Art vs bull

Alrighty this is probably my last entry... So yeah how to distinguish art from just utter crapola.

For many years I took art class at high school because i thought I wasnt too bad at being creative. But then it occured to me, how can you mark art? art is a expression that is only unique to you.. How can you slap a mark on it from someonelses perspective? Basically, why should I draw or paint something to fit the teachers taste so I can get a high mark? this is bribery.

I mean look at those splatter paintings, if i was the first to develop the method my art teacher would definately burn it and bury the ashes. How can you critique a painting?

Another thing that is bothering me is all this hype on photography. I mean even I suck at photography yet all I have to do is get a good focus going and put it in black and white. Oooooo look at it its sooo emotional and deep. Maybe Ill put it on facebook and let all my friends see my unique talent. I might come across as being a jerk but hey thats how it comes out. The fact is that 90% of those wanna be grade whatever photographers dont know how to ACTUALLY EXPRESS THEIR ART IN A SINGLE PHOTO. Any three year old can take a picture and put it through paint and convert to greyscale. Photography is capturing a moment or essence on a photo, Not taking a bathroom photo with your friends and put it on facebook for attention.

Just a thought

I was a random party in Courtice last weekend, where I met some interesting people with a devoted passion for their type of music. I always find it interesting to listen to peoples opinions and struggles about their passion for music. So at about 1 in the morning we staggered outside lit a smoke and talked about his music and lifestyle; the life of punk...

This kid was younger than me and had a bright green, badly shaven mohawk, ripped jean jacket with studs and patches of bands and a rather selective vocabulary that i wont bother to censor out. Anywho, we talked about having different passions for our music, he said he could tell i liked metal since i entered the room. So we began talking about the image of punk vs the image of metal. Apparently, we concluded they have the same way of life, and same thoughts almost. We also concluded that both genres also have the fake poserish image that defies all of what the genre stands for. I cant remember anything else after that but yeahh.

DRUGS AND MUSIC

Hmmm it occured to be last weekend that the old artists who created the most outstanding music were all really druggies haha. about 90% of classic rock tunes have drug and booze references, and guess what? it fricken rocks! Think of it, The Beatles, The Doors, King Crimson and even Jimi Hendrix who totally revoloutionized guitar playing as we know it; were all not sober to say the least.

I think that having that influence definately pushes the boundaries and creativity of any musician, i do not recommend anything but there definately is a pattern between that psychedelic trance vs the music itself.

Maybe thats why todays music is lacking... substance.

Honestly who gives a sh*t about Downloading!

What a overused topic... Should people download music?

As corporate labels and record owners make their millions by telling
crappy artists how to fit into a trend, people end up downloading the one hit single. The fact of the matter is that these presidents of these huge labels take like 85% of the share from the artist so of course they are hungry for more. I always envisioned these money driven labels as a fat man in a suit smoking a cigar driving a expensive car. "The man" as people call it, is now in the music buisness which is very very sad.

To me music is definately not about the money, sure they need somewhere to sleep but hey I would say half the crappy artists on MTV live the royalty life where they dont even get any control of their music. They are corporate biatches and i would never call them musicians. Sure you need a label to promote yourself and spread your music around.. but to be bathing in a tub made out of gold seems not right. Back in the day, musicians had to STRUGGLE to get recognized and had to actually write awesome music unlike todays artists where the labels look for bands fitting a trend and offer them a chained record deal (where they control what you write, where you record, and how you look) They are FAKE basturds and they want a pretty penny for your whiny music.


So honestly who gives a sh*t about downloading music when the whole aspect of being a musician is to promote your art.

Wolven Ancestry - Canadian Black Metal from Sudbury

www.myspace.com/wolvenancestry

The Canadian band Wolven Ancestry proves to be the leading unsigned black metal band of Ontario. They have opened for major bands like 1349, Dark Funeral, Impaled Nazarene, Satyricon and many more. Their sound is very unique but you can hear the obvious influences of the old school black metal sound. Personally, I have seen the band play live twice and each time they delivered a strong and trancing performance. Their latest release is the album "Wrath of Gaia" where it consists of atmospheric and intriguing melodies. I find it interesting that the bands messages consist of primarily native Canadian ideals and a bit of Scandinavian folk. They seem to associate themselves with wolves and use alot of imagery to convey a chilling sound. When I think of this band , I think of winter, nature and wolves haha. Nonetheless, this band proves that Canada has one of the best underground black metal scenes in the world. I recommend you check out this band and catch them at a show in your area!

Norwegian Black Metal: Unique, Church Burnings, Ideals?

Among my favourite subgenres of metal is Black metal. It is the most contraversial, authentic type of music there is today. If you haven't heard of this type of music then read the article on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_metal

When the average listener first hears black metal, they instantly repute it as noise, extreme and satanic. Almost all of this true as Norways biggest export is this type of music. This is not suprising because of Norways reputation as a peaceful religious country. The important factor of black metal is that it is primarily a underground genre that even most metalheads and artists have never even heard of - well at least until the arsons...

After several church burnings, murder of other musicians and other radical things, Black metal starts making headlines in newspapers and tv shows. These images of the music and clips from bands spark a sense of fear in Norway and to the rest of the world- as it should since these are acts of extremities from extreme people. Call them criminals, hooligans, terrorists or whatever but these musicians are radical thinkers, poets, philosphers and they are not afraid to do what they believe.

I guess a good question to ask is "What attracts people into this murder music?" the answer: because it is not just music but a way of thinking and a view of life. More importantly theres are many belief influences associated with different black metal bands! There is Satanic, Viking, Folk, and Pagan Black metal. What I hate is how people just think Black metal is just about Satanism, which I think to be the weaker form of black metal. Sure Satan is cool and I can list hundreds of bands that call themselves "Satanic black metal" but do they ALL spend the time to do these rituals and attend the church of Satan? probably not. But in despite, it is the more popular type because of its "image" and extreme form of music. I do hate it when fellow "Black metallers" bash other black metal bands because their image and music isnt evil or satanic enough, I always laugh when people say Norway makes the best black metal in the world.

Canadian Metal Scene vs the World

As a Canadian musician, you may find it tough and struggling to promote
your band to locals and rest of the world. The fact of the matter is, that it is seemingly hard to compete with the U.S. whom has more population, more diversity and hell of alot more labels.

The Canadian metal scene is on a hiatus, I know this of course because I am a struggling musicians dealing with small promoters and apathetic fans. The question that taunts me is Why?, why do people rather stay at home and listen to a bands music rather than seeing the band live in support?

The answer: the internet... I know it seems like a joke but it isnt. In todays society the fact of it is, is that everyone is constantly connected to the world. Whether it is myspace, facebook (ugh), itunes, TV, radio; people realize they don't need to support artists, they have a constant connection to them all the time, everyday, around the world. I'm not saying that it is a bad thing but it definately takes a huge toll in the scene. Comparing to the 80's or whatever, where they had limited form of connection really made the music scene ALIVE, fans attended concerts for recreation and really wanted to hear the band play.

In contrast to that, Canadian artists have to do THAT much better than the rival U.S. bands, maybe that is why Canada has been reputed as a consistent quality of music. Bands like Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, Woods of ypres and other rising bands all were that struggling band but had to put that extra spice to make their music stand out from the rest of the world.

It is that quality that makes Canada a underground metal nation, if only the Canadian metal fans support Canadian music instead of all these other countries; then Canada will have the recognizition it deserves!

- Matt
http://myspace.com/paganritual