"I'm getting too old for this shit!"

"The last days before the Gods disappear"

As you all know, Judas Priest announced their farewell tour a few months ago. They knew their time had come. Ever since, every Metalhead has been anxiously checking the tour dates, to be there when the Priest come to his or her city, for there is no way we're going to miss our last chance to see the Metal Gods on stage again.

There is not a single Metalhead who cannot recognize Halford's voice, or a glorious Downing-Tipton riff. What's more, the Priest introduced us to leather! If that weren't enough, Judas Priest has been rocking the world for over 40 years and has left future generations with a magnificent legacy. They are not one of those bands that begin with a bang and fade away--think Metallica. They have not become idiotic and have sold themselves with lame fashion--think Ozzy and Justin Beiber. No! Like Dio, Judas Priest has transcended into the realm of all that is (un)holy; they have remained true to what is Metal and have set a golden standard for all to follow.

How can I possibly explain the influence that Judas Priest has had on us Metalheads? When the press release of their Epitaph tour was up, we were given no explanation. Yet, what can we say? After so many years, they, only they, have the right to act as they want.

"You want to be remembered like this, right? Right?!"

Which is not to say, however, that KK Downing can do stupid shit like he did yesterday. Alright, we get it. You have been rocking for over 40 years, you're 60 years old. You have challenged the rules of mortality. You're a God.

But you can't fucking retire two months before your final tour begins. What's more, you can't retire without giving us an appropriate reason. Yes, we know you're old. Ronnie James Dio died when he was 67 and had cancer. Yet he went rocking. He gave us his last breath. You are 60. You're healthy. You should still have, at least, another 7 years to go.

In the olden age, Vikings believed it was glorious to die in battle. The more brutal, savage and gory your death, the better. The highest honor went to those who were in the heat of the battle, and died with violence in their eyes. Their counterparts, everyone else, died in shame.

Will you die a legend, or will you go calmly into the night?

Vlades \m/

Blood of Heroes

We Metalheads know exactly what to look forward to when we buy tickets for gigs. There is always that constant, exhilarating thought about it, the excitement in your stomach, and that “time’s going fucking slow” feeling as that one night approaches.

You wake up on the day of the gig, and your excitement evolves into a deadly thirst, as the sun slowly rolls over above you, finally, settling west, blackening the sky in its trail. It is time. Tonight, all hell breaks loose; Metal Gods will take the stage and unleash a wave of aggression and fury through the crowd.

"40,000 of them!"

When attending a Metal concert, there are several “options” to how you can appreciate the concert. Basically, it is as follows: In the pit, or out of the pit. Both options are good in different ways. Being out of the pit, you WATCH the music – you experience it. You can focus and set your eyes on that long-haired scruffy dirtbag walk to the front of the stage and rip out a 100 notes a second solo that makes the average human’s ears bleed. Who doesn’t love that? You feel the music’s purity flow through you, from head to toe – you feel Metal.

The other way to appreciate the concert of course is to let the music get the best of you – fire up and start moshing. What better than a furious, deadly, endless pit while bursting your ears to your favourite heavy metal tune? Should you hit the floor, before you know it a hundred arms will grab and pull you up. Then, once you’re wrecked, wash all the pain and fatigue away with shitty cheap beer and join the ball again. It’s a cycle, it’s a metal concert - you never stop loving it!

Though we may go to hundreds of gigs, one might think that they become homogenous and boring. However, Metal is like an unholy fountain we drink from throughout our lives; it fills, fulfils, and completes us. Due to the vast number of gigs we attend, music progresses in us through them, making our love for Metal grow more and more. With the exception of a Sonata Arctica gig I attended in late 2009, shortly after the release of Days of Greys, I can safely say that after metal concerts, I never felt mediocre contentment of attending. It’s always the opposite; I feel pure, I feel powerful - I feel Metal.

Ricky

The Formation of Damnation

Hail, Metal brothers!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Dave Mustaine shredding!"][/caption]

All of us know what it is to tread everyday within the land of Metal. Every waking hour is characterized by a blastbeat and a shredding guitar; in the hours of sleep we soar high with the energy of our sacred music, for it is nothing short of sacred. We drink, we party, we mosh and we can be spotted from a mile away. Heathens think of us no less than what we think of them: a bunch of brain-dead dumbshits, who, for one reason or the other, have an absolute reverence for cacophonic boredom.

Like Sam Dunn pointed out in Global Metal, we form a global tribe. We're kindred in our love for the power of Metal, and for our hate of everyone else. We know there is no purpose, no cause, in our lives but the advancement of Metal. All your dreams of power and glory are delusions. Why then, you may ask, do I even bother starting a blog, one out of hundreds, and even think I can achieve anything? Because I am fucking Metal, and I am superior to all of you skeptics.

When idiots see devastation, what do they do? They cower under the fake umbrella of philanthropy, they pat themselves while thinking they've made a difference. They are blind with their own egotism. They pray God to give them strength and drown in their empty faith.

On the other hand, the true Metalhead heeds the calls of devastation; he looks at reality in the eye and fears not. Rather, he is empowered by his knowledge, for he sees what it really is.

Because we Metalheads are a people united under a common banner, and because we reject the blind idiocy of the world, we are bound to generate common idiosyncrasies. It is no surprise that we throw the horns at each other when we meet.

Inspired by magnificent bloggers such as Steff Metal and TNM, I decided to start Metal Jötunn, a place to document my Metal musings and revere the music that we love. However, I will admit I have tried this before, and failed miserably. The only reason this blog is different is a Metal brother that will be writing with me. For several years, he and I have often discussed many aspects of the Metal world. It was therefore easy to channel those discussions into a blog.

The bulk of these discussions are fairly specific: we have discourse on different Metal cultures and traditions, as well as Metalheads themselves.  That is why the very essence of Metal Jötunn will be to observe, with a subjective eye, the Metal world and how it's changing.

Stay Metal!  \m/

Vlades.