The Path To Paradise Begins In Hell

The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell — Post-Metal

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The Path to Paradise Begins In Hell

Look who’s back for the last time!

As a farewell to this column, where I have prattled about my various love affairs with various genres, I have decided to save the genre I have grown to love for last. After all, I still need to continue to expand my musical education before I talk about more genres, so maybe, one day, I will resurrect this column once I have more stories to tell.

Who knows? Maybe down the line, my tastes will have changed enough so I can revisit some of these genres with a new perspective – and maybe talk about some of others that I have still haven’t warmed up in my years as a metal listener (looking at you, thrash).

Now, at the most current point of my story, I think it’s time to bring up a genre that I have noticed has gotten more traction over the years and has moved on from its rather humble beginnings. After all, this genre seems to have gotten under my skin and I want to talk about it at length.

It’s time we talk about Post-Metal.

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The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell — Avant-Garde Metal

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The Path to Paradise Begins In Hell

Surprise! Thought you had seen the last of me, huh?

Well, joke’s on you.

I am not dead. I have just been incredibly busy and now I return to bestow upon you more stories about listening to different genres. The story will soon end, but I have such sights to show you in the meantime.

Now that I have graduated and have more free time, I can talk about the more important things in life: the weirdness of music. Granted, my journey coming into this genre has been an interesting one, and while I aim to show you things that most people aren’t familiar with, I also want people to listen to these albums. Thus, I started with albums that have less barriers to cross than others that I will mention for the sake of the story.

It’s time we talk about Avant-Garde Metal.

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The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell – Neoclassical Metal

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The Path to Paradise Begins In Hell

It’s been a while since I wrote something for the column, but I have been doing a lot of work and studying behind the scenes, which explains why there hasn’t been a lot of music writing lately. However, now that I have some time before grad school restarts, I can start talking about music again.

Blessed be thy gods.

For this episode of the column, I wanted to talk about a genre that combines both my love for classical (read: orchestral) music and metal, as I spend a lot of time listening to both genres. While symphonic metal tends to focus more on the vocal and operatic aspects of what we consider classical music to be, we tend to talk about instruments and instrumentation in accordance to their sound in a specific genre or in how they add texture to a song.

It’s time we talked about Neoclassical Metal.   Continue reading →

The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell – Tech Death

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The Path to Paradise Begins In Hell

Well, it’s been a while since I wrote one of these, but now that I have some time to sit down and write, I decided to talk about another genre near and dear to my heart that doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention (unless you are Unique Leader Records, which, in that case, they are doing the Lord’s work).

Last time I wrote something for the column, I finished talking about ten genres in metal that I was introduced to, in addition to adding ten more albums for reference. I also hinted at another genre that I love—I have too many of those—that will be discussed.

Also, the last time I wrote something, I was not under quarantine, so please remember to wash your hands.

Well, it’s time.

As many of you know, I have my favorite genres when it comes to my listening preferences, and I tend to not stray far from that path. However, since my early encounter with them, that genre is a comfort, one that I can reach out to when I need it.

Also, fair warning: I know I tend to hyperbolize a lot of things that have happened to me—because humor is the best medicine to dealing with misery—but make no mistake: they still come back to haunt me when I am feeling down.

Let’s talk about Tech Death. Continue reading →

The Path to Paradise Begins in Hell – Addendum, Part II

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The Path to Paradise Begins In Hell

It’s been a while (9/19) since I have written something for the column, but real life sucks; between grad school and putting my body through the wringer, priorities shifted and this kept getting pushed back. However, this hasn’t stopped me from listening to music and writing about other things, so we are going to continue the addenda. There are five genres left and then we can finally move on to other genres and whatever else I want to write about, because after two more genres, we might be going into no man’s land.

Also, when this gets published, it might be the new year, so Happy New Year, everyone! Continue reading →