Francko wrote:

While you're at it, check out the new Arcturus album, which is the best album I've heard this year in any genre (although Nurse With Wound's "Man With The Woman Face" is also top-notch). The perfect post-modern metal album.

I'd like to respectfully, personally disagree. I found Arcturus' SHAM MIRRORS to be kind of mediocre and cheesy. Not that this is a hard-cast criterion, but it didn't seem very heavy, nor terribly complex; the synthesizer sounds seemed like goofy stock presets, and the variation between ideas and genres seemed a lot more staid and monochromatic than descriptions of the album led me to believe. And I'm not sure how Garm's voice could be controversial to anyone (I remember some talk about how his voice wasn't to the liking of a number of folks, like that alone might be a stumbling block to enjoyment of the music), as it's a clean, showtune-belting, semi-operatic clean kind of affair, Mike Patton Lite. (When Ihsahn comes in toward the in end of the record, it's a definite "oh shit!" kind of moment, and a nice contrast.) Speaking of Patton, the spectre of Faith No More's ANGEL DUST would seem (to me) to hang all over this record like a cheap suit: style, execution, method, sounds....that clean, chrome, burnished prog pastiche metal kind of thing. I'm trying to get into interesting metal stuff, and Meshuggah's CHAOSPHERE completely blew me away, and my impression of Solefald's PILLS TO CURE..., Candiria's 300% DENSITY (take that, "nu metal"!), and Dillinger Escape Plan's CALCULATING INFINITY (awesome hardcore-tinged metal, or vice versa?) was almost as strong. I'm mainly disappointed that SHAM MIRRORS didn't seem to hold up (to my few listenings) to the fascinating descriptions of Arcturus that I've read. Is LA MASQUERADE INFERNAL different? More metal recommendations are always welcome, as long as the List brooks it... Thanks for tolerating my newbie meanderings. -------s __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com