DominikMayr.COM

There’s this band called “Baroness”. They’re style usually is put into the Sludge Metal category, i however belive to hear alot of other influences and styles covering the whole universe of rock music. Their second full length album entitled “Blue Record” recently hit store shelves and it was only a week ago when i first read about them in a music magazine.

 I found them to be interesting and downloaded a few tracks just to immediately order my own copy via Amazon. Yes, they really blew me away! I may write a Short Review some day, in the meantime, be sure to check out some of their tracks if your into this kind of music:

- A Horse Called Golgotha, The Gnashing, Steel that Sleeps the Eye, Blackpowder Orchard, Ogeechee Hymnal

Secondary, after years of refusal i created a Facebook account for the main purpose to connect with users from my sites. The only way i used Facebook before was via their Ad Network, to promote my sites on FaceBook. Let’s see if it can be done without wasting money aswell. Facebook is one of the sites that will lead to a complete overdose of the internet one day. A mess full of “social” people while the streets will get more empty as time goes on.

IMO its time for a Web 3.0 combining what has made the internet that great with small bits of “social networking”. Most sites overdo it these days, the result of too much interactivity/integrity of a site’s userbase usually results in loads of content, albeit too much garbage content.

Until next time, have a nice weekend you brave visitor of this weird blog.

your ads here (468x60) - after 1st post.

I had 4 days off to go to the FM4 Frequency festival last week and it was absolutely worth it. Finally a festival with 80% sun and “hotness” (hotness as in many different aspects, haha) The best thing was that there was a river just 2 minutes away from our tents. Here’s an image:

Guess you can imagine how nice it was to hang out by this river all day long. The festival also had some great bands playing. My highlights include: Radiohead, Peter Fox, Mono & Nikitman, The Subways, The Prodigy and Farin Urlaub Racing Team

I’ll never forget the italian and croatian guys besides me during the Radiohead gig who where singing almost every song of them including me. That was truly amazing.

The festival ended with a big bang (The Prodigy) and me loosing my newly bought hat and my 400€ glasses…

And now i finally have my three week vacation where i’ll be spending two of them in Cyprus. I am flying tomorrow Thanks for reading.

So the transition is complete, however not all old content has been implemented properly. That really sucks, since many users now think we’ve gotten rid of that and concentrate on Web 2.0 “shit” only. The guys at GameRiot are still working on a special module for navigational purposes which isn’t ready for usage yet. In general thats the problem right now: They don’t have 24h support, therefore its difficult to get new things through. It all takes a while, but i am pretty confident that we can work out our stuff in the future. In general, even if users are still getting used to such a modern and simple layout i can already see an increase of activity thanks to the user friendly platform. People are uploading their fan made vids, more and more start to create their own blogs etc.. so lets see what the future brings.

I’ll definitely wait out some more modules and features before i decide to take some other sites to GameRiot aswell though.

Apart from that, an affair has ended recently just as i predicted. This is what happens when the “spark” doesn’t spread from neither of the two “attending” parties. The journey goes on… which is good actually. Yet have to find the person who is aware of the amount of work i do and understands that i am not the guy who plans to share all household work with her if i am working and she’s not! (It’s a total different story when both parties work, however that wont work for me) I am a shift worker, sometimes i work through for 3 weeks and also run arround 5 websites at the moment. I am the worker, i have no problem to feed a family someday, but they cannot expect me to manage all the household aswell. I’ve set a deadline which expires when i am 30. If i cant find “her” here, i will move to Cyprus and find a traditional woman, who does housework jobs, looks for the kids, while i am working and bringing in the money to live a life free of funds concerns. Its absolutely not difficult to find such women in Cyprus. Sometimes i wonder what i am still doing here…

Its NovaRock time in a few weeks! (http://www.novarock.at) Its my second Nova this year and i already have the fever. Music is the most important part in my life and these festivals have been made for people like me, lol. I love it to meet new people, everyone shares the love, helps each other etc. Gonna be 4 days full of fun where i can completely loose myself and forget all the stress in work and internet.

We’re currently importing reHorror.net to the network we’re partnering up with. Its a slow process seing as forum and site databases need to be combined, then moved. We’re done with that, but now comes the really time consuming part… moving all static content to the new destination. I cannot mention any specific date as to when the importing process is completely done, but i predict it won’t happen before the end of May.

Another site dealing with Survival Horror game “Dead Space” is on track. Founded in October of last year it is experiencing a steady increase in visitor numbers and it is by far the quickest growing site i ever was able to found. Additional bloggers/editors take in a good percentage of the site’s success at the moment.

Other than that, there’s not much to report regarding my online work. Compared to the enormous rush of visitors before Resident Evil 5 came out, it all slowed down quite a bit now. I enjoy these times aswell, afterall its spring now, summer soon and it can be quite frustrating to work on your computer while your friends are enjoing their day at a lake.

On a life related note, i couldn’t be more happy right now. Everything seems to run smooth for me, however i have big respect of such situations since they can be over soon again. Experiences from the past have teached me to remain patient and calm, even in the most joyful situations.

My days are completely full now, they’re running away from me, its hard to catch them really. Time never went by so quickly before in my life which isn’t a bad thing. I work way too much though and am already “booked” for many sunday shifts during summer…. and people wonder how i am able to buy a new car right now. I’ve ordered my dream car just a few days ago. It is a great feeling when you can finally buy something you’ve worked for so hard. The “global crysis” is playing in my hands, maybe because i question it alot. I have my own theories about all the curious things happening right now. I begin to question almost anything which can result in headache, but for me definitely is a better way to go than to just swim with the masses. They’re swimming in swarms, in rivers with crocodiles and pyranhas while i watch them and wait until the three parties rape and kill each other. Maybe then i jump in aswell to find other people who share the same thoughts and we walk a total different path then.

Oh well, time to head for the afternoon shift, but there’s a light at the end of the shift, not too far away… i can already see it.

Enjoy spring!

I’ve been an avid fan of Depeche Mode since they launched Ultra. It even was one of my first longplayers aswell. Once i’ve grown older i also digged into their older stuff. After some years going more into the Rock and Metal department i realized that their music really was bringing me down, or lets say, when i was down and listened to Depeche Mode it didn’t help me, however i enjoyed that very disturbing state of mind sometimes.

Now, the year is 2009 and we’re in April of said year. Depeche Mode’s everlasting career that already spans over 25 years is about to continue with their latest record entititled “Sounds of the Universe”. This is a personal review so bare in mind the date of the discovery for my love for Depeche Mode which was when Ultra (1998, i was 12 at that time) was released. I don’t want to go into any of their personal issues that emerged over the years, but “Exciter” was a total downpoint for me and i thought Dave Gahan better had sticked to his drugs. Apparently, my thoughts and opinions where worth nothing as they’ve managed to get “back on track” with “Playing the Angel”, their last longplayer from 2006. “Back on track”, a very fitting describition for their impatiently awaited “rescue mission” after Exciter which was released in 2000.

With “Playing the Angel” being the album getting them back on track i find that “Sounds of the Universe” sounds like them being on track again completely! I haven’t digged into any previous interviews about the release of the album. I have to admit that i even forgot a little bit about DM. I rather listened to “Everything Counts, Enjoy the Silence, Never let me down again etc.” rather than to wait for other new explosive sounds/songs like that.

The departure of Alan Wilder left a huge gap in the sound universe (yeah, quite fitting) of Depeche Mode and i am 100% sure that this gap will never be filled again. Then again i see Martine Gore as a mastermind of what he is doing. He is one of the best songwriters on the planet and his sounds are different, but not less impressive than Wilders’. I was very impressed by the sounds of the new album. While “In Chains” pretty much let me down in the beginning it developed and interesting feel within me that kinda makes me able to get started for something, so i guess, mission accomplished?

The “release your power track”, Hole to Feed is a traditional Depeche Mode song to me with a very exciting end.

Lets move on to Wrong, the first single of the album. I truly love it. I love the combination of the sounds with the lyrics and it’s definitely the best track for the first single. “Barrel of a Gun” came to my mind when i heard it first.

Fragile Tension. I am in love with that song alot, maily due to its sound structure, i am not that confident with the refrain though. This track definitely shows the love for detail within the new record and the end…. is fantastic, at least to my ears.

Lets move on with another track i began to understand and enjoy when i listened to it more often. It reminds me of the better tracks on Exciter or even some very old stuff.

“In Sympathy” is a pretty standard DM track to me and i can’t find many highlights in it.

Piece is quite intense, both in sound and lyrics to me and i love to listen to it. It delivers a feel of freedom, piece and war to me.

I don’t like “Come Back” for many reasons and the following “Spacewalker” is an interlude, and thats what it is.

“Perfect” is quite a decent track while nothing special either while “Miles Away/The truth is” is one of my fav. tracks on Sounds of the Universe. I love the sounds of it, it sounds like a mix of new and old stuff combined, at least to me.

“Jezebel”, a song sang by Martin Gore and i like any songs sang by him.

The closing track “Corrupt” has some interesting sound shemas again, but it sounds alot like a track that could easiely be placed on Exciter. Generally i find the album has some good openers, but lacks innovation towards the end, still its a better album than Exciter or Playing the Angel to me. Please bare in mind that this review consits of personal tastes mainly:

Innovation: 5/10

Technical: 7/10

Singing: 8/10

Lyrics: 8/10

Replayability: 6/10

Longetivity: 6/10

My overall rating for Depeche Mode’s “Sounds of the Universe”: 7/10

Mastodon, a band i discovered thanks to Danny Carey of Tool giving them alot of praise on a hosted by show here in Austria.

Their 2006 breakthrough album Blood Mountain, part 3 of their 4 album concept described earth and now we have Crack the Skye completing the journey where  “we kinda strapped on our aeroshells and departed from Earth for a while, and then captained to the ethereal element of the universe and kind of slept on the roof of the world for a while to get a perspective on this record. … Basically we’re exploring the ethereal world. We’re dissecting the dark matter that dominates the universe, in a nutshell.” ~ Troy Sanders (vocals, bass guitar)

I saw Mastodon live once when they where supporting Tool in germany and i have been a fan ever since. While Blood Mountain was a superb metal album in my eyes, Crack the Skye goes over the top and resulted in the most interesting Progressive Metal album i’ve heard in a long time. Erie, creeping, evolving; this is an album that makes me sweat even when i feel cold, an album that makes me want to open a beer as soon as i hit play, an album to listen to clearly over months, and even an album to bang your head to . It contains everything that makes this an album for the true Hall of Fame for me.

The opener Oblivion has been chosen wisely and indicates the wall of sound that will fall on to you the next 50 minutes. The sound strucutre is impressive, different and still does sound good, and i LOVE the refrain of this song. Without being on substances this song always takes me on a journey above the clouds. The second half of it consists of a creepy sounding guitar riff, while nothing special, it shows the diversity of the guitarist Brent Hinds who brings the song to a peaceful end.

Lets move on to Divinations, the first single of the album. A very powerfull start where drummer Brann Dailor hits his drums like there’s no tomorrow.  Divinations is the shortest song with only 3:33 which makes it a perfect single to show off the new power of Mastodon.

Quintessence i hated when i first heard it, and now i slowly begin to love it. Thats a sign of a very special song that needs to grow to fit well for my ears. It took a few listens to learn to love the schizophren element of the song. This one definitely needs time to grow.

The Czar is one of my favourite tracks on Crack the Skye. It has a slow and frightening intro to introduce this beast of a song. And just when you expect hell to break loose they continue the song with some groovy beats. I enjoy the guitar work in it and love all the breaks and the evolving outro with some great, unique guitar work again. Its one of the less heavier tracks and shows that Mastodon excels in this form of music aswell.

We continue our journey through the “skye” with a track called Ghost of Karelia. Light and intriguing beginning with a heavy middle part and even more heavy continuum.

The title track Crack the Skye is quite forward pushing and electrifying, i especially love the part starting at 3:50, plus Brann’s work on the drums is breathtaking.

Mastodon says goodbye with the 13:00 minute epic The Last Baron which offers an untypically slow/soft beginning that slowly builds up to a wall of sound starting right at 3:13. The song continues on a very high level of technical perfection. Brann’s drum work in this one once again is pretty impressive and drives the song to its limits. A few intriguing guitar riffs later at 6:00 they loose themselves completely in a total mess of sound and continue to do this amazing “thing” for another 6 minutes, but hey, of course there are more surprises in this. A true epic progressive metal masterpiece just like the whole record.

Innovation: 8/10

Technical: 9/10

Singing: 7/10

Lyrics: 8/10

Replayability: 9/10

Longetivity: 9/10

My overall rating for Mastodon’s “Crack the Skye”: 8.5/10