francis

Better to spend an afternoon studying the penal code than to listen to that damn Lynyrd Skynyrd like you do!!

Ringhiostarr, I CARE about being unpleasant to you, I CARE.

To explain myself better, I leave you with this maxim from the famous theater critic Ennio Flaiano: "I feel disgust for those who draw mustaches on the Mona Lisa, but I have nothing to say against those who stab her"... let those who want to understand, understand!

And far from you is the accusation of "Satanism": but who the hell is Satan? What does he represent for me? I don't give a damn about the devil: for me, it's all iconography, all representation... I reviewed Deicide from a metaphorical, representative perspective, giving an interpretation of their messages that is probably unconscious in the very intentions of this group. I could be wrong, but I did it. That's how I see it; there isn't much to discuss, especially since I'm not a fan of death metal... in the slogan "fuck your god," there is a whole range of interpretations that cannot be limited to simple "blasphemy," because if we want to stay in these terms, the first man who blasphemed in history was actually Jesus Christ while suffering on the cross... or am I mistaken? The discussion is much deeper than these petty squabbles among nuns, let me tell you... and in any case, this is not the best context to address it. After all, this is just a damn review of a mediocre album.

I don't care about the reason why someone comes to read my reviews... I'm not here to engage in street brawls, to sweat it out... I'll leave those things to the porters and laborers. And since I don't consider myself a manual worker of writing, I have neither the pretense nor the intent to stir up this or that controversy. I don't care. I've written many reviews on many different artists (often almost the opposite), I've written about Pavement and Avril Lavigne, the Smiths and Robbie Williams. I believe I perfectly embody the spirit of this site, precisely because I'm not here to be a journalist (also because reviews like mine, or like those of Nickghostdrake, are not found in music magazines). I'm not God, you see. I've rejected that role: I don't need it to be at peace with myself. I'm not in competition with anyone and I don't want to preach to anyone about my opinions: I present a point of view, I don't claim that you should acclaim me (even though I think you would do well to, but that's just my opinion), insult me if it makes you feel better. There's no blasphemy in my words, because I myself hate blasphemy, and if I've talked about the lyrics of Deicide it's precisely because I've gone beyond the "blasphemies": I have evaluated, surpassed, and analyzed them.

So it’s not me who has to bow to the stereotypes of death metal, but rather death metal that should thank me for having elevated it with this review... as for the last two little questions, the first referred to a track by Deicide called "Fuck Your God" (hence the paradox) and the second to a line from a Swedish band whose name escapes me, but that has stuck with me.

This sentence explains itself; what the hell is there to explain further? When I write "Glen Benton is the representation, to the extreme consequences (sometimes caricatured), of the frustration and sense of repression of the contemporary man... the reflection against religion is just one aspect of a whole series of considerations that could be made but that for reasons of time I must leave pending. And we are still in the same (mined) territory as people like Nietzsche and Martin Luther," it’s clear that I'm not putting Deicide and Nietzsche on the same level (just like with the Williams/Cohen story: how about learning to read?) because I say that if one were to delve into a discussion like this, they would be entering a MINED territory in the literal sense of the word. Mine was simply an "external" point of view, certainly much more interesting than that of some metalhead: because I found in the lyrics of this band something much deeper and metaphorical than the usual flat interpretations from the newspapers.

This sentence speaks for itself, what the hell is there to explain further? When I then write "Glen Benton is the representation, to the extreme consequences (sometimes caricatured), of the frustration and sense of repression of modern man... the reflection against religion is just one aspect of a whole series of considerations that could be made but that, for reasons of time, I have to leave pending. And we are anyway in the same (mined) territory as people like Nietzsche and Martin Luther," it is clear that I am not equating Deicide and Nietzsche (just like in the Williams/Cohen story: can’t you learn to read?), because I say that if one wants to delve into a discussion like that, one enters a MINED territory in the true sense of the word. My was merely an "external" point of view, certainly much more interesting than that of some metalhead: because I found in the lyrics of this band something much deeper and metaphorical than the usual flat interpretations from newspapers.

This sentence explains everything by itself; what the hell is there to explain further? What’s so obscure about it? It’s perfectly clear. Then when I write, "Glen Benton is the representation, to the extreme consequences (sometimes caricatural), of the frustration and sense of repression of contemporary man... the reflection against religion is just one aspect of a whole series of considerations that could be made but which, for reasons of time, I must leave pending. And we are still in the same MINED territory as people like Nietzsche and Martin Luther," it’s clear that I’m not putting Glen Benton and Nietzsche on the same level (always the same story, just like the fake comparison Williams/Cohen: can you learn to read?) and in fact, I write that we are in MINED territory, precisely in the sense that if one dares to delve into it, the risk of blowing up is extremely high... it’s still a death metal album... but the lyrics aren’t bullshit; I’ve found something deeper and metaphorical that I simply wanted to highlight. It may also be that I'm mistaken; on the other hand, I'm not a fanatic of the genre... my comments are "external," but certainly much more interesting than those that can be written by a metalhead with "YOHAA!" and similar nonsense.

It seems we all agree that the album isn't that great: in fact, three stars are even too many, but this choice was also made to show a side of this band that is not covered by specialized magazines... these are things I discovered myself first!
So I invite those who come out with the usual two-bit comments and those calling for the intervention of the carabinieri for some phrases I've written, TO READ CAREFULLY: I write "The viewpoint of Deicide is clarified almost explicitly, to the point where no further explanations are necessary: the prophets lie, don't waste your life at the mercy of a sacrifice that will only lead you to be a servant once again, rebel against your condition as a man enslaved by the machine. The concepts, rendered in obviously much less 'political' terms, are thrown in the ears of those who listen amidst riffs that grind death and suffering, but it's a suffering from those who trust their own rage to overturn a coin that has never landed on their side."