p e n g u i n d e v i l

Well well well… Sometimes you really have to wonder. So lil’g went and commuted “Scooter’s” sentence? Taking just the blame and avoiding the worst part of the punishment? That makes Scooter a pretty lame fall-guy. Since I think everyone is of the thought that he took the blame away from the higher guys, it takes some gall for Bush to let him take his blame and then to let him off. But then again, what does it matter now how low his approval rating is?

But what’s really been setting me off are these neighbors across the way. Some horrid old middle-aged woman who talks loudly with a voice so horridly worn and wasted that it seems a joke, numerous little yappy dogs that yap and yap and a family tendency to play the tv loud with her front door open… Which is about 20 feet straight across from our windows. I mean, yeah they do seem to quiet down about 1 am, but the yapping, the tv yelling at us from across the way, the yelling/fighting and that loud cackle, some bastardized black metal lizard rasp of a lifetime of cheap cigarettes and straight liquor make her quite the neighborhood trash. I am not looking forward to a summer of having to keep our windows open with her out there. In fact, our immediate neighbors (the only people closer to her than us as their windows are immediately across from her porch) are moving across the hall to get away from this side of the building.

Speaking of black metal, I did manage to pick up a couple of things recently. Since I generally buy things that I haven’t heard before, I am never sure what I’m getting, even if I stick with those I know. But I risked it. I added Gorgoroth’s Twilight of the Idols. It is from 2003 and with a lot of these old bands I feel unsure of what to expect with their newer material, but this one? I thought it was great. Admittedly it seems more “approachable” than the older stuff of theirs that I tend towards, (Antichrist and Destroyer) but I thought it was pretty good, especially the first track, with some nice strong rhythms. But then, I like the couple of tracks I have heard off of their newer album Ad Majorem Sathanas Gloriam, so maybe they get better with age, or they are aging similarly to me. At times though, the clarity of the lyrics (in English) seemed a bit much. I do like to maintain the sense of foreignness when listening to this stuff, even if most of it now seems to be in English. On another plus side, the liner notes feature some of those wonderful Peter Beste, photographs…

Then I had a similar experience with Finntroll. I bought Nattfödd which is the most recent music I have heard from and liked it quite a lot, too. Though it was slower than their earlier albums and it lacks the catchy hits of Jaktens Tid, I think it is, all around, the strongest album of theirs that I have heard. So another lucky guess.

In a less black sense, I got the new album from 3 Inches of Blood, Fire Up the Blades. I am sure we all remember the great things I had to say about their previous release, Advance and Vanquish, and those still stand. While this new album is good, it’s just not as much greatness as the earlier one. Advance and Vanquish sounded like Maiden with more Rock added and all of the boring parts and dull songs removed… Like how Maiden should have sounded (except for the addition of a second, more modern style vocalist). This album continues the trend of improving on the 80’s sound, but is less Maiden and more standard heavy metal, which just doesn’t pique my interest as much.

And then to flee totally from Metal, another 3 years have gone by so there is another Beastie Boys album to pick up, The Mix-Up. I knew that it would be all instrumental, but with them, who knows what that might mean. Well, now we do. Instrumentals are the one area that I have maintained mixed feelings about with this band. Back in the day they put out some brilliant instrumental tracks like 33% God, but once Ill Communication came out they had moved into this “groovy funky” sound for those songs. Which I just don’t get into. Of course, The Mix-Up continues the ill communicationish vibe of “groovy funky”. Ill Communication was easily their low point and I never really did get into it. The Mix-Up is another one that will take some getting used to. I’ve played it a couple of times and it’s growing on me but only two songs stuck with me right off the bat, The Rat Cage and The Cousin of Death. Now in my mind, these guys can pretty much do whatever they want but with the average of 3 years between albums, if you think one is a miss, that’s a good long wait until you get to see what’s next. At least I’m not at all tired of To The Five Boroughs yet…