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posts about porcupine tree.

the twentith video is strip the soul by porcupine tree. this song is about family brutality, about dark family secrets. the lyrics can be found here.

this is progressive rock/metal. you can try it.

edit: another one i cannot embed. here‘s the video. and here’s an embedable version, without video though:

[[for legal reasons, i do not want to include youtube videos here anymore. please click on this link to watch the video at youtube.]]

i like it because… it somehow surprised me: such a dark story, crawling under the skin, while compared to this, the music seems casual, not suggesting such abysses.

after making a best of concerts list for this year, i decided to make a best of albums list for all albums i have bought until now. i divided this up into several categories:

  • prog;
  • punk/punk rock;
  • trip hop, alt rock;
  • other non-metal;
  • metal: atmospheric;
  • metal: death/black;
  • metal: doom;
  • metal: extreme prog;
  • metal: folk/pagan/viking;
  • metal: gothic;
  • metal: power;
  • metal: prog;
  • metal: other.

note that this list reflects a snapshot of my current interest and remembrance of most of the albums. it could already be different in a few days. but feel free to comment or discuss this with me.

prog.

  1. porcupine tree: deadwing.
  2. pure reason revolution: the dark third.
  3. frost: milliontown.
  4. opeth: damnation.
  5. porcupine tree: the sky moves sideways.

punk/punk rock.

  1. die ärzte: die bestie in menschengestalt.
  2. wizo: uuaarrgh!.
  3. die toten hosen: kauf mich!.
  4. die ärzte: planet punk.
  5. die ärzte: 13.

trip hop, alt rock.

  1. kari rueslåtten: other people’s stories.
  2. radiohead: ok computer.
  3. portishead: portishead.

other non-metal.

  1. kari rueslåtten: spindelsinn.
  2. nine inch nails: the downward spiral.
  3. eläkeläiset: humppasirkus.
  4. bohren & der club of gore: black earth.

metal: atmospheric.

  1. the 3rd and the mortal: tears laid in earth.
  2. finntroll: visor om slutet.
  3. tool: 10 000 days.
  4. anathema: a natural disaster.

metal: death/black.

note that i took out the prog death/prog black (avantgarde) albums into its own category, called metal: extreme prog.

  1. bolt thrower: those once loyal.
  2. moonspell: the antidote.
  3. wintersun: wintersun.
  4. amorphis: elipse.
  5. childen of bodom: hatebreeder.

metal: doom.

i think this is the category where i could have made the longest list. there are many really good albums missing, for example down and love and death by sentenced, the other swallow the sun albums, sunn o))) and borisaltar, some candlemass albums, unholy‘s the second ring of power, and some more.

  1. sentenced: frozen
  2. swallow the sun: ghosts of loss.
  3. type o negative: world coming down.
  4. tiamat: prey.
  5. unholy: rapture.

metal: extreme prog.

this category is dominated by opeth; therefore, i decided to list the top seven instead of the top five.

  1. opeth: still life.
  2. orphaned land: mabool — the story of the three sons of seven.
  3. opeth: blackwater park.
  4. distorted: memorial.
  5. opeth: orchid.
  6. borknagar: epic.
  7. edge of sanity: crimson (part one).

metal: folk/pagan/viking.

  1. moonsorrow: viides luku: hävitetty.
  2. moonsorrow: verisäkeet.
  3. primordial: to the nameless dead.
  4. finntroll: jaktens tid.
  5. moonsorrow: voimasta ja kunniasta.

metal: gothic.

  1. lacuna coil: karma code.
  2. tristania: beyond the veil.
  3. lake of tears: a crimson cosmos.
  4. poisonblack: lust stained despair.

metal: power.

  1. nevermore: dead heart in a dead world.
  2. nevermore: dreaming neon black.
  3. symphony x: paradise lost.
  4. communic: waves of visual decay.
  5. nightwish: oceanborn.

metal: prog.

  1. dream theater: train of thought.
  2. the gathering: mandylion.
  3. ayreon: the human equation.
  4. dream theater: metropolis pt. 2 — scenes from a memory.
  5. dream theater: images and words.

metal: other.

  1. timo rautiainen & trio niskalaukaus: hartes land.
  2. rage: lingua mortis.
  3. samael: solar soul.
  4. annihilator: king of the kill.
  5. apocalyptica: cult.
posted in: albums
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i think it’s time to take a look at the list of concerts i attended this year and to list the best ones. at these two links, you can find a pretty complete list of the concerts i attended. i decided to divide the top list into two categories: prog and metal.

prog

for the third place, i cannot decide between three concerts, all which took place in pratteln in the z-7, namely, first, the spock’s beard gig on the 16.05.2007, second, the anathema & moondawn gig on the 31.05.2007, and, third, the fish gig on the 27.11.2007. all three gigs have been very good. most memorable was probably spock’s beard keyboardist, playing with both hands and feet, while his poor technician had to hold the keyboard construction together so it wouldn’t fall apart.

the second place goes to the blackfield & pure reason revolution concert, which took place on the 24.02.2007 in pratteln (z-7). i think this was the first concert where i really liked the opener, so much that i bought one of their albums. actually, i had to order it by mail, as the ones they had with them were sold out at the end of their concert (hence, i wasn’t the only one who liked it alot). the main act itself, blackfield, a collaboration between the porcupine tree frontman steven wilson and the israeli rock star aviv geffen, was also really good.

the first place goes to the porcupine tree & anathema concert, which took place on the 12.11.2007 in zürich (volkshaus). despite several people in the audience didn’t like anathema too much (“too boring”), i was pleased to see them again. for me, their music expresses simply too many emotions to be boring, eating up energy until bursting into the listener’s ear. the main act, porcupine tree, one of my favorite bands, was as good as i expected them to be. even though they played a lot from the current album, fear of a blank planet, which i don’t like as much as some of the older ones, they also played many classics. unfortunately, they didn’t played arriving somewhere but not here, which i would really loved to listen to. but, besides that, i still think this is the best prog concert i attended this year.

metal

again, as before, i cannot decide on someone for the third place, but i have two canidates in mind. the first one is the dream theater & symphony x concert, which took place on the 31.10.2007 in winterthur (eulachhallen). the second canidate is the apocalyptica & sturm und drang concert, which took place on the 09.11.2007 in zürich (volkshaus). all these bands are really good, and the shows they delivered were so, too, featuring many small details, as neat decoration. but both of these concerts also have their sides. namely, symphony x played way too short (but then, i’ll see them again next february as headliner), the location was strange (the wardrobe was outside), and dream theater could have played longer, too (i heard the rumor that the local organizer fucked this up by not registering the concert with the authorities, which in turn resulted in the police ordering the concert to be ended earlier). at the apocalyptica concert, i didn’t like the opener sturm und drang too much; they played really good and professional, but it simply wasn’t the kind of music which i really like.

the second place is filled by the amorphis, swallow the sun & insomnium concert, which took place at the 18.11.2007 in pratteln (z-7). (videos from the concert can be found here.) this concert featured three very good finnish bands, one of them, namely swallow the sun, being one of my favorite ones. their shows were good, the selection of songs was, too (i would have loved to hear some more swallow the sun songs, but then, i would probably have only been really pleased if they would have simply played all songs from their three albums, which is slightly unrealistic to expect from a co-headliner). i was headbanging a lot, met some friends, had a lot of fun.

the first place goes to the moonsorrow & swallow the sun concert, which took place at the 09.04.2007 (easter monday) in pratteln (z-7). actually, there was a third band playing as an opener, whose name i forgot. this concert was one of the most incluencal concert for me this year, not only as it introduced me to two bands, namely moonsorrow and swallow the sun, which i now count as two of my most favorite bands. besides that, the atmosphere was simply perfect, and so was the audience. i still remember headbanging with eric (a guy i met on this concert and on another one a bit later, who’s also an opeth fan), even though headbanging right next to the mosh pit can be pretty painful…

being late. getting there, still in time. being able to stand in the very front. meeting some guys who i met on anathema‘s last concert. listening to anathema. rocking. having a great time. break, after 45 minutes. looking out for other guys who announced themselves for the concert, not seeing anyone. porcupine tree coming up. having another good time. for around two hours. then, silence, again. crowd flowing to the outside. checking out the merchandize. buying an anathema cd, getting it signed by the band, talking to the band. queueing up to fetch my jacket. meeting another mathematician i didn’t expected to see. seeing in the distance another one whom i knew to be there. leaving, alone. taking the tram. happening to see a friend in his kitchen from the tram window. buying some pizza. writing this crap. feeling good.
thanks for everyone who helped making this evening so great. i appreciate that a lot.

here’s a list of concerts i plan to attend during the last four months of this year. if i put a link to a bands’ homepage, this means i’m going to that concert to see this band (and as a side effect, also the non-linked ones).

unfortunately, i will miss finntroll playing in the z-7 on 05.12.2007…