Metallica returned to the Sphere for the second night of their Life Burns Faster residency, pulling out some of their biggest songs as well as a track they haven’t played for nearly 20 years.
After kicking off the residency on Thursday October 1 with a 16-song set that saw them dusting down 1988’s …And Justice For All for the first time in 12 years, they stuck to the ‘No Repeat’ format which they’ve followed for the whole of the current M72 and played an entirely new set of songs.
Night two saw them starting with …And Justice For All opener Blackened, followed by 1997s Fuel and Master Of Puppets track Leper Messiah.
They then pulled out Devil’s Dance, a track from Load which hasn’t been played live for 18 years. They also played 1996’s The Outlaw Torn for the first time in seven years later in the set.
The remainder of the set featured several of their biggest songs, including Welcome Home (Sanitarium), The Unforgiven, For Whom The Bell Tolls, One and the night’s closer, Enter Sandman.
Metallica have become the first metal band to play at the 20,000-capacity Sphere. Previous acts to have appeared there include U2, Eagles, Dead & Friends and No Doubt.
Blackened Fuel Leper Messiah Devil’s Dance 72 Seasons King Nothing Welcome Home (Sanitarium) The Outlaw Torn Kirk and Rob Doodle The Unforgiven Orion Hardwired Whiskey in the Jar For Whom the Bell Tolls One Enter Sandman
Metallica live shows 2026/27
Oct 01: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 03: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 08: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 10: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 15: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 17: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 22: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 24: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 29: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Oct 31: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Nov 05: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Nov 07: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
Nov 19: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT Nov 21: Uncasville Mohegan Sun Arena, CT
Jan 28: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Jan 30: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 04: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 06: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 18: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 20: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 25: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Feb 27: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Mar 04: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Mar 06: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Mar 11: Las Vegas Sphere, NV Mar 13: Las Vegas Sphere, NV
May 08: Vancouver BC Place, BC May 13: San Diego Snapdragon Stadium, CA May 18: El Paso Sun Bowl Stadium, TX May 22: San Antonio Alamodome, TX May 26: Fayetteville Razorback Stadium, AR May 29: Kansas City Arrowhead Stadium, MO Jun 02: Raleigh Carter-Finley Stadium, NC Jun 05: Indianapolis Lucas Oil Stadium, IN Jun 08: Buffalo Highmark Stadium, NY Jun 12: Madison Camp Randall Stadium, WI Jun 15: Cleveland Huntington Bank Field, OH Jun 19: Salt Lake City Rice-Eccles Stadium, UT
Grey & Purple Songbook’s “Fateful Ski Trip” feels epic from the opening moments. A cinematic atmosphere pulls you into a dramatic chapter of Norwegian history, turning a desperate winter escape into a musical adventure. There is something medieval about the sound, with a sense of wonder that brings to mind an animated Disney film unfolding against Norway’s magnificent, unforgiving landscapes.
The male choral voices give the song a ceremonial character. Their presence suggests an old tale passed from one generation to the next, carrying the gravity of history and the excitement of legend. You can picture the snow-covered mountains and the skiers pressing forward while the storm closes around them.
Nature feels like an adversary in this story. The music invites you to imagine the beauty of the Norwegian wilderness alongside its dangers. That tension gives the song much of its appeal: the scenery is breathtaking, but every stretch of the journey threatens to stop the people crossing it.
Fateful Ski Trip – Sound and Atmosphere
Ancient, medieval, and fantasy-like moods meet throughout the track. The arrangement has a theatrical quality that suits the subject, making the historical episode easy to visualize. Rather than simply presenting a sequence of events, the song encourages you to follow the journey and feel what is at stake.
Around the 1:30 mark, a female voice enters and creates a beautiful contrast with the male choral passages. The change in vocal character offers a fresh perspective within the arrangement, briefly shifting its atmosphere while remaining part of the same unfolding tale.
That contrast helps keep the storytelling alive. The imposing male voices establish the epic scale, while the female intervention adds another shade to the performance. It is a well-judged moment that gives the listener something unexpected without interrupting the narrative.
Fateful Ski Trip – Story and Performance
The song recounts the perilous escape of the young Håkon Håkonsson during the winter of 1205–1206. Amid Norway’s civil conflict, two Birkebeiner skiers carried the son of King Håkon Sverresson across dangerous mountain terrain, braving a fierce snowstorm to protect him from the rival Bagler faction.
The child would later become King Håkon IV, whose reign saw the end of Norway’s civil war era. Knowing the significance of his survival gives the story an added weight. A journey through the snow becomes a moment on which the country’s future depends.
Grey & Purple Songbook gives this episode a vivid musical setting. The choral performances and cinematic mood allow history and imagination to work together, with the medieval atmosphere reinforcing the story’s sense of distance and danger.
“Fateful Ski Trip” is an absorbing listening experience for anyone drawn to music that tells a story. Its strongest quality is the way it makes you see the journey: the vast landscapes, the relentless weather, and the determination to keep moving. By the end, the title feels less like the name of a song and more like an adventure you have followed.
Belgian death metal band CARNAL DESECRATION will release their second full-length album, Ancient Malediction, on 15 October 2026 through THRASH RECORDS. The nine-track record will be available digitally alongside limited physical editions of 300 digipak CDs and 300 vinyl copies. Formed in Antwerp in 2018 by musicians with previous experience in the Belgian underground, CARNAL […]
The Amsterdamage era is officially here. In a celebratory press conference on Friday, brothers Remington Leith, Sebastian Danzig and Emerson Barrett announced their sixth album, Amsterdamage, alongside a world tour of the same name. Then, in true Palaye Royale fashion, they took the celebration to the streets, playing a surprise acoustic set outside King’s Cross station that included their new single, Lost In Translation.
A sense of full-circle symbolism runs through this new chapter. Amsterdamage represents a return to the band’s roots while simultaneously pushing forward, musically, visually and personally.
It is a new album born from a period of profound change, following the loss of their mother, Stephanie Rachel, in 2024. Her passing deeply affected the brothers and, for a period, came close to tearing the band apart. The story behind the album is, in many ways, the story of finding their way back to each other.
The Palaye Royale journey in the UK goes back to 2017, when they played their first show outside North America at Camden Assembly. The gig sold out in a day.
I asked what the biggest lesson has been over the past decade. “We were always opening for bands in the States,” Sebastian Danzig said, “and then we made the jump. Let’s go to the UK and see what happens. It sold out in a day, which for us at that moment was huge.”
Remington Leith said they felt like the biggest band in the world. “Over the past ten years, it’s been the wildest fucking journey of all time,” he said. “We’ve slept in cars, vans, train stations, fucking played grocery stores, slept at fans’ houses just to get something to eat. So it’s been quite a fucking journey to get here, and we don’t take any moment for granted.”
For Emerson, returning to the UK carries its own significance. “Definitely symbolic, making a full circle,” he said.
But Amsterdamage is not simply about looking backwards. The band had a plan even then. “Camden, Koko, Roundhouse, Apollo, Wembley,” Sebastian explains. Yet despite the scale they have now reached, their ambition remains big.
When asked whether there has ever been a point where they thought they had made it, the answer is essentially no. Remington laughs. “I think mentally, we’re still in our mom’s car. We will always want more. Three nights at Knebworth, that’s the new goal.”
That hunger is part of what has kept Palaye Royale moving. So is their relationship with Europe. In my one-to-one conversation with the band, I ask what keeps drawing them back. They are honorary Europeans now.
“Fuck yeah,” Emerson and Remington said. “We are.”
I ask what the pull of coming back is. “Especially Prague,” Emerson says. “I have Catholic progression. I lived and died many times in Europe.”
Remington adds that the band loves it so much. ” I think a big reason is the fans. They just gravitated to us so much, and made us feel so welcome and loved here.”
That connection is easy to understand when you spend time with the three brothers. For all the scale of the band they have built, they are warm, down-to-earth and remarkably candid. There is little sense of distance in conversation.
Within minutes, the interaction feels less like an interview with a band who have spent the last decade touring the world and more like catching up with people you have known for years.
It is a quality that comes through in the way they talk about their fans, too. Their relationship with Europe has grown alongside the band, and that sense of familiarity and openness has become an important part of what Palaye Royale represent.
Amsterdamage: A different kind of darkness
The visual identity of Palaye Royale has always been an important part of each album era, but Amsterdamage immediately feels different.
When I look at the album cover, I see joy in it. The band are literally marching forward, all smiles, with the neon fuchsia album title glowing at the top. I ask whether that brightness was intentional.
“Yes,” Emerson says. “I feel like we’ve spiritually reset, creatively, spiritually, physically. That album cover brings you joy. It brings a sense of relief where it’s like, all right, you can kind of move on.”
There had been another direction they could have taken. Instead, they chose something that felt lighter.
“We’ve made that album,” Remington explains. “We’ve already done it. We wanted to give the fans and ourselves something that is so different and so new, and something that makes us fucking happy.”
There are darker songs within Amsterdamage, but it is not darkness for darkness’ sake. “It’s still not a depressing darkness,” Remington says.
A smaller darkness, or a creative darkness? “A creative darkness,” Emerson confirms. That distinction becomes particularly interesting when looking at what happened before the album was made.
Starting from scratch
I ask whether, after losing their mother, there was older material they had to abandon because it no longer represented who they were. “There was a lot of stuff like that,” Remington says. “There was a bunch of songs that were left over that we really wanted to get down on record, but it did not feel right.
“After something like that, you are kind of not the same. It kind of changes you, and sometimes it’s better, sometimes for the worse. But we’re trying to change every day for the better.”
The change was not only in the songs. I ask how it affected the way they collaborated with each other. “Everything really did change,” Remington says. “We didn’t really let it hit us for the longest time, because we were on tour. And so we didn’t have time to sit with it.”
Then the touring stopped. “The quiet was a little bit too loud.”
“She was our rock,” Emerson says. “So when she went away, there was no centre base of reality. Our whole lives changed. My whole world changed forever. One of the last things she said to us was always stay together.”
The wider story behind Amsterdamage is remarkably honest. The brothers have spoken about a period when they barely communicated, arguments that escalated to lawyers and the possibility that Palaye Royale might actually come to an end.
“The album happened, and that’s what saved us,” Sebastian says.
“After listening to the album, nothing seemed to matter any more except for music,” Remington adds.
For Emerson, the process has had an impact beyond the music. “This process has healed us in a way that is kind of unexplainable.”
Listening to the music they were creating eventually made the anger and resentment feel smaller than the thing they were building together. Now, they believe they have come full circle. “I think she would be really proud of our relationship and happiness,” Emerson says.
That idea of happiness is important to understanding Amsterdamage. Because although the album has grown out of profound loss, the band do not want the listener to remain there. What do they want their fans to feel?
I ask what they actually want people to feel when they hear the album. The answer is about healing. “Even if you’re broken, you can heal, you know?” Emerson says. “It just takes time and love and support.”
That message runs into the album’s final track, whose closing lyrics echoes one of the most famous lines in music history. “Love Is All You Need. It’s the most important thing,” Remington adds.
They have been through an extraordinary amount in a relatively short period of time. “Life’s gonna fucking knock you down at any point,” Remington says. “You gotta realise it’s worth living. I am always gonna be in an emo phase in my life, but it’s so special to be on this earth, and we gotta do what we love every day. And I’m never gonna take it for granted.”
Suddenly, the fuchsia on the album cover makes even more sense.
Five years from now
Every Palaye Royale album becomes an era, but five years from now, when people look back at Amsterdamage, what do they want them to remember?
“How many millions of albums did that thing sell?” Remington jokes. “The greatest album of all time. But seriously, a lightness and going life’s worth living.”
Emerson sees it as “the turn in the road.” He compares it to watching the Rolling Stones reach a point where they stopped carrying the weight of expectation so heavily and simply allowed themselves to have fun. Flamboyant clothes, balloons on stage and the sheer joy of performing. “That’s like a lifelong career of making people happy but also being you,” he says.
Remington agrees. “I think we’re not taking ourselves so seriously. It’s just like we’re just having fun.”
That philosophy extends to the stage. Palaye Royale have spent years thinking about how to make their live shows bigger, but eventually they reached a different conclusion.
“We’re not overthinking anything anymore,” Sebastian says, “and the shows have just kind of embodied that. We would start thinking, we need more production. We need more of this. We’re like, wait! We are the production.”
The next chapter is already moving fast. A sold-out return to Camden, a new single, a new album, a world tour and ambitions that stretch all the way to Knebworth.
But for all the scale of what Palaye Royale are chasing, their most important message may be the simplest.
As Remington puts it, “All I want to do is play this and let people forget about whatever’s going on in their lives for a couple of hours and just have fun with us. Have a good time.”
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027.
The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One. Pre-orders are available from sumerian.lnk.to/amsterdamage. Tour tickets are available from palayeroyale.hq.fan.
March
Manchester O2 ApolloStockport Rd, Manchester M12 6AP
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first
Event Details
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One”
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first
Event Details
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One”
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first
Event Details
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One”
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first
Event Details
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One”
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first
Event Details
Palaye Royale have announced their sixth studio album, Amsterdamage, alongside a major international tour for 2027. The album will be released through Sumerian Records on 22 January 2027. The first track, Lost In Translation, is out now, while a limited-edition version of Amsterdamage will also include the bonus track The Unholy One”
The song opens with a delightful rhythm and a guitar solo that evokes shades of Mark Knopfler. The listener is introduced to the expressive and intense vocals of the artist. The voice draws one into the emotional atmosphere of the track. This elegant and intense piece narrates a remarkable story of physical healing experienced during a group meditation in nature.
At times, the voice possesses a slight raspiness that adds to its uniqueness. The production is polished, ensuring every element stands out. The drums deliver a groovy sound, enhancing the overall energy of the song. The guitar intertwines with smooth lines that create a spacious sonic environment. Together, these elements establish a rich auditory experience.
The song possesses a hypnotic quality. The melodic line has harmonic variations while maintaining a vivid, descriptive state. The repetition of the title during the chorus reinforces this hypnotic feeling, inviting listeners to immerse themselves fully.
I Can Feel Your Hands – Sound and Atmosphere
This is a song that envelops you, urging you to delve deeper into its essence. The arrangement is carefully constructed, allowing the listener to appreciate the layers within.
Lyrically, the track is compelling without being overly complex. It communicates a sense of healing and unity, making it relatable to many. The story it conveys encourages introspection and connection with one’s surroundings.
Ross Atlan’s vocal delivery shines throughout the track. It resonates with authenticity, conveying genuine emotion. The slight rasp in his voice adds depth, drawing listeners closer. His ability to express vulnerability through music is fantastic.
I Can Feel Your Hands – Performance and Production
The groovy drums anchor the rhythm, while the guitar embellishments add a sense of sophistication. Together, they create an engaging musical journey. The dynamic shifts in harmony keep the listener on their toes. The track evolves without losing its essence, resulting in an enriching listening experience.
This single can easily become a personal anthem for those seeking solace. Its themes of healing and connection resonate deeply. The instrumentation supports these messages beautifully, further enhancing the overall impact.
This song is not just heard but experienced. It engages multiple senses. Each listening reveals something new, making it a rewarding experience.
Listeners are likely to find themselves returning to this track. “I Can Feel Your Hands” accomplishes what many strive for: a meaningful connection through music.
Modern power metal band INDUCTION have released a new version of “Gods Of Steel” featuring HELLOWEEN and GAMMA RAY legend Kai Hansen on guest vocals. The collaboration arrives just days before the band begin their Anthems of Steel Tour 2026 with TUNGSTEN and KILMARA. The song originally appeared as an exclusive bonus track on physical […]
Krusher Joule has spent decades somewhere in the thick of rock and Metal, designing album covers, working with Kerrang!, causing havoc at festivals and collecting the sort of stories that probably should not all be committed to print. So naturally, we gave him The MetalTalk Lowdown.
What came back involves Keith Richards, Pantera, Black Sabbath’s Born Again, Mahler, recreational pharmaceuticals and some surprisingly practical advice from a self-proclaimed ROCK GOD!!! And that is before we get to the sisters.
What’s the most Metal thing you’ve ever done? Snorted 100% pharmaceutical cocaine off the end of Keith Richards’ 12″ dagger.
What’s the worst gig you’ve ever worked at, and why? Honestly cannot think of one. They have all been a pleasure to do.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever worked at, and why? The WHOLE US Ozzfest 2000! The reason? Pantera were the support act and they fuckin’ PARTY HARD!
If you could relive one night from your career, which one would it be? The night I shagged the sisters. BUT if you ever have the chance, fuck the one you’re going out with first!!!!
What’s your greatest fear? Going into a care home.
What’s the trait you most deplore in yourself? Falling over.
What’s the trait you most deplore in musicians? Their selfishness when it comes to sharing drugs!
Describe yourself in three words. A ROCK GOD!!!
What’s your guiltiest pleasure? FUCK ALL!!!
What makes a band genuinely exciting to you? When they play their music, but also display that they believe in what they are playing.
What’s the worst thing a musician has ever said to you? NO!
What’s the worst thing anyone has ever written about you? That Born Again was a shit cover, when they should have said it was a diabolical cover, arsechickens!
If you had not ended up working in music, what would you have done? Fireman.
What’s one album outside Metal that you secretly love? Mahler’s 5th Symphony
When did you last cry, and why? About a week ago when I saw my bank account!!!
What keeps you awake at night? Speed! I do not take it anymore and sleep well.
Riffs, money or notoriety? ALL THREE!!!
How do you want to be remembered? Nicely.
What’s the most important lesson the road has taught you? Always read the small print.
What happens when the music stops? Choose another album…sigh!
Progressive death metal outfit CONTRARIAN will release their sixth studio work, Escaping Depravity, on 27 November through WILLOWTIP RECORDS. Rather than following a conventional album structure, the record unfolds as a single uninterrupted 30-minute composition divided into seven movements. The first substantial preview is available now through an “Escaping Depravity” visualiser covering Parts 1–4 of […]
Southern California hardcore wrecking crew BIG ASS TRUCK I.E. will release their debut EP, FOUND ON ROAD DEAD, on 20 October via NUCLEAR BLAST RECORDS. The five-track release has been introduced by first single “DRAGGING MEAT”, accompanied by an official video directed by Astral Media/Zack Perez. Stream “DRAGGING MEAT” Built around hardcore aggression, oversized riffs […]
And so the great fascination with the online world begins its fade-out: once the domain of nerds, then the place for hip people to content farm, now the internet is seen as the burnout zone it really is.
The good news about this is that people are buying stuff again: books, records, tapes, discs, even magazines. We are looking for tangible works of human effort in a world of influencer slop and clanker churn.
If you wanted to have a good read this weekend, here are a few good options:
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
If you want the original transition from thinking like a human to thinking outside of human self-soothing fictions, Naked Lunch takes you into the underworld beneath the peer pressure induced socially-acceptable Crowdism-validated world of consumer marketing, religious simplification, groupthink and socializing, flag-waving patriotism, bureaucratic laws removed from cause/effect reasoning, “wet streets make rain” correlation-causation logic, Hegelian deductive cascades, macho posturing, scapegoating and talisman-seeking, hermeneutic language, narcissistic entitlement, convenience-oriented categorical thinking, desk-shifting of work to the responsible, and generally, all of the gross little thought processes that appear innocent but manifest many steps down the line as a human tendency to destroy each other for the sake of our own emotional self-regulation. One of the best books ever, should be read by conservatives and liberals alike, but will not make sense to libertarians or fundies.
Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue by Paul Woodruff
At the root of all philosophy is a desire to reconnect to the world so that we can actually live the life we have instead of staying layers removed from it with abstraction, emotion, socializing, money, power, and status. Reverence posits a simple vision of the transcendental: when we discover what causes us awe in life, we can connect that to the whole of existence, and find a place for ourselves in a larger order where we are no longer enslaved to hubris and can instead finally appreciate being alive. You can approach this book from any philosophy, background, or reading level and easily fall into its arguments, which deepen like a midnight ritual as the book goes on. So simply profound and well-stated that you might only be able to read it once, this book goes beyond the normal stuff on the philosophy shelf which focuses on human abstractions, and looks instead to connect our abstract brains with organic reality.
Liber Null and Psychonaut by Peter Carroll
Hermetic/pagan thought is based upon the notion of choice, which requires understanding reality to know the consequences of each option and therefore, to actually exercise will, instead of doing what most people do which is to react with optics, emotions, manipulations, and moralism without caring about the consequence. If you want a guide to ends-over-means consequentialism as a philosophy of life, this book provides the introductory material in a direct and convenient way with bite-sized chunks that nevertheless clearly address the core concepts of esotericism.
NAOS by Anton Long
When you decide to leave behind dualism, universalism, individualism, and other neurotic behaviors and instead to embrace the hermetic/pagan outlook, an intermediate guide in the form of NAOS will supplement and clarify your thinking. Written in the ancient style of cryptic ring composition with subtle kenning, this book of aphorisms knitted into a narrative expands the world in order to reveal the paucity of the “objective” values that most people rely on but which are in fact merely symbols of the world, the map and not the territory. To experience the real thing, one must first become open to what it is, what one is becoming, and what the options for choice are and how those form an inertia toward more choices like that one.
Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There by David Brooks
After the 1960s, political ideology and bourgeois materialism joined into one philosophy that suited the newcomers to America more than its heritage residents, so it became the new dogma among the over-educated and well-heeled takeover people. Taking a nod from Tom Wolfe and Mike Davis, this book shows us the outlandish excesses of gourmet lifestyles in order to reveal the philosophy behind them, which is a politically-correct form of signaling designed to exclude everyone but the new takeover group. Although all of that is well and good, the book is hilarious and shows us human pretense in greater depths than ever revealed before, a real masterpiece of documentary satire.
Inhuman by Jean-Francoise Lyotard
Philosophy ran out of room after Nietzsche because he articulated all of its relevant parts in depth, so philosophy split into the theory of mind nonsense which is basically psychology for neurotics, and the dissident wing embraced by this militant philosopher from the lonely failed land of regicides. His theory is that we are drowning of too much humanity because we are afraid to think thoughts outside the mental ghetto of human emotions, socializing, and optics because those are linked to bourgeois self-promotion and “making that sale.” To become better humans, we must become inhuman, and through this achieve clarity of thinking, he argues, creating a space in the house Nietzsche built where it might be cold but nothing is out of place.
The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Steven Pinker
The author of this book was deplatformed and driven out of much of academia for suggesting that equality is a farce and humans are in fact inherently quite different from each other because Darwinism creates “inequality” and hierarchy, the two things most feared by a Crowd. Without being political or taking a side, he criticizes the two wings of egalitarianism, fundamentalist Abrahamism and liberal humanism, as philosophies and points out in depth how the science shows that our abilities are different, it is genetic, and recognizing this is our only path to quality both as individuals and in terms of what we produce as a civilization, starting with a functional social order. Pinker targets the ultimate taboo of our time with a workmanlike inspection of all of the knowledge that shows how “equality” is a symbol that seduces minds, not a working plan for human survival.
Republic by Plato
This might be the most heretical book you ever read because it points out the actual motivations of humans underneath the symbols they trade with each other to create mutual good feelings. It starts out by questioning how to live a good life, then explores what defines good and its opposite, and finally shows us how the pursuit of avoiding controversy and coming up with pleasant symbols makes civilization gradually go insane and decay from a shared transcendent goal into extreme bourgeois individualism which seeks to destroy anything other than the individual. Written plainly with an extreme focus on logical fact, Republic shatters all of the illusions you have unknowningly been nurturing about your species and its constantly dying civilizations.
Race Differences in Intelligence by Richard Lynn
While social class differences in intelligence arising from genetics may be a more interesting subject, this book touches on the greatest taboo of our time, namely why some groups are wealthy and organized yet other groups are impoverished and chaotic. Although we officially believe in Darwinism as a “scientific” society, actual Darwinism, including recognition of the genetic basis for all traits, is taboo because it conflicts with the reigning ideologies of egalitarianism and dualism, in which the human individual is seen as equal in basic ability despite absolutely zero evidence supporting that notion. Extending this to race yanks support for this mental dichotomy and forces a collision with the basic assumption of human social groups, namely that everyone or at least most people are intelligent and oriented toward good results.
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
Probably the most profoundly disturbing science fiction in history, and joining Bradbury in a wider critique of technology as a substitute for culture, this series of books looks at “progress” as a form of neurotic human self-centeredness gradually taking over all of reality and leaving ruins behind because the functional parts of the world challenge our egos. Featuring characters you would like to know in real life, these stories uncover the dark psychology of those who devote themselves to individualism — echoing Moby-Dick in many ways — and how their need to be more important than reality drives them steadily toward ever more destructive and self-defeating acts.
The Antichrist by Friedrich Nietzsche
No book collection would be complete without this book that rejects Christianity and in doing so, eschews the idea of a universal, absolute, and objective form of truth, values, and judgment in which all people participate like a shared space or social group. Instead, it shows us how alone we are, like Satan falling from the heavens, because hierarchy is inherent and most do not seek wisdom but its opposite, leading them into worship of symbols that blinds them to the choices possible in life, making them contorted and collapsed on themselves like a dying civilization. While its blasphemous side gets immediately noticed, the sublime nature of this book comes out in its tendency to liberate us from liberation so that we can discover again the world without the shadow-symbol of God obscuring its function.
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