Metal Monday Volume 2

Part of the reason I like the extreme side of metal is the vocals. I'd be hard pressed to call it singing, but the vocalists in my favorite genre are talented nonetheless. Nothing turns me off to music more than a whiny little lead singer, crying about something and ruining some otherwise fine metal song. Hear that Avenged Sevenfold?

Among the giants of this style is one Tomas Lindberg who rose to fame with the band At The Gates, pioneers of the Swedish Melodic Death Metal style. He's migrated from band to band ever since At The Gates disbanded, but you can find him on several classics.

I'd recommend the following:

At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul (check YouTube for the Blinded By Fear video)
Nightrage - Sweet Vengeance
The Crown - Crowned In Terror

****

Some pokery fun.

8-game mix and we're playing PLO. Again, what follows is the classic berating from a guy who doesn't know much about the subtleties of PLO.

Berator raises pot pre-flop to $7 and I call from the button with 8TJQ, two hearts. Both blinds follow suit.

The flop is 579, two hearts. Hello flush draw, wrap draw. Both blinds check, Berator bets pot and I raise, effectively putting Berator all-in. Blinds fold, he calls and the board comes brick, and then T, giving me the nuts.

He shows KKTT, no hearts and says the following: "BS. Heeee-hawwww. Nice pre-flop call. Idiot." Then he leaves the table.

These are my favorite players. Those who have no idea they're favored to lose the hand and then complain when the odds work out against them. They are few and far between now adays, so enjoy them when you find them. I do.