LP Review: "Black Cat" by Zucchero

Black Cat

When this blog started, my daughter hadn't turned two yet. She did possess, even then, an artist's soul.

As she has grown up to the ripe old age of five, though she'll tell you nearly six, her artistry has grown by leaps and bounds.

She works in many different mediums. She paints. She colors with crayons, markers, and colored pencils when she's allowed.

During Thanksgiving Dinner this year, my talented daughter sang for us an original composition. Now, would she be able to sing it again? That's probably doubtful, but she did it once.

What her motivation is or how she does it is well beyond me. This girl can, if you'll forgive the colloquialism, paint a picture in any way she chooses. Expressing herself artistically is a big part of who she is.

Stream: "Stories We Tell" by Seven Hard Years/7HY

Seven Hard Years (or 7HY) is a new band comprised of members of Final Sign and Shy.  Check out their first single below and hit them up on Facebook.

Album Review: "Promised Land" by ValFreya

Last week at Comic Headquarters the shopkeep and I engaged in a discussion to determine if there is anything more awesome than Vikings.  After carefully considering all available evidence it was determined there is nothing.

It was this mindset which led me to exhaust great amounts of vacation and resources last summer on a trip to Scandinavia, so I could traverse the same waters and stand upon the same ground as the legendary Norse warriors.  

While on a boat out to Birka Island, a former Viking stronghold which is now an archeological site, I spoke to a Swedish woman about the inherent awesomeness of their heritage.  She told me how many Swedes were mildly amused by the world's fascination with their ancestors, who according to her did not fly, weld magical hammers or summon lightning.  I have an entire room full of America's finest four color literature which proves her wrong, but her point was valid.

DLP Review: "Extinct" by Frowning

Extinct

When I was coming of age, Black Metal was a very different thing.

Why, back in those heady days, we didn't even have to add the qualifier Norwegian to the title. It was just assumed that all black metal was from the fjords.

Naturally, we're talking about the latter half of the 90's. Until that point, even listening to the extreme metal shows in my hometown both Monday Night Metal on KSHE 95 and The Mosh on WLCA, I never heard a single solitary scrap of Black Metal.

The latter of the two shows was pretty on point with extreme metal in those days, so I'm going to presume that no one else here really knew about it either. Please tell me in the comments how wrong I am should you so wish.

This isolationism created a monolithic block and the beginnings of check your box metal were growing there, as well as in Tampa, FL.

Vinyl Review: "Suna Kulto" by Dakhma

Suna Kulto

There was a time in my life when I thought that Black Metal was all the rage and in my head there was never too much of it.

Frankly, I was completely ignorant of what Black Metal was at that point. The keyboards, the monotone vocals, and the rest of the Black Metal Identifiers (read: check boxes) were very bland to me, at least to put it nicely.

Upon that realization, Black Metal bands began getting the cold shoulder (pun intended) from me. It wasn't until my listen to every album as long as it's received on time policy went into effect that Black Metal began showing up on these pages.

By opening up my mind to new possibilities, I was shown that Black Metal, like Death Metal, comes in many shapes and sizes. Bands like Morrow and The Lumberjack Feedback really opened my eyes to Atmospheric Black Metal. Speaking of Morrow, today's vinyl review is from the same label, Halo of Flies.

LP Review: Self-Titled by Heath Green and the Makeshifters

Heath Green and the Makeshifters

In 2017 is the art of making an album dead?

Many times it appears to me that there are major artists that simply do not care about making an album.

James Leg sees his records as sides of albums...so he makes two mini albums each time I suppose.

Far more often than should be allowed, listening to forty five minutes of music by a single artist instead of being a seven course meal, ends up being a trip to the buffet at the casino.

Don't get me wrong, the casino buffet in my hometown here...you can get sashimi and steak and all you can eat at that. So, I'm a big fan of buffets, but there's a difference between eating a meal of wholly disconnected courses and having a proper meal.

Video: "Prison Skin" by Persefone

In case you're looking for a sneak peak of some new progressive metal, Persefone has unleashed the first track on YouTube.

Catch them on Facebook or just simply check out the video below.

 

If you like what you hear, pre-order their new record on Bandcamp.

Interview: Stormie Wakefield of Season of Arrows

Stormie Wakefield second from left.

The music that's been catching my ears lately has been large swaths of doom metal.

We appear to be in the middle of a spectacular renaissance for the genre.

Black Sabbath surely started it, but the certainly did not perfect it.

Their debut album was an absolute masterpiece pressed onto translucent blue vinyl, which may have well been outshined by their follow up, Give It To The Mountain which is due out next month on Argonauta Records.

Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time for me today.

I also want to specifically thank you for being in metal.

 My daughter wants to be a rock star and she needs heroes she can look up to and she loves your music.

EP Review: "Spellcaster EP" by Witchapter

Spellcaster EP

A long time ago, I wasn't cool and had very few friends.

That was pretty much how it was for me every semester in school. Until Fourth Grade, never did I attend the same school for two consecutive years and just for a semester was pretty common.

All of that upheaval though created something in me that has served me well lo these great many years.

It's really uncertain when your friend and humble narrator grew into his own skin. Until that point, putting on airs, finding ways to fit in, and doing so were rather important to me. Yes, my friends, it was once of great importance to fit in, to make friends, and to be something other than I was.

Because, when you're constantly the new kid in school, you just want to have at least one friend out there....

Album Review: "Skulthor Ebonblade" by Temptation's Wings

As a strong proponent of all things categorized as European power metal, it is the highest compliment I can offer to describe something as such.  Although Temptation's Wings are usually considered a doom metal band, the ancient vibe, fantasy themes and intricate song crafting remind me as much of Blind Guardian and Kamelot as they do bands such as Witchcraft or High on Fire. 

To this end I would explain Temptation's Wings as European power doom.  Yet, this mastery of the Teutonic arts does not emit from the Alps, but rather from the less storied mountains of North Carolina.  If Carolinian Power Doom was not already a thing, it is now, and it is amazing.

Not since Black Sabbath and Megadeth has there been such a relentless onslaught of mighty riffs.  One right after another, a cavalcade of crunchy power reminiscent of Texas riff lords The Sword.  The vocal style is a combination of  Messiah Marcolin of Candlemass and former Wolfsbane/Iron Maiden singer Blaze Bayley.

The lyrical content is steeped in fantasy with an emphasis on battle themes.  The vocal melodies contain a cadence and intrigue rivaling the riffs themselves. The album tells the story of  a warrior whose village has been destroyed by an evil witch.  He embarks on a quest for a legendary sword which is the only weapon capable of destroying the witch. As much as any album I have heard in the last year I really enjoyed listening to the lyrics of Skulthor Ebonblade.     

LP Review: "Gnosis" by Saille

Gnosis

Growing up as a male in the Nineties was an interesting time, though the statement may be an oxymoron.

One of the most common topics of discussion between myself and the other boy (as we were both boys back then) who'd later go on to become the bass player in my first band and I was...

Who would win in a fight between these two characters from wholly different universes?

Seriously, who hasn't wondered if Sho Kosugi's Cho Osaki from Revenge of the Ninja couldn't take Luke Skywalker?

Well, those were the very ridiculous sorts of conversations we would have. Most male adolescence was just killing time until we at least reached male adulthood (again, largely a contradiction in terms) or at least the full age of majority in order to buy beer....

LP Review: "Let It Slide" by Mark Porkchop Holder

Let It Slide

May I be candid with you for a moment?

My earliest memories are living in the, then uncivilized, suburbs with a man I knew as my father. As my age increased, I could no longer escape that this man was my step-father, but there was never any question in my mind about my place in my family.

Well, fast forward about a decade and this man and an old woman were sitting on the couch in my living room telling me how much they loved and missed me.

Well, that's a kind of a strange thing from two complete strangers to me. In a couple years' time my home was living with them and my time in Illinois began with my father's family.

They were blood, but for the most part, they were never family. The experience that I'd been hoping for never happened, except for with one small segment of this family. My aunt and her husband. These two people, upon meeting them, we had that moment, That feeling of knowing where I came from. On both sides of my family, I'm the black sheep, and not to say that in a disparaging way, but I've always been different even in my own home.

Interview: Ashenspire

The world is undergoing an upheaval. There's a Right Wing Populist movement raging its way across Europe.

Hydro prices in Southern Ontario are going through the roof.

There's very little going on in 2017 that is going according to plan. When this year was drawn up, we are in a tailspin.

The best part in times of unrest is that artists find all sorts of inspiration. Ashenspire speaks about the long standing British Empire...and more.

Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time out your schedule for me.

 Ashenspire: Not a problem at all. It’s a privilege!

Stream: Druids "Pulling The Trigger"

Check out the exclusive premiere of Pulling The Trigger by Druids.

LP Review: "Ouija" by Dead Witches

Ouija

Many years ago on my first trip to Chicago, I took the train. At this point, I hadn't ever flown in a plane, so my first trip that wasn't in a car was on a train.

Had it not been five hours late, that would've been pretty awesome.

Because of the lateness...My friend and I went in search of beer. Well, as this particular Chicago Suburb apparently had laws in place and we couldn't find any beer anywhere.

In the end, we went on a long drive to secure some cold beer. The ironic part was that by the time we found beer, the warm beer I'd brought on the train, would have been cold.

But, this trip through Northern Illinois was interesting, and terrifying. We drove State Roads in the fog. It was every bit of something out of An American Werewolf In London. Had the gas gauge not been pushing empty, this would have been an enjoyable experience.