Shayan Afzal » shayanafzal

Concert Review: An Evening with Amon Amarth

shayanafzal — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 16:20:45 +0000

A friend of mine recommended I listen to Amon Amarth’s album ‘Fate of Norns’ many years ago. I listened to it once. I didn’t like it. A month ago I listened to their album ‘With Oden on Our Side’ and I really liked it. Amon Amarth is plain and simple melodic death metal. Amon Amarth has a really strong rhythm guitar sections. They sound a bit like Metallica. The new album has a number of heart felt guitar solos as well, that were missing on their previous records.

I watched Amon Amarth play at the Phoenix Concert Theatre on Friday, Aug 12. I arrived at the venue around half past nine, coincidentally just moments before they started playing. The Phoenix Concert Theatre is a great concert venue for metal music. It looks a bit like a dungeon on the inside, totally my taste. I made my way through the crowd, went all the way to the back and up the staircase on to the balcony. The Phoenix Concert Theatre is a really small venue; the balcony is defiantly the best spot.

Amon Amarth played two full sets! For the first set they played their new album ‘Surtur Rising’ in its entirety. Surtur Rising may not be the best Amon Amarth album but it does have some good songs on it. My favorites being ‘Slaves of Fear’ and ‘Live Without Regrets’. The second set consisted of their greatest hits. Their song ‘Gods of War Arise’ was the one I was waiting for and loved it.

Until I saw Amon Amarth, Mikael Akerfeldt from Opeth was the best death metal singer in my opinion. Johan Hegg may even top Mikael Akerfeldt with his death growls. They are as clear as it gets. I could make out almost all of the lyrics, which is shockingly incredible for a death metal band.

There is always a great metal crowd in Toronto. They sang and head banded through out. Everyone knew the lyrics and they were absolutely engaged in the show. Watching Amon Amarth play live was a breathtaking experience. If Amon Amarth is ever performing nearby check them out. They can put on a really good live show.

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In Search of Ecstasy

shayanafzal — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 19:48:17 +0000

There’s smoke in the water that creeps through my veins and blurs my vision as I struggle on the highway to hell looking for a second chance as I wait for a new day leaning on a ghostly shoulder looking at the clock as the time ticks off into the unknown and the longing inside me makes it hard to comfort my soul as I try to find my way through the fog of arrogance, ignorance and sheer stupidity without lighting into nostalgia as I try to make the days go by faster in search of ecstasy.

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The ‘Other’

shayanafzal — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 13:05:50 +0000

Time has gone by and things have changed. We have reached the boundaries of burden. Ours steps have led us to a day that has made it clear that all that we argue about is in fact quite meaningless and insignificant.

Nothing has any real meaning anyway. Everything that means anything to us means something to us because that’s what we want it to mean. We grant meaning to the meaningless moments that bring one soul close to the ‘other’.

The Fountain of Fondness

shayanafzal — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 09:48:14 +0000

Drink from the fountain of fondness since all those doors that were once closed are now open.

Our emotions don’t control our actions. There are no dreamlike expectations (we have suffered enough at the hands of perception). We can hear through the music. We can read through the poetry.

There are no bad investments when it comes to matters of the heart because hearts are open enough to see beyond the fog of vanity.

The eyes are awake enough to look away from the colors of hypnosis. The minds are clear enough to understand that what the world classifies as insanity is saner than sanity.

The hearts are open enough to read into the eyes and listen for what words fail to say.

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Music Review: Soulbook by Rod Stewart

shayanafzal — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:47:07 +0000

I like listening to the music recorded by Rod Steward in the 70’s when he was part of The Faces. I like a fair amount of songs that he recorded in his Great Americain Song Book albums but a lot of those songs sound very similar to each other. His latest album is definitely a step up. Soulbook is a pop / soul album. Rod’s voice is as expressive as always. He still sounds very different from the way he used to sound before his surgery but he finally seems to have grown accustomed to his new voice. The album also features performances by Stevie Wonder, Mary J Blige and Jennifer Hudson. Stevie Wonder plays harmonica on My Cherie Amoure which is one the best songs on the album. Soulbook is a very nice relaxing album. One of Rod Stewart’s best in the recent years.

Slowly Separating

shayanafzal — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:06:59 +0000

The sky is crying. The wind is blowing away the rain drops as they fall onto the earth’s surface. A partly broken branch soaked in rain is hanging from a maple tree. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be able to hold onto the tree much longer. As much as one may like to, there are some things one cannot cling onto forever. The world keeps changing and sometimes it all seems to be a dream.

Finger Style Guitar Delight

shayanafzal — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:12:20 +0000

I recently experienced the bliss of attending a finger style guitar gig in Toronto. I am not too big a follower of the genre but I do own all of Andy McKee albums and I have listened to a fair bit of Don Ross music as well. To my surprise the place was packed with talented musicians. Most of them played original instrumentals while a few played instrumental versions of well known songs from the rock music genre. Most of the musicians there used pedals to loop their music but a fair bit didn’t use any such pedals and they definitely outshined the others.

It does take a fair bit of skill to play lead, rhythm, bass as well the vocal sections of a song simultaneously. It’s something I myself have been working on since the last few months. You hardly hear such intricate guitar music on the radio today but that’s a whole other debate. Michael Hedges was one of the few well known musicians who employed such guitar playing techniques coupled with numerous alternate guitar tunings. Unfortunately he is dead now but he did leave an extensive collection of tasteful music. Check him out if you’re into acoustic guitar music.

Emergency Room Visit

shayanafzal — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:35:47 +0000

I cut my finger yesterday and had to make a trip down to the hospital to get some stitches. I had to wait two and a half hours in the emergency section for my turn. There were about ten people who where ahead of me, including a man who had crushed his hand in a weight lifting accident.

Guess how many doctors were there…

One!

That’s right, one doctor.

O-N-E, one!

If this was a little family doctor clinic then that would have been understandable, but this was the emergency section of the biggest hospital in the city.

Doesn’t matter what the emergency is, if you go to the ‘emergency section’ of the hospital you will have to wait a couple of hours for your turn because there is only one doctor. It doesn’t matter whether you cut your finger, broke a bone or got raped.

I pay enough taxes; I have the right to complain!

The Meaning of Life

shayanafzal — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:36:35 +0000

A young man approached me when I was out today and gave me a flier that outlines the meaning of life. I believe it’s quite unintelligent to narrow down the meaning of life to one solid definition. The meaning of life is what one makes it to be. The meaning of my life may not necessarily be the same as the meaning of your life. There is no one answer to the meaning of life question.

The people who look into such fliers only do so in order to escape from the pathetic reality of their lives which they are too lazy to change. Distributing ‘The Meaning of Life’ fliers is a waste of time and paper as far I am concerned.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Opeth Rocked!

shayanafzal — Wed, 06 May 2009 01:51:15 +0000

Last night I watched Opeth play live at the Sound Academy in downtown Toronto. The opening band, Enslaved, played progressive black metal. They played some good music but I was thinking about Opeth the whole time. The crowd started to rush in after the opening band finished playing. I was at the front left.

Opeth finally got on stage and received a warm welcome from the crowd. Mikael Akerfeldt’s vocals were astonishing. I was amazed by his seamless transition between clean and growling vocals. ‘Deliverance’ and ‘Face of Melinda’ were by far the best songs of the night. ‘Deliverance’ really got the crowd head banging. ‘Face of Melinda’ was simply beautiful. The devil horns went up after every song they played.

I did something wild and crazy in the middle of the concert. It was merely for the thrill though. Use your imagination.