Black Metal Classification

 I've watched plenty of documentaries about and listened to plenty of black metal. When I was in high school, there was a local radio show that played metal some nights. It was run by Michael from Night Conquers Day and another DJ. Michael's tastes in music mirror his music and this was imprinted on me early and heavily. I found the radio show on the way back from a family Christmas gathering when I was scrolling the radio dial and Gehenna came out. The 1st few songs I heard were from Gehenna's 1st 2 albums! Michael MADE SURE I like Cradle of Filth, Ancient, Gehenna, Night Conquers Day, Vinterland and Blut Aus Nord.

The distinction here can be seen as "keyboard black metal/non-keyboard" to some, but there is a level of complexity and concern for creating melodic phrasing in the type that I like, which does not exist in what I call "blast black metal" like Immortal, Necrophobic and Mayhem. Another way of defining this difference could be creepy vs scary. Like a complex spider's web with segmented body spider lurking somewhere in the darkness to a superheated captive bolt gun or battering ram glowing red with heat. Energy level plays a large role, but some of the faster melodic stuff has cascading minor phrases that sound honestly beautiful to me. The borders of metal subgenres are less defined than some may think and moving out from the spider's web of keyboard melodic black metal, comes folk-influenced metal like Mental Home and then dipping into gothic rock more comes Nightingale. Eventually, you get to Bauhaus and need to make a "rock vs metal" distinction.

When folks say "black metal", they generally tend to only mean blast black metal, like when non-metal folk refer to metal as only stuff like Toxic Holocaust, Venom, Slayer and Cannibal Corpse. This has a "mirror" in melodic power metal. There are bands like Gloryhammer, Rhapsody, Blind Guardian and Silverheart that are easiest to compare with this in a "white knight, black knight" manner. This is also "secret" metal for those who look, find and know. We could go all the way to L-Train for Australian My Little Pony metal.

This brings us to the current "sub-culture template" thing going on online now. Folks with no base in this stuff are trying to put on the costume to assume the role. It doesn't work like that. We call them posers. The true metalheads know who they are and will still be into whatever THEY like, regardless of fashion. If mainstream style lines up with yours' temporarily, that is just an interesting effect of this complex world.

Here I am in life, what the fuck? I'm rambling.

 Here is my creative writing about a possible lack of theology that also allows for it.

Let's let science say how the universe, solar system and world were created. Yeah, I could totally see the possibility of evolution theory and apply that type of thought to human civilization. So the evolution of human society would be easy to believe. Going from gather tribes to speaking, language, mathematics, architecture, music, art, culture... In order for complex systems to exist, they must be assembled or evolve from simpler pieces. The tower of Babel story is really important here. For all these different languages and cultures to exist across the world, they would either need to come from the same source or just HAPPEN all over JUST BECAUSE. Every religion says they have the only true book and only right way to think. Why choose from among squabbling children and adopt that as your way of life? Again, as with scientific evolution, I can totally see a religious civilization-shattering event spreading people from the same place all over the world. All of the different environments and isolation made each place develop their own culture. Now, we are in a time of blending of those cultures across the world. Namely, the western Europeans and the North Americans suddenly flooded other areas, creating a culture that can communicate across the world, but is looking more the same every day. I think light contact, infrequent communication, trading based alliances could be achieved that could benefit everyone, but not homogenize cultures. Some limit on tourism might be set for example.

Maybe if we can get this world functioning better, we can access other places like space or religious/psychological revelations and such. Besides, the past can't be changed. Neither can what is here now. The only things that we can change are what we think and do to try for a future we prefer.

The more skills one develops across more areas, the less other people have done that. The more intelligence, creativity, imagination, drive, presentness one requires of another, the less of the population worldwide possesses that. This situation creates smaller and smaller, more isolated groups down to individuals with their own ideas about what life is, why we are here, what one should do... To the point of weaponizing life against a person with "something in them". The EXACT OPPOSITE of a meritocracy. I have to go with the conspiracy folks here and say that this world really is a negative energy farm and we humans are the livestock. We generate negative energy MORE than cows produce milk, possibly more than chickens lay eggs in addition! Reptilian overlord government seems to be in place.

However, people ACTUALLY DO have something inside them, generate some life and creativity, some activity. I don't know where it comes from any more than another person would BECAUSE NONE OF US DO! I say we allow for religious, theological, mythological thoughts and stories because they have some value outside their context. We can think about these stories and think about parts of our lives. We say, "Sure, some deity we can't access to know made us and that is why we do what we do. That is another reason why we should read/hear these stories, to get some direction." Art, music, theater, dance, video, food, culture should be our goal then. Let's build the best technology, architecture, vehicles. Let's make effective government, complex psychology, mathematics... We're going to make our society good, right? This is part of why I don't believe stories regardless of where they come from, unless I hear it mirrored enough and it makes sense enough. Nobody could possibly tell me that the current state of the world came about naturally, this was clearly guided by evil.

Bringing us to the last "bullet point" of the day, this really is hell. If you just take a step back from MULTIPLE THINGS and think about just making a system that functions, no way. Why fight anyone when you can make a rude gesture, loud noise and leave? The only reason could be "stuck together", but with different countries across oceans, that just does not work. Engineered evil was automatically adopted by an unthinking population and implemented. Centuries of war and bad governments not caring about their own people. As David Icke has said, religion destroys spirituality, government/law destroys justice, education destroys intelligence and the medical system destroys health. I've asked medical staff about the subject and everyone is just trying to do their best to keep up. The doctors a little bit less, but it's like working at a warehouse with warehouse managers, office team, sales section, then within the warehouse was shipping, receiving, restock and pick & pack. Each of those sections had "leaders" who worked slightly less and made more decisions than lower ranked members of their teams. The bosses of the sections don't bust their behinds nearly as much as the lower ranked workers. An expertly crafted negative energy factory.

Music Notes

 I am of the opinion that music should be in place of religion. My thinking there is quite simple and logical. Pretty much every religion uses music because it connects to something inside people that their words can't reach. Currently, The most fun I can have is writing King Diamond parts "acoustic fingerpicking" style on the 8 string guitar, using it to alternate playing bass and guitar parts or play old Venom songs on two 32-key portable casio keyboards, 1 per hand for better bass/treble separation and to eliminate finger/hand crossover. I'm not rushing to record because who would listen to it?

A Commentary on Music Paintings

 

I've been into music and painting for quite some time. Whistler did "The Piano Lesson". "The Banjo Lesson" is by Henry Ossawa. I would like to call into attention how rigid or natural a painting is. The banjo lesson seems to breathe on its own, but the piano lesson is set in stone. How about the posing of the characters in the scene? The banjo lesson seems extremely intimate and the piano lesson seems distant and uncaring. I'm just comparing painting style and character placement in 2 paintings of something I know: music. Too bad I got so few lessons.

I went back to looking things up and found "The Guitar Lesson" by Pierre Augutse Renoir. The style of painting and arrangement of characters is in between piano and banjo lessons. I also searched around for what I was going to make and found plenty of jam session and band paintings. Mine is just an overly developed cartoon in my notebook, but I wanted to just get it out of my head and into a sketchbook.

Savory Staleness

 The subject now is how being stale can make something better.

Some of the music I listen to is stuff that I overplay. I like lots of that long after the initial infatuation has worn off. Decades after.

Peeps! Marshmallow covered in colored sugars. This has a process that I perfected over the course of many an american easter. The peeps must be separated and set to dry for quite some time. I don't remember how long, but we're going for stiffness here and working from nearly molten marshmallow. Probably over a week.

Steel Reserve is not too bad stale. One needs to be seeking the barest minimum of alcohol requirement and content with less liquid. It is usually done with mostly full containers from the previous night. I remember lacing some boots while watching the princess bride.