Friday, April 23, 2010

Natural disasters sometimes look like metal album covers

Grand natural disasters in picturesque places don’t just make for good photography; they also offer a wealth of cover material for today’s progressive metal band. All the late-night photoshopping in the world couldn’t hope to compare to the ungodly lightning frenzy nature unleashed via the volcano — even if, oddly enough, the lightning (at least in the picture below) looks like it was roughly inserted by an enthusiastic 14 year old playing around with his first copy of Elements.

The next two have a more pastoral — though perhaps even more apocalyptic — vibe that, considering the somewhat gentler hues Varg Vikernes has been pursuing since his incarceration, might even make the next Burzum cover. They also give a little credence to the ‘act of God’ claims insurance companies have been pulling to avoid paying out pissed off, unwashed travellers stranded in airports and rich, cosmopolitan cities across Europe.

Thanks to volcano boffins Stromboli for the shots.

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• • It's Time To Agree On Some Things
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• • A Man and a Unicorn, Alone on a Mountain Top
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• • Four Records From The (Almost) Canon
  • Four remarkable, little-heard records from two depressed Kiwis, a deep listening scholar, some truly radical post-punkers and a couple of Arizona desert rats. There's more.
• • Hetfield vs. Science
  • In 2009, Hetfield the metal singer met Songsmith the digital accompaniment program. Here's what happened. There's more.
• • Recent Spam, Reviewed
  • I receive lots of comments on this blog. Ninety-nine per cent of them are from robots. Here I take a closer look at eight of them. There's more.