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.

Well, after getting Forza 2 for what was essentially free at Gamestop (buy 2 get 1 free, friend bought 2 games and gave me Forza), I've been enjoying that so far. The AI and physics are sometimes really irritating though, but it's a fun game with lots of stuff to do. Now time to bid on a good car in the auction house...

Anyway there's a lot of music reviews coming. Because that's basically what I use this blog for: reviewing stuff not related to gaming (or in gaming's case, writing shorts). I think I've bought at least like 15 albums/EPs since I've last updated...let's see how many I can remember...

ALBUM OF THE UPDATE:

(because who knows how long it'll be until I update again?)

Indricothere - Self Titled (2007)

This album is dripping with dissonance and reeks of at least ten different genres, and that's by no means a bad thing. From the pounding yet melodic opener "II" (creative title, isn't it? ) to the epic ending (and easily one of my favorite in the genre) track "III," you'll hear different forms or at least influences of metal from technical death, to thrash, black, drone, and progressive. The tracks are named after roman numerals, going in a scatterbrained order from "II" to "V." V is another pounding track that about halfway through goes into straight blasting similar to black metal, and follows up with a droning outro. Next comes "IV" a brilliant, softer track on the album with highly melodic and a very "floaty" sound that's tough to describe (it's great, that's all you need to know). "I" begins like a black metal song with groove drumming and some harmonics, with a thrash solo for a bridge, but mostly this song serves as a buildup for "III." III opens with a uniquely disonnant sound, much like a lot of the songs on the album, with technical riffing leading up to a breakdown littered with almost robotic guitars. A melodic and at one point synthesizer bridge kicks in leading to the brilliant pounding buildup to the faux ending. This "faux" ending sounds like a dissonant blast of technical riffing and drumming that the whole song had been building up towards, and then when it sounds like it's over, a pounding, fast march beat sets in from the drums. This, accompanied by the subtle keyboards leads up to the real ending which is essentially an ultra heavily distorted, dissonant soundwall similar to the non-dissonant soundwalls created by Sunn O))). It's an absolutely brilliant track and probably one of my favorites in ages. Colin Marston's solo project is a success.

9.25/10

Other featured albums:

Necrophagist - Onset of Putrefaction (1999)

Despite the hate Necrophagist gets (mostly for the newer album "Epitaph;" it's the cool thing to do, kids take note), Onset of Putrefaction remains one of the most famous technical death metal albums of the last 10 years. From the 1:52 minute opener "Foul Body Autopsy," you can instantly tell that Muhammed Suicmez is an incredibly talented musician (he wrote and performed all of the music on this album by himself). Well, to keep it brief, the entire album doesn't relent. It's incredibly technical, fast, and songs like "Culinary Hyperversity" and "Fermented Offal Discharge" are incredible. Some people excuse this album for being "soulless" (although usually that's a criticism directed at Epitaph, and the entire genre of technical metal (death/prog/etc.) for that matter).

Those people are full of ****.

9.0/10

Damnit, I'm writing too much again. I'm never gonna finish at this rate.

Porcupine Tree - In Absentia (2002)

Absolutely brilliant! This is the album that made me love Porcupine Tree, although I actually bought Deadwing first (I got this one shortly afterwards). A concept album with a great story, detailing the love of a serial killer (it's very open to interpretation, but that's generally the plotline most people agree on), this album is a prime display of emotions. "Blackest Eyes" kicks off the album, and the beautiful "Trains" follows. "The Sound of Muzak" is a strong and ever so true criticism of the music industry as a whole, and still manages to fit into the album. After the track ".3," the album shifts to a much darker atmospher, in accordance with the storyline. It's an album that shouldn't be as much described as it should be listened to, and I think I'm going to do that just now.

9.0/10

SHORTS (with random pics thrown in; album pics are below the title; EPs are reviewed as EPs)

Bloodbath - Nightmares Made Flesh (9.25/10; just as good as TFM, and Resurrection for that matter. EAAAAAAATEEEEEEEEEEN!! The last great "headbanger," not windmilling, song is on this album)



Bloodbath - Resurrection Through Carnage (9.25/10; the first album from the traditional death metal swedish supergroup, and it's a great one. Akerfeldt's vocals are the standout of this album)

Bloodbath - Breeding Death EP (8.75/10; what the hell, these guys can't disappoint. Such a consistent group)

Novembre - The Blue (9.0/10; I got Agalloch vibes listening to this stunning doom metal outfit from northern Italy for the first time, and that's a very, very good thing. Clean vocals need some work though)

Vader - This is the War EP (9.0/10; The thrash solos and the ultra quick blasting make this short ride a sweet one as well)

Ikuinen Kaamos - Closure EP (8.75/10; great progressive death metal and EP)

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing (8.75/10; I love concept albums! , another fantastic one by psychedelic/progressive rock Porcupine Tree)

Enslaved - Vertebrae (8.5/10; getting more progressive every day, seriously. Hopefully they retain their black metal roots, they seem to be doing so just fine now)

Cynic - Traced in Air (8.5/10; the vocals took awhile to get used to, but this almost cyberpunk-meets-progressive is quite unique and fun to listen to)



Xasthur - Defective Epitaph (8.25/10; Depressive/Suicidal black metal with some of the most intense atmospheres anywhere, but his older stuff is better)

Behold...the Arctopus - Skullgrid (8.25/10; more technical/progressive metal music from Colin Marston, this time with bandmates)



Napalm Death - Time Waits for No Slave (8.25/10; powerful, and shows that the 28 year old band still has a lot left in them)

Disillusion - Gloria (7.75/10; Decent progressive metal, but I'd much rather have Back to Times of Splendor, their other album which from what I own of it is fantastic)

Demilich - Nespithe (7.75/10; why aren't these guys still around? Their vocals need some work, but for early '90s techdeath this is good stuff!)



Wolfbrigade - Comalive (7.25/10; solid crust punk, nothing wrong here, nothing great here either)

Malignant Tumour - Dawn of a New Age (6.25/10; fairly obscure, average quality grindcore from the Czech Republic. Doesn't stand out, but with some work could be fantastic)

Balaclava - Creativity EP (5.0/10; uninspired crust punk/post punk from the Czech Republic, just an EP though and it is tolerable. Some of their LP stuff is much worse from what I've heard )

Well, that's it for now. Just felt like writing another set of music reviews based on what I had bought recently. Hope you enjoyed that list of various albums and my worthless opinions on them (and maybe I found a new band for you to listen to?)!