"The Odd Couple" - Cory & Molly.

Was back home in Ireland the weekend just gone, for a few days, as my twin sister's twin girls had their Communion on the Sunday, a good day, i travelled with my ex Angela (who was a Godmother), one of my sister's 'besties', and Shannon, our eldest, who's a big girl now, 21 years old now. Strangely the weather for the five days we were there was great, mind it did look like it was going to rain any minute, warm sunny and overcast days with clouds that looked dark with rain, but honestly it never did. Sadly, there was no clear nights for a walk down the demense and do a bit of star gazing. Can't have it all good.
But anyways, this is not strange, but to be honest it's the first time i'd seen it up close, as there has always been a cat (or cats) in the house, jaysus i could name a few, that are all buried in the garden, near the back wall, a regular 'pet cemetery', all were marked on the wall, sadly some of the names have faded. I do remember too that the family once had a dog, 'Prince', when Clare and me were really young, but it was got rid of when he bit Clare badly on the nose, she's 47 now, scar is still there, so it was simply cats from then on with Mum, the longest living were Dusty (17) and 'Mildew' (15) - who was white with one wee yellow-ish and orange dot on her forehead, both lived for what seemed like forever, remember Mildew was well looked after by Mum, as it had one of her ears and part of its tail removed when it had cancer twice, but apart from them there was, i think, 'Puskin' (no's. 1 and 2, as both looked very similar), Garfield, 'Soots', 'Toots', 'Daser' - true to it's name, a fat lump, but he could move, honest, has on occasion, according to my mother, nearly knocked her off her feet, there is others but can't remember right now, and Clare also brought her house cat from England when she moved back home, lovely cat - it was me that named her Sheila when she got it in 1996, died a few years ago.

And now, from about 2015, maybe just earlier, i'm not totally sure, the 'house cat' has been 'Cory', who is fond of licking your face, mainly in the morning, when he see's you first, it's like he's does when cleaning himself, but Clare, only two months ago, now also has a dog, 'Molly', (about a year old, a bitch, a 'rescue' dog from the pound, it had been abandoned) and strangely the dog and the cat get on, you could even say their 'friends', the cat seems to sense that 'Molly' (who is about ten times bigger) is no threat, it's novel to see them sitting (or sleeping) side-by-side, but she is a 'doll', a big softy, i've never been a dog person but after just five days i'd easily take her back with me...

i hope the photographs i've added, show what they are like, i've got others, some show the cat sitting on a stool in the kitchen being struck in the face with the dogs wagging tail as it goes past, funny, he just seems to take it, just deals with it, a minor inconvenience, he see it's coming and knows it'll all be over in a second or two.

Black Metal Logos [Part III]

A belated post of more Black Metal band logos, seven years and a couple of days late....for which i can only apologise, but, as mentioned previous, life does get in the way sometimes.

Have started on another set of six, of which i'm on the second one. I must say that some of the bands i've used are maybe not strictly BM but there is still huge elements of a blackened nature.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Saint Patrick's Day, 17th March, when the world turns feckin’ 'Green', no other country’s national day is celebrated like Ireland's, and not just only by ourselves but what seems like the whole bleedin' planet, for even England don't celebrate it's patron saint as much as the Scottish or even the Welsh, granted the French and the Americans have major event's to remember and sometimes (manly its just by themselves) do go over-the-top but their 'day' actually celebrates 'foundations', not saints. So, looking at the pictures below, the world really does seem to celebrate the national saint of a small island on the far western edge of Europe.

Six!!! yes SIX in five years!!

And it's said that a stroke is a brain attack.

But it's been six and a half years since i posted anything on here, life does get in the way sometimes. To be honest i had other reasons (or worries), mainly my health, but now, 'in my self', i'm feeling a lot better, and safe enough too to be brave about putting something new on here.

That time away i believe, and hope, was just a hiatus or interlude, and i aim to maintain this blog a bit more, to keep it (and me) alive, fingers crossed, and i've decided and hope to write about anything, i mean anything and everything, so not just about Black Metal music, mind that it'll always be in the background, sneaking around, lurking in the shadows, hiding, as i still welcome it's ambient side, ABM.

Anyways yes my brain has been, truthfully, stirred a wee bit, a little damaged, i'm sure the connections are now a little loose, my speech (and how i speck) is not good, i now seem to have a stammer, (it think it’s more like a blockage), even my spelling is poor, they say all of it might be 'aphasia'. Aphasia is a disorder or impairment caused by damage to the parts of the brain that control language. The stroke really has made it hard for me to read, write, and say what i want to or mean to say. This has, on occasion, can be a little awkward. And to add to all this, my eyesight too (which was decent, even 20-20) is now terrible, very poor. It has left my with 'scars', mental ones, named the fact my brain doesn’t work like it once did. So please forgive my writing (or grammar, etc) and maybe my spelling too.

So sure, its been a bit of work over the recent couple of years for me to get back my 'joy', my 'passion' of life, or at least find a level of 'happiness' which i find and accept - granted some of those 'words' you might not really hear from or associate, even identified with a Black Metal blog so...

...whether it says something about my current mental state that it's music and walking that is 'soothing' my brain, i like the simple feeling - i do like to be outside walking miles, strolling through the countryside, the back roads, even hills and forests can easily mend a bad mood. Sensing the simple rural atmosphere, an aura, although i'm alone it's not one of fear, but its presence, its being there, being aware, and my emotion when i find it, this might be nonsense but i'm from and grew up in the country, granted in a small village, and from the family home the countryside started only a hundred yards away - so really it was the biggest 'backyard' to a young kid.

Now as man on the near side leading to fifty and after twenty five years away, living in cities and big towns, and with still having close family in that village, and after recent events i fell like moving back there, and it'd be a simpler life. So again, i can't stress that those hours just walking in the country, did wonders in helping my recovery, it turned out be a basic but an essential part of the healing process that i needed, a simple guilty pleasure in my recuperating.

It's worth mentioned that night walks is also a joy, the moon light, or even a full moon, full starry skies, but the darkness, the blackness, didn't worry me for i know these roads. And some of my favourite walks are after dark, especially when the moon is full. I like the cover (and the spread of colours) of night time - spreading sliver and crystal and blue lights upon the countryside.
So walking is, to me, like medicine, a poor man's remedy, as walking miles (in all weather) was easy therapy, some pleasurable mental and physical exercise. Being much older now i find (believe) that walking in the countryside has tangible (magical health) benefits. I know that sounds like hippy shite, but a well.......

It's been a while...

Jesus its been some time since i've posted anything on this blog, but, unfortunately, i've had some serious issues with my health that have come as bit a shock as i'm not an old man. Anyways the resulted of all of this is that i need to make some changes to my lifestyle.

Downloading against actually buying a CD?

I believe the advent of the net and the digital revolution has made my love of Black Metal, a minority music genre just a little more accessible and especially so because - and this is my excuse - i live in a (large and still rapidly growing) town that doesn't even have a record store, and the only opportunity i have usually to buy cd's is online - such as Falls of Rauros, The Crevices Below, Infestus and Drowning The Light - or at gigs, when i see a band i like live - Dornenreich and Gorath being recent examples, but for every physical release i do purchase, i probably download a hundred, and the price always seems to be less than any shop bought cd's. So for these reasons i always look forward to getting my music magazines (Zero Tolerance, Terrorizer, Metal Hammer and Powerplay) to read the album reviews so that i can go searching online for what might look worthy of downloading, which in turn might lead to recommendations to similar bands or artists and so on.

So if i'm perfectly honest, the majority of the lists that i post of my most recent acquisitions are downloads, i just love the convenience and quickness of downloading music in general, i am now totally sold with the concept, as with the MP3 format, it is so much easier to store and of course play all of my music. For i like also the instant access i get to my entire collection, as currently i've got just shy of  2,200 Metal albums stored on my laptop and external hard-drive - just think of how much wall space that would be needed if i had them all on CD or vinyl. And you can also buy an MP3 player thats the size of a lighter nowadays that can easily store a few hundred songs but obviously you can go for the all-singing all-dancing versions and walk around with most if not all of your music collection in your pocket. Maybe the only drawback is the sound quality compared to a cd, but as i'm only listening to the music via my laptop and a set of speakers i don't personally consider it much of an issue.

So where do i go for my downloads, well i have a few that i consider essential, indispensable almost, that i check every other day. (Mind it could be said any music you want is out there if you know where to look). Personally i have always found the iTunes store to be next to hopeless (never understood the hype) so i've been using eMusic for over seven years now it is a small but good site - http://www.emusic.com/listen/#/browse/album/metal/: - as i always find plenty to download here and then theres Soundike - http://www.soundike.com/tags/black_metal.html - which has a massive BM catalogue, unbelievably cheap downloads that it seems almost too good to be true but been using it for over a year now, and theres a couple of others i've used on occasion such as Metal Maniacs - http://www.klicktrack.com/metalmaniacs/search?c=Black+Metal - plus Metalhit.com - http://www.klicktrack.com/metalhit - and also Bandcamp - http://bandcamp.com/tag/black-metal - and god no doubt theres others. I'm sure some labels must also have websites from which you can download and buy their band's music - think i'll investigate that for a future blog, but obviously just those labels that are generally geared towards Black Metal.

Then there are sites - great sites - like the Get Metal website - http://getmetal.org/black-metal/ and Darkport - http://darkport.org/genre/black-metal - and also but to a slight lesser degree Bunalti - http://www.bunalti.com/?s=Black Metal  - which are all run by individuals who in my humble opinion provide a better service as they are primarily geared towards Heavy Metal music (and its many sub-genres) and who provide links to many many fantastic albums, almost on a daily basis, granted with a request that you should delete the album from your computer after review - which is basically a form of disclaimer. Finally of course there then is the method of downloading music using a torrent file and manager, which i should admit to have never used, but sometimes you just cannot find that elusive release and occassionaly the only means of finding it is through a torrent search. Rockbox is the only place i check and only then if i can't find it, i'll resort to ebay or Amazon, or try some mail-order sites, as there are some that are specifically Black Metal.

Also worthy of a mention at this point is the Encyclopaedia Metallum (The Metal Archives) website - http://www.metal-archives.com/ & http://www.metal-archives.com/release/upcoming - which i find is the essential reference point (the Bible in fact) for information on Metal bands of all genres and which is generally one of my first points of call when i need to check upcoming Black Metal releases or to check a band that i've never heard of before - as long as it has an entry of course, as the rules are strict - bands must "be Metal enough" and have a physical release.

Astonishing - A Masterpiece

 Hypothermia - Rakbladsvalsen (2007, Total Holocaust Records)



Tracklist

1. Del I     34:25
2. Del II    09:50
3. Del III   06:09
4. Del IV   11:00

Total Running Time: 01:01:24

This, i now firmly believe, after quite a substantial number of repeated listens, is and i can't stress this enough, one of the best (and dare i say even greatest Black Metal) albums i have ever heard, and also an essential for any fan of Black Metal music, and of the sub-genre that is sometimes labelled Depressive/Suicidal Black Metal which this record possibly belongs to. Now i will admit i've only just discovered this band, (through a release by Kyla, the singers Kim Carlsson's previous band) and it's actually an album that was released five years ago, (but since it's for me a new discovery i'll consider that it's new Black Metal, which was the original idea behind starting this blog page), but anyways i'm totally fucking amazed by its sound, melodic, depressive but yet simply beautiful, and its atmosphere, which is cold, full of darkness, claustrophobic and yet very very bleak. I can't help thinking also that this band really know what they are doing and so have achieved something unique musically (but without losing the Black Metal feeling that every such release should have). The opening thirty plus minute track is truly masterful, it might be considered long and maybe a tad repetitive but it holds on to me (as does every track) without never ever been boring, it is simply an astonishing piece of music. The album only consists of four tracks but is in all an hour of awesome, glorious and possibly unique underground Black Metal that will most certainly remain seared in the back of my brain for a long long time.