Some music from 2019 I've listened to

The year of parody

2019 was the year of parody for me. The biggest surprise came out of nowhere in the middle of the summer, when Nanowar of Steel struck gold with what I consider to be the video of the year:



At this point it has over 4 million views, which is something like 10 times more than anything from the band's videography. It is the most blasphemous thing I've seen, providing black metal with the parody it needed. The lyrics are funny, the metal riffs outstanding in what is otherwise a mostly pop song. I've even seen people that I'm sure don't get all of the black metal references, sharing it or laughing at it.

This inspired me to pay a closer look to Nanowar's album that I've enjoyed listening to last year, and found that they've generously released a lyric video for probably every song. And even though they are just lyric videos, they are terribly amusing, making me enjoy such gems as Ironmonger (The Copier of the Seven Keys), The Quest for Carrefour and Barbie MILF Princess of the Twilight even more.

Second place goes to another parody video:



Sounds awesome, and once I've searched for all the memes it references I realised what a culturally significant piece of art it really is. For me it opened up the wonderful world of squatting slavs in tracksuits, a meme that I had only heard of, not realising how rich it actually is.

Also this year saw the release of Gloryhammer's album Legends from Beyond the Terror Vortex, the third (and final?) chapter in the outrageous story of Angus McFife. At first I wasn't so impressed with it, because it didn't have any immediate standouts and it just seemed more of what was before. But it has some awesome catchy tunes about the Land of Unicorns, Laser Powered Goblin Smashers, Thunder Striking Wizard Thrashers, Heavy Metal Darklord Crashers and so on.



And I've been greatly excited to be able to see them, and Powerwolf on the same stage, in Bucharest. What an amazing pairing. If you understand Romanian, you can read my review here. Not only can the frontman bring his operatic voice from the studio to the stage, but he is a real showman and made some really funny jokes between songs. Really, the whole show is better quality than some other serious acts I've seen. The same can be said about Powerwolf as well.

And when the year was coming to an uneventful end, the bomb dropped: another Nanowar video, with a guest appearance from Angus McFife as Odin the Allfather himself. Another amazing gospel metal tune that reunites all the religions and cultures of the world under a single sign. What a great Christmas gift!



I guess Rammstein also fit here, with their first album in 10 years. A great one all round, nothing fancy, catchy tunes that deserve several listens, and an over the top spectacular show, that is a must see for any concert lover.

Great expectations

In the conclusion of my last year review, I mentioned some highly anticipated releases for 2019. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to love Moonglow, it just doesn't connect. Nothing seemed to stick with me, like it did with all of the previous releases, the guest voices sound muddled and do not leave the impact that we've come to expect from Avantasia.

Myrath, on the other hand delivered a great album. Even though they've totally departed from their proggy beginnings and have a more commercial sound, the combined talent and musicianship makes for some very exciting songs. And in December they also released a DVD of their performance in Carthage, which from the trailer looks absolutely stunning.

While I was glad to see hometown band Methadone Skies receive praise for their Different Layers of Fear album, I just couldn't get myself to listen to it more than a few times. They've departed a bit from their playful experiments for a more cemented post-rock sound. I guess it's more mature and it might just be my mood, but it wasn't for me. I felt the same way about We Lost the Sea's Triumph & Disaster. I had to force my way into it, and didn't feel as awe-inspiring as the sublime Departure Songs.

Finally, I was delighted to see Immortal Bird release their first full-length release, Thrive on Neglect. (even thought it's only 37 minutes, not much longer than the two EPs already in their discography) Immortal Bird is another offshoot of Woods of Ypres, in which drummer Rae Amitay takes on the microphone with some incredible growls. The band delivers a wall of  sound, with mellow bridges that take you from one blast of energy to the next. The best thing about them is the honesty and passion of their performance.

Great discoveries

The year started great with an album that actually would fit very well next to the albums of 2018. When a Shadow is Forced into the Light by Swallow the Sun creates an inspiring doomish setting, moulded by moody orchestral arrangements. Excellent song-writing, perfect blend in a very digestible soundscape.

 At some point Spotify fed me the eerie sound of Mephorash. Everything about them screams occultism and the atmosphere they create feels veritable if you don't give it too much thought. I was quite mesmerised by Sanguinem, off of their Shem Ha Mephorash of 2019.

It takes a lot for a band to amaze me. Especially covers that don't bring their own (radical) touch I find not interesting at all. So I was quite surprised when I first Liliac's version of Holy Diver. It's basically the same as the original, only with a modern production, that sounds just perfect. The most stunning thing is the voice: an 18-year old girl with the perfect blend of raspiness, range and attitude. Then you find out the band is actually a family, with the youngest aged 12, the oldest 20, while their father is their producer. Everything sounds great: guitars, drums, keyboards. They started doing covers on Santa Monica pier and, having enjoyed great success, decided to record some original songs. Unfortunately, the compositions are not that distinguished, but still listening to how they play fills me with great excitement.



Finally, Spotify delivered another great discovery towards the end of the year, a band that I'm surprised I have not heard of before: Neonfly. Another great sounding band, with a perfect mix of old-school and modern, intriguing lyrics, catchy riffs, a superb solo, and a powerful voice. This World is Burning is one of the best songs I've heard in 2019 and is the first single off their third album, to be released sometime in 2020.

Pop

Gotta have a pop album in there. And this year it's Weezer. With two albums actually, released at around two months difference, beginning of the year. One is a compilation of covers of songs like Africa, Mr. Blue Sky, Paranoid, or Take on Me. The other is just original compositions and I can't say much, other than I just really enjoyed listening to both albums. It's Weezer.

Manowar

Seems about right to start the year of parody with Nanowar and end it with Manowar. There were announcements of studio recordings from the band, but with a tour early in 2019, the Final Battle I EP came sort of as a surprise. Just four songs, with one being an instrumental intro that has replaced the Ben Hur theme in concerts. But what songs for any Manowar fan!

Blood and Steel continues the style from the previous Manowar album, The Lord of Steel, outlined by a fuzzy bass line, uplifting drums, synth choirs on the chorus, an all round feel good metal tune, that climaxes with a good old guitar solo and trademark Eric Adams screams.

Sword of the Highlands got me all emotional. And not because it seems like it was written for Braveheart. Actually, Joey DeMaio said that the inspiration was the soundtrack for Titanic, and I think the flute intro is proof of that. But the highlight of the song is once again Eric's mesmerising voice, that starts soft and soothing, delivering power without screaming, sustained by an emotional guitar. And the lyrics just bring chills up my spine: "Carry the fight on for me/ For all the sons of the Highlands/ Fight for the right to be free, never be owned".

And finally, the biggest surprise of the EP, a song with Joey singing! You Shall Die Before I Die is in the vein of Hatred or Burning, with a devilish bass line, eerie guitars and choirs, painting a rather compelling image of a colourful, freakish hellscape. Of course, Joey doesn't really sing, but recite the in-your-face Joey style lyrics, with a devilish effect to the point of caricature. It's one of the most original compositions I have heard in a while from a metal band.

And that just makes me hope with all my heart that there are still more Manowar songs to come in the future.

It always wins

2019 has seen the two biggest movie franchises come to their conclusions. (Or perhaps more accurately, to their end-of-an-era moments). Of course, this meant that the heroes of these movies were set against their biggest foes, and of course, good won in the end, because with Disney, Hollywood and blockbusters in general, it always wins.

Nothing wrong with that, except that, at least in the times we are living, it is so predictable and expected that it does not have the same emotional and inspirational impact that it used to. It just feels like running through the same familiar script, enjoying the visuals and the witty dialog of the protagonists. It's just not relatable.

Let's start with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thanos was such a great villain not only because he was the most powerful one that the Avengers have had to fight, but because he was always right. What ever he said, it had truth in it, even though the others didn't like it. And you cannot defeat truth. You can fight it, hide it, ignore it, hide from it, but it will be always there, haunting you.

Or you can use some magic stones and snap your fingers to make it go away. Yeah, that always works.

If you ask me, the perfect end to the Marvel saga would have been the first scenes of Endgame, where people are coping with their losses. Some better than others, some worse: Captain America, as always, doing what is right, leading the way, showing others and helping them go on with their lives; Tony Stark, settling down, realising he cannot put a suit of armour around the world; Banner, accepting what he is, Thor not accepting he is and becoming a hobo; Hawkeye not dealing so well with the loss of his family.

But I can see why this could not be the end, as the franchise needs to keep rolling, and offer a satisfying conclusion to the heroes of the last decade. Obviously, the status quo is not satisfactory, and they couldn't lay back and do nothing about it. And this brings them back to fight Thanos, who bluntly summarises their ultimate flaw:

You could not live with your own failure.

Indeed! That is basically the story of the whole franchise, or at least of the Avengers movies. Because of them, Earth almost got occupied by aliens. It wasn't, but the aftermath was incredible, changing the lives  of millions of people in dramatic ways. Then they thought of solving the problem once and for all. And that led to Ultron, another walking-talking lesson, that they "solved" with even more tragedy and destruction, ending with a not so friendly break-up between the world's most loved superheroes. Surely, after more than 20 instalments, they would have learned their lesson. Surely now, when the lesson itself is talking to them directly, staring them in the face, ready to crush them once and for all, surely now they will learn to live with their failure.

Nope. Because Iron Man. And because, like I said, that was pretty much inevitable.

Well... if we think about it deeper, Thanos may have been defeated, but the good guys didn't win. Because you can't win against truth. You cannot ignore it, for it will always come back to haunt you. (Where did that bring you? Back to me. - IV Avengers 128:11-16) And if you do fight it, you will not come out triumphant. Tony Stark, who was instrumental in the whole reverting things to how they were plot, whose core simply could not accept the truth - that he failed (over and over) at protecting the world, would pay the price for his sin. Not being able to accept his family life over his failure, he payed the ultimate price for it. Captain America on the other hand, accepted that things are not as simple as they were in the good old days when you could always punch evil in the face, and that you can live with not always having to fight just because you're right. Perhaps the most endearing of all, Banner has learned to live with the Hulk. Like I said, you can fight the truth, you can hide it, ignore it, and that's what Banner always did. But it will always come back to remind you of it. So it's much better to just accept it and learn to live with it.

Hmm, now that I've thought about it, I guess the writers actually did a great job.

Let's move on to Star Wars, where the evilest being in the Universe is back. And gone in like 16 hours. Phew! And millions of worlds probably didn't even know about it.

So the big twist about Episode 9 is that JJ Abrams wanted to have his "No, I am your father" moment. Well, I don't know if he wanted that or not, but the reaction to that scene was more like "She's a Palpatine. Oh, ok, whatever." Well, I loved the idea of The Last Jedi, that you don't need to have the privilege of your ancestry in order to be special, but this setup does make things interesting.

Just like Hulk, Rey is now confronted with what she is. There is something dark inside her, but since she wants to be good, she now has to deal with it. And the climactic moment of this decision is when she confronts Palpatine himself, just like Luke Skywalker did. And both are put up against similar decisions: Luke should kill his father, but doing so he would have given into his negative feelings, while Rey should strike down Palpatine as the only way to stop all of the incredibly bad going on around, but doing so she would inherit the throne of darkness. (Don't know why there needs to be a ritual involved for something that is just giving into your instincts and acting out of impulse, but whatever.)

And it's the same sort of threat that Thanos poses, only more direct. Here I am, all the evil in the world, yet you cannot defeat me, because I represent the truth about yourself and doing so in this case would just mean that you are also evil. And not doing it would just mean that I kill you and nothing has changed. That is the inevitable truth. You can fight it, ignore it, hide from it, but it will always be there. And that's why Luke never defeats the Emperor.

He was feeling pretty smug when Darth Vader brought him to face Palpatine. "Oh, this is going to be so awesome." he was saying to himself. "I'm going to convince my father to turn good, we're going to kill the Emperor together, Han and Leia will bring down the shield and the Rebellion will blow up the Death Star. Live happily ever after, for ever and ever and ..."

Ooops! Just a reminder from the TruthEmperor that being arrogant is not so nice, and that you're still an animal driven by your emotions and before you know it you're smashing your own father with a lightsaber. And all because you could not accept failure above your precious Jedi principles.

Of course, Luke does realise all that and stops himself just in time and does the right thing. He accepts his defeat, and therein lies his victory. He throws away his lightsaber (ghasp!) and proclaims:

I am a Jedi, like my father before me.

You should note the subtlety: it's not just that Luke didn't kill the Emperor. That would have just been hiding from the truth. He openly accepts the truth, thus showing Anakin that there is another way. Yes, Anakin, the one who could never accept the loss of his mother, nor the fact that you cannot stop all suffering, that you cannot stop death, the one who has fought the truth, and then just ignored it and hid from it under a mechanised suit. Yes, Luke has shown him that acceptance is the way, and Anakin is the one who kills the Emperor, redeeming himself and his life of neglect. But Luke could never have defeated the Emperor himself, lest he go down the same path as his father.

Well, turns out Luke didn't really learn the lesson himself, as he thought that evil can be defeated for good, and that good can live on by itself and he can happily train good Jedi forever and ever. Except he couldn't and once he realised the truth, how did he confront it? He ran away to hide from it.

But luckily Rey showed him the way (in The Last Jedi) and he could advise her (in The Rise of Skywalker) not to make the same mistake as he did and act out of fear. Although I'm not sure how necessary that advice was, considering that the biggest threat of the Universe is ready to strike and if you don't act upon it, no matter the consequences, there will literally be no place to hide!

Anyway, Rey inevitably stands in front of her eeeevil grandpa, given this impossible choice of striking him down and taking his place, or not doing that and letting him destroy his friends and everything she ever cared for. So what does she do? Strike him down, of course! Ok, she reflects his lightning with her lightsabers and the power of all the Jedi, but that still counts as striking him down! And it seems she didn't take his place after all. I guess that ritual was really important, huh?

Well, you could say that the point actually is that Rey was confronted with having evil inside her but choosing to be good. In the final scene when asked her family name, she says Skywalker, instead of Palpatine, showing that she chose to be a Skywalker, rather than a Palpatine. Yeah sure, I guess one family of Universe-level mass murderers is better than the other one. Good on her for listening to her heart. I guess that also means that Luke's failure in defeating evil for good is due to not changing his own name to Luke Kenobi.

Sarcasm aside, that's not the way things work. It's not just choosing who you want to be. It's not the same as being born in a family of gangsters and choosing to become a cop and arrest them. Being the ancestor of a force-wielder is more like being born with a disability (or a super-human ability, but the disability analogy fits better in this case, because it's something that Rey would rather do without). If you're born deaf or mute, it's kind of hard to choose to be a musician. If you're born with something like the Down syndrome, you can choose to be a better person, but it's more than just choice. You have to accept your flaws and deal with them. And, once again, dealing doesn't mean fighting them, ignoring them, or hiding from them. It means living with them and becoming better because of them, not despite them.

If you ask me, the best plot for the next Star Wars trilogy would be that Rey is driven mad by her inner conflict which she obviously does not even understand nor is even aware of, and actually becomes Empress Palpatine, only instead of being driven by an urge for absolute power, she's just demented and does irrational things. Sometimes for fun, sometimes out of anger, or hatred. And when someone confronts her, she just tells them that they're talking nonsense, that she's a Skywalker, and she's all good. Who would save the galaxy this time? Don't know. Many people. The kid with the broom from the last scene of The Last Jedi would surely be involved. The first two movies wouldn't even have to show her. Maybe keep some mystery about who the Empress is at first. And where the hell is Rey? The gang of good guys could have an adventure to some unknown world, where they find her true ancestry (because no one besides her knows, right?). Anyway, I'm just blabbering here. But in the end, they face her. And they persuade her to admit the truth. And then she crumbles inside. And she commits suicide, finally accepting the truth. Because it always wins.