#what not talking about tdb for a couple of days does to someone

[ghoulspaw]

[spaceorphan18]

TDB Rewatch: Heart

I’ve said this a million times before, and I’ll say it again here - for reasons I don’t fully understand, the Valentine’s Day episodes are the best balanced episodes the show ever does.  Maybe because it focuses on couples, or because it doesn’t really feature any of the adults? Maybe?  Idk -- but this is a good, and sometimes underrated episode of the show.  

But the thing that stood out to me in this episode, more than anything, is how my perception has changed with distance and understanding of the production.  And I can see why the creators were sometimes perplexed with the fan reaction. 

What I see was that there a couple of mandates -- first of all, Darren /couldn’t/ be in it - so no, there wasn’t that much of a Klaine story.  But also, this whole episode is about restraints on the LGTB community.  And while I do think sometimes the fans pestering them bugged them, I fully do believe that there /was/ network interference in season 3, too, but cause this episode doesn’t seem to talking to the fans - between the Brittana story line, the god squad, and Rachel’s dads, it’s talking to society as a whole. 

I’m kinda fascinated by all the things they tried to do with this episode.  

Thoughts: 

One thing that I’d like to make astoundingly clear -- Kurt is fucking missing Blaine in this one.  Every sappy song, it’s clear where Kurt’s mind and heart are.  No, there’s not a lot of Klaine in this episode, but the ghost of a story line is there, and tbh, it’s better than the stupidity of that gorilla suit.  

The Karofsky stuff is 99% there to set up On My Way.  And 1% there for the five Kurtofsky shippers yelling in the ears of the writers.  But no really, it’s to remind the general audience the guy exists before OMW.  

It’s weird to me that -- I truly believe that Season 3 is the /most/ thought out this show ever is, and is by far the weakest.  Weird, huh? 

Rachel’s dads and all the gay jokes.  I wonder how much of that went over the straight general audience’s heads.  Cause there’s a looooot there, and it’s hilarious. 

Jeff Goldblum, Jeff Goldblum’ing

Finchel actually allowed to be funny works.  Also - totally not ready for marriage.  Also - the writers take this more seriously when they do the same plot line with Klaine.  

I’m so glad Santana calls out the grossness of the double standard on straight v gay PDA.  Cause seriously. 

Also - it is truly sad it took until this episode to let Brittana share a real kiss (that they most likely had to sneak in there).  

Did any one really care about Artie v Rory for Sugar?  

Also - give the fans what they want!! Rory is sent packing.  Sorry dude. 

While I’m mostly indifferent about Joe - I’m glad that they didn’t go the crazy Christian route and acknowledged that Christians can and are accepting people, too.  You did good with this one, Glee.  

Sam and Mercedes is so sad -- but I’m so, so glad that Mercedes kept true to herself.  I don’t even feel like what she did was cheating, but she is by far the most mature student at that school when it comes to emtions.  Good for her. 

I am sad, though, that Mercedes doesn’t get much to do the rest of the season. 

Mercedes singing I Will Always Love You though. 

Sorry Tina and Mike, y’all are cute, but you only get to sing when it’s a montage for someone else’s story. 

CUTE AND COMPACT AS FOREVER WELCOME BACK BLAINE!!

okay i made a mistake there but i’m keeping it cause it made me laugh

[todaydreambelievers]

TDB Revamp and Rewatch

Okay guys - I’ve been doing some thinking about how I want to keep the site going.  And with the inquiries into doing a rewatch, I came up with an idea, and I wanted to hear your thoughts.  

Basically each week, starting on Sunday, we would watch an episode (or two), and that would kick off the week.  My thoughts were that I’d time it so that we wrap up in May of 2019 - in time to celebrate ten years of Glee.  My thoughts on how this rewatch would work: 

Week of [date]

Sunday evening, rewatch of the episode(s) (some weeks will have to have multiple episodes)  People’s reactions posts.  

Meta Monday - any kind of meta inspired from this episode -- I'm going to encourage doing themes across the series, so it doesn't feel stuck on one particular episode.  I mean, it can be specifically episodic - or this episode could inspire someone to write how Kurt and Mercedes friendship works across the series, etc.  I'll probably come up with some questions for people that could inspire them.  I'll also probably reblog my Kurt meta onto the blog.   I'll also reblog the corresponding podcast(s).  

Tuesday Poll - I'll release a poll inspired by the episode.  (Keep in mind these could be thematic.  Who is your favorite Kurt friendship? could work starting in Acafellas.  Keep in mind, I could do a poll with multiple questions - now that I've figured out Google Forms.) Results will be posted on Saturdays.

Wednesday - I thought maybe something news related? Like this is what Chris and Darren are up to this week...  

Throwback Thursday - Old Interviews, BTS, Memes, Gifs of this particular time period.  But also - have a gif set that incorporates all season of Blaine's bowties, and has a gif of this episode? That works, too. 

First Listen Friday - Where we talk about the music.  And I'll reblog performances from the episode(s).  

Saturday - Poll results and my catch up day.  

Some Notes:

I want to come up with a tagging system - because I’ll be happy to reblog people’s thoughts onto the blog, as well as when people reblog gifsets, bts youtube vids, etc.  

The podcast and the tournaments will still continue as usual.  

Yes, fanfic/vids/art will be encouraged - but I’ll probably direct all of that to TDBfic.  

I know this is going to make a couple of you unhappy - but this is going to remain a Kurt and Blaine focused blog.  I still encourage you to write all of your non-Klaineish thoughts - and if anyone wants to set up a blog to be all encompassing, I have no problem helping kick off a new blog that does all that.  I just won’t be the one running it.  

I don’t have any start date yet - I’d still like to work out details, set-up a schedule, and get some more specifics of how this all might work.  But I thought I’d put it out there to see if this is something you guys would like to do before I get started.  

Let me know what you guys think! ~SO :) 

[metalbuzz-net]

The Devil’s Blood: A Quick Chat with Guitarist Selim Lemouchi

While Selim Lemouchi, the guitarist for satanic rockers The Devil’s Blood, who goes by just SL, opted not to answer a handful of questions pertaining to songs on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’, and another couple were abruptly answered with “No,” I did briefly engage him on subjects such as his writing process, F’s voice, Satan, the lack of protesting bible thumpers and Guns N’ Roses as rock n’ roll inspiration. Plus, I got a long ass list of music that he’s into. Sweet!

Ken Kopija: Hello SL. It’s Ken over at METALBUZZ in Chicago. We are the Internet’s number one source for real metal news, reviews, interviews and more. First off, I am a huge fan & supporter of The Devil’s Blood, which has graced the digital pages of METALBUZZ off and on now for several years. SL: Thanks for your time and energy so far.

How are you doing today? Today is a good day, the weather is quite downcast and grey which makes for a good walk in the forest.

I spoke with you about a year and a half ago, right around the US release of ‘The Time Of No Time Evermore’. That is the album that introduced me to and got me hooked on The Devil’s Blood. How do you feel the band has progressed musically from ‘The Time Of No Time Evermore’ to ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’? I feel that, as a band, we have become better at performing and better at recording, perhaps that might not seem like much, but that is the kind of progress that allows a band to stay evolving. When it comes to the creation process of the material, nothing has changed.

‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’ was released on 11-11-11 in Europe. Is there any signifigance to it being released on that date? 11 is our most significant numerological correspondence and we always try to gather as many of them around as possible, in the artwork, in the music, in the lyrics, in the number of minutes and seconds, volume differences etcetera, etcetera. It signifies Chaos, renewal, freedom and at the same time, it signifies the structure of Satan and Death to us.

And the album dropped in the US via Metal Blade on January 17th. Do you have any special rituals that you followed on release day? To be honest, no, I have let this record “go” already. The release date in Europe was for me the ultimate moment and our Ritual at Groningen’s Vera Club was our perfect way of celebrating our Child’s birth into this “world of gravity gone mad.” For the glory of our first official American release, we shall wait with rituals and rites until we are on American soil again.

As I understand it, in addition to being one of the bands guitarists, you are also the primary songwriter. How much of the songwriting were you involved with on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre?’ All of it. With the exception of the lyrics of “Fire Burning” and the last guitar part of “Everlasting Saturnalia,” which were done respectively by Tommie Eriksson (Saturnalia Temple) and Rob Oorthuis (NOX/Centurian).

That being said, other than topics like Satan and the occult, what other subjects or entities were your inspiration for the new record? All of it can be caught within the three principalities of Adversity; The Death, The Chaos and The Satan. There is nothing more to me.

Which comes first, the music or your words? Usually at the same moment, sometimes months apart, in which case music usually pre-dates the words. I guess this has to do with the fact that my instinctual understanding of music is still stronger than my understanding of language.

Can you elaborate a little on the whole writing process? There is not much to say, you have an idea, you pick up a guitar and a pen, you don’t stop till you are done.

Your sister, ‘F’, the bands lead singer, sounds a little more produced this time around. Was a different approach taken with the recording of her voice? Funny you should say that as she was most certainly less produced. We simply let her sing the song and apart from that nothing, except some choir parts, were doubled or added. This is as close to absolute purity as we could come this time around.

In my opinion, it sounds like The Devil’s Blood have re-invented themselves on ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’, while at the same time maintaining that definitive sound that is unique to the band. Would you agree with that statement? We simply have done what we could, no more and certainly no less. We ourselves were quite surprised and of course immensely proud with what manifested itself, but to claim any kind of control of what the outcome came to be would be grossly overstating the importance of the musician in the creative process.

As far as I know, The Devil’s Blood have never done a concept video. Is that true? Yes it is.

Are there any plans to do a video(s) for ‘The Thousandfold Epicentre’? We would love to do that of course, it is mostly a financial thing. These things costs money and we have none.

Along with several European dates in the spring, I see that the band is scheduled to play ‘Maryland Deathfest X’ May 24th – 27th. Please tell me that those are not your only US dates this year? They are not.

Is a US tour planned? We will be doing a full North American tour which will be officially announced very soon.

The Devil’s Blood has played with the likes of Watain, Pentagram, Root, Venom and Tryptikon. Are there any bands that you’ve never toured with that you would really like too? Not any that jump to mind immediately.

I have never been to one of your live shows, or “rituals” as they are referred to, but I’ve watched videos online of the band performing live. There seems to be a lot of sweat and blood. Can you describe your live show to someone who has never witnessed it before? Explanation is empty, it is better to withhold all information and allow each individual the chance to experience freely and without priorly enforced parameters of expectation.

I know that there are a lot of bible thumpers out there who would probably jump at the chance to protest one of your shows. Do you every get those types hanging around your gigs? To be honest it has not happened yet, which is a shame of course.

The Devil’s Blood is based out of the Netherlands. What is the metal scene like there these days? I don’t really know, apart from a handful of bands and people I am personally in contact with. I am terribly uninformed about these things. I no longer read magazines and I rarely go to concerts and have no real desire to be on top of things any more.

The Metal Blade website has the following listed for band members: SL/TDB/A-O and F/TDB/MOS. Can you please tell me a little about what this means and who all of the members of the band are? No and no.

Well alrighty then. Have you ever put on headphones and listened to any of your music on vinyl? Of course.

Who or what inspired you to start playing music? If I had to name one person who has that dubious honour it would have to be Slash and Axl Rose of Guns ‘n Roses. That band really showed me the power of rock n’ roll and its insidious flair for rebellion and independence. And Slash’s personal style of playing and his careful ear for sounds and harmony combined with Axl’s uncanny talent for writing anthems is something that has definitely found its way into my music at various levels.

What is your favorite guitar to play? At the moment, it is a Haar Stratocaster, a custom built machine that seems to fill my needs wonderfully. But it does change from time to time.

Assuming you have one, if I got a hold of your iPod, what would I find on there? Danzig, Morbid Angel, Pentagram, The Doors, Merciless, Death, Judas Priest, Jimi Hendrix, Iron Maiden, Entombed, Slayer, Aphrodite’s Child, Slayer, Autopsy, Nick Cave, The Who, Root, Dr Feelgood, Nazareth, Aerosmith, MC5, Iggy and The Stooges, Mercyful Fate, Uriah Heep, The Byrds, The Rolling Stones, Bathory, Type O Negative, Charles Manson, The Beatles, Blue Öyster Cult, Coil, Joy Division, Ministry, Sepultura, Tiamat, Roky Erickson, GG Allin, Carnivore, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Jefferson Airplane, Blood Axis, Hawkwind, Motorhead, Cro-Mags, Mayhem, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Burzum, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Velvet Underground, In Slaughter Natives, Samael, The Pretty Things, The Golden Earring, ZZ Top, Master’s Hammer, Shadows, Thin Lizzy, T. Rex, Guns ‘n Roses, Bobby Beausoleil, King Crimson, Bolt Thrower, Dissection, Wishbone Ash and many, many more.

We have time for one more question, and it’s from a fan… Fred from St. Germain wants to know… “I grew up listening to a lot of Mercyful Fate and King Diamond. Would you consider them/him an influence on your music and are you a fan?” I consider Mercyful Fate to be one of the most important heavy metal bands that ever existed, apart from that I am not sure how much they actually inspired me, it is hard to say how these things work.

Once again, SL, thanks for taking time out of your busy day to chat with METALBUZZ. It has been my pleasure talking to you and I look forward to seeing The Devil’s Blood in Chicago soon. Thanks for you attention.

(с) Ken Kopija