My (probably quite a bit more than) two cents on various off-topi c shite

[Daniel Black <dblack@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello...first, allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Dan Black (don't
laugh or call me a bloody cheeseball...that is my REAL name) and I have been
a part of the list for scarcely a week.  I've been a Lycia fan for about 3
or 4 years, so I am by no means "old school."

In any event...I suppose I'll get the off topic stuff out of the way
first...lessee...Mortiis:

Yeah...I know about him.  I have most of his CDs and even have had the
opporunity the meet the guy a couple of times.  I'm not even going to read
the guestbook because I used to have a webzine where I had a bit of variety
(I included Black Metal and the like) and most of the people who signed the
damn thing were Black Metal fans (you'd be surprised as to how many fans of
Black Metal there are on the Internet) and unfortunately most of these were
rather juvinile (think Beavis and Butthead trying to be all Satanic and
evil).  In any event, I have to say I rather like Mortiis music, and despite
the fact that it is kinda cheaply done and whatnot, there is a certain draw
to it.  Of the times I actually met the guy, I have to say he is kinda a
tard.  Imagine giving your pimply faced Dungeons and Dragons player with a
keyboard, and there you have it.  But since the music is what is important,
I have to say overall I like it.  For those of you curious as to what his
best stuff is, I would recommend the Vond side project stuff.  Mortiis has a
few side projects (mostly so he can release multiple albums in a single
year; basically the same reason Bleak is called "Bleak" and not "Lycia"),
namely Vond, Fata Morgana, and Cintecele Diavouli.  They all are the same
type of Mideval keyboard stuff, it just so happens the best (in my opinion,
at least) stuff is under the name of "Vond." The self-titled Fata Morgana
(not to be confused by the American goth band of the same name) is pretty
good.

More cents to dish out about Black Metal (personal ethics non-withstanding):

The main reason why Mortiis is not appreciated by the Black Metal community
is not so much because his music is not "macho" enough.  If you've heard any
recent Burzum (Varg Vikernes, AKA Count Grishnackh: that dude who stabbed
Euronymous from Mayhem a few hundred times in the skull and is now serving a
life sentence because there is no death penalty in Norway) you can tell the
obvious influence of Mortiis (and, yes, Varg did record it in his jail cell)
and hardly anybody is griping about it.  Not to mention the recent wave of
Black Metal becoming more folk-like (think Borknagar and Eineherjer; the old
emphaisis on Satanic has become more Nordic pagan) It has more to do with
Mortiis turning in Bard Faust (the old drummer from Emperor who murdered the
guy from a band I can't remember the name of).  Those wacky black metallers
in Norway LOVE their old school Emperor and also loved the drumming of Bard
Faust.  So they have to hate Mortiis.  I guess it's a Nordic thing.  And so
on...like everything in the music scene whether, mainstream, underground or
extreme, it all comes down to politics.

More about Mortiis:  Pat Ogl got into a fist fight with him a few years ago.
I wasn't there but heard about it and the story is quite funny (like I
mentioned before...politics).  If you want to hear about it, e-mail me
privately...

My few more cents about Projekt:  Say what you will about Projekt (I know
quite a bit about the internal politics of Sam and what not, though probably
not nearly as much as Tara) I can think of one label that is much, much
worse: Cleopatra!

But yeah...Sam is very political...just ask Claire Voyant.  Or Pat Ogl...

Hmm...I had a bunch of other stuff to say, but I got so wrapped up in
tangents that I forgot...

I'll let you know when I find out...

-- -- 
D A N I E L / B L A C K [site developer] 
S A P I E N T / C O R P O R A T I O N 
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