Finding My Ordinary World

Perfection. There's no such thing.

But what if I have proof?

Entirely subjective proof, of course. But proof nonetheless.

It's been a while since I've talked about music here on FYRTEK. I've spent much of the past year in a state of mental healing, and one of the things affected along the way has been my love for music.

It's quite something when something that has been such a huge part of your life suddenly stops giving you the feeling it once did.

But I digress.

The subject of this post is Duran Duran's Ordinary World, a song that is very special to me and belongs to a very exclusive club I've come to think of as my Songs of Perfection.

From the moment I first heard it to today, nearly 35 years later, it remains a song I can completely lose myself in.

I'm not going to analyse the song itself too deeply. That's another article entirely. Instead, I want to try to remember where this song fitted into my life, and how, in its own quiet way, it has helped me along the way.

I can't remember exactly when or where I first heard it.

But I remember my reaction.

I must have been ten or eleven years old when I caught the opening notes, and they made me stop whatever I was doing. Then the song pushed forward into its chorus, and, perhaps for the first time, I experienced what it felt like for an emotional high to somehow climb even higher.

Looking back, music probably played a much bigger role in my childhood than I understood at the time.

Around this period of my life, I was exposed to adults abusing drugs. It was an awful thing for any child to witness, but it also taught me something early. Music became somewhere else I could go. And thinking about it now, I genuinely believe it helped keep me away from some of the darker roads I could have followed.

There was, however, a problem after hearing Ordinary World for the first time.

I had absolutely no idea who sang it.

And I had no idea how I was ever going to hear it again.

That's difficult to imagine now. We live with smartphones that can identify a song within seconds and give us immediate access to almost everything ever recorded.

But this was the early 1990s.

A song could simply disappear.

And this one did.

I think it was at least another year before I finally encountered it again.

I was watching MTV when the video appeared. The moment I recognised the song, I found myself staring at the television.

Completely transfixed.

I remember being slightly annoyed that I had to blink because, for that fraction of a second, I wasn't seeing the video.

The video was beautiful.

More than that, it somehow completed the song for me. I didn't realise it at the time, but Ordinary World would become one of those pieces of music that helped shape my taste in everything that followed.

Naturally, MTV also managed to annoy me.

Back then they had a habit of cutting off the final few seconds of songs to squeeze in a commercial break or move on to the next video.

They did exactly that.

For the next few years, Ordinary World existed mostly as something I occasionally encountered. It would appear on the radio or MTV, stay with me for a few minutes, and then disappear again.

It wasn't until I owned my first PC and eventually connected to the internet, through the screeching technological ritual that was dial-up, that I finally managed to get a copy of the song for myself.

And then it couldn't disappear anymore.

Fast forward to 2026.

It's Sunday. Next week is September. Summer is coming to an end, and here in London we're preparing ourselves for another wet autumn.

Part of me wishes life were easier now than it was when I first heard Ordinary World.

In many ways, it is.

But life doesn't really run out of challenges. It just changes them.

I'm now a father to two awesome humans with autism. I try my best to help them and prepare them for a world that isn't always particularly kind or accommodating towards people who experience it differently.

And that scares me.

I dream a lot, although I forget probably 99% of those dreams.

What often survives is the emotion.

A strange residue that stays behind after everything else has disappeared.

The handful of dreams I do remember tend to be the ones that hit too hard.

One of them was about my daughter.

She was grown up and struggling with something, and somehow I wasn't there for her.

Even though it was only a dream, writing that sentence still hurts.

Some dreams disappear when you wake up.

Others leave scars.

This probably sounds like I've wandered away from Duran Duran entirely, but this is where it all comes back together.

Ordinary World isn't perfect to me simply because it is beautifully written or performed.

It's perfect because it has somehow followed me through my life.

If my life were an album, this would be one of its tracks.

A song discovered by a child who didn't really understand why it affected him so deeply, carried forward through adolescence, adulthood, parenthood and everything in between.

And today, when I hear the words:

"But I won't cry for yesterday..."

I understand them differently than I did when I was ten.

The ordinary world isn't somewhere you eventually arrive.

Perhaps it's something you spend your whole life trying to find.

And somewhere along the way, you learn how to survive.

I have.

Album Review: Ba'al's The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here

What do you get when you crash black metal into post-metal? Ba'al is what you get. Breakdowns, sludgy riffs, screeching vocals, and long-winding proggy passages, it's like a buffet of the best parts between Eastern and Western cuisine. It shouldn't work, but it somehow does.

I was ready to go to bed, and one of the highlights of my day is to listen to an album I haven't listened to before. I have a huge queue of albums in several lists, grouped by year. But this time, I decided to trust the Spotify algorithm, and looking back at it now, I'm glad I did.

Ba'al - my only exposure to the name was from the Diablo games. He's one of the three Prime Evils, specifically, Ba'al is the Lord of Destruction. That's about it. So I'm going into this cold.

I'm reviewing the album, "The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here". What an impressive album title. I've always been interested in the various stories that capture the human struggle towards recognition of the higher being(s).

The album cover is excellent. Orange and black themed, with what looks like a city being engulfed by huge dust clouds, something that you'd see from a volcanic eruption. There's the sea in the foreground. Gritty. I love it.

The album has six songs, but it's far from being a short one. The average song length is around 10 minutes, with the longest one clocking in at almost 13 and a half minutes.

But it's a masterclass in post-metal songwriting. Beautifully dark passages, heavy-as-f*ck breakdowns, and a sprinkling of black metal that complements the climaxes of songs. The arrangements are carefully thought out. It's one of those albums that get better after each listen. I end up telling myself "So that's what they're going for!" several times now.

I highly recommend the album if you're a fan of post-metal, or if you're an open-minded proghead. Support the band via their Bandcamp page: https://baalbanduk.bandcamp.com/album/the-fine-line-between-heaven-and-here

The Fine Line Between Heaven and Here was released last year, 2025.

Sunken - And that is happiness...

Probably one of the most powerful songs I've ever had the privilege of listening to.

It's one thing listening to it, the emotion, the vocal delivery, the melodies, the structure of the song, the crescendo, the nadir, the exhaustive build-up, and the torturous climax. 

And then I listen to it again, but this time, I read the lyrics alongside it...for the first time, and I reach the following part:

Find, om du kan, bag den fæle råddenskab (Find, if you can, behind the foul decay)

Den søde duft af frihed (The sweet scent of freedom)

Husk, tungsindighed til trods (Remember, despite melancholy)

På dit næste morgengry (At your next dawn)

Og vid, mod al intuition (And know, against all intuition)

At det altid kan blive værre (That it can always get worse)

My hair stands on end. This is why I listen to black metal. This is why I love this genre so much. It taps to something really deep within me, and it soothes that tormented soul hiding inside.

But the song isn't finished, not at all, it's actually where you strap on for the ride as we're just about to go through where it gets the heaviest.

"Og det var lykke" (And that was happiness)

I take a few moments before I gather myself and reflect on what I just experienced. 

The album is of excellence. One of the best releases of 2025. It easily gets a seat in the Hall of Fyrtek.

Support the band by giving their Bandcamp page a follow and purchasing their records: Lykke | Sunken

Part One: Where It All Began

This is the first part in a series where I will be retracing my musical journey as an avid lover of music. I will try to remember as much as I can, but it will definitely highlight only those that I associate a core memory with.

Late 80s to Mid 90s

I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember.

Certain melodies didn’t just entertain me — they stayed with me. They shaped how I felt, how I thought, and in some ways, who I became.

I’m 43 now, and when I look back, that connection to music has always been there. This is the first part of my musical journey — the years where it all started to make sense.

Tears for Fears: The First Connection

The earliest memory of me loving a song so much was singing to my grandma the song "From a Distance" by Bette Midler. I got teased so much by my brother back then that I stopped singing and questioned my taste in music. I did end up singing again, fronting for a few bands, even, but that's another story for another time.

The earliest band I can confidently say I was a fan of was Tears for Fears.

Their song “Sowing the Seeds of Love” sits firmly in my personal category of songs that changed me for the better. It was bold, melodic, and emotionally rich in a way that felt different to most of what surrounded me at the time.

Tears for Fears were never just a pop band. Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith were heavily influenced by psychology — even the band name comes from primal therapy. That depth showed in their music. It wasn’t afraid to be political, emotional, or introspective.

Over time, I came to love many of their songs, but “Woman in Chains” stands above the rest for me.

That song shaped me as a human being.

I grew up with three sisters, and by the time I was 13, I became the legal guardian to all three. “Woman in Chains” isn’t subtle. It’s about empathy, inequality, and emotional responsibility. Looking back, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the song resonated so deeply with me.

Nirvana, MTV, and the Shock of Grunge

Then came Nirvana — and with them, MTV properly entered my life.

We’re now at the start of the 90s. Grunge had officially landed.

To the ears of a young boy raised mostly on pop-rock, Nirvana sounded harsh. Unpolished. Almost confrontational. And that’s exactly why it hit so hard.

It was a revelation.

Suddenly, music could be messy. Loud. Uncomfortable. Honest in a way I didn’t know I needed. It scratched an itch I didn’t even know existed.

Nirvana didn’t just change music — they changed the culture around it. They made vulnerability loud. They made alienation visible. And they proved that you didn’t need perfection to make something meaningful.

Metal Was There — Just Out of Reach

Around the same time, bands like Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth were gaining serious momentum.

But access mattered.

Metal lived on the fringes back then. MTV only really played it during Headbanger’s Ball, usually in the early hours of the morning. Radio wasn’t much better. So while the seeds were planted, I mostly had to settle for Grunge.

In hindsight, that wasn’t a bad thing at all.

Pearl Jam and a Core Memory

If I’m honest, Nirvana didn’t hold the top spot for me during the Grunge years.

That honour belongs to Pearl Jam.

The song that cemented them in my heart forever was “Jeremy”.

Looking back now, I can say without hesitation — it was a core memory.

The song itself was haunting, but the 1993 MTV Awards performance took it to another level. Pearl Jam performed “Jeremy” live and walked away with four awards that night.

That moment tattooed them into my musical identity — and yes, that’s a deliberate nod to “Black”.

“Black” and the Beauty of Shared Misery

“Black” sits in the highest tier of my personal playlist.

Even now, I still return to it.

It’s bleak. It’s devastating. And somehow, it’s comforting.

There’s something profoundly human about shared misery — a deceptively beautiful, quietly tragic feeling. Pearl Jam captured that perfectly. Eddie Vedder’s delivery wasn’t performative. It was raw, restrained, and deeply personal.

That emotional honesty planted a seed in me.

At the time, I didn’t realise it. But that seed would go on to shape my musical taste in a major way in the years that followed.

That, however, is a story for another day.

Mountaineer takes me on a melancholic journey that explores the soul

 

Mountaineer - Giving Up The Ghost

Doom metal has always been a favourite of mine. From the early days, it was My Dying Bride and Anathema that got me into the genre. Push forward the years and metal music in general has constantly evolved and with it, the various main genres pushed forth new sub-genres.

Mountaineer firmly has its roots in the doom metal genre, but incorporates some beautiful passages of melancholy. Giving Up The Ghost, the band's fourth full-length album, has some of the best songs in the genre. The clean vocals really complement the astounding heaviness of the music instruments.

Here's their video for Bed of Flowers. It perfectly captures the Mountaineer formula of heavy melancholy reminiscent of the best doom metal bands, but with a good dose of post-rockiness that makes you fall in love with the genre.

I think the best part about Mountaineer is their incorporation of Post-Rock elements into their sound. From the band name itself, the music harks of exploration, not just outside, but of one's self. A journey of discovery from within simultaneously with nature around you. 

The following video is for their song "Twin Flame". The concept of a twin flames is very thought-provoking, but interesting nonetheless. Many believe in the concept of a "soul mate". I'm a romantic, and such a concept is attractive to me, even if the concept, if true, is quite tragic... considering the odds of finding your soul mate is 1 in over 8 billion.

I truly enjoy Mountaineer's music. I am privileged to be able to hear beautiful music like this. I'm still processing and getting my fill of their latest record and can't wait to delve into their back catalog.

Insomnium releases one of the best albums of the year in Anno 1696

Insomnium - Anno 1696

Insomnium is a melodic death metal band from Finland that recently released a new album titled “Anno 1696”. It’s a concept album about the Torsåker witch trials.

It’s been a while since I got hooked on an Insomnium record, and I believe I completely skipped out on 2019’s “Heart like a Grave” as I was busy listening to other bands. With this record, Insomnium remind me why I love the band, and why I love Finnish metal. But first we have to introduce the three main ingredients of this record.

Melodic death metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal that combines the aggressive and fast-paced instrumentation of death metal with melodic and harmonised guitar riffs, often influenced by traditional Scandinavian folk music. The genre emerged in the 1990s in Sweden and quickly gained popularity in the metal scene.

The Finnish metal scene is known for its unique and diverse range of subgenres, including melodic death metal, black metal, doom metal, and folk metal. Finnish metal bands have gained international recognition for their innovative and experimental approach to metal music, often incorporating elements of Finnish folklore, mythology, and nature into their lyrics and instrumentation.

The Torsåker witch trials were a series of witch trials that took place in the village of Torsåker, Sweden in the late 17th century. The trials began in 1675 and continued until 1676, resulting in the execution of 71 people, most of whom were women. The trials were marked by a fervor of accusations and confessions, which were often obtained through torture. The accused were accused of practicing witchcraft, consorting with the devil, and causing illness and death in the community.

Now that we have the ingredients to the album, it takes the craftsmanship of Insomnium, mainly Niilo Sevänen (vocalist/bassist), to conjure up a short story based on this tragic part of history.

I won't go into detail about the entirety of the album, but I have to mention my favourite track: Godforsaken.

The track features the ethereal vocals of Johanna Kurkela. It's a perfect song; it has emotive lyrics, with a vocal delivery complementing it, alongside a most welcome high pace of both the guitars and the drums. It also uses the classic Insomnium formula that I love, where there's a whole climactic section at the end where the song finishes on an uplifting tangent, yet bittersweet because of the theme of the song, and of the whole album. Truly, a masterpiece.

The rest of the album maintains the theme and it's been an almost daily listen for me.

White Ward's False Light is a true masterpiece

 White Ward, from Ukraine, released False Light last year, in 2022. I've been a big fan of theirs since the release of Futility Report. The album cover itself was enough for me to be captivated, and they are easily in the category of bands who do their cover albums justice. 

White Ward's Futility Report

White Ward has one very distinct armament in their arsenal: the use of a saxophone, and not just using it, but using it to good effect! Another highlight of White Ward is their use of top productions for their music. Good production is sometimes the antithesis of a proper black metal band (hence why they're very much in the post-black metal subgenre), but thanks to the good production, the saxophone shines.

At the current time of writing, Ukraine is currently in a war with Russia. Being invaded, raped, and pillaged on various fronts, I can only imagine what the feelings and thoughts are of the band members of White Ward. One thing is for sure though, I do hope that they continue to make music. Their brand of post-black metal is just right up my street. I can see myself listening to their music years from now. 

White Ward's False Light

Check out White Ward at https://whiteward.bandcamp.com/.

Ashenspire calls out the cruelty against the poor, it's with full intent!

 

I wasn't really warming up to the record. Consider myself a victim of judging a book by its cover. More like judging it based on labels alone. Ashenspire, hailing from Scotland, is such a band. Most, if not all, RABM (Red and Anarchist Black Metal) bands that I've listened to don't hit the spot for me. There's something about the rather discordant tone that eludes my brain from being "unlocked" and latching on to the music.

My initial listen to the opening track "The Law of Asbestos" caught me off-guard. Wait, what?! Okay, that was intense. A little too intense. I wasn't prepared. I tried listening to it again, but realised I wasn't in the right frame of mind.

A while later, in a more relaxed situation, I gave it another go. And I was blown away. Jesus, this was intense. I listened to it again, and the vocal performance, the delivery of the lyrics, the lyrical content, it all resonated deep within me.

This is not a house of amateurs. This is done with full intent.

The lyrics are haunting.  

Okay, I know I am late to the party, but here goes Nothing

 

This last week has been filled by Nothing. I'm talking about the band Nothing. Curious? Check out the song above, it's called "Famine Asylum" and it has a lot of the things that I love in music. Thick and heavy distortion in the early Smashing Pumpkins vein, with a good dose of shoegaze ala Hum.

Listening to "Famine Asylum" for the first time invoked the increasingly rare "I liked it the first time I listened to it" tag. I have to say though, that the rest of the discography wasn't warming up to me. It may have been the state of my mind contributing to it, but after a few days, I gave "The Great Dismal" another listen and it started to warm up to me. 

"Dance on the Blacktop" enhanced my knowledge of the band's tunes, and its favorability. I must say though that the production really could be better. I can't help but feel wanting for the sonic sound that the band can produce, but the records (especially "Dance on the Blacktop") sound like the mixer was underneath a pillow.

I now wonder what took me so long to really listen to the band. I know it now. It's the album covers. 

I'm a huge fan of great album cover art, and it's one of the main reasons I'm a big metalhead. So check out the cover for "Dance on the Blacktop":

Nothing's "Dance on the Blacktop"

Thanks to that, I missed out on some very impressive songs. My favourite from the album being "Blue Line Baby" and it has an impressive video:

One thing is for sure though, and that's Nothing will be a mainstay on my current playlist for the foreseeable future. They make songs that I'll still be listening to decades from now. And that's enough puns to last me for a while.

I was today years old when I found out that Phil Collins played drums on the song "Woman in Chains"

Today I found out that one of my all-time favourite songs, "Woman in Chains" by Tears for Fears, has Phil Collins play the drums on it.

Wikipedia says:

The studio cut features Phil Collins on drums. "Tears for Fears just wanted me to do that big drum thing from 'In the Air Tonight'..." Collins recalled. "'We want you to come in here in a big way.'" The song prominently features vocals by Oleta Adams, who went on to achieve a successful solo career...

This is just so amazing. I remember being an eight-year-old and absolutely loving the melody of the song. I was too young back then to really understand the meaning of the song, but it wouldn't take long for me to grab hold of the message and have it shape how I treated women throughout my life.