------ ---------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------- +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | .......METALSCENE CENTRAL PRESENT'S........ | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ----------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- ------ _______ ______ _____ _____ ___ ___ |\ ___ \ ___ \ | __ | | __ \ | __ \ / _ \ | | | \ | | | |__) / | |_\| | | \ \ | |_) ) | |_| | | | | \| | | __ < | / | | | | | __ < | ___ | | | | | | | \ \ | |_/| | |_/ / | | \ \ | | | | | | | |\ | | | /_/ |____| |____/ |_| /_/ |_| |_| |_/ |_| | | | / \ | |/ \| Issue 02/2000 http://metalscene.tsx.org galahad@netppl.fi / gregjesko@clds.net / amanojaku@death-star.com Contents: --------- *IRC quote of the month *News *Interview with Ari *Interview with Badvoc *Reviews *Articles -What it means to be a tracker? -DTC closing and results -Flange - useful synth effect -New ways to distribute -Napster vs. Metallica -New player -Amanojaku speaks -------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITOR'S NOTE -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things will probably seen outa whack in ths issue. I arranged the reviews by reviewer instead of singles/disks due to the limited amount of time I had. Booo! Hisss! Grrrr! I haven't been able to get on my machine since the 7th and I'm doing final editing on the 10th - yes.. release date! ------------------------------------------------------------------------- IRC QUOTE OF THE MONTH - THE ULTIMATE BOT DEATHMATCH ------------------------------------------------------------------------- *** Topic is 'http://i.am/samoth - Crematory modules availableÏ' *** SceneGod has quit IRC (CrontabbedÏ) *** Bathory has quit IRC (CrontabÏ) *** SceneGod has joined #metaltrax *** Devilry sets mode: +o SceneGod *** Bathory has joined #metaltrax *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory Hi people! I am generating some stats about this channel at http://niko.lai.phkk.fi/~samoth/metaltrax/stats/metaltrax_stats.htm ! Take a look at them! hmmm.... seems like Devilry and SceneGod is having a fight :) *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry sets mode: -o Bathory *** Devilry has quit IRC (changing serversÏ) *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Bathory *** Devilry has joined #metaltrax *** SceneGod sets mode: +o Devilry *** Bathory sets mode: +o Devilry *** Bathory has quit IRC (Broken pipeÏ) *** Disconnected -------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- * MC organization Currently Metalscene Central organization looks like this: Galahad - Organizer Gorjr - Red Rain editor Amanojaku - Red Rain main reviewer Hybrido - Red Rain reviewer Daoloth - Red Rain reviewer Dragon - Red Rain reviewer Malakhai - Red Rain reviewer Hakan - Message boards assistance Samoth - IRC support and bot maintainance Crux Humanus - Additional support * New MOD Player Gorjr has started work on a music player with modfile (including mo3) and mp3 support. Full article in this issue on where it's going and stuff. * Storm Of Belial Storm Of Belial web site has gone through plastic surgery and looks more darker than ever. Much better than the old one except that I didn't like very much the two windows system where clicking a link causes a new window to open. Check it out at http://storms.cjb.net * Skywalker Another group that has gone through web site re-construction. Quite "sci-fi" -looking site with music and even cartoons. URL to Skywalker is http://intothesky.tsx.org * New Moonstorm members This was actually supposed to announce in previous issue, but got out of it somehow. Moonstorm took quite recently two new members. Malekith and Razor fit in Moonstorm's melodic death style very well. * Axeslash's college Axeslash is in college and can't use pretty much anything related to net. Dendroid is reporting new Axeslash releases for us. Let's hope he can get real own connection sometime soon. * Metalmods Made By Metalmod Composers dead? Site hasn't worked for a long time. I truly hope that it's not like that. Losing MDO and MMBMC is very critical hit to tracked metal scene. * IT3 News Mr. Jeffrey Lim aka Pulse is back! Yesterday he told me that he has been pulled onto the IT3 team and quit his previous job to work full time on IT3 to "make it both the most powerful and easy to learn/use program that exists for composers of all genres!" because I got questions regarding the progress of Impulse Tracker 3, here's a statement of DSPaudio's project manager Anthony Bisset: "DSPaudio is hard at work programming and designing the next Impulse Tracker(3). We expect a beta and full release in less than 6 months. Giving our fans an accurate projection of when the software will be finished is difficult. One of the reasons IT3 isn't out NOW is because we are making it multi-platform (mac/linux/win). IT3 will be revolutionary!" source: Maz-Sound http://www.maz-sound.com/ * FT3 News Well FT3 (not final name) seems to be a real good project. This morning in the newsgroups i managed to get a capture of ft3. Awesome (the ft3 creator) joined a picture of a screen which already works. There are some empty buttons but the main stuff is here...Let's follow this project....closer and closer ! The reason why Awesome does not release a beta is because the soft is quite unstable (some bugs, missing buttons). Well he suppose there will be a beta version for the Euskal Party...It means end of july... Damn in can't wait for july ahah :) source: Error-404 (no error) http://www.error-404.com/ http://www.error-404.com/noerror/ft3/shot.jpg ------------------------------------------------------------------------- REAL LIFE MEETING CANCELLED? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Before you start packing your bags and reserve tickets for next ferry to Finland, I unfortunately must pour some cold water on your necks. To say it straight and clear, situation is this: I had a good deal with the old club "Wanha Mylly", which promised a free usage of the club for three hours before the actual opening. They also promised that it's possible to get a band there playing during that three hours. I felt like it's very good deal and everything went fine until recently the club moved to new place with bigger space to hang around. However, this new place with expensive re-construction work before opening caused that the owners became quite greedy and they thought of getting some money from me to rent the club. First I refused totally from paying anything because they already had promised it for free. After a while I thought that maybe it's not so bad to pay a little rent, but the price got much too high and I can't currently afford it. From all this I can say that the real life meeting right now is cancelled. There are other places where we could still keep the meeting and why not the current one too, but it will take longer time to organize it now since things got really fucked up. Changing the place will mean that it definitely won't make it during this summer and is forced to be delayed until next year. I am pissed and very sorry about this. I waited for the meeting propably more than anybody and I'm more pissed than anybody, because months of work were all for nothing. Also, people who will arrive from other countries need to arrange their trip good time in advance and they will need 100% reliable information about meeting schedule and ferry/plane/train schedules. Currently I'm unable to provide that information and so it's useless to organize the meeting this year. Galahad -------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERVIEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Ari Hi there, first of all, tell what has happened since the last time? Story of your new nick which is not actually even a nick anymore :) Well I decided to retire, because the lack of inspiration. And laziness of course was other reason. Laziness to sample:) I never did anything finished. I had lost my touch and it continued like half of an year, and therefore went to my retiring decision. I was retired almost two weeks, and I did feel like 'I ain't intrested about trying to track a tune up anymore' but once I looked up my mod folder I realized that I had a shitload of unfinished tune ...expections to me, cause I knew I had to do songs simple etc. or I could never had finished anything, and it is a fact still. So my new nick? :) After this looong explanation of my retirement, I can say why I changed my nick. I was too tired to read about Vantage guitars, basses, amplifiers,,, Even SMOKES! So I thought it would be a great opportunity to 'kill' my handle before I would return to scene... So it became just Ari Manninen in fear that I would choose something similiar to Vantage Ah, so it was turning out to be a burden for you. Well, in major of fact, yes So it's back to simple, can we expect anything like To The Karjala in the future? Latest tunes have been quite aggressive. Man, you can't imagine.. I'm in a halfway to buy Marshall JPM.. After that I can only play rock, so think about that :) Of course I will do wide variety of stuff in future too... from to the karjala to Belated by the lurking shadows and even more softer than to the karjala was Danzig style Now, I am more inspired by 80s blackmeatl I'm thinking :).. you used vocals for the first time in Duet Of The Ritual. What made you start doing them now? They were good and that makes me wonder why not earlier? that's kinda intresting question I wanted to do 'em before too.. My first try was like year ago... I didn't sample nothing but just tested how I can sing or growl, and it sounded so bad that I hated myself after that:) ... In fact, I asked Cadaver to do lyrics and vocals to Duet of the Ritual, but he was too busy, fortunately, so I decided that I must try 'em myself. I did the lyrics of the first verse and tried growling, nothing happened, I thought ... that Cadaver once said like "Growling comes from stomach, not from throat" and I was like, how?!? I shouted with full voice and vo'la, fucking growl came out. 4 hours after that, lyrics were done and vocals recorded :) I did the song in one day Lyrics and vocals next day My smoothest work for a long time Hybrido made vocals for When World Attacks, was it difficult to fit them in the final version of the song? not at all I thought that if one tracks and someone else makes the vocals it would be harder to make them fit in it was like, I did the lyrics, I did a 'speak' samples to the song so Hybrido did knew where to sing and how I see He was the growler If I can say so:) You mentioned about new equipment. Where the hell you get money to all that? :) I sell, and then I buy:) new equipment what it was last time? Fender 'squier' stratocaster -> zoom 505 -> Marshall VS65 ? this was the lasttime setup? Well, you bought flying V right? no you didn't or did you? :) Now, my new equipment is: Gibson Flying V '85 -> Dunlop Crybaby wahwah -> Marshall VS65 I've owned that gibson a couple months You still have that Ibanez? I still have a Ibanez RG550 that I bought after Fender I ain't using zoom anymore I used Ibanez and Marshall for the very first time in Die Ratter Die like the wah pedal too but Like I mentioned, I am going to buy old marshall headamp to replace my marshall valvestate that doesn't have any harder distortion so it may be that my sound changes very much but I like the way that old marshall dist punches my ass up :) Still sounds kinda expensive, oh well, I don't mind if you sell yourself on the streets to get money as long as good tunes keeps coming :) So, you will see or hear in future It ain't expensive I sell my valvestate, and I will get more money than that JPM costs cause I am gonna do a 'real deal' :) Alright then Oh, I have borrowed that JPM.. That's why I know how it sounds:) If you have finance problems, just turn on me :) Heh.. to the other subjects.. What do you think of the scene's current situation? hmmm, situation is good I think. New trackerdudes keeps on coming and Metalscene Central works (still:) Red Rain is coming tonight, previously it came like year ago:) Quality of the tunes raises all the time... I think situation is good. Is MO3 our destiny and so on Speaking about mo3.. I think it is a really welcome thing. If we can find enough support for the mo3, I am sure that it will beat other mod formats. Whattever, I hope that XM & IT format would stay because they presents the history of tracking, like the old mod & s3m formats too, but you can't get everything You did start a new web page for guitar players. How did you get such idea? I got the idea when I red the message board on Metalscene Central recently and started to find more and more guitar playing relation questions. I thought it would be cool idea to do guitar lesson site. I got the idea to use riffs from original songs and that inspired me more and so on... It has got much positive response, but like always some negative feedback always comes. Mostly from certain person(s) Perhaps we should leave them anonymous this time. yes When we shall hear new tune from you? :) As soon as you do the lyrics to it :) or sooner cause I have one finished tune that needs a bit fine tuning (vocals mainly) aww...one point for you thanks I think we are almost finished.. finally I'll ask very traditional question just in case if the answer has changed from 1998. What is your favorite drink at bar? Answer has really changed, cause I am now 18, back then I was 17 and so on, unable to visit in a bar:) My favorite drink is Tarvodka ok yuch... we all have different taste :) heh Thanks for the interview dude...good luck no problem -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interview with Badvoc Hi there, first of all. Tell all the perverted details about yourself. I am a swede, 20 years old and my life is devoted to metal. I work for Volvo, so I am quite normal. Is working for Volvo very normal in Sweden? :) ..kinda like working for Nokia here. When did you first heard of tracked music and how did you find tracked metal scene? I heard about chip music since the amiga days, but I didn't know anything about the tracked metal scene. For some strange reason I found a mod by a guy called Ackerz and I got really surprised. I didn't knew that you could make good metal music on your computer. Anyway, suddenly I surfed in to Cadaver's site and leeched some mods. Now I am caught in making metal. How long you have tracked by yourself? Oh shit. I hardly even started to track and I already forgot when I actually started. Hmm, I think it was in March 2000. What do you think of MP3 format coming and partly replacing traditional mods? I don't know much about the tracked metal scene, but my opinion is that most people will continue with the traditional mods. At least I hope so. The size will still matter throughout this year. Ah, so let's talk more about you then. The size on the mods that is:) Is there any other favorite trackers of yours than Cadaver? Well, they aren't exactly my favorites, but they have my respect. Skarf, Betrayer & Einherjar. Unfortunately I haven't been able to check out that many artists yet:( Do you play any instrument by yourself? Yes, I played drums for a band that split up, and currently I am a bassist of new band. Besides that I play some acoustic guitar. Do you have plans of doing your own samples some day? Actually that part is already taken care of. My friend owns a studio which recently has got an award as the best studio in sweden. So...we do hear your own samples soon? You bet. Hopefully I will release a complete samplepack before July. Samples too? Sounds damn good. What do you think of the tracked metal scene in general? Like...anything to be improved around here? I find it very friendly, everyone seems to be helpful . So far I haven't seen anything that I dislike, although I have a feeling that I might not have the same opinion about in the future. Improvements... more compos?:) Alright, what is your favorite metal style or are they all just good? I would say that ordinary heavy metal is my favorite style, but I enjoy black/death/trash/power/speed metal too. Metal in the veins of Running Wild, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Judas Priest is what I like the most. But atmospheric blackmetal is also a favorite. I am against experimenting with metal in other music genres, so bands like Korn or Gravity Kills are definately shit in my opinion. You're not the only one ;) Great:) What are your future plans if we leave the making of sample pack out? Finishing a blackmetal project with Swordknight, releasing a death & a blackmetal mod. I will make a mod that will be like a Theatre Of Tragedy clone. With female vocals (if the girl still interested). And finally the question I ask every time. What is your favorite drink in the bar? I think you'd better skip that question until next time. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER! Flensburger owns. Is there anyone who hasn't answered beer? ;) Hehe, almost guessed that one. Thanks for the interview. It was a pleasure for me, and a pain for you:) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- REVIEWS -------------------------------------------------------------------------- MAIN REVIEWERS COLUMN Yup, it's review time again. As usual we have had some delays due to various reasons which I don't want to bring up. One thing you might notice, is how the scores really differ from reviewer to reviewer. I seldom give anything higher than 6 anymore. Mainly because noone is really worth it. So there will be some contrasts between me and Dragon for instance. Review requests have been abit anonomous lately, so I'll just remind everyone that all you have to do is send me a WORKING URL to: Mc-reviews@yeayea.com. Not too hard, was it? :) I don't have much to bitch about this month, except for the fact that Hybrido is a lazy mutha and made me late handing in this bullshit. On with da reviews.... Til next time morons Lord AmanojakU --------------------------------------- Bean Sidhe Caoine - Morfeus Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 6.66 Hmm so we stuck with a few Morfeus songs this month, and I don't really mind. In his email to me, Morfeus wanted me to feed his ego. Well ok....this song fuckin rocks! Space/symphony blackmetal with loads of blastbeats, and even some cool grunts from Morfeus himself. What I first reacted to in this song is the great atmosphere it creates. Although the drumkit ould have been better, you get used to it. Guitars are in minority here, but it doesn't matter, because they are not important anyway >) Great song, and pretty original too...... --------------------------------------------- Diggin the Grave - Surreal & Blue Shade Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 5 Oh, man I am sad to say that i remember this one :) I've never been a Faith no More fan, and I probably never will be, but I remember when this song was played all over the fuckin place, and if I HAVE to be completely honest, it is not a bad song. Anyway, this co-op thingy is very well executed. Samples are great, and everything seems cool, there is just one problem. This Faith no More song sucks my grandfathers old cock without vocals. Its repetetive as an old bag with al(t)zheimers :) Music is really good, but it NEEDS vocals man. If you're lookin for a Faith no More karaoke song, then this is for you. ---------------------------------------------- Eclipse - Impious Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 4 Impious is now back from his 6 month tracking break, and oh how we have missed that cute fellow :) I remember a while back when I was speaking to him on IRC, and I had just released a new song (can't recall which one, too long ago). Anyway, Impious then informed me that my vocals didn't "do it for him". I am utterly pleased to finally, after years of waiting, be able to tell you this back Impious :) Sorry, but yer vocals don't give me a hard-on. There, now then, about the song. Ok, so I don't like the vocals, but there is something that annoys me even more than that. The guitars. If you know the sedish folk-heroes Onkel K†nkel, then you know what I'm talking about. Very fuzzy, sound, which makes it almost impossible to locate any riffs or notes....well otherwise, this song has some really nice stringwork, and it really does create some atmosphere. Yeah, well what are you standin around for? On to the next review! ----------------------------------------------- Thru The Seven Gates of Hell - Cadaver Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 6.66 Yeeaaaaarrghhhhh....alright! Rock n'roll metal! Man this swings! The sound is funky and guitars are wonderfully accompanied by a synth of some sort in the background. Vocals are great, and for some silly reason seem to fit right in. Like always, Cadaver executes solos flawlessly. This is one of those songs that you can just flick on when your buddies are at yer place drinkin beer. Major mayhem guaranteed! DOWNLOAD muthas! ----------------------------------------------- No More Dying - IceLizard Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 3 Yeah, it's IceLizard, and he's back with a zzzzzzzzzzzzzz........ Yawn, oh sorry...oh yeah he's back with a new song that sounds exactly like his 800000 other releases, and that is a really good thing right? :) This song gets a 3 because of the funny whispering vocals. They sound like somebody is either really horny and jerking off while "singing" or somebody who just turned 150. Satanas, I can't even imagine how boring this song would be without the vocals. Yech, gotta go listen to somethin else..... ----------------------------------------------- Gud Har D”tt - NordavinD Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 4 Hmm hehe this is actually pretty cool. It's some sort of proud swedish blackmetal. The first riff is really cool, to bad it is repeated a tad too much. Blackmetal vocals are cool, but the normal singing is, ehmm well.....hehe ok I really shouldn't laugh, because I cannot do any better myslef, but they really do sound funny. The chorus, or atleast what I suspect is the chorus, is a bit offbeat, vocally, but serves its purpose :) It's cool, I'll give ya that. ----------------------------------------------- Satanarchy - Gutrot Reviewer: Lord AmanojakU Score: 5 Lo-fi blackmetal. Well, guitars more or less sound like they belong in a NES 8-bit game, but the vocals are so fuckin cool it really doesn't matter. Fuckin agressive black vocals, and some occasional real singing aswell. Nice lyrics as well :) It's agressive, it's got balls...it's Gutrot! Check this out if you like primitive lo-fi black...I'm glad I did...... ------------------------------------------------ Morfeus: Dead Souls Circus Reviewer: Malakhai Score 9 This song really got me. After orchestral intro starts fast symphonic blackmetal with total of 32 channels and you can really hear it. Some slow parts nicely balance the whole thing but ending is a bit disappointment and it comes definitely too soon :) Nevertheless sound is really unique and samples not high quality but fit to this song. I didn't even miss vocals as usually in blackmetal tunes since string and piano melodies are so great and create nice chaotic atmosphere. Absolutely best Morfeus tune I've heard so far and must download for anyone who is into this style. ------------------------------------------------ Fuzzer: The King Of Dragons Reviewer: Malakhai Score: 2 Not much to say about this one. Some sort of melodic metal with a sample simulating vocals. The song has only few different simple guitar riffs and drums stay almost same through whole song. Main melody sounds quite quickly made and overall the song is boring and repetitive. And yes the guitar samples are Betrayer's which make tune even more unoriginal. At least there isn't any tracking errors but still this is just listen once and forget. ------------------------------------------------ Gutrot: Regurgitated Guts (Death-cover) Reviewer: Malakhai Score: 6 This is Gutrot's first cover made from early Death tune. Style is somewhat technical death metal. I didn't find any major flaws compared to the original except for the ending guitar solo. Guitar and vocal sound differ a lot from original though but are good anyway. Well since the original one isn't IMO any masterpiece it's quite hard to judge this one. Good for first cover but I've heard better stuff from Gutrot too. If you like Death this is of course worth checking. ------------------------------------------------- Mahtiviikinki & Savage: Ruined Within Reviewer: Malakhai Score:3 This song surely has potential to be good love metal song but needs desperately vocals and/or more variation in melodies. Piano melody, which is already in intro, is well overused in the song and makes it too repetitive. In middle part there's some variation and actually quite good guitar solo. This part would be good but strangely rhythm guitars sound weak and too quiet there. In other parts guitar samples, which are makers own I assume, are OK. Bass seems to be out of tune every now and then which sounds irritating. I think with little more care this song could've been much better and trackers sure have potential to be good so keep tracking. -------------------------------------------------- Armageddon: Tears No More Reviewer: Malakhai Score: 4 This is well-tracked melodic metal song but unfortunately not very original stuff. Betrayer's samples is main thing which make this unoriginal but still not bad tune. Stars with harpsichord intro and then comes guitars with some drum fills which would be good but tomtom samples suck. In the actual tune riffs are OK but there aren't too many of them. Maybe that's why there's much guitar solos in this one but they just don't sound good because of samples. That seems to be everyone's problem who can't make own guitar samples because there just isn't good sologuitar sample packs. Or have I just missed 'em? Well subjectively I enjoyed listening this couple of times despite the unoriginality but this doesn't last listening too several times I think -------------------------------------------------- Reviews By Dragon Title.........................................Artist....type...score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Death of the Old is the Birth of the New Alzamon disk 5.5/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contains 7 short songs, including DISTBASS Buttfuck, which was a CN3 entry, and it's remade. Sounds the same. First song is kinda orchestral intro, well tracked, with a kind of old keyboard sound, but it fits. 2nd song is Libido, a noisy fucker, short too, but blasting. The beat gets annoying a bit though, it seems just slightly out of tempo at times. 3rd song is kind of like an army demolishing your defenses. Song 4 is a bit slower, but the sound is kinda anemic. Song 5 is the same as 3, but less inspired. The outro is for me the best part of the whole thing. For those who like the style, you'll like the Disk, but there's something missing I think. Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hate you Daoloth single 7/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's kind of punkish, like Anarchy In The U.K., the reason for the 7 is that it really sounds realistic. Well tracked and vocals are acceptable. A bit distorted. What kills it is the dumb lyrics. A WASTE OF... TIME. Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lies Zack single 9/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A real solid track, with Zack's own vocals, which are awesome. He is really one of the best, he has a lot of texture in his songs. This is an old song to be reviewed now though, but it still has its punch. Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fading To Lies Surreal single 9/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I know Amanojaku said to keep scores low, but it's kinda difficult in the case of this amazing sounding track. The guitars are tracked by him, it adds a personal dimension, and the other instruments are well inserted in this tracking mastery. We hear everything well balance in a good stereo ambiance. Vocals would've been the cherry on top. Another oldie... Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wrath Of The Dead Malekith single 8/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- W/Cadaver, on vocals. A really catchy song with awesome vocal performan- ce. Well tracked by Malekith, with an awesome guitar solo, nothing bad about it, Malekith's song style and Cadaver's high vocals fit admirably together. Some old songs which were probably resent for reviews... Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pleasure Of Pain AssAssin single 6/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- A dark slow, progressive track by one good tracker. He masters the Betrayer guitar sound perfectly. But this one is kind of boring. Like one of the less good songs of Dream Theater. I'm having trouble getting into this complicated track. Title.........................................Artist....type.....score ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Headless goat AssAssin single 8/10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- AssAssin changed his approach for this song and came up with something heavier and less stiff than Pleasure Of Pain. He does some of the best soloing out there on this song. This is very well done. -------------------------------------------- reviews by Daoloth Life is disease...die and you're cured by AssAssIn Score: 4 This one is long, about 5:40, and pretty slow and repetitive to add to that. Very My Dying Bride-ish, this song starts off with a piano/acoustic guitar-intro, which then transforms into the song's main riff. The piano and strings lay on top of the guitars all the time, creating a very melodic structure. Not bad at all. The bad thing is that the guitars are from Betrayer. These guitars sound, as always, like my niece's little Casio synth's "guitar" sound, electric and synth-like. Time for new blood, perhaps? At about 4:33 the guitar solo kicks in, and man was I surprised! It sound very out of tune, but also spacey and fucked up in a pretty good way, so I don't know if I should like it or hate it. I guess you have to listen for yourself to understand what I mean. Were it not for the bad guitarsamples I'd recommend this to anyone, but right now I'd say it's just for you who really really love heavy melodic doom. -------------------------------------- Burn the World by DendroiD and Things Unseen Score: 1 AmanojakU already reviewed this one in the last issue, but since he asked me to do it for this one I guess I will. I have nothing else to do anyway. Things Unseen (cool handle BTW) kicks off this disk with Infested Cerebral Cortex, IMO the only decent song on this disk. The brutality of this "deathmetal" kinda gets lost due to the lack of speed, but the relative heaviness makes up for it in a pretty good way. I guess this is bad enough to be called tracked deathmetal := DendroiD's song Burn From Inside is just utter crap. Death mixed with viking metal & nordic black metal? Ha! A waste of my time and harddrive space is what I call it. Be gone forever, I say. As Dusk Conquers The Dawn, this disk's third song, could actually have been semi-good if it had stayed RPG-like, like in the intro. But it's not. It's totally fucked up "deathmetal" with superbad samples and no musical value whatsoever. Trash. This disk's last song, Come To Life, is only 1:17 long, which is a good thing, because it sucks so bad I'd probably have to rip out my own brain in order to survive more of this utter nonsense. At least DendroiD has some humour: "This song is short bacause long 4-5 mins songs are boring Ok, it's only my opinion... If you think that it's too short then listen 2 times " HAHAHA! Fun. Come on guys, is this the best you can do? How come the deathmetal-side of the trackerscene always suck? I have never heard anything good come from anyone who claims to be a "deathmetal tracker", the only good tracked death I have heard came from people who do more than just death, people who do black, grind, thrash, power and love-metal also make the best deathmetal. And these samples...where the FUCK do you get them? These guitars sound worse than anything I could ever have imagined in my worst nightmares! Total shite. If it were up to me, samples like these should be banned. Dammit people, get a grip. And btw, your info.txt was broken, this is all I could see: +-------------------------¥--------------------------¥------------------------+ í -------------------- Ain't talkin' 'bout love By Razor Score: 5 This is cheesy enough to be reviewed by me I guess :-) Seriously, this is really good. The guitars are, as always with Razor, really good, although they tend to sound a little like Betrayer's guitars sometimes. The drums are good too, samplewise, but the drumtracking could have been made a little more realistic, but it really doesn't matter, this is good enough to listen to several times anyway :) This should, however, have had some cheesy vocals, too, that would really have made this a prefect cover, maybe Razor should put Cadaver to work the next time he makes a Van Halen cover? Well, if you like this kind of rock music, be sure to get this ASAP, you won't be disappointed. True 80s shtik-rock. -------------------- The Valley of the Shadow by Kiero Score: 7 My Dying Bride-ish doom metal is what we have here, if I'm not mistaken? actually this is very good, with one exception: the solo/lead guitar sample. Sound Nintendo, but other wise the samples are almost perfect. The intro is very windy :) and sets the mood perfectly. The piano that comes in around 0:37 kinds reminds me of Castlevania in some way. The first 3 minutes of this song are very good indeed, until the fast part comes, this could have been skipped or tracked in a more realistic way, because that's probably the only bad part, arrangement-wise. But after the fast part comes a slower one again, which is very good. And the solo at about 5:00 is very good too, even when the faster glam-part (Dismember's Dreaming In Red-style:) comes about half a minute later :) Although this song is kinda long it never gets boring, and that is very good. As you probably can tell, I'm pretty damn impressed by this song. I thought Kiero was just a guy who hung around without making any good stuff (like me :), but now I've totally changed my opinion about that. This is great, and I eagerly await more. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARTICLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A TRACKER? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- What It Means To Be A Tracker By Ganja Man/LOK Before I start, I'd just like to say that I expect to be flamed for some of the opinions expressed in this article. A lot of people probably won't agree with what I say. Fair enough. This is what *I* believe tracking should be about. Doubtless, there will be those who have a different opinion. I'm perfectly happy to merely ignore them. Why Do YOU Want To Be A Tracker? There are no definitive good reasons for wanting to be a tracker. There are, however, I believe, a number of reasons that are not suitable for those who wish to be trackers. Tracking will NOT make you money. Don't ever think it will. There *are* a number of trackers, including myself, who have got recording contracts/game contracts/whatever through tracking. The numbers are few and far between, and if you want to be a music 'professional' quite frankly you'd be better saving up for some decent MIDI equipment/samplers and making demo tapes to pass along to record companies. That route is how most artists get into the business, and I can't see it changing much. Tracking is *NOT* about making money. Don't track for respect. Sure, it's nice when someone e-mails you and tells you how great (s)he thinks your latest track is, but it isn't a reason in itself. Of course, tracking merely to get feedback on your music is something different; without tracking my music would be infinitely worse, because I would never have got the insights into what I'm doing wrong. Don't expect to become another Necros/Skaven/whoever overnight, or ever. Very few people become recognised as major trackers, no matter how good they are. Most will simply go along unrecognised, doing their thing, good, or bad, without too many people paying attention. If you're the sort of person that is going to be phased by this, then maybe tracking isn't for you. You should be happy merely writing the music; if you're not maybe you're in the wrong game. How To Act When You're A Tracker First of all, above all else, DON'T become a tracker too early. DON'T release your first five or six tracks, they will absolutely suck. By all means pass your tracks around to friends etc, and get opinions, but uploading to FTP sites should be avoided until you've got at least half a year of tracking under your belt. You may think your tracks sound great; when you listen to them in two years time, you certainly won't. I never did. I made the mistake of releasing one of my first tracks, and live to regret it to this day. Fortunately when I released it the Internet was not a major force, it just got spread around a few local BBS's and nothing else. With things the way they are now, your tracks could come back to haunt you much more easily. Secondly, take all criticism with good grace. If someone emails you to tell you they hate your track, ask them what it was they hated, and you can put it right the next time. Conversely, if people write to tell you they liked your track, email back and thank them. A number of 'top-name' trackers merely ignore comments they receive, or at any rate never reply. Personally, I try to reply to every comment I get, good, or bad, even if it's just a short 'thanks for your comment'. Elitism should have no place in our scene. The Ethics Of Sample Ripping Sample ripping is a highly contentious issue. To some, it is a plague that is out to destroy the scene. To others, it is the life-blood of the scene. Here are *my* views on the matter. I do not think there is a tracker in existence who can honestly say they've never used a ripped sample. Everyone does it, especially when they're starting out. Personally, I see nothing wrong with this. A sample belongs to no one person. When you sampled it, it did not belong to you. If it came off a CD, it is 'owned' by the record company that produced the CD. If it came from a keyboard, it is in the public domain; it neither belongs to Roland or whoever, or to you. There are those, however, who will say that ripping samples is stealing. I do not blame them for believing this; they have been indoctrinated through their life into believing that private property is sacred. They are, of course, blatantly wrong. If a sample is ripped from you, are you deprived of its use? Of course not. Was that sample ever your private property in the first place? Even by the standards of the capitalist state? No. When I hear one of my samples 'ripped', and used in another tune, I feel proud. Proud because I have, in some small way, contributed to creating this entirely new track. Proud because I have assisted a fellow tracker in his pursuit of musical excellence. Those who speak out against sample ripping claim that they can no longer use their own samples, because since they have been ripped, they sound too 'samey'. I would argue that the person ripping your sample has done you a favour; by ripping your sample, they have stopped you from using a sample numerous times and falling into a rut where every track you write sounds the same. Some also argue that if everyone ripped from each other, there would be no new samples. This is true. But it is quite clear that everyone will NOT just rip from each other. By sampling yourself, you have the chance to use sounds no-one has ever used before. Some claim that those who use entirely ripped samples are just 'sponging' off the rest of us who do sample. I disagree entirely; those of us who create our own samples always get first use of them, and have the chance to create something unique; those who rip do not. In conclusion then, my advice to you would be this: if you hear a sound you like in a MOD, rip it. There can be no point in sampling something again if you will only achieve exactly the same sound. But when you rip, make sure you credit the original author of the sample. It's only common courtesy, and I personally see it as a mark of respect to those who I rip from. If you want your tracks to have a sound that does not exist in any MOD format, sample yourself. Simple as that. The tracking scene is about community, not any stupid idea of private property. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISTORTED TRACKS CONTEST CLOSING AND RESULTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- First Distorted Tracks Contest has been ended and the results are finally out. It was a fair success and encourages us to organize a new one. Some discussion and plans have been made with ZXPKNOBB about DTC2. Can't tell anything about new rules of it except that MO3 is propably supported and that DTC2 will be held in winter 2001 (January/February). Here are the DTC1 results once again with whole top 10. 1. Dr. Faustus by Cadaver 2. Edge Of Sanity by LabRat 3. 666 Brutal Ways To Die by Gutrot 4. Distant Forest by Einherjar 5. Two Kings, One Crown by IceLizard 6. Duet Of The Ritual by Ari 7. Hades by Axeslash 8. Fundamental Desecration by Dormant 9. The Path To Oblivion by Assassin 10. Rape by Zombah I would be interested to see what would be the result if Cadaver and Hybrido would once enter the same contest. They both seem to be very popular trackers. Maybe we see it some day. In the meanwhile, huge congratulations to the winner. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- FLANGE - USEFUL FOR SYNTHS ------------------------------------------------------------------------- By: NihilMystic Here is a short explanation on how to use flange effect using Fast Tracker as an example tracker. What does flanging entail? Well, to explain it easiest (the only way I know how to, anyway :), a flange occurs when two of the same samples' sounds tend to move away from each other during some kind of detune. "Eh? I thought you said that would be easy!" Yeah, yeah... I lied. :) Alright, here we go. To produce a flange, the sound being played needs to be doubled (or triggered twice and at the same time). The flange comes into effect when one of these sounds moves away from the other because it's either slower or faster than the original sound. Think of it like this: two horses take off from the starting gate at the same time. Both horses are exactly the same. One horse runs at its regular speed, while the other horse runs a bit slower, though following in the exact footsteps as the other. The eventual distance *between* them is what you hear as the flange. DSD Flanging, by far, is my favorite effect. Although some tricks require lots of song space, and can make your song grow in Kb size, the overall effect can be worth it, if you use it right. Flanging can be done in a couple of ways. The first, and probably the least complicated, is what I like to call Doube Sample Detuning. DSD entails loading up the same sample into two different slots. When you pick your sample, open up the Insturment Edit window and find the Tune bar. Assuming the tuning is at 0, move the tune for one of the samples to +5 and the other to -5. These can be varied, usually upon the taste of the song. Setting both values lower (+3, -3) will produce a less effective flange, while setting them both higher (+10, -10) will produce some really warped flanges. Both of the samples' volumes should be adjusted to suit your taste. When you're set to use this effect in your tune, simply have the same note triggered *at the same time* for both insturments, preferably side-by-side (for easier reference). The flange will take effect. There's two problems with this flange. The first is that the sample needs to be loaded twice over in the same song. Depending on the sample chosen, your song size may be affected very little, or may increase quite significantly. The second problem is that DSD only produces the 'down' half of the flange. That is, you can hear the flange take effect from the beginning to the middle, but the flange does not come back up to the original note triggered when the flange was set off in the first place. VF The second way to flange (again, as I call it:) Vibrato Flange. This is done in pretty much the same fasion as DSD, except for the fact that you only need to load the sample once, and no detuning needs to be made. When you want to use VF, you simply set one note trigger at the same point as another, both of them the same insturment. In the second trigger's track, set the vibrato command (4) and set the rate and depth to your choosing for the entire length of the note's duration. Usually, my favorite for a long, undying synth is 444, while something like an organ (that wouldn't have that much 'wacky' flanging :) would be around 441 or 442. DSD vs. VF DSD can be used usually when there's not going to be a large amount of flanging to be done (i.e., the note flanged is a 'bridge' between two patterns in your song). I like to use this effect for things that are just one hit, like a piano or a crash cymbal. VF, however, I tend to use more when I have a non-cutting synth going, such as some electronic-like strings or some kind of analog buzz. Not only are samples of these usually somewhat large nowadays, but it's a bit easier to actually be able to vary the rate of the vibrato during the flange. Though it takes some experementing to get the desired flange that you want, eventually you'll hit upon your favorite. Source: United Trackers [http://www.united-trackers.org] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW WAY TO DISTRIBUTE ------------------------------------------------------------------------- New programs are being released that allow users within their networks to share files other than the typical MP3 music files being shared through Napster. One program allows you to trade any type of file through Napster, including any MOD file format. The second program takes a new approach at file sharing via a network. There are other programs available, and more popping up every day, but we will focus on these two for the time being as they allow a convenient means of sharing your MOD music with people all over the world via popular networks. People who are usually looking for mainstream music inhabit the networks of these programs, and may have never heard of tracked music. This is yet another way to get your music out there. The first program, called Wrapster, takes a clever approach at distributing files through Napster. Operating much like WinZip, Wrapster allows you to create archives of any file type, and then disguises them as MP3 files that Napster will recognize. Because the archives are saved at a bogus bitrate, WinAmp or any MP3 player will not recognize the MP3 files, but you can use the bitrates in Napster to locate Wrapster files easily. You can then put the Wrapster archives (with the *.MP3 file extension) into your MP3 directory and add them to your Napster shared files. You may want to include the word "Wrapster" in the filename to avoid confusion with true MP3 music files. By doing this, you can share any MOD file with Napster users simply by running it through the Wrapster program. A good idea is to create a directory called 'Wrapstered' in your shared Napster directory. Make sure that you use descriptive file names that explain the song that is in the Wrapster archive, for example - "Awesome - Ancient Stories (Atmospheric).mp3". You may also want to include a README.TXT file in with the song to explain how to play it (For those who are unfamiliar with MOD file types). The next program is called Gnutella. Gnutella takes a different approach from the way that Napster works to share files. Napster uses various servers set up for the purpose of creating a network of users, in much the same way as ICQ works to build its network. Gnutella sets up a point-to-point network in between each computer that uses it, building the network as people log on which it calls 'GnutellaNet'. When you first use the program, you must enter an IP address of another computer that is in the network. This starts the chain reaction, as your computer then links to that IP, and any IP's that the other system is connected with. Eventually, Gnutella builds up thousands of machines sharing all sorts of files - it is not limited to only MP3 files. Their web site explains the process like this: "Remember the game telephone? Yeah, you know...someone whispers something to you, and you're supposed to whisper that to someone else, and so on and so on? And the guy at the end of the chain got a whisper that sounded nothing like the original whisper. Well, Gnutella is similar in many ways. When you say to GnutellaNet, 'Hey, find strawberry-rhubarb pie recipes.', you are actually saying, 'Hey, my close friends, could you tell me if you've seen any recipes for strawberry-rhubarb pie? And while you're at it, ask your close friends too. And ask them to ask their friends.' It's obvious that after just a few rounds of this, you've got a lot of friends working on finding that recipe! And, it's pretty much impossible for any one person to know who asked the question in the first place. Two beautiful things about Gnutella. So suppose some guy, 6 degrees from you (your friend's friend's friend's friend's friend's friend), has the world's best recipe for strawberry-rhubarb pies. He tells the guy who asked him. That guy tells the guy who asked him... And ultimately the answer gets back to you. But only one person in the whole world knows that you're the original person who asked. And guess what? In GnutellaNet, we even fix that. The guy you asked originally doesn't even know that you're the person who's really asking the question. Err...searching for that strawberry-rhubarb pie recipe. So you get your answer, and you don't have to admit to anyone that you're a pantywaist." Gnutella's file size is quite small, so it doesn't take up much room on its own, however, the small size is due to the lack of bells and whistles in the program itself. There are virtually no error messages at all, if you press a button at the wrong time, nothing happens. The design is simple, but makes sense, so navigating through the program is easy. There is almost no useful information on how to get started using the program, you will need to look around their Home Page for answers to any questions that you may have. However, once you are up and running, you will find Gnutella to be quite addictive as you suddenly remember all of the files that you wish you had. It seems as though the means of distributing our music are becoming as different as the styles of music that we all create. Hopefully we will be able to use these new and emerging methods to help spread our music to people who have yet to hear it. Source: Modplug Central [http://www.modplug.com] You can download both programs directly from Modplug page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NAPSTER VS. METALLICA ------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you are a Napster user and don't know this yet, read it now. Otherwise this is quite funny text which shows how urine can get in head and make people assholes. Information About Metallica's Request To Disable Napster Users On Wednesday, May 3, 2000, Napster received a delivery from the band Metallica of 13 boxes of paper notifying us of Napster users alleged to be infringing Metallica and its related entities' copyrights. On Thursday afternoon, May 4, Metallica sent computerized lists of 317,377 Napster user names alleged to be infringing Metallica's copyrights. Metallica has requested that, in compliance with the notice and takedown policies outlined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), Napster act expeditiously to disable all of these users. We intend to fully comply with the DMCA and our policies. We will take down all users Metallica has alleged, under penalty of perjury, to be infringing. Conversely, the DMCA affords certain protections to users. Namely, a user who is banned from the service deserves the opportunity for reinstatement in the event that there has been a genuine mistake or misidentification of the materials made available by that user. Users who feel they have been banned as a result of a mistake or misidentification of content may submit a "counter notification" form. The Napster software will direct all users barred as a result of Metallica's allegations to an infringement notification page. That page explains the notice that Metallica has given us, explains who Metallica has stated to us it intends to block, and gives the user an opportunity to submit a counter notification if the user has been misidentified. If the user has been misidentified, and requests to be reinstated by submitting a counter notification under penalty of perjury, then, unless Metallica chooses to pursue legal action against that user within 10 working days of being notified of that user's counter notification, the user is entitled to be reinstated. We at Napster respect the privacy rights of our users. We currently keep our users' personal information, including personal names, e-mail addresses, street address, or other data separate and distinct from users' Internet activities. That information was not disclosed to Metallica, or to its related business entities Creeping Death Music, or E/M ventures, or any other entity. Napster collects information at registration solely for the purpose of better understanding who its audience is. Of course, if you subsequently send Napster e-mails, other correspondence, or a "counter notification" that identifies both your user name and your real name or e-mail address, that information does become recorded in combination. Because of the methods employed by Metallica in assembling its list of usernames, it is possible that users have been mistakenly implicated as infringing the copyrights of songs and recordings originally included on commercially released Metallica albums. It is also possible that Metallica has correctly identified many users. Napster will reinstate those users who dispute Metallica's allegation of infringement via a sworn "counter notification" stating that they have not shared the materials to which Metallica objects, and who, after submitting the counter notification, are not made the subject of legal action by Metallica within ten (10) working days after Metallica is notified of that person's identity. Frequently Asked Questions About Metallica's Request (FAQs) Q: What information has Napster received from Metallica? A: Metallica delivered a computerized list of 317,377 distinct usernames to be banned from Napster. The list contained usernames, filenames of allegedly infringing music for each user, time, date, and the IP address of the Napster server to which the user was connected. That information did not contain the user's IP address or personal information. Metallica has stated that it intends to limit the scope of its notification to commercially released Metallica albums, making "no claim of infringement with respect to recordings of songs made by fans at Metallica live concerts." Q: How has Napster responded to this request? A: As a DMCA compliant service, Napster feels strongly that it is important to expeditiously remove users alleged with copyright infringement. Napster has blocked all users identified by Metallica as allegedly infringing, based on Metallica's sworn allegations against these usernames. If, but only if, these users feel that they have been identified in error, they have recourse through our counter notification policy. Q: Has Metallica requested any personal information related to Napster's users? A: No, and no such information has been provided to them. Q: What does Napster do with personal information provided at registration? A: Napster archives personal information, such as user addresses, e-mail addresses, and the like, to use as general demographic information for audience measurement purposes. We do not currently associate a user's personal information with their Napster username. So...violating copyrights is bad...mkay? Source: Napster [http://www.napster.com] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NEW MUSIC PLAYER (Gplayer for now) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After seeing discussions on the board about mo3 support being needed in or wanted in ModPlug Player and the fact that most or all of the metalmod scene is of the same "I hate XMPlay's interface" opinion, I decided to get moving on a player. I quickly whipped out a small and very limited player just to see if this thing would actually work right. I was pretty sure there wouldn't be too many problems since this thing is built around the BASS music engine which is written by XMPlay's creator. But I was suprised at how well it reproduces mod files. Although BASS can be a bit trickier to work with than Modplug Plugin, it isn't very difficult once you get past a few "how's that done?!?" comments that initially flows through your brain. Well a few releases later and here we are. Something fairly usable but still has a way to go. I'm trying to make this *your* player. In doing so some features might be put in that you may not want but someone else does - it doesn't hurt anything to have more than what's really needed. I hope everyone realizes that I am trying to reply to every comment and suggestion made. I also make note of all suggestions and will eventually get most or all of them worked in. A list of what's planned: ------------------------- * multi-file select when loading new tunes * drag and drop to playlist (maybe other spots) * get that damn "position bar" to work right when you drag it * repeat options * buttons to advance/retreat through playlist without having to open playlist * view (and possibly edit) mp3 tags * somehow get intrument & sample names, and comments (if IT) from XM/IT so comments can be read * more information in the "title bar" when playing tunes Some of this is easy to do and was just put on hold to get more important stuff done to it. Some of this is not so easy and who knows how long it will take. Some news that you may or may not know.. Kosmikko (if he still wants to) should be helping out in a month or two (I forget). So if there's something I can't figure out, maybe Kosm will be able to - and vice versa. Remember suggestions, comments and bug reports are always welcome. Thanks, -gorjr gregjesko@clds.net http://grj.hispeed.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------- LORD AMANOJAKU SPEAKS FOR HIMSELF -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, since there obviously is alot of bitching about everything these days, I figured I would just join the party and give you people my opinion on a few subjects: Last issue Galahad wrote an article about the msgboard abuse. I also think it is a shame that people have to go off on others for no biggie reasons, although I can admit that I have done it myself a few times. I guess I'm not as mature as I would like to be, or maybe it's just my bad temper. If I see a message containing negative stuff towards me, I will most likely strike back, below the belt if possible. I guess this is also a some kind of you-can't-touch-me-so-i-can-be-a-jackass thing. In real life, people are not so eager to get involved in a "fistfight". What the metalscene needs is a few female (pref. good looking) metaltrackers. If we had a few of them, I can almost say for sure that the guys would behave in a more mature way. Alright now to something that pisses me off bigtime. Trax In Space. Their download system is very, very, VERY annoying. I seriously cannot find a good reason why people would want their tunes on the TiS server. I never download from TiS anymore, and I never will again. Why can't everybody just get accounts on xoom.com or crosswinds.net where you get free unlimited webspace? No more "please fill in this form" and "oh why don't you tell a friend about this". Ok so now that I have said that you know what to do right? :) Okidokey, the Mp3 - Xm It Battle....... This is such a difficult issue, that i don't even know where to start. Tracking is tracking, and if you track long enough, you will easily be able to hear what has been tracked and what has not, if the tracker is not extremely skilled. If you think about it, there is actually just one problem that needs to be solved. Filesize. Now with this Mo3 stuff in the last issue, I really got a hard-on when I saw how small the songs became. Prolem is that it is not widely supported, yet. Why do we want to reduce filesize? Because it takes a long time to get the song on your computer, and once it is on your harddrive, it takes up some space. Now both these problems will disappear in time. Slowly, people around the world are getting cable internet. Here in Sweden, we are expected to have cable in almost every part of the country in about 3 years. In five years, the standard size for harddrives will probably be around 1 Terabyte, and people will have 256 megs of ram atleast. Will it matter if the song is in mp3 format and 3 megs or in xm format and 15 megs? No, beacause the download time will differ with a few seconds, and you have enough space on your harddrive to fit my ass If that's what you want :) Actually I belive that this is an understatement, because we will have even greater technology by then. So when we all become connected to the ultrafast information highway, it will not be about filesize, but about quality, and quantity. I am sure that like the IT business will explode in this age, so will the metalscene. Nobody will have the urge to convert their songs to mp3 or mp4 or whatever, and even if they did, noone would, because it would mean a quality stepdown. I actually read in a newspaper recently that next year the world will be blessed with FMD-ROM, which will have discs cheaper to produce than regular CDs and be able to hold around one TERABYTE. So those of you thinking about buying a DVD player....don't. Ok to sum things up: Time will erase this issue gradually. More to come next month....... Stay EVIL Lord AmanojakU -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next issue will be released 15.07.2000 (dd.mm.yyyy) --------------------------------------------------------------------------