https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q4X2vDRfRk

This is what I meant. Abrams is a Spielberg acolyte so I suspect these crop up quite a lot in his work.

According to my little brother, it's been announced at Sonisphere that Mastodon are going on a UK tour this autumn

No word on the lineup, but I imagine there's a decent chance of Gojira and Kvelertak. Maybe Red Fang too, as they released an album recently.

Allelujah! and Skinny Fists. I reckon that the main RIFF section of Mladic would be awesome on a paddling video. Don't think I'll ever run anything suitably epic myself, but I've suggested it to a couple of friends.

I've heard some incredibly bad metal lately. Limp Bizkit's new song, Issues (the band) and this godawful thing called "thug metal." It's like they've taken all the worst things about old numetal, and added all the most tedious things in today's scene.

Are Loma Prieta worth a listen?

A few trips to various pubs, mostly. Went up to Aber for most of the week, did a couple of paddling trips though nothing particularly exciting.

Clearly my speakers don't show that stuff up very well. Kinda disappointed by that.

It's a smart attack, too. It's the little flourishes that clinch it for me, particularly that "leave the scraps! Leave the scra-aa-aaps!" in Polarizer.

Don't think I have. I have a lot of work to do evidently. Also need to listen to Godspeed's other output.

I heard an entire album by The Enemy today. I have never heard anything so unoriginal in my life.

Fair enough. Deftones will always be there. I took ages before bothering with much of their back catalogue myself.

I still need to try out Oceansize myself.

Fair enough. I'd never really had much issue with the production on Aenima; I quite like the claustro feel it gives the album.

Well, if I'm ever feeling masochistic, I'll give it a go.

Hey dude, how's tricks?

The ongoing hunt for good djenty acts has come up trumps, found an excellent Irish act today: http://shatteredskies.bandcamp.com/ It's a bit like Textures, they've got the balance almost too right. Almost.

Hey, did you check Vektor and Binary Code? The latter are probably the best djenty act I've found besides Textures (obviously Meshuggah are an entity all their own.

Also, new Three Trapped Tigers is excellent.

Hey, realised you're a fellow Mastodon fan. Have you heard this?

http://www.metalsucks.net/2014/04/16/drop-youre-listen-new-mastodon-song-high-road-right-now/

Hey, thanks for encouraging me to give Neurosis another go. Thoroughly impressed so far (their stuff makes a lot more sense after listening to plenty of groups they inspired).

By the by, have you heard any stuff by Byzantine? They're basically a mix of Meshuggah and Pantera with a more melodic bent. The vocals are quite marmitey, but I suggest you give them a go: http://www.nocleansinging.com/2013/02/27/byzantine-our-review-and-a-full-stream-of-the-new-album/

I don't do any editing myself (my computer is a bit crap for it, and I don't have any software for it) so I just give my footage to other people. I'd like to do some edits at some point, but I'm busy most of the time working or job-searching.

I listen to less and less of the middle-ground stuff these days. Though it's nice to have a smarter-than-average act from that area like Byzantine and Textures to come back to when I want something more consise than Lantlos or Isis.

I find that the vocalist sometimes doesn't quite fit them to the song- occasionally they feel a little off, though when he judges it rightly the results are brilliant. Glad you like them

I'm gonna dig properly into Through Silver In Blood over the weekend. I always like hearing a band who've massively influenced others that I'm into. Means I'll enjoy Mastodon and Isis' stuff that little bit more, the next time I listen to them.

I forgot to ask you- which songs on Aenima did you think haven't aged particularly well? I'm not overly fond of the interludes, but for me most of the actual songs still stand up. Though the swarm of rip-offs that followed didn't help much.

Incidentally, tried Far recently (largely because of Lopez's association with Deftones) and wasn't really that impressed. Felt to me like they were a little too restrained throughout.

I imagine it's like a black coffee enema for the uninitiated. Straight from the pot. I'm at the stage I had to work to with Converge as well, finding individual refrains and riffs that really stick with me now.

BTW, are you into your post-metal/rock at all? Minsk, A Swarm of the Sun and Hubris' albums are easily my favourites from that area so far this year.

I see. I just figured that was backing vocals- haven't got any half-decent ear/headphones at the moment.

It's definitely worth a repeat or two. Been singing the breakdown refrain from Polarizer for the last couple of days.

I think everyone in Aber's come down with that, it's all snuffles and coughing over here. Imagine Scotland would probably be the same.

And yeeeah, it was fairly awful. Felt very, very ashamed of myself, but it seems the chocolate made up for it

I think some guys from history society are keen so I should be going sometime next week. Pity I can't see it at an Imax, but I'm damned if I'm not watching at a cinema.

I figured Hitchcock must be like that for a lot of people, not sure if I had that with any particular director as a kid. I've been catching up on the classics recently and started appreciating various tricks a bit more. Meaning to go over some other films at home like Pan's Labyrinth and Casino Royale when I go back for Christmas and see what else I notice

I was thinking the same. You do get a few bands now though who embody elements of both like Mastodon and Isis, who don't really sound old or futuristic. In many ways I think the best bands are the ones who follow the ethos of those bands rather than just nabbing bits of their sound.

Djent's now got to the stage that bands are using 9-stringers, and there are still barely any interesting bands around.

I'd recommend not going anywhere near it.

Yeah, I've been listening to Blue Lines and Dummy by Portishead quite a bit lately (a friend used Biscuit on a kayaking short film recently, and that set me off on a Portishead binge). Mezzanine's my favourite of their albums, but Blues Lines and Heligoland are awesome too.

If you'd like the longish answer about what happened to my paddles- this happened:

I warn you, it isn't a pleasant watch. Luckily I got out more-or-less unscathed, thanks to my group and the one behind us.