roadtonowhere08

Holy hell, that write up from DavidMahler must have taken forever to write. Unbelievable.

We might have to disagree on Gojira, definitely. And Devy is in a league of his own in many ways, but I quite prefer his clean vocals. As far as Anneke, I have always pronounced it Ann-eek, but I've never heard her clarify. As far as best, to me, Serenity Painted Death and Blackwater Park, are the pinnacle of death vocal performances in songs. It just does not get better than that.

This is true. With MAYH, Still Life, and BWP, Opeth released a trio of albums that can stand up to any trio released by any band ever. That was a seriously good run of albums, and if you lower the bar ever so slightly, from Morningrise to Damnation was just insane. Damn, Dusty. I never knew you did not dig the growls. I do not remember you mentioning that before. But seriously reconsider your evaluation of them. I will give you this much: most people are just not that good at it, and it detracts from music. Akerfeldt is one of the only people that can do them, have perfectly coherent lyrics in doing so, and still sound so damn emotive (guttural to screeching and everything in between). My two favorites are him and Claudio Carrasco from Poema Arcanus by a large margin. They are the absolute best in my opinion.

I do believe this sums my thoughts up nicely (taken from sputnikmusic): You can choose to mar Opeth's recent releases for any number of reasons, but when you boil it all down, the reason Heritage and now Pale Communion aren't well-accepted by Akerfeldt and company's long-standing fanbase is because neither is an Opeth album. Yes, yes, they're "Opeth" albums, but they're not Opeth albums. There's absolutely some cool stuff on the classic prog-turnabout of Heritage and Pale Communion, but neither deliver on promises made and self-fulfilled by Ghost Reveries or Watershed. Sure, Mikael is entitled to do whatever he well pleases, but the Opeth of 2014 is little more than Opeth's mildly self-influenced prog side-gig and it feels foolish to deny that. Whether that will last the rest of Opeth's already storied carriers or not remains to be seen, but for the immediate interim, we need to accept that the latest "Opeth" album is not great, and the aforementioned doppelganger hypothesis has a lot to play into it because: We love Opeth, not "Opeth." Opeth is a band that brought us a dark and appropriately austere death metal sound that could conjure up the ghosts in your closet and incite them against you all while simultaneously drowning you in the placid despair of a folk-based acoustic passage. Akerfeldt would cast his voice as the roaring shadow beckoning you to embrace the darkness or as an angelic light guiding you out of the shade... if only for a moment. While some of the mellifluous harmonies we've come to expect out of the big man are present on Pale Communion, that rich floor of merciless anguish is raised to a platform of mediocre crooning that simply doesn't create the same voluminous space Opeth need to develop the same sort of complex narrative we've heard on past albums. With lower vocal and musical headroom it just doesn't happen in the same way. The magic ofOpeth gives way to the prog bearings of "Opeth." And sure, we'd herald them if it were any other band, but for Opeth? There's just a sad sense of gothic magic that's had its black candlelight flame blown out by a hippie's bong smoke pervading the album. "Moon Above, Sun Below" probably comes closest to recapturing that magic with its monotone chant, strained calling, and very Opeth vibe to its hand-off from free flowing (hard) rock solos to medieval sounding acoustic passages, but in the end it's still not the authentic product. Tracks like "Goblin" feel like '70s prog ripoffs that Opeth are better than, while "River" feels like some sort of Woodstock jam that's simply foreign amid the rest of Opeth's finer works. "Eternal Rains Will Come" strikes as one of few memorable tracks on Pale Communion and it's not hard to see why - it and "Moon Above, Sun Below" bear the brunt of Opeth's historical sound on this album, while the relevancy of much of the rest is gone with the wind. Was this expected after Heritage? Sure - but does that make it any more acceptable? Certainly not. This is a well-defined, if experimental group that's somehow gone back to a school of musical thought that was prevalent forty plus years ago. We've come to expect forward thinking from Opeth - experimentation, combining genres in new and exciting ways, playing on your expectations of the dark with the light and vice versa, but what we get fromPale Communion is mostly a second full delving into a theory of the past with little to be said for innovation. So, sure, it's a solid prog album, but it's boring because, well, let's face it, if you're looking to do something new, you don't rip off something old.

You might find this helpful: http://slickdeals.net/f/7165268-us-mattress-labor-day-sale-simmons-beautyrest-recharge-world-class-firm-luxury-firm-or-plush-queen-689-beautyrest-hypoallergenic-pillows-6-more-with-free-shipping?sdxt01=internal&sdxt02=Deal+Bit&sdxt03=For+Thread+7165268&sdxt04=slickdealsindex This was the sale I was referring to in my past post. The mattress you want is in the link on massive sale. Just make sure you read the entire thread. US Mattress has polarized reviews, but most people like them. And for those prices? Damn. Also, if you are good at haggling, you might be able to get a local store to match those prices - many people have in the past. It's worth a shot if you decide you want to go with the Simmons. Finally, once you go King, there is no going back. Beds are just like TVs.

Nope, it makes perfect sense. Read it again and your welcome PM.

Well alright then: A good music box is made when the TV Bottle takes the song from the music player and makes it bigger. With this bigger song a group of TV bottles can make a small song very strong. This strong song can be given to your music making boxes which will fill the room with good sound. If you do not use the TV bottles right or you use any three legged pieces of shit your sound may not be good. How we will all laugh at your problems then. If you do good and make a good music box people will pay you for this. If you do bad and make bad things people will pay you more. Some people will pay lots of money for the song moving sticks even though it is the same as any other. Some people think that something (I don't know what) makes some song moving sticks very good even though they don't know either.

Happy Birthday!

I do believe we have found the default response to the clueless that wander over here. That or Dusty's dick post.

From their FAQ (fucking love these people!): Q: Over the past decade and a half, I have been assembling the highest-performance system in the universe, comprised of a Scintillant Mega-Complex Uber-Transport, a Pinnacassio Modum 14 TransQuantum DAC, quad Puissance Series Seven Monoblocks (Rev 2 with new Series Z Output Transformers, hand-wound by Buddhist monks, of course), Bi-wired through Cantessa Gate Limited Edition Oxidized Gold cables to Stratoz Kemplaflammar Gas-Plasma full-range speakers. Do you think your new amp has the performance to match this system, and why? Please include a 1550-word or more dissertation on the design principles employed in this amplifier, including cryo-treating (which components), types of premium fuses used, type of wiring used internally, whether or not the PC board has been treated for maximum neutrality in a Black Gate Field, and other important considerations. A: What? I fell asleep reading this. Q: Ahem, I am a very important person! I have spend $55,000 last year alone in assembling the ultimate listening system on planet Earth. I— A: Ah, right. Gotcha. Unfortunately, we are not qualified to dispense psychoactive medications nor consult in matters of psychology. Nor do our products come with a psychologist, either standard or as an option. The shipping is brutal, and the psychologists don’t like it too much. Q: Why, I never! What cheek! I will tell all my friends about your lack of respect for a true audiophile! You’ll never work in this town again! A: Cool. Please do. Remind them we make cheap gear, maybe they need presents for their less-fortunate relatives.

Just saw this. Beyond cool. I had to get one.

I think you'd like Primordial, Dusty. And Arcturus? Shit! Probably going to be ICS Vortex, but I really like him as well as Garm. I doubt Garm will ever record/tour with them, but it could make for a cool Roth/Hagar style tour if they were both on board

Happy Birthday!

Epic indeed. Hilarious poses, Tyll. Happy belated. Hope it was a good one.

A short while ago, I did some serious research into beds, because I thought we were going to get one. It was spurred on by the US Mattresses holiday deals I kept seeing on slickdeals. We ended up sticking with the one we have for monetary reasons only. I have the exact bed I want, ready to pull the trigger when the boss says so. All that to say that I seriously suggest you look into latex beds (latex molded into latex foam to be precise). I am just not sold on memory foam, although there are many that are. Here is where our next bed will come from: http://www.foamsweetfoam.com/ The foundation will come from Amazon though - too much markup from that site.

Maytags have been made by Whirlpool since about 2006. Perhaps it was a Whirlpool in Maytag clothing

Yep, that's the brand. Boring but durable as hell.

It's not at best buy, but of you are after durability and none of the frilly (and expensive to repair) shit, look no further than Speed Queen. We have one, and it can get blazing hot. If our cheapie washer breaks down, I'm replacing it with a Speed Queen as well. This is what we have: http://www.speedqueen.com/home/en-us/products/product.aspx?id=334

A little late to this but, good stuff, eh? Very creative band. Oh, and:

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Yeah, I was just thinking aloud regarding OS control. It works well for Apple to keep it as is, even if I don't agree. Oh, Crappy, if you are going the RMA route with Newegg, expect a refurb. I strongly urge you to cut your losses and try a different avenue.

Well this got interesting. I will preface that I loathe Apple's way of locking everything down and making parts proprietary (main reason why I own nothing from Apple), but I was wondering about the licencing of the OS: why not tie the 20 dollar version to a serial number of a machine and offering a "Hacintosh" version for a higher price for those that want to build their own systems (and usually have the brains to troubleshoot potential problems). Seems like a win win to me.

I am not familiar with the Hackintosh compatibility list, so oversight on my part. If the packing was as bad as I am envisioning it, I would send it all back if nothing else than for piece of mind. Either way, good luck.

Crappy, if it was me, and I am rather anal about computer builds, I would send everything back for a refund and buy from someplace else. I only buy from newegg because the selection is great for certain parts, and I can pick it up locally from them. Here are my thoughts: 1. Try an Asus or MSI board at present. The big three go back and forth periodically as to who has the best board for the money, but right now, it seems Asus and MSI are slightly less problematic. I'd go Asus, but that's my personal preference right now. 2. Please, please, please buy hard drives locally every time. Even if they are a bit more. They are finicky little bastards, and your data is important. If you have the chance, go HGST (Hitachi) whatever size you want. If no them, go WD. Yes, I know that WD owns HGST now, but everything I have read, those two are 1 and 2 as far as reliability. Usually most stores carries at least one of those brands. 3. Amazon for everything else.