If you've never tried a melted slice of cheddar cheese on top of a warm slice of apple pie you really should. When my great aunt suggested it to me I was incredulous, but after I tried it I was beyond thoroughly convinced.

Sure thing. There's a lot to take in, I know. Just keep in mind, as with anything, the more you do it everything will begin to make more and more sense. It's important to get through the process though. When you're able to move through synthesis with intentionality it's like opening up a new world with endless possibilities only bounded by your imagination and the capabilities of the synth you're using.

This isn't a bad video for a beginner. It covers a lot of fundamental concepts. He speaks a bit fast, so slow speed by 10% if you're having trouble following. It's a long video because it covers so much ground, so be ready for that. I hope it helps in your process!

https://youtu.be/jWorjBDcty4?si=hcXsI0_vOge2gEas

Synthesizers/sound design, music from extreme metal to baroque to pop, learning about anything that interests me (e.g. geography, geopolitics, world history, pop science level physics/astrophysics/paleoanthropology, religions and philosophy), the Godzilla franchise, terrible horror movies, Pathfinder 1E, and a voyeuristic curiosity surrounding conspiracy theories/the paranormal/the occult

Genuinely surprised to see that Eluveitie beats out Celtic Frost.

Edit: Just looked at the stats, and wow, it's not even close: 872,935 to 120,157. That's a real wtf. Insert Principal Skinner "...it's the children who are wrong."jpg

I have a couple years-long discontinued flavors I still miss to this day. After looking at the site just now, one of them (Makin' Whoopie Pie) is in a couple buried references of trivia questions they've asked, and the other (Maple Blonde Brownie) is entirely absent. I wonder why they aren't listed in the "graveyard".

Agreed. I was fortunate to have seen them live before Valfar passed. I didn't know who they were at the time, but they absolutely blew me away. To the point I felt compelled to go shake his hand after their set and let him know how much I had enjoyed it. To this day it's a top 10 live experience for me.

The forums on the metal archives are still active and a good resource for various different things concerning extreme metal. Bits of news, discussion, and some out of left field recommendations that I don't find other places.

Summoning is one of those bands where you could ask someone which of their albums is their favorite and regardless of their answer it's a good choice.

Last I saw it isn't actually clear whether or not Fadades is parody or legitimate. Very clear in any either case that Fadades is great.

Especially within a genre like black metal where bands will make contra-conventional artistic decisions by way of course as it is, stumbling upon a vibe like this out of honest artistic expression vs. deriving it with a manifest ambiguity where the tongue seems to sprout from the cheek almost hardly matters. However Fadades came to be, it's a monument to whatever it actually is.

I'm going to go with Steven Wilson for this. Mostly because he and Mozart have an undeniable talent, many of their fans consider them to be some type of visionary savant, and despite the broad agreement toward that perspective I still find both of their outputs to be broadly incredibly dull.

Godzilla, rather characteristically, stomps any other answer.

Sure thing. Report back with your own take. Eager to get others' opinion on it too!