MI threads Hall of Fame

[Pagan Saviour]

That was a quote from the CT review of the Steel Tormentor record.


Hexxed were indeed the business. I like their subsequent material too but after maybe Synapse definitely should've changed the name. Hidden Graphs was a great EP but so far away from where they started, and not in an Anathema way where the change was gradual from record to record.

[Trev]

Would anyone here have known CT personally to ask what he was at just knocking the whole thing on the head?

Obviously old news at this point, but going back through the old threads on the archive has stirred up the anger again! So much good stuff just lost!

[Pagan Saviour]

Speculating here but I always thought the timing coincided with his progression into a role as an Investigative Journalist at the BBC.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01qnkwq


I thought the way the site was completely gutted meant it was a stained bib for him. I can't think of any other reason that you'd toss away all that hard work. Holding my hands up though, speculation.

[Carnage]

I had absolutely no idea this band existed until last week

This. And my world was better for it. Awful muck.

[Cailleach]

Speaking  of CT, there were some posters only too happy to boost his ego.  I remember  when he had his alter ego, some posters  reacted as if he was a comedic genius. I also remember the time he declared black metal dead after listening to  Rotting Christ's  latest release  at that time. It was pure attention seeking on his part.
 It's one thing to be grateful to him for the site  and all it did for local bands in particular, but the fawning by some posters was off putting . The way he ended the site abruptly didn't  surprise me, because it was always about him 

People always gave Hexxed too much credit too.

Yes. Hexxed were good, but the praise by some was over the top. They  were saying Hexxed's material was on par with Death and that Ciaran and Owen were the best metal guitarists in Ireland. Awful cringe shite to read through.

[Pagan Saviour]

Ah yeah, that was complete nonsense. It was a very promising EP but that's about it, never truly followed up on it or built on it (As far as that style went)

[Eoin McLove]

I think the two boys on the Transgression demo were untouchable in the country. I can't think of two better and more complimentary players in the early 00s metal scene who were playing with the level of dexterity or creativity. The song writing was really good, and yeah you could point out the influences, but I think that had they managed a full length in that specific style, with the mix of brutality, melodic fluidity and the dark atmospheric elements combined, and recorded it in a studio that could have boosted the production, they could easily have released a local classic album. As it stands we are left with one classic, albeit imperfect, demo. I think some people let their hard feelings towards CT get in the way of their appreciation of his musical contributions. He was an interesting character. I can't say I knew him all that well but did meet him a few times and dealt with him directly through my contributions to MI over the years and only ever had positive experiences. Did I agree with his taste in music? Generally not, but he did point me towards a few classics that hold up for me today (The Sham Mirrors, Vare and The Mantle spring to mind). He maybe took himself a bit seriously at times but that sense of seriousness shone through in his best music. And look, here we are still discussing MI years later so that contribution at least deserves some respect regardless of whether you liked him or not. I dunno, he was just another dude making a contribution to the scene so the dislike (to put it mildly) that I've seen flung his way over the years has always confused me a bit.

[John Kimble]

Absolute no need whatsoever to hate on the guy, and to be fair, I don't think anyone really is...maybe it's more a case that the abrupt end of MI left a bit of a sour taste. Like most of us, the lad had a job, he got older and his priorities changed. Hexxed finished up and he had that Winding Stair group (who for me were grand, but not particularly interesting). There was a tendency for a lot of bang-average alt-metal bands to get glowing reviews, then you had him slating the Zom release, which kinda suggested that the interest wasn't really there anymore.

[Black Shepherd Carnage]

I had countless negative run-ins with CT, all of which I've blathered on about at length in years previous.

Ciaran and Owen were imo undoubtedly among the best guitarists active on the Irish metal scene.

[Pagan Saviour]

Think that's something of a romantic viewpoint. We all have our plusses and minuses.

better and more complimentary players in the early 00s metal scene who were playing with the level of dexterity or creativity

Maybe, if you're purely looking at it within the parameters of that context. 

 "The song writing was really good, and yeah you could point out the influences, but I think that had they managed a full length in that specific style, with the mix of brutality, melodic fluidity and the dark atmospheric elements combined, and recorded it in a studio that could have boosted the production, they could easily have released a local classic album"


I agree with you 100% here. Every time I listen to it I am just left with the want for more of it.


Don't think anyone's "hatred" or "dislike" got in the way of acknowledgement of anything, I mean most people are bemoaning the fact that he threw away all that great writing - both his own and others here. He did wonders for local acts and the scene in general - don't think it's any harm people pointing out some of the negatives. I'd mixed experiences and run ins myself but still bought the albums and went to see them any time they played. They were absolutely awesome live too, if they'd ventured a little further than Auntie Annies they might've gained more traction for sure.

[Grim Reality]

Read through a couple of old threads there.  Lethal banter and some great characters that just seemed to disappear well before MI ran out of steam. I think I joined in 2007 and peak years seemed to be around 09/10. Always found it weird that most of the active posters abandoned it for FB, a thoroughly vacuous and unsatisfying medium.

I always found the "elitist MI cunts" chat hilarious and the fact that regular mainstream metalheads were afraid to join in case snatchgrabber or the likes tore strips off them 

The site definitely helped foster a sense of community or make the scene more active. I met loads of people off MI but have never heard anyone ask if you were on MW. That said I'm only at a fraction of the gigs I was at in the MI heyday.

[Bürggermeister]

I think the strength of it was, if someone thought something was shit, they'd say so, which has become more and more out-of-step as time has moved on. The amount of bands who'd arrive out of the blue having never contributed to the forum, never once doing anyone else the favour of listening to their stuff, expecting everyone to give time to first listen and then worship them as if they were the second coming and, instead, be told exactly what their level was, was always a source of great entertainment. Social media allows lads to exist in a vaccuum of unlimited likes and approval and, sadly, the truth can hurt which they're no longer prepared for. Hence, the elitist shite and the "you're killing the scene, maaaaaaan" nonsense.

This is the last forum left which I participate in. I was active in another more muso-ish one up to a few weeks ago but the spread of social media look-at-me shite, the parasites who only want to drum up traffic for their youtube or facebook pages without ever contributing, the awful humblebrag types and cliquey "scene" shitehawkery has made it no longer tolerable. Everybody pretending they like each other is a shit buzz. The strength of this forum, and MI before it, is people are prepared to sling shit and tell it like it is, regardless of the reaction. May it never change 

[Cailleach]

I think the strength of it was, if someone thought something was shit, they'd say so, which has become more and more out-of-step as time has moved on. The amount of bands who'd arrive out of the blue having never contributed to the forum, never once doing anyone else the favour of listening to their stuff, expecting everyone to give time to first listen and then worship them as if they were the second coming and, instead, be told exactly what their level was, was always a source of great entertainment. Social media allows lads to exist in a vaccuum of unlimited likes and approval and, sadly, the truth can hurt which they're no longer prepared for. Hence, the elitist shite and the "you're killing the scene, maaaaaaan" nonsense.

This is the last forum left which I participate in. I was active in another more muso-ish one up to a few weeks ago but the spread of social media look-at-me shite, the parasites who only want to drum up traffic for their youtube or facebook pages without ever contributing, the awful humblebrag types and cliquey "scene" shitehawkery has made it no longer tolerable. Everybody pretending they like each other is a shit buzz. The strength of this forum, and MI before it, is people are prepared to sling shit and tell it like it is, regardless of the reaction. May it never change 

The first paragraph  of this  post made me think of Eddie from the band( Creation Tears?). That stuff was comedy gold.

[Mower Liberation Front]

Just looking at that wayback thing. The 10/11 football thread with 57 pages, and it only January 2011...   

[blessed1]

I think the strength of it was, if someone thought something was shit, they'd say so, which has become more and more out-of-step as time has moved on. The amount of bands who'd arrive out of the blue having never contributed to the forum, never once doing anyone else the favour of listening to their stuff, expecting everyone to give time to first listen and then worship them as if they were the second coming and, instead, be told exactly what their level was, was always a source of great entertainment. Social media allows lads to exist in a vaccuum of unlimited likes and approval and, sadly, the truth can hurt which they're no longer prepared for. Hence, the elitist shite and the "you're killing the scene, maaaaaaan" nonsense.

This is the last forum left which I participate in. I was active in another more muso-ish one up to a few weeks ago but the spread of social media look-at-me shite, the parasites who only want to drum up traffic for their youtube or facebook pages without ever contributing, the awful humblebrag types and cliquey "scene" shitehawkery has made it no longer tolerable. Everybody pretending they like each other is a shit buzz. The strength of this forum, and MI before it, is people are prepared to sling shit and tell it like it is, regardless of the reaction. May it never change 

The first paragraph  of this  post made me think of Eddie from the band( Creation Tears?). That stuff was comedy gold.

That guy really shot himself in the foot with that gig post he made. From what I can remember their album was actually quite good too. Saying that I haven't heard it in a long time.
Was some craic reading through some of those threads.
Does anyone remember Morax? I think that's what they were called anyhow. The singer was wearing a 3 piece suit and doing the splits and stuff onstage. Tjink they were doing Sepultura and Chuck Berry covers.Seemed like great craic altogether!