Ooty

Ooty was good. The walk on Saturday was the longest in recent memory and the descent into wet clay the most exciting. The food was consistently bad but the company was consistently entertaining.

The International Youth Hostel turned out to be terrible. The rooms were dimly lit with bunk beds and no ventilation. The promised bonfire in the garden proved to be insufficient incentive for us to stay there and so after some lunch, much deliberation and fretting and fuming (which I slept through) we reached Moti Manor. Decent enough for the money we were paying.

Friday evening is where memory's playing a bit of a bastard. I had a terrible headache and for some reason didn't take a tablet. Basically i think everyone got drunk and went to bed. I got up a bit later and threw up. Three times.

Luckily by morning, the headache was gone and coffee had arrived. Terrible coffee. All over Ooty, just terrible coffee and tea. Why? It's a bloody tourist destination and they can;t get their fucking tea and coffee right? WTF! Also, it looks like every single government official in Tamil Nadu is out to fleece the tourist. The demands for ten rupees and fifty rupees seemed unending.

Day 2 was pretty much it. The definition of perfect. Morning coffee was fuck all but it didn't stop me from having two cups. We went to yet another fuck all restaurant for breakfast, ate bread omlette because it was the only breakfast food available and there were simply no sausages and bacon to be had. Who would have thought huh? A former destination of fat British bastards and sixty years after they've gone there's no sign of bacon and sausages and eggs for breakfast. Anyway, the omlette was all right and breakfast was done.

So anyway, Saturday morning we hit the lake and managed to find a half way secluded spot on the banks. It was awesome. The weather was perfect, the grass was green, there were ready mixes galore, wild litchis and all round good cheer and bonhomie.

After the lake and another shitty lunch in Hyderabad Biryani (Empire's very poor and very distant cousin) we set off once again. This time the mission was to find another place that was devoid of all human life. The Panaman mentioned a near mythical place called 7^th mile (probably

from the dark recesses of his childhood memory) and off we went looking. I'm not sure where we ended finally. A walk through the Hindustan Photo Films employee quarters (Indunagar) led us to this unbelievable place.

I know Ooty's filled with tourists and honeymooners and locals out to make a quick buck but the area still has some absolutely beautiful places. You just have to make the effort to look for it. Anyway, look at the pics and feel the splendor of this land. It was a long walk though and at times it became a bit of a trek but we climbed up a hill, came down a mountain, survived close encounters with some really wet clay and finally came to this place that was deemed perfect to sit and rest and recharge batteries. A plain grassy field stretched out before us with horses grazing, a cool breeze blowing and this thick pine tree forest beyond the plains. It was quite awesome.

It was a miracle that the weary travelers were still on their feet by the time they got back to the hotel and there really was only thing left to do on their last night in Ooty. Open that bottle and start drinking.

….we just slept but.

They were six and they were brave

Singular mission, no world to save

Search for the perfect holiday

That was their only aim.

To Ooty they set off, the hills were happening

Escaping the city, always a good thing

2 nights and 3 days the perfect vacation

Moti Manor was our final destination

The lake was great, the grass was green

The litchis were the reddest I'd ever seen

The Panaman and Keitho went fishing

Caught a few hats, and other dirty things

The food in Ooty deserves a stanza

Uniformly fuck all, even Bob's is better

Coffee and Tea, they taste the same

Our Biryanis and Burjis were utterly lame.

The 7^th mile was pretty funky

Long fucking walk but all was well

Didn't want to come back and be a desk monkey

I tell you! This holiday was swell.

nameless

I want to join the chorus
but my words are always wrong
I really want to scratch that itch
but my nails aren't sharp enough
I am the jester in life's court
and the King, he hates my guts
I'll never be the name on the marquee
yet I'll dance my lonely dance

The world spins like a merry go round
and I'm tired of standing still
Life's secrets stay that way
and I'm left holding the bill

I've danced and danced till my feet are sore
bruised, bleeding, numb
I stop to catch a breath
and then it's time to go on
The applause is missing
as is the adoring crowd
Takes a while for me to realize
that no one cares at all.

vampire

Fall into my arms and hold me tight

I feel your hatred shift at the speed of light

Sleep child and let me be

I’m just sucking you dry in the name of empathy

this is endgame

This is endgame.

I’m living it now.

I’m not crashing through roadblocks.

I’m staring at them in wonder.

How did they get here ?

Why now ? Why ever ?

This is endgame

Life as it is not as supposed

I’m weaving my last delicate lie

I’m dancing one last time

It doesn’t matter how I got here

Not now. Not ever.

This is endgame

Loaded dice and a rigged table

I’m done with the delicate dance

At one with the delicate dance

Failure is the only option

Now and forever

this and that

Hello again.
I’m undecided about a lot of things right now. Should I ? Shouldn’t I ? They’re all going to take severe effort on my side and some are things I must do while some are things I want to do. I’ll probably end up doing them all in a half assed way. Such is life.

The Monolith Deathcult have just delivered the sucker punch of the year. This album just completely came in from the cold and blew me away. Like Clint in High Plains Drifter. The band play a mix of old school Euro and American death but enhance the music with keyboards and electronics. The music sounds epic and raw in parts while being unpredictable in the best possible way. Trivmvirate is a fucking storm. \m/

This cricket series against South Africa was so boring. I hope we lose the third test. Then they can all go to IPL and redeem themselves. Make big scores on flat pitches, make tons of money, feel young and hard again and then move to the next failure. Indian cricket is becoming more entertainment than sport. A bunch of glorified models who walk on to the field when they don’t have to pose but continue to pose anyway. Wankers !

I saw Race recently. Akshay Khanna, Saif Ali Khan, Bipasha Basu, Katrina Kaif, Samira Reddy and Anil Kapoor all act in it to varying degrees. I like Akshay Khanna, especially after Gandhi My Father which I thought was brilliant. The three ladies are completely gorgeous and Saif seems to be trying for some sort of rugged metrosexual look. The plot kind of went on and on with twists and turns and double and triple and a whole quartet of crosses and all this before the interval. Honestly, it was only Anil Kapoor as the fruit eating South African-Indian cop Robert D’Costa who saved this film with his completely outrageous one liners of the so bad they’re good variety. Much better than Welcome where he was just completely over the top.

Anyway, the ladies were gorgeous. It was a tie between Katrina Kaif and Bipasha Basu for almost the whole movie till a little red dress happened and then it was Bipasha all the way. Completely smoldering. Sameera Reddy looked good and was quite convincing in the dumb bimbo role.
Overall I had fun in the second half of the movie and while not quite paisa vasool, it was reasonable time pass.

Now, sit down and let me tell you a tale. There used to be this band from Norway called Atrox with a weird and wonderful sense of heavy metal and an equally weird and wonderful woman who sang and squealed and made effervescent noises. The last of all this though was a few good years ago and that weird and wonderful woman left the band. All was silent till suddenly a few days ago I came across a new Atrox album. They were back. This time with a weird and not very wonderful man singing for them. Still, the power of Atrox holds firm.

I’m surfing on the rings of Saturn
Nursing a drink and hoping to learn
I’m on the job, on the roll, on the money
On the sixth planet where it’s never sunny

The chick was hot, they all are
The job was easy, not all of them are
Find her little brother who ran away
No big deal, I’d make her day

I’m surfing on the rings of Saturn
Looking for a little lost kid
I’m surfing on the rings of Saturn
Someone please give me a tip

Dead ends ,no one knows nothing
Right time for the phone to ring
A whisper, a breath, an offer to meet
To learn of a little bloody boy with teeth

The whisper leads to darkness
All signs point to a complete mess
Run! Leave! The boy’s a fucking vampire
Never had my future seemed so dire

I’m surfing on the rings of Saturn
Looking for a little lost vampire
I’m surfing on the rings of Saturn
Drunk, nervous and not so sure

I know where he is and I’m on my way
Collect and deliver, like any other day
Tie that little sucker with a red ribbon
And mail him to his sister in Lisbon

I enter the dark, I’m so scared
Monkey on my back, teeth on neck
I never had a chance, die I shall
The boy’s a vampire after all

I was surfing on the rings of Saturn
And I found what I was looking for
I was surfing on the rings of Saturn
And it's left me bleeding to death now

Celluloid crimes

Dust Devil
I read about this one in an issue of Fangoria where some critic said that this movie was like Tarkovsky on acid. It isn’t. It doesn’t even come close to the power of the Russian. Still, it’s got it’s own style, it’s got some truly WTF moments, some terrific scenes and the myriad African accents are damn trippy. The story is incidental and the opening and closing shots seem like a tribute to High Plains Drifter but the movie’s worth watching at least once if you’re a horror fan.

Lord of War
Another movie that I read great reviews for. It’s a black comedy with Nicolas Cage as a Ukrainian immigrant in New York who makes his career in arms dealing, mostly illegally. It’s plays out like a more hardcore version of Thank You For Smoking with Cage taking the viewer on a tour of his life from helping out at his parent’s restaurant to becoming the Lord Of War. Ethan Hawke drops in every now and then as an Interpol agent on the trail and he’s as irritating as ever. While things do slow down in the middle, I loved the end. Surprisingly good and exceeded expectations.

The New York Ripper
I don’t like The Beyond. Now that that’s out of the way, this was yet another movie that I’d read about for a long time. It was supposed to be nasty, misogynistic and bloody. Well it’s all three. It’s a dark, cynical, angry film with no real redeeming qualities. There’s a serial killer, killing young women, there’s a sexually repressed woman who’s desperate for it, there’s lots of nudity, blood and gore and an ending that seems like an afterthought. Not all of it makes sense either. Works more as horror than a crime thriller.

The Gravedancers
3 friends dance on 3 graves and unleash 3 ghosts from the past. One for each of them. This low budget indie was supposedly a big hit at horror festivals and it has a terrific first half with some good tension build ups. It’s derivative of everything from The Grudge to Poltergeist and plays out every haunted house cliché but is still good fun. Then the paranormal investigators turn up and the movie just looses steam. Plus some really hokey effects come into the picture and the special effects in the climax are ridiculous. Could have been a much better movie.

10,000 BC
I don’t know why I went to the theatre to watch this. Luckily it was in Rex. We didn’t last the whole movie and left at the interval. This movie was so bad it made me angry. What the fuck were these people thinking? We’ll dress a few people up in furs, put dreadlocks on them, make them talk English with a vague Arabic/ Jamaican/ European accent and make believe it’s 10,000 BC. Let’s also make sure there are some landscape shots for that epic feel. The cherry on top though was the narrator. He sounded like Sean Connery being butt-raped and was incredibly irritating. Rubbish from start to interval. I hope it flops and Roland Emmerich won’t be able to make a movie ever again.

On my playlist

Sunday at Devil Dirt is the second album to come from the collaboration of Scottish songstress Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan who used to sing for the Screaming Trees. These two musicians first came together in 2006 for the good if overlong Ballad Of Broken Seas. This one sees them taking a much darker approach to songwriting and Lanegan’s whiskey and Marlboro voice sounds more and more like a somber Nick Cave. Still in the same folk music playground and I wish Isobel would sing a bit more but for now this one’s better than Ballad and a full review should be up shortly.

Puscifer’s V For Vagina seems a bit same throughout. Maynard James Keenan's vocals are very laidback and the music is a mild trip hop meets later NIN. Some good songs but also a little bleh. I had zero expectations from the new Meshuggah but obZen is proving to be quite kickass. It sounds like an interesting progression for the band. I like this. I’m also listening to some Red Harvest. Haven’t heard anything by this band but they got universal praise for their last album “A Greater Darkness” and it’s some more good extreme metal. Sounds like what might have happened if mid period Gorefest had found electronics instead of hard rock.

Type O Negative has been releasing quality albums for a while now. Last year’s Dead Again is a terrific follow up to Life Is Killing Me. They’ve shed most of the Goth rock trappings and are making music that sits somewhere between symphonic doom, Black Sabbath and The Misfits. This one might actually turn out to be better than both Life Is Killing Me and World Coming Down which is saying a lot.

the highway called

Don’t ask me how and don’t ask me why but last weekend I drove down to Suratkal with some friends to judge a rock competition in the engineering college there. It was a terrific holiday and surprisingly we saw a few good bands.

Slain won Strawberry Fields this year. I missed them there but heard they were this young band doing some really kickass hard rock. They were just that. Energetic, talented and very tight. The vocalist could sing and guitarist played some mean leads. Good stuff overall and then found out the drummer was in the 10th and the guitarist was in PU. The other kickass band was Fall Of Reason. They played a couple of own songs and covered Blood and Thunder by Mastodon. They were very heavy and the drummer was fucking mad. The vocalist impressed me with his energy but couldn’t hear the bass at all.

Might seem a tad unfair but we tied the bands to win. Metchul rules after all.

Another pretty cool band I saw was Theorized. Not sure were they were from but good stuff. Old school death metal with another good vocalist. Pappu’s New T-Shirt was pretty good fun as well in a power-prog way but let down a little by the guitarist’s refusal to play a solo.

The rest of the bands were varying degrees of shit.

I saw Bhoomi after ages at Rock Ethos and I was quite impressed with how tight they were with the new drummer. They played a few covers and moved away from the all original set-list of Rock Ethos but were good all the same.

We stayed there two nights and almost 3 days and didn’t go to the beach once. We did gorge on the seafood though. Anjal is such an easy fish to eat and these guys really know how to cook it. I swear the Anjal Rava Fry was heavenly. There was also some awesome Squid happening. All in all, terrific food.

Then there’s the place itself. It’s so laidback and peaceful that you can’t help feeling the same way when you’re there. The vibe I get here is better than any other place I’ve been to.

In other news I got the first mix of the Myndsnare album. Sounds pretty good and somewhere along the way KP’s found groove. Sandesh is playing some good shit too and the sound overall is pretty damn good. Myndsnare’s debut album. About damn time!

I finally got broadband btw. Funny thing is, I was getting more new music when I didn’t have broadband and simply burnt stuff from friends. Haven’t heard anything new in ages and currently tripping on Anathema, Ministry and Marduk.

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.