Andu's Blog

So yea, that's all there is ...

I joined MyAnimeList.net exactly one year ago. It's been a fun year and i hope this year will be even better :)

Ah yes, i joined as Andu but now i'm THE TROUT KING ~~~!!!

A small side note, Kanon and Death Note are related to this entry by being the first anime series i added to my list

Label : Century Media
Genre : Melodic Death Metal
Tracks : 12
Playtime : 48:54
Release : 13-02-2008

Norther’s fifth studio album, simply entitled N, is their self-declared most mature and diverse effort to date. The successor of Till Death Unites Us as recorded and produced by long-time partner Anssi Kippo (Children Of Bodom) at Astia Studios and mixed by Fredrik Nordström (Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy, In Flames) at Studio Fredman in Sweden. These two men (Kippo being responsible for the production of Mirror Of Madness and Death Unlimited and Nordström who recorded Till Death Unites Us ), who are both very conscious of Norther’s capabilities, have one a great job in creating a very solid record when you look at the production.

Norther’s sound on N is however a little less heavy than on the previous records. Opening track ‘My Antichrist’ is hot as fire, starting with furious melodic death metal and a catchy chorus, and also ‘Frozen Angel’ contains some brutal outbursts, but after listening to the complete record you feel way more relaxed than you would presume after hearing only the first two tracks. Songs like ‘Savior’, ‘If You Go’ and the final track ‘Forever And Ever are more down tempo and even hint towards ballads.

The slight change of their sound also causes that they’re loosing their immemorial “CoB-rip off”-predicate more and more. I find the sound on N, as they say by themselves, more one of their own. It’s full of great musicianship. Endless melodies by both guitar and keyboards pass by, and also the drums are of an excellent level.
The only thing I can carp on are the aforementioned few down tempo songs, as in they are meant to be more radio-friendly. Further on, just top class melodic death metal.

Highs: Epic tracks, Frozen Angel

Lows: Nothing of extreme greatness.

Overall rating : 68/100

Line Up:
Petri 'Pete' Lindroos - Harsh Vocals, Guitar
Kristian 'Kride' Ranta - Clean Vocals, Guitar
Jukka Koskinen - Bass
Tuomas Planman - Keyboards
Heikki 'Kermis' Saari - Drums

Track Listing:
01. My Antichrist
02. Frozen Angel
03. Down
04. To Hell
05. Savior
06. Black Gold
07. We Rock
08. Always&Never
09. Tell Me Why
10. If You Go
11. Self-Righteous Fuck
12. Forever And Ever

Yep, it's exactly as the title suggests.

I'm soo damn bored right now. Just finished rewatching Hidamari Sketch for the 4th time this week and i'm considering doing it again. That, or finish sketchbook and ninomiya ..

Introducing : Miyako and Yuno from Hidamari Sketch. Setting her looks aside (which is not that easy, imo :P), Miyako is perhaps the funniest character i've seen in an anime lately. That is making me want to raise her in my favorite char list (which i recently reconstructed). Maybe even to the first position. Anyways, Hidamari Sketch is a highly recommended series to those who enjoy slice of life and comedy. A really awesome time killer (and you can watch it several times in a row and still laugh :P). 

I think a short introduction is in order.

Hidamari Sketch is a slice of life anime series. It circles around four girls and the art school they study in (oh yea, shouldn't leave Yoshinoya-sensei unmentioned :D). Yuno is the main character of this one. She has short hair and a black X in her hair (hairclips, but i just had to point it out, i find them funny :P). She has a classmate, who lives in the same house she does, named Miyako. Miyako is loads of fun. The main thing about her is probably her appetite. Then there are two girls that are a year older than Miyako and Yuno. Hiro lives directly under Yuno's appartment. She likes sweet stuff a lot (like cakes) but worries about her weight too much, going on diets quite often. Sae is Hiro's childhood friend who works as a manga-ka. She is studying to be able to illustrate her work on her own. Sae has quite a few masculine qualities and tends to lie loads about her love life. Yoshinoya-sensei is a teacher in their school and likes to dress up in different costumes. 

This is a short introduction and i hope it encourages someone to watch it. I enjoyed it, rated it with a solid 9 and am planning on rewatching it again since i'm just that bored ... 

This is about Fate T. Harlaown. The almighty godess to me, some might call her The Divine One, most prefer Feito-chan. Who is Feito-chan, you might ask. I'll answer this : Feito is a character in the series Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha / A's / Strikers. In the first season, she starts as the bad/evil one. However, her character development in the first season is what made me fall in love with her. As the story progresses, i come to like Feito even more. After Strikers (which earned her the name Feito-mama), i saw that i was obsessed with her. 

This is our scythe-wielding goth-loli. A powerful mage, a fearsome opponent but extremely cute at the same time :). The first season ends with Feito going under trial for whatever she did wrong in the first season (yea, i think she can do no wrong :P). The second one starts with Nanoha getting smashed by Vita. Feito rushes to help her. This is the start of the best yuri pairing out there :

This is, of course, not the best example of the pairing but it gives you the general idea (how cute it is, mainly). Also, you can look at my profile picture for more nosebleeds. The second season ends with all the characters beam-spamming the ubermonster, introduced as the book of darkness.The second season also introduced the character i probably hate the most throughout my entire anime library : Yagami Hayate. Don't ask why, i just do. Anyways, time passes and Feito-chan is adopted by her employer (sorta ...). When the third series starts, Feito-chan, the milf is born. No longer loli, no longer goth but still as sweet as possible :

The greatness of Feito-sama is something everyone can celebrate. Now, i strongly suggest watching Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and you will fall in love with Feito-chan too. If you see a moe-contest anywhere, vote for Feito. Besides, her name isn't Fate T. Harlaown for nothing :)

Join The Fate T. Harlaown Goddess fanclub now

I discovered this recently. Norther fkin owns. It's one of the finest melodic death metal bands out there. What dissapoints me is their similarity to Children Of Bodom is around 80%, maybe even more. The only thing CoB has and Norther doesn't is Alexi Laiho, the rest is irrelevant. Oh yea, the lyrics are, sadly, quite emo. But the songs are good, nevertheless.

So this is Norther. As visible on the picture, the band members, names and positions. Petri Lindroos, a person i look up to, also plays in a pretty awesome band, Ensiferum (my favorite band a short while ago). However, ever since my tonsils were removed, i've had trouble growling like he does. High growls basically. Alrighty, enough of this ...

The best album by Norther, if you ask me, is Dreams Of Endless War. Death Unlimited holds a firm second place.

So, let's talk about songs. Released is the third song from Dreams Of Endless War. Actually i could rant forever about these (actually, i just need to mention that Released is basicaly one of four songs i've listened to this whole week) but im gonna write a short review on these songs. Released, in itself, is nothing special. Starts out like most songs by Norther, but what is that makes this song so special ? I mean, i had it on repeat for around 36 hours. The key : lyrics. The lyrics are not that awesome, but the way they're pronounced and growled, is just uber. It mixes so well with everything. Words are not enough to describe this work of art, you just have to listen to this yourself ...

What's next ? Perhaps my second favorite song, Hollow from Death Unlimited. Well, it starts out with a growl (surprisingly :P ). Well, what's so great about this is the shouts backed up by sweet sounds from Petri's guitar. Seems to be all about it. I don't care about lyrics when it comes to this song, i haven't even looked them up and i probably never will.

Next up, Victorious One. The 6th track from Dreams Of Endless War. It starts with a shout : "KILL".
Like every other song i've mentioned so far, this song has everything a song needs. The thing that makes it special is the chorus. It's way too emo but it sounds so good that you have to check it out.

Some other good songs include Dream, Endless War, Death Unlimited, Darkest Time and Deep Inside. Good, but not good enough to be my favorites.

Anyways, enjoy. Norther is heavily recommended to everyone who likes melodic death metal and listens to stuff like Kalmah and Children Of Bodom.