ILLCON REALLY, REALLY SUCKS

Well, it appears I've fucked up again. Monumentally. I've angered A LOT of people this time around, and I feel that the only recourse is to offer a deep, heartfelt apology. I've done plenty of soul-searching over the last couple of days. I've taken stock of my life, my opinions, my beliefs. And I've been wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. My soapbox, as they say, is made of rice paper.
Just to bring anyone "out of the loop" up to speed, this week's chain of events went something like this: on Monday morning, I published THIS list of "the top 20 shittiest metal albums of 2010", a list I put many hours and much thought into. The list was based solely on my opinions, not those of anyone else in any way responsible for this blog, and therefore I feel I must deal exclusively with the resulting shitstorm. You see, the very next day after it was published here on IC, heavy metal uberblog MetalSucks got ahold of the list (OK, I admit, I emailed it to them), and linked to it HERE, sending their immense and rather rabid fan base into a righteous rage. The readers of MetalSucks were NOT HAPPY AT ALL with my shitty album picks, and let me know about it through the course of well over 100 angry comments.
They demanded blood. They demanded answers. Who the fuck IS this guy? Why does his blog look so stupid? Why would he say such terrible things about such honest, hard-working musicians in such a foul and unjust way? Is this some kind of troll? A joke?

Well, the simple answer (to the last question, at least) is YES. Of course it was a troll. Of course it was a joke. What kind of sick freak would openly and honestly express his opinions about art, if said opinions were CLEARLY not the same opinions held by popular consensus in the social norm? That would be suicide.

To tell the truth, I'm new to metal. I've only actually started listening to music of the genre in the last couple days or so, and despite cleverly disguising my inexperience behind two solid years of writing about metal on a daily basis (not to mention attending metal shows and buying metal records for well over half of my 31-year lifespan), my proverbial "pose" has been "exposed". In a way, it's sort of a relief. I can finally give up the facade. For this, I must thank the readers of MetalSucks. You have given me my life back.
For some reason, I felt that the only way to gain any credibilty in the cutthroat world of not-for-profit music blogging was to make loud, false claims about popular records in front of an audience that clearly had much better taste and much deeper knowledge.
MetalSucks reader Moltanic saw through my ruse immediately, and put it thusly:

"Honestly, I’m doubting this guy’s even a metalhead. I get it ,he listens to Deicide and Suffocation. He doesn’t need to namedrop those two bands almost every paragraph. I know people like this guy, who listen to one or two extreme metal bands, and all of a sudden think they’re br00tal and kvlt as fuck. 100$ says if I looked at his iPod almost every band there would be indie, post-grunge or pop punk :\"

Fuck. Never have I been called out so brutally or so accurately.

Clicking through my iPod right now is something of a revelation: post-grunge, post-grunge, post-grunge.... Effigy of The Forgotten, post-grunge, post-grunge.... post-grunge, post-grunge, Legion, post-grunge... DAMMIT! He nailed me. It took the words of a total stranger to expose me to myself. Fuck. I am a poser. FUCK.

Obviously, I made a mistake in sharing my thoughts on subjects like these on a closely-regulated medium like the internet. Unfortunately, the US Constitution (as of this writing) has no provisions to limit our ability to express our ideas and opinions--maybe if it had I wouldn't have ended up making such an ass of myself out in public. Luckily, we're moving in the right direction as a society, and people who stir up shit on the internet are finally going to jail, where they belong.

But all that is beside the point. I really just want to say that I'M SORRY.

It's true, my list--the list that caused so much anger and pain in the metal community--was based entirely upon a false premise. The only way to rectify the situation, it seems, is to expose that false premise for what it was. Perhaps, after my admission, we can begin to heal, not only as a community, but as a nation, as a world. Here goes:


GRAVEYARD CLASSICS III WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD.

There, I said it. I hope we can still be friends.

Virtue debases itself in justifying itself.

- Voltaire, 1718

Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours.

- Voltaire, 1759

I always made one prayer to God, a very short one. Here it is: "O Lord, make our enemies quite ridiculous!" God granted it.

- Voltaire, 1767

And lastly:

I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.

- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, 1906 (often falsely attributed to Voltaire)