The Intraweb Home of Andy White

Artist: Arch Enemy

Album: Wages of Sin

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Rating: 4.9/5

I have to admit, I avoided this band for the longest time because of a certain lady singer, but I decided I’d get this album, just to check this band out.  I was surprised to find that it’s actually really good.  The guitar playing is awesome, it’s the style that I seem to like – low driving riffs with melodic playing on top.  The singing actually isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.  I assumed that the chick singer was just kind of a gimmick to make this band seem “different,” but she actually fits pretty well, and she can hold her own.  Call me a noob if you will, but I actually really like this album, I’m glad I gave it a chance.

Artist:  Insomnium

Album:  Above the Weeping World

Genre:  Melodic Death Metal

Rating:  5/5

This is a really solid album, it has everything I like about this genre, with none of the things I don’t like.  It has great melodic guitar lines and good songwriting without all the cheesy synthesizer crap that you might hear on a Children of Bodom album.  I’d definitely recommend this album to anyone who is a fan of Dark Tranquillity or older In Flames who hasn’t gotten much deeper into the genre.

The vocals are very good – they’re the typical death metal growling, but it’s not distracting at all, like it might be with other similar bands.  I think it fits well with the music.

Overall, a definite must-have album, check it out!

I seem to have a lack of ideas to blog about, so I thought I’d start a series of reviews of heavy metal albums.  In the past year or so, I’ve gotten way into metal, and I’ve discovered some pretty good bands in the process.  Here are a few of the sites that have broadened my horizons:

MySpace Music

MySpace is a cheesy site, but I really do like MySpace Music.  It’s a an easy way to hear a few songs for just about any band, and most bands tend to link to bands they are associated with, so it’s a good way to discover new bands, and immediately write them off after hearing 3 songs.

Last.fm

Last.fm has the widest selection of music that I’ve come across on the intraweb.  The similar artists feature is another great way to find new bands.  I’ve also tried Pandora, but they just don’t have the selection.

Metal Storm

I started using this site to keep track of the albums I’ve started to collect.  It also has a wishlist feature, which is useful for keeping track of bands that you heard at some point, and might want to hear again.  It also has a pretty useful ratings system where users can vote and submit reviews, which is useful for deciding which albums to start with for a particular artist.  This site also made me realize that I’m a bit of an OCD collector.  I’ve purchased a few albums to complete a collection and proceeded to never listen to them…  stupid.

Metal Crypt

There are probably sites out there that are more elitist than this one, but Metal Crypt is pretty elitist, which I think is pretty funny.  Their reviews are usually pretty spot on though, I must admit.  They also have a good page that attempts to describe all the sub-genres of metal.  Just be sure to not try to talk about any of the sub-genres of metal with any of your non-metal friends, because you’ll end up looking like a tool.

Encyclopaedia Metallum

This site is okay, but it almost suffers from “too much data” syndrome, or something like that.  Maybe it’s just too fact-based – it has no personality.  It does have some good info I guess.

Anyway, I might add to this list later, but this is a good start.

Oh man, I just watched an old video of the very first UFC competition: “UFC 1: The Beginning.” What a classic! If you haven’t seen it, I’d highly encourage you to find it out in the wide world of webs (here), or acquire the dvd – you won’t regret it. The fighting is pretty laughable by today’s brutal standards, but the commentary has survived the test of time as quite probably the worst ever. Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, a kickboxing/tae kwon do/karate champion; Kathy Long, a lady kickboxing champion; and NFL legend Jim Brown set the tone for a hilarious night in the octogon. Kathy Long actually comes up with a few decent things to say, but Bill insists on interrupting her or contradicting anything that comes out of her mouth. Jim Brown keeps his mouth shut for the most part, but slips in a few zings in response to Bill’s ridiculous statements. This video sums up the hilarity that ensues with Bill Wallace at the mic: Tribute to Bill Wallace

I guess he forgot to rehearse his lines, learn how to pronounce the fighter’s names, learn the names of his fellow commentators/announcers, or learn the name of the league. Bill, don’t quit your day job, you suck.

As for the actual fighting, highlights include:

• Gerard Gordeau heiling Hitler before the fight.  Just kidding – apparently his pre-fight routine is the “Savate Salute” not the Heil Hitler salute.  Sorry Gerard, no offense intended, but you definitely looked the part…
• Gerard Gordeau kicking blubbery Teila Tuli in the mouth, extracting a tooth
• Kevin Rosier’s too-tight shorts – couldn’t he have worn baggier pants?  Jean shorts might have been a better choice
• Art Jimmerson’s single boxing glove
• Art Jimmerson tapping out for no apparent reason
• Royce Gracie beating everyone

My good friend Chadwick Shoults just posted a kayaking video from our recent trip to Deckers/Waterton Canyon, near Conifer, CO.  It was a great video documenting all the drops on this short, but furious III+/IV- run, and somehow a popular kayaking website eddyflower.com saw it and decided to post it as a video guide for Waterton!  Although, as for being a run guide, try not to do what I did – e.g. get flipped three times (one not seen in the video, and one more almost-flip), all at inopportune times.  It was a fun, but challenging and humbling experience.  It is good to be reminded that I’m really not that great, so I don’t go off and try something stupid.  Here’s the video:

http://eddyflower.com/RunDetail.aspx?RunId=76