The Tech/Extreme Prog metal appreciation

^Women, Hughes. The Scandinavian girls! (which by the way make excellent exchange students in my town)

Hmm, well I know Sweden has an awesome pancake dish that my mother sometimes makes for me. ...And meatballs....

Well as a Scandinavian myself I´ll take that as an offense ( just kidding) But yeah the free spirited and beutiful girls and the great metal are two of the main attractions in Scandinavia. The exception being Denmark. Very little quality metal comes from Denmark ( with a few exceptions of course), but the beautiful girl thing is sooooo true and we got Christiania if you wanna see/ and maybe do something different. Google it and you´ll learn what it is if you don´t know yet. Last time I checked it was still the third most visited tourist attraction in Denmark. It´s a great place for concerts and I´ve seen My Dying Bride, Mayhem and Psychotic Waltz among others on the concert place called Loppen. It´s not more than two weeks ago that I saw Nashville Pussy perform there too.

If however you do see Akerfeldt on the street, I demand photos.

I saw Cynic/The Faceless/Meshuggah on Valentine's Day (my wife went with me and loved it!):

Cynic almost made me cry. They were that good. The sound could have been better, but they played a nice mix of old and new stuff....the Newer stuff sounded better live in my opinion. They are all exceptionally good musicians and I was so overcome by the performance, which had intermittent between-song recordings of a guy talking about spiritual matters- a very cool vibe. "The severity of pain experienced is relative to the amount to which the person is not living in the present moment......" how Zen! Amazing performances all around- but the bassist for this tour is exceptional- soloing all the time and complimenting the guitar leads just right......

The Faceless were tight and very agressive and SO YOUNG! I mostly watched the lead guitarist. They were very high energy, but songs were not real distinct from one another. I find that they are very influenced by Cynic with the vocoder/clean vocals and the jazzier leads- which are exceptional! That lead player is a "sweepaholic"...

Meshuggah were great for the first couple of songs but their set was too long and started to drag, as they played mostly mid-tempo songs. I find the music is hypnotic with its African tribal rhythms going on....but the songs also started to blend into each other. However, it was fun figuring out the time signatures of their set/songs (which are mostly in -multiples of- something/4). I also found it interesting that one of the members wore a Dead Kennedys shirt onstage.

Overall Cynic stole the set for me. But all three bands have their strengths and I felt that it was a well planned and well-billed gathering of technical groups...

however, f**k the fact that they allow smoking in the venue- as an ex-smoker this is very annoying and tarnishes the experience!

Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum (Latin for Divine law - Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire) is the second album among the conceptual trilogy by French black metallers Deathspell Omega. Though the albums within the trinity are linked by concept, they are all musically unique. The trilogy proclaims the relationships of God, Hell, and man. Fas' concept is focused around man. The album was released by the French underground black metal label Norma Evangelium Diaboli in Europe on July 16th, and in the US by Ajna Offensive (and distributed by Southern Lord) on the 17th. It was originally released both as a CD Digipak and on vinyl LP. The vinyl version also contains a poster of the cover and a 12 inch booklet. Despite it's large size, the booklet is identical to the Digipak version.

One who enters the domain of this 45 minute LP will certainly be left drawn and exhausted by the end. This album is harsh, brutal, and inexplicably magical. Through the use of technical insanity and subtle atmospheric details, Deathspell Omega created an experience unlike one in existence before.

Although the basis of this album is black metal, do not confuse it with raw black metal via Darkthrone or Mayhem and do not be misguided by the bands primitive early recordings. They have long since progressed above the cheesy generic black metal of their early career. Since then they have utilized a much cleaner produced aesthetic and instead of pumping gnarly dissonance, they have acquired a method of utmost technicality.

Through this blazing disarray of impossible-to-play drum lines and nimble guitars are groovy post-esque segments that allow the listener a bit of time to rest. A physical rest perhaps, though these segments certainly do not lighten the atmosphere. Imagine an Isis cover band that had died and is playing in an eternal prison within hell. And I'm not alluding that these parts were ripped off of Isis, they are certainly unique.

The amount of details hidden within this album is incredible. I have listened to the album maybe 40 or 50 times now and upon each spin I unearth new layers of which I was previously unaware. For example, it was only the last time I listened to the album that I realized the prominent use of piano. Even in the heavy chaotic moments there is that far off layer of creepily out of tune piano that just adds to the atmosphere. Further more there are terrified screams, choral arrangements, and samples of classical music (played on cello I believe) within the mix. In my opinion it is the ability to dig and analyze and be surprised by music even after dozens of repeated listens that certifies an album as purely progressive.

In conclusion, this is in my opinion the most accomplished piece of black metal to be yet released. It is my second favorite album of all time and it is one that I believe I will enjoy for years to come. I highly recommend it for fans of tech/extreme or avant-garde prog (though perhaps post-metalers will enjoy it as well). If you do not listen to this album you are doing a disservice to the entire history of metal...

- Jake Kobrin

i have heard Deathspell Omega - Fas , so chaotic , so intense, full speed ,  i don't know whether hate it or love it, i have mix feelings for this one , but not bad . 

Thought I'd drop in again.
Been revisiting SIGH and NEGURA BUNGET after a year or so of hiatus (not that extreme I know, but still good).

From Negura I have all their full lengths plus some ep's. Brillant band, love them!!!

From Sigh I have 3 of their albums: Infidel Art, Scenario IV: Dread Dreams, Imaginary Sonicscape

Should I get: Hail Horror Hail, Gallows Gallery and Hangman's Hymn

Been listening to Burst's Lazerus Bird a lot recently, bloody amazing album and another good reason to go to Sweden.

What do people think of their first 4 albums though? There isnt much in the way of reviews for them on their page here.