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331
Chasm / Re: The inversion diet
« on: January 04, 2012, 12:11:11 AM »
I only eat pure vegetaryan food and generally try to view diet as sacred. Weighing up calorie/protein/vitamin/whatever intake in some sort of mathematical equation seems to take away a lot of the basic appreciation.
332
Metal / Metal without drums
« on: December 30, 2011, 01:35:07 PM »
It is certainly an interesting concept that metal with its increased understanding and use of ambient structure could in time propel itself solely by the use of melody/counterpoint/harmony. As I see it, the main advantage of doing away with continuous drumming would be that you remove the idea of melody developing within such strict rhythmic containers, thus giving it more freedom while also requiring that greater attention be put into the initial design. i.e. melody would have to carry its own rhythmic tension and devices to achieve that would have to be utilized. It would also be possible to vary tempo within a melodic phrase, and perhaps even the art of percussion could be sparingly utilized when necessary.
333
Metal / Re: Best metal releases of 2011
« on: December 30, 2011, 01:26:35 PM »
Do any of you psychos even remember the top tier albums from five years ago?
334
Metal / Re: Song Structure in Metal
« on: December 18, 2011, 12:29:59 AM »
I think stucture depends on there being the appropriate building blocks i.e. you need good riffs to begin with that build into that structure. Great post.
335
Chasm / Re: What creeps me out about Christians
« on: December 18, 2011, 12:14:40 AM »
I've met some ultra-conservative Christians that are great people i.e. clean-living, dedicated, knowledgeable etc. One guy even understood that the world was in a state of decay and identified multiculturalism as a 'big mistake'. But when you hear them describing how they know there's a god that loves them it just sounds insane, and yet without that unquestionable faith would they uphold such a healthy life?
336
Metal / Re: Bruckner Discussion
« on: December 13, 2011, 01:17:08 PM »I find 'getting better with age' is often the case with classical composers (and it seems to be the opposite for metal).
I've found the same thing, with some very notable historical exceptions like Schumann. Probably because metal musicians devote almost no time to developing "craft", and also because many don't see it as their profession. If you're not committed to improving your musicianship every year and working yourself like a slave, then you're likely, as in metal, to use up all your good ideas within a few years. This is a far cry from life-long professional composers like Brahms, who did counterpoint exercises when he was bored.
Something I often think about is the timeframe behind the making of genius music. i.e. is carefully designed and insightful composition a substitute for the spontaniety of energy? In terms of developing "craft", it could be argued that many metal bands actually became more technically skilled (look at Emperor or Immortal for example) and the decline was more in the purity of their vision.
My all time favourite of his works is the unfinished 9th symphony where I think he entered a new period of development yet again, it's still very cyclical but with more subtle variations in the repetition of its phrases, it also contains some of the most beautifully intense melodies/harmonies he ever wrote. By the end of the third movement I always find myself lost in deep thoughts, imagining what would have come next.
Can you recommend a good recording of this piece?
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Wilhelm Furtwängler in 1944 would be my pick. Furtwängler was an expert at shaping tempo around the inherent tension of the music and Bruckner's symphonies are perfectly suited to this method of interpretation.
337
Chasm / Re: Just for kicks
« on: December 10, 2011, 02:20:34 AM »
I remember drawing a picture containing a swastika in the art class (cause to a 10yro it looks pretty cool) and got hauled over hot coals for it. School is extremely toxic as I remember, full of moral-propaganda.
338
Metal / Re: Good electronic music
« on: December 10, 2011, 02:06:32 AM »
I used to listen to old stuff by Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, Leaether Strip and maybe the first Nitzer Ebb. It's miles above techno but still becomes 'see-through' all too quickly.
339
Metal / Re: Bruckner Discussion
« on: December 10, 2011, 01:49:12 AM »
Actually I was lucky enough to hear some of Bruckner's choral music in performance a few months ago and yes it was very moving. On the whole I do need to explore his early organ and choral works but I tend to think this period of his artistic output is one of development, not to say it's unimportant but he really didn't start finding his voice until he wrote his 4th symphony. I find 'getting better with age' is often the case with classical composers (and it seems to be the opposite for metal).
My all time favourite of his works is the unfinished 9th symphony where I think he entered a new period of development yet again, it's still very cyclical but with more subtle variations in the repetition of its phrases, it also contains some of the most beautifully intense melodies/harmonies he ever wrote. By the end of the third movement I always find myself lost in deep thoughts, imagining what would have come next.
My all time favourite of his works is the unfinished 9th symphony where I think he entered a new period of development yet again, it's still very cyclical but with more subtle variations in the repetition of its phrases, it also contains some of the most beautifully intense melodies/harmonies he ever wrote. By the end of the third movement I always find myself lost in deep thoughts, imagining what would have come next.
340
Black Metal destroyed itself pretty horribly though.
What genre didn't? Death Metal devolved into parody and lost all its mystery. Thrash/speed castrated itself in the 90's either by doing nothing new, or becoming alt. rock/metal.
All true. But I still maintain that Black Metal did it most spectacularly. Perhaps it is because BM was, if truth be told, already dangerously close to self-parody from the beginning(I remember very well back when "A Blaze..." and the like came out the reaction from most harcore Hessians I knew was mockery - not hails and awe!!), and was the easiest to exploit by the mainstream once it began to gain notice. BM went from dangerous, dark and frightening to mall-goth clownery seemingly overnight. By the time most in America even became aware of BM, its best days were well behind it.
These days when I attend shows and see some unpronouncable BM band of nobodies in Halloween make-up I literally cringe! I will take mediocre, though sincere Death Metal over that all day long. Perhaps that's just my tastes though.
It is a question of spirit over technique, and this applies more to black metal than any other metal genre (consider the latest Burzum failure). Basically bands need to stop being queer. Go back to the masterworks, take something like Joined in Darkness, study every riff and the structure of each song, find out where it could grow, but above all understand its essence.
341
Metal / Re: Sibelius
« on: December 07, 2011, 01:16:56 PM »A bitter genius whose compositional long-windedness was necessary and natural, unlike Bruckner's which was an affectation derived from his man-crush on Wagner. There's more meat on the bones of his symphonies than he's often recognized for, especially given that moderns almost exclusively listen to his compromising, and often terrible, more commercialized nationalist output; as with any composer you should be listening to the pieces that their public hated, to really get a feel for their work.
I like the way Sibelius phrases some of the melodic ideas but the way they build together and peak is actually quite predictable somehow, and also those peaks are considerably lower than they set out to be. I'm finding his 7th Symphony quite good at the moment. Regarding length, I find Bruckner's music is very cyclical and even a bit OCD but the tension-release certainly originates in a much more natural mechanism than Sibelius, probably there's every bit as much of the Schubert-Beethoven tradition in his work as there is Wagner.
342
Chasm / Re: DLA: dark ambient
« on: December 07, 2011, 12:54:39 PM »
This genre needs a solid album with the weight of Hvis lyset tar oss for example. Beherit is unfinished, but is awesome for pure intuition and ideas alone.
343
Metal / Re: Summoning - Depressive as hell
« on: December 07, 2011, 10:16:11 AM »Is Minas Morgul worth getting into? I'm really only familiar with Stronghold and Oath Bound, both of which I enjoy, but when I first listened to Minas Morgul the other day it felt a bit juvenile, or silly even. I made a little pharaoh dance to the track Orthanc.
Yes. The composition is sound, if not the synth quality, but it was the mid-90's, Summoning probably didn't have access to higher end equipment at the time. Still, The Passing of Grey Company makes me cringe everytime.
Also, check into Let Mortal Heroes Sing Your Fame.
Minas Morgul and even Lugburz have an intense spontaneous energy that the later albums just don't have, even though they're better composed on the whole. In saying that I find most of their albums a bit patchy at some point (Dol Guldur is the most consistent).
By the way this is more of an equipment question but does anyone know what kind of synths these old bands even use? more likely they use an electronic keyboard with sampled orchestral sounds.
344
Chasm / Re: DLA: dark ambient
« on: December 05, 2011, 02:38:37 AM »It would be great to have these represented in Audiofile
Important works need to be identified, maybe even a top ten with reviews or something. Otherwise on the whole it's a genre of extreme low quality and any potential therein would be lost.
345
What are your thoughts on this famous Finnish composer? Admittedly, I haven't heard all of his output and I'm a bit divided on what I have heard. Some of his symphonies strike me as pretentious, they're simple but made to sound complex and are commonly rounded off with this big pompous anthemic finale. The violin concerto escapes this and seems to flow more naturally, partly due to it's chaotic unrefined construction. Finlandia is just overrated.