The Homicidal Urges

The latest SoT was another sausage fest - Me, Lucas Randall and the inimitable host, Ed Brown.

DIRECT LINK TO THE mp3 FILE; 46:31

We talked about the "woman in the red dress" study (and I use the term "study" loosely...), bacteriophages (viruses that attack bacteria), the frozen Copper Age man and his various maladies, fatarses in offices, CO₂-capture and bacteria, daydreaming and social skills, how testosterone messes up teamwork (as if there were ever any doubt), stem cells in human ovarian tissue, and the solar flare that hadn't hit at the time we were recording, but has by now, and as far as I'm aware, didn't actually do anything bad...
___

And for something completely random and unrelated, have a youtube link of the lead track Rise, Vulcan Spectre, the best thrash album of the year (yes I'm making that call now) by Norway's Nekromantheon. This album's even better than their brilliant 2010 effort Divinity of Death. You can keep your modern thrash, both the revivalists and the old bastards trying to remain relevant - this band tears your goddamn face off and then pisses in the gaping wound with acid. I especially like throwing this on when I need to wake the hell up before going to work at an ungodly hour.
.

....but it's a meme.

( La Musica )

I want to actually use this LJ more than I have been. But I want to use it as a real writing outlet rather than just a forum for me to air grievances about my boring life. I'm looking at a career change which (maybe) involves more creative writing, so I'll need all the practice I can get. And that means more than Having A Whinge^TM, or not updating because all I want to do is Have A Whinge^TM.

That being said, update on life in general coming soon. Probably.

Due to recent emo, and general badness, I will attempt to counteract with pr0n.

Last night I picked up a secondhand Sony stereo from an eBay seller. I could have bought a swanky new freaking tiny one as is all the rage nowadays. But:

a) I wanted a tape deck. Yes, you bloody well heard me: a tape deck. New, they're as rare as hens' teeth, and usually of crappy quality. But I have tapes that I like to occasionally play;
b) I want something sizeable, for fuck's sake. I'm sick of this "smaller is better" attitude. I want something that is visually obtrusive. None of this "hide-it-in-a-corner-and-wonder-oh-my-what-large-sound-where-it-come-from???" crap; and
c) I wanted to set up our turntable that we got as a wedding present as well. I've had a pile o' vinyl sitting in a corner, and I keep adding to it, and it hasn't been played and it FELT RONERY. I could've set it up alongside one of those titchy ones, but it would've felt and looked weird.

So here we go:

Finally I can spin the black circle. I have missed playing vinyl so damn much. I'm telling you, "Phantom of the Opera" sounds so much better in original analogue than remastered digital.

Like hravan, I'll honour you with the fun stuff rather than the miserable stuff.



R.I.P. Peter Steele. Maybe you're up there right now, corrupting an eternally young Mother Teresa as we speak.

Short Version
Dear Dave Mustaine and co.

Brilliant set, lads. You haven't lost it at all, Dave. At least, not live.

A++++ WOULD SHELL OUT EXORBITANT FEE AGAIN

Sincerely, Me


Dear Tom Araya, Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King and Dave Lombardo,

You owe me $45.

Sincerely, Me


Long Version
( Tonight I went to Festy Hall to see the big double-billed Megadeth and Slayer concert. )

OK, I stayed away from the band Dissection for so long, because they're always associated with that dreaded term "melodic" mixed in with "black" and "death" metal. I'm usually not a fan of black metal unless it's first wave or mixed with thrash or death metal (no, I never "got" Darkthrone, and continue to not do so), and I certainly can't stand bands like Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child who do the whole "melodic black metal" thing.

But now I'm listening to The Somberlain...

Holy. Fucking. Shit. This is amazing.

It's melodic, yes. But heavy, interesting, epic without trying hard so very hard to be so (take note, Cradle of Filth), and, above all, utterly, stunningly beautiful. Every riff, every note, every filthy vocal line: it all works so well. Melodic without having to rely on silly synths (yes, fuck you, Emperor) or generic riffs or poppy elements or commercial fuckery (Hey, In Flames? I hope you're fucking listening...oh, that's right, you like to suck. Ignore me). Even the acoustic pieces that act as linking interludes work marvellously, because, unlike bands such as Opeth, they don't do them to death. I especially liked "Into Infinite Obscurity", probably because of the little fuck-up on one of the notes that they must have heard during recording and while listening to the playback and yet kept in, because it makes the music a little more personal in a way. Melodic, yet still sounding cold, evil, misanthropic, and hateful; everything a BM album should be.

Where has this been all my life?? Why can't all melodic metal sound more like this??? Damn you, rock I've been living under.

Because I refuse to use Twatter, and that appears to be the best way to get breaking news these days (sigh), I'll ask my flist:

Does anyone know why the cops blocked off Heidelberg Rd just after the Hoddle St overpass this morning? And why we all had to turn around and go up High St instead? And why I was hideously late for work?

Specifically here:

View Larger Map

The reason I didn't go fucking ballistic is because usually when they block off an entire main road, it's something to do with a crazy criminal or a particularly bad accident. Then again, I hope it wasn't something horrible like a murder or something...

Edit Never mind, I found it.

At least she's alright. Though now I can be righteously pissed off about being late to work. Meh.

******************

In slightly less serious news, I have the most un-metal car in the world. Which means that when I have Schizophrenia blaring so loudly that my eardrums are about to stage a protest against noise pollution, and when people stare at me strangely, it's not because they're wondering what that cacophonous row is. They're wondering why it isn't coming from an eight-cylinder beast driven by a bogan.

Maybe I should put a V8 in it...

******************

In even more music-related news, I'm wondering if I should go to AC/DC next Feb. Ruby, the lab manager (who's also a hard rock/metal fan...who'd've thunk it??) just offered to get some tickets through the work social club. Let's face it, the old bastards probably aren't coming back after that! Unless it's in caskets. Advise me! Should I shell out $150???

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh dear. Oh deary deary me.

Yes, cryptic post is crpytic. Not very interesting either, so move on...

Rediscovering old favourites = FUCKING AWESOME.

\m/