Jigsaw9

Small heads-up concerning the will.i.am/2NE1 collaboration: (source)

Wow, I love your stuff, awesome style! Looks like you put a lot of work into it, lots of respect for that!

^ Yeah, George Kollias is IMO one of the best extreme metal drummers out there (not that I listen to a lot of extreme metal myself xD), he can do pretty insane stuff on his kit. As for the lessening of death metal in their music, I can't really comment on that, I'm just a casual listener (not an expert at these genres) - but yeah, their old music is much more straightforward and "pounding" stuff, like regular death metal (if that's what you mean). The new stuff has much much more technical/other kind of parts. Haven't seen them live, but hope to be catching them next time they tour here.

I don't know if you are already familiar with Ra:IN but I totally recommend them. It's the instrumental hard rock (occasionally psychedelic) project of Pata from X JAPAN and DIE from hide's Spread Beaver band. They have a vocal track or two, but it's mostly instrumental. KiHeJrHKT04

^ If you like more raw/stripped-down old-school death metal sound, I suggest Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka. If you'd like to try something more complex/longer/epic, then either In Their Darkened Shrines or Those Whom the Gods Detest. Other albums are good too, but these are the ones where individual songs stood out to me the most.

What an ass. People like her are disgusting and ridiculous (we have a good load of 'em over here in Hungary too).

Just a small clarification about the best album: it's not one, but actually two boxes! Release date is finalized as 2012/03/07. CATALOGUE VICTOR → MERCURY 87-99 - Limited edition: Special Box incl. 3CDs+1DVD+100P Photo-Booklet (10,000 Yen) - Regular edition: CD+DVD (3,500 Yen) CATALOGUE ARIOLA 00-10 - Limited edition: Special Box incl. 3CDs+1DVD+100P Photo-Booklet (10,000 Yen) - Regular edition: CD+DVD (3,500 Yen) So I guess the sole CD of the regular edition is the single A-sides, and the other 2 CDs are what the fan voting is for.

^ OMG. HELLO X-MAS PRESENT.

Cool! Thanks for the info.

"Of course, everything was waaay~ better back in the good ol' days!!" ...is what a lot of people say, but I think that's just due to the fact that the bands and artists we first get into when we are kids or teenagers just have a bigger impact on us. Especially because it's a turbulent time, being a teenager, hormones, emotions, etc. You can really connect with music and entertainment stuff in general in that period, and that encourages you to find out more, and then you find another new favorite, and then more, and so on. Music is like a big 'terra incognita' waiting to be discovered according to your tastes. These experiences will always stay with us, and we might look back at some stuff and say "aw man, how could I listen to that crap?" but overall we also tend to preserve some core favorites (is how I see it). Also, in the past few years I found myself going back to lots of '80s, '90s and early '00s music, and listening to bands that I missed out on (too much great music, too little time! xD), and generally I'm more okay with that kind of sound than the sound of nowadays' music. Of course I have some recent minor-favorites too, but they don't impact me the same way like my old faves, or even these random old bands that I just listened to recently. It's that era, with all of its musical connectedness and intertextuality that I was born into and raised in, that will always sound more special to me than any other music. Yeah, maybe I'm just a nostalgic loser, dunno. xD So all in all, I think while old music is not essentially better, it is our experiences and attachments that make it seem better. There is good music made even now as we speak, that we might or might not connect with - but it will surely become some guy's or girl's "best band ever" that s/he'll remember fondly in 10-20 years, thinking about "damn, the music of 2011 really had it, not like these new crap bands!" ...and so on it will go, I guess.

Yep, they're back.

Anyone else into this band? I think they might be my favorite death metal band of all time - eventhough I don't listen to them regularly, but once I start it's hard to stop. Their compositions, the brutality, the catchiness, the Eastern/Egyptian influences and occasional unusual instruments, and the powerful multi-vocals, I love just about everything by them. I like how the whole Egyptian theme is not just tacked-on, but almost every song's lyrics and mythological/historical background is explained in the booklets, making it an interesting combination of metal and mythology. My fave album is In Their Darkened Shrines probably because it's the most "epic" and diverse IMO. I only recently listened to their newest one, Those Whom the Gods Detest (2009), and I feel it might be my new favorite. Also worth mentioning is Nile creative mastermind/guitarist/vocalist Karl Sanders' solo work, which is like taking the atmosphere and ancient musical influences of Nile, but stripping away the death metal, putting it into an ambient/world music framework. In short, it's pretty kickass. Some cool stuff for those of you who want to check them out: COApujFgFRY hIlypUdEtW8 igSEHmfy828 They've begun recording their upcoming album today actually.

LOL WHAT. I love these guys, they're so nuts sometimes.

LOL, 6 types??? xD But OMG new single & DVD, awesome!!

Previews of all the single's tracks Can't really decide if I like them or not, gonna have to wait for the full songs. xD (seeing track 2's length I'm interested what they'll do there)

Listened to both albums (but not gonna write about Slayer because I recommended them xD). The Suffocation album kicks ass! I'm easy to please when it comes to old-school death metal as I don't know much about it technically but love listening to it. Of course the production could be a little bit more powerful but considering the genre it's standard/okay sounding. Musically it's everything I'd expect from an old death metal record, fast and grinding stuff, brutal low grunts, skillful drumming, it's all there. I must highlight the occasional guitar solos, they're fabulous, especially the one in Seeds of the Suffering, HOLY CRAP. The parts where they switch back a notch on the speed-o-meter are nice too, killer stuff. Thoroughly enjoyed this album, nice one!

LOL yeah, little bit under-visited thread here. xD I recommend the new album, it's great IMO.

Awww that was heartwarming.

Whoah. Didn't see that coming. I'm kinda sorry for these guys, working and releasing pretty nice stuff for 10 years, and not much attention/recognition (at least that's how I see it from here, from this Western foreigner perspective/online community).

They're cool (and no doubt a legendary band on the grunge scene). I haven't heard all their albums, just the first two (and their EPs) but those were pretty awesome. Gonna check out the other stuff soon too.

They're not too bad, might go see them in Budapest.

^ I've seen A Bittersweet Life and it's pretty good (not one of my favorites but okay movie). I wanna check out the I'm a Cyborg movie once, people say it's good (plus it has Bi/Rain starring in it xD).

Thanks a lot for the setlist and the mini live reports! Damn, that setlist looks awesome. Makes me wish they performed something like that over here in the summer.

^ I definitely recommend Sympathy for Lady Vengeance then! (I haven't seen Mr. Vengeance though, is it good?) Also, if you wanna see a pretty creepy/moody horror, watch Tale of Two Sisters. Another really good one is I Saw the Devil, it's more of a horror thriller mix.

Overall I found this single quite good, even better than what I expected! Arcadia featuring DAISHI DANCE is an okay song. I don't have any problem with the sound or instrumentation (it sounds so fresh!) but I feel something is missing - maybe it could've had a more powerful high point/chorus/whatever. It's nice to listen to it still. I first thought NAME would be a bit too syrupy for my tastes, but Tatsurou's beautiful vocals won me over in an instant - I usually don't like ballad-like songs, but this one is very tastefully done, great job. The new FUZZ sounds badass as hell, lovin' the different tempo and added gang vocals. This would really rip in a live setting. Good one. Looking forward to their future releases to hear how they will expand on this sound.