Brutal/loud/nasty music that rules.

Manunkind wrote: BaldJean wrote: Manunkind wrote: John Coltrane's "Ascension"... what's so 'ascension-like' about a bunch of guys basically spitting their lungs through their horns and trumpets and the piano/bass/drums section whacking the hell out of their instruments... even if it is supremely logical from the structural point of view. In the top ten of the most aggressive albums ever, and yet it's called "Ascension". And it's hardly the only spiritually-inclined aggressive album. I love that album, BTW, it's as brutal as a lick from one of those million-kilometer flames pouring out of the sun and intensely spiritual as well. "Ascension" does not necessarily mean "Ascension to Heaven"; Coltrane may just as well describe the toil and labor of ascending a very steep mountain ... at the top of which there is release - not that the release was significantly different from the ascension itself.

And the choice of the title can't have been coincidental - sure, 'ascension' could also mean 'climb' here, but whereas 'ascension' has religious connotations, 'climb' doesn't. Christ's ascension was a moment of wonder, clarity and serenity, not toil. I think Coltrane's wasn't really different.

Oh, and BTW, you do like to play "Diablo", don't you?

I love that album, BTW, it's as brutal as a lick from one of those million-kilometer flames pouring out of the sun and intensely spiritual as well.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: BaldJean wrote: if a band sings about how they would like to mutilate, kill and eat people, it would certainly be worse if they meant it, don't you agree? and maybe I am just a softie, but if it is meant humorous, it doesn't appeal to my kind of humor Only a very small percentage of all brutal metal/hardcore bands are actually promoting aggression and violence in their lyrics - rather the reverse. And I think that virtually no *progressive* brutal metal/hardcore band promotes violence. Of course you have to analyze the lyrics as carefully as you would normal prog lyrics ...

Whether the majority passively promotes aggression or not is open to debate - let's put it this way, rather: whenever I pass someone in an extreme metal t-shirt, the thought of being robbed or assaulted by that person never crosses my mind. And just as with any other genre, the characters of extreme metal musicians vary - from madmen like Euronymous (R. I. P.) to open, friendly and good-natured people like the musicians of Cannibal Corpse, Krisiun, extreme metal drummers like Derek Roddy, Tony Laureano and Flo Mounier or the late Dimebag Darrell (R. I. P.) of Pantera and Damageplan fame. 

When I see all these bands with symbols of inverted crosses on their albums it does become a bit disturbing. The one member of the band Deicide even has an upside down cross carved on his forehead. I´m not even a Christian and I still find it disturbing. Another bizarre thing is that they only seem to attack Christianity but don´t seem to have the balls to attack other religions like Islam probably because of fear of what will happen to them.

Imagine a Prog band with a vocalist with a carved Inverted Cross on his forehead 

BTW: Try out Ephel Duath (in particular: their album Painter's Palette) for an excellent example of a progressive Grindcore band. Well, they're post grindcore really ... but in the vocal their origin still shows quite dominantly. In their case I think that it really works.

You don't have the album? Well, create an account with www.emusic.com, install their Download Manager ... and download their album for free as part of the free trial! I created my account a few days ago and I love their selection of music, especially the really weird albums and the tons of live shows.

You seem to be contradicting yourself, BaldJean. You say that not being honest is bad, and being honest is even worse. At the same time you admit to Gong's being tongue-in-cheek (therefore dishonest) and think Magma's apparent belief in Kobaia positive (when it seems that this belief hasn't done any good to Christian Vander's personality - maybe Kobaia is a sad and barren place after all? Please correct me if I'm wrong about Christian Vander's alleged unfriendliness and other negative traits.)

Not to forget that good acting is a form of art and an honest headbutt is a broken nose. At the end of a G. G. Allin concert you'd have to scrub all the honesty off yourself with a hard sponge. Honesty doesn't have to be positive and, as such, it is a risky way to measure the quality of an aesthetic work.