I installed a couple of updates to Fourtheye this morning, mainly to do with comment formatting. You should notice now that both the Blog and Forum comment forms now have the ability to add code. In both areas bbCode is now supported (and recommended) however some html is allowed in both areas. For a quick guide on bbCode check here.

I’ve also tidied up the way Private Messaging works on the forum. Now rather than having to scroll all the way to the bottom, you can now see any outstanding messages (or terrible ones) at the top of the screen.

“What forum?” I hear you say! Well, there has been a forum on Fourtheye for a while now, and it’s getting along pretty well. If you’re interested in chatting with like-minded Tool fans, then head on over an say hi!

With a Tool tour coming up, now is the perfect time to stick it to Tool and buy a very humorous Fourtheye shirt.  Patterns available include the classic Lame Setlist shirt and the timeless Fuck Blair shirt, best worn at the Baked Potato on Monday nights.   Check out the entire range here!

Here’s some pics for you to drool over:

I’ve been looking forward to Soundwave 2010 for quite a while now.  Not only were one of my favorite bands Faith No More reuniting, but it also featured several other favorites of mine, including Tool touring buddies Meshuggah and Isis.  Forecast for the day was originally in the high 30s, but thankfully this didn’t turn out to be the case – it was a beautiful Adelaide day in the end!

After entering the festival, the first thing we noticed was the increased size.  It looked like there was about twice as much room as last year, which was great!  The crowd seemed noticeably larger as well.  Hopefully this is as big as it will get in Adelaide, as I think overly large festivals aren’t quite as good.

We headed over to the Metal Stage (#4) to check out the first band on my list – Baroness.  The metal stage was inside basically an large circus tent, so I need not stand in the sun all day!  Baroness were playing their usual brand of Stoner Rock/Metal, and while they were ok, they didn’t really blow me away.

After a short change came sludge metallers Isis.  I’d been looking forward to them, especially as I felt their last album was quite good.  They played a total of 4 songs (they had a 40 minute set) all from Wavering Radiant.  They played them quite well, and were actually more animated on stage than I expected, however they just lacked something.  It was a little quiet, and I couldn’t help but feel that they weren’t really suited to this kind of environment.  If they come back and play in a local club I’ll check them out, and see if that makes a difference.

Clutch came on next, and they were the first big surprise of the day for me.  I am somewhat familiar with their recorded work, and quite frankly was blown away as to how well they played live.  Their singer was a barrel of energy, and the drummer is one of the better I’ve seen in a while.  Great shit and I’ll definitely check them out again if they tour in the future.

80s metal band Anvil followed Clutch, and once again I was surprised.  These guys seemed to be genuinely happy to be playing the show, and the front mans energy was really good.  The songs were somewhat generic, and the vocals sub par, but it was a great show, featuring some great drumming and a vibrator solo!

Following Anvil were the mighty Meshuggah.  I knew these guys would be good, and they didn’t disappoint.  I spent most of the set in the moshpit, and it was a blast.  They played a set heavy on obZen songs, which was slightly disappointing, but I loved it regardless.  Combustion was a highlight, as well as the set closer Future Breed Machine.  My friends commented that the sound was crap (and it was if you stood anywhere but directly in front) but in the moshpit it was brutal!  These guys are definitely one of the best live metal bands out there, and I will be seeing them every opportunity I get.  I recommend you all do the same.

Anthrax are a bit of a blast from the past, and they were up after Meshuggah.  Once again I was quite happy with how they performed.  They seemed to play a range of songs, mainly older stuff, and while I’m not all that familiar with their work, I was thoroughly entertained!   Caught In A Mosh was great fun…

We walked over to the main stage next (via the bar and food area) to check out the end of Janes Addiction‘s set.  While not as good as when I saw them last, they did seem to be having fun on stage, despite the stage facing directly into the setting sun!  They weren’t as good as I remember them being 10 years ago, which is no great surprise I guess, but it was fun regardless.  What stands out most to me was a great version of the epic Three Days  Jimmy Eat World followed JA, and I don’t really have anything nice to say about them so I won’t…

The headline act were next!  Faith No More came onto stage in a range of pastel suits, and started with a cover of Reunited.  As I expected, they kick some serious ass.  It’s been well over 10 years since I saw them last, and in now way have they lost any of their chops.  The energy and stage presence is something that many of the other bands on the festival should take note of.

Highlights of the set include The Gentle Art of Making Enemies, Surprise! You’re Dead and Patton telling us his "penis smelled like wombat".  The only disappointment was that there wasn’t a great deal of crowd interaction like there has been at other FNM sets, but the music more than made up for it.

Overall it was a fantastic day.  Adelaide truly is one of the best Soundwave’s in the country, as we don’t seem to be plagued by the problems of that larger ones.  The fact we got nice weather helped as well.  I’m looking forward to 2011 already!

There are quite a few Blood Into Wine reviews coming onto the net, and I expect this to increase over the next week or so.  Rather than posting each review on Fourtheye, I’ve taken to linking them on the Fourtheye Twitter account.  I also use twitter for other bits and pieces I decide aren’t quite worthy of their own post, so if you are a twitter user, then make sure you follow that account.

Some of you may have noticed a couple of hours of downtime.  Turns out what I thought was a routine WordPress upgrade didn’t go so smoothly!  Oh well, all’s good now and sorry for any inconvenience.

It’s that time of the year again, where I bore you with the highlights of 2009, based on my shitty taste in things in general!  Disagree with me?  Did I miss something I really shouldn’t have?  Let me know!  Eventually we’ll have a survey so that we can all vote on this kind of stuff.

Music

The year was probably a reasonably quiet year for music I thought.  According to my media player, I listened to 92 different albums released in 2009, and I managed to pick a top 10 out, but not a convincing one.  None of the albums were amazing from beginning to end, and a couple had a few duds on them.  Anyway, in no particular order:

Manic Street Preachers – Journal For Plague Lovers

This is a British band which I imagine doesn’t have a huge profile in the US.  From what I understand, this album was written based on the journals kept by one of the members of the band who’s been missing (presumed dead) for a number of years now.  Not that it really makes a difference, the album is more or less a straight up alternative rock album, and a good one at that.  I’ve never been a huge Manic Street Preachers fan, but this album converted me, so it must be a good one…

Living Colour – The Chair In The Doorway

Probably my favorite album of 2009, which is a surprise, as I really didn’t like it after a couple of listens. I persisted though, and it paid off – rewarding me with one of the best rock albums of the year.  Those fans of Living Colour’s older work shouldn’t expect to see a regression here – this album is a continuation of the path they took with Collideoscope.  Having said that, where Collidoscope was a sprawling range of sounds and styles, TCITD is a far more cohesive experience, and much better for it.

Pearl Jam – Backspacer

Pearl Jam recordings have been hit and miss for a while now, and while Backspacer isn’t as good as their older work, it’s still probably the best they’ve done in 10 years or so.  Get Some and Amongst The Waves are probably two of my favorite songs from this year.

Magrudergrind – Magrudergrind

Magrudergrind are probably one of the best grindcore bands around these days, and their self titled release this year is probably as good a grind album as I’ve heard in several years.  Fans of the genre should definitely be checking this out.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed – Agorapocalypse

Brutal album, this drum machine propelled grind/metal band kicked serious ass with this album.  Features some of the best female vocals I’ve ever heard – more women in metal need to take note of this album.

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue

AIC’s comeback album was a good one, though while I wrote this list I though it was lucky to make the top 10.  Sure it had some great tracks, but it also had a few songs I couldn’t stand.  Overall, a good album though, and I hope to see these guys live sometime in the next year or so!

Zu – Carboniferous

Probably one of the surprises of the year for me.  This band makes wierd metal influences jazz type songs, mainly instrumental (though there’s one track with Mike Patton).  Dub Trio fans will probably enjoy this album.

Isis – Wavering Radiant

Isis are a band that have frustrated me over the years.  Their albums I’ve found have been good in parts, but largely a little too longwinded for my liking.  In 2009 they released Wavering Radiant, and for whatever reason I quite like it.  I’m sure if I can put a finger on why I prefer it over their other work, but I do.  Looking forward to seeing these guys at Soundwave in a couple of months.

Behold! The Monolith – Behold! The Monolith

Behold! The Monolith made last years list with an EP that they released.. The released a full length this year, and in no real surprise to me – it’s quite good.  These guys do basically progressive stoner metal, and in my opinion are probably one of the most overlooked in the genre.  Make sure you check them out.

Propagandhi – Supporting Caste

Propagandhi are probably my favorite punk band.  This album follows on in the same direction as their last album, and while not being amazing, is a solid album, and probably one of the most listened too this year.

Honourable mentions

The following didn’t make this list, but are worth checking out:

• Fistfuck – Rock n Roll Nightmare
• Between The Buried And Me – The Great Misdirect
• Clutch – Strange Cousins From The West
• Converge – Axe To Fall
• He Is Legend – It Hates You
• Mastodon – Crack The Skye
• Nile – Those Whom The Gods Detest
• Rammstein – Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da

No I didn’t forget Them Crooked Vultures – with the exception of two songs I thought it was quite boring.

Live

I didn’t see a massive amount of live music this year, something I hope to rectify in 2010.  Highlights of the year were Alice In Chains at Soundwave 2009, Pearl Jam at Adelaide Oval, Propagandhi back in Oz for the first time in years, and The Who with my Dad. 

2010 looks promising already, with Soundwave bringing Faith No More, Isis and Meshuggah, and Converge, Between The Buried and Me, Nile, Origin and Misery Signals touring early in the year.

Gaming

I play a whole stack of games, and I’d say I’m mainly a RPG and/or FPS player.  My favorite game this year is probably a dead heat between Dragon Age and Torchlight.  Both RPG games but in very different styles.  Torchlight really caught me by surprise – it’s a great Diablo remake, and a game that has kept me coming back for weeks now.  Dragon Age has been awesome as well though, it’s probably one of the better hard RPGs I’ve played in years.

As far as FPS games go, I enjoyed the single player Modern Warfare 2, despite it’s short length.  Personally I think short FPS games are great (Portal is a great example), however I was extremely disappointed with MW2 contempt of the PC market, and the way it was over priced.  Borderlands was great as well, though I found it a little repetitive.  I need to play more of this in the new year though.

I play a fair few indie games, favorites this year include Spelunky, Mount & Blade, Armageddon Empires and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

Spelunky is a platformer with an Indiana Jones type theme.  It features randomly generated levels, and is probably one of the coolest and most fun platform games I’ve played in a while.

Mount & Blade is a action RPG where you play the role of an adventurer in a medieval world.  Features horseback combat in an open world.  A game I’ve been following for a few years now and it was nice to play this again as the completed version.

Armageddon Empires is a post-apocalyptic turn based strategy game.  Well designed and good fun.

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup is a very polished rogue-like, featuring proper tiles for those that don’t like using an ASCII interface.  Fans of rogue-likes and those wanted to give this genre a try should definitely give this free game a download.

This year should be a good one for gaming – I’m already looking forward to Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Aliens vs. Predator, Fallout Vegas, Alpha Protocol, Red Dead Redemption and probably more I can’t think of right now.  Diablo 3 would be awesome, but I can’t see that coming out this year sadly…

2010

2010 is the start of a new decade, and hopefully one that should be fruitful for Tool fans.  It seems likely that Tool will at lest start writing and recording this year, and there’s always a chance we may see a release late in the year, and possibly some tour dates.  Of course there’s always talk of “Big Things” and such, hopefully some kind of DVD or video might make it’s way out there.

I’m sure Maynard will continue to work hard with Puscifer, though at the same time I hope after the tour next year he begins to change focus back to the band we really love.  However far be it for me to try and tell the guys from Tool how to do things, they have delivered in the past despite long gaps between drinks and I’m expecting they’ll deliver again.

As far as Fourtheye goes, I hope to continue to make this a great site for all Tool fans to visit.  I’m always open to suggestions on how to make things better, so don’t be shy – message me and let me know what you really think.  Hopefully I can put a little more love into the technical side of Fourtheye in the next year.

For me, I’m starting a new job in 2010, starting tomorrow in fact.  I don’t expect this will interfere with Fourtheye much, but if I’m a little quiet in the next few weeks then you’ll know why!

I hope all my readers have a great 2010, and thanks for taking the time to consume the site– Fourtheye is only ever as good as it’s readers!

Some of you have noticed that there is now an active community forming in the Fourtheye Forums.  Many Toolarmy readers, craving for a desire to communicate, have taken up residence. However Fourtheye readers of all types are welcome to join in the fun.

A feature I have just added this evening (indeed this post is designed to test it!) if post synchronisation.  In the News forum, you will find all the posts from the Fourtheye blog, and responses made to these posts will appear both in the forum, and on the blog.  Just another way to allow you to read Fourtheye whatever way tickles your fancy.  Don’t forget you can also access Fourtheye via RSS feeds and by Twitter.  Fourtheye was originally designed as a way to allow readers to access Tool related info in a manner they saw fit, so I’m happy to offer these options, and welcome any suggestions from readers.

Happy reading!

With the recent influx of Toolarmy, and the increase in off-topic comments that comes with it, I figured now might be as good a time as any to start a Fourtheye discussion forum.  Theoretically, your Fourtheye login should carry over into this new forum.  Please let me know if you have any problems related to this.

When I initially planned Fourtheye, I never expected to start a forum, and to a certain extent, I’m still not sure one is warranted (there are plenty of good Tool forums out there, with Toolnavy being an obvious example.  Anyway, it’s an experiment I’m willing to try.  If it works out, then great, I’m happy for there to be another tool on Fourtheye worth using.  If it gets very little use, then I’ll end up[ deleting it – no harm done.

So enjoy it while you can, the first few weeks of it’s use will shape it’s future…

Update 1: Most users seem to have problems replying to posts and creating topics.  Not sure what’s gone wrong but am looking into it…

Update 2: It may be working now.  Give it another try if you’ve had problems.

Ok, as the update progresses, I’ve had to export the current data for import into the new system.  What this means that any comments from this point onwards, won’t be seen post-upgrade.  There also won’t be any further news until the upgrade is complete, cause I don’t want to have to type stuff in twice (I’m lazy like that).

Enjoy!

Update: I may well keep recent comments, so don’t use this as a chance to say say anything you’d regret…

Update 2: I may also just play Borderlands tonight instead.  Life’s like that…

Update 3: Maintenance averted.  Looks like Buddypress is a shitload more work to get installed than I expected.  Will look at enhancing the site in other ways…

Firstly, welcome to all of those that have recently joined due to the Toolarmy outage (no sign of it coming back up any time soon).  A few of you have posted about missing comments and such.  Be aware, there is no conspiracy at hand – all new members have to be moderated before they can post comments.  Once this first one has been approved then you free to post as many times as you wish.  Also take into account that I am not sitting by the PC moderating 24 hours a day.  Feel free to contact me if you have any further queries at all.

Also, for those that want Avatars and don’t like the automatically generated ones, Fourtheye supports Gravatars, so feel free to login there and upload the image of your choice.

Don’t forget that Fourtheye has a RSS Feed, both for posts and comments, as well as a Twitter feed.  The Twitter account occasionally features a few (usually very minor) extras, mainly re-tweets from Maynard and such. All the options are as free as the site, and useful if you prefer read the site via a newsreader or other third-party tool.

Finally, I always welcome submissions of any kind, from show reviews to other bits and pieces.  If you’ve got anything you want to add to the site, then let me know – either by the contact form or just email me at hellboy@fourtheye.net.

Thanks for joining and enjoy your stay!