1.
Johnstown, Pennsylvania
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Johnstown is a city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States,43 miles west-southwest of Altoona and 67 miles east of Pittsburgh. The population was 20,978 at the 2010 census and estimated to be 20,402 in 2013 and it is the principal city of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Cambria County. Johnstown, settled in 1770, has experienced three major floods in its history, the Great Flood of May 31,1889, occurred after the South Fork Dam collapsed 14.1 miles upstream from the city during heavy rains. At least 2,209 people died as a result of the flood, another major flood occurred in 1936. Despite a pledge by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to make the city flood free, the 1977 flood - in what was to have been a flood free city - may have contributed to Johnstowns subsequent population decline and inability to attract new residents and businesses. Johnstown was formally organized as a town in 1800 by the Swiss German immigrant Joseph Johns, the settlement was initially known as Schantzstadt, but was soon anglicized to Johnstown. From 1834 to 1854, the city was a port and key transfer point along the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, perhaps the most famous passenger who traveled via the canal to visit Johnstown briefly was Charles Dickens in 1842. By 1854, canal transport became redundant with the completion of the Pennsylvania Railroad, with the coming of the railroads, the citys growth improved. Johnstown became a stop on the line of the Pennsylvania Railroad and was connected with the Baltimore & Ohio. The railroads provided large-scale development of the mineral wealth. Iron, coal, and steel quickly became central to the town of Johnstown, by 1860, the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown was the leading steel producer in the United States, outproducing steel giants in Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Through the second half of the 19th century, Johnstown made much of the barbed wire. Johnstown prospered from skyrocketing demand in the western United States for barbed wire, twenty years after its founding, the Cambria Works was a huge enterprise sprawling over 60 acres in Johnstown and employing 7,000. It owned 40,000 acres of mineral lands in a region with a ready supply of iron, coal. Floods were almost a yearly event in the valley during the 1880s, on the afternoon of May 30,1889, following a quiet Memorial Day ceremony and a parade, it began raining in the valley. The next day water filled the streets, and rumors began that a dam holding an artificial lake in the mountains to the northeast might give way. It did, and an estimated 20 million tons of water spilling into the winding gorge that led to Johnstown some 14 miles away. The destruction in Johnstown occurred in only about 10 minutes, what had been a thriving steel town with homes, churches, saloons, a library, a railroad station, electric street lights, a roller rink, and two opera houses was buried under mud and debris
2.
Death metal
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Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Building from the structure of thrash metal and early black metal. Bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost, Slayer, and Kreator were important influences on the genres creation, Possessed and Death, along with bands such as Obituary, Autopsy and Morbid Angel, are often considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more attention as popular genre niche record labels like Combat, Earache. Since then, death metal has diversified, spawning several subgenres, melodic death metal combines death metal elements with those of the new wave of British heavy metal. Technical death metal is a style, with uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos, deathgrind, goregrind and pornogrind mix the complexity of death metal with the intensity, speed, and brevity of grindcore. Deathcore combines death metal with metalcore traits, Death n roll combines death metals growled vocals and highly distorted, detuned guitar riffs with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. English heavy metal band Venom, from Newcastle, crystallized the elements of what became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal. Their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, and macabre, another highly influential band, Slayer, formed in 1981. Although the band was a metal act, Slayers music was more violent than their thrash contemporaries Metallica, Megadeth. Their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence, war, according to AllMusic, their third album Reign in Blood inspired the entire death metal genre. It had a big impact on the genre such as Death, Obituary. While attributed as having a Slayer influence, current and former members of the band had actually cited Venom and Motörhead, as well as work by Exodus. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of Death Metal than any of the acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80s. During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, an influential metal band was formed in Florida. Death, originally called Mantas, was formed in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, in 1984 they released their first demo entitled Death by Metal, followed by several more. The tapes circulated through the tape trader world, quickly establishing the bands name, with Death guitarist Schuldiner adopting vocal duties, the band made a major impact on the scene
3.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
4.
Suffocation (band)
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Suffocation is an American death metal band that was formed in 1988 in Centereach, Long Island, New York, United States. The band comprises vocalist Frank Mullen, guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti and bassist Derek Boyer. The bands raw death metal style uses growled vocals with a guitar sound, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes, breakdowns. Suffocation was formed in 1988 on Long Island, New York, by vocalist Frank Mullen, bassist Josh Barohn, guitarists Guy Marchais and Todd German, the quintet was mainly influenced by fellow American death metal bands as well as the British band Napalm Death and Brazilian Sepultura. Smith commented on meeting Hobbs for the first time, Thats where I first noticed, Wow, the bands first EP, Human Waste, was released through Relapse Records in 1991. The full-length debut album, Effigy of the Forgotten, recorded by producer Scott Burns at Tampas Morrisound Studios, in July 1991 bassist Josh Baron was replaced by Chris Richards, as the album became substantially influential in extreme metal music. After the following album, Breeding the Spawn, was released in 1993, the 1995 release Pierced from Within, which received better production than the previous release, was followed by extensive tours in Europe, Canada, Mexico and the United States. In 1998, Suffocation released the EP Despise the Sun via Vulture Records, the EP was re-released later in 2000 and 2002 by Relapse Records. Mullen and Hobbs reformed in 2003 with Smith, Marchais and Derek Boyer of the bands Deeds of Flesh, in April 2004, Relapse Records released Souls to Deny. In 2007, the band was featured in The History Channels promotional video for The Dark Ages documentary, playing the song Bind, Torture, in 2008, the band signed to the German Nuclear Blast Records and released their album Blood Oath in 2009. The album charted on the US Billboard 200 at number 135, in 2009, Relapse released the live album entitled Close of a Chapter—Live in Québec City, that was previously self-released by the band in 2005. The release of a documentary film Legacy of Violence was set for 2010, in May 2010, Suffocation toured with Napalm Death in South America and Mexico. In February,2012, Smith left the again, to be replaced by Dave Culross. In 2012, the band was inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of Fame, since after the release of Pinnacle of Bedlam in 2013, Lead vocalist Frank Mullen announced that he will retire from full-time touring with the band due to his new job. He has since replaced by various live vocal stand ins, including Bill Robinson, John Gallagher. In January 2015 Suffocation began making posts revealing that they were in the process of recording demos for a new album with a release date of late 2015. In April 2016, the ensemble toured with Soulfly, Abnormality, Battlecross, suffocations technical death metal style is influenced by grindcore. With their debut album, Effigy of the Forgotten, Suffocation rose to prominence of death metal and created a blueprint for the genre for the 1990s, blabbermouth. net described Suffocation as American death metals most consistent and punishing standard-bearers and their style as brutal death metal
5.
Satanism
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Satanism is a group of ideological and philosophical beliefs based on the character of Satan. Contemporary religious practice of Satanism began with the founding of the Church of Satan in 1966, prior to the public practice, Satanism existed primarily as an accusation by various Christian groups toward perceived ideological opponents, rather than a self-identity. Satanism, and the concept of Satan, has also used by artists. Accusations that various groups have been practicing Satanism have been throughout much of Christian history. In the subsequent Early Modern period, belief in a widespread Satanic conspiracy of witches resulted in mass trials of alleged witches across Europe and the North American colonies. Accusations that Satanic conspiracies were active and that they were behind such as the French Revolution continued to be made in Christendom during the eighteenth to the twentieth century. Since the 19th century, various religious groups have emerged that self-identify as Satanists or use Satanic iconography. Satanist groups that appeared after the 1960s are widely diverse, theistic Satanists venerate Satan as a supernatural deity, viewing him not as omnipotent but rather as a patriarch. In contrast, atheistic Satanists regard Satan as merely a symbol of human traits. Contemporary religious Satanism is predominantly an American phenomenon, the ideas spreading elsewhere with the effects of globalization, the Internet spreads awareness of other Satanists, and is also the main battleground for Satanist disputes. Satanism started to reach Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, in time with the fall of the Soviet Union, the concept of Satanism is an invention of Christianity, for it relies upon the figure of Satan, a character deriving from Christian mythology. Elsewhere, Petersen noted that Satanism as something others do is different from Satanism as a self-designation. Eugene Gallagher noted that, as used, Satanism was usually a polemical. The word Satan was not originally a name but rather an ordinary noun meaning the adversary. For instance, in the Book of Samuel, David is presented as the satan of the Philistines, while in the Book of Numbers the term appears as a verb, the word Satanism was adopted into English from the French satanisme. In a Roman Catholic tract of 1565, the author condemns the heresies, blasphemies, in an Anglican work of 1559, Anabaptists and other Protestant sects are condemned as swarmes of Satanistes. Historical and anthropological research suggests that all societies have developed the idea of a sinister. This commonly involves a belief in witches, a group of individuals who invert the norms of their society and seek to harm their community, for instance by engaging in incest, murder, allegations of witchcraft may have different causes and serve different functions within a society
6.
Mortician (band)
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Mortician is a two-piece brutal death metal band from Yonkers, New York founded in 1989. They have released most of their albums since the House by the Cemetery EP on Relapse Records but have released their latest album on their own label and they have toured several times through America and Europe. The band is inspired by horror movies, which is expressed in the lyrics, the, artwork. Mortician was formed in 1989 under the name Casket, the bands name was later changed to Mortician after writing their first song, Mortician. The band began using a drum machine after original drummer Matt Sicher was dismissed, sam Inzerra has been their official drummer since 2003. Will Rahmer – vocals, bass guitar Roger J. Tribute To Mortician Official website Mortician on Facebook
7.
Immolation (band)
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Immolation is an American death metal band from Yonkers, New York, United States. The band formed in May 1986 by Andrew Sakowicz and Dave Wilkinson under the name Rigor Mortis, after recording the Warriors of Doom demo, the band changed their name to Immolation in April 1988. The band signed a deal with Roadrunner Records and released their debut album Dawn of Possession. Immolation was dropped when Roadrunner Records dropped nearly all of the metal bands on its roster. The band was signed by Metal Blade Records and released the three albums, Here in After, Failures for Gods, and Close to a World Below. After their second album Here in After, drummer Craig Smilowski left the band and was replaced by Alex Hernandez and their next three albums, Unholy Cult, Harnessing Ruin, and Shadows in the Light were released by French label Listenable Records. In May 2001, the band were the headliners for a tour in Europe with supporting bands, Deranged, Deströyer 666, Decapitated, Unholy Cult saw the departure of guitarist Thomas Wilkinson and the installation of ex-Angelcorpse guitarist Bill Taylor. Steve Shalaty replaced Hernandez on Harnessing Ruin, in February 2008, Immolation toured the US alongside bands such as Rotting Christ, Belphegor and Averse Sefira. During January and February 2010, Immolation toured with headliner Nile along with Krisiun, Rose Funeral, in March 2010, Immolation released Majesty and Decay through Nuclear Blast. In 2011, they released the 5-track Providence EP through Scion A/V as a free download, in May 2013, Immolation released Kingdom of Conspiracy, again via Nuclear Blast, and toured with Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death on a tour sponsored by Decibel Magazine. Immolation relies on riffs written in dissonant harmonic patterns, often dueling between the two guitars, to songs, typically over complex rhythm and drum patterns. Their riffs are often a mixture of fast tremolo picking and a lot of power chords and their guitar parts are often highly complex and technically proficient. Drum parts are written to follow the guitar riffs in a way that is unusual for most death metal. They and fellow Pennsylvania death metal band, Incantation, helped bring the New York death metal scene to the attention of the underground, guitarist Robert Vigna and vocalist/bassist Ross Dolan have been the only constant members throughout the bands history. Vigna is considered to be one of the most talented death metal guitarists and is known for his complex riffing and wailing solos. The bands lyrics from Dawn of Possession to Unholy Cult are largely anti-religion, beginning with Harnessing Ruin, there are more lyrics touching on other subjects such as politics. And once Unholy Cult came out, that was where we branched off, thats where the shift happened, cause that was right after 9/11, as you know. I saw it, I went down there, I had family that got killed in the towers, and I knew at that point that things would never be the same, in our country or in the world
8.
Occult
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The occult is knowledge of the hidden. In common English usage, occult refers to knowledge of the paranormal, as opposed to knowledge of the measurable, the terms esoteric and arcane can also be used to describe the occult, in addition to their meanings unrelated to the supernatural. Occultism is the study of practices, including magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion. Alchemy was common among important seventeenth-century scientists, such as Isaac Newton, Newton was even accused of introducing occult agencies into natural science when he postulated gravity as a force capable of acting over vast distances. By the eighteenth century these unorthodox religious and philosophical concerns were well-defined as occult, inasmuch as they lay on the outermost fringe of accepted forms of knowledge and they were, however, preserved by antiquarians and mystics. Occult science is the research into or formulation of occult concepts in a manner that resembles the way natural science researches or describes phenomena. In his 1871 book Primitive Culture, the anthropologist Edward Tylor used the term occult science as a synonym for magic, Occult qualities are properties that have no known rational explanation, in the Middle Ages, for example, magnetism was considered an occult quality. Newtons contemporaries severely criticized his theory that gravity was effected through action at a distance, some religions and sects enthusiastically embrace occultism as an integral esoteric aspect of mystical religious experience. This attitude is common within Wicca and many other modern pagan religions, some other religious denominations disapprove of occultism in most or all forms. They may view the occult as being anything supernatural or paranormal which is not achieved by or through God, monistic in contrast to Christian dualistic beliefs of a separation between body and spirit, Gnostic i. e. Walker, Benjamin. Encyclopedia of the Occult, the Esoteric and the Supernatural, harold W. Percival, Joined the Theosophical Society in 1892. Blavatsky, Occultism versus the Occult Arts, Lucifer, May 1888 Bardon, true to His Ways, Purity & Safety in Christian Spiritual Practice, ISBN 1-932124-61-6. ISBN 1-57863-150-5 Forshaw, Peter, The Occult Middle Ages, in Christopher Partridge, The Occult World, London, Routledge,2014 Gettings, Fred, Vision of the Occult, ISBN 0-7126-1438-9 Kontou, Tatiana – Willburn, Sarah. The Ashgate Research Companion to Nineteenth-Century Spiritualism and the Occult, ISBN 978-0-7546-6912-8 Martin, W. Rische, J. Rische, K. & VanGordon, K. W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.201 p. N. B, the scope of this study also embraces the occult. ISBN 0-8028-0262-1 Partridge, Christopher, The Occult World, London, the Tree of Life, An Illustrated Study in Magic. Newton, Isaac, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John by Sir Isaac Newton Rogers, L. W. Hints to Young Students of Occultism. Albany, NY, The Theosophical Book Company, joseph H. Peterson, Twilit Grotto, Archives of Western Esoterica Occult Science and Philosophy of the Renaissance
