Monday, December 29, 2008

RWAKE INTERVIEW TO BE PUBLISHED ONLINE @ www.metal-rules.com

Hey,

I just pulled off the RWAKE interview, but it will be online again shortly:extra articles & interviews (unreleased or english version of Metal Hammer Greece articles) of mine will be published at www.metal-rules.com where my longtime komrade & associate back at the time of Chaotik Webzine, Arto Lehtinen writes. I will post a notice when it will be online.

piss

P.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

PLAYLIST

Gridlink - Amber Gray CD

Hayaino Daisuki - Headbanger's Karaoke Club Dangerous Fire CDEP

Guns N'Roses - Chinese Democracy CD

Troublemakers - Express Way 3xLP

Timeghoul - Panaramic Twilight EP 1994

Timeghoul - Tumultuous Travelings (Demo 1992)

Catacomb - The Lurker at the Threshold (Demo 1991)

Rotten Sound - Cycles CD

90's VINTAGE UNDERGROUND DEATHMETAL BLOG, UNRELEASED CONTENT ON YOUR WAY!

First of all, I wanted to let you know I just discovered an awesome blog with old underground demos. The site is: http://metaldemos666.blogspot.com, tune in! I just downloaded some vintage stuff like CATACOMB (fr), PORTAL (aus), and for those who dont have them already, the TIMEGHOUL demos (the most underrated USDM band the 90’s)!!!

The other thing, is watch out this blog for some cool content to be published very soon:

RWAKE interview. This was conducted about a year ago about the release of the “Voices Of Omens” album. It was supposed to be published in Metal Hammer Greece, but somehow didn’t make it.

GREEK SCENE REPORT. This article is a fucked up story and it really pisses me off when I think about it. I want to put it online in order to get over with it once and for all. To make a long story short, I was contacted by TERRORIZER magazine (UK) about a year and half ago in order to produce a greek scene report. Eventually I rounded it up, after a lot of effort and time, and the feedback I got from the magazine was quite enthusiastic. That’s when I was told that there has been a misunderstanding going on, and that a greek black metal scene report was prepared by somebody else. My contact point presented his apologies and proposed me to split the article in two and discard the black metal part. Eventhough I was extremely unhappy with how things turned out I agreed and since then I didn’t have any news from them. Except references to the separate scenes, it contains some mini-features with RAVENCULT, DEAD CONGREGATION, SUN OF NOTHING, FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE, HIBERNATION

JON CHANG interview (ex-Discordance Axis, Gridlink, Hayaino Daisuki, “Black Powder|Red Earth” video game). Well I was very excited to do this interview with Jon, because he’s one of my favorite singers/lyricists. A part of it was used for a GRIDLINK feature published in Metal Hammer Greece’s December issue (in greek language of course). A lot was left out, so you’ll be able to dig the entire interview in english. It was cool because two of my passions have been adressed in it: both grindcore and first-person-shooters!


OK, hold on to it.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

FIELD RECORDINGS COMPILATION vol.1 featuring KOMMPOUND is out now


The "Field Recordings Compilation vol.1" is out now. It was prepared by Algol & Stuzha, released by Species Productions. All hailz to the them!

Full line-up:

Dahlia's Tear (Sweden)
Skadi (Germany)
8m2stereo (Germany)
Dronæment(Germany)
Nightech (Russia)
Stuzha/_Algol_ (Siberia, Russia)
Valerio Orlandini (Italy)
Subinterior (Italy)
KOMMPOUND(Greece)
Doc (Finland)
Jaaportit (Finland)
Megatone (Moldova)


KOMMPOUND contribute with "From Apollo To Jesus-Christ". The specific track is an excerpt of a longer piece of 70 minutes (supposed to be released sooner or later), recorded and mixed back on January 2006, during the sessions who gave birth to the KOMMPOUND entity.
We will soon stock some copies of the compilation through BLAST BEAT MAILMURDER, stay tuned.

COD4:MW GLITCH VIDEOS BY [9/11] CLAN

These glitch videos have been made by troopers of the [9/11] COD4 Clan that I'm part of. Hail komrades!







Saturday, October 18, 2008

PLAYLIST

-ABHORRENCE "Evoking The Abomination"
-A WILHELM SCREAM "Career Suicide"
-GRIDLINK "Amber Gray"
-TIMEGHOUL "Tumultuous Travellings"

Friday, October 17, 2008

BE THE KING OF STYLE WITH A STRAIGHTHATE T-SHIRT!


I just realized I forgot to pimp my band's STRAIGHTHATE merchandise!

After popular demand that has been going on for years, we finally got last summer our first t-shirt out. The design has been done by our brother Alex @ Viral Graphics, a fine design kommando on the rise responsible for mindexpanding artwork (records/t-shirts/posters/flyers) done for Nebula, Jucifer, Melvins, as well as for SXH’s “Ethnocide” video-clip.

You might also notice there is a band logo that you havent seen before. It's been done by our friend Tolis Yovanitis back at the time but never been used.

Those are top quality -Fruit of the loom- shirts available in Small, Medium, Large, Girlie sizes.

Cost postpaid in Hellas is 12 euros. Ask for foreign postal rates. WE ACCEPT PAYPAL!

FAR CRY 2 first impressions

Far Cry was one my favorite games in xbox1 and a technical prowess that has pushed the console’s hardware to its limits.

I have expected FC2 anxiously, especially since FC’s developpers sold the series trademark to Ubisoft and pursued their own career as Crytek, publishing Crysis - available exclusively on PC.

Well I played it for over an hour yesterday on a XBOX360 and my first impressions are excellent:

- it looks fantastic, the graphics are impressive! It definitely raises the bar as per what should we expect of the platform.
- The context, mutant-free and superpower-free is realistic. The fact it happens to Africa makes it even more actual and intense. We all know this shit happens for real there since colonization is officially “over” (yeah right). Tribal wars for diamonds, ruthless mercenaries and arms dealers, poverty and breath-cuttin nature. The game's atmosphere is a winner
- Gameplay is more or less the same than FC1. You have to accomplish objectives though stealth and by carefully planning your attack. The fact that you can chose to fight by day or by night is definitely a must.
- Your character has malaria from the beginning and it only gets worst as the game progresses. Another interesting dimension. FPS’ just got a bit smarter.
- I havent tested multiplayer mode yet. I’ll ke you posted.

CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR multiplayer beta update#2

Some more impressions:

- gun sound is weak, must be beefed up. Eg. Thompson with suppressor sounds ridiculous!

- music/sound effects are good. There is some tribal-ish stuff tastefully used. Artillery is accompanied by eerie howlings… sweet! The game is supposed to have an overall dark atmosphere, the dark ambient overtones are more than welcome.

- war mode is intense.

- All of the 3 maps offered are excellent for campers (boo) and this can handicape fast-paced matches, especially in war modes.

- I’m still not very excited about it. Apparently the main dish of COD: WW will be the co-op campaign. Multiplayer feels like a COD4 mod…

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR, first impressions/early review from XBOX360 multiplayer beta

I was one of the lucky ones to get a key for the XBOX 360 multiplayer beta of "CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR", which is one of the most anticipated video games of the year - not only because it is part of one of the most popular video games series but also because its predecessor CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE was a tremendous, unexpected success (eventhough it was a departure from the WWII theme of the series), especially due to its astonishing multiplayer. Here's my first impressions after ~10hours of game.

-INTRO.
to make a long story short, it's a relatively bug-free beta which gives a good insight to the
multiplayer portion of the game. I started out with COD4 (I played COD2/3 multiplayer almost not at all) and I havent been very impressed or excited. I guess that people like me who started out with COD4 will find COD:WW a nice, satisfying multiplayer game, but will not abandon COD4
(especially if a new map pack becomes available) and will be eagerly anticipating COD5 which
will also be in a modern context and that should be out in Nov. 2009.

-GAMEPLAY.
More or less the same than COD4. Most game modes will remain, there's a return of Capture The Flag as well as War mode, which is between Headquarters and Domination (each team fights for command points, one at a time, once one has been taken everybody fights for the next one).
The reward for consecutive kills without deaths is still here: with 3 kills you get ennemy position recon, with 5 artillery (more or less the same than airstrike but the effect is better - the ground crumbles and shakes and it feels real) and with 7... dogs! It's cool and at least as lethal as helicopter. Except that by shooting dogs you get points (in COD4 you didnt get points for shooting helicopters and that was certainly a shame).

-PERKS.
Basically its the COD4 system with a few minor differences. There's still juggenaut, last stand (except that you can revive somebody fallen if you're quick enough), martyrdome, stopping power plus a couple more like monkey in order to climb trees (not tested here).

-GORE.
That's a plus! You'll get mutilated when bombarded or grenaded, that's certainly very cool.

-WEAPONS.
Evethough the comparison is not relevant, weapons are one of the things that COD4 fans will immediately regret! At least as far as I can tell from the
weapons unlocked till cap level 11 that you can get at the demo, we sorely miss our
MP5/M16/M4/P90/etc! To put it simply it's less satisfying to shoot with (the sounds are less
powerful too). The Thompson, the SMG you start with, is not accurate at all (imagine something
like the Uzi) and its magazine clip empties in a flash. Eventually you will unlock the MP40 with
the double magazine and things will get better. As far as the rifles go, the Gewehr 42 is not
bad, but we all miss automatic rifles and at this point I cannot tell how good will they be.
Many people wondered what will be replacing red dot sight. This is called "APERTURE SIGHT" and it's somehow similar (except it doesnt help with the light), but not something you would get
into a SMG. But as I said we cannot judge until we play the full game and unlock all the bastards. For example we cannot play with one of the most anticipated features: the flamethrower! Bazookas are quite cool and you'll be able to unlock by completing the last rifle challenge rifle-mounted grenades which I heard from other players that they're very cool.

-EXPLOSIVES.
For starters fragmentation grenades dont have any punch and you should definitely not expect the devastating effect they have on COD4. Maybe its because of the technology of the time. You also have molotovs which are slower to launch but spread a little bit more (you're still not able to burn the environment though - e.g. wooden cabins). There's also satchels of explosives - the equivalent of C4 in COD4, which I havent used at all so I cannot tell. We also have the equivalent of stun (very nice effect) and flash grenades.

-MAPS.
There's 3. An industrial complex, a japanese castle, and a seaside village by night. The castle
and the village are pretty cool, i dont like the complex. Graphics are good and they are pretty
big, with a lot of places to camp and different routes to take.

-GRAPHICS.
Well as I said the graphics of the maps are good, especially the castle with the cherry trees or
the moonlight reflecting at the sea (Makin map). As far as the soldiers go, I havent been
impressed. I also dont like the animations when they run, I find it a little bit arcade-like.

-TANKS.
Well, yeah there will be tanks in some of the maps (I think in 4 out of the 14). One out of the 3 maps included here features them, the industrial complex. I think that vehicles in shooters (multiplayer or singleplayer) you either like them or not. I dont. I think it's boring and you lose focus out of the most fun part of it, which is good old infantry combat. I admit it can be amusing in some instances, one drives the tank and shoots the canon, the other is on the turret and fires the machine gun. You can take them out either with another tank or with bazooka's and explosives (anti-tank grenades and explosives).

-ΜΑTCHMAKING.
Almost the only relevant complaint/criticism as far as COD4 goes, was matchmaking. For starters the whole host system is a scandal: I cannot comprehend why should we depend of the host in order to make a good match and be able to do decent kills. The way things should be is that we would all connect to servers... Which is still not the case here. And then, COD4 was pretty good at putting you into the same match as some guys in the states with perfect lines, where you wouldnt stand a chance since they would see you turning around the corner before you (it would also take the double of bullets to take them down, compared to a match with a decent ping). I havent experienced any host disconnects (or maybe just once) but there certainly was lag, especially during the periods of the day when there's more americans in. But at least Treyarch optimized the whole system and gives the possibility to configure the match search. Either you leave the preferences to "DEFAULT" either you chose between "LOCAL" and "LOCALE" which restrich the search to matches with players geographically close. It makes sense and as far as I can tell it works.

-CONCLUSION.

As a comrade pointed out:
a) It would have made more sense if COD:WW was released before COD4. But of course this is hypothetically speaking since Infinity Ward was developping COD4 in a couple of years taking a break from the series, while Treyarch had to round up COD3 in just one year.
b) Guys who started out with COD4 will not like COD:WW better, eventhough eventually they will find it perfectly fun.

Treyarch did a very good job with the COD4 engine and overall I have the impression that COD:WW multiplayer will be solid and fun. It's just the split of the COD series in two (WWII and modern warfare) that is weird and confusing for the fans. And it's somehow not right, but COD:WW will have to suffer from the comparison with its predecessor, eventhough they are not comparable in many instances. If COD:WW multiplayer will have the same overwhelming success than COD4 it's something that we will see (eventhough I doubt a bit). I definitely expect the full game to test in order to make my mind.

METAL HAMMER GREECE CHANGES!


In case you havent already noticed METAL HAMMER GREECE (#1 metal mag in the country) has been, and is still going, through some changes. Issue#286 (October 2008) is the first proof of this. Check it out and stay tuned for more enhancements!


Saturday, September 20, 2008

Check out today's ELEFTHEROS TYPOS (20/9/08)

Check out today's ELEFTHEROS TYPOS (20/9/08), page 28-29, the artikle about DEIPNOSOFISTES, a klub of fine eaters I'm part of.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

STRAIGHTHATE LIVE THURSDAY 22nd May 2008

LIVE THURSDAY 22nd May 2008 @ UNDERWORLD CLUB (AThens):
STRAIGHTHATE
SOURCE
VOIDWALKER
VIGOUR

Entry costs 8e. It will most probably be the last SXH live for the season. We are gonna play a couple of brand new songs.

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

STRAIGHTHATE LIVE FRIDAY 25th January 2007


LIVE @ AN KLUB FFFRIDAY 25jan08

STRAIGHTHATE (death/grind/hardcore - Athens)
FORMIKATION (grindcore - Athens)
PROFANE PRAYER (blackmetal - Lamia)

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

KOMMPOUND feature @ UMAN MAG, FORGARDUR HELVITIS @ METAL HAMMER GREECE

  • From KOMMPOUND myspace blog: "Yeah it is pretty weird I know, but latest issue of greek mainstream mag UMAN has an artikle entitled "HELLENIC VOMIT DOLLS" ("HELLENIC" was supposed to be written with a "K" in the first place). It's about the new lokal noise akts, and KOMMPOUND is documented and praised! Featured as well are our brothers PASCAL CRETAIN, HELLBOY106 & FAMILY BATTLE SNAKE. Check it out, you wont get disappointed - you'll get as a bonus plenty of half-naked chicks. An online preview of the artikle here."
  • Latest issue of METAL HAMMER GREECE features an interview (+review) with Iceland's finest FORGARDUR HELVITIS.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

24th Chaos Communication Congress lecture about console/Xbox360 hacking

People interested in free thinking, science and hacking are possibly familiar by now with the legendary Chaos Computer Club (CCC). Check out the 24th Chaos Communication Congress's webpage, there were a lot of interesting lectures and workshops in different tech and more diverse science/social fields, from DIY survival after a nuclear war or the uprising of the robots (!), to traditional hacking stuff, protection of the individual privacy and rights in our technological society, etc. There's video and audio recordings of the whole event available that you can download.

I was particularly interested in the "Console & Xbox 360 Hacking Lecture" (an abstract of it here: http://events.ccc.de/congress/2007/Fahrplan/events/2279.en.html). You can watch the video transcript here: http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEAllAlZVuRLhOzpWe.php. It's interesting that they highlight the fact that it's useless that console manufacturers disable their hardware from running Linux/homebrew software, because it's going to be hacked in order to do it anyway. They also stress out that PLAYSTATION 3 comes with the possibility to run Linux and homebrew code embedded, and that is possibly a reason why it hasn't be hacked yet.