Video Games
Music
I have such a difficult time getting into praise and worship music, because musically it bores the heck out of me. The lyrics are great, but the compositions are so basic, and in genres I don't enjoy, that I start zoning out in seconds. I want to like it, but it's uphill.
I decided, "Why not look up the best Christian power metal bands, and see if there is anything good out there?" I started with the consensus best band, and that band's consensus best album: "As the World Bleeds", by "Theocracy". I gave it two full listens-- how does it stack up against my favorite albums of all time?
On the positives, I'm happy such an album exists. Lyrically it's incredible, teaching the kerygma and brushing on proofs of God's existence. Also, the vocalist is probably in the top ten percent of all power metal singers I've heard: he has a wonderfully clear voice, can project, and has a good falsetto.
The problems come in musically, where it seems like the talent levels are just sort of-- as the kids would say-- "mid". I've spent the past twenty six years listening to the genre, and "Theocracy" are probably in the bottom quarter in terms of compositionally quality. I find myself continually frustrated with their chord progressions, for example, where they will get so close but then "miss it" part-way through. Interest will start to build, then it will go sideways, and I almost want to shout, "No, no, no! That's not it!"
There are some guitar solos, but they are-- again-- pretty basic; probably just a limitation of the guitarist's talent. Overall, "As the World Bleeds" is definitely listenable-- it's not bad-- but it's way off the pace of even the bottom albums in my top list.
The journey continues! I'll try another band soon, and give things another shot.
Random Game Musings
Back when they were brand new, I played all the way through the two "Metal Gear Acid" games on the PSP probably ten times each-- I had them both completely memorized. I ran across this yesterday, which follows the exact same gameplay formula. It's called "Hard Edge"-- I might give the game a look, even though the presentation looks a little cheap.
This video is a fun exploration of why the writing is so bad in video games-- why it has that "Marvel" thing going on, specifically. It's often said that modern games are designed by the accounting department, but it's even worse than that: the actual game developers are the accountants, so-to-speak. The part about the lead game designer on a major project, who quite literally can't imagine things in his brain, planning the title in a spreadsheet is very sad-- yet doesn't surprise me either. Total dearth of creativity. "Let's min-max profit ROI instead of making art."
Finally, I thought this was cool. I don't think it'll ever catch on, but it does paint a picture to me that though Steam is a DRM platform, the way it's designed is more robust and portable than the competitors. On that note, I've been playing my OLED Steam Deck quite a bit lately, it's fabulous. I waffle on whether I enjoy it or the Switch 2 more.
I decided, "Why not look up the best Christian power metal bands, and see if there is anything good out there?" I started with the consensus best band, and that band's consensus best album: "As the World Bleeds", by "Theocracy". I gave it two full listens-- how does it stack up against my favorite albums of all time?
On the positives, I'm happy such an album exists. Lyrically it's incredible, teaching the kerygma and brushing on proofs of God's existence. Also, the vocalist is probably in the top ten percent of all power metal singers I've heard: he has a wonderfully clear voice, can project, and has a good falsetto.
The problems come in musically, where it seems like the talent levels are just sort of-- as the kids would say-- "mid". I've spent the past twenty six years listening to the genre, and "Theocracy" are probably in the bottom quarter in terms of compositionally quality. I find myself continually frustrated with their chord progressions, for example, where they will get so close but then "miss it" part-way through. Interest will start to build, then it will go sideways, and I almost want to shout, "No, no, no! That's not it!"
There are some guitar solos, but they are-- again-- pretty basic; probably just a limitation of the guitarist's talent. Overall, "As the World Bleeds" is definitely listenable-- it's not bad-- but it's way off the pace of even the bottom albums in my top list.
The journey continues! I'll try another band soon, and give things another shot.
Random Game Musings
Back when they were brand new, I played all the way through the two "Metal Gear Acid" games on the PSP probably ten times each-- I had them both completely memorized. I ran across this yesterday, which follows the exact same gameplay formula. It's called "Hard Edge"-- I might give the game a look, even though the presentation looks a little cheap.
This video is a fun exploration of why the writing is so bad in video games-- why it has that "Marvel" thing going on, specifically. It's often said that modern games are designed by the accounting department, but it's even worse than that: the actual game developers are the accountants, so-to-speak. The part about the lead game designer on a major project, who quite literally can't imagine things in his brain, planning the title in a spreadsheet is very sad-- yet doesn't surprise me either. Total dearth of creativity. "Let's min-max profit ROI instead of making art."
Finally, I thought this was cool. I don't think it'll ever catch on, but it does paint a picture to me that though Steam is a DRM platform, the way it's designed is more robust and portable than the competitors. On that note, I've been playing my OLED Steam Deck quite a bit lately, it's fabulous. I waffle on whether I enjoy it or the Switch 2 more.