Archive for February, 2008

PE injection

Posted in Music on 13:22, February 8th, 2008

condom_bible.jpgI’ve got 3 nice power electronics releases recently: CON-DOM – “Holy Bible” this is the latest studio work of this old british industrial act. The release has just two tracks 10 mins each, filled with anti-christian scorn as usual. Also, the music itself is quite different from the previous works of the artist, it’s more eerie and not that brutal, but still has that special CON-DOM’s atmosphere. Released on the finnish noise label Freak Animal operated by another heavy electronics act Grunt.

lacomunidad23.jpgSecond CD is La Comunidad – “Bastion 23 G.P.”. This is second album of this German harsh noise project. The music is similar to their previous work and still brings harsh noise, politics and conspiracy. If you’re familiar with L.White records and like their releases you’re not gonna miss this one.

exorder_corporate.jpgAnd finally is long awaited by me Ex.Order – “Corporate Control”. Very well done low-fi industrial loaded with politic themes. As with every Ex.Order releases this one is somewhat different from its predecessors and is steady progress forward. Released on german Power and Steel label which is a division of the well known Loki Foundation.

General Gaming

Posted in Games on 12:56, February 8th, 2008

cod4.jpgIf you still think that I’m completely consumed by WoW, you’re kinda wrong, because I have some time for the other games. I’d like to tell a couple of words about the three games that pleased me a lot and which I’m gonna play in the nearest future. First game that I’ve bought for myself on x-mas off Steam is Call of Duty 4. Initially I thought that this is gonna be reallife boredom with general shooting. But no! The game took me tight and released only after I finished it 6 hours later. It is really addictive and has cool looking visuals. But not that plastic type of visuals that are inherent to the most modern games like Doom3, it’s really proper next-gen that doesn’t irritate the eye. The gameplay is very dynamic and won’t let you relax in a minute. There were some situations where I was really scared or I was really proud when “we” (me and the squad of bots) managed to win certain battle. Proper AI of as enemies as companions makes this game flawless. Add here nice small things like grabbing flying away helicopter and squad commander is helping you to get on board, etc. make this game very rich and remarkable. Don’t miss it really, this is what all modern games must be!

256px-puzzle_quest_psp.jpgSecond game is nothing else than Puzzle Quest. Don’t stare at me! I blame Steam for that! Really, the game turned to be so cool that I got hooked immediately after trying the demo. Developers managed to mix casual Bejeweled (which I also like) and some kind of hardcore RPG and succeeded. This game is so addictive it’s scary. The base of the game is pure randomness and you try to survive through it using your class abilities. Thus, you can make your enemy to skip the turn or damage him greatly by moving figures on board as u wish, he in his turn uses the same tricks against you. It’s very easy to play and has that element of suddenness which makes it so attractive. I also discovered that the game is available for PSP and other platforms which makes it even better. Maybe I’ll get it for PSP one day. Try the demo and you’ll be hooked I guarantee ;)

256px-dc_box_art.jpgAnd last but not least comes Dawn of War: The Dark Crusade. Then again, it’s all Steam’s tricks. Goddamn games are at hand now, it’s so easy to buy them I’m gonna go bankrupt soon. They sell DoW Platinum pack with 3 games in it for real cheap price and I got hooked by this offer. Long story short: DoW is a top RTS. Gameplay is challenging and fun at the same time. Units are cool looking, almost like those action figures from the table game of Warhammer 40k. The sounds they yell are also quite atmospheric. Developers also added global map where you decide what country you gonna attack and you can play the game for any race from available 7! That’s amazing. Of course I took Chaos side and started devastating silly Imperial Guards with my army of darkness. Upon finishing Dark Crusade I’ll play Winter Assault and the next addon Soulstorm should be ready at that time ;)

So, now I feel like a fish which caught on all the hooks Steam placed all over their site… But “I’m not a fish! I’m a man!

Lords of Chaos

Posted in Books, Music on 12:23, February 8th, 2008

200px-lords_of_chaos.jpgFinally, after buying this book 2 years ago I got to read it. Well, it brought nostalgic feeling and submerged me to that dim era of early Black Metal. I remember myself discovering this genre and seeking for the Black Metal records back in 1994. This genre completely changed my views on music in general, I took it rather seriously and now I’m stained with darkness for ever hopefully :)В  The book is an attempt to look at the Black Metal scene from beyond. It describes all sinister things that happened in the early 90s and later. It tells about the development of the Black Metal as a genre and about various underground circles and movements. The impression from the book is like from some BBC documentary: a lot of things pulled there to create mysterious atmosphere and speculate on pure facts, but there’s no any mysticism really. At the same time there’re nice interviews with the key people of the scene, which could hint unready reader about the situation properly. If you’re an old time black metaler you don’t need this book as you know everything yourself. But if you’re passing by man who likes to widen his views on life, this book might give you some idea (even a bit wrong maybe) about underground music in general. Just don’t take too seriously what’s written there….