Lots of new albums released at summer's end, and most of them are worth some serious interest. The ones that caught my attention were Megadeth- Endgame, Sonata Arctica- The Days of Grays, Krypteria- My Fatal Kiss, and Cain's Offering- Gather the Faithful.

Of course you have to live in a cave to have not heard of Megadeth's new release, Endgame, which many say tops Metallica's Death Magnetic. I would have to agree. Though I love Metallica, this album is lyrically superior and with more technical, breakneck solos. Highlights include the opening instrumental "Dialectic Chaos", the album's title track "Endgame"; "The Right to Go Insane", "How the Story Ends" and "This Day We Fight!". "Head Crusher", which many say is the best song on the album, is sort of annoying in its predictable lyrics, but the guitar work is stunning. A very good album, though United Abominations is still my favorite.

Though I was very happy with Megadeth's release, I cared much more about Sonata Arctica, my second favorite band. With their previous two releases they began incorporating more progressive metal elements, and many fans hated this. I really loved the complexity of Unia, though it was not quite as catchy and would not grow on me like previous albums would, save the song "Caleb." The Days of Grays is certainly not Sonata's best release ever- that would probably go to Winterheart's Guild. This is due to a few mediocre songs, like "The Truth is Out There" and one awful song, "Zeroes". The songs were extremely complex, with much more orchestral elements, vocal distortion, screaming, unstable rhythms, and more screaming. One thing I detested about the album was the lack of intros- many songs began with vocals almost instantly. In my opinion, the song "Juliet", though over-emotional, was lyrically stunning and really pulled together in the outro. I would say this is their second best calm song, behind Shamandalie. "Deathaura", the eight-minute epic, was by far the greatest track on the album. It was similar to White Pearl, Black Oceans, but with more classical elements. "Flag In The Ground" was their back-to-their-roots song, since it was just a reworking of a song they had written for an early single. The guitar work on this one is the best. "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart" featured Johanna Kurkela, whose female vocals really brought the song to another level. The lyrics were very nice, and this song was very memorable. "Everything Fades To Gray" really was just a calm piano tune that had no power behind it. It was a nice, quiet song that was worth listening to. Other highlights included "The Last Amazing Grays," "Breathing" and "In The Dark" (a bonus track).

Deathaura

Krypteria is an emerging female-fronted symphonic metal band. They recently released My Fatal Kiss. In lack of a better word, they do have some "poppyness" to them. This can either make their songs flow nicely and be catchy, or they can suck. The latter applies to this album, almost entirely. In other words, I was disappointed. Their previous album, Bloodangel's Cry, which was awesome, incorporated a Latin choir, which elevated their songs. This choir is distorted and watered down, sounding absolutely terrible. The only half-decent song is "Ignition", but it gets annoying after listening to it more than once. DO NOT WANT.

Being a fan of Sonata and Stratovarius, I really was looking forward to the power metal "supergroup" Cain's Offering. Jani Liimatainen from Sonata and Timo Kotipelto from Stratovarius are both in this band, and released the album Gather The Faithful in late August. I was very much impressed with the album, despite the overall theme of "let's see how fast we can play before our fan's heads explode". Their songs do have some elements of symphonic metal, especially the title track, the instrumental "Gather the Faithful." Their lyrics are not super-corny like I expected, which mainly applies to the song "Oceans of Regret", my personal favorite. Overall very good.

Oceans of Regret

In other unrelated stuff, Scribblenauts got boring. In like a week. Wow. Great idea, but there are too many "super-words" that ALWAYS work- "Halberd" "Pegasus" "Grenade Launcher" "God" etc. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is absolutely stunning. Get it if you have a soul.
If you read this whole thing, you get a cookie.

And now I am pissed at Tom Fulp. Resetting the scout tree and elimianting artists like me who were lucky enough to get scouted once. Hurray.

Instead of being a child about this and making a "goodbye NG" news post which flood in every day, I will keep it short and sweet- I feel hated on this site and the vast majority of people are morons.

So, I can't scout other people now. That sort of sucks, considering Flashcard-Man had just submitted his best picture yet. At least my art's still alive...
Anyway, Scribblenauts will be out soon. Looks great, stupid and hilarious. Also, "Okamiden", a DS sequel to Okami, is now in production, with the heart-meltingly adorable Chibiterasu- a smaller version of Amaterasu. I included a picture I found on dA. So, I have that to look forward to.
I really don't have much else to say. I'll be working on a picture soon, but I'm trying to decide which character. So, expect something this month, as if you care.

I also watched "9" recently. Probably the best animated movie I've seen that wasn't a Miyazaki. The environments were akin to Wall-E but much more grim and realistic. The story was rather vague, but the action was so thrilling and suspenseful. Creepy, prophetic, artistic, epic.

Here's some metal. Two opposites on the spectrum of what I enjoy- Sonata Arctica's Flag in the Ground, from their new, awesome single.

Eternal Tears of Sorrow's Nocturne Thule. Probably the catchiest melodeath I've heard.

This is definitely the most difficult picture for me to make, with my lack of skill in drawing dragons. Voek is a major favorite character of mine who deserved his own concept art from the beginning, so it's about time. The scale effect, probably the most frustrating aspect, is the GIMP "mosaic" effect, and used in different shapes. I really like the metallic look of his mask. The head design looks too familiar, though people have said it's only because I'm convinced it doesn't look original. Thanks to GIMP, backgrounds are never a problem.
Anyway, the flash with Flashcard-Man is coming along. We've got the opening sequence down and chosen some music. He finally got GIMP, so he probably won't need my services next time around. The major road block is recording voices. Any recommendations for a microphone are appreciated.
And to close, some Eternal Tears of Sorrow. Angelheart, Ravenheart parts I and II.

Thank you Noobarizor for rescouting me, and I will be back on Newgrounds from now on =)

Well, Flashcard-Man is making a flash that I agreed to participate in. This means I'll have to make a ton of backgrounds in GIMP, learn how to lip synch in flash, and voice act with a gibberish language that we created. I'm not going to explain how the language is formed, but apparently "Em istyra berod" means "I am bored". It's called Hornet: Legend of the Akrians, or LOTA for short. The flash follows the storyline of some of our characters, including Darius and Xerxes, who are in my art section. It'll be in three parts, and most likely be pretty long. I get credit as a collaborative effort, which is the main reason I'm helping, other than displaying my (lack of) talent in GIMP. I'm not going to estimate a release date. You can't rush
genius. And you can't rush Flashcard-Man either.

One question I would like to have answered but probably won't is- when I import pics from GIMP into flash, although they are 550 x 400, they are shrunk down. If there is any way to prevent this and let the picture keep its original size, let me know.

I also made a new header in GIMP, using a font from 1001fonts.com. I think it looks pretty good... I also greyscaled my user picture just to keep with the color scheme.

Here's something worth interest. Below is Crimson Tide, Deep Blue Sea by Nightwish. Also called "Instrumental".

And to close with the language of our people-
OFUEGADEMARA!

After seeing the immense bashing of artists using MS Paint, I took a recommendation and downloaded GIMP. It was free, so why not? I've just started using it, and already I can see this is a major upgrade. It is far more sophisticated, complex, and for me, it's like drawing in Flash only a lot easier (I can't pull off a good picture in Flash for my life, go fig). I would definitely recommend it for those of you who do not want to shell out a couple Benjamin's for Photoshop. Like I said, it is free and it is easy to download. I've followed some tutorials and made fire, which came out surprisingly good. (See below) Download at GIMP.org

Also, Chdonga has made a sprite of a "special" person, so check it out- CLICKY CLICKY
Metal is forever, people.

EDIT: Sad news- Les Paul died. I play a Les Paul. T_T

I hate working with yellow. Not because it is bright and cheery and goes against my nature and aesthetic preferences, but because it is simply a huge pain in the neck. I found it extremely grueling distinguishing between values of yellow. Is it too light? I can't tell the difference, I adjust it, and then it looks terrible. My rant is continued in the author's comments on the work itself.
Another picture, this one is similar to the previous one. The character is Xerxes, done for a friend of mine. So, take a look, offer constructive criticism and blah blah blah.
And some completely unrelated metal- Sonata Arctica's Champagne Bath.

EDIT- I just finished another picture, but rather than make another annoying post about it, I'll just refer you to my latest art section this time. =)

Well, I have decided to submit whatever I have done, no matter what criticisms I get or no matter how stupid the art portal's scouting system is. So, I've submitted my picture of a character of mine called Darius. Take a look, and if possible give me some actually constructive criticism.
And once again, here's some metal.

A slightly dismal, depressing an overall unpleasant image has been posted in my art section, so check it out. Once again, if you're going to review, offer some criticism that will actually assist my work. There will be more coming, soon as I get some inspiration.
And, to be faithful to my ways, here's what I've been listening to recently- Helloween's Heaven Tells No Lies, subtitled in Spanish for no apparent reason.

Check out my art page for the work, it looks horrible shrunk down.

Finally, I managed to put a background on my old "Desumanos" drawing, a picture of glass glowing under radioactive light. For me, this is a great drawing, but comparatively, it is mediocre. So, check it out, and like it says, do not leave a retarded review, no matter what the score is. Thanks, and here's some metal if you don't give a damn.

Nightwish's Dead to the World, live at Lowlands 2008.

Check out my art page to see it- it looks awful shrunk down.

To start off, Stratovarius' Millennium. Infinite is one of my favorite albums.

Well, I finally cracked down and submitted my newest art, though I still haven't made a background. I don't really know what I should do for a background, but if I used glowing lighting effects, the piece wouldn't be cohesive... Whatever.

I'm REALLY looking forward to Sonata Arctica's The Days of Grays which will be sure to amaze in many ways.

Anyway, I also have some more nature photos, this one another closeup of a flower.