Aki's Blog

Ok, the 1999 film/mini-series “Noah’s Ark” – a film version of two famous stories from the Bible; Sodom and Gomorrah, and the building of Noah’s Ark – is great, in spite where it fails incredibly. A perfect blend of comedy and… what to call it? Action?

But there are unfortunately lots of mistakes, or changes from the original text – the Bible. The most obvious one is that Noah according to the film is in the story about Sodom and Gomorrah, which he is not. The Biblical person who has the role Noah has in the film is Abraham. Read more about the mistakes on this page.

Read.

I have always been thinking. Always, since I was born. Love, hate, sorrow, religion, why is the world as it is? What is the reason of hate, what causes sorrow? Sorrow is a matter we need to accept, someone we are forced to understand and cope with. Everyone dies, and that is a fact and not anything we are able to change. But we can change the fact that people are killed young, that animals (and by animals I include the human being) are killed every day, that some starve and some are bathing in champagne. We can change the fact that some people does not live a life, simply because no one let’s them.

Throughout my life, I have been interested in several religious standings, most frequently Christianity, however I do not agree with too many parts to call myself a Christian, which I have discovered recently. Something to make clear right away is that I am a vegetarian, believing that the value of every creature on the Earth is the same, something that the Bible does not agree with. What this world need is a new Bible, a new book of truth with the modern ideas, the updated world which I don’t see any religions following. Wherever I turn, I find nothing but basic hate against women, homosexuality, other animals, other people. What is wrong with this world, is everyone born to hate? I believe not.

I will not call what I hereby create a religion, but I will call it a way of life. I hope for others to join me in my crusade against misery and hate, my crusade for a world in which justice and love without exception prevails. This is a protest, a protest in which I wish your help. If others ever care to join me, please write me an e-mail and I will create a member list in which you are featured. Ofcourse, you can all listen to these advices on a better way to live without becoming a member.

Thank you for reading.

Yours sincerely,
Anton Johansson

On June 5, 2007, American power metal band Kamelot released their eight studio album entitled “Ghost Opera”. I downloaded (I am ashamed, please forgive me) the album the same summer.

Since I first heard Kamelot (with first loves like “The Haunting (Somewhere in Time)” and “The Black Halo”) in the summer of 2006, I’ve loved the band. There is something special with their ability to combine some of my favorite genres in metal: symphonic, progressive, power and (on later albums) gothic. My love for the band is nothing that changes with this album, not at all. As a first comment on it… I love the title and art work… I will buy it as soon as I get some money, I promise. However, I more want to buy their “One Cold Winter’s Night” DVD. It seems cool.

Over to the review.

 

The album kicks off with a one minute instrumental entitled “Solitaire”, that really feels like a waste of time, or an excuse to have eleven tracks on the album, cause it sounds much better than eleven…. A solo violin playing the most boring notes, where’s the KAMELOT? Just skip the track… I do.

“Rule the World”, the second track, is one of those songs that has nothing special that sticks out, but that it’s nothing wrong with. I like the raise of Roy Khan’s voice in the chorus, and it’s quite speedy. It doesn’t really touch me otherwise, but it’s really an okay song.

The main track has an eponymous title with the album. “Ghost Opera” is a speedy, interesting breaking-border song. And GOD that video’s fabulous! It’s quite boring in a way, though… I can refer to Sonata Arctica’s song “Wolf & Raven”; the song seems to have a great potential but everything fades when it sounds the same without grande changes. It’s not catchy enough.

“The Human Stain” is the fourth track of the album. It is a cynic’s view of the world: everything bad, human kind’s selfishness (“No one really wants to die to save the world”), and the wish to be an innocent child again. It is a good, cool and catchy song, that is sad and interesting with gothic metal-similarities such as the keyboard playing throughout the song.

“Blücher” is based on the sinking of the the German cruiser of the same name in World War II. It’s a bit like “Rule the World” but better; it’s quite neutral, nothing good nor bad about it… It’s cool with the intro as well as some parts of the background that’s just filled with sounds of the war; screaming, shooting etcetera.

And here comes what I would presume is my favorite track of the album. “Love You to Death” is a beautiful story about a couple where the girl is dying, and this is his speech to her about how he will stay by her forever, love her to death… It’s the longest song off the album (5:13) and for that I’m glad. It has a cool intro and a catchy chorus… Me like.

“Up Through the Ashes” is what I would call one of the heaviest song of the album. It’s quite angry. I like it.

“Mourning Star” is quite neutral. I’ve got nothing against it, despite it’s not one of my favorite. Guess I miss some kind of turn that never shows up.

Vocalist Roy Khan tries lots of new vocal methods in the song “Silence of the Darkness”. It also holds a great guitar solo that has a cool, outstanding sound. I guess I’ll try it as soon as I have the powers. This is one of the songs that seems really cool live (I might go to their Stockholm concert in May, 2008, wih).

Kamelot is really good on slow, sad songs, and they usually have at least one per album. On Ghost Opera, “Anthem” is the one. It is a sad piano song with a fascinating chorus and beautiful yet sad lyrics. I keep listening for the introduction of sudden drums in the end, by “I’ll be the best I can”. That would sound great… WHY NOT?

The final song of the album is “EdenEcho” which is another song that would be lovely live. It doesn’t really make it unto my mind, so I cannot count it as one of my favorites. Yet it has a cool chorus.

 

Tracklisting:

1. “Solitaire” – 1:00
2. “Rule the World” – 3:40
3. “Ghost Opera” – 4:06
4. “The Human Stain” – 4:01
5. “Blücher” – 4:03
6. “Love You to Death” – 5:13
7. “Up Through the Ashes” – 4:59
8. “Mourning Star” – 4:37
9. “Silence of the Darkness” – 3:43
10. “Anthem” – 4:24
11. “EdenEcho” – 4:13

The album also features two bonus tracks (“The Pendulous Fall” and “Season’s End”), both which I haven’t heard.

What religion should I choose?

I have always been shifting religion. The larger part of my life, I have been either a Protestant or a Catholist, but there are lots of parts about the Christian religions that I don’t like, such as the hate against homosexuals and so on.

I’m thinking of continuing obeying the Circism, a religion which I founded in spring 2006. The basic is that every animal (human and other) has got the exact same amount of karma, and therefore is as much worth. From the beginning, off course. Then, future choices and events decides the final karma (like in Buddhism). In circism, it is not allowed to kill another creature just for fun, but hunting is OK, if it is planned to use the animal in ways such as eating it or using the fur. Also, there is no god, but a Holy Spirit, which always surround us and judges our karma after the death. The logo, which is shown below, stands for the reincarnational circle, and the Holy Spirit which controls it all from inside. Find more information at circism.mangaworld.se

–Aki

No rejudice, but I think that The First Satanic Church is quite stupid. A quote from their about-page:

“Keep in mind that you do not have to join anything to be a “real” Satanist. Do not let any institution or group convince you that you must be a “member” in order to be a Satanist. To be a “real” Satanist you must first be yourself; joining any organization will not automatically make you anything. This is something you must do on your own.”“To be a real Satanist you must first be yourself” – I guess that means that everyone who acts like themself are Satanists, then. Even though they are Buddhists, Christians or anything. Doesn’ it? :P

–Aki