Jump to content

Queen of Liars

Premier Outstanding BZP Citizens
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    406

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

 Content Type 

Blog Entries posted by Queen of Liars

  1. Queen of Liars
    After putting it off for ages, I finally started XCOM: EU this week and I've been really enjoying it. It's definitely among my favourite strategy games, only outdone by Civilization IV and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2. It's certainly very addictive.
     
    My current squad, made up of (mostly) musicians:
     

     
    I do wish there were more customisation options, as right now Devin Townsend and Ihsahn are the only ones that actually resemble their real-life selves. With no long hairstyles, there's no way to make Alice Cooper work =P
    I wanted Nick Holmes' nickname to be Cardinal Zero, since he's said that it's his favourite Paradise Lost song title and that's what he would name a new band if he started one, but it sadly didn't fit. Went with Host instead as it seemed the most fitting of their album titles. Don't get why they had to make such a low character limit, but oh well.
    And yes, Motoko Kusanagi is a character from Ghost in the Shell and not a musician, but both Dennis Lyxzen and Bjork ended up getting killed pretty early on when I didn't quite know what I was doing. Been getting kind of re-obsessed with GitS, so I felt like including her.
     
    That's pretty much all I've been doing this week. It sure is nice to have a few weeks where I can just relax and catch up with some of the games, music and movies I've been putting off.
  2. Queen of Liars
    ...was as awesome as everyone says it was. Brilliant film, and I'm considering going to see it again.
     
    Although I would have preferred not being shown the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises before the film. I like not having anything spoiled, thanks very much.
  3. Queen of Liars
    10 - Ænigma by In Vain
     

     
    A brilliant piece of progressive death metal. Atmospheric and captivating, the album features consistently great instrumentation and songwriting.
     
     
    9 - Push The Sky Away by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
     

     
    A beautiful art rock/chamber pop album with a sense of danger. It feels like a relaxing listen, but at the same time it always feels tense thanks to some excellent choices in terms of the songs' tempo.
    Beyond the great lyrics and really cool vocal style, there's a lot of subtleties here, such as sparse string arrangements, which add a lot of texture to the album.
     
     
    8 - Nice Hooves by Nice Hooves
     

     
    An excellent debut, the heavy hardcore punk of Nice Hooves is filled with blistering riffs and crushing vocals that you can't help but nod your head along to.
    Big thanks to Ryuujin for letting me know about this. It's free on the band's bandcamp page, so go check it out.
     
     
    7 - Meir by Kvelertak
     

     
    Kvelertak are back with their second album of hardcore punk/black metal/rock 'n' roll (or black 'n' roll as some would call it) goodness, and I still can't get enough.
    Fast paced and energetic, with great riffs and songwriting everywhere, Meir is not quite like anything else you've heard before.
     
     
    6 - Des Winters finsterer Gesell by Angizia
     

     
    Angizia bring forth a very unique offering of a combination between avant-garde metal and dark cabaret, and they nail it.
    They incorporate the traditional metal instruments with violin and piano to produce some incredible compositions.
    Atmospheric and mysterious, this album is a journey that constantly twists and turns in new directions.
  4. Queen of Liars

    Moving

    By Queen of Liars,

    Well, it seems like I just got back home with all my stuff from university, and now it's all packed up again as my parents are moving house tomorrow.
    I quite enjoy moving. It's a lot of work, and we definitely have a ton more stuff to pack up and transport to the new house than we did when we moved here, but something about packing your things up is really fun. Especially when you find some belonging that you have completely forgotten about, like when I found my Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon Yu-Gi-Oh! card earlier today. Sure was a nostalgic moment.
     
    I also tend to take forever to pack my stuff because I like to sit there and go through each individual thing before putting it in a box.
     

     
    CDs are definitely my favourite thing to pack. So many things to look through and so many "oh, forgot I had that. Should listen to it again some time" moments.
     

     
    Then there are books, which are also awesome. At first I was going to put them all into one bag but quickly came to the conclusion that it would be far too heavy to move, even without my university books.
     

     
    And you know, as much as I prefer buying games physically rather than digitally, I am pretty grateful that I don't have an extra 100+ copies of games to carry from my Steam library.
    Also found some of my PS2 games, which again, brought nostalgia. Will get the console and the rest of the games down from the loft tomorrow and probably spend a good chunk of time playing them once we move.
     
    Unfortunately, it's apparently going to take Sky up to two weeks to set up the internet in our new house, so might be stuck with having to use my phone for that for a while.
  5. Queen of Liars

    Cryptic Clues?

    By Queen of Liars,

    So, I mentioned yesterday that I got a used copy of the limited edition of Paradise Lost's album One Second. As I was looking through the booklet, this piece of paper fell out:
     

     
    What does it mean? Does it mean anything at all? Has it been there for the whole 15 years that this copy of the album existed?
    It kinda makes me sad that I will never know.
  6. Queen of Liars
    10 - Aura by Saor
     

     
    An amazing atmospheric black metal album with many elements from Celtic folk music.
    The way the folk and metal instrumentation interact with each other is excellent, creating both heaviness and stunning beauty.
     
     
    9 - Citadel by Ne Obliviscaris
     

     
    Citadel is an excellently written progressive metal album with undertones of melodic death metal.
    The pacing here is great, with very well timed intros, bridges and interludes creating a really cohesive experience. The musicianship is top notch, with fantastic guitar parts and a cello providing a haunting beauty over its dark and heavy atmosphere.
     
     
    8 - Full of Heck & Merzbow by Full of Helmets & Merzbow
     

     
    For their third album, Full of Helium enter a rather surprising collaboration with the legendary Japanese noise artist Merzbow.
    The results are a fantastic combination of Full of Hegemony's absolutely crushing powerviolence/grindcore and Merzbow's deafening blasts of noise, proving that this collaboration is totally worthwhile.
    Full of Hello Kitty provide some absolutely brutal music at breakneck speed, while Merzbow adds a lot of subtlety and texture to it, adding a lot of depth to the album. And subtlety really is a big part of Merzbow's presence on the first disc, to the point that some fans expressed disappointment at it being hard to notice his contributions outside of when songs transition into noise. However, his presence is definitely there and adds a lot to Full of Hemoglobins' delightful attack on the ears.
    Now, I mentioned the 'first disc' earlier. The thing is, I guess this is technically a double album, but disc 2 is only available with the physical release. I've ordered the digipak album straight from Full of Hematosis' BandCamp, but I live in the UK and it is being shipped from Canada, which coupled with delays caused by the holidays means that I haven't been able to get my hands on it yet. However, I am told that disc 2 is a more noise oriented album. Basically if disc 1 is Full of Hemingway featuring Merzbow, then disc 2 is Merzbow featuring Full of Hexagons. Which sounds pretty excellent. As much as I now enjoy Full of Heliocentrism, Merzbow was the reason I checked this album out in the first place, so I am definitely looking forward to hearing the second disc.
    Either way, the first disc is more than great enough for Full of Heterozygosity & Merzbow to earn a spot on my list.
     
     
    7 - Arche by Dir en Grey
     

     
    Dir en Grey doing what Dir en Grey do. With a fantastic and varied mix of alternative, progressive and avant-garde metal, Arche makes for a very unique listen through a series of very well written tracks.
    The only disappointing thing is that the physical release of this album is not available outside of Japan. I want to give you money for your CD, Dir en Grey. Help me do that. (Yes, I know that in all likelihood it's their label's fault)
     
     
    6 - Z² (Sky Blue and Dark Matters) by Devin Townsend
     

     
    This is a double album, containing Sky Blue and the long awaited Dark Matters, which is the sequel to Devin's 2007 album Ziltoid the Omniscient.
    Sky Blue builds off of 2012's Epicloud, delivering a similar 'pop metal' sound, mixing Devin's trademark wall of sound and progressive metal tendencies with lots of melody and catchiness. Anneke van Giersbergen returns once again to provide the female vocals, and at this point it's getting hard to imagine hearing one of them without the other. Their voices go together amazingly well.
    The songwriting is incredible as usual, and unlike Epicloud which was a very positive and happy album in tone pretty much throughout, Sky Blue has real hints of anger and tension behind some of the songs, which really adds to the feeling of the album overall.
    Dark Matters is the continuation of the comical space opera story of Ziltoid from the previous album. With his home planet dying, Ziltoid arrives on Earth with the intention to colonise it, choosing Earth in particular because of its coffee. However, in order to accomplish this, Ziltoid steals a creature known as a Poozer from the war princess Blattaria of planet Titan, which invokes her wrath and starts an intergalactic war between them, with Earth as the prize.
    Musically, it sounds absolutely immense. It's not often I use the word 'epic', but this album merits it. With an array of guests, a backing choir and Devin himself making full use of his incredible vocal range over top of fantastic song writing and instrumentation, there's not much room for breathing outside of the interludes with story dialogue.
    Z² marks the end of a chapter for Devin, and after doing one final show in April he will be taking a hiatus from music for at least a year. With the ridiculously high amount of brilliant music he's been releasing over the past few years he definitely deserves the rest, but I will be eagerly awaiting his return.
  7. Queen of Liars
    Well, I suppose it's time for another very short and not very good album review.
     
    Awoken Broken - Primal Rock Rebellion (2012)
     

     
    Awoken Broken is the debut album by Primal Rock Rebellion, which is a collaboration between Iron Maiden's guitarist Adrian Smith and the now disbanded SikTh's vocalist Mikee Goodman, which in some ways is a rather strange collaboration as the two bands play very different music, but it works, and it works very well.
    From the opening track, this album is refreshingly different and quite unique. Adrian Smith's guitar playing is instantly recognisable, however it stays away from sounding like Iron Maiden, with the same going for Goodman's vocals.
    Both artists perform excellently here. Adrian Smith is one of my favourite guitarists and his talent shines through, as it always does, with his distinct songwriting, riffing and solos. Goodman's unique vocals were one of the things that set SikTh apart from other bands in their scene, and they are spot-on here as well. He uses four or five vocal techniques in each song and they all fit in nicely and flow well with the music, and give the album an eccentric feel, as they did in SikTh. This is further aided by Goodman's interesting lyrics and songwriting, and the variation through the album between fast and very heavy tracks and slower, more melodic ones.
    The combination of the two talents produces a sound that is unique and different from the two original bands and makes for an excellent album that grows better with each listen. This is a great debut to a project that will hopefully bring forth more brilliant material in the future.
  8. Queen of Liars

    Community

    By Queen of Liars,

    So, I watched all four seasons of Community over the past few days.
    Now that that's done, I'm not really sure what to do with my life anymore. At least until season 5 starts.
  9. Queen of Liars
    Well, handed in my final English and History coursework pieces today, and it feels good to have that done.
    Sadly, no time to relax, got to prepare for exams now.
     
    *Sigh* Can't wait for the summer, although I'll probably spend it being worried about results and whether I'll get into university...
  11. Queen of Liars
    Well, I got my results for my first year of university today and I am very happy because I passed, with a B in each module. Not that I thought I was going to fail, but it's a massive relief nonetheless to know that I'll definitely be coming back next year.
    I guess now I can truly relax for the rest of summer.
  12. Queen of Liars
    Well, I am now 19. Which is quite a boring age really. Nothing of much significance comes with it, but I am getting to the point where birthdays are becoming mundane.
     
    Ah well, I'll go listen to I'm Eighteen by Alice Cooper now, and pretend that I'm still 18 and that song is still the perfect fit for celebrating my birthday.
  13. Queen of Liars
    It's time for the bit of history coursework that I've been working on for the past three or so months.
     
    "Assess the view that the policy of National Prohibition created more problems than it solved".
    It may sound like tons of fun, but I assure you that it is not.
     
    I'm gonna need some coffee for this one.
     
     
    ...Someone save me
  14. Queen of Liars
    Well, the first of the albums that I ordered arrived today and it's so good that I had to change my wallpaper.
    It'll be nice having this guy staring at me everytime I close a window.
     
    ...And just changed it again after finding this one. I have been listening to Unto The Locust a lot lately and this one looks nice. Maybe I'll just have it cycle between those two.
  15. Queen of Liars

    Z2

    By Queen of Liars,

    Today is the release day for the new Devin Townsend album Z².
    It being my most anticipated album of the year I've pre-ordered it, and since I did so from Devin's official store rather than say Amazon, it actually arrived on time. Imagine that.
    Seriously though, I'm never pre-ordering stuff from Amazon again. I've had consistent problems with things being late, but Ihshan's album being late last year was the final straw. Considering they charge for release date delivery, more than half of my pre-orders from them being late is not something I want to deal with.
     

     
    Anyhow, Z². I got the limited 3-CD digipak edition, bundled with that awesome t-shirt.
     
    It's a double album, consisting of Sky Blue and Dark Matters, with the third disc containing a version of Dark Matters without the dialogue. Being part of the final stage of this chapter of Devin's career, it's a concept album that acts as the sequel to Ziltoid the Omniscient, something that he's been working on for several years. It's nice to finally see it culminate in this project.
    This will be followed by a huge show in April, after which Devin will be taking a hiatus from music for at least year. Considering how much work he has done in the past few years - even this year had not only Z², but the Casualties of Cool album as well - it's a well deserved rest. Still, I will be eagerly awaiting his return.
  16. Queen of Liars

    Paradise Lost

    By Queen of Liars,

    Well, I just got back from Paradise Lost's 25th anniversary show at The Roundhouse.
    It was an absolutely fantastic night, and I'm happy that it was recorded for a live CD.
     
    Katatonia were on first, playing Viva Emptiness in its entirety to celebrate 10 years of the album. Backwards for some reason, but hey, it's still Viva Emptiness and Ghost of the Sun makes for a fantastic closer.
    I'm not sure if the album necessarily translated into a live setting fantastically, but they were still great.
    Highlights of the set: Criminals, Ghost of the Sun
     
    Lacuna Coil were up next and were great too.
    They're one of those bands that I never really looked into despite liking quite a few songs that I've heard. Will that change after tonight? Possibly.
    They were pretty energetic and got the crowd going.
    Highlights of the set: Intoxicated, Spellbound
     
    And then it was time for Paradise Lost.
    They were absolutely brilliant.
    The setlist was... interesting. They left out a lot of songs that seemed like the obvious ones to pick and that they usually play, like Erased, As I Die or The Last Time. Which I think was a great decision as it allowed for songs like So Much Is Lost off of Host, which is without question their most underrated record. Looking over it, they probably couldn't have come up with a better setlist for their 25th anniversary. Containing great songs from albums that often seem forgotten, like the aforementioned Host or Lost Paradise and Paradise Lost, it was a great reminder of the glorious 25 years of their music.
    Highlights of the set: So Much Is Lost, Gothic, Tragic Idol, Never for the ******, Isolate, Say Just Words, One Second, True Belief
     
    Here's to 25 years of Paradise Lost, and hopefully to many more.
     
  17. Queen of Liars
    These have been released to celebrate the return of the metal band earthtone9 and their new album IV, and since I used to collect playing cards back when I still did a lot of sleight of hand, I figured I might as well pick them up.
     

     
    They are very nice and a fine addition to my collection. Excuse the not-so-great picture though, I seem to have forgotten how to use my camera.
    Now I'm actually considering starting to collect interesting decks of cards again.
     
    And I should also probably mention that earthtone9 released a 16 track 'best of' compilation as a free download if anyone is interested in them. I can't really tag them with a genre, but I've heard them called progressive, alternative and post-metal, so there's that.
  18. Queen of Liars
    Going into school for 4-5 hours of English revision before my exam on Monday. Should be some quality Hamlet time.
     
    And after that, I'll be going to the cinema with a couple of friends to see MIB III, which I'm really looking forward to, having been a fan of the first two since I was a kid.
     
    Might also go down to HMV to pick up some new albums, if they have them. I really need The Hunt by Grand Magus. The only problem is that it's a long trip, as the one closest to me closed down.
  20. Queen of Liars
    A new song from the upcoming Nine Inch Nails album, Came Back Haunted, has been released today.
    Alongside that, Trent confirmed that the album will be titled Hesitation Marks and that it will be released on the 2nd of September.
    It's definitely my most looked forward to album this year. Can't wait
  21. Queen of Liars
    Well, here are my five favourite albums of last year.
     
    5 - Eremita by Ihsahn
     

     
    This is a superb progressive metal album with black metal influences. The songs here range from beautiful to brutal, and the riffs from simple to wonderfully complex, but it all flows together very nicely. The musicianship across the album is brilliant with lots of absolutely fantastic guitar playing and great drumming. It's a very heavy album at times, but there is always subtle melody to the heaviness and the songs will often go in unexpected directions. It also has some guest vocals by Devin Townsend on one of the songs, which is always good.
     
     
    4 - Phantom Antichrist by Kreator
     

     
    I'm not too big on thrash metal, but this album really clicked with me like few other thrash albums have.
    It's an anthemic and infectious album, full of stellar guitar playing with catchy riffs, blazing solos and melodic bridges. It often sounds very grandiose and melodic, while retaining the heaviness of thrash metal.
    This is a fantastic album that is everything good thrash is, and then more. If not for Anthrax's Worship Music, I'd likely call this the finest thrash metal album of the century so far.
     
     
    3 - Epicloud and Epiclouder by Devin Townsend Project
     

     
    I wasn't sure whether to treat this as two albums, but decided to treat it as one, as Epiclouder is a set of demos that comes together with the deluxe edition of Epicloud, although it could have easily been released as an album in its own right.
    Epicloud is a much more simple and accessible Devin Townsend album than usual, especially when compared to 2011's Deconstruction, with Devin even calling it pop-metal. But then again, there is rarely anything 'usual' about Devin's music. He always creates very unique albums with none being the same as another, and this is no exception.
    This is an album about love, and apart from being, as the title would suggest, epic and loud, it is also very positive and beautiful. Anneke van Giersbergen makes a return to provide her beautiful female vocals which go very well with Devin's clean vocals and contrast just as well with his harsher vocals, although the latter don't have much presence here.
    The musicianship is brilliant as expected, and although the album is mostly simple and catchy, it does become complex at times. It also has its heavy moments on songs like More! and Kingdom, which are reminiscent of some of his earlier work.
    As I said, this is a very beautiful and uplifting album, and despite being much less complex than one would expect from Devin Townsend, it's still a gripping and original record, breaking quite a few metal cliches by being a positive album about love.
    Also, I have to say that seeing him perform Grace was one of my greatest live music experiences.
    Epiclouder retains the same vibe, but is a more complex and musically diverse piece. I do feel it's a shame that it was only released as a bonus disc, as it deserves to be an album on its own, at times being even better than Epicloud.
     
     
    2 - Awoken Broken by Primal Rock Rebellion
     

     
    I've done a review of this album on my blog earlier, so if you care you can read that.
    A collaboration between Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith and SikTh's Mikee Goodman, this is a very unique record, the sound of which is hard to describe. It's eccentric and often quite heavy, but not overwhelmingly so. Adrian Smith's guitar work is as excellent as ever, as are Mikee Goodman's vocals. As he did with SikTh, Goodman will use four or five different vocal styles or techniques in a song, which creates a very unique sound which is only further aided by the intriguing lyrics and Adrian Smith's fantastic riffs and solos.
     
     
    1 - Tragic Idol by Paradise Lost
     

     
    For the third time in a row, Paradise Lost have released an album that has completely blown me away.
    This record is the fathers and masters of gothic metal doing what they do best. A strong, gripping and melancholic atmosphere accompanied by absolutely brilliant guitar and powerful vocals. It's heavy, but it's melodic and it has a haunting beauty about it that only Paradise Lost can create.
    I can not put into words how much I like this album. Paradise Lost are a band that constantly evolve and are not afraid to experiment, and almost 25 years of doing so have led to this masterpiece of melancholic beauty. I don't know where they can go from here, but then again, that's what I thought the last two times.
  22. Queen of Liars

    History Exam

    By Queen of Liars,

    Had my second exam today - History.
    It went quite good, the questions were great. The first one I chose asked us to assess whether taxation was the main cause of economic rebellions in Tudor England, which was pretty straight forward and I made some good points as to the reason it wasn't the case.
    The second question asked how effectively the Tudor governments dealt with rebellions in England and Ireland, which is again pretty straight forward, and it's always fun to bash the Tudors' incompetence in Irish matters.
    The question I didn't chose asked to how important the role of the clergy was in maintaining political stability in Tudor England, which isn't a very nice question, especially since you can't talk about Ireland. But since I could chose the other two, not a problem.
     
    So yeah, this exam was as easy as I thought it would be.
    Tomorrow is my Sociology retake, and that's the one I'm not feeling too good about.
  23. Queen of Liars
    Had my Sociology retake of the Mass Media unit today, and it went well. Was really worried about this one, but it turned out alright. Got easy questions, but would have liked if the they allowed to talk about Marxism more, as the main question was mostly Postmodernism vs Pluralism. Still, not complaining.
    However, as it turns out, three A2 exams in three days is bloody exhausting. Now just have to prepare for my last exam, the Criminology unit of Sociology, which is on Tuesday.
     
    Since my exams are coming to an end, I went on a bit of an online shopping spree. Bought a bunch of albums, a couple of books and a new gaming mouse. Hopefully it will arrive by the time my exam is finished.
     
    And it's Wednesday the 13th Guess what artist I'll spend today listening to.

    (If you guessed Wednesday 13, you're right!)


  24. Queen of Liars

    Massive Attack

    By Queen of Liars,

    Completed my Massive Attack collection today:
     

     
    Left to right:
     
    Blue Lines
    Protection
    Mezzanine
    100th Window
    Danny the Dog Soundtrack
    Heligoland
     
    Allegedly they've been working on a new album, so if that's true, I'm definitely looking forward to it. And also hoping that it's better than Heligoland...
  25. Queen of Liars

    Happy Halloween

    By Queen of Liars,

    Oh look, an excuse to use my blog.
     
    I do hope everyone's having a nice and appropriately themed Halloween though. It's always a fun time.
     
    I'm enjoying a Halloween playlist, but I've been busy lately so it's a bit more hastily put together than usual. Still, it'll do the job. Might follow it up with some appropriate gaming and/or movie watching later tonight.
×
×
  • Create New...