BLS in Calgary

Last Saturday night was a big night for metal in Calgary, with Sabaton returning to The Palace and Black Label Society playing at the University of Calgary. I already had a ticket for BLS before I was aware Sabaton would be in town, but I saw Joakim and the boys from Falun last year, so I was happy with my choice. BLS had Eyehategod and freakin' Corrosion of Conformity opening for them. I would've paid to see CoC as a headliner. Sadly, I missed pretty much all of Eyehategod's set waiting in line to get through security. That's what you have to put up with when you take in a show at the U. Nonetheless, the rest of the show was amazing.

Fronted by the immortal Pepper Keenan, CoC played a solid set that leaned heavily on their classic albums from the 90s. I especially enjoyed Vote with a Bullet, Albatross and Who's Got the Fire. Now I'm really hoping for that on-again, off-again Down reunion.

Then it was time for Black Label Society, with frontman and guitar god, Zakk Wylde.

Zakk Wylde is an absolute madman, pounding his chest and his guitar in equal measure. BLS played for over two hours with many songs bleeding into one another such that at times you weren't sure what they were playing. The set combined songs from their new album Grimmest Hits with an excellent selection of older stuff, especially from the albums 1919 Eternal, The Blessed Hellride and Mafia. It was at times poignant, such as the performance of In this River in tribute to the late Dimebag Darrell. Other times, it was sheer madness, especially when Zakk went on a ten minute guitar solo playing Fire It Up while walking through the crowd with a train of roadies following behind him carrying his audio cable aloft. The virtuosity of this man cannot be overstated. He is arguably the greatest heavy metal guitarist in the world today. Great show and one more thing off my bucket list!

-Rognar-

My favourite things of 2017

Let's face it, 2017 has not been a great year. Our friends to the south seem to be going through a bit of a rough patch right now and nerves are frayed everywhere. Still, it's not all bad and in this little corner of the internet, we like to concentrate on the positives. In that spirit, I am going to highlight my favourite movie, music and game releases of the year.

Movies:
I saw quite a few movies this year. Some were very good (Wonder Woman, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.2, Dunkirk, Blade Runner 2049). Some were enjoyable, but flawed (Justice League, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kong: Skull Island). Some were immediately forgettable (The Dark Tower). But for me, the best movie of the year was...(drumroll please)...Logan. Man, did this movie speak to me. Having recently entered my second half century, I could feel every ache and pain Logan endured in his daily life. I don't have an adamantium claw that keeps getting stuck, but my knees are shot and I have an old shoulder injury that hasn't stopped hurting in five years. The struggle of dealing with an increasingly demented Charles Xavier and an uncommunicative "daughter" resonated with own life navigating fatherhood and aging parents. Logan was gut-wrenching, but I was feeling every minute of it. A superhero movie for Generation X.

Music:

It wasn't a great year in music, although seeing Sabaton in concert was certainly the highlight for me. As far as new releases go, I am going to divide up my picks into three categories, both because they cover the three kinds of music I love most; rock, metal and country, but also because the three best albums of the year fit this categorization. In the rock category, you have to look at newcomers, Greta Van Fleet. This foursome made up of the brothers Kiszka (Josh, Sam and Jake) and drummer Danny Wagner are the reincarnation of Led Zeppelin. I'm not kidding, these guys really sound like Zeppelin. Listen to Highway Tune or Safari Song from their 2017 double EP From the Fires and you'll swear you were listening to some unreleased Led Zeppelin B-side from the 70s.

In the metal category, wow, 2016 was awesome, huh? Metallica came back with a vengeance. And speaking of vengeance, Avenged Sevenfold had a pretty awesome album drop too.  Wait...oh right, this is 2017. Hmmm, Mastodon had a new album out that some people liked I guess. Kind of slim pickings this year. For me, I will go back to that Sabaton tour and a little known band from Finland called Battle Beast that opened along with Leaves' Eyes and damn near upstaged the headliners. My metal album of the year is Bringer of Pain by Battle Beast.

As for country, it was Chris Stapleton all the way. Following up his 2015 chart-topping debut Traveller, Stapleton released two albums in 2017; From A Room: Volume 1 and From A Room: Volume 2. It is from this second 2017 release that I select my 2017 Song of the Year: Scarecrow in the Garden, a haunting ballad sung by a farmer in West Virginia lamenting the state of the land today compared to when his father and grandfather worked it, and his fear that the biblical End Times may be coming soon.

Games:

We've all been waiting for this one and really, is there any doubt? The game release of 2017 is, of course, the Starfinder Core Rulebook. Not only is this the biggest new release by Paizo since the original publication of Pathfinder, but it has also been a source of much speculation regarding a future new edition of the game. Could the game mechanics of Starfinder serve as a template for some future Pathfinder 2.0? Now that would be cool!

May we all have a safe and prosperous 2018.

-Rognar-

Sabaton in Calgary

Sabaton is, without a doubt, one of my favourite bands. In fact, I would say it is probably my favourite to come on the scene in the post-NWBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal for the woefully uninformed). I and a couple of the lads had the opportunity to see them live last night and what a blast it was. But first, the preliminaries; there were two opening acts. The show started with the Norwegian-German Goth metal band Leaves' Eyes. Their set was solid, starting off with Halvdane the Black, probably my favourite of their hits. The band is known for their "Beauty and the Beast" vocals, contrasting the clean soprano of the new lead vocalist Elina Siirala with the deep growls of Alexander Krull. The highlight of their set was Krull in Viking armour, waving a longsword while belting out Blazing Waters.

Next up was the Finnish power metal group, Battle Beast. I didn't know much about this band before last night, but I am now a real fan. They turned up the energy to 11 and never let up. The mosh pit really came to life with Familiar Hell and Black Ninja, but the highlight for me was King for a Day. These songs will definitely be added to my personal playlist.

Finally, it was time for the headliners and they did not disappoint (like there was any chance of that). Starting off with Ghost Division, about the German 7th Panzer Division in WWII, they ripped through a 90 minute set that leaned heavily on their most recent album, The Last Stand, but included classics from all their previous albums. Many of my most favourite Sabaton songs were performed, including Carolus Rex, Attero Dominatus, Primo Victoria, The Art of War, Resist and Bite and Winged Hussars. There was even a brief, impromptu riff of Michael Jackson's Beat It in a rare display of Joakim Broden guitar playing. These guys were clearly having fun and the crowd was loving every minute of it. Awesome show!

-Rognar-

My favourite things from the last year

The following is a list of the stuff I liked best from 2012. In some cases, the "thing" might be have been released earlier than 2012, but I only discovered it within the last year. Feel free to provide your own lists in the comments.

Favourite book: Anathem by Neil Stephenson. Awesome read, check out my review from back in August.

Favourite movie: The Avengers. Tough call, as I really enjoyed The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey as well.

Favourite game: RuneQuest 6th edition. An odd choice I suppose, since my group plays Pathfinder almost exclusively, but I just think RQ6 is a better game.

Favourite intoxicant: Highland Park single malt scotch...ok, that's the same as 2011...2010...2009...

Favourite news event of 2012: the landing of the Curiosity mars rover. In a year of god-awful news, Curiosity was a beacon of light, a marvel of human ingenuity.

Favourite music: Carolus Rex by Sabaton. Following their usual trend of writing about military history, Sabaton turned their attention to their home country of Sweden. Carolus Rex covers the rise of the Swedish Empire in the 17th century under Gustavus Adolphus, the peak of its power under Charles XII, the devastating defeat against the Russians at the Battle of Poltava in 1709 and the eventual death of Charles XII in battle in 1718.

Favourite sports event of 2012: The Habs are tied for first in the league at the end of the year.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.7

The latest release by Sabaton can best be described as more of the same. Of course, if you liked what they've done in the past, you will probably find little to fault in Coat of Arms. It has the same staccato guitar riffs we've come to expect as well as the usual collection of war-themed songs. This most recent release includes songs dealing with such topics as the Holocaust, the Battle of Thermopylae and Simo Häyhä, famed Finnish sniper from WWII. Solid cuts from the album include "Midway" (about the WWII battle of the same name) and "Wehrmacht" (about the Nazi war machine and the toll of war upon individual soldiers). Sabaton has also returned to the habit of releasing a heavy metal tribute song (called "Metal Ripper"), a tradition they started with Primo Victoria (2005) and Attero Dominatus (2006), but which they abandoned with The Art of War (2008).

-Rognar-

D&D is Metal or Metal is D&D

In the wake of the recent passing of Ronnie James Dio, a lively discussion about the relationship between role-playing games (D&D in particular) and heavy metal music has erupted over at Grognardia. The subject has been thoroughly explored and I agree pretty much with James M's view on this, but with two cultural phenomena so near and dear to me heart, I can't let this pass without something to say.

First off, as a metal fan, the connection between heavy metal and D&D is obvious to me. When you see an album cover featuring an axe-wielding warrior, you don't think jazz or disco. There are exceptions, of course, but typically fantasy art and imagery is associated with metal. This wasn't always the case. Sure, Black Sabbath was dealing with occult themes since its inception, but these early efforts were directed more towards gothic horror. Fantasy themes were more prevalent in the music of Rush and Led Zeppelin, bands which were, at most, proto-metal. When D&D began to expand beyond its midwestern US roots in the late 70s, the dominant force in heavy metal music was the "New Wave of British Heavy Metal" or NWOBHM. The most prominent bands to come out of this movement were Judas Priest (some would argue they predate the NWOBHM), Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon and Venom (also Def Leppard, but they sold out, so screw those guys). In the early days, fantasy themes were not common in the music of the NWOBHM bands. Traditional rock n' roll themes of cars and motorcycles, sex, drugs and crime were more prevalent, along with a smattering of the occult. It was really in the early 80s that fantastical imagery began to take hold in metal, coinciding with the growth of D&D as a cultural phenomenon. I would suggest this was no coincidence and that D&D was influencing heavy metal as much, or more than the music was influencing rpgs.

-Rognar-

Another god is felled

In a week that already brought the sad news of Frank Frazetta's death, another god in the pantheon of my youth has fallen. Ronnie James Dio died today of cancer at the age of 67. Dio rose to prominence in the mid-70s alongside Ritchie Blackmore in the band Rainbow, but his true greatness only became apparent when he took over lead vocals for Black Sabbath following the departure of Ozzy Osbourne. He would later release several solid solo projects through much of the 80s and continued releasing studio albums until 2004, including a brief reunion with Black Sabbath and the release of Dehumanizer in 1992. I will be listening to Sacred Heart on the commute tomorrow.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.6

The latest effort to reconnect with the bands I loved in my youth takes me, once again, to Saxon. The quintet from Yorkshire went off the rails in the mid-80s, attempting to emulate the hair metal sound of bands like Def Leppard and Whitesnake and doing a piss-poor job of it. It wasn't until the 90s that Saxon began to rediscover its NWOBHM roots and produce quality music again. One of their better efforts was the 1999 release Metalhead. Although a bit uneven, there are several solid tracks on the album, including "Are We Travellers in Time", "Sea of Life" and "Conquistador" (which Biff Byford annoyingly insists on pronouncing 'con-KWISS-ta-door'). Saxon, as it turns out, was quite prolific in the 90s, with Forever Free (1992), Dogs of War (1995) and Unleash the Beast (1997) still to come on my list of albums to check out. I can't wait.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.5

What can I say about Apocalyptica? The obvious, four classically-trained cellists (Is that redundant? Are there any other kinds of cellists?) from Finland who use their powers for good, bringing symphonic metal to the masses. Probably best known to North American audiences for their covers on YouTube and their appearance in Some Kind of Monster, a documentary film about Metallica released in 2004, the group has been around since the early '90s. Their most recent studio album, Worlds Collide, was by far their most successful, reaching as high as 59 on the Billboard Top 200 in 2008. As one might expect, Apocalyptica produces an unusual brand of metal, at times symphonic, gothic, progressive, with an occasional track like "I'm Not Jesus" (sung by Corey Taylor of Slipknot), which can only be described as straight up rock and roll. While most metal music works better with fantasy, I feel the Apocalyptica sound lends itself well to a sci-fi rpg setting, especially space opera. This is good news for someone like me who detests techno, the usual music style associated with futuristic campaigns.

-Rognar-

Editorial note: Apocalyptica, Crom, Sabaton, without doubt, everything interesting in heavy metal today is happening in continental Europe. The Scandinavians, Finns and Germans have taken over from the Brits and the Americans as the true powerhouses of metal.

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.4

The late 70s/early 80s was a very influential time for me. My life-long tabletop rpg addiction began then, as did my love for British metal. Bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Motorhead still dominate my music collection. The thing was, back then everyone liked those bands. That's why I had a special place in my heart for Saxon. It wouldn't be fair to say nobody was listening to Saxon back then, but among my circle of friends and acquaintances, I was the only one who really knew the band. So, I was especially saddened when Saxon started to decline in the mid-80s. Like with rpgs, golden age cool was giving way to silver age suck, eventually giving us grunge and "storytelling" games (my apologies to Nirvana and/or White Wolf fans but I'm old, so get off my lawn). Imagine my sheer, untarnished joy when Saxon came out with a truly great album in 2007! The Inner Sanctum is a return to the awesome sound of early Brit metal and to my youth.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.3

Crom is a German heavy metal band, consisting largely of Walter "Crom" Grosse (lead guitar and vocals). Drawing inspiration from Bathory and other bands of the "Viking metal" movement, Crom combines speed metal guitar riffs with pagan and fantastical themes. Grosse is a vocalist of limited range, displaying neither the ear-splitting upper registers common to many metal acts today nor the gravelly low-pitched growls of bands such as Sabaton or Rammstein. However, what Grosse lacks as a vocalist, he more than makes up for as a top tier shredder.

The most recent release by Crom is the 2008 LP Vengeance, a pretty solid collection of aggressive songs sprinkled with an occasional folk-inspired ballad. The limitations of Grosse's vocals are most evident on these more melodic tunes, but really, you're probably not listening to Crom for these rather awkward ballads anyway. Vengeance is available from iTunes in Canada. Unfortunately, the earlier EP Fallen Beauty is not as of this moment. I'll certainly be keeping an eye out for this hard-to-find early release.

I should mention there is also a California-based band of the same name. I know almost nothing about them, except that they are grindcore, one of my least favourite styles of metal.

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.5

The Swedish power metal band, HammerFall, has a sound reminiscent of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) movement of the late 70s, early 80s, although their lyrics tend toward more militant themes than the rock-n-roll and motocycles that dominated the NWOBHM. Like Iron Maiden, HammerFall appears to have a cover art mascot. A hammer-wielding, heavily-armoured warrior appears on all of their studio album covers. I present two of my favourites, the 1997 debut album, Glory to the Brave and the 2005 release, Chapter V: Unbent, Unbowed, Unbroken. The odd title of the latter album refers to it being their fifth studio album, although none of their other albums were named in such a way.

-Rognar-

As an aside, there sure are a lot of European heavy metal bands that sing almost exclusively in English. Considering the sorry state of metal in the United States of Hip-Hop-ica, I wonder why they bother.

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.4

Some guys try way too hard to click with the cool kids. I get a similar vibe from the band Rhapsody of Fire (formerly known as Rhapsody). I have only heard a few riffs from this group, which is described as a high fantasy-inspired, Italian symphonic metal band. They release albums like fantasy novels, maintaining a narrartive across several albums with names like The Emerald Sword Saga or The Dark Secret Saga. But, despite what their wikipedia entry might say about them, Ozzy Osbourne craps out more metal in his stool every morning than Rhapsody of Fire has in its entire playlist. Their sound is more appropriate for soundtracks of teen fantasy flicks like Eragon, but I will concede their album cover art is first-rate. They even went so far as to hire famed D&D artist, Jeff Easley, to provide the art for their latest album, Triumph or Agony (2006).

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.3

Ronnie James Dio has had a history of awesome album covers, although I have noticed that the degree of awesomeness in inversely proportional to the success of the album in question. The coolest cover art has appeared on his two most recent studio albums, Killing the Dragon (2002), which depicts a mob of angry people bringing down a dragon, and Master of the Moon (2004) showing a demonic creature grasping a glowing orb, presumably a manifestation of moon magic.

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.2

Iron Maiden has had some of the coolest album covers around, but they really outdid themselves with their 2006 release A Matter of Life and Death, featuring an undead army unit making its way across a battered landscape. Famed Iron Maiden mascot Eddy is featured less prominently than in most previous album covers, but that is him standing atop the tank. Simply awesome.

-Rognar-

Greatest Album Covers, Pt.1

In a new series documenting the greatest fantasy album covers of all time, I start with one of the most incongruous band/album cover combinations ever. Molly Hatchet was a forgettable Southern rock band from the 70s and 80s which, for reasons completely out of step with their musical influences, had a major attraction for the art of Frank Frazetta, the best known Conan the Barbarian artist not named Boris. Although several of their album covers featured Frazetta's work, the self-titled debut from 1978 is my personal favourite.

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?, pt.2

Sabaton is an awesome band from Sweden which combines thrash metal with a distinctly European industrial sound. The deep, growling vocals of lead singer, Joakim Broden are very reminiscent of Rammstein's Till Lindemann, although Sabaton's lyrics are predominantly in English. Speaking of lyrics, Sabaton has a distinct lyrical interest in historical wars, with a particularly strong attraction to WWII. Songs such as Primo Victoria, Attero Dominatus and Talvisota describe the Normandy Landings, the Fall of Berlin and the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union. Other solid tracks include Panzer Battalion (2003 Iraq War), Wolfpack (Battle of the Atlantic), The Art of War (Sun Tzu and his famous book), Into the Fire (Vietnam War) and Ghost Division (Rommel's own panzer division).

Lyrical sample: Primo Victoria

Through the Gates of Hell

As we make our way to Heaven

Through the Nazi lines

Primo Victoria

On the 6th of June

On the shores of Western Europe

Nineteen Forty-four

D-Day upon us

Sabaton has five albums; Fist For Fight (2000), Primo Victoria (2005), Attero Dominatus (2006), Metalizer (2007) and The Art of War (2008).

-Rognar-

So, what's on your iPod?

This seems to be the new "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?" question that Gen Y media types like to ask in interviews. In my case, it's a trick question, because I don't have an iPod. So, instead, I will list my favourite soundtracks and bands to play while gaming.

Rammstein - Deep, grumbling German vocals overlain on a fusion of heavy metal and industrial music is the ideal background for any combat-heavy fantasy or sci-fi rpg. Herzeleid and Sehnsucht are definitely the best choices.

Metallica - What more needs to be said about Metallica? Black Sabbath may have brought metal to the world, but Metallica is the ultimate expression of the genre. From a gamers perspective, probably Master of Puppets and ...And Justice For All are the best choices although there are certainly tracks from pretty much every Metallica release that make great gaming music.

Conan the Barbarian Soundtrack, Basil Poledouris - Star Wars notwithstanding, the soundtrack from Conan the Barbarian just might be the greatest movie soundtrack of all time, from a gamer's perspective. There is a track for everything from epic battle to relaxing at your favourite tavern and dividing up the loot. It feels more high fantasy than sci-fi, but that's a good thing as the fantasy genre doesn't seem as well supplied with good music.

Loreena McKinnett - A little known Canadian songstress and harpist, Loreena McKinnett plays a style of music I can only describe as Elvish. Her music reflects strong Celtic influences, but also incorporates Middle Eastern and Mediterranean components to give it an almost otherwordly sound, perfect for a fey-dominant campaign.

-Rognar-