tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.comments2012-09-07T14:24:02.887+09:00Post-ZeitgeistAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16675160351036472728noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-85722288035156624682012-09-07T14:24:02.887+09:002012-09-07T14:24:02.887+09:00Thanks for dropping by. Part of my own reluctance ...Thanks for dropping by. Part of my own reluctance to embrace a full civic identity in Japan reflects exactly what you mentioned: "what if?". <br /><br />Also as you say it is not as though I seek to "leave behind" Australia because I am somehow disappointed with it. Indeed ideally, in embracing another culture as my own I would rather do it as an act of affection than of fleeing. <br /><br />There is plenty about my homeland that I love but coming from rather unusual family circumstances in which poverty, isolation and despair were the norm I never really developed the same sense of "love for place" in my youth as I did as an adult in Japan. <br /><br />Anyway, I appreciate your reading and am interested in further discussion. For example, was there a specific event that triggered your "turning"? Did you celebrate? How did you do so? And many more less superficial questions as well!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675160351036472728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-90102773420012457722012-09-07T11:37:05.101+09:002012-09-07T11:37:05.101+09:00I first came to Japan in 1993 straight out of scho...I first came to Japan in 1993 straight out of school. In the early 2000s, I was assigned to work and live in my home country, the U.S., for about five years. I then returned to Japan (same company), then I naturalized.<br /><br />The funny thing is, if I had never spent those five years in the States, I would have never naturalized, as I would have always wondered "what if I was better off or happier living as an adult in the States?" Having done those five years, I can look forward without ever feeling the need to look back.<br /><br />I still think my home country is great and full of opportunities for both the native born and the immigrants (albeit with the gripes that everybody has about their home) -- there are other great places in the world to live as well, but it simply doesn't fit with my lifestyle that I developed and became accustomed to having lived in Japan almost my entire adult life.井上エイドhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15700479276928374081noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-37786066212444638042012-08-17T14:27:54.551+09:002012-08-17T14:27:54.551+09:00Thanks for dropping in. According to google, peopl...Thanks for dropping in. According to google, people do view the blog, even if only in small numbers. <br /><br />As for "Resurrection" I mostly agree. There are parts of it which are great. Some of the old school locked in grooves are cool in a nostalgiac kind of way but on the whole it doesn't really hang together, does it?<br /><br />I liked "Doctrine" much more but that was more to do with me being a bass player and digging Jeoren Thesseling's slippery, in your face micro-tonal style. Again, there are moments there too when the jazz drops in but it feels like Pestilence got left behind since Meshuggah, The Faceless, The Contortionist (Intrinsic is just stellar) and Cynic (while still kind of interesting musically, aren't really metal anymore) picked up the mantle. <br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675160351036472728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-10088838443065626802012-07-27T07:25:56.988+09:002012-07-27T07:25:56.988+09:00I love death metal vocals. Hell, as I age, I find ...I love death metal vocals. Hell, as I age, I find I cannot listen to most traditional metal vocal styles unless I am already imbued with nostalgia for said band (ie. if I didn't grow up loving them, I won't get into them now). <br /><br />The shrieks, grunts, growls, roars, bellows, yells, and screams all tap a primal urge that I feel is deeply inherent in all of us. The power that goes into death vox is impressive and startling especially when expressing lyrics steeped in physical, spiritual, and emotional horror. Cleaning singing just doesn't cut it here.<br /><br />And you're right about the drums. Like jazz, the drums are what hook me -- they are the primal extension of the riffs. Riffs are mostly lifeless without powerful drums backing them, driving them, accenting them, and interrogating them. The stranger the meter, the more interesting it will be.televiperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384830541140715396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-51423425303578085572012-07-27T07:19:51.989+09:002012-07-27T07:19:51.989+09:00Death metal's tendency towards lyrical misogyn...Death metal's tendency towards lyrical misogyny has always been a big issue for me. As much as I like Autopsy's music, their lyrics make me cringe and question why I even listen to them. Ditto early Cannibal Corpse. Like you, I find later CC to be less of an issue once they generalized their lyrical brutality but that early stuff is vicious in the wrong way.<br /><br />I like death metal lyrics that interrogate body horror, the supernatural, and religious hypocrisy without stumbling into the abyss of childish gore or offensive misogyny. The more intellectual and capable the lyrics, the better but the music often trumps all for me: it's the blunt rhythmic meter that really draws me in and makes lyrics secondary (especially since they are difficult to decipher in the first place).televiperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384830541140715396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-19672822582348123342012-07-27T07:14:35.957+09:002012-07-27T07:14:35.957+09:00While I admire Pestilence's earlier evolution,...While I admire Pestilence's earlier evolution, I cannot get down with the current incarnation. I was excited beyond belief about a Pestilence reunion but "Resurrection Macabre" was bland beyond belief. The riffs, the blasts, the lyrical repetition, the pointless re-records -- none of this held that stamp of authority that marked previous records as definitively Pestilence. That's how evolution in sound works. Miles Davis is always identifiable regardless of era. "Resurrection Macabre" could've been recorded by anybody. It just sounds too generic (and "Doctrine" is even worse).<br /><br />I can listen to the first four Pestilence records night-and-day forever but I won't be revisiting these comeback albums ever again.televiperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384830541140715396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-76261468945213444392012-07-27T07:09:45.073+09:002012-07-27T07:09:45.073+09:00I love jazz. I love metal. On The Corner is one of...I love jazz. I love metal. On The Corner is one of the sickest, most visionary records of all-time for all genres.televiperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13384830541140715396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-83014533595002966402012-03-22T11:05:42.864+09:002012-03-22T11:05:42.864+09:00Alright, so first lemme just say, I think you shou...Alright, so first lemme just say, I think you should write for Invisible Oranges. This is Richard Street-Jammer, by the way, in case the name didn't make it obvious. I'm sometimes irreverent, but I do enjoy serious discussions about heavy metal that push outside of the music's confines. <br /><br />Second, I've never been able to reconcile the amount of misogyny in death metal lyrics with the apparent reality that the lyric writers are well-adjusted human beings. We all fantasize, but the depth, the detail, and creativity to which the lyrics fantasize about such uncomfortable topics is unsettling to me. I'm caught between the rock and the hard place. I can see gore lyrics as mindless entertainment, but I demand more from heavy metal. If it's not mindless entertainment though, what does it say about those who write the lyrics and partake of them?<br /><br />I'm with you in that I'd like to see the lens of gore lyrics be refocused on examining human behavior rather than mindlessly spinning out tired fantasies. Carcass and Exhumed are perhaps the best examples to me of smart gore lyrics. As an alternative to their approach, I think it would be interesting for someone to write an album that focuses on, say, the thoughts, challenges, terrors, violence, and shame that a pregnant rape victim is subject to. <br /><br />An ex-girlfriend of mine lived with a family whose eldest daughter was transitioning to being their eldest son. Back in high school, I can think of a homosexual student who was terrorized by other male students whose violent behavior was sexually oriented. It's bizarre witnessing a 17 year old wrestler attempt to prove his heterosexuality by grabbing and squeezing a gay man's genitals. The irony was quite lost on the wrestler. <br /><br />At any rate, please excuse my rambling. I enjoyed this article, and I think you should keep writing about this topic, but that you should do it for IO so that you receive more coverage. Even if you don't want us to post the whole thing, on at least one occasion, Cosmo did a partial post, and to finish the article, the reader had to click the link back to the author's blog. That would be a good compromise, I think.<br /><br />I've had an article of a similar nature to what I've said above percolating on my hard drive. I expect that commenteriat will want to subject me to strappado, the pillory and the tripalium, but I feel it has to be said.The One True Street-Jammerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05705118356845716008noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-3406716723323164632012-03-15T15:14:40.844+09:002012-03-15T15:14:40.844+09:00Woah, thanks for the feedback. I'm finally sta...Woah, thanks for the feedback. I'm finally starting to get some page hits these days thanks to better understanding meta-tags, search results and blatant self promotion. Anyway, to engage...<br /><br />I in no way intended to accuse you of misogyny or homophobia. In fact, I totally agree with and like your description. I suppose, in a way, I am covering my own ass. In recent months, I've been thinking a lot about gender, sexuality and masculinity in metal. Essentially, I am trying to think my way through a different descriptive aesthetic.<br /><br />For example: You know, when people use the term "brutal" what do they really mean by that? Does it mean something good? Are they trying to signify a powerful sense of being moved but in a hyper-masculine way so as to avoid actually saying "that shit fucks me up emotionally, it's so rad" because a "real man" would never say that? Or are they saying that the terms frequently used to describe metal (which I largely reject and as I write, I see a new article forming in the back of my mind!) apply to their way of being in the world in which brutality and violence are necessary but unacceptable and therefore can only be expressed in music?<br /><br />In all honesty, my own original unwritten description of the Meshuggah/djent divide was something along the lines of "Djent = castrated Meshuggah"... but on further reflection, I realised that simple equation marginalised women, queers and non-hetero-normative sexual identities in metal by devaluing anything "less" than "man". That's why I liked your description. If the djentlemen have been busy honing their physiques in the controlled environment of the gym and looking good on the streets and in the club, then Meshuggah are like soldiers, firefighters or police whose bodies express an elegance integral to function rather than fashion.<br /><br />Both are expressions of masculine identity and are valued differently according to context. Indeed, I liked your description so much, I stole it (well, quoted it!).<br /><br />Recently, I've been trying to extend these thoughts into the realm of grotesque death metal in order to think through the possibilities of utilising gore, violence and sexuality in a way which does not require a typical objectification (basically misogyny/homophobia) of the other but rather objectifies in a consensual two way dynamic not unlike the theory between S&M. Metal interests me that much, but in reality, I'm way more vanilla.<br /><br />To that extent, I have decided to become a creator of death metal (even if I am a lackluster musician) since I can't wait for others to do so. If you're interested and know others who might be interested in contributing (guitar, drums, vocals, ideas whatever) let me know. Hit me up in the comments or at my email.<br /><br />Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. Stay metal.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16675160351036472728noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-79459830689868048762012-03-15T02:01:19.808+09:002012-03-15T02:01:19.808+09:00This is Joseph, who wrote that article.
What a gr...This is Joseph, who wrote that article.<br /><br />What a great response on your part. I would just like to point out that I in no way meant for my comment to seem homophobic or misogynist. I am neither of those things, and studied Feminism in college; I was a member of the GSA in High School. so, if i treaded too close to hate speech, forgive me. Can we chalk it up to a miscommunication? Personally, I find heterosexual men, at least in america, at least as vested in image and fashion as their homosexual and female counterparts. That's just my take on it, though.<br /><br />As for Djent, I think your analysis is very trenchant. I agree that Djent and death core both had a lot of very strong potential energy and fell into the commercial metal marketing trap that worked so well for Metalcore. Do you find it interesting that cloud kicker's recent work has already drifted very far from the Djent identity. <br /><br />Feel free to email me: joseph.schafer88@gmail.comJoseph Schaferhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15808127594270391216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5312127249811365879.post-2740384131942006552011-07-01T23:29:08.520+09:002011-07-01T23:29:08.520+09:00Hey KT88--Thanks for the re-post, the link, and mo...Hey KT88--Thanks for the re-post, the link, and most cool, the thoughtful response! What a surprise to find this on the great big Internet.<br />Lots of things.....:<br />Love the shout-out to Masanobu Fukuoka. I think it's really hard for those steeped in western culture to just OBSERVE, we're always so busy DOING (myself included).<br />After I finished the interview, I kept thinking of all these other ways my love for metal and for plants is similar, or dissimilar too. Really, though, regardless of what plants are "metal" or what metal bands give a shit about the environment, it comes down to two things, I think: 1.) transcendence of the ego can be easily found in both art and ecology, and 2.) as you so aptly wrote, metal "imbues us with strength, confidence, and courage." So, so true, and the only thing I've found that can do this in equal measure (aside from falling in love, which is rare and out of my control) is nature. I sometimes wonder if any genre of music can do this, depending on the person -- some people get filled with their version of the holy spirit listening to jazz, or polka, or whatever. But I swear there's a specific quality in metal, a warrior essence that I can't tap into with other music.<br />Anyhow, thanks again and love your writing and appreciate your perspective! --k8yphyte club katiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15718531711573905539noreply@blogger.com