March 1st, 2009 / 2:53 pm
 Excerpts

Latin Lessons from Metal Magazines: A New Series

Esoteric, not to be confused with The Esoteric, has a new album out called The Maniacal Vale. I was reading all about them in the magazine Metal Maniacs and I ended up learning some Latin! (Also, I thought maybe Matthew Simmons could help me with this series. Hi Matthew!) So I thought I’d share:
Esoteric is a pretty profound band. Their very name suggests complexity. So when you’re already butt deep in their fantastically crushing, cerebral world of atmospheric funeral doom and you’re hit with a tongue-tripping track like “Ignotum Per Ignatius”, it’s only natural to to wonder what the hell it means. Inquiring minds will be pleased to know that, according to our findings (via the Merriam Webster Dictionary), “Ignotum Per Ignatius” is a Latin phrase defined as ‘(explaining) the unknown by means of the more unknown.’ Now you know. Sort of.

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47 Comments

  1. March 1st, 2009 / 7:16 pm daniel bailey—

      starting a metal band is the greatest thing that anyone can do. when you go to a high school reunion a bunch of people will say, “so do you have any kids?” and you can say, “no, but one time i started a metal band,” and that will be a better answer than,”yes, i have two kids” or whatever.

      i am in a weird mood.

  2. March 1st, 2009 / 7:16 pm daniel bailey—

      starting a metal band is the greatest thing that anyone can do. when you go to a high school reunion a bunch of people will say, “so do you have any kids?” and you can say, “no, but one time i started a metal band,” and that will be a better answer than,”yes, i have two kids” or whatever.

      i am in a weird mood.

  3. March 1st, 2009 / 3:16 pm daniel bailey—

      starting a metal band is the greatest thing that anyone can do. when you go to a high school reunion a bunch of people will say, “so do you have any kids?” and you can say, “no, but one time i started a metal band,” and that will be a better answer than,”yes, i have two kids” or whatever.

      i am in a weird mood.

  4. March 1st, 2009 / 8:44 pm davidpeak—

      this makes me happy.

      can you figure out what’s going on in the liner notes of all the deathspell omega records?

      i think i could learn something. winter is almost over.

  5. March 1st, 2009 / 8:44 pm davidpeak—

      this makes me happy.

      can you figure out what’s going on in the liner notes of all the deathspell omega records?

      i think i could learn something. winter is almost over.

  6. March 1st, 2009 / 4:44 pm davidpeak—

      this makes me happy.

      can you figure out what’s going on in the liner notes of all the deathspell omega records?

      i think i could learn something. winter is almost over.

  7. March 1st, 2009 / 9:45 pm Jason Jordan—

      Love me some Deathspell Omega, especially Kenose. If anyone’s into metal mags, check out Zero Tolerance (http://www.ztmag.com). One of the better ones out there, I think, despite the fact that I write for ’em. =p

  8. March 1st, 2009 / 9:45 pm Jason Jordan—

      Love me some Deathspell Omega, especially Kenose. If anyone’s into metal mags, check out Zero Tolerance (http://www.ztmag.com). One of the better ones out there, I think, despite the fact that I write for ’em. =p

  9. March 1st, 2009 / 5:45 pm Jason Jordan—

      Love me some Deathspell Omega, especially Kenose. If anyone’s into metal mags, check out Zero Tolerance (http://www.ztmag.com). One of the better ones out there, I think, despite the fact that I write for ’em. =p

  10. March 1st, 2009 / 10:13 pm pr—

      Daniel- I have never been to a high school reunion. I am in a two person metal band as of today- I started it with my husband. We are Royal Trux meets the Datsuns meets High On Fire. I have two kids, too, and they are actually cooler than metal, but they also love metal, because they are my kids. They started a band a long time ago called “the growing grapes” from a piece in Magnet that said “grow some grapes” and the first song they wrote was called ‘ass casserole” because same article refered to a band as such.

      David-I would love to figure out the liner notes for deathspell omega’s records. I will say that Omega is Greek, not Latin, and so therefore, I think I might change this series to “Language Lessons from Metal Magazines” or something like that. Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet and basically means death, too. Also, I think there could be great Norwegian and Swedish and Finnish language stuff in this series!

      Jason, thanks for the link.

      I am watching 30 days of night. I like metal and vampires. Happy day.

  11. March 2nd, 2009 / 2:26 am ryan—

      i always thought it was funny how much latin gets used in heavy metal music. i took latin for five years and none of those people started metal bands, i want to know how those two worlds collide.

  12. March 2nd, 2009 / 2:26 am ryan—

      i always thought it was funny how much latin gets used in heavy metal music. i took latin for five years and none of those people started metal bands, i want to know how those two worlds collide.

  13. March 1st, 2009 / 10:26 pm ryan—

      i always thought it was funny how much latin gets used in heavy metal music. i took latin for five years and none of those people started metal bands, i want to know how those two worlds collide.

  14. March 2nd, 2009 / 4:07 pm sasha—

      why would you want to be high on fire when you could be sleep, or even better, om, before they got that new drummer who only sounds good on the dub version of the song.

  15. March 2nd, 2009 / 4:07 pm sasha—

      why would you want to be high on fire when you could be sleep, or even better, om, before they got that new drummer who only sounds good on the dub version of the song.

  16. March 2nd, 2009 / 12:07 pm sasha—

      why would you want to be high on fire when you could be sleep, or even better, om, before they got that new drummer who only sounds good on the dub version of the song.

  17. March 2nd, 2009 / 5:27 pm pr—

      I love high on fire. I’ve checked out om and sleep, but not very thoroughly. Maybe I should. But I saw high on fire at bowery and they turned my insides out.

  18. March 2nd, 2009 / 5:27 pm pr—

      I love high on fire. I’ve checked out om and sleep, but not very thoroughly. Maybe I should. But I saw high on fire at bowery and they turned my insides out.

  19. March 2nd, 2009 / 1:27 pm pr—

      I love high on fire. I’ve checked out om and sleep, but not very thoroughly. Maybe I should. But I saw high on fire at bowery and they turned my insides out.

  20. March 2nd, 2009 / 5:45 pm sasha—

      i mean, om is really slow. and long.
      sleep is great. dopesmoker and holy mountain are incredible.

  21. March 2nd, 2009 / 5:45 pm sasha—

      i mean, om is really slow. and long.
      sleep is great. dopesmoker and holy mountain are incredible.

  22. March 2nd, 2009 / 1:45 pm sasha—

      i mean, om is really slow. and long.
      sleep is great. dopesmoker and holy mountain are incredible.

  23. March 2nd, 2009 / 6:03 pm pr—

      yeah. high on fire and the datsuns in particular are fast stuff. not so droney. it’s all good. Kyuss, Joshs band before QOTSA did some good stuff, too.

  24. March 2nd, 2009 / 6:03 pm pr—

      yeah. high on fire and the datsuns in particular are fast stuff. not so droney. it’s all good. Kyuss, Joshs band before QOTSA did some good stuff, too.

  25. March 2nd, 2009 / 2:03 pm pr—

      yeah. high on fire and the datsuns in particular are fast stuff. not so droney. it’s all good. Kyuss, Joshs band before QOTSA did some good stuff, too.

  26. March 2nd, 2009 / 6:12 pm davidpeak—

      I’ve got an om 7″ sub pop single with the new drummer, but I haven’t listened to it. I really loved Conference of the Birds. Not sure how they could top that. Dopesmoker is top 5 single-track records of all time. Someone should compile this list.

  27. March 2nd, 2009 / 6:12 pm davidpeak—

      I’ve got an om 7″ sub pop single with the new drummer, but I haven’t listened to it. I really loved Conference of the Birds. Not sure how they could top that. Dopesmoker is top 5 single-track records of all time. Someone should compile this list.

  28. March 2nd, 2009 / 2:12 pm davidpeak—

      I’ve got an om 7″ sub pop single with the new drummer, but I haven’t listened to it. I really loved Conference of the Birds. Not sure how they could top that. Dopesmoker is top 5 single-track records of all time. Someone should compile this list.

  29. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:08 am Matthew Simmons—

      Once Reverend Bizarre, now:

      The Puritan.

      I love it when doom metal bands start channeling shoegazers.

  30. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:08 am Matthew Simmons—

      Once Reverend Bizarre, now:

      The Puritan.

      I love it when doom metal bands start channeling shoegazers.

  31. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:08 pm Matthew Simmons—

      Once Reverend Bizarre, now:

      The Puritan.

      I love it when doom metal bands start channeling shoegazers.

  32. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:14 am Matthew Simmons—
  33. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:14 am Matthew Simmons—
  34. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:14 pm Matthew Simmons—
  35. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:17 pm pr—

      Early Man, anyone? Thier song on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie soundtrack. And, well, everything else they do.

      And Nebula. Nebula opened up for the Hellacopters and they were great.

      Then there is Bad Wizard.

  36. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:20 am Matthew Simmons—
  37. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:20 am Matthew Simmons—
  38. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:20 pm Matthew Simmons—
  39. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:22 pm pr—
  40. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:25 pm pr—

      The nurses! Fire in the bag used to be them? I knew thier stuff, sort of. Nice. I’m just hang out here with nice metal lovers.

      Classic Metal-Art bands? KAREN BLACK. One of the best live shows of ok, like, fifty of the best. Still.

  41. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:29 pm pr—
  42. March 3rd, 2009 / 1:49 am Matthew Simmons—

      Probably not the nurses you’re thinking of, unless you lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the mid-’90s. (More in the middle of this post.)

      (Which, of course means, Fire in My Bag…is…me.)

      I do remember The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.

  43. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:49 pm Matthew Simmons—

      Probably not the nurses you’re thinking of, unless you lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin in the mid-’90s. (More in the middle of this post.)

      (Which, of course means, Fire in My Bag…is…me.)

      I do remember The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black.

  44. March 2nd, 2009 / 9:55 pm pr—

      WHOAH! So, on myspace, how come I can’t figure out how to play one of your songs? I don’t know how to use myspace? That could be. Very cool, Matthew.

  45. March 3rd, 2009 / 2:05 am Matthew Simmons—

      Oh, not so much cool when you actually listen to it. It’s something anyway.

  46. March 2nd, 2009 / 10:05 pm Matthew Simmons—

      Oh, not so much cool when you actually listen to it. It’s something anyway.

  47. March 2nd, 2009 / 10:17 pm pr—

      I figured it OUT! Myspace is challenging for me. But, great, Matthew. I thought of Tortoise and TransAm a bit, but all metalled out. SO nice.