Pappy's Home

It's good to be "back".

Happy belated New Years, from Traditionally Virtual to what's left of you, the readers.

So, for the record, it's not like I left you. It's more like I neglected you.

You see, I had planned on there being more blogposts involving top ten lists, album reviews, complaints spirited discussion about gaming (both traditional and virtual), and a host of other interesting and insightful content that I felt had the potential to not only be interesting, but be entertaining. Instead, real life reared its ugly head, and this blogproject fell to the wayside. Hard. There were points where I had forgotten this had existed. And suddenly I realized it was May of 2014, on a relatively sunny, breezy day and I had the sudden desire to blog again.

As for my absence, I have nothing more to say but sorry.

With all that said, I've come into a patch of relatively free time, and I plan on using it to the fullest. I have big plans for the blog, and I'm going to be writing up a review on an album given to me for review. I'm pretty excited as it's an opportunity to train my ears critically as well as write in a genre that I'm not very good at. It's a band a friend of mine is in, and so this is an opportunity to plug the talent that I'm honored to know.

~

So, it's been a couple of years since the last post, and while a lot has happened, a lot more is on it's way. Hopefully I'll be able to share more experiences with you all.

It took so long for me to blog, Sabaton put out a new album.

Oh, and a new Sabaton album is out. That's right, during the time I was away, a new Sabaton album had been researched, recorded, produced, and released in the time between this and the last post.

The Year is Dead, Long Live the Year!

Happy New Year!

Yes, we didn't die this year. Rejoice.

My goodness, it's another year. From multiple reports of the end of the world being nigh, to the controversial presidential election, to me being unable to do anything with online video games except for World of Tanks and Dota 2, I'll go ahead and say it was a good year, albeit rough. A new year brings a new set of resolutions that will most likely be broken before January is over. In an attempt to abide by my "do more blagspot blagging and not that tumboor/faecbook trash", as well as attempt to do a better job than last year, here is  "Best of 2012" blagpost. Enjoy.

Best of 2012 - Gaming

[haha noep]

As I said earlier, this year was rather rough for me regarding video gaming. Hell, I couldn't even sit through this year's Call of Duty, and I always find time to play that piece of garbage. I'll most definitely try to finish it, so I can ramble about it in a future blagpost. World of Tanks continues to enthrall me, and while I've been tempted to throw down cash for some gold/premium tanks, I still have yet to do some. Yay for FTP games, I guess.

As far as Traditional Games go, Magic The Gathering's Return to Ravnica block was a return to the "fun" in what I felt was becoming a very stale Standard environment. Now, all we need is Thragtusk to go away, and I might start playing Standard again. Maybe. On the board game front, I bought Munchkin, which is awesome, as well as some other board games. Talisman caught my eye, and is an amazing addition to anyone's collection of board games.

Best of 2012 - Music

A selection from my notes.txt file that I do all this in.

A challenge that I personally undertook this year was to actually list albums that I listened to that were released this year. This (I hoped) was to assist in my "Best of Year X" posts that I now do. Without further ado, here is my top 5 for music for 2012. All of these albums are 5/5 stars for me, and are honestly ranked by my personal preference. I would recommend any and all of them to anyone willing to try them out. The link in the header is a link to the entire album in YouTube, while the links at the end of each section are selections from the album, also in YouTube.

5. Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

Badass album art? Check.

Paradise Lost's thirteenth release, released in April, showed that after thirteen albums, the British doom group still has the ability to make an album that is enjoyable. Excellent solos, great lyrics and vocals. An all around great album. Highlights: Crucify, In This We Dwell, Tragic Idol, Worth Fighting For

 4. Antimatter - Fear of A Unique Identity

Embracing a lie/Got stuck on rewind/Requiem in constant replay

We continue our tour of the UK with Antimatter's fifth debut album, released in November. Singer/songwriter Mick Moss describes the album as "a concept album that explores the mimics in society that would rather blend in with the masses rather than stand as a unique entity for fear of being singled out. This becomes a problem if the masses themselves are actually on the wrong path spiritually and ideologically." Personally, I haven't enjoyed an Antimatter album since Planetary Confinement, and this had the same ambiance about it, just.... darker. And that's why this makes my top five. Highlights: Fear of A Unique Identity, Here Come the Men, Uniformed & Black

3.  Syven - Corpus Christi

36:26. In one track. Wish it was longer.

My love for the kantele brings me to the newest release by the Finnish duo Syven. Inspired by an old English carol, Syven creates a symphony of sorts, blending their unique shamanistic music with what they felt was a proper interpretation of Medieval-era choral music. Personally, I think it's genius. The piece is loosely broken up into four movements, one of them being the actual Corpus Christi carol. The song also comes with a sweet video which is meant to be viewed as you listen to the track (this is included in the YouTube link listed above). Highlight: Movement II - Corpus Christi (6:50 -13:20)

2. Sabaton - Carolus Rex (SWE)

To the skiiiies, see Carolus rise!

As is customary when dealing with unadulterated manliness like the 2012 Sabaton album, you need to understand something that made this release different from the others: they did the entire album in their native Swedish as well. And it's better than the English version. It's an excellent telling of the story of King Karl XII, better known as Carolus Rex. As such, I put both complete versions of selections above and below for you to listen/compare. Highlights: The Lion From the North (Lejonet från Norden), A Lifetime of War (En Livstid I Krig), Carolus Rex (Carolus Rex), Poltava (Poltava) 

Album of the Year 2012: Woods of Ypres - Woods V: Grey Skies & Electric Light

One of the best swansongs I've ever heard.

To be perfectly honest, I had a very difficult time choosing my Album of the Year. Even now, I'm still thinking about whether or not I made the correct decision in declaring Woods of Ypres' final album to be my AotY 2012. This album was -as most WoY albums are- full of emotions. Walls of emotions even. The band died when David Gold was killed in a tragic car accident in November of 2011, and the album was released in Feburary of 2012. As I would go through other albums, and even when Carolus Rex was released, I would find myself coming back to this album. Strange, yes. I guess this ability to draw one back to it is the tipping point that would put Woods V over Carolus Rex for Album of the Year. Highlights: Lighting & Snow, Keeper of the Ledger, Travelling Alone, Silver, Career Suicide (Is Not Real Suicide)

Honorable Mentions:

Comus - Out of the Coma
Kamelot - Silverthorn

Arjen Anthony Lucassen - Lost in the New Real

What Next?

Next post will feature another Top Five list from 2012. A medium that I haven't really covered at all on this blag before, but I figure why not? So I will have a Top Five list covering what I feel to be the Top 5 Anime from 2012. Yes, I'm expanding my topic coverage because I'm awesome.

It's been a while, I know.

Yeah, it's been awhile. So what?

Summer is here, which means I have more time to discuss important issues that pertain to the content of this blog. Namely, the new music I've listened to from this year, as well as video game/card game experiences I've had over the past few months.

Stay tuned to Traditionally Virtual as I whine about things that annoy me! Or, as I talk on and on about things I enjoy!

For now, enjoy this new lyric video from Nuclear Blast featuring a song from Sabaton's new album: Carolus Rex, due some time this month.

The "teh_chris Best of 2011" Post

Happy New Year

2012, here we come.

About a month late, I'd like to wish my readers (whoever they are) a Happy New Year. Hopefully, 2012 will be an excellent year for Traditionally Virtual, what with different things happening on the virtual and non-virtual gaming fronts, as well as in the music industry. For now, I'd like to briefly give my picks for Album of the Year 2011.

Album of the Year 2011

2011 was not bad, as far as new music releases. Here is my personal top 5 for 2011:

 

AOTY 2011: Syven - Aikaintaite

This five-track, dark ambient work was my Album of the Year for 2011. Released late in the year, Syven's Aikaintaite is an exploration into dark, heavy, and even primordial music, featuring the Finnish kantele, one of my favorite instruments of all time. An excellent album to throw in if you just want to relax and contemplate life's mysteries.

Puscifer - Conditions of My Parole

The new Puscifer album, Conditions of My Parole, was what I thought would be my AOTY, instead dropped to the number 2 slot for the year. You can read my thoughts about this album here.

Nightwish - Imaginaerum

Nightwish's Imaginaerum is supposed to be a supplement to their similarly titled film that tells the story of a conductor who's on his deathbed, remembering the good old days. The movie itself is supposed to premiere this year. We'll see how good it is when it does get released. As for the album, it's excellent. I'm starting to get used to Anette Olzon's voice since Dark Passion Play, and I hope the band continues with this as time goes on.

Iced Earth - Dystopia

After what I felt was an abject failure in "The Crucible of Man", Iced Earth managed to redeem themselves in their new album, Dystopia. Featuring Stu Block on vocals, this album has the fire that made Iced Earth great back during the "Dark Saga" days. I highly recommend "Anthem", it's an excellent track.

Opeth - Heritage

Rounding out this top five is Opeth's newest release, entitled Heritage. Featuring all clean vocals by Mikael Åkerfeldt, I enjoyed this album greatly. Go and listen to it to really understand what I mean.

Anyways, time to look forward, and see what 2012 has to offer us.

The Many Forms of Metal

 I got a chuckle out of this, found here. It relates the common genres of metal to your fairy tale story of the knight saving the princess from a dragon.

*POWER METAL
The protagonist arrives riding a white unicorn, escapes from the dragon, saves the princess and makes love to her in an enchanted forest.

* THRASH METAL
The protagonist arrives, fights the dragon, saves the princess and fucks her.

* HEAVY METAL
The protagonist arrives on a Harley, kills the dragon, drinks a few beers and fucks the princess.

* FOLK METAL
The protagonist arrives with some friends playing accordions, violins, flutes and many more weird instruments, the dragon falls asleep (because of all the dancing). Then all leave........ without the princess.

* VIKING METAL
The protagonist arrives in a ship, kills the dragon with his mighty axe, skins the dragon and eats it, rapes the princess to death, steals her belongings and burns the castle before leaving.

* DEATH METAL
The protagonist arrives, kills the dragon, fucks the princess and kills her, then leaves.

* BLACK METAL
The protagonist IS the dragon, dwells in the heart of the night with in a castle full of hellhounds and eternal flames. He kills the sassy knight, fucks the noble steed and sacrifices the princess to Satan.

* GORE METAL
The protagonist arrives, kills the dragon and spreads his guts in front of the castle, fucks the princess and kills her. Then he fucks the dead body again, slashes her belly and eats her guts. Then he fucks the carcass for the third time, burns the corpse and fucks it for the last time.

* DOOM METAL
The protagonist arrives, sees the size of the dragon and thinks he could never beat him, then he gets depressed and commits suicide. The dragon eats his body and the princess as dessert. That's the end of the sad story.

* PROGRESSIVE METAL
The protagonist arrives with a guitar and plays a solo of 26 minutes. The dragon kills himself out of boredom. The protagonist arrives to the princess' bedroom, plays another solo with all the techniques and tunes he learned in the last year of the conservatory. The princess escapes looking for the 'HEAVY METAL' protagonist.

* GLAM METAL
The protagonist arrives, the dragon laughs at the guy's appearance and lets him enter. He steals the princess' make up and tries to paint the castle in a beautiful pink colour.

* NU METAL
The protagonist arrives in a run down Honda Civic and attempts to fight the dragon but he burns to death when his moronic baggy clothes catch fire.

Conditions of My Parole? More like Winditions of My Parole.

This album could just about be my AoTY 2011.

So, here we are. In the interest of not studying for a Japanese exam tomorrow, I have instead decided to write a little blurb on the new Puscifer album, entitled, "Conditions of My Parole".

Now, while I've enjoyed pretty much everything in the Tool and A Perfect Circle discographies, and when I heard about Maynard James Keenan's solo project I took a listen to his first album, "V is for Vagina". Personally, I felt that album was lacking that usual MJK flair, and I didn't like it all that much. With that mindset, I dug into this new release.

Holy crap.

Jesus H. Christ, this album is incredible.

From Tiny Monsters, the opener, I could instantly see this was going to be different from the first full length. Then I came across Green Valley. At that point, I was hooked. I continued through, enjoying Man Overboard, Toma, and the title track, Conditions of My Parole with that same feeling I had when I first discovered Tool some ten odd years ago. Finally with the last second of Tumbleweed tumbling by, I felt drained. I hadn't had an album do that to me since Agalloch's "Marrow of the Spirit" released last year. Now, some 200+ odd scrobbles on my Last.fm later, I can confidently recommend this album to anyone, it's that good.

And on that note, I'm off to sleep. Exams be damned.

Changin' Things About Stuff

Hit me up on last.fm
http://www.last.fm/user/DivNecZL

In the interest of continuing this blag, and so as to find more stuff to write about, I have decided to add music to the list of topics I discuss on this blog. I figure writing about albums I enjoy might help breathe new life into this thing, since I've had writer's block for some time now. When I listen to a new (to me) album that's worth talking about, I'll throw it up here for your perusal.

Also: note the new box in the sidebar listing the last 5 new albums I've listened to. Pretty neat, I'd think.



Hopefully this means I'll write more QUALITY content for you, the readership.

Cheers,

The Management.

Portal 2 Soundtrack Released

It's here. And it's awesome.

"Bolstered by recent breakthroughs in the field of jazz smoothing, Aperture announced today the first of three downloadable aural stimulus packages." So says the Portal 2 team as VALVe released the first volume of Portal 2: Songs To Test By. The first in a three-part OST, this album comes with 22 instrumental pieces of musical excellence. As a person who has been hunting for the soundtrack back when I first heard bits of it in Portal 2's announcement trailer, I can confidently say this is one of the best soundtracks I have heard, up there with Bioshock 2's Sounds From the Lighthouse.

Anyway, pick up a free copy of the entire album on the Portal 2 music site here. The site also has sections from selected tracks that are usable as ringtones for your phone. I personally like the Science Is Fun ringtone.