Finish Me

Granted that Metallica are one of the biggest metal bands of all time, still I've always wondered if they deserve the fame. Listening to some classic Metallica tunes today, focusing on the excellent 'Master Of Puppets' album - I can confirm than they really are that good. They have some of the most memorable hooks I've ever listened to and some very catchy smart lyrics. The guitar work is simpler than that of today's metal bands. Bullet For My Valentine, for example, were a Metallica cover band at their conception - highlighting the sheer importance on the band to the genre. Bands like Bullet For My Valentine are arguably better than Metallica, but they are not really doing anything new. Apart from the slightly quicker tempo and heavier sound they are pretty much a 21st century edition of Metallica. In my opinion, they will never reach the dizzy heights of Metallica's fame. This is because of one main reason; Metallica got their first they (among other bands of the time) gave birth to this style of music. The conviniently named Metallica are a deserving representative of the type of music they play. I get the feeling that they've already peaked and the forth-coming album will be a case of the old gents desperatingly trying t cling to and surpass their previous achievements. Only time will tell...

Pascal x

Review Of 'Never Again' & 'Awaken The Dreamers' from the forth-coming 'All Shall Perish' album

'Never Again' is a a consists of a complex set of technical riffs, piercing vocals and a concurrent breakdown. The song is broken up by slightly sub-dued sections i which only the vocals and guitars can be heard. This is not anything new, and is distinctly reminiscent of some Eternal Lord songs off the new album. The title track - 'Awaken the Dreamers' is slightly more of a head-banger than the previous one. Some extremely clever guitar work stand out, and All Shall Perish even manage to chuck in some supporting vocals in the background, which remind me slightly of As I Lay Dying's new album. The new tracks are distinctly quieter and less 'brutal'. And despite All Shall Perish heading in a new direction the drums are still as integral to the songs as before, the instruments are somewhat less predictable and feel fresher. This album doesn't sound like it will alienate any long-time fans or listeners, but it more subdued than their previous offerings. I can't wait until the album is released as I've been deeply impressed by what I've heard so far. It even makes me want to spin the previous album 'The Price Of Existence' in my iPod, sweet.

Pascal x

The One In Which Master Chief Misplaces His Battle Rifle

I am still having problems with Firefox 3, with the browser crashing on one of my most visited websites - facebook. It's a real shame, the browser showed so much promise when I first acquired it, it still managed to be relatively quick even with all it's features, hardly draining any precious resources when operating. I've a feeling that the fault rests with the aged Windows XP computer I'm running Firefox 3 on, it may be denial but I find it strange that I haven't had such problems with the browser before, whilst errors with XP are a periodic event that I've got used to. Today is the heavily anticipated Bungie Day, despite my excitement - I don't actually have a copy of Halo 3 to exploit to the fullest extent thus my day of 'head-shots' and 'triple kills' has been nipped in the bud.

Pascal x

The One In Which Firefox 3 Fizzles Out

I have been an avid Firefox 3 fan for a few weeks now. It did everything right, fast loading with some extremely cool add-ons thrown in for good measure. It has however started crashing randomly on webpages I haven't had problems with before. Hopefully this won't pessist because Firefox has become integral to my online activity, making all my bookmarks and blog feeds easily accessible in a seamless way. I'm writing this brief blog using the latest Opera browser - and so far apart from the updated skin, it's not that great. The loading times are distintly longer than those are experienced whilst using my adored Firefox 3. I blame Microsoft for their crap operting system and not Mozilla, Firefox is not the only program that's crashed and displayed the same annoying dialog box. *Sigh* Hopefully I won't have to put up with it for long.

Pascal x

The One In Which FFAF Is Just Another Line In My Blog & I Boycott Coca Cola

I went to see Funeral For A Friend last night at the the KCLSU. Their performance was strategically made up of a selection from their entire back and incoming catalogue. The songs that particularly stood out for me where 'She Drove Me To Daytime Television' & 'Junea'. The lead singer tried his hand comedy with some fairly digusting jokes inbetween songs and failed to make me chuckle. It didn't help that the average age of the audience was 15. Apart from the health but unwanted collection of new songs they played it was a fairly good show which ultimately didn't raise my blood pressure all that much.

About a year ago, I learnt of Coca Cola's exploits in India in a video in one of my Geography lessons. Unfortuantely I didn't take that much notice. The general gist of what they were doing was taking precious water resources from the Indian farmers who needed them for their irrigation schemes, and the general public who were short of drinking water as a result of the Coca Cola factories. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd rather eat some nice food and have some water to drink than pick up a bottle of Coke anyday. Taste however pales in magnitude compared to the other atrocities the fat cats are responsible for. Just look at this webpage 'http://www.labour.ie/youth/campaigns/index/20040908125109.html'. It doesn't take a rocket scientist & brain surgeon to work out that the logical way to try to improve conditions for the people in the affected regions is to never pick up a bottle that has an affiliation to the Coca Cola Company again. From this day onward, the company will not have me fuelling the injustice they commit on a day to day basis. If that's not enough tot inspire a reaction, the amount of chemicals and toxins found in the drinks do anything but promote good health.

Pascal x

The One In Which I'm Young And Aspiring

One of the quintessential venues of the major events of my teenage years has to be Richmond Park, in Kingston. I spent the entire afternoon there today, older and indeed - wiser? I can only assume so. There was a dog at the picnic, and I couldn't stop myself from making the connection between a socially accepted companion, and something like chicken that's only observed as a foodstuff. You don't need any studies to confirm that animals have feelings, including that animal on your plate. Ignorance is bliss (talk about a meaningless cop-out cliche). Today was quite a strange one, I haven't touched Halo 3 and have only just logged on to my computer. These kind of things are few and far between. I do enjoy days like these, where above anything else; I feel free.

The One In Which 'My Eyes Begin To Moisten'

I haven't written in a while, but nothing much has changed. If you're wondering what the topic of the blog post refers to, don't worry - it's an insided joke that only one person woul laugh at. Apart from getting me hari done (hurrah), I've been taking pleasure in doing as little of anything as possible whilst putting in some serious Halo 3 playtime. I haven't actually progressed that much, but that's only part of the experience. I've actually met some cool people on xbox live, and my presumption that the famed online service is full of potty-mouthed jerks has been challenged. I haven't really been thinking about that future all that much, so at the very least Halo 3 is a very good distraction. I've started reading 'The Good Soldier Svejk' by Jaroslav Hasek, and it is one of the funniest books I've ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. It reads as a series of anecdotes, and short deviations for the plot, much in the same way that Family Guy has flashbacks which are not at all connected to the story. The chapters themselves are many and it reads quickly with illustrations about every ten pages accentuating what you see in your mind's eye. It's definetely a book which is off the beaten path in terms of what I would normally pick up, but I'm glad I gave this one a chance. I won't go into the Zimbabwean secondary run-off election because that just gets me upset. All I know is that the man's days are numbered - and the country will eventually be free of his death-grip.

Pascal x