The Beginning of Times

Last year, the finnish melancholic dark metal band Amorphis celebrated its 20th birthday with several interesting releases. First was the live DVD Forging the Land of Thousand Lakes, which contained two live gigs (Oulu 2009 and Summerbreeze 2009), interviews with band members past and present and a brief history of the band. Interesting stuff to say the least.

A few months later came Magic & Mayhem, best described as a best of from the first three albums (The Karelian Isthmus, Tales from the Thousand Lakes, Elegy and the Privilige of Evil EP) re-recorded with the present day line-up. 

According to founding member and lead guitarist Esa Holopainen, revisiting that older material was a jump start for a new record, the official successor to 2009's Skyforger.

Skyforger had been considered the best album Amorphis ever made. Using the Kalevala epic once more, this time focusing on the character Seppo Ilmarinen, blacksmith and creator of the Sampo. They managed to create a concept album that lived up to high expectations. There wasn't a single low point. 

Many suspected that Amorphis had reached the peak, and that a next album would definitely fail to live up to it.

In recent months, the band had noted they were in the studio, recording several songs for a new album. Anticipation rose and the band released a song as a teaser for the album which would be named "The Beginning of Times".

The single You I need was met with generally favorable reviews from fans and critics alike. A mellow, though uncharacteristically upbeat song that in terms of build up was akin' to the melancholic Sky is Mine on Skyforger. A second song was released to the public in the form of My Enemy whose intro sounded a lot like Silver Bride once again off Skyforger. 

While that could be seen as being one-trick-ponyish, it was calming. It showed me that the band wasn't straying off the beaten path, but instead opted to knit another chapter to a successful story.

On May 27th, the record saw its release in Europe. I of course got it immediately. And several listening sessions later, I can conclude that it's not as good as Skyforger, yet. This album is a masterpiece. But it requires patience from the listener to fully grasp the entire thing. Not an unusual tactic when it comes to concept albums.

The albums opens with the song Battle for Light and immediately, it grabs you by the balls. Frontman Tomi Joutsen soothes you with mellow vocals, only to belt out a massive growl that makes your left testicle drop to the floor in amazement. Only to be followed by the right one later on.

The second song is Mermaid which is a beautiful ballad that showcases good musicianship, coupled with a powerful, yet mellow vocal performance. Especially keyboardist Santeri Kallio takes the cake. His intro immediately sets the tone. The song also debuts a very interesting novelty to Amorphis' repertoire. Tomi is accompanied by female vocals. 

When My Enemy and You I Need pass on, there comes Song of the Sage, a song that could've easily been on Skyforger, musically. Tomi switches between powerful lead vocals and bellowing growls, a recipe that will never grow old.

Reformation is definitely my least favorite song of the record, and one that has played the least amount of times since I first heard it. There's nothing essentially wrong with this song, but there's nothing that really stands out, musically or vocally.

Bring on Soothsayer, the second and last song to feature vocals by the Finnish singer Netta Dahlberg. She manages to keep up with Tomi, which is a feat not given to many. 

I'm not going through each song in depth. All I can tell you is that it's a must-have album. In Finland, it managed to hit the #1 spot in the charts, within the first few days of release. Just sayin'

Track Listing:

1. Battle for Light

2. Mermaid

3. My Enemy

4. You I Need

5. Song of the Sage

6. Three Words

7. Reformation

8. Soothsayer

9. On a Stranded Shore

10. Escape

11. Crack in a Stone

12. Beginning of Time

13. Heart's Song (Digipak Bonus Track

Personnel:

Tomi Joutsen - vocals

Niclas Etelävuori - bass guitar, backing vocals

Tomi Koivusaari - rhythm guitar

Esa Holopainen - lead guitar

Santeri Kallio - keyboards

Jan Rechberger - drums/percussion

Netta Dahlberg - guest vocals

Savotta Choir - guest backing vocals

Iika Kahri - guest flute, clarinet, saxophone

Produced by Marco Hietala (vocals) and Amorphis

 

 

rating: 89/100

Het gejaagde leven ~cursief

Iedereen heeft zo van die dagen wanneer je denkt dat het leven je constant probeert te vloeren. Het zijn de dagen waarbij je ’s morgens je been uit bed steekt en merkt dat het je verkeerde is.  Je kijkt op de wekker en ziet dat je shift tien minuten daarvoor begon. Luid vloekend ren je naar de telefoon om je ziek te melden. Misschien kan je het ongeluk nog ombuigen tot iets nuttigs. Je doet wat huishoudelijk werk, je knapt wat klusjes op. Alles loopt gemoedelijk. Nog even winkelen voor je de kinderen gaat ophalen.

Je loopt rond in de winkel, zoekend naar de weinige dingen die je nodig hebt. Je hebt bijna alles, je moet alleen nog helemaal naar de achterzijde van de winkel, om vogelzaad voor je kanaries te halen. Je neemt een willekeurige rek om te doorkruisen en dan gebeurt het.

De uitgang van de gang is geblokkeerd door twee keuvelende dames op leeftijd. Je kucht, je probeert tussen het gesnavel door te vragen of je even mag passeren. Het levert niets op. Dan maar omdraaien en de volgende gang proberen. Hetzelfde resultaat. Het kookpunt is bereikt. Je vraagt niets meer, maar je ramt de blokkade tot de gang vrij is.

Je loopt met je pas verkregen vogelzaad vrolijk naar de kassa. Je hebt immers nog tijd zat om naar de school te rijden en de kinderen op te halen. Je komt aan de kassa’s en er is ééntje open. Het is uiteindelijk bijna middagpauze. Je hebt nog vijf mensen voor je, met karretjes afgeladen vol.

Bij het buitenkomen heb je nog één luttel minuutje om op tijd op school te komen. Als volleerd piloot trap je het pedaal haast door de chassis. Met nog drie seconden op de klok sta je op post. De bel gaat, niemand komt buiten. De kinderen zijn op schoolreis.

Verdorie.

Like? Like?

Since I only *just* wrote a fantastic rant on my other blog, I'm going to keep this as short and sweet as possible. 


Alright, it's promo talk.


Like good Sci-Fi? Fleshed out backstories and subtle dialogues? Like to look at Summer Glau? Why not check out the fantastic series Firefly and its sequel in movie format, Serenity? Firefly first aired in 2002 and Serenity in '05 but it has become a cult classic. I could give you the rundown of the entire story but I'll do just one better.


Just watch Firefly here.


14 episodes, and a rather unknown, but seriously well casted group of actors. The series was written by Joss Whedon (Buffy a.o.).


Even if you don't like it, it kills time.


In the meantime, I'll be in my bunk.


~D.

Passiondale

Wuddup?


I believe I said this niche would contain entertainment reviews and opinionated/moronic/redundant comments. Okay, the last part is made up, but I'm nevertheless warming up to the idea of ranting on Lady Gaga Justin Bieber anything media-wise.


But reviews are cooler. So, I suggest we start off with one.


I'm pretty sure the following album will not be of your taste, hence I'll be writing this review completely for jack shit. Praise yourself lucky I actually like writing.


GOD DETHRONED - PASSIONDALE


God Dethroned chronicles "the Great War" in this epic concept record. 
The original idea stemmed from vocalist/guitarist Henri "The Serpent King" Sattler's interest in World War I


Faced with some membership changes right before the recording process began (guitarist Isaac Delahaye and drummer Ariën van Wesenbeek both defecting to Epica), it's not noticeable on this record. Sattler recorded every guitar part on the record, and asked founding drummer Roel Sanders to rejoin the band, which he did.


Isaac Delahaye, a Belgian from Ieper, decided to help the band out on researching material, as he lives in the area Sattler pinpointed.


The name of the record refers to the Belgian village of Passendale (still mostly famous for its cheese and beer). Passiondale is the bastardised English name of the town. Correctly, it would just be "Passchendaele".
To be frank, I'd love to hear any Englishman pronounce that correctly.


The album starts off strongly, with a daunting sound sample that entails the opening track "The Cross of Sacrifice". It flows over immediately into the powerful second track "Under a Darkening Sky". When the trains starts a' rollin' it doesn't stop. The entire album exudes energy from start to finish and let that be an excellent trait for a death metal album. The first and only resting point for the record, an instrumental, would be "Artifacts of the Great War", the last song.


In between, we get absolute monster tracks like "Poison Fog" and title track "Passiondale". What I've noticed is the general ease of listening to this record. It's not overly distorted (compare it to any Nile track for example) and it features some clean singing (Poison Fog, No Survivors). For what it's worth, it seems to be akin to blackened death metal. 


Frontman Henri Sattler has already claimed that Passiondale sounds very different from any other God Dethroned record. Passiondale's successor "Under the Sign of the Iron Cross" definitely showed that.


I've been listening to this album for some time now (again and again) and it just seems to get better every time. I suggest that, even if it's not your thing, to give it a listen. 


It shows that the music scene of the Netherlands isn't made up just of Frans Bauer and André Hazes. 



For me, this album gets 8.5/10


A definite minus goes to the drummer Roel Sanders. He's a ridiculously fast drummer, but his patterns just sounded off on various parts throughout the album. 

Have fun!


~D.

[NL] De zeer gewaardeerde filmrecensie

Il y'a longtemps que je t'aime.

                     Script  & regie : Philippe Claudel

                     Met : Kristin Scott Thomas, Elsa Zylberstein

Het regiedebuut van Philippe Claudel uit 2008 kreeg van menig criticus een lovende beoordeling.  Of dat enigszins terecht is, valt te bekijken.

Het verhaal is lijvig, voornamelijk door de nogal gewichtige ondertoon. Kristin Scott Thomas (The Horse Whisperer, The English Patient) speelt Juliette Fontaine, zopas vrijgelaten na 15 jaar gevangenschap. De film opent met een karakterschets van het hoofdpersonage, een beeld dat meermaals terugkomt doorheen de film. De titel verwijst naar een zin uit een bekend Frans liedje “à la claire fontaine”. Niet toevallig ook de achternaam van het hoofdpersonage.

De rode draad doorheen de prent is het concept vertrouwen en integratie. Men komt door middel van dialoog en handelingen de achtergrond van het hoofdpersonage te weten. Ook Léa, de zus van het hoofdpersonage (Elsa Zylberstein), krijgt het hard te verduren wanneer haar oudere zus ineens terug in haar leven wandelt. Léa heeft daarenboven nog eens haar eigen zorgen.

De ware toedracht van Juliette’s gevangenschap krijgt u doorheen de film te horen. De vraag “waarom?” krijgt later ook nog een antwoord.

Het verhaal steekt goed in elkaar, maar de uitvoering is nogal rommelig. Flitsende camerabewegingen, eindeloze close-ups en op tijd en stond een volstrekt onnodige beeldfilter maken de ervaring behoorlijk bitter.

De hele film wordt gedragen door Kristin Scott Thomas. Ze vertolkt haar getormenteerde personage met verve, wat de eerder enerverende prestatie van Elsa Zylberstein compenseert.  Als je de emotie van diens vertolking wil zien, moet je alert zijn. Zelfs de jeugdige actrice Lise Ségur, als het nichtje van Juliette, speelt haar “moeder” helemaal van het scherm.

Een teleurstelling is deze film niet, mede dankzij een sterke vertolking van Scott Thomas, die met een half woord en een gezichtsuitdrukking een half verhaal vertelt. Het beeld toont rommelig, grauw en donker. Geen slecht debuut, maar awards zal het niet winnen.

Philippe Claudel onderneemt een waardige poging als regisseur, maar hij wil te veel in één keer. Misschien is een plekje aan de schrijfstoel meer geschikt. Misschien wordt hij dan wel de nieuwe Luc Besson.

De Franse film is een genre apart, en voor wie de kennis van de cinéma francophone niet verder reikt dan Louis de Funès en de Taxi-reeks zal hier geen bal aan vinden. Wie graag eens een lekkere pot weent, komt wellicht wel aan z’n trekken. 

Geen film voor de massa, maar wel eentje waar Ken Loach een moord voor begaat.

~D.

And surely, part II is imminent

The first assignment is nigh,


we're supposed to add links and whatnot to websites that exist in web format only. Whoever knows me somewhat is certain that I'll add some wrestling websites to this bit. You are absolutely correct. This bit will get deleted as soon as I'm allowed though, so don't worry.




Wrestling News Source
The unreliable Steve Gerweck's webspace
Dave Meltzer's Wrestling Observer


und so weiter.

next up: embedding a video from youtube. So this will end up being assignments I've done before. Nevertheless, the following clip, from the series Firefly (© FOX Broadcasting/Joss Whedon) is a deleted scene featuring the lovely Summer Glau. I would answer a full on "YES! YES DAMMIT YES!" if I was the guy.

Since the current embedding function doesn't seem to be working. I'll do it this way.

D.

Pilot - Course of Action

Alrighty,




you may or may not remember me as the guy from "Delirious' Blog of Semi-regularly updated muck" also to be found in the bloggosphere right here. This blog here has been created mainly for a course assignment that I'm supposed to be doing in the course of the next few months. It'll probably get deleted soon after.


What shall I talk about? I've got no clue. It'll come eventually. I got "carte blanche" so to speak. As long as it contains journalistic ambitions. Perhaps a continuation of something I promised to do on the Delirious entertainment blog: reviews and whatnot. If a review isn't journalistic, then I'm the pope.


Yeah, reviews are a good idea. TV-shows, CD/DVD reviews. In the style I'm renowned for. Horribly sarcastic and insanely critical.


and in an annoying color.




Have fun reading




~D.