problems with my religion, yet I refuse to be classified differently because of it. I am a fan of extreme music, and it is a shame that just as I am broadening my interests into black metal I come up against this. Why listen to music if the makers of it hate you, or even pretend to? More practically, why listen to a band if at a live show, I will be a target of hatred??
I foresee much research in the coming months into bands to find their beliefs (much relieved about Amon Amarth!), and I appreciate that it is a small minority of the otherwise excellent BM world (any suggestions would be much appreciated-I'll try anything once(except obviously racist stuff! ))
In conclusion, all I can do is say I appreciate all the points of argument that I read, and thanks to all for the chance for discussion.

I don't know either, but I have to stick with it, this is how I have my sanity about me. I am a strong believer that the person needs to have a hobby (kinda funny when I think of my love for metal as a hobby ...), otherwise sooner or later he/she will blow a mental gasket. For some it is sports, stamp collecting, fishing, playing all kind of fantasy sports on the Web. For me it is both playing sports and metal. And writing the reviews is an mental escape, not burden for me. I am also blessed with an understanding wife who in all of our 16 yrs of marriage never took to metal but never stood in my way either. I know what I have to do for the family around the house, and after that I can write. My car is my listening station. My ride to work is about one full-length album or so, I take 3-4 listens just to absorb, then I take notes (while driving, so I guess I am an accident waiting to happen), and then I write sometime during the weekend. Whether it is good or bad is for you people to judge.

Thanks for the points. Can't comment on your personal problems with your religion, but good for you if you can rise above calling people outside of your religion "subcreatures". Let me rephraze that. I wouldn't want to know you if you were calling them "subcreatures".
You were, however, the Jewish kid who I used as an example in my editorial. How would you feel if at the show of the band you were musically interested in you were also the target of the lyrics that denigrated and professed hatred to your ethnicity? I guess you gave me an answer. I would feel very uncomfortable if I was at the show and the singer would scream "all Ukraine people are scum of the earth", even if before I was headbanging away and enjoying the music.
On the media subject. I think here in US it is in reverse, the Israeli side is portrayed as a victim, while Palestinians are savages. I did, however, hear that European media is slanted the way you described it. Just another reason for all of us thinking human beings to make our own analysis and not trust the media who is often a puppet in governments hands.

Anything the gov. says I assume to be a lie until proven otherwise, in general... and the media are no more than shills for the corporate/government/military industry, at least in the U.S...
about being the target of attacks based on ethnicity, that is a shitty thing, no doubt about it.
V.

HAHA... one does need a hobby.
I spend my free time working out and at one time, reading, though that does not occur as often as it used to (reading, that is,)
Funny, I have been with my wife for 18 yrs. now... it would seem our lives are quite similar.
V.

Thanks. In Kiev I used to live near Prospect Pravda (rayon Kurinevka) near tralleybus #18, I think that was pretty far from Nivki. This map I think actially shows my building, pretty amazing: http://www.inor.com.ua/cgi-bin/str.pl?opnum=366 (Mukachevkaya 5A on right side close to the middle) I was only 12 when I left( now almost 25), so many memories are somewhat hazy now. How old were you when you left? Do you have relatives back there?

P.S. no problem, hopefully it will soon be addressed.

not forget, but I am not going to hate German people just because they are German or want to hurt any of them because of what happened.

I actually have been very anti religious even before I started listening to metal. To me religion of any organized kind is in the same category as weapons of mass destruction. They can easily be triggered and when they blow up thousand if not millions can be dead. Not that I actually do anything about it, just have a very strong dislike of it.

Agreed, religions are the cause of most of the trouble in the world (if not all of it), and I hate all this 'my religion is better than yours' bullshit. Being anti-religious is looking very attractive indeed to me at the moment, and not just because of the metal.

I was a "grown up" when I left in 1992, being that I was 22 already. I was actually going to school in Moscow for 6 years then having left Kiev in 1986. So many of Kiev memories are not hazy at all. I love that city, ... but just getting out of school in Moscow in 1992 didn't leave many options for a career in chemistry, and that is what I studied in school. It was either "private business" that didn't have much to do with my education, or graduate school in the States. I chose the latter and had been living here since 1992. I love it here in the US I should, but Kiev will always be a sentimental favorite. I went back only once in 1996 when my sister was getting married. After I finished with my grad school here, got the job, grew in the company to the point that I run it now, I was slowly able to bring my family over, so I don;t have many direct relatives there. However, my uncle is goign to visit us this coming April - my birthday gift I guess.

P.S. Not sure about many other editorials I will write after this. I was glad though I was able to answer some of your questions in the forums (Cemetary, Sundown thread).