Gamers: idiots?

For hilarity’s sake:

The members of death metal bands are not usually accused of tolerance of homosexuals. It’s just not easy to pronounce LGBT in a screech, a grunt or a scream. The two groups don’t usually coexist, so when Samwise Didier played a video of the lead singer from Cannibal Corpse ranting of his hatred of “Night Elf faggots,” many WoW-players and Blizzard fans were stunned. Sure, most of the offensive words were bleeped out, and when George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher took the stage to play with the all-Blizzard employee band Level 90 Epic Tauren Chieftain, only normal non-offensive metal ensued.

Cannibal Corpse is blockhead metal that sold out the percussive sound back in the 1990s, but Corpsegrinder is a really good fellow. It is a sad truth of being a metalhead that there are a lot of interesting and/or good people who make shitty music.

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Vallenfyre: old school death metal

Old school death metal from Paradise Lost, Extinction of Mankind, My Dying Bride and Doom members:

Adrian, the drummer of Vallenfyre, is also the drummer for the band Paradise Lost. I’ve known him for quite a long time, because the European death metal scene a long time ago was quite small and everyone knew each other and traded tapes. It was a little bit incestuous at times because everyone knew each other. Scoot, the bass player, he played in Doom and Extinction of Mankind. He was my roommate back 20 years ago, he shared a house with me. We’ve remained friends since then and I couldn’t think of anyone else to do it when the idea to do this band came up. Hamish, the lead guitarist, he’s another old friend and he’s in My Dying Bride, which was kind of the same genre as Paradise Lost. He’s my drinking buddy and we go out drinking. Mully, the other guitarist in the band, every Thursday night we go listen to old metal and get drunk and we’re all friends so it kind of easy to choose these people.

{snip}

The main subject is that we’re trying to play it like a proper old school death metal band in the production and the song writing and most elements of it. We also incorporate a lot of other elements we grew up with like the crust punk scene, the doom scene, and like the grind scene. We wanted to make it something that instantly transports us back to ’86 or ’87. Apart from that there wasn’t really a big plan behind it, it was just to get that sound really. – Metal Funderground

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T.G. Warrior featured in art exhibit

Tom G. Warrior is exhibiting his custom-painted death masks at this gallery in NYC:

Last Rites Gallery opens it’s fourth annual The 13th Hour group exhibit, celebrating the spirit of the Halloween season.

In it’s (sic) annual exhibit, Last Rites sets out to present a broad-spectrum representation of Dark Surrealism. Held during Halloween weekend, the show is the gallery’s largest group exhibit, and features renowned artists from around the globe- working in an array of mediums including painting, photography, and sculpture. From gothic elegance to finely crafted grotesquery, the beauty within the darkness is embraced and brought into the spotlight.

Artists Include: Shawn Barber, Nick Baxter, Matthew Bone, Paul Booth, Colin Christian, Sas Christian, Jason D’aquino, Pedro De Kastro, Tom Gabriel Fischer, HR Giger, Fred Harper, Naoto Hattori, Michael Hussar, Joka, Sarah Joncas, Aunia Kahn, Eli Livingston, Michael Mararian, Chris Mars, Annie Owens, Chris Peters, Anthony Pontius, Dan Quintana, Matt Rota, Paul Rumsey, Beau Stanton, David Stoupakis, Jasmine Worth, and more.

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Interview: Devolved (Are You Morbid? death metal radio show)

From 1995 to about 1999, the old underground tried to live on in a new modern form. Then it collapsed, and what took over was an indie/alt-rock hybrid of metal that lost the raw aggressive spirit of metal and replaced it with self-pity. Starting in 2006 or so, the revival of the underground began. A new radio show is helping blast that door wide open with a solid diet of underground death metal, black metal, grindcore, speed metal, thrash (crossover), and hardcore mixed in with dark ambient and possibly classical music. Meet Devolved, the voice and choice of music behind the show.

What name do you use on the air?

Devolved. Devolution is real!

Why did you pick an old school death metal, black metal, thrash, grindcore, speed metal, heavy metal and dark ambient show?

Metal helped me see the world in a new light, or at least provided a soundtrack. Perhaps it will affect a few of the listeners in the same way. My generation (what they call the ‘Y’ generation) certainly needs a new light and a new path.

Do you think these genres offer something artistically or politically that doesn’t exist anywhere else?

I can’t say that with certainty. But the best metal does contain a spirit which is hard to find elsewhere. A real love of life, and of death. And that youthful desire to analyze all aspects of reality, even if unpleasant.

What’s a typical playlist?

Mostly death metal with forays into other genres. Autopsy, Suffocation, Massacra, Immortal, and Slayer are perennials. I discover more metal music all the time, both modern and old-school, and incorporate what I find stimulating.

How has response been so far?

A few locals have called in and voiced their support. People also listen to the show online; how many is hard to know.
Do you think there’s a difference between old school underground metal and what’s going on now? If so, what is that difference?
Obviously, but I really don’t know much about the modern ‘scene’. It seems that most of the good releases of the past few years have been composed by musicians who have been around since the formative years. It’s possible that people of my generation are simply incapable of creating quality metal, either for innate reasons or because attention is focused elsewhere.

What defines an underground genre, like old school death metal?

Shared ideals through a shared artistic method. The “underground” aspect is probably a conscious choice to avoid decay and assimilation.
Why do you think there was such a peak in output of old school death metal and black metal in the late 80s through early 1990s?
Seems like intelligent, alienated Westerners finally realized that the rot had reached to the very core of our society, and that by that point halting Kali was impossible. Certain individuals had realized this long before, but it takes a critical mass of aware people for an artistic movement to form around such an idea.

Is something similar going to happen again?

That would be cool. What I see with my generation these days is that they’re either totally lost in their own narcissism, or are working their butts off to rise above the masses of this overpopulated planet. That doesn’t leave much time for art.

What advice would you give someone interested in learning about these genres?

Find people you respect and see what they say influenced them (this is why band interviews are great). Death Metal Underground and DLA both introduced me to a lot of good stuff; frankly I often just trawl through Youtube vids until I find something interesting. Learn more about the craft and composition and don’t be afraid to be critical, selective or ‘elitist’.

I was watching the Combat Records Live at Studio 254, NY tape with Venom, Slayer and Exodus. Slayer were getting loaded and talking about how they liked Bach and Tchaikovsky. When I interviewed Quorthon, he was heavily into Bach as well. Do you think there’s a connection between metal and classical?

Absolutely! The simple explanation is that classical (and baroque) music will deeply affect anyone with intelligence and taste and love of art, or even one of those three qualities. Metal bands were not the only musicians affected, but they incorporated these influences into their own compositions in a way that no one else did.

http://radio.deathmetal.org/

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Vulcano touring Europe

BRAZILIAN LEGENDS VULCANO will return to Europe once more with a full European tour. The UK-leg will be supported by compatriots Necroriser. Scythian and Sepuku have been announced as supports for the London date, whilst Maw has been confirmed for Birmingham. The Exeter show is also set to be an all-dayer.

Confirmed dates:

April 19th, Thu – Glasgow, Scotland @ The Classic Grand
April 20th, Fri – Birmingham, England @ The Birmingham Ballroom
April 21st, Sat – London, England @ The Underworld
April 22nd, Sun – Exeter, England @ The Cavern
April 26th, Thu – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Spillestedet Stengade
April 29th, Sun – Stockholm, Sweden @ Göta Källare
May 03rd, Thu – Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany @ venue TBA
May 04th, Fri – Berlin, Germany @ K17
May 05th, Sat – Oostrozebeke, Belgium @ Sküll Sessions III
May 08th, Tue – Rennes, France @ Mondo Bizarro
May 12th, Sat – Saint-Maurice, Switzerland @ Le Manoir

Maximum Intolerance magazine

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Hail Satan

From the Times of Malta:

The note, which parish priest Fr Kalċidon Vassallo confirmed was the parish’s doing, comes replete with a hand-drawn skull and pumpkin and warns readers that Halloween “celebrates a culture of death” and “attacks that which is holy”.

In boxed, bolded text, it says: “As a Church, we are warning parents of Halloween’s serious dangers. This feast is a dangerous celebration of fear and the macabre.”

It concludes with a motley list of “other things which draw children towards the occult”. The list includes heavy metal music, negative and fantastical role-playing, sadistic pornography and reading about the occult and Satan.

If you wonder why people distrust religions, it’s because of stuff like this.

You want to find evil? There’s real evil everywhere.

And then some grandstanding idiot, who spends his days comfortably blowing off the actual problems, worries about halloween.

You want evil? How about the toxic waste dumped in the mediterranean sea, the organized crime, the corrupt leaders, the people who walk among us and daily lie cheat and steal, or even Fr. Buttfinger who’s violating young boys down the hall?

That’s evil… but it’s harder to face and harder to win against, where bashing halloween is easy and provides cheap karma points on the social network of do-nothings.

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