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Whatever happened to the days when music had melody, and counter point, and harmonies, and layers, and actual instruments, as opposed to synthesised drumbeats and lousy electric guitar rips of modern mainstream "music"? Music used to take talent and ability to compose and sing, and intelligence to appreciate. But instead of demanding that people get smarter, music producers have decided to dumb down music for the masses, forcing those of us with actual taste and talent to suffer through hundreds upon hundreds of shitty songs just to find something worth listening to. Unfortunately for them, most modern music has failed in this objective. Literally nothing on the radio has succeeded.

Believe it or not, though, there is hope. I discovered a quite wonderful band about a year ago known as Epica, and boy, are they fantastic. They've manged to combine the soft melodious voice of Simone Simons with the harsher growling styles of Mark Jansen, and the effect is quite extraordinary. There aren't many bands out there, even in metal and all its sub genres, that can pull off this kind of combination.

Is anyone else here a fan of the beacon of musical beauty that is Symphonic Metal? Any band suggestions? I've got quite a healthy library as it is, but I'm always looking to expand on it.

In this, the age of flat characters, predictable plots, and cliched symbolism that is the bottom-feeding piles of garbage such as *shudder* Twilight, there still remain rare treasure troves of proper, noteworthy literature. If you've recently discovered a work worth noting as superior to whatever happens to be the bandwagon's most recent favourite piece of @#$%, let me know so I can check it out!

One novel I have come to enjoy immensely over the past few months is The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. It's set in the middle of the 12th century, primarily during the Anarchy, between the sinking of the White Ship and the murder of the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1170. It tells the story of the the construction of a cathedral in the fictional city of Kingsbridge, England, and how the project affects the lives and fortunes of the citizens of Kingsbridge as well as those of their enemies. The story is told primarily from three different points of view: Tom Builder, a noble but impoverished mason who dreams of building the most magnificent cathedral in England; Philip of Gwynedd, a dedicated yet worldly Monk who yearns to restore the downtrodden priory of Kingsbridge to greatness; and Lady Aliena, the daughter of a traitorous Earl struggling to fulfill an an ill-considered vow to her dying father that she would help her brother regain the earldom.

The two primary villains, who spend their lives attempting to thwart the ambitions of the people of Kingsbridge, are William Hamleigh, who lives for power revenge but is mortally afraid of Hell; and the cunning and deceitful Waleran Bigod, a morally bankrupt yet devout priest willing to do anything for the sake of his own ambition.

All the characters are beautifully crafted and incredibly real; the prose is well tailored, without being excessive; and the plot is incredibly intricate, full of murder, arson, betrayal, torture, love, hate, and lust. Definitely my all-time favourite book, and for sure one I'd recommend to anyone here who has any kind of appreciation for proper story-telling.

Does anyone else have any book suggestions? Try to give a somewhat decent plot overview, as opposed to just giving the name of a book and its author.

Just a little note: if anyone here tries to suggest Twilight, its sequels, or anything else written by Stephanie Meyers, they will be reported for spam. Because that's all anything promoting Twilight can be, is spam, since Twilight has absolutely no substance in any facet of its inane prose, Mary Sue characters, or mockery of anything and everything to do with real Vampires. Don't mention it, and you won't be incessantly flamed by yours truly.