Hilarious.

"Hey Zach, if you play your song Killing in the Name Of on the radio, you won't swear will you?"

"Oh, no".

"You'll just say 'I won't do what you tell me', instead of 'Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me'."

"Oh, yes".

"Well, I believe you, because I have no reason to think, based on this little exchange, that you would ever not do something that you were told to do. No reason at all".

I'm supporting the Rage Against The Machine for Christmas Number 1 campaign, not because I think it sends a powerful message (it does not) or because I care about who tops the Christmas chart (I do not), but in the name of SHENANIGANS. I am pro-frippery. And also vastly amused that Cowell would call this bit of fun 'cynical', given how he makes a living.

Buy the track or don't buy the track. But do make a donation to Shelter, who do amazing work for a group of people it would be easier to forget about: "You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless".

UPDATE: Cowell again bemoaned the campaign earlier, calling its organisers "miserable". He also said it's denying Joe "his moment". Firstly, he's had plenty of moments, including the one where he won the talent contest that he entered and got a million pound recording contract. Secondly, there's the implication of entitlement. The fact that Cowell sees the Christmas number one spot as something that should be granted to everyone who wins his show is just another reason to get on board.

I've never really listened to my iPod using the shuffle facility - I prefer to listen to whole albums. That said, I recently decided that I'd try to listen to all 2496 songs on my iPod because sometimes I think I don't know all the music I own. There are so many times I listen to the first twenty minutes of an album on a journey, and as a result don't really.

Anyway, I also thought I keep an on-going log of my progress and any thoughts. We join things at track 144 - Anaal Nathrakh's 'Yellow King' from the 'Eschaton' album. An incredible album, very heavy, yet surprisingly accessible, with clean vocals and even guitar solos. It's the majestic black metal of Emperor mixed with the Midlands grindcore of Napalm Death, with soaring chorus breaking out dense walls of noise. This track is less so - its all pummelling drums, gurgled vocals, and a crushing bursts of guitar. It's very grim - but in a good way.

Track 151 - 'Red Tape Suckers' by Nasum, of their rarities disc Grind Finale. Two seconds long, consisting of the lyrics 'red tape suckers' and a single blast of noise. I love grind. Moving on.

Track 161 - Darkthrone - 'I En Hall Med Flesk Og Mjod' off of 'Transylvanian Hunger'. I can never distinguish tracks on that album without checking (the Norwegian doesn't help), because there all a lot like this - almost hypnotic, repetitive, not a trace of warmth anywhere in the music. Much better to listen to the whole thing than individual tracks for the proper necro black metal experience.

Two gigs at the Camden Underworld I'm excited about this winter - Amorphis in October, and Insomnium in December. Two of Finland's best, and the makers of my favourite doom/death albums. Insomnium's Above the Weeping World is one of the few albums I'd consider utterly essential - by turn melodic, melancholic and eventually uplifting, I think it could make believers out of non-metal fans.

I have phases where my myriad interests take up more or less of my time. I had a couple of years where I was watching hardly any wrestling - now it's the major reason I use the internet. Music - specifically metal - has had similar times where I really care, and times where I maintain just a precursory interest.

I'm currently listening to a lot of new things, and relistening to a bunch of albums I didn't give enough time to over the past couple of years. I realised that I rarely discuss music here, but that I now wanted to a little, so I'm going to try to discuss new albums. Not everyone who reads this blog enjoys the music I do, but maybe occassionaly I can turn you on to something new.

Quite frankly, one reason I wanted to start doing this was because I've been walking around of late, listening to an album that I can't have on for more than a few minutes without thinking, "this is the best album I'll hear this year", and I really want to share it with as many others as possible. The band is called Cobalt, and the album is called "Gin".

A lot has been written in other reviews about the bands lead singer, who's day job is in the US army, serving in Baghdad. Whether his vocal performance on this album is because of his experiences or not concerns me very little. What does matter is that it is a remarkably intense contribution - listen to the him as he bellows, "burn me down, shoot me in the chest" at the end of "Arsonry" to get an idea. That's not to say it's one-dimensional; I liked his quieter bits as well.

The real appeal to me, however, is the music. They are black metal elements, but this is a truly progressive band in the blend of styles they expertly weave together. Take "Pregnant Insect", my favourite song on the album. There's the acoustic start launching into the huge punkish riff . There's tribal-sounding drums and there's Jarboe chanting, all built around the more stock hypnotic mid-paced section that typifies lots of progressive black metal bands. Other highlights include the more meditative "Dry Body" and the lenghty "Two Thumbed Fist". I also actively like the short instrumental pieces that link up the longer tracks, which can sometimes sound like filler or undeveloped ideas that didn't fit in elsewhere.

US black metal is pretty great these last few years, pushing forward a genre of music that can be very conservative . Last year there was Nachtmystium's "Assassins" and the previous year there was Wolves In the Throne Room's "Two Hunters". I think "Gin" may be better than them all.

My evening spent watching Lacuna Coil was quite excellent. Six years ago I picked up their 2002 album, Comalies, on my matriculation day, on a whim based on a 4/5 review I'd seen the previous week in Kerrang (Note for official, image-savvy biography: I never used to read Kerrang).

Since then, it has remained my album of choice to play when I have company - metal, of course, but drenched in gothic and softened by the incredible voice of Cristina Scabbia. Hearing some of those songs live tonight was a real treat - Swamped, Daylight Dancer, Entwined, Tight Rope (YouTube them all), and of course, Heaven's a Lie during the encore. The newer stuff - the big sing-along cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy the Silence, closer Our Truth and the slower Within Me only added to the fun.

I think what sets them apart from most of the goth metal bands, especially those with a female front-person, is that despite being incredible accessible, they aren't particularly compromising or playing around with catchy pop melodies and choruses. The dual vocals of Scabbia and Andrea Ferro offer the perfect counterpart to each other - his rough barks, her soaring solos. Their songs are dark and atmospheric, their drums are stomping, and the impact of their music comes not from easy shortcuts but from this sheer unrestrained energy.

It was good, is all.

Lacuna Coil are playing the Cardiac early in November. This is great news. It is certainly time, after six years, that Cristina Scabbia and I confront our feelings for each other: my undying love for her, and her complete ignorance and potential indifference for me. We must confront this head-on, if we're ever going to have a future.

Please, enjoy Turisas' Rasputin.

Last night, I got offered a ticket to see Dragonforce. I would not likely have gone on my own accord, power metal generally being a little too poppy and melodic for me to be too interested in (unless it's Maiden). But some people at work were going, and it makes a pleasant change to have company at a metal gig.

The thing Dragonforce do really well is play fast. Their guitarists, especially Herman Li, are incredibly talented, and some of the soloing was amazing to watch. The vocalist is a pretty decent singer too (an actual singer!), and the galloping drum sound is sure to get all heads nodding along. They look like there are having a lot of fun, charging round the stage, pulling faces at the front row as this pull off these complex solos, the singer apparently drunk enough that he lost his place in the set and announced that the next song was the one they'd just finished, much to everyones amusement. However, after a while - and two hours is definitely a while - this can get a little repetitive. They would have been better off cutting maybe 45 minutes from the set. They certainly would have been better NOT playing that awful Aerosmith-like ballad in the middle. That said, you haven't lived until you've seen a couple of hundred metalheads, horns in the air, waving from side to side.

Also, why is it OK for frontmen (even drunk frontmen) to berate the crowd for not jumping around and cheering for the entire length of their show? Am I crazy for thinking that the amount of appreciation given to a band shoild be proportional to how much I liked them, not how much I'm told I should like them. Crowds aren't responsible for how good a gig is. I'd like to try that in my job, telling clients they should like my report more (you cunts). I do get that it's a stage act. But seriously, you're not Dave Mustaine.

The real triumph of the gig was Turisas. Marching on stage in full red warpaint and Viking garb, their stomping folk-flavoured metal was far better than the act they were supporting. They had a violinist, and an accordian player - who, by the way, I think I fell in love with. That was back when I thought she was a guy. The prettiest guy in the world - and they covered Boney M's Ra Ra Rasputin, and played a host of their other songs (BATTLE METAL!). The very defintion of crowd-pleasing. And Craig-pleasing.

Obviously I can tell that she is a girl. But it was harder with her wearing facepaint, from 50 yards away.

So, my Valentine's present this year was a ticket to a gig of my choice, and so I went to see Rotten Sound (and The Ocean, and Victims, and Trap Them), at the Camden Underworld on Monday. A slight change of scene for me - more hardcore and punk than metal, but Rotten Sound's new album is a triumph of grind and I wanted to experience it live.

First two bands were great - fast, loud, short songs, fun times. Trap Them played with loads of energy, and Victims had their catchy D-beat hardcore. The Ocean however, were simply awe-inspiring. Usually playing much slower and more complex song than their touring mates, they were like a more extreme Isis. They exceeded any expectation I may have had over their heaviness, and in the process blew me away to the extent that I wondered how Rotten Sound could possibly follow.

Indeed, at the start, with The Ocean's deep heaviness still ringing in my ears, I initially thought they couldn't - their opener lacked impact I was expecting. But it was temporary, thankfully. Before long, they had the entire room moving to their blisteringly fast grind blast coupled with an unbelievable amount of groove. The guitars have that fantastic Entombed-like buzzsaw sound, the drummer was clearly some sort of robot, and over it all, never lost amongst all that, Keijo Niinimaa with his urgent, commanding vocals, telling us all exactly where the world has gone wrong. They played mostly songs off the new album, which is great because its the one I know, and I got myself a "Prai$e the £ord" t-shirt from the guys afterward. Freaking brilliant.

I was 24 last week, and had a lovely birthday. My enjoyment of the day was greatly ensured by the huge number of new CDs I received. I think the haul managed to mop all all my outstanding "must-haves" from the past year or so. Plus, I forgave Zavvi a couple of weeks ago when they had a sale of some classic death metal and grind I should have bought years ago.

Anyway, I have designed a listening calender so as to ensure I fully absorb them all - sometimes, when I have a large amount of new music to listen to, a few won't quite make it, and I end up forgetting about them. Not this time:

Last week - Wolves in the Throne Room "Two Hunters", Primordial "The Gathering Wilderness", Enslaved "Ruun", Anaal Nathrakh "Hell is Empty and the Devils Are All Here".

This week - Mayhem "Ordo Ad Chao", Blut Aus Nord "Odinist", Decapitated "Winds of Creation", Morbid Angel "Altars of Madness".

Next week - Napalm Death "Scum", Decapitated "The Negation", Dillinger Escape Plan "Ire Works", Suffocation "Effigy of the Forgotten".

Final Week - Napalm Death "From Enslavement to Obliteration", Blut Aus Nord "Memoria Vetusta I - Fathers of the Icy Age", Primordial "Storm Before the Calm".

I will now take questions.

Today I went around the "Metal" section in Zavvi, and removed everything that, while placed there deliberately by a shop assistant, was actually in the wrong place. They were left with about five CDs.

I think it's a mark of my elitism that I can no longer shop there, not out of any particular grudge, but because they actually sell nothing I actually want to buy. I have gone up to eleven.

I really want to own a music shop. If anyone is also really interested in owning a music shop, get in touch. I would sell CDs by Sigh. I know - no-one ever clicks my music recommendations. But please click this one, and listen to "Death before Dishonor" or "Messiahplan". They are seriously the most fun I've had from music in weeks.

Something I learned about myself today - I am much more comfortable supporting the music of convicted murderers than I am supporting the music of a band who supports the ALF.

I recently bought Primordial's latest, "To the Nameless Dead". They sound like this (try Empire Falls or The Coffin Ships).

They are absolutely amazing: heavy, yet melodic; dark, yet soaring. The vocals are emotive and powerful, while the lyrics read like poetry. I was reading the liner notes, which explains some of the lyrical influence - the album is about nations, about the "nameless dead" who gave their lives for a cause or for their country, though no empire has lasted forever. It touches on faith and belief, and has a lot to say about how we take for granted the often bloody and painful history that has brought us to where we are now - "Tell me what nation on this Earth, is not born of tragedy?".

I must go and watch them live.

More black metal in the mainstream media. Not a band I've really listened to much, but an interesting one. They made headlines recently in Norway for staging a series of photos where they "downloaded" a sheep belonging to a Norwegian minister in response to his suggestion that it should be legal to download music for free.

I found this really good article about one of my new favourite bands, Wolves in the Throne Room. For an article in the mainstream about a black metal band, the writer seems to know what he is talking about. There are a few over-generalisations - a lot of seminal black metal bands dropped the corpsepaint early on, not all bands adopted the traditional lo-fi production aestethetic (listen to Immortal!), few were involved in the church burnings and saying Satanism was proclaimed is a common stereotype (many were anti-religious, while other professed pagan beliefs). However, it's a thorough introduction, and an intelligent piece on a fascinating, progressive metal band.

Unlike this, which serves so little purpose - few Oxford students have any interest in the death metal scene, and this is hardly an introduction (the disc or the review). More annoyingly, the writer goes on about the boundaries of the style, ignoring the fact that extreme metal is one of the most diverse genres of music - that's what extremity is really all about. A portion of death metal bands, of which Severe Torture are one, aim to make the most brutal, heavy albums, and at first listen, they may be a lot of similiarity between different bands. However, it becomes quite possible to distinguish the ones that are playing generic death metal with the ones who show a desire to push the genre forward, of which there are many examples.

Also, the Scandinavian scene never imploded. It exploded and produced several different subgenres, each with a different sound, but ultimately falling under the label of death metal. Which pretty much says everything about the genre's "space for creativity".

Decapitated are a Polish technical death metal band that I like. One of the amazing things about the band is that when they released their first album in 2000, to critical acclaim, the average age of the band was 18. High amongst the reasons I liked them so much was the drumming of Witold "Vitek" Kiełtyka, which was always complex and incredibly intricate, while still being utterly brutal.

On 29th October, their tour bus collided with a truck carrying wood in Belarus, injuring Vitek and singer Covan. Vitek died from his injuries on Friday. Though considered one of the best drummers in metal, he was only 23 - he was only 12 when he joined the band in 1996. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

RIP Vitek (24.01.84 - 2.11.07)

We shall remain and dream again,
Our moment of awakening is too short to recognize

I've been listening to a lot of music recently, and I thought I'd share it with the world.

First, my favourite album of the year is "Harvest" by a Swedish blackened melodic death metal band called Naglfar. Try "The Darkest Road" which is actually really accessible. The title track is one of the best tracks I've heard in a long time, and is epic in the most evocative meaning of the word.

Next up, progressive black metal band Negura Bunget, who actually come from Transylvania. Last year's "Om" is a really impressive piece of music, blending the Romanian heritage of the band and the traditional music of their homeland with a more recognisable black metal aesthetic. The result is an hour of the most hypnotic and mystical extreme music I've ever heard. "Tesarul Di Lumini" is a good introduction. For fans of post rock as well as extreme music.

Moving up the extremity curve, Birmingham's Anaal Nathrakh are part black metal, part grind and part industrial. They sound a little like the end of the world. Get blasted with "When The Lion Devours Both Dragon and Child", off of last year's "Eschaton".

And finally, winning the name prize, Rotting Christ are twenty year metal veterans who I only heard for the first time this year. They are Greek, and their ethnicity is apparent throughout their music. I recommend anything on the player, as "Theogonia" is a great album from start to finish, but "Sign of Prime Creation" is my favourite track (mainly because it was the one that made me notice the band).

Went to watch a few bands at the Wheatsheaf last night. There was a clear split in the lineup between bands made of kids and bands made of adults. The first two, Fee Fi Fo Fum and The Youngs Plan were probably fine at what they do, if I had any interest or connection to either Biffy Clyro-like indie rock (the latter) or what I am going to label wank-core (the former). The drummer in Fee Fi Fo Fum was pretty good though. As Charles said, its hard to talk about the band, because you knew all their friends were probably standing by you.

Red Paper Dragon were great, and their burly, bearded slabs of heaviosity in between the more delicate softer builds made me think of bands I love (Isis, Cult of Luna). Their set marked the point where the children left, which tells me that they were not as rock as maybe they would like to believe. I bought their CD, and I'm sure I'll have it playing a lot over the next few weeks. This band should be big.

City Lights Just Burn were a lot of fun, combining punk and post rock traits to varying degrees and making a sound that didn't fit under any label I'm familiar with. I would go watch them again, and if they had any CDs to buy (even though it was their EP launch party) I'd probably have picked one up as well.

More gigs in Oxford, please.