Several months ago, I wrote an article about how I had looked for Jilemnicky Okultista by Master’s Hammer, but I was only able to find Slagry and the much more recent Formulæ. I spent several pages discussing Slagry and why it’s actually not bad Well, I placed an order for a ton of Master’s Hammer merch after that, including basically every recording they had for sale on their webshop, and I for one am absolutely shocked that they ended up being the kind of weirdos who would make a record as experimental and strange as Slagry The format of this thing really is a black metal operetta right down to having a libretto in the liner notes and a cast of distinct characters is that it can be tough to track down a translation of the libretto though all the movement and scene titles are in English except for the 2017 re-release or demo version If you happen to really like both Romantic-era Slavic classical music and black metal then this record will be right up your alley though this takes compositional influences from both spheres rather than writing orchestral music and trying its best to shove metal in where it can having this disconnect between the music and being able to understand what’s going on in the story started to really hamper my enjoyment and just adventurous enough to satisfy without turning away potential listeners who aren’t prepared to take more than a cautious step outside of their comfort zone But story and theatrics are such an integral part to opera as a genre that the complete language barrier was more than just a minor annoyance I wanted to know who this Jilemnice Occultist was and who the hell this weird laughing guy was Wikipedia and a translated version of the libretto on a metal forum came to my rescue the town of Jilemnice was a hotspot for occultists and mediums so a young occultist named Atrament heads to the town to further his studies He settles at an inn and falls in love with the rich innkeeper’s daughter and wrongfully arrests Atrament on false charges then kidnaps Kalamaria with the help of his stable boy From there Satrapold plans to run to Cairo with Kalamaria Kalamaria uses her powers to discover Satrapold is actually a villain named Poebeldorf Poebeldorf used to be Satrapold’s assistant but betrayed him with a plan to become the town captain and steal the town’s and Kalamaria’s riches before escaping to another land to start his new life Kalamaria defeats Poebeldorf with her witch powers and frees Satrapold and Atrament If you want a preview of what you’re in for with this album showcases snippets of every important motive on the album before gracefully transitioning into the first movement: “Among the Hills a Winding Way.” The sparkling synth lines in a major key really provide a counterpoint to the heavier guitar and give a sense of adventure and epic-ness without being too cheesy the guitars provide a great emotive background to the “sprechtgesang” (sing-whisper) between Atrament and a fortune teller to see that for a band that made the decision to have a dedicated timpanist they actually put him to work with some fairly involved parts in every movement Again keeping with the Classical and academic style of composition in this case “borrowing” themes and motives from other compositions the opening bars of “Everything That Just on my Whim” contains a possible borrowing of the opening bars of Anthrax’s “Caught in a Mosh,” though the song continues to develop that motive treating it as one of the main rhythmic lines throughout the track This is also the first track to break from the black metal rasping and feature a short burst of “operatic” vocals !” opens with a hint of what the group would develop toward not just Slagry with a seemingly out of place synthesizer strain that sounds pretty robotic This theme comes back a few times in the song with the guitar doubling the line before riffing into texture and solos underneath It’s an odd thing to have in a story set in 1913 but in context as this is the penultimate of the “story” tracks I think the synthesizer maybe plays the part of Kalamaria’s magical powers as she defeats Poebeldorf It’s an interesting texture to be sure and it might actually be one of my favorite movements in the piece Ben Serna-Grey is a Zmapp Approved writer and musician from the Pacific Northwest. He writes a lot of fiction which once in a blue moon is published, and makes weird music. His first full-length record as Mother Anxiety, Guillotine Age, is out through Trepanation Recordings. His first standalone novelette, Over Still Waters, is out through Starry Eyed Press. 2019·Nordic CombinedOndřej Pažout and Tereza Koldovská are the new reigning summer national champions in the Czech Republic 5th October in in Lomnice nad Popelkou and Jilemnice the weather was not very favourable for the seniors the drizzle was turning into unpleasant rain in some places Jan Vytrval and David Zemek were missing at the start due to illnesses the promising the future of Women’s Nordic Combined in the Czech Republic Fifteen-year-old Veronika Jenčová from Desná shone brightly in the jumping event with a jump of 65.5 m the overall winner was excellent skier and only 14-year-old Tereza Koldovská who finished her race +33.7 seconds ahead of runner-up Fellow FIS Youth Cup athlete Jolana Hradilova claimed the bronze medal Ondřej Pažout confirmed his jumping qualities which he showed during this year's Summer Grand Prix also on Lomnice’s K-70 jumping hill A performance of 72.5 m enabled him to start thirty seconds ahead of the second Tomáš Portyk the second longest jump among all players was recorded by junior jiri Konvalinka He was also helped by the fact that juniors and juniors had two gates more speed The cross-country part was moved by the organizers of the Czech Championship from LSK Lomnice nad Popelkou to the area of ​​Hraběnka in nearby Jilemnice The 5 km track in favour of Ondřej Pažout but despite heavy rain he had closed the gap to just eight seconds but could not make up more time Pažout made the most of his advantage claimed his first senior title with an 18-second lead “I am satisfied with the performance on the bridge It was difficult to run because the track was wet and slippery I had good information on how far Tomáš Portyk is behind me It is my first title among adults and when I add to the performance in the Summer Grand Prix the positives prevail with me before the coming winter season did not start the cross-country race in the junior category and so the way to the championship was opened for Jan Šimek When asked to reminisce about junior years “It was only my third international competition in Pokljuka I started from the last position and as I was going to the last lap I realized that I do not know the way to the finish so I had to go back to the shooting range and follow the others.” Vobornikova looks back at her junior career with “a little bit of regret of not being able to enjoy the youth and junior freedom to the fullest” She started competing in IBU Cup alongside adult athletes only a year after her international debut in 2018 “But I do have special memories from all of the five Youth and Junior Championships,” says the three-times-medallist from this year’s YJWCH in Soldier Hollow “The fun is over now,” she adds with a smiling face posture and grace in every movement were essential But I was more of that girl who wanted to relax and go for a little run in the nature I joined a cross-country skiing club in Vrchlabí and both myself and my ballet teacher we figured that the gracefulness is forever gone.” The decision to start biathlon came with the transition to high school The 23-years-old chose a sport school located in Jilemnice where other Czech well-known names such as Jaroslav Soukup Veronika Vítková or Tereza’s current “A-teammate” Lucie Charvátová began their careers Bring back January 2019 when Vobornikova made her World Cup debut in front of the famous loud crowd in Oberhof her records show 19 starts at the top level she recorded her career-best with the 24th place in the Oslo-Holmenkollen pursuit my goal is to get points in almost every competition I aimed for the pursuit after each sprint and that went pretty well This year I also changed the stock of my riffle with the hope of stabilising my shooting performance.” With continuous improvement during last winter Vobornikova made her dream appearance at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing as the youngest member of Czech biathlon team which saw tough conditions with low temperatures she finished 34th which remains her best OWG result so far “I am so glad I was able to experience the Olympic Games in Beijing It was the little things that made it so special – from the plane travels with other Czech athletes to the Olympic clothing collection but I also enjoyed competing in unknown terrain.” My favourite genres are horror and detective stories To balance things out and sweeten my life again I like to get some ice cream afterwards.” Vobornikova also enjoys travelling both in the Czech Republic and abroad “My dream is to travel around the USA once my career is over Still a bit of a sports trip but some sightseeing elements for sure.” doc. Mgr. Tomáš Hejduk, Ph.D. I can participate in world academic events (1973) spent his childhood in Lomnice nad Popelkou graduated from the secondary school in Jilemnice and completed his university studies at Charles University: he studied philosophy at the Faculty of Arts defended his doctoral thesis "From Eros to Philosophy The character of Socrates' philosophy in his conception of filia" in philosophy and history of natural sciences at the Faculty of Science he was appointed Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities of Charles University with his habilitation thesis "Non-political Politics in the Work of Ladislav Hejdánek" His professional focus is ethics and political philosophy across history and the world He balances his predilection for antiquity and his inclination towards Plato with a permanent regard for contemporary events His home department at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy of the University of Pardubice is the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies he is also part of the Centre for Ethics international team He has also served in the management of the Faculty as Vice Dean for International Relations and Doctoral Studies Associate Professor Hejduk lives in Hradec Kralové he manages the estate inherited from his ancestors on the outskirts of Český ráj.