:p not all pets are bad - and not all are good. i used to have a monkey who'd regularly shit on people after she got on their shoulder. i've yet to smell a more offensive, pungent stench

i enjoy Nattens Madrigal, but i wouldn't recommend it to someone exploring music as an art form. i've heard their full catalogue(minus the film soundtracks) and find Shadows of the Sun to be their best, but even it suffers from that same forced feeling, which creates a very incongruous feel - but less so than anything else they've done, except possibly Themes from William Blake's the Marriage of Heaven and Hell

a few of Satan is my Stewardess' statements do seem to assume too much, too quickly, about the band's intentions and motivations. but i'm still inclined to be on his side - the negatives of this band outweigh the positives. their ideology is typical feelgood schlock, and their music adds nothing. the only positives that can be made in their favor require a lot of convoluted argumentation(as seen already), and even then, they're fully in the realm of possibility. by which i mean, they're like anything else - things "maybe" getting better is not enough for any intelligent person to form a loyalty. a woman's husband "might" stop beating her three times a week after twenty years of marriage, but not because she simply wishes he would. add to that my own experience that *nothing* has ever been improved by becoming trendy, and i have about as much objection to slitting these musicians' throats as i do any mascara-laden weeping sweater-whore who touts rainforest conservation while wolfing down a big mac. the music's banal, the message is half-formed -and that's if we're being nice, really- and there'd be no reason to mourn them as musicians were they to die tomorrow. the worse thing that can happen to a realistic and balanced ideology(as is the case in the approach to nature displayed on this site) is for it to become assimilated by iwimpy diots. a half-assed approach is nothing more than a form of backstabbing, and it wounds more deeply and permanently than any honest opposition ever could

Wasn't the last thread on videogames locked because the admin deemed them an incredible waste of time?

Anyway, Planescape Torment is the only game I feel comfortable endorsing here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planescape:_Torment

Quote

The game begins with the protagonist, known only as The Nameless One, waking up with total amnesia. He soon finds out that he is immortal; if he is killed, he will simply reawaken in the same body. He sets out on a quest to regain his lost memories, and discover why he is immortal. As the game progresses, he slowly remembers events from his many previous lives. He discovers much about the personalities of his previous incarnations, and the great influence they have had in the worlds and people that surround him

The key philosophical theme of the work is presented as a question several times: "what can change the nature of a man?". This question considers the possibility (or impossibility) of changing fate; many characters in torment are fighting against their natures, or against what seems to be an inevitable fate. One example is Nordom, who, despite being a modron (a hive-minded species) is developing a personality of his own.

Selfishness is also a very present theme. The Nameless One has, in previous incarnations, been so committed to understanding his condition that he has been willing to sacrifice everything and everyone on that quest. Many consequences of this can be discovered through the game..

this. the only game i've ever played i can honestly say approaches(if not "is") art. and the only one that actually affected how i live my life.

Consvming Impvlse: S.V.E.S.T.'s 'Urfaust' is great, but i find it's one of those albums which causes you to think it's better than it really is for a while. the composition is very good, but it wouldn't be nearly as impactive if not for the ridiculously immersive production. i love it personally, but it strikes me as being far more enjoyable than it is significant

agreed on Wolves in the Throneroom - it's dogshit. i could simply say it's boring, but that would tell nobody anything except my taste in regards to it. on a more objective level, it's just completely effortless decoration. about as notable as a "beach sounds" mood relaxation cd

wizard: Malevolent Creation is good, from what i've heard. not VERY good. but above average. it starts to all sound the same after about 20 or 30 minutes, though

Peccatum is... well, Ihsahn's adventurous, i guess. that music just tries too hard to convince you of its own elegance, instead of simply displaying elegance. everything i've heard by them, i'd forgotten within an hour

roshan: Agalloch is like Wolves in the Throneroom, but add a moderate degree of compositional talent as well as a good ability for atmosphere(which, granted, isn't all that exceptional to have). ok stuff, enjoyable at least

Keep of Kalessin is as noted above. fun, mindless junk

[edit: if you read what i said about Sunwheel before, ingore what i said - i confused them with Fanisk, somehow]

as for Wyrd, i've only heard 'Heathen,' and only once; it seemed decent at first listen, but also reminded me of Skyforger - in a way that made me want to listen to them instead

i have a slight preference for Belketre over Vlad Tepes, but they're both excellent

cmargir: i rarely ever find death metal to be nearly as enthralling as black metal, with a very few obvious exceptions(Monstrosity, Morbid Angel, Konkhra as a guilty pleasure, Demilich, Massacra, etc). so as a disclaimer, i'll say i'm not a connoisseur of the genre; however, Abramelin's self-titled release made an excellent first impression and more. i listened to it several times over within the couple of weeks after first hearing it, but i haven't in a while. the fact your mentioning the album makes me want to re-familiarize myself with it, however, suggests that it is, at an absolute minimum, certainly above average