2007 and extreme metal

2006, I thought was a terrific year for metal. 2007 turned out even better. This then is my top 50 from last year in order of preference. There is one dominant theme here. A lot of my favourite albums this year came from bands that had been releasing consistent quality albums but who then chose to up the ante this year and release their best work.

Orange Goblin – Healing Through Fire

I loved Thieving from the House Of God but Healing Through Fire tops that by a long way. Orange Goblin is poised to join the ranks of CoC and Clutch. They’re still stoner friendly but they’ve managed to transcend the genre to become a bit special.

High On Fire – Death Is This Communion

An incredibly powerful metal album and another case of an already great band just upping the ante to new levels. Like Slayer colliding with Black Sabbath, Death Is This Communion is epic powerful and incredibly heavy.

Neurosis – Given To The Rising

The founding fathers of a suddenly overcrowded genre, Neurosis sound like a band with a point to prove and Given to the Rising is a crushing testament to the power and dark passion of this band. Incredible.

Sigh – Hangman’s Hymn

After the slight disappointment of Gallows Gallery I wasn’t expecting much from Sigh but this one is brilliant. Mixing German classical music with German thrash metal ala early Sodom and Destruction sounds like a horrible idea but Sigh make it work. This is unique, memorable and completely over the top.

Earth – Hibernaculum
Reinterpretations of songs recorded previously, HIbernaculum sees the Earth sound at its most minimalist. Inspired by and going for the same feel as the soundtrack to Spaghetti westerns, this may not be for everybody but if you ever stood in front of the mirror and pretended to be “the man with no name” then you should check this out.

Monstrosity – Spiritual Apocalypse
Rise to Power was pretty awesome but again a case of a band taking the existing format and pushing all levels to overdrive. The death metal album of the year. Awesome.

Antimatter – Leaving Eden
Beautiful melancholic doom rock that echoes Anathema, Nick Drake and Pink Floyd and does it superbly. Mick Moss has become one of my favourite singer songwriter types and Leaving Eden will tell you exactly why.

Marduk – Rom 512
Sweden’s Marduk has been around for ages now and have always been a favourite. Rom 512 is the band’s best ever. It charts a new course for the band into slower, heavier and darker territory and surprised me quite a bit. If you like extreme metal and don’t mind the odd black metal band, then check this out.


The Ocean – Precambrian
Occasionally heavy, sometimes dense, mostly layered and always quite captivating. This is an album that’s grown on me with every listen and there’s so much stuff happening here that it’s a stoner’s dream. I think this band is going to be huge in a year’s time. Lets see.

Trouble – Simple Mind Condition
Trouble came back. The doom metal of yore was replaced by a rocking 70s stoner vibe and Eric Wagner sang his heart out to make Simple Mind Condition an album that’s been on my playlist all year round.

Hellborg, Johansson,Johansson, Eklundh – Art Metal
I don’t know how to describe this but it’s like four virtuosos playing rock music carnatic classical style. Sublime.

Immolation – Shadows In The Light
Any other year this would be a lot higher on the list. No other band sounds like Immolation and Shadows In The Light is another incredible exercise in sonic ass kicking.

Hidden Hand – The Resurrection Of Whiskey Foote
Scott "Wino" Weinrich is still at it after all these years and The Ressurection of Whiskey Foote is a worthy addition to his ever growing legacy in the stoner doom genre.

Alabama Thunderpussy – Open Fire

Southern fried stoner rock meets British heavy metal. Open Fire is heavy, melodic, catchy and rocks your socks off.

Rotting Christ – Theogonia
The Greeks have been quietly releasing quality albums for a while now and Theogonia is the distillation of everything that makes Rotting Christ such a terrific extreme metal band.
Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today
Finally, Jus Oborne has come up with a worthy companion piece to Dopethrone. The sound has been tweaked just a little and the music’s become a bit more accessible The band sound the better for it.

Anaal Nathrakh – Hell Is Empty and All the Devils Are Here / Mistress – The Glory Bitches of Doghead

It's been a terrific year for Mike Kenny and Dave Hunt as they had two terrific extreme metal releases. Firstly with the doom gone grindcore sounds of Mistress and then with the quasi black metal of Anaal Nathraakh. Awesome stuff.

Pelican – City Of Echoes

Another band that's been around for a while now and releasing instrumental rock albums but City Of Echoes just takes the existing format, tweaks it, distills it and comes out completely sublime. Awesome stoner friendly fare.

Middian – Age Eternal
Dark, incredibly dense doom metal. I don't know if there will be another Middian album but this band deserves your support. Awesome stuff.

Pro-Pain Age Of Tyranny - The Tenth Crusade

Gary Meskil and co. have been around for ages and just seem to get better and better. While not coming close to the career highpoint of Contents Under Pressure, this is still quality Pro-Pain.

Clutch From Beale Street To Oblivion

This is probably my least favourite of the last three Clutch albums but it still rocks out.

Deathspell Omega Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum

Complicated, intense and quite disconcerting at times, this band went from being a pet hate to complete ownage with their latest album.

sHeavy The Machine That Won The War

sHeavy does the whole retro rock vibe better than most bands and it helps that the vocalist sounds like a young and healthy Ozzy.

Alchemist Tripsis

Another band thats never been a big favourite but Tripsis was quite tripped out. Good stuff

Wolves In The Throne Room Two Hunters

Hippie black metal anyone ? This is lush wonderfully arranged black metal that's very stoner friendly. Much better than the over hyped Diadem Of 12 Stars, Wolves... will hopefully be around for a long while.

Boris / Merzbow Rock Dreams

I love these Japanese loonies. Last year had Boris teaming up with Sun O))) and this year it's a live collaboration with Japanese noise God Merzbow. Complete free flowing art.

Project: Failing Flesh - The Conjoined

Schizophrenic technical extreme metal with some awesome riffing and grooves. Another band that deserves some attention

Weedeater God Luck and Good Speed

Terrific stoner metal and the album title of the year.

Prong Return Of The Damager

Now this album should have been the follow up to Rude Awakening and not that Scorpio Sleeping album. Kickass return to form for Tommy Victor.

November's Doom The Novella Reservoir

Very impressive extreme metal band from America that just seems to get better and better.

Akercocke Antichrist

This is the band's best album yet and any other year would have been a lot higher on my list. Superb stuff.

Om Pilgrimage

The other half of Sleep turned in a terrific drum n bass doom album. Light a fatty, switch of the lights and go on this Pilgrimage.

Lesbian Power Hor

I don't know where these guys came from or even what they do but Power Hor is a terrific stoner doom album that has the ability to meld completely crushing doom metal with some intricate psychedelic rock.

Pig Destroyer Phantom Limb

This one's the list simply because it reminds me so much of Enemy Soil. There isn;t a lot new on this album but when it comes to face ripping grindcore there are few bands that do it better than Pig Destroyer these days.

Gorefest Rise To Ruin

A band that just refused to follow trends and did whatever they felt like, Gorefest was a sentimental favourite of mine and although their comeback La Muerte didn't do too much, this one was quite awesome.

Portal Outre

Wierdo Aussie extreme metal band that mixes some Celtic Frost and death metal with a really strong black metal vibe. Captivating stuff.

Blotted Science The Machinations Of Dementia

Instrumental metal trio who completely slay. This is awesome technical stuff from Ron Jarzombeck (Watchtower) Alex Webster (Cannibal Corpse) and Charlie Zelany.

Abscess Horrorhammer

Old school bitch. Chris Riefert and Danny Coralles came back with this death metal album that was raw, sick and a whole lot of fun.

Aeon Rise To Dominate

Rise To Dominate kicks ass. That's all you really need to know.

Desaster 666 Satan's Soldiers Syndicate

Desaster has released their best album since Hellfire's Dominion and quite probably the best album of their career. The black thrash blueprint stays the same but the awesome headbanging grooves of Hellfire's Dominion are back. Stan's Soldiers indeed.

Dublin Death Patrol DDP For Life

Bay Area supergroup of sorts, this one has Chuck Billy and Steve Souza trading vocals and if you grew up with the whole Bay Area thrash thing then that is the stuff that wet dreams are made off.

Machine Head The Blackening

Machien Head finally made an album that could stand next to Burn My Eyes. A little trendy but these songs rocked. Can't wait for them to hit Bangalore.

Cephalic Carnage Xenosapien

All over the place tech-grind that went from irritating the fuck out of me to actually

Gallhammer Ill Innocence

3 piece all girl band from Japan that mixes crust punk with doom and comes across like all three of them are high on Corex and Spasmos. Fucked up but quite brilliant.

Dew Scented Incinerate

This one just rocks. Nothing new about it but every song has a killer riff and the whole death thrash ala The Haunted just completely appealed to me.

Sun O))) Oracle

Like Earth's ugly deformed brother.

Unsane Visqueen

Noise rock ala Helmet and Prong but with the band's own originality and some killer grooves. Comes across like a stoned Slayer at times so may not be for everybody.

Blood Red Throne Come Death

Tchort does the whole Floridan death metal thing to terrific effect. Not as crushing as Altered Genesis but more varied and all the better for it.

Of unrequited movie dreams

One fatty became two and two became two and a half and then only Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny made any sense. So much for everything else.

this and that

I've been on a Coen brothers trip for a while. After watching No Country For Old Men a while ago I revisited Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, and Blood Simple earlier today. Movies that range from pretty good to complete celluloid ownage. I've also been revisiting some old Meshuggah. Particularly Destroy Erase Improve and Chaosphere. Two albums that I think had a tremendous impact on extreme metal and they still sound completely pulverizing. Especially Destroy Erase Improve.

Today's been pretty boring. Woke up at 1 in the afternoon, had a good lunch and then saw Blood Simple. Following which i sent one fat fucker on the terrace and then saw Jogi. This movie is a bit melodramatic and a little over the top at times but there's something about it, the dialects, the street slang, Shivraj Kumar's performance (and he's the best at doing the naive village duffer) and all those punter boys who actually look like punter boys. There's something that's very real about Jogi. Maybe not as visceral and raw like Duniya, but this is the one movie that's responsible for creating the whole Kannada movie sub-genre of rowdies, longs and exploitation masqueraduing as realism.

So anyway, tonight I plan to watch either Tale Of Two Sisters which is supposed to be a terrific eerie Korean, horror but not horror film or I could watch Nosferatu with Klaus Kinski or State Of Grace with Sean Penn and Gary Oldman which happens to be one of my favourite gangster films ever. Tough tough choice.

Angel Pyre

My sweetest of whores. How are you ?

Me ? I’m all right. A lot has happened over the last few months though. Come a little closer so I can whisper in your ear. There.

Somewhere along that intro I forgot what I wanted to write about. I like bongs. Those that are made of glass and filled with water, incase of any confusion.

Totally forgot. Just totally fucking blank. Fuck! I don’t want to talk about the movies and books and music I saw, read and heard. I don’t want to talk politics or the state of the nation or even cricket. Where have all my deep thoughts gone ?
Where ?

The smoke goes up from the green city
To choke angels on the product of progress
The city thrives in a neon blitz
The city feeds on currency and myth

Liberty the whore, she was pushed off the fence
Bastard twins, technology; expedience
She lies raped, broken, cast aside
Her own fault, she refused to hide.
Father wisdom banished from our land
Young tolerance has removed his hand
The city cries, how everybody lied
We embrace chaos we hate with pride

Purple night sky starless and dark
Like hell looking down, waiting to collect
Apathy is a gift that few accept
Though she sits forever, legs spread
This city lives on the acrid fumes of greed
Delirium and despair ever ready to feed
A city of people who do not know
That they too are lost in the flow

Hope is a girl child locked away
Naked and alone she has no say
She’s let out at the whims and fancies
Of the starched, white elite
A city fucked, under siege from the inside
Like parasites we feed, nowhere to hide
The city chokes on it’s own excess
It died a while ago, I must confess

The smoke goes up from the dead city
To choke angels on the product of progress
The city thrived in a neon blitz
The city died became myth

Deathspell Omega – Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice

17.8.07

Black Metal for me is a unique experience. Something that I look forward to in small measures. Over the years I’ve found few bands from this genre that I liked.

Now, even if the genre once originated with Venom the bands today sounds nothing like them. Black Metal has undergone a tremendous change. From dirty Satan worshipping rock n roll to burning churches to meditations on existentialism and worshiping the self. The music too has undergone a sea change and with it, the tastes of the listening public. Not too many years ago, Ulver shocked the Black Metal horde by releasing an acoustic album. They were derided for straying and then cast aside. Last year Drudkh released an all acoustic album to universal acclaim. The music is changing, the themes are changing and it is becoming difficult for me to tell when something is Black Metal.

Still, I’m not reviewing Negura Bunget here. DsO, while a terrific black metal band are not particularly original. Deathspell Omega play a brand of black metal that is harsh and punishing to the ears. The music is complex, the songs veer this way and that and it is buried in the usual sludge of the kvlt Black Metal album. Make no mistake, my friends. You have been warned. This is as kvlt as it gets. Honestly. Kvlt Site should adopt this album as its mascot.

The band come from France and their lyrics supposedly deal with some musings on existentialism. I can almost picture them drinking their absinthe and exchanging thoughts on the matter. If I could paint, then that is the picture I would paint right now. Deathspell Omega sitting round a table, sipping absinthe and contemplating existentialism. I’ll even paint a copy of Sartre’s Nausea on the table. So you can just about see the title. Come to think of it, that could be their album cover.

But enough! I digress here. I should get back to the matter at hand but the album’s over and now I need to play it all over again.

The album starts with a slow foreboding intro. A doomy guitar riff and vocals that sound like some sort of chanting that you might even hear in one of our temples. Similar melodies anyway. The song goes through the same damn riff over and over with minor ebbs and flows till I’m dropped into an ambient soundscape with the same chanting type vocal line. First Prayer has passed and Sola Fide 1 is a raging death black beast. If these guys had a clean production… they’d sound a million times better. I mean this is the kind of song that Behemoth can only dream of writing. And the song’s barely started. Going of into a melodic section, a staccato riffing pattern and right back into this incredibly heavy death metal riff. The song proceeds to a melodic black metal vibe while sounding nothing like Dimmu. Two songs in, the band sound pretty damn impressive.

Ok, now, I can’t listen to this album twice in a row. I feel like I can’t breathe. Like there’s a pressure round my chest. My humble apologies. I will return.



18.08.07
I’m going to skip a couple of songs now. Not because they’re bad but because I can. In an unrelated aside half my comics seem to be missing.

The album moves on to Third Prayer. A mid tempo black metal song that brings to mind the work of Rob Darken. Perhaps not as militaristic but definitely some Graveland influences happening here. I have no problems with that. Graveland rule \m/.

The title song is pure Immortal. Hell, the vocalist even sounds like Abbath.

Okay, I think I’m getting the hang of this record now. DsO basically take the best bits from all my favourite Black Metal bands, be it Immortal, Emperor or Graveland and then add in death metal parts to keep things just off balance. Off course its all wrapped up in that kvlt production so it sounds like my favourite albums by those bands too. While I am referencing away to high heaven I may as well add this name. The Chasm. I think Daniel Corchado and his boys have had a bit of an unwitting influence on newer black metal bands coming from Central Europe and that bit at the end of the title song sounds like a Chasm song slowed down.

Look. I don’t have the bloody patience to sit through this album right now and really want to listen to the new Alabama Thunderpussy. So if you like all or any of the names that I’ve dropped in this entry and fancy listening to a band that can sound like all those bands in the same song and deal with some hi-funda lyrical concepts then check Deathspell Omega out. Or you could just listen to the other bands mentioned in this entry (excepting Behemoth).
Thank you for your time Dear Diary. I know you’re a busy woman.

this and that

Orange Goblin is kvlt. There's no better description for this British band. Formed in 1995, the band has over the last decade and more released 5 albums. Starting in the stoner doom tradition, the band evolved by their fourth album to become a noisy Motorhead meets Stoner meets blues rock kind of band. Very original and as can be heard on 2004s Thieving From The House Of God, quite captivating.

I would like to review the new Orange Goblin very much right now. Sadly, words are not happening.

India won today. Terrific victory. Robin Uthappa played a blinder and Sachin played a classic. I'm going to be glued to the telly on Saturday. Also, i have a strong suspicion that this series was fixed. I don't think this Indian Team is good enough to be beating England. That too in such dramatic fashion. Still, watching Sachin bat in the last two games was worth it. Like Sidhu said about Azhar, “ So what if he did it. Lets remember him for the joy he gave us with his batting.”

I don't know why i wrote about cricket. Still i guess its better than nothing.

The new Orange Goblin is fantastic. 5 on 5 for kicking some serious butt. Ben Ward's vocals have become a lot better and the band are just on top gear through the whole album. I think A Beginners Guide To Suicide is the song of the year so far. I still have to hear the new Down and the Deathspell Omega but something tells me Healing Through Fire is going to be as good as it gets for a while. Superb album.

I hope Monster Magnet get round to releasing an album this year. I'd like one. Anathema supposedly releasing a new album this year. I wonder if Mick Moss has collaborated on it.
I got a terrific Matter Of Life And Death poster from the beloved. Very nice. I also got a bunch of boxers. In fact every single boxer i use at this point is gifted by her. I swear, underwear shopping fucks my head.

I think i should sleep now. Tomorrow promises to be a long day. A long tiring day breaking backs and breaking hearts and sitting on the steps at the city's heart and baiting the policemen who beat the streets where south meets north and all is in flux and it is THE place to be.

In other news dear diary, I'm slowly trying to rebuild the collage on my cabinet. I'm off to a decent enough start so far. Still I can never replace the ad for Seventh Son from 1987, Henry Rollins during his Black Flag days and some insane blood smeared Misfits pics. Still, I managed to find a replacement for the Dark Angel Darkness Descends line up pic so all is well and good.

This has to be the most inane post in a while. I can feel Aunty Shame pointing her finger at me and mocking. Just like she did, the time i got out for a duck in the under 13 game against Josephs. Such is the bitch that is Aunty Shame.

I've listened to the new Orange Goblin album about a dozen times in the last 3 days. I can recognize it's brilliance but i cannot describe it. This band has pulled off an absolute blinder. The band has moved from the garage to the same rarefied atmosphere inhabited by the likes of Clutch and CoC. Healing Through Fire is godly.

hell again

Long time dear diary. How have you been ? Still whoring youself out to the highest bidder ? I thought so.

Life has become strangely apathetic. Or is that, I have become strangely apathetic to life ? I don't know.

I've been listening to some awesome music lately. I've also started writing reviews again. I think I'm better at it now. Check it out dear diary. www.kvltsite.com

Some amazing music that i've heard this year.....
1. Akercocke - Antichrist
2. Antimatter - Leaving Eden
3. Weedeater - God Luck And Good Speed
4. Gorefest - Rise To Ruin
5. Clutch - From Beale Street...
6. Extreme Noise Terror / Driller Killer - Split (Although i'm not sure if this came out this year or the last).
7. Disbelief - Navigator
8. Abscess - Horrorhammer
10. Project: Failing Flesh - The Conjoined
11. Nuerosis - Given To The Rising

I'm sure i've left a few albums out that should be there but this year is looking awesome. All i really need is a new Nevermore and I'm looking forward to the new Monster Magnet which will hopefully come out this year.

The biggest dissapointment this year has to be the new Ministry album. Way too much Tommy Victor in the mix and it just doesn't sound like a Ministry album. Left me completely unmoved and all the samples and anti-republican messages sound a little old on this one. The Last Sucker doesn't suck but its not all that good either. Feels like a very safe effort to go out on. But then I read somewhere that Jourgenson's planning on releasing a covers album sometime next year so in that case this won't be the last sucker at all.

Farewell Dear Mumbai

The man hops along the coach. His stick could be a deadly weapon but it is far more important as a surrogate leg. The dogs are ugly and old. Flies use them for couches but they can still bark. The streets are slushy and dirty, the sky is grey and the atmosphere sticky. The wind, when it deigns to make its presence felt, is in my face. The smells of this city change with every road.

People on the trains stare at me far too much. Most look at me like they want me to smile and acknowledge their stares. Don't smile at strangers. I return their friendly stares with a cold expressionless stare till they drop their gaze. I'll outstare you every single time.

I wrote the above maybe a few weeks after I moved to Mumbai. Now, a little less then 2 years later, when I read this again on the eve of my departure I know that the city has changed me.

I still get the stares but now I smile and get a smile back in return. This city is a friend. Farewell dear Mumbai . I think I'm taking a little bit of you back with me.

2006 and Extreme Metal

I listened to an insane amount of killer extreme metal this past year.

This is my top ten (or eleven) in order of preference.....

Mastodon - Blood Mountain

Magnificent. Evrything that this band hinted at on Remission and Leviathan comes to full fruition on Blood Mountain. It's useless to try and pin this album down because Blood Mountain is far greater than the sum of its influences. Mastodon are at the very top of their game.

Celtic Frost - Monotheist

Fucking come back of the year! It's still Celtic Frost but updated for the new millenium. This is not a nostalgia act. A state of the art of production helps but ultimately its the songs and Monotheist has killer songs from start to finish.

Lamb Of God - Sacrament

Sacrament blew my fucking socks off. Lamb Of God are the true inheritors of a throne left vacant since the demise of Pantera. This is pissed off supremely heavy metal. Listen to this.

Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance

Katatonia have finally made an album thats filled with great songs from start to finish. The doomy atmosphere is still intact but there is a slight change in the sound of the band. The guitars weave and twist and the riffs almost sound delicate. Melancholic without being overly deppresive, The Great Cold Distance is easily Katatonia's most accomplished album in a long while.

Enslaved - Runn

Enslaved have come a long way since Eld. Mixing their Viking extreme metal style with progressive rock, the band have created an absolute masterpiece with Runn. If you liked Below The Lights or Isa then Runn is going to be right up your alley.

Isahn - The Adversary

This album seems to have got a bit lost in the fanfare and sheer expectation levels generated by the reunion of Emperor. The Adversary is a superb extreme metal album. Almost like Isahn satisfied all his avante garde needs with Pecattum and then just decided to record some heavy fucking metal. The songs are well thought out, some great lead guitar playing and embraces different styles within the metal genre. I don't know if Emperor will ever release another album but I hope Isahn does. Super stuff.

Isis - In The Absence Of Truth

If you thought Isis would never be able to top Oceanic and Panopticon, then think again. In The Absence Of Truth sees the band taking a much softer route but the songs still rock. The background drone and the pummeling intensity of previous outings has been replaced in favour of melancholic and at times almost melodic songs that bristle with power. Probably the best doom metal album of the last year without actually being doomy or metal.

The Meads Of Asphodel - In The Name of God Welcome To Planet Genocide

This is the most exciting band in the extreme metal underground today. Mixing a black metal aesthetic with Venom/ Motorhead inspired rock n roll, psychedelia, drum n bass and lead guitars courtesy one Huey Loyd Langton from Hawkwind, The Meads of Asphodel throw everything including the kitchen sink into the mix. This little ep leaves their last full length "Damascus Steel" in the dust. Fantastic.

Sun O))) & Boris - Altar

A collaboration between American drone/ noise band Sun O))) and Japanese loonies Boris was always going to be interesting and Altar lives up to all the promise. Layers and layers of distortion and riffs that crawl along at a snail's pace means that Altar is not an easy listen. Kim Thayil turns up to play lead guitar on Swamp Song but overall this is extreme music. Difficult to digest but worth listening to. Essential headphone music.

Napalm Death - Smear Campaign/ Deicide - The Stench Of Redemption

2 bands from the old school. 2 bands left with nothing to prove and more than 1 seminal album in the bag. Yet Napalm Death's Smear Campaign and Deicide's The Stench Of Redemption have left behind a lot of the younger faster heavier bands. Napalm continue down the merry bludgeoning way set by Enemy Of The Music Business while Deicide's Stench... halts the trend of mediocre albums and almost seems like a follow up to Vital Remains' Dechristianized. 2 terrific albums by the old guard.

Senile ramblings

I'm sitting in a restaurent called Ginger Marie. Mumbai's equivalent of Casa Picola I guess. My new pen writes really well just in case you were wondering Dear Diary. I'm bored. I want to see a movie but nothing i want to catch is on. Little Miss Sunshine at 11:15 pm. I think I'll go watch that.

I have a joint. All rolled up and waiting. Finish dinner, a chicken fettucini pasta Arabiatta. I'm not expecting much. Some semi dry tomato sauce, bits of chicken floating around and the whole thing just drowned in cheese. Lots and lots of cheese cause this is Mumbai and every kind of food you can think of can be served with cheese. Cheese in your dosa and Cheese in your tava pulav. They fucking love it here.

Bangalore was awesome. Maiden, then Scotty's then weed, then beer, food, my room, the company of friends. Bangalore was fucking awesome. The only thing missing was a gas chamber. I think we've all grown up a bit. Tolerance levels have gone down and we all pass out sooner rather than later. The end of an era if you will Dear Diary. The sad bit is, I'm not sure when the end came.

The pasta was pretty good. Spicy, just a sprinkling of parmesan and a nice sauce. I don't know why I didn't come here earlier.

I've just about finished my Hellblazer collection. Almost. Missing Azarello's Good Intentions and Ellis's Setting Sun and Haunted. I think Garth Ennis's contribution to Hellblazer was fucking spectacular. His vision of Satan, Lord Lucifer call him what you will leaves Gaiman's version from Sandman and Mike Carey's version from the spin off in the dust. Ennis's version of Lucifer is just bad ass.

India's out of the World Cup. It was pathetic. I felt embarrased and ashamed. All of my predictions of atleast a semi final berth were consigned to the stuff of dreams. What happens to Indian cricket now is anybody's guess. I'll still watch every game as will millions of my fellow Indiansso the BCCI won't be too bothered. Such a big dissapointment. This country deserved better.

26th March 2007

Iron Maiden was everything I thought it would be and then some. I can't stop smiling. It's been 10 days now and I still can't get over it. I saw Iron fucking Maiden. Fuck everything else. \m/

I'm going back to Bangalore in April.
Farewell Mumbai
I leave my beloved rose in your care.
Treat her well.
Handle her with care.
Don't make me come back.

I have to figure out a lot of stuff. Moving back and all. New job, living at home, and all that. Right now though, all I can really think about is where I'll find the place for my books and music. That's all I can think of. Rome is burning and I'm counting CDs and leafing through Hellblazers.

26/10/06

I'm 27 today. I feel old.

I havent smoked in two days and I cant sleep.

A dull eye burning day so far and its only 6:30am. I saw Dirty Rotten Scroundrels again last night. It did nothing to improve my mood.

Mabool is doing a little better.

Haloween at 10:30pm on saturday and with the way things are going I'll be stuck at work even though it's my off day. Such is life.

Dinner should be good though. Make the dawn seem like a temporary blimp.

Today feels like a whisky weed and Isis day.

The Meads of Asphodel are probably the most exciting extreme metal band today. The new Isis, "In the Absence of Truth" is fantastic but wheres the drone man?

Napalm Deaths "Smear Campaign" is quite simply album of the fucking year!

Best song I've heard all year... Prayer by Neurosis.

PS: I got home early from work on Saturday but the fuckers changed the schedule and played Jeepers Creepers instead.

PPS: Sadly Smear Campaign is no longer album of the fucking year.

The big sleep

She’s sleeping now. As good a time as any for this.

She has a migraine. I think its her brain wanting to step out and go for a walk. As whimsical as they come. I want the world and I want it now.

I can see it now. A sliver of the pink stuff poking out of her ear. “Here I come, ready or not. She’s not going to miss me much anyway.”

It crawls out of her ear. Slowly gathering momentum. I can only sit above her and watch as the thing that used to be her brain comes slithering crawling twisting out. It’s somehow changed into a long thin pink fleshy rope. Like a tapeworm. Yeah, that’s right.

It slithers out finally. All twenty feet of it. Looks around. Crawls to the open window. Turns back for one last look.

“If I’m not back in a day tell her to get a new one”

It crawls out and is soon out of sight.

I almost ask, “How’s she going to wake up if you’re not around?” But it’s long gone and all I have left is its last words.

Get a new one.

I don’t think it’s coming back.

I don’t think I can get her a new one.

Luckily, I don’t think she’ll wake up.

You have all the freedom of speech you will ever need if you're selling. You'll have a bit of it if you're buying. But if you have an honest opinion on anything, we will drag you out, shove you down and kick your head in. Welcome to the largest democracy in the world. The state of the nation is appalling.

I've been sick since last night. A heavy head, a nose that won't stop running and a throat that won't stop itching.

The flies of Mumbai. They're everywhere. At work, in the smoking zone, feeding on the countless drops of coffee spilt by the faceless who have all of seven minutes to finish their coffee and smoke before listening to the next self involved white man. The flies surround my empty coffee cup. It's a fucking invasion.

Muslims can't buy a house in Bandra cause no one will sell to them. The ghettoisation of Mumbai seems unstoppable. Keep them in one corner, keep some in another corner and bury the rest beneath the grimy floorboards of this city and pretend they don't exist.

Playlist:
Anata - The Conductor's Departure
Gorefest - La Muerte
Sadus - Out For Blood
Cryptopsy - Once Was Not

of interruptions and commercial breaks

there is nothing more frustrating than to be interrupted by two cute precocious kids when you're eating out. NOTHING!

Galley Slaves

The acid is back. Big time. Burning me from the inside out. I think the countless cups of instant machine coffee have finally caught up with me.

The work force is being squeezed. Attrition has hit an all time high. Every negative cliche in every management book is being played out here. The galley slave model comes to mind. Easiest to apply. We're sailing a ship and the cruel heartless dictators onshore are weilding a whip that breaks skin and shatters teeth. We are the Galley Slaves. Faster now. Faster.


Here's what my girlfriend got me as an advance birthday gift.
(Sometimes there's nothing left to do but gloat)

Acid Bath - When the Kite String Pops.
Green Carnation - Light of Day, Day of Darkness.
Pungent Stench - Dirty Rhymes and Psycotronic Beats.
Carcass - Necroticism
Arch Enemy - Black Earth

Never a good shepard.

Crumbling Ash. Rolling out onto my chest. Singeing hair before trying to disappear. Nice to know you too.

Uniball Eye of the Mitsubishi Pencil Co. Ltd. writes really well on good quality paper. On cheap paper it blots.

I'm paranoid. I can hear my neighbours shouting 'Bhenchod! Madarchod!' venting their daily anger into the night. Their lights are always on at night. I keep thinking they're staying awake to catch me do something wrong.
Shame on you Aunty Guilt. SHAME.

Assasin Tongue

S, I wrote a random S and couldn't think of anything else. Scary.

Download City

I now know why so many people download music. I couldnt really understand it till now. Instant gratification. Tomorrow, thanks to the wonders of the internet and the generocity of a well meaning stranger, I will have the new Tool, Meshuggah and Scar Symmetry album. I've already planned what I want next. No more Planet M. No more credit card bills that cripple. The download beckons.
March into the Promised Land.

Ruminate

This whole metalcore thing works for a few bands. With God Forbid, it fucking works well. IV:The Constitution of Treason is one big motherfucker of an album.

Shabir ki jai ho! I lie at your feet in quiet admiration. You have surpassed yourself yet again. Fuck. Fuck. God Forbid fucking rocks. Damn.

Operation Mindcrime is a very special album. Spreading the disease, Revolution Calling, The Mission, Suite Sister Mary, just one awesome album. Now theres Operation Mindcrime 2. Very very very nicely produced.

The Gathering have a new album out.

Time to purge...

Angry. Work my butt off for 6 months and see an M.O. What the fuck! So fucking pissed off!! The last few days. Fucking M.O!

Ulver calms me down. I wanted to rant for a bit. Perdition City is like a sedative. Too good. See you later aligator.

2 good months

There's a strong feeling of discontent in our country right now. Don't remember the last time it felt like this. Booming economy or not, India's ordinary people are a discontented lot.

The death of Dr. Rajkumar was a sad bit of news I was at home the next day watching the news on the TV and people talking about why there was so much violence after he died. People at work couldnt understand it, "Why did they get so angry, I thought Bangalore people were educated..."
What nobody seems to get is that, like NTR in Andhra Pradesh and MGR in Tamil Nadu, Rajkumar made millions of Kannadigas proud. When he died his fans needed an outlet for their agression and they took it. Quite forcibly.

There's a broker sitting on the table behind me, strongarming a client to sell.
There are a dozen Bollywood types looking to act in/make or finance a film.
India vs. Pakistan has a few people enthralled but the world that makes this city go round is money.

There's a girl sitting on the table in front of me with her legs split wide open. Her friend tells her to close the gates. Embarrrased, a little shy, she crosses her legs. The man in front of her goes back to his cellphone.

Bombays been mostly good. The last 2 months especially so.
The company of friends and filter coffee is what i miss most.

I have'nt written this much since I moved here. "Sadness?" I hate it when people quote me lyrics of my favourite band and I don't rememeber it. Hate it, Hate hate, hate it!

I'm going to smoke some weed now. The weekend is here. 2 days too early. But who am I to complain? Tomorrow I'll go see Munich and maybe I'll even cheer on as agents of the Mossad claim bloody retribution.

2 men, look like they could be our next action superstars. Sipping on identical strawberry milkshakes with whipped cream on top. Somethings a little off. Somethings not quite right.

Did you watch Rang De Basanti? I loved it. I thought it was an accurate representation of my generation. Sit on our ass and complain about shit but dont move a muscle till things actually hit us head on. It worked as a halfway accurate depiction of the way we lead our apathetic lives rather than just as a case of celluloid patriotism.
But what do I know? I loved Zinda and V for Vendetta too.
Especially the domino scene. Fucking good.

(The strenuous labour of typing out this barely legible handwritten entry was undertaken by SleepyMaggie, the goddess of undeniable philanthropy.)

Playlist

Babylon Whores - Death Of The West
Part Goth, part garage rock and part doom metal, Death Of The West is a solid extreme metal album. Almost sounds like a dirtier Sentenced in parts and Taneli Jarva and Maniac join the band to handle backing vocal duties. The Whores rock.

Prong - Beg To Differ
Released a good 15 years ago, Beg To Differ still sounds pretty damn fresh. Prong was a band just way ahead of its time.

Nevermore - The Godless Endevour
This has been on repeat play for a while now. Politics ver. 2 ? Yes it is. Wit a little more melody this time around. Sell My Heart For Stones and Medicated Nation are just two of the great great songs on this disc.

Revolting Cocks - You Goddamn Son Of A Bitch (Live at the Metro)
Like a bastard child of Ministry and Front 242, this live album dances on the edge of chaos.

System Of A Down - Hypnotise
Finally SOAD release an album thats filled with kickass singalong tunes. The Faith No More touches are still there and I think Tankian prays every night at the altar of Patton but damn, they do this so well. Till there's a Faith No More re-union Hypnotise will do just fine.

In other news, my knees are killing me.

I feel like its time to update with a bizzarre random entry that has a certain sense of WTF about it. I can't. The bizarre, the random and the frequent sense of WTF that this city conjures puts everything i can come up with to shame. I'm living the bizzarre and random. Be it the one legged man hopping along on the last train back home every saturday or the unexplained dissapearence and reappearence of my Tv remote. WTF!

This Godless Endeavor kicks so much ass. I'm totally happy with the new Nevermore. More on that at some point in the future.

I hope to go back to Bangalore in November for a few days. That should be good. Although going to Bangalore for a holiday feels just a little wierd.

update

I feel like its time to update with a bizzarre random entry that has a certain sense of WTF about it. I can't. The bizarre, the random and the frequent sense of WTF that this city conjures puts everything i can come up with to shame. I'm living the bizzarre and random. Be it the one legged man hopping along on the last train back home every saturday or the unexplained dissapearence and reappearence of my Tv remote. WTF!

This Godless Endeavor kicks so much ass. I'm totally happy with the new Nevermore. More on that at some point in the future.

I hope to go back to Bangalore in November for a few days. That should be good. Although going to Bangalore for a holiday feels just a little wierd.

jump for joy

The reason I moved to Bombay.

A few hugged me and said, "Go get her!" Some wished me luck. Some thought I was a fool and some others said nothing at all. One even predicted marriage.

Falling in love has to be the bes thing ever. A brother might beat me on the head for saying this but it's true. It's been fucking spectacular. Lunatic grin. Can't stop. Fucking Metronome. I love her and I can't stop smiling.

"Jump For Joy"

fulfillment

She held me. Face down. On the narrow bed. She ran her fingers over my naked back. She tried to relax me for what was coming. Too stiff. I could not unclench. She was going to cut me. I knew it. She knew i. I just seemed like he right thing to do. Didn't stop me from being afraid. Her fingers felt like blades of grass. A part of me wished she would never stop. A part of me wanted to scream at her to stop. She tried to massage my shoulders. I would not yield. I begged her to put it off. I don't want to do this, I said. She looked at me. She shamed me with a smile. I knew I wanted it. I knew I was just scared.

She cut me.

And all I did was scream.

Now

kiss me. now. we will not talk of it. ever. jus kiss me. now !
i must feel you. inside me. i must.
know what you taste like. you cannot deprive me.
you cannot rob me of this. you cannot cheat me out of your sweet saliva
kiss me. now.

feed me. now. i will be your slave. just feed me.
now. you must. my stomach churns.
my heart. i cannot feel it beating. i must be alive. not for long now.
you cannot let me die. you cannot lay claim to apathy.
can't you see i'm starving ?
feed me. now.

kill me. now. i know you want to. just kill me. now.
you must. i do not want this. not anymore.
you mus not be scared. remember me for what i was.
fear is your enemy. i know you want to.
so, what do you have to be scared of ?
kill me. now.

update

Its been a month since I moved to Bombay, today. So far its been good. I survived the floods, changed jobs and am generally in a happy place.

The rains were unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I never thought I'd be scared of the rain but I am now. I actually had an easy time of it. It started raining at about 12 noon Tuesday and didn't stop. I spent the night at work, and left in the morning at about ten. It was only when I got home and turned on the news that I started seeing the horror stories. People walking home in chest deep water (some in neck deep water), people suffocating and drowning in their cars, people being washed away... the list of horrors is seemingly endless. They were still pulling out bodies from drains on Thursday morning and they're still doing that I guess.
The weather's clearing now and the city seems to be limping back to some level of normalcy.

I changed jobs. Yes Dear Diary, that was quick. I'm working for Barclays now in a proper banking process and I'm actually looking forward to going to work everyday. The money's pretty damn good too. Quite happy.

Current playlist:
Paradise Lost - Symbol Of Life
Skyclad - Irrational Anthems
Thin Lizzy - Bad Reputation
Scorn - Zander
Linda Perry - In Flight
Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself

the bombay groove

I landed in Bombay a week ago. Dear Diary, i would be lying if i said i did'nt miss Bangalore. Still, this was my decision and one i think i'll be quite happy with. Hell, I'm happier right now than i've been in a long long time so what the hell. This city has a groove to it. I feel incredibly lazy in the mornings when i'm at home but once i step out the momentum of the city carries me and then deposits me at my destination with no fuss at all.

What have I been upto lately ?

I went to see a bunch of Bombay bands. Helga's Fun Castle, Pin Drop Violence, Zero and Pentagram.

The Fun Castle was fucking awesome fun. rock n roll. Three songs stuck out from their set list. "SSG" (or "smoke some ganja") with its wonderfully catchy chorus, "The Marching Song" which live gets surprisingly heavy and the cheesy but very very catchy "Sometimes." Helga's Fun Castle also has an album out in a very nifty looking digipac. I totally enjoyed their set and and their CD. Fun rock n roll that sounds like a friendlier version of RATM mixed with the Offspring and maybe a little Men At Work too. Doesn't sound appealing but believe me, this band is a lot of fun.

Next up was PDV. First time i'm watching this band and they fucking destroyed. I was told later that this wasn't one of their best shows. PDV was like one big angry monster on stage. Awesome shit.

Next was Zero. I missed the beginning of their set, pre-occupied with watching hair being cut. It was a surreal experience and something I won't forget ever. Go to a rock show and watch hair being cut. Good fun. Zero, sadly were not. Zero without Warren is dull. Enough said.

Finally, it was time for Pentagram. A band i've come to loathe. Pretentious nonsense and they've been doing the same shit for so long its just not fun anymore. Blah. I think i left when the vocalist was singing "this is for my people..." Total blah.

The Fun Castle and PDV rocked. Zero was dull and Pentagram was a fucking pain. Still, Helga's Fun Castle and PDV made the evening and the show worth it.

slaughterhouse

So I take this knife. I cut you across your lower stomach. A long clean horizontal slash of the crimson kind. You look down to see the damage. One thin cut. Long but thin. The blood is only leaking. In tiny spurts. You look to counter. You look down. The trickle has become a flood. Your blood is running down your stomach. The thin cut is not so thin anymore. It has become a wide gaping cut. You can see your guts making their way out. This is when you’ll scream. When shock has finally worn off. And you screamed. Your guts were hanging now. Reaching the floor with a dull soft thud. Cut deeper than I thought. Still my orders are clear and this only makes it easier. I reach for your guts. Wrap your intestine round your throat. I strangle you. guts for stranglers. It holds well. It stretches. You’re eyes start to widen. You stop screaming. Too hard to breathe and scream. You try to breathe. Your eyes look like they’ll pop out any second now. There. Strangled with your own guts. How does it feel, friend ?

You’re awake again. Good. The rope must be tight. Don’t worry they’re for your own good. The chair’s hard too, I’ll bet. Well, it’s the only one I have. So then here’s the plan. I’m going to take this rod and beat you on the head with it. Two things have been asked of me. To give you a concussion or to make you bleed. Well. The thing is, how will I know if you have a concussion ? By the end of it, you’ll bleed and you’ll probably have a concussion. Useless to struggle. I wont kill you. I’m a professional. Maybe I can do it with just one blow. Yes, you can scream all you want.

Hello. How’re you today ? The wires ? That’s precisely why I’m here madam. To tell you…. no. To show you what the wires are for. You want to know right now ? Definitely. When I turn this little dial, the wires give you a little shock. A tiny little surge of electricity. I turn the dial a little more and I can give you an orgasm. Like that. Again ? careful madam. I’ve heard these things can be quite addictive. Very well. There. But then, as I push the dial further, pleasure turns to pain. Yes, like that. If I wanted, I could turn the dial all the way up and burn a black hole through your insides. Till your hair frizzled and your brain melted. To see smoke makes its way off your skin. To smell the rotting stench of your burnt body. I could burn you from the inside out. Yes. Like that.

Should have got my face mask. Place smells like a fucking slaughterhouse.

update

< style="font-family: arial;">Here’s an addendum to the Machine Head post I wrote a while back.

The album “ Through The Ashes Of Empires” is not old school in any way. Its modern metal. That’s the best description I can think of. Machine Head borrow a lot of ideas through this album but somehow also tap into the anger of Burn My Eyes. This album is getting better with every listen.

I saw this Japanese movie. Tokyo Decadence by Ryu Murakami. Not related to Haruki I guess but they could be brothers. Anyway, the movie. What’s it about? What are Japanese movies usually about? I have the no idea. The Japanese movies I watch have large amounts of gratuitous violence and perversities. I say this quite proudly. I scare me. Now if only I could stop smiling. Back to the movie though, its about loneliness. Its about Ai, A lonely little prostitute who specializes in S & M. Her meeting with a bunch of fucked up clients, existential angst and her lonely search for happiness. Its also about lots and lots of S & M and nudity. Like Arty Porn. The kind of porn you won’t have to whisper about at a wine tasting. “ Oh, I saw this lovely little Japanese movie. It was called Tokyo Decadence. It was stunning in its meaning and use of metaphors. Lots of nudity but almost Kafkaesque in its approach.”

"Really now ?”

This post brought to you by the good people at Winamp.

Quo Vadis – I Believe
Death metal from Canada. This is one pretty awesome band. Technical and melodic at the same time, I Believe is death fucking metal.

Extreme – Hole Hearted
I got hold of Pornograffiti again recently and now I’m listening to a bunch of old Extreme songs. Good fun.

Megadeth – I Thought I Knew It All/ Youthanasia
I love Youthanasia. I like everything Megadeth did including and upto Risk. These 2 songs make up the very strong middle portion of the album.

Oysterhead – Oysterhead
I thought this band would sound old in a bit. Not yet. Oysterhead rock.

Queensryche – Spreading The Disease / Promised Land
One heavy metal ball buster of a song and one moody dark epic. Lots of Queensryche happening and these two songs from Operation Mindcrime and Promised Land have been on Winamp for a while now.

Mother Love Bone – This Is Shangrilla
Rock n roll. Very cool band. Andrew Wood was a fucking rock star and he could sing.

Saigon Kick – Water
A sentimental favourite. Water as an album isn’t close to The Lizard but it has a few good songs. This one, I like.

Ulver – Lost In Moments
So what happened to Ulver then ? I read that they no longer played black metal and were now doing all sorts of electronic music and psychedelia and jazz and what not. None of this prepared me for the opening song on Perdition City. Its so trippy man. There’s this electronic trip hop thing happening and there’s this saxophone thing happening and damn its so trippy. The album holds up pretty well too. Lost In Moments is one really good song.

Acid Bath – Fingerpaintings Of The Insane
“The thoughts of dead babies Wiped away with my semen”

Acid Bath – Scream Of The Butterfly
"With sunlight in her hair she smiles like she don't care Her dreams of liquid blue I cut my self again and again to remind myself of you”

Acid Bath – Bones Of Baby Dolls
“Work for pay and pay for freedom Fuck 'em all, we don't need 'em We smoke the bones of baby dolls”

Acid Bath – Dead Girl
"Sister, burn the temple And stand beneath the moon The sound of the ocean is dead It's just the echo of the blood in your head.”

Acid Bath – Godmachine
“Be silent now and take your beating.”

Anathema – A Natural Disaster
Strangely enough this is the only Anathema album I like from beginning to end. The previous albums all got boring midway through the album. This is my favourite song on the album.

Gorefest – Walk My Way
Just a really awesome band. From the old school death metal of Mindloss to the pulverize your face intensity of Erase, Gorefest fucking own.

Vast – Here
I like this song sometimes and just hate it at others. Tonight I hated it. Seemed to go on forever.

The Gathering – These Good People
Album opener on Souvenirs, The Gathering in my book can do no wrong. Anneke is an angel sent down to sing for me. Just a great song.

Dark Tranquility – Indifferent Suns / The Wonders At Your Feet
Two songs from Dark Tranquility’s awesome Haven album. Melodic, heavy and just really catchy.

Frou Frou – Let Go
Like Dido mixed with Bjork. Nice little pop song and quite addictive.

Sanctuary – White Rabbit
Warrel Dane takes on Grace Slick, Dave Mustaine steps in as guest on the lead guitar and Sanctuary rape a rock classic. You’ll never want to listen to the original after you’re done with this cover. Fucking awesome.

Soilwork – Departure Plan
Like Europe playing death metal. Damn catchy and this song has a very cool lead guitar section in the middle.

Tori Amos – Love Song
Arre wah! Kyaa gaathi hein. Another angel.

Atheist – Earth
If this band had somehow patented their sound, then every second technical metal band would be paying them royalties. One awesome band and this song from Elements is my favourite Atheist song ever.

James Murphy – Touching The Earth
Murphy’s solo albums were both hit and miss affairs for me. Not a huge fan of guitar wankery solo albums. This song though has Chuck Billy singing on it. Chuck Billy is for me the best thrash vocalist ever. He can sing, scream, shout, growl, roar and fucking annihilate. Murphy is a death metal guitar legend. Touching The Earth is one awesome epic heavy metal song.

Death Angel – Ex-tc
Death Angel were never my favourite band but they had a bunch of good songs. A little like sitting in a coffee shop by yourself in the middle of the day when your only relief from boredom is the occasional cute girl you make eye contact with. Ex-tc is like one of those cute girls.

Diamond Head – Shoot Out The Lights
Fun for an occasional listen but mostly lifeless and boring. Diamond Head, apart from the truly kickass “Am I Evil” just sounded like a dull mix of Thin Lizzy and Blue Oyster Cult.

Metal Church – Badlands
Iced Earth sound so much like Metal Church on the album Blessing In Disguise. You can picture Schaffer writing a song like Badlands with Barlow (not ripper) singing it. Metal Church rock. Heavy fucking Metal.

Ulver – Utreise
Ulver was always one weird band. Nattens Madrigal was one raw, horrible produced piece of black metal while Kveldssanger was an all acoustic album sung in Norwegian. This song from Kveldssanger mostly settles into background music as does the whole album. Quite soothing which coming from Ulver just doesn’t seem right.

Orphaned Land – The Beloved’s Cry
Israeli doom metal band. Orphaned Land are fucking K V L T.

Opeth – Under The Weeping Moon
Musically Opeth have not changed much since their debut album Orchid. Under A Weeping Moon has all the Opeth trademarks. Long ass song too. Still, early Opeth had a huge Iron Maiden thing to them that made them a lot of fun and the vocals were more black metal. I’d rather listen to Orchid or Morningrise any day.

Yattering – Lost Within
Polish death metal band that reminds me a little of Suffocation. Short song, death metal, pretty damn intense. Its all good.

lack of comprehension

< style="font-family: arial;">A short time pass review of a bunch of books I read recently.

The End Of Alice – A M Holmes

This book scared me, it repulsed me and I couldn’t put it down. A pedophile in prison and his pen pal, a 19 year old girl on the outside. It freaked me out. This book. Scared me. Its not fun at all. But it should scare the shit out of you. So read it. If you want.

Filth – Irvine Welsh

Welsh is another author who can make me squirm. He did with Trainspotting and he does so here. Filth is the story of a corrupt cop. Sergeant Bruce Robertson is an utter shit anti-hero who through the course of the book goes slowly insane. It is also the story of the worm in his stomach. A parasite that is dependent on Bruce for its sustenance. The story is told by Bruce with asides from the tapeworm in his gut. An unpleasant hero, an unpleasant book but jolly good fun to read.

Inconceivable – Ben Elton

Ben Elton’s written a romantic comedy. Just like the protagonist in Inconceivable. A couple are trying to have a baby. The husband works at the BBC and is trying to write a film. The writing of the film and the producing of a baby are going nowhere. The couple after many ups and downs remain totally in love with each other. Elton later made the movie on the book filmed as “Maybe Baby.” Its funny but its not the Elton of High Society or This Other Eden. This is a tamer version of Elton. Like a forced attempt at being sensitive. A bit of a let down.

Book Of Illusions – Paul Auster

A thoroughly dull, depressing book that has the pace of a snail. I can imagine a hollywood movie with Richard Dreyfuss crawling along a three hour marathon. Sorry. I’m sure its an all right book. I loathed it.

on the clock

the things i do to entertain friends....

squeeze the trigger

Another day is over. You begin your long journey home. A few stops to fill your day. So you can tell yourself that work was not al that you did. Feel a little better. For a while. You meet your friends. The same six people you know. The six people you can stand to be with. Not with all of them at the same time though. You exchange pleasantries. You make conversation wondering all along if you can afford to get cable… afford to hire an air conditioner for the summer… the pretty little receptionist at work at her pert little behind… the idiot at work you feel like bludgeoning with a baseball bat… your friends talk at you and you pretend to listen and nod your head. You head on home after a couple of mugs of beer… you wanted whiskey but you settled for beer. You’ve forgotten to eat dinner but you can’t be bothered anymore. You head on home. You get into your 2 room apartment. The window was left open and the mosquitoes have taken over your living room. You curse and swat ineffectually. You open the refrigerator. Cold water goes down your throat and you feel better. You reach in your little haversack. You bought something today. The cold hard feel of steel is comfortable in your hand. Not too heavy but still a man’s gun the seller said and that is what this feels like. You heft it. You sit on the chair with the weak legs. You contemplate the gun. Your life has nothing left to contemplate over. You can hear a crow on your windowsill. Maybe you should try and listen to it. Maybe the crow will make sense. Nothing else seems to. You point the gun at your right ear. You change your mind. You stick it in your mouth instead. You remember what the seller said. Squeeze the trigger. Don’t press it. Squeeze the trigger. You remember how easy it was to get the gun. You spent everything you had on it, but it was easy in the end. You squeeze the trigger. Slowly. You know that you might change your mind any second. You even hope that you do. You debate the concept of free will in a brief moment in your head. You squeeze the trigger… the sweat from your forehead runs \down to your eyes. Maybe you should have a last cigarette. Maybe you should just end it here. Maybe you should wipe the sweat off your forehead. Maybe you should just pull the trigger. Maybe you don’t want to… the weak leg gives way… you stumble… you press the trigger. A single shot. A bullet in your head… you fall back on the floor and the chair hits the ground a split second later. A bullet in the head. Your brains on the wall.

the bombay groove

i like it. : )

can i touch it too ?

There’s a man sitting on the floor. The skin on his face peeled off. Raw pink skin slowly replacing it. Across his left cheek, a raw pink combination of new skin and no skin. He fingers it slowly. Caressing it. It probably burns to touch. It probably hurts like crazy. He sits. Fingering what was once a whole cheek of skin. Everyone stares. The passersby are curious. One question in the collective mind.

"Can I touch it too?”

Left Unfinished

Machine Head - Through The Ashes Of Empires

In 1994 a thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area released an album called Burn My Eyes. Machine Head, the band in question with their debut injected life into a genre that was starting to fade. Burn My Eyes is a seminal modern heavy metal album. Hugely influential, Burn my Eyes made Machine Head a name that was on every metal heads lips for a while. After their debut though, the band seemed to falter. Their sophomore effort “The More Things Change” wasn’t a bad album but was a let down in comparison. The Burning Red for me was a little better but the nu-metal riffing and the raps of Robb Flynn meant Machine Head just kind of got boring. I never bothered with Supercharger, their 4th album, and had pretty much given up on the band still occasionally spinning Burn My Eyes and wondering if they would ever release anything with that much power and aggression again.

That was till I saw the video for Imperium, the album opener on the latest Machine Head. This song just fucking destroys everything. Easily the best metal song I’ve heard in a while. It seemed like Machine Head might still have something to offer. On first listen Machine Head’s 5th album in 9 years “Through The Ashes Of Empires” is a pretty solid comeback. One point to note is the entry of Phil Demmel. Robb Flynn’s guitar partner from Vio-lence has joined Machine Head on lead guitars. The riffs are a mix of old school thrash, the NYHC sound and the modern nu-metal riffing. Flynn is shouting again with the same intensity he had on Burn My Eyes. Dave McClain on the drums is a fucking monster. Just an awesome performance from him while Adam Duce just quietly does his bit on the bass. Never in your face but providing some great backing.

So is “Through The Ashes Of Empires” a brilliant comeback that will have everyone shouting out Machine Head’s name again ? Will they become poster boys once more ? Doubtful. The album is good. With more listens it’ll become better. Still, the whole whiny nu-metal aspect of the last two albums have not disappeared. Robb Flynn has given up on the rapping but the emo side of him that came up on Burning Red is still not fully gone and influences from the first Korn album are still present. The riffs have by and large gone right back to the old school Bay Area sound and I’m repeating myself but Dave McClain is playing his heart out on this album and so Robb’s occasional whining can be ignored. Except on the song “Elegy” where a powerful start is ruined completely by Robb’s whining. Still, the rest of the album is pretty good. “Vim” is a scorching thrash metal song towards the end of the album while “All Falls Down” reminds me of “Sliver” from “The Burning Red” and while it is shamelessly modern and nu-metal in approach its still a pretty good song. It seems quite apparent that Machine Head have been listening to some European metal as well. The whole Swedish sound makes its presence felt on this album and the band has become a lot more interesting with this addition. The real surprise for me on this album is Adam Duce. His bass playing is just rock solid on this album and he seems to be getting better and better. With McClain, Duce forms one hell of a rhythm section.

Based on the evidence of “Through The Ashes Of Empires” Machine Head are from finished. This is no “Burn My Eyes” but it is way better than anything the band have done since. The real interest now will be in what they do to follow this album. With Demmel in the band and Dave McClain going from strength to strength the next Machine Head album might well be something truly special.

freedom

If you saw a thing of incomparable beauty,
would you admire it
look at it with wonder
defile it
make it ugly
make it normal
Make it normal
Make it yours
Simply because you can
It might even be fun

the moon bleeds love

The moon bleeds pink the farms lie on either side welcoming like a thick mattress enveloped in black. Lie down on me envelope you in my moist embrace. The ac makes me sick the driver irritates. The silence could be cut if someone wanted to. The moon hides between black trees. The radio screams the milestone reads 45 The moon bleeds yellow between clouds the highway lies empty the speedometer hits a hundred and twenty. The car reeks of love and comfort. The radio screams… the boil on my butt is fit to burst. The moon is full and white. The milestone reads 17 and I can’t wait to get back home.

crowking

I am the crowking
deserted
I am the crowking
lost my murder

I am the crowking
hands in my pockets
I am the crowking
kingdom empty

I am the crowking
a crown of pigeon bones and rat skin
I am the crowking
alone

I am the crowking
nothing at all
I am the crowking
deserted

Pity me
Despise me
Hate me
Celebrate me

I am the crowking

Nothing

If I was to spin you my tale, you would feel revulsion and hate. I will spare you of these troubled emotions and skip to me as I am now. The crowking. Once proud and mighty. Now alone, standing with my back to my kingdom. The murders have cast me out. A king with no subjects is no king at all. My kingdom once all the sky of the western hemisphere, now a grassy patch of land and a solitary black tree. If a genie could grant me a wish, I would make one. If I had the power to change how things turned out, I would. By snapping my fingers, by magic. Make everything all right again. I could still do it. I could still get off my wings and do it. I could re-unite the murders lost to me. It would even be worth it but for now, I will wallow in self pity and croak my misfortune to the black tree and the grey grass. The black tree is my new palace. A palace for one. The grey grass my new sky. My wings are on my back and yet they are not. The black tree and the grey grass are all I have left. My places of rest, my friends, my dominion. The black tree stands barren. I rest among the hard branches and nest in twigs. The grey grass threatens to swallow me. I speak to them. all the time. The black tree and the grey grass do not speak to me. They hold their silence. Maybe they don’t listen, and so I can hope that they may not judge.

I am the crowking. Hands in my pockets back to the world.

Headrush

Headrush. And just like that, I’ve run out of words. Happy sad happy sad happy happy happy. Watch me dance. I entered the door and came out. A case of one forgotten ingredient. More important than any other. At a loss for words and feeling quite scared about it. Is this what its like to be ? Maybe. Moving on. I’m not, but life is.

The dogs on the street are restless. They haven’t howled in a few days. Or maybe I just didn’t listen hard enough. A productive night after a while. Not so guilty anymore. Tomorrow I might even play football.

Candlemass have re-united. The new self titled album has received uniformly excellent reviews. Seems kind of similar to the hype generated by Tempo Of The Damned or even Dance Of Death. Universally acclaimed in the first couple of months of release and then slowly people realised the songs weren’t all that good after all. Tempo has a few good songs while Dance got old very quickly. Still, it is Candlemass. It is the classic Ancient Dreams line up. I suppose we can hope.

If Napoleon was called Nappy, would diapers be called napoleons ? A friend threw this curve ball in my notebook. What do you think ?

the door

The door looks at me. Inviting me in. A dirty creamy colour with batman and the joker. With scotch tape stains and dust on the edges. The door looks at me and prays for me to enter. The handle is scuffed. Paint giving way to rusty hard iron. Offering myriad possibilities. I like that word. The cold hard feel of the floor inside. The tangy smell of life. Of sweat and soap and stale news. Green and white all bathed in neon. I sit, I stand I recline I dance. I see and I am blind. I laugh I cry I hurl abuse and immerse myself in mood. An attack of noises. Assailing each ear differently. Assailing each ear with sounds so intense as to drown you in them. The door looks at me. Pleading for me to come in. Please! It seems to be saying. Come in. Visiting the abyss on a dare, the walls a brighter shade of light. Traveling without moving ? Something like that. A ten ton hammer on my chest or the feel of blood on my lips. A delicate breeze on my face or a friendly hand on my back. The door opens into a new room every time. This music sucks but will sound so much better when I open the door and step inside. The door looks at me. The door welcomes me in.

today

Pin pricks on my skin
Wet sharp and pleasant
Death on the cards, Happy Ugadi
The devil and the goat
Biryani and blasphemy

The men are now a battered blue
The coffee is a muddy black
Crowley sits in front of us
Benevolent and willing

Red shoes riding evil breeze
Water warnings and coincidences
A buried chariot dust covered dying
Iced teas and drownings

Experiments in chaat
Recon missions in dark light
On the surface of the moon
In a canary yellow box

Whiskey weed and chains
Diving headfirst into the abyss
German steel welded industry
Insomnia and the will to kill

Today,
If the world had a vagina I would fuck it to death

drugs are bad

I don’t remember the last time I went to sleep sober. I tried to remember but I just couldn’t. Memory goes for a toss when you smoke up every fucking day. Or so they say. The last four days I’ve been sober and I’ve never felt so fucking miserable. Escape. I love to escape and marijuana lets me escape. Its just marijuana. Its not cocaine. Its not heroin. I’m addicted to marijuana. I’m turking in my room for marijuana. I’ve made fun of people for this. “How can anybody turk for marijuana ?” I know now. I feel like a wuss. This is my cry for sympathy but I’d be lucky to get a slap on my face. I don’t remember the last time I slept sober. I don’t remember the last time I took a break that I was able to sustain. Yes I do. Just now. My memory isn’t all gone. November – December 2003. I’ve been smoking the weed pretty much non-stop since then. When I roll myself a cigarette and smoke it my brain stops screaming. I can fool myself. I’m not addicted I just like the high. I fool myself.

Now is the time to climb on my soapbox and warn the children of the world about the evils of marijuana. I will not. Just one good marijuana trip outweighs all the evils it might contain. So fuck it. If you've never smoked weed then you have no idea what i'm talking about and you can be ignorant and happy. If you have smoked it, then you know what I'm talking about. So then, back to being a weekend warrior dear diary. Lets see how this goes then.

Napalm

Among The Wierdcong is such a kickass song. Fucking blistering album opener. M-16 makes Code Red look like pussy shit and Code Red wasn’t bad at all. Sodom are just fucking unstoppable.

Interesting Fact # 21642 : FreeRip MP3 jus brushes aside copy controlled OCDs.

People on the outside looking in. Not a cliché. Just a cold hard fact. What you gonna do ? Sister I been trippin’ in your sky.

A sense of apathy, tranquilized in a sea of daisies. Acid Bath mantras for everyone. Violence in my head now all the time. Oppressing the Masses ? My green shirt is not as comfy as it used to be. India lost in Bangalore. What a fun way to spend the weekend. The pretty girl is not here today. The cigarette smoke is.

The woman in the pink sari has a very pretty smile. Few women look good in pink. She looks light and airy, like she could fly away any minute. A gentle summer breeze ? She seems to be dreaming. Watching a spice girls video with a smile on her face. She is going to hate her Latte but smile through it anyway.

More hip hop videos. A techie talking wall street. The reggae man nodding his head. Waiting for the lawyer and eavesdropping.

Classic JC quote “ Doesn’t he feel like slapping himself when he hears his own singing ?” Wyrmboy on Richard Marx. I guess you had to be there. Phil Demell’s joined Machine Head as second guitarist. Violence ? Yes.