Hi, I'm the "two cents" guy. I listen to metal songs on YouTube, though mainly remasters/remixes; my blog is about metal, but also sex, videogames and horror. This is a compilation—of interviews I've given with Metallica remixers, including Bryce Barilla, State of Mercury and Ahdy Khairat. It also includes comments I've given on their YouTube videos, and provides links to music reviews/write-ups I've done in the past.
Note: All of us can be found on State of Mercury's Discord server. Stop by and say hello!
Interviews
My interviews focus on the history of these musicians, and the approach to making their content.
Creblestar: A YouTuber and speedrunner, Creblestar makes music content for his YT channel, including Metallica remixes. Although he came along slightly before I started writing about metal, his work inspired me to begin the journey. Read my interview with Creblestar, here.
Bryce Barilla: Bryce's initial approach was more conservative. He remixed and re-recorded old Metallica songs, but didn't mess quite as much with the song structures themselves. Over time, though, his approach to the format has become increasingly experimental, rewriting the songs, but also—re: with his latest material—improving on the audio production by leaps and bounds. Read my interview with Bryce, here.
State of Mercury: Out of the three, Mercury's approach has been the most ambitious, songwriting-wise. His top-notch playing allows for a total reinvention of the riffs themselves. The sheer number of changes makes his material a challenge to analyze in terms of direct comparisons, but there's always lots to find and appreciate. Read my interview with State of Mercury, here.
Ahdy Khairat: Although I was intrigued by GuitarRazze and Creblestar, Ahdy is what got me into analyzing metal on a regular basis. A professional producer/sound engineer, his material is entirely remixes and remasters, but the quality of his approach is unparalleled. Read my interview with him, here.
You Tube Commentaries
These are the videos by each musician that I've given my two cents on. To read the comments themselves, click on a video and look for comments made by the user "Nicholas van der Waard" (all comments start with "My two cents:"). Not every comment is pinned/hearted by the content creators, so you may have to do a little searching.
Bryce Barilla
"What If Spit Out the Bone was on Master of Puppets? | Metallica Crossovers"
"Metallica's Master of Puppets Album, But it's in the Major Key"
"What If To Live is to Die was on Ride the Lightning? | Metallica Album Crossovers"
"If Whiplash was on And Justice for All | Album crossovers(?)"
"What If Creeping Death was on ...And Justice for All? | Album Crossovers"
"What If Battery was on ...And Justice for All? | Album Crossovers":
State of Mercury
"What If Welcome Home (Sanitarium) was on ...And Justice For All?"
Ahdy Khairat
"Metallica - Harvester of Sorrow (Remastered + Bass)"
"Metallica - Disposable Heroes (Remixed and Remastered)"
"Metallica - The Unforgiven III (Remixed & Remastered)"
"Slayer - South of Heaven (Remixed and Remastered)"
Other Artists
Music Reviews/Write-ups
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Persephone van der Waard is the author of the multi-volume, non-profit book series, Sex Positivity—its art director, sole invigilator, illustrator and primary editor (the other co-writer/co-editor being Bay Ryan). Persephone has her independent PhD in Gothic poetics and ludo-Gothic BDSM (focusing on partially on Metroidvania), and is a MtF trans woman, anti-fascist, atheist/Satanist, poly/pan kinkster, erotic artist/pornographer and anarcho-Communist with two partners. Including multiple playmates/friends and collaborators, Persephone and her many muses work/play together on Sex Positivity and on her artwork at large as a sex-positive force. That being said, she still occasionally writes reviews, Gothic analyses, and interviews for fun on her old blog (and makes YouTube videos talking about politics). To learn more about Persephone's academic/activist work and larger portfolio, go to her About the Author page. To purchase illustrated or written material from Persephone (thus support the work she does), please refer to her commissions page for more information. Any money Persephone earns through commissions goes towards helping sex workers through the Sex Positivity project; i.e., by paying costs and funding shoots, therefore raising awareness. Likewise, Persephone accepts donations for the project, which you can send directly to her PayPal, Ko-Fi, Patreon or CashApp. Every bit helps!
