Stay hidden, it's better that way

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) was a heavy metal movement in the 70’s in Britain with a sharp rise of many brutal metal bands. The bands from this movement were/are significant and had a key part in moulding heavy metal and defining it to what it is today; in other words they’re responsible for today’s giants. However, like all good (metal) bands, you appreciate them solely for the music (and in some cases, also their dress style) and not for being important for another band back in the day. Appreciating a band only for their influence on another band is straight up retarded and not metal, yet it happens. Diamond Head, 30 years after [Metallica’s] Kill ‘em All, still receive endless love and appreciation for being the band that influenced Metallica. Sure, that’s what their career initially was about, right? ONLY to make sure thrash metal steps out of hell and sets loose in this virgin world? Tosser.

"We love you 'cause James told us to"

Now I know what you’re thinking – “They’re not heard of by the majority of Metalheads whatsoever; what’s better for them than having Metallica shouting out to all their fans that they were their spark?” What’s better? The members of Diamond Head died as virgins. I disagree with the band’s name in modern metal culture. Hell, I’d rather they remain an underground pride, be it they become flat broke losers who can’t make ends meet without a part time job in McDonalds, ‘cause they dropped out of school and their band never landed a decent record deal. At least everyone who’d ever listen to them would be a fan of what they wrote, be it as little as 100 listeners in their local tiny village. Their killer guitar riffs and Harris’ high pitched heavy metal voice would remain as their boldest slogan and biggest pride, as little as it may be. I care not that they breast-fed the new-born babies from the mid-80’s L.A. thrash scene.

Diamond Head can stand on their own feet; they don’t need Hetfield to give them a shout every now and then and spread his poseur infection in our (un)holy genre even more.

Cheers

Ricky

(Disclaimer: This article has no relevance to the Sonisphere Big 4 performances of “Am I Evil”.)

On encounters with new music

It's self evident that we've had a slow start; I would even go as far to say that we're still at the starting line, for three posts are virtually nothing. We have not been diligent nor attentive,  and as of now Metal Jotunn remains among the plethora of half-dead Metal blogs that, in truth, are of no interest. I strive to think that we're still in the stages of forming an identity for this particular blog, but I understand this cannot happen if we continue to remain silent. I will say, however, that until the two admins--that is, Ricky and myself--meet in a couple of weeks to discuss a few nuances, the posts will remain sporadic.

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This reminds me of Manowar. Epic!

One of the things that I love about Metal blogs--and the Internet in general--is that I get to hear new bands almost everyday. A year ago, my music library had about one-half of the bands that I know prize; a year ago, I was nothing but a Power Metal fan, and hardly anything more. Yet now, because of blogs such as That's Not Metal, Steff Metal, No Clean Singing, and others (which are on the blog roll to the right) I have delved into the realm of Thrash Metal, and I'm making my way through the wasted land of Death Metal. Names such as Nightrage, Demonic Resurrection, Ana Kefr , Hemoptsysis…  have become common place. (No more Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber for me!)

The issue with this approach, of course, is that sometimes you come across generic bullshit or pretentious idiocy. Or perhaps you find a download website, and excitedly fill your iPod with a ton of new bands, ready to blast your ears… and you are presented with a discordant sound that appears to be created by playing random notes and having tempo shifts for the mere sake of being "artsy" (DtS, it seems, have a "strong ambition and unparalleled creativity, [and] strive to spread new sounds, and open minds throughout the world." Go figure.):

To save you from these moments of undeniable terror, to keep you from the darkest side of human creativity--I will refrain from calling this music-- I will install a new feature for the blog. At least once a week I will post a song or two by a Metal band who, in my unquestionable opinion, is worthy of the "Metal" label, or is at least worthy of attention.

For the first installment of this, I present to you a German band whose lyrical theme is in accordance The Jotunn. Rebellion was formed in 2001 by Uwe Lulis and Tomi Gottlitch, both of whom left the band Grave Digger to begin their new project. Shakespeare's Macbeth -- A Tragedy in Steel was released a year after their formation, and as the title suggests, the concept album deals with the story of  Macbeth--the album even has passages recited from the play.

According to Wikipedia, "The second album, [Born a Rebel (2003)], involved more standard heavy-metal lyrics – about motorcycles, metal, war, etc. – and the music was somewhat rougher."

In 2005 Rebellion released their third album, Sagas of Iceland, which was intended to be the first volume of a trilogy dealing with Viking lore and Norse mythology. The series was aptly called The History of the Vikings, which is comprised by the aforementioned album, Miklagard (2007) and the last release of the band, Arise: From Ginnungagap to Ragnarök (2009).

This is what Steff Metal, in a post for Lip Service, said of Rebellion:

I listen to this album non-stop while working on my novels. You know how you buy an album on the strength of one of two songs, but then the rest of the album turns out to be weak? No so with Arise – every song blisters with dark riffs, soaring vocals and Viking anger. It’s a brilliant power metal record, with deep vocals that would appeal even to non-power metal fans. I’m gutted to hear that three of the founding members, including guitarist Uwe Lulis, left the band, but at least they were able to conclude their Viking trilogy with this amazing album.

And here are two songs from The History of the Vikings:

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.