2009 was quite a year. I spent the last two months of the year applying to colleges and focusing on school work, playing bass, and video games. Now that school is essentially done, I can finally relax, and hopefully focus more on bass (which I do off and on). I've definitely gotten better, got speedy three and four finger picking down, and now just need to find some more songs to learn/find tabs for.

With gaming my last few months have been spent on the PC. I got a new GPU, a 5850, which runs everything quite nicely. I got Dragon Age: Origins for Christmas and after playing that to death, got the Dawn Of War Comple- BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!



I got really into the backstory, and spent a weekend finishing up Dawn Of War 1, Dawn Of War: Winter Assault, and Dawn Of War: Soulstorm. Dark Crusade I put on hold, since it's more or less Soulstorm with different balance due to less/different factions. Dawn Of War II isn't nearly as awesome as it's predecessors, and I can definitely see why they're considered some of the best 3D RTS to every grace the PC platform. They're deep, difficult to master, and have plenty of variety. Hell they're even well-balanced, although they don't exactly fit the fluff as well as they could (but hey, it's a video game).

I love how the series is so grandiose in both scope and in art direction, yet it retains that futuristic feel to it despite clearly having a medieval influence. It really captures the concept of a galactic/interdimensional conflict in a universe that's long past it's golden era. Hearing about the ancient races, their wars and extinctions, and all that good stuff...

With that said I also got Mass Effect 2. I prefer Dragon Age and The Witcher to it, since they feature deeper combat and a deeper/more original storyline respectively (unless you play the hardest difficulty, then The Witcher's combat is also way deeper), but I still really enjoyed it. It improved upon it's predecessor in nearly every way, although the blatantly obvious "good/bad" Bioware decisions and shoddy supporting character development are still present. It was an issue with ME1, and although it's less of an issue in 2, it still hasn't been addressed. Coming from Dawn Of War, it's pretty apparent where that ME2 also draws from a lot of archetypes. The whole concept of galactic "reapers" had been done before, almost exactly as Bioware executed the Reapers in the ME universe. Ironically this is blatantly obvious if you had played or know anything about Warhammer 40k or Dawn Of War. Not to say 40k is entirely original, since it borrows from much older SciFi and Fantasy literature as well, but the resemblance is striking. Spoilers for Mass Effect 2 up ahead (lots of backstory for 40k too)...


***SPOILER***

Now onto music: my top three albums of the year and a special feature. I didn't really enjoy 2009 as far as music goes. Very few great albums came out, and most of the year I spent listening to older albums that I had missed or were before my interest in metal had reached it's fruition. There were a few released in 2009 that stuck out though, and these are my favorites:

Drowning The Light - The Blood Of The Ancients


I've always been a fan of DSBM, but Drowning The Light (or Azgorh) has created something special with this album. It's not like his past releases with the old "bedroom black metal" sound, not in that the low-fi production isn't there, but in that the songs are more coherent and well-structured. It a more layered release and the songs ultimately bear more meaning because of it. Songs like Servants Of An Unholy Plague are actually fun to listen to. That said they still have a very thick, heavy atmosphere that most DSBM bands have, and it's very well executed. I haven't heard anything he's released this year other than this album (he releases like 5 albums a year), but from what I've heard of his albums, Azgorh keeps improving with each release.

Ulcerate - Everything Is Fire



The first track I heard from this album was "Caecus," and it was a poorly placed clip in the middle of the song that gave me all the wrong impressions. I downloaded the album (my CD copy is coming in the mail this week ), and it blew me away. It is extremely atmospheric technical death metal with some very memorable riffs. On first listen it's quite chaotic and often feels disorienting, but eventually it grows on you and then it all makes sense. It's like an auditory river; the songs all flow perfectly and they all feel...right. I don't know how to describe that sound, but when an artist or someone captures the feel of life/existing this well it's quite easy to understand. Easily one of the most memorable technical death metal releases in the last few years...

Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow



Well, it's Anaal Nathrakh. If my blatant AN fanboyism hasn't hit you in the face yet then just know that when it does, it will hit you like a cinder block sized chunk of metal being fired out of a gauss cannon. While not as good as "Hell Is Empty...," this album improves upon it at least one way. Everything seems to be mixed much more nicely, and the layout of the album keeps every song from being boring (the only AN album that was mostly boring was Domine, although Eschaton had it's dull moments). All in all it's a great release, and probably my favorite of the year.

Special Album Feature:

Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice



Holy. ****ing. ****. Wow. Where to even begin? It's a tough one to write about since there's so much to write about. The album is 14 tracks of musical bliss, beginning with "First Prayer" and ending with "Malign Paradigm." The album has garnered itself a lot of attention and infamy since the lyrics are quite deep for black metal, and the riffs are very bizarre (often called "puzzle" riffs for some reason). The lyrical content deals with Satanism, traditional death/black metal fare, but not the "almighty goat sodomizer" that most metal makes Satan out to be. The album focuses on creating a scalding criticism of the problems caused by the Catholic church in (medieval->modern?) Europe. Although at first glance it may seem that the band treats this Satan like a deity as a way of mocking, reading between the lines (and if you know anything about the band themselves), their brand of "satanism" is far different than the traditional goat-worshipping pagan beliefs. In fact their "metaphysical satanism" (as fans/critics have labeled it) really has a lot more in line with the actual religion of Satanism, which makes it much more interesting than most other black metal. However, there's not much to go from in the album itself, since it's mostly just an intelligently crafted criticism/mockery of the church.

The album is laid out like a traditional/medieval Catholic mass. "First Prayer" leads into "Sola Fide I" and "Sola Fide II," which in the Catholic church are reaffirmations of faith and justification, or the purifying of sins. These lead into "Second Prayer," "Blessed Are Those Which Dye In The Lorde," and "Hétoïmasia." "Blessed..." is essentially the catholic equivalent of the benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and ultimately starts the buildup to the communion. The songs follow up like prayers and songs in a mass, and then "Jubilate Deo (O Be Joyful In The Lord)" roars on with it's fast tempo and memorable chorus sections. In fact it's probably the only uplifting song on the album. The next song is where I consider the album to end: "Carnal Malefactor." This is the communion hymn, and it tells a rather interesting story with some very strange lyrics and immensely powerful riffs. The chorale that makes up half of the song is epic, and the whole song is fantastic. It's easily my favorite song on the album and probably my favorite black metal (can you even call the band black metal?) song ever. The next track is a fairly standard track for DsO and the "Malign Paradigm" is an instrumental outro. As a whole it's easily up there with my favorite albums of all time though. The whole idea is just executed so well, and the production, riffs, and styIe are all so memorable. Now if only I could get my hands on it...

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And now it's a little over a month into 2010, and the year is coming on strong. I definitely like The Grotesquery's debut album (probably saw my topic in the metal union), and so far this year has been pretty good as far as school, social life, etc. have gone. Otherwise I can't think of much else to say...So I guess that's 'bout it for now. I'll edit out the grammar mistakes some other time (I'm sure there's many. There always are ). Hopefully you enjoyed my reviews, and maybe even found a new band/artist because of them.

Later.

And now it's time to think of 5 facts about myself that are at least somewhat interesting. That's going to be tough, especially because my mind will revert back to music and I've covered that pretty extensively.

1. I've added enough user-made content to TESIV: Oblivion to pretty much change the game entirely. From the gameplay to the graphics, pretty much everything is different. I'm an avid player and have over 1,400 hours total now...sad, I know.

2. I love RPGs, RTS, action games, and fighters. I am not a big fan of FPS at all. If I buy an FPS it's either because it's unique, has a decent story (rarity in FPS), or is uncompromisingly realistic.

3. I just finished applying to RPI (Rennselaer Polytechnic Institute) for Computer Science.

4. I played guitar for awhile, but I was horrible at it and learned mostly acoustic songs (never got lessons and was never motivated to teach myself; I'm lazy). I switched to bass when my friends and I had the idea to start a band and we needed a bassist. I really would love to have a similar sound to bands like Opeth, Ikuinen Kaamos, Mirrorthrone (at least aspects of it; vocals in particular), Agalloch, Ulver, Novembre, Nahemah, etc. but with a lot more brutality and technicality to it. Think Opeth meets Fleshgod Apocalypse, Anata, or Skinless.

5. I really can't think of anything. I'm going to have a hard time tagging people. That is all.

It's been a long time since I've done an update, but there's a reason for that. So much has happened since I last updated that it'd be impossible to cover it all in just one huge post. My music library has gone from around 1,500 songs to over 4,000, I've been on numerous vacations all over the eastern seaboard with friends and family, my senior year of high school has started, and I've applied to a college (and soon I'll apply to a few more).

Bought ArmA II, FEAR 2, Brutal Legend, and as of tomorrow Forza Motorsport 3. Enjoyed all of the games I bought, although my computer can't run Arma on too great of settings. I'll get 40-60fps on some missions and on others I'll get 15-20. It's quite irritating. Same thing happens with the online portion of the game, so I gave up on that until I (hopefully) get my upgrade in December. Hoping to get a 5870 since the damn thing is a monster...

Music-wise I got my bass, learned a few easier songs on it like In Flames' Artifact's Of The Black Rain and Marduk's Christraping Black Metal. Here it is (it's sexy ):



I'm really trying to get into the harder stuff like the music played by most technical metal artists. I know with the right amount of practice and time I can play most of their stuff. I can sweep consistently already (I fingerpick, so sweep picking was hard to pick up without resorting to the thumb), so that's not an issue, but the biggest trouble I'm having is finding quality tabs. Most (if not all) of the tabs are for guitar only, and the rare chance you'll find one for bass it'll probably be wrong due to the person's stupidity or the bass just being inaudible (depending on the mixing of the song). I'd love to find some Origin (check this cover out: Origin - Reciprocal; he sweeps with his thumb though) or maybe even Gorod or Immolation tabs so I can start practicing some harder music because I think it'll get me up to speed a lot faster and really improve my technique. If any of you music guys (or bassists) know any good songs to practice or any good places to find tabs, let me know!

My music library as I've said has expanded to pretty much all reaches of metal. I'll highlight a few albums that I got recently and thought were excellent (most of them are fairly well-known):

Rotting Christ - Sanctus Diavolos (2004; black metal/"dark" metal)


Rotting Christ's Sanctus Diavolos is a masterpiece of the black metal subgenre (some like to call it "dark" metal because it throws in loads of other influences from pretty much every subgenre out there). The album opens extremely strong with Thy Wings, Thy Horns, Thy Sin and Athanati Este. Suddenly the album transforms into something much more slow and atmospheric with tracks like You My Cross and Tyrannical. The thrashy riffs of Serve In Heaven spice things up while the jazzy Sanctimonious serves as a breather. The album concludes with a few faster songs and the title track, which is a very ambient track that still features elements of their other music. All in all one of my favorite albums ever. Absolutely fantastic.

Album Highlights:
Thy Wings, Thy Horns, Thy Sin *Favorite track
Athanati Este
Sanctimonious
Serve In Heaven
Sanctus Diavolos

Skinless - Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead (2009; brutal death metal)



A (relatively) recent and cIassic brutal death metal album. This album stuns with it's sheer ferocity yet surprises again with it's mid-tempo riffs and less than flashy styIe. Most bands in this genre take things to the level of a band like Hour Of Penance (another great band) where the tempo is crazy and it's something you won't be able to play in a life time of practice. However Skinless puts songwriting first, with extremely catchy riffs and a fantastic use of pitch-shifted gutturals.

Album Highlights:
Deviation Will Not Be Tolerated
Trample The Weak, Hurdle The Dead
Spoils Of The Sycophant *Favorite track
Execution Of Reason
Wicked World (Black Sabbath cover) - this is how you do covers folks, make them unique and still retain the atmosphere of the original!

Behemoth - Evangelion (2009; Death Metal)



Behemoth has long since lost their black metal roots. Demigod was the transitional album to death metal, and to say it didn't gain them a huge fanbase and commercial success would be wrong. It wasn't their best in the death metal period though, that's for sure. This album tops it, and the previous album, The Apostasy, with ease. Evangelion brings out the old atmospheric and ambient elements from their Blackened Death Metal era (Satanica -> Zos Kia Cultus), and keeps the ferocity at levels that surpass their previous works. The album is great as a whole and has many standout tracks...definitely worth checking out if you've found them to be boring since they turned into a regular death metal outfit.


Album Highlights:
Daimonos *Favorite track
Shemhamforash
He Who Breeds Pestilence *Favorite track; a tie.
Alas, The Lord Is Upon Me

Marduk - Panzer Division Marduk (1999; Black Metal)



The undisputed king of norsecore blasturbation, this album is essentially why you see the genre tag "brutal" being applied to black metal. It's fast, violent, and chaotic. It's Marduk's interpretation of what black metal should be: war, death, and chaos. The riffs cut through you like a thousand razorblades being fired at supersonic speeds, and the basslines are clearly audible and well written thanks to B.War's expertise. The drumming gets repetitive, but serves as a perfect backdrop for the music and vocals, which are Legion's best effort (ever). The trio of opening tracks makes this album memorable alone.

Album Highlights:
Panzer Division Marduk
Baptism By Fire
Christraping Black Metal *Favorite track
Beast Of Prey
Blooddawn
Fist***ing God's Planet


Fleshgod Apocalypse - Oracles (2009; brutal technical death metal)



This album and band has gained a pretty big following since the release of this album. I found them back when I got into Hour Of Penance (since it's their other band), and I can safely say that they deserve it. This album features the same superb drumming from Mauro that you've come to expect, some very thick riffing, and crystal clear production. This coupled with the expertise of the other members creates what is essentially a much more melodic sounding Hour Of Penance. They even have the same extremely anti-religious lyrical content as HoP (ironic since they're from Rome ). You can hear some scale playing here and there, but it never really goes into the realm of Necrophagist technical wankery (IE: their Epitaph album). One of my top listens for the first half of the summer.

Album Highlights:
In Honour Of Reason
Post-Enlightenment Executor
Requiem In Sj Minore *Favorite track
Embodied Deception
Retrieving My Carcass *Favorite track; I can't decide...again!

Hour Of Penance - The Vile Conception (2008; brutal technical death metal)



This album is basically the precursor to Fleshgod Apocalypse's Oracles. It's got a very similar sound, but is much more intense and less melodic. It's just as catchy, just as brutal if not more, and of course technical as usual.

Album Highlights:
Misconception
Hideously Conceived *Favorite Track
Drowned In The Abyss Of Ignorance
Absence Of Truth
Conjuration Sworn

Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde (2007; Black Metal/Shoegaze)


I'm not really sure what to say about this album. It's great, it's got emotion (mostly depressive), and I've also got to be in the mood to listen to it. It's like an Agalloch I can't listen to all the time. The entire album is worth it though, and I really regret not having gotten into Neige's music earlier. I don't know whether to call this one of my favorite albums or not. It's so great yet so dull at the same time. It's probably due to the fact the album feels like one continuous song rather than several unique ones (although it's pretty obvious where certain tracks begin and end). Perfect yet imperfect...strange case.

Album Highlights:
Whole album...

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And now onto the heavyweights...

Lantlôs - Lantlôs (2008; black metal)



Now this is an album by Neige that I can safely say is one of my recent favorites. It's got all of the melancholy that Alcest has, yet it has a lot more going on. It's got less of a reminiscent feel to it and more of a...disgusted feel to it. The whole album is very difficult to describe. The lyrics have to deal with modernity and the problems it's caused with humanity. An interesting topic in black metal.

Album Highlights:
Pretty much the whole album (a whopping five songs), although I'd definitely say the 1st track is the weakest. The 3rd track (Ruinen) is the best.

Ulver - Bergtatt - Et Eeventyr i 5 Capitler (1995; black metal)



This album got me into Ulver, and even their later ambient material is enjoyable. This is also their most famous (in the metal scene anyway) album, and for good reason. The title means "journey through the mountains in five chapters," and it fits perfectly. The music is very nature-oriented, painting jagged and icy landscapes covered in forests and stone. It's a beautiful album perfectly accented by Garm's excellent voice. At first I wondered what all the fuss was about...then I actually gave them a listen and realized that I was stupid for not checking them out earlier.

Album Highlights
The whole album is near perfect. There's almost not a single flaw to be found in any of the tracks. If there was, I'd say it would be in the 2nd out of the five tracks.

Ikuinen Kaamos - The Forlorn (2006; Progressive Death Metal)



This band is one that really shouldn't be as obscure as they are. Their music followed a more black metal approach until their first album (they'd released demos for nine years straight). This is a Progressive Death/Black (Blackened Death?) Metal release of epic proportions. Easily one of the best in the genre, this is a concept dealing with a particular man's inner conflicts and psychological issues. Each of the album's five tracks are fairly long, totaling in around fifteen minutes each, and without a doubt they're all worth listening to all the way through. In fact, that's the only problem I have with this album. It's not an album I can listen to just a song of two from. I have to listen to the whole thing, which is great since I've listened to it so much. However sometimes I just don't feel like putting on an hour's worth of intensely melancholic progressive death/black metal, but when I do this is the album that comes to mind, and it's come to mind far more often than one would expect with that description; it's just that damn good.

Album Highlights:
Every track. Grace is my personal favorite, but they're all of sterling quality.

Mirrorthrone - Discography (2003, 2006, 2008; Progressive Death/Black Metal with loads of Symphonic elements)



Where to begin? All three of these are awesome. Carriers Of Dust (middle) is my favorite album by Vlad. His vocals hit their lowest there and he really shows his versatility in instrumentation. Of Wind And Weeping (left) is very strong as well and easily competes with Carriers Of Dust. It's got a bit less keyboards (that's a good thing) and a bit more variety in the songwriting thanks to more tracks to experiment with (Carriers Of Dust has four tracks, the last of which is 22 minutes long). Gangrene, Vlad's latest, really shows that he can hit the higher ranges with his vocals, and nails the black metal feel on some tracks while the production remains almost too clean. The keyboards do get annoying on some tracks though. All in all they're three albums that if you're a progressive death/black/symphonic fan you don't want to miss.

Ironically I remembered Mirrorthrone after recalling a mention of the band in a thread over a year ago by who I believe was Blood-Scribe (RIP). Then a few months later I found out Vlad's track, So Frail, was going to be in Brutal Legend. I guess the publicity is deserved for such a talented one man project. After listening through his material, Mirrorthrone has easily become one of my favorite bands.

Album Highlights:
Just get all three albums already!

Anaal Nathrakh - In The Constellation Of The Black Widow (2009; Black Metal/Grindcore)



I'm going to sum up this album by one of my favorite bands in just a few quick words:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR.

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There's some other artists that I've gotten into as well. The slam masters Abominable Putridity and Devourment being the extent of my foray into slam death metal (with Vomit The Soul being in there too, and a few other bands like Pathology being rare but enjoyable listens). For DSBM I've gotten into Nyktalgia, Silencer, Leviathan, Triste, and of course Drowning The Light. I've also acquired a metric ton of black metal. Otargos, Tsjuder, Tulus, Horna, Grenade (black/thrash), Galar (black/prog) etc. etc. I got even more technical death, like Gorod (fantastic band)...

You know what? Instead of making bigass updates almost exclusively catered towards music from now on, I'll just say to check out: www.last.fm/user/cipherix

Well, hopefully next update I won't overdo it as I usually do (BS and you know it; I bet I'll end up typing a thousand page entry chronicling my life). Hope you enjoyed my various music reviews and maybe found something new if you hadn't already discovered all of those bands or listened to those particular albums by them. I've only got one more release this year that I'm looking forward to, and that's Belphegor's new album!

I'll fix all the grammatical errors and spelling issues some other time.

Later.