just_another_guy's recent activity

  1. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
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    Absolutely! It was because of that move that I've stopped following MPE for everything following Seven. Don't forget that Arcade Metal also has 66Samus on drums.

    Absolutely! It was because of that move that I've stopped following MPE for everything following Seven.
    Don't forget that Arcade Metal also has 66Samus on drums.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    It's been a long time since I've written anything here. Mare Cognitum, atmoblack; this is the band where black metal finally started clicking for me. Maudlin of the Well avant-garde prog; Bath and...

    It's been a long time since I've written anything here.
    Mare Cognitum, atmoblack; this is the band where black metal finally started clicking for me.
    Maudlin of the Well avant-garde prog; Bath and Leaving Your Body Map are an amazing concept album.
    Mira, shoegaze; I heard the song "Space" late one night in college lab on a random radio station and it hooked me.
    Moonshade, melodeath; don't trust the MA review, this band is legit.
    Mors Principium Est, melodeath; thank you Andy Gillion for saving the band.
    Nightrage, melodeath; while they don't do anything really unique, they're just a solid all-around band.
    Novembre, prog/death/gothic; go listen to the song Flower. This band makes me feel things every time I listen. I don't have the words to describe it. There's a shreddit post about this band that initially piqued my curiosity and which describes the sound and history far better than I ever could.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on What are your go to fast but tasty meals? Is there prep you do on weekends to make meals faster? in ~food

    just_another_guy
    Link Parent
    Alternative is to mix the cooked pasta with pesto and small cooked shrimp.

    Alternative is to mix the cooked pasta with pesto and small cooked shrimp.

    4 votes

  4. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    just_another_guy
    Link Parent
    I can completely understand your feeling towards Radiant Historia. I'm at 40 hrs in and trying to get the "good" ending but there are times when I still feel ennui about pushing enemies around the...

    I can completely understand your feeling towards Radiant Historia. I'm at 40 hrs in and trying to get the "good" ending but there are times when I still feel ennui about pushing enemies around the battle grid.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on Album of the Week #24: Rush - A Farewell to Kings in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    "For I have dined on honeydew / and drunk the milk of paradise" As a late Gen-Xer I didn't become aware of Rush until the mid-90s, and that was only because a lot of the prog metal bands I was...

    "For I have dined on honeydew / and drunk the milk of paradise"

    As a late Gen-Xer I didn't become aware of Rush until the mid-90s, and that was only because a lot of the prog metal bands I was getting turned onto listed Rush as an influence. So my first focused foray into the Rush discography was their heavy prog era, from Caress of Steel thru Hemispheres. I can't remember exactly but I think that A Farewell to Kings was either my second or third purchased Rush album, with 2112 and Moving Pictures being the others added to my collection early.

    What I've always liked about Rush is that they can take complex themes, whether lyrical or musical, and make them accessible. And yet the nuanced details were still there to discover for the interested listener.

    I've found the highlights on this album to be the two longer songs: Xanadu and Cygnus X-1. While Closer to the Heart was a live staple and the title track was a good song in its own right, setting the theme for the album, they just didn't have the same lasting power and pull. As for the other two songs, Cinderella Man is okay for album filler and honestly I can't remember how Madrigal goes despite listening to this album dozens of times.

    Ultimately I'd put this in the middle tier of Rush albums: it's better than their self-titled, Hold Your Fire, and Presto; but not as good as 2112, Power Windows, or Clockwork Angels, to name a few.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    just_another_guy
    Link
    After a long gaming hiatus I've gotten back in to whittling away at my backlog. Right now I'm playing Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology for the Nintendo 3DS. Having never played the DS original...

    After a long gaming hiatus I've gotten back in to whittling away at my backlog. Right now I'm playing Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology for the Nintendo 3DS. Having never played the DS original I can't say how the game has changed between that and this re-release, but the graphics must be quite similar because there is no 3D effect added into the main action screen.

    The gameplay is interesting in that you have two simultaneous timelines that you'll hop between in order to proceed the story. The thing about these two timelines is that they aren't independent, and that your actions in one will impact the results in the other, and you'll often have to do things like ensure an NPC doesn't die in the alternate timeline so that they're alive at the same point in the standard timeline. The difficult part, especially when returning to it after a couple of years, is trying to remember which characters are available in which timelines and at which nodes for you to travel to and interact with. Fortunately gamefaqs exists.

    The battle system is different than other games I've played. Enemies exist on a 3x3 grid and your characters have different moves to push or pull them across the grid with the intent to get all enemies piled up in the same spot so that any one attack can hit them all. The tedious part comes in having to scroll through your list of skills to get to the Right Attack or Push Attack in order to move them around. All in all it adds a layer of strategy to the battles that isn't too onerous.

    The other aspects of the game, (story, sound, art design), are all well-composed.

    4 votes

  7. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link Parent
    Love Alcest; can't wait for Les Chants de l'Aurore to be released

    Love Alcest; can't wait for Les Chants de l'Aurore to be released

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Looking for songs that include recordings of commentary in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Two songs come to mind: The Great Debate by Dream Theater. Dated topic, but the song includes clips of TV news talking heads discussing the pros and cons of stem cell research. When the Walls Go...

    Two songs come to mind:
    The Great Debate by Dream Theater. Dated topic, but the song includes clips of TV news talking heads discussing the pros and cons of stem cell research.
    When the Walls Go Down by Evergrey. The spoken word clips in this song are taken from evangelist David Wilkerson's speech "A Call to Anguish".

    1 vote

  9. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Intestine Baalism - Banquet in the Darkness, melodeath (with an emphasis on the death) from Japan. Song structure and tone is best on this, their sophomore album; third album Ultimate Instinct is...

    Intestine Baalism - Banquet in the Darkness, melodeath (with an emphasis on the death) from Japan. Song structure and tone is best on this, their sophomore album; third album Ultimate Instinct is more of the same, whereas the first album Anatomy of the Beast seems more uneven with strange mixing choices.
    Into Eternity - The Scattering of Ashes, melodeath (I guess?) from Canada. This was the first album with Stu Block on vocals and his range was able to elevate the band's music beyond the already fantastic Buried in Oblivion album.
    Kalisia - Cybion, progressive death from France. This is a concept album about the nature of immortality, and while there are 20 tracks they flow as a single song. One issue is that each song is roughly the same length, the tempos are all basically the same, and as a result there's little to help differentiate the songs apart.
    Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye, prog/avant-garde from US. This was the first album post-MotW and it still retains a lot of that same feel, despite a notable distancing from the more extreme metal parts found in MotW's first three albums. After Choirs they went into even more esoteric directions on Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue, Blue Lambency Downward, and Coyote, albums that I did not enjoy and caused me to not even try listening to the six (wow really) albums they've put out since then.
    Labyrinth - Return to Heaven Denied, power from Italy. Pure power metal cheesiness with soaring vocals, shredding solos, and prominent synths.
    Lacuna Coil - In a Reverie, gothic from Italy. I downloaded this off Napster in college and it was the perfect album for that time in my life. The melancholy lyrics, beauty/beast vocals, and overall tone was everything I was looking for. Their followup albums were hit or miss for me, though, in perfect alternating order.
    Lahmia - Resilience, melodeath from Italy.
    Lemur Voice - Insights, prog from Netherlands. Late 90s Dream Theater clone with emphasis on keyboards.
    Majesties - Vast Reaches Unclaimed, melodeath from US. One of the top albums released last year.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Album of the Week #21: Fiction - Dark Tranquillity in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    A fantastic album by an amazing band. DT's sound can be divided into a few eras. From "Skydancer" to "The Mind's I" is their early, Gothenburg-sound defining era. "Projector" was a brief...

    A fantastic album by an amazing band.

    DT's sound can be divided into a few eras. From "Skydancer" to "The Mind's I" is their early, Gothenburg-sound defining era. "Projector" was a brief experimental phase before trying to revert with "Haven". Then with "Damage Done" to "Character" and "Fiction" we have a more mature, revitalized sound that in my opinion are the top albums in DT's discography. (we won't talk about "We Are the Void" to "Moment" as their modern era)

    Standout Tracks:
    Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive) - solid all the way around.
    Misery's Crown - great callback to "Projector" with Stanne's clean vocals.
    Focus Shift - a better hit single than Lost to Apathy from "Character".
    The Mundane and the Magic - check out the live version

    4 votes

  11. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

  12. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Insomnium!! Of all metal subgenres, melodeath is my favorite. And within that subgenre, Insomnium stands alone at the top. Not only do they have the heaviness and yet melody to compare to their...

    Insomnium!!

    Of all metal subgenres, melodeath is my favorite. And within that subgenre, Insomnium stands alone at the top. Not only do they have the heaviness and yet melody to compare to their peers, their Finnish melancholy intertwines and gives a nuance to their music that has influenced countless other bands in the past 20 years. Personally I always appreciate it when bands have members who aren't just coworkers but are friends, especially ones who've stuck together for years, and in Insomnium they've had one guitarist leave/be replaced, and then added a third guitarist later on with former Sonata Arctica shredder Jani Liimatainen.

    If you've never heard this band before then I'd suggest one of their more recent songs, Heart Like a Grave, the title track from their second-most recent album released in 2019.

    My ranking of their releases:

    1. Above the Weeping World
    2. Heart Like a Grave
    3. Winter's Gate (a 40 minute epic)
    4. Shadows of the Dying Sun
    5. Across the Dark
    6. Songs of the Dusk EP
    7. In the Halls of Awaiting
    8. Where the Last Wave Broke EP
    9. One for Sorrow
    10. Argent Moon EP
    11. Weather the Storm (single)
    12. Anno 1696
    13. Since the Day It All Came Down
    14. Ephemeral EP
    15. Out to the Sea (split w/ Omnium Gatherum)
    2 votes

  13. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1, power/speed from Germany. Hemina - Venus, progressive from Australia. Hemotoxin - Biological Enslavement, thrash from US. How Like a Winter - Beyond...

    Helloween - Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part 1, power/speed from Germany.
    Hemina - Venus, progressive from Australia.
    Hemotoxin - Biological Enslavement, thrash from US.
    How Like a Winter - Beyond My Grey Wake, gothic/doom from Italy. It's tragic that this was the only full-length release the band ever put out, because IMO this is top-tier gothic/doom.
    Inferi - Vile Genesis, tech death from US. Fuck it, inject this straight into my veins! Over the top technical wankery with symphonic elements but in this, their most recent release, polished and refined.
    Inquinok - Immortal Dawn, black metal from US. This is the kind of black metal that sparks joy. It doesn't sound like it was recorded on a potato in the middle of a cave, the keyboards are mixed just behind the other instruments and are used to provide atmosphere, guitar solos exist and are good, and the vocals aren't too far towards the screechy side of the black metal spectrum. The only complaint I have about this album, though, is that the drummer overplays way too much, and not just with his fills but even the base beats are too busy. Check out the final track Divine Tragedy.

    I received in the mail finally the CD pressing of Slice the Cake - Odyssey to the West, undoubtedly the best deathcore album I've ever heard. Unfortunately I preordered this before the accusations came out against the lead vocalist for gross indecency and assaults against a minor. I know some say to separate the art from the artist but I find it difficult to do; that's why I got rid of the one Lost Prophets CD I had, and try to do my due diligence to see if I'm inadvertently listening to NSBM. So we'll see if I hold onto this once the ruling is delivered.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Some highlights from this past week: Ghost Brigade - IV - One With the Storm. Doom-tinged melodeath from Finland. God Forbid - Determination. Metalcore from NJ, blending at times into...

    Some highlights from this past week:
    Ghost Brigade - IV - One With the Storm. Doom-tinged melodeath from Finland.
    God Forbid - Determination. Metalcore from NJ, blending at times into melodeath/thrash territory. This is their sophomore album which has cleaner mixing and overall better song structures than those found on their first album Reject the Sickness. The third album Gone Forever and fourth album Constitution of Treason have songs that peaked higher in public consciousness, but Determination was the first one I heard by them, from when they opened for GWAR in the early 2000s.
    Godeater - All Flesh Is Grass. Tech death from the UK that isn't over-the-top wankery.
    Haggard - And Thou Shalt Trust ... the Seer. Death mixed with classical and medieval music, from Germany.
    Harakiri for the Sky - Arson. Post-black from Austria.

  15. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Thanks to @0x29A, I went and picked up Woods of Ypres - Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth. Years back I had tried listening to Woods of Ypres, and I believe it was the song "I Was Buried in...

    Thanks to @0x29A, I went and picked up Woods of Ypres - Pursuit of the Sun & Allure of the Earth. Years back I had tried listening to Woods of Ypres, and I believe it was the song "I Was Buried in Mt Pleasant Cemetary". It didn't click for me so I disregarded the band entirely. But after the endorsement the other week I listened to this, their first full-length, and I enjoyed it enough to go and order it. In reading reviews, a lot of people have disparaged the clean vocals, but for me they're reminiscent of the clean vocals of Novembre who happen to be one of my top bands. The music harkens to Agalloch and the combination is amazing.

    Otherwise, this week I've had Mindless Self Indulgence's "Shut Me Up" living rent-free in my head. My friends were obsessed with this band back in the late 90s/early 00s but I, as a grim kvlt metalhead, disregarded them entirely. Youtube's algorithm put this song on my feed and I've been grooving on it ever since, even though "electropunk" is far away from my typical niche.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

  17. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
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    Here are some of the highlights and obscurities of what I've listened to over the last month+: Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette. Jazzy blackened hardcore. Equilibrium - Sagas. Epic speedy folk...

    Here are some of the highlights and obscurities of what I've listened to over the last month+:
    Ephel Duath - The Painter's Palette. Jazzy blackened hardcore.
    Equilibrium - Sagas. Epic speedy folk metal from Germany. If you listen to only one song of theirs, I would recommend track #3 Blut im Auge.
    Esoctrilihum - Eternity of Shaog. This one-man black metal band from France is prolific as hell and I haven't listened to all his works. An interesting mix of black/death/folk.
    Estuary - To Exist and Endure. Fast melodeath from the US in the vein of The Gallery-era Dark Tranquillity. Listen to track #6 The Evershielding.
    Eternal Storm - Come the Tide. Melodeath from Spain.
    Evergrey - The Dark Discovery. Power/prog from Sweden. I prefer their first five albums before their sound stagnated, but to be honest I haven't tried listening to their most recent ones.
    Fatal Embrace - Shadowsouls' Garden. Melodeath from Sweden. Despite sounding similar to the other Swedish melodeath, there are hints of Opeth as well.
    Fragments of Unbecoming - Skywards: A Slyphe's Ascension. Melodeath from Germany. Their whole catalog is top notch but I have a soft spot for Skywards, the first album I heard of theirs. Check out track #2 The Seventh Sunray Enlights my Pathway.
    Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon. Atmoblack from the US with a strong resemblance to Agalloch. The title track is one of the best songs I've ever heard.
    Garden of Shadows - Oracle Moon. Melodeath (kinda) from the US that was ahead of its time, also reminiscent of Opeth.
    Geddy Lee - My Favorite Headache. Solo rock album from the lead singer/bassist of Rush.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
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    Picked up the following: Dethklok - "Dethalbum IV". Been waiting for this one for a while. dredg - "Leitmotif". I enjoyed Catch Without Arms and have read many good things about this album....

    Picked up the following:
    Dethklok - "Dethalbum IV". Been waiting for this one for a while.
    dredg - "Leitmotif". I enjoyed Catch Without Arms and have read many good things about this album.
    Neurosis - "Times of Grace". A little while back I found a burned copy of Souls at Zero that I had pulled from Napster in the long long ago, which reminded me about this band because I had forgotten completely about them. Found this one cheap at a used CD store and figured I might as well check it out.
    Phobocosm - "Bringer of Drought". Random grab from a used CD store, simply based on them being signed to Dark Descent records. Not sure if I'll hold onto it, because it's a slower and more dissonant form of death than what I typically enjoy.

  19. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    just_another_guy
    Link
    Enchant - Time Lost (progressive from the US). Contrary to many of the prog metal bands that came out in the late 90s, Enchant didn't really fit into the Dream Theater mold. There are...

    Enchant - Time Lost (progressive from the US). Contrary to many of the prog metal bands that came out in the late 90s, Enchant didn't really fit into the Dream Theater mold. There are similarities, sure, but I feel they are closer in sound to Rush, in that they focus on crafting a good sounding song rather than pure technicality. Time Lost is their third album released and contains tracks that didn't make it onto their first two albums, A Blueprint of the World and Wounded. With my preference for their debut album Blueprint, I love the final three songs "Interact", "Standing Ground", and "Mettle Man", and don't understand how those didn't make the cut for the debut. Plus, there's a part near the end of Interact that sounds exactly like the music in the Sun Shrine of Chrono Trigger. But overall if I were to summarize their music with one term, I would use "elegant."
    Eneferens - The Bleakness of Our Constant (atmoblack from the US). I feel like that Top Gear meme, where I say their second album In the Hours Beneath is brilliant, but I like this, their third album. A strong theme of melancholy runs through this album in the form of a riff that exists in modified forms through several of the tracks, including a version that I swear is played on a ukelele to open the final song.
    Enslaved - E (progressive black from Norway). Another band I learned of from r/metal when their fourteenth album E was released, so that one has a special place in my heart. Storm Son was, for me, the perfect song to use to dive into their discography, with the long build-up from acoustic intro to clean verse and then into the 7/4 heavy distortion riff with harsh vocals to close out the song. But having thirteen other albums to investigate is daunting, so someone suggested I check out Below the Lights as that was considered their inflection point between viking black and progressive black. As I prefer the latter, I also purchased Axioma Ethica Odinii, Riitiir, and In Times. Looks like they've released two new albums since E that I'll need to listen to!

  20. Comment on Dad jokes - I'm in need of something fresh in ~life.men

    just_another_guy
    Link Parent
    Or the classic... You: "I have a great knock-knock joke! You start." Them: "OK, knock-knock." You: "Who's there?" Them: "..."

    Or the classic...
    You: "I have a great knock-knock joke! You start."
    Them: "OK, knock-knock."
    You: "Who's there?"
    Them: "..."

    2 votes