Friendship Love and War

GUDSFORLADT

This is quintessential black metal for me; maybe essential listening to me in general. I love the raw sound, I love the themes, I love people who create something because they need to. The pan flutes especially are amazing. My favorite track always seems to change but right now its Friendship, Love and War (Valinor's Canon) and Ride Forever in the Shadow of the Mountain. The outro on Valinor's Canon gets me emotional every time.

Love Exchange Failure

White Ward

Eremita

Ihsahn

This is one of (if not) my favorite albums of all time by probably my all-time favorite artist. Ihsahn's solo work was what fully converted me to black metal years ago as his breadth of style showed me how broad the genre could be. I go back and forth on which of his works are my absolute favorite because at one time or another, I could say that about any of them. Currently my favorite track off this album is Departure.

Strain

Flesh Field

Impôt du Sang

Conifère

Eiger

Aara

OH ACHLYS PLEASE LOVE ME ONCE MORE

WOE BATHER

A Diabolic Thirst

SPECTRAL WOUND

Dust Eater

Dimscûa

I found this album recently and I feel like it came to me at just the right time. I found it after stumbling upon a comment from the band's lead talking about how his daughter has passed away while he was writing this album and that is definitely felt upon listening. I really recommend listening to the live version they released recently. Favorite track is Dust Bairn.

tahaccet ga qëcha com ibajn

Trhä

My favorite of Damián Antón-Ojeda's projects and a recent album from that project I really enjoy.

Alan Wake - Series

(2010) (2023)

There is so much I can say about this series but I think it's something you must experience if you're a creative. I highly recommend starting with AW1 and going through all of the auxillary materials as you go, as it really adds to the experience.

Recommended play order: Alan Wake (2010) -> Bright Falls Web Series -> Graphic Novels: Psycho Thriller and Night Springs -> The Alan Wake Files -> Alan Wake's American Nightmare (2012) -> This House of Dreams -> Control (2019) -> Control: AWE -> Alan Wake Remastered (2021) -> Alan Wake 2 (2023) -> Alan Wake 2: Final Draft (NG+)

Other fun related items

• Alan Wake Official Suvival Guide by Prima Games - This is written like it's a script for the original game and has good character insight as well as other fun easter eggs.
• War - Poets of the Fall (Offical Music Video)
• Behind the scenes photos - These photos were taken around the time the music video and web series were shot. The photographers site that originally hosted these became infected with malware and I haven't seen them archived anywhere else. I plan on making a gallery later.

Control

(2019)

My thoughts on this are similar to mine on Alan Wake, I think this is a must play if you like a mystery. The environment is so good and while the main narrative is simple, the questions you're left with the more you explore are so fascinating. House of Leaves - The Video Game.

I have so much love for this game and with that, I have a lot of reading material related to it. If you're interested, feel free to email me.

Immortality

(2022)

I'm not easily scared in general and find that works that instill deep unease in me are something I prefer. This is one of those works. I don't want to give too much away because I think it's best to know as little as possible beforehand to get the full experience but you spend the game scrubbing through previously lost footage of a famous actress named Marissa Marcel in an effort to figure out why it was lost in the first place.

Deadly Premonition

(2010)

Ga-Rei - Series

(2008)

Claymore

(2001)