Hey all, you didn't think I forgot about you did you? I just decided that I'm wasting too much of my time on World of Warcraft these days and that I could be using some of that time to update the blog! So that's what I'm doing today, updating you.
What I've been doing:
As some of you may know, I am now a News Writer for Ultimate-guitar.com, and writing and submitting articles over there has gotten me my writing fixes for the last few weeks. I've also been working at all-around hellhole Pan(t)era Bread here in Madison, a shift at which never fails to fill me with rage and negative energy, fueling my cynicism and overall vitriolic tone. I've been sending around some samples of my work to a few magazines, actually only two, Decibel and Revolver, but who's counting. I've also been thinking of moving back to Minnesota, as it seems my friends are leaving Madison faster than a baseball team leaves the dugout after their cleanup guy gets beaned in the dome, and I feel like I've applied for every job that I'm qualified for in the entire tri-county area. Still just thinking about it at this point, this is still a pretty fun place to live.
As far as my UG articles, I think I'll establish a section of this blog where I post links to all my UG articles, so they're all collected in one place. That will come in the future...probably.
Musically, what have we missed?:
Oh my, a lot happens in a month of missed posts. (has it really been that long? Doesn't seem like it...) Amon Amarth released another song from the upcoming album, called Slaves of Fear. It's about how people allow themselves to be controlled by the rhetoric of fear in the media, religion, and politics. It's new ground for the band lyrically, and I think it's further proof that "Surtur Rising" is going to kick ass.
My friend Sam and I drove all the way to Minnesota this month to see Eluveitie, 3 Inches of Blood, Holy Grail and System Divide in concert at Station 4 in St. Paul. What an amazing show. Eluveitie was a great headliner, alternating between their heavier songs and acoustic songs in an hour and a half set that was executed flawlessly by all members of the band. 3 Inches of Blood brought their signature blend of modern heavy metal and retro rock, which sent the crowd into a frenzy from the first note. The tour that we saw wrapped up recently in Virginia, and this classic "end of tour prank" was posted on youtube today. The other bands all take the stage during the singalong portion to screw around and help the audience pronounce the Gaulish lyrics that hurdy gurdy player Anna Murphy is trying to teach them. Great stuff:
I also attended a metalcore show in Madison at the Barrymore theatre, taking in As I Lay Dying, After the Burial and Winds of Plague with my friend Jake. Normally, that particular genre isn't really my thing, but I gave it a try and found myself to be pleasantly surprised by the musicianship on display. There were breakdowns aplenty, which I've found to be a very divisive topic amongst metal fans, but the guitarwork was, by and large, superb. I think people in that scene care far too much about their and the bands' appearances than they should, however. It's supposed to be about the music, not how tight your pants are or how your hair looks. Half the kids in the audience were on facebook on their phones half the time, and seemed more concerned with their friends knowing that they were at a "metal" show than the music being played right in front of them. Kids today...
That's about all for now, I'll get to the rest in upcoming posts! It's good to be back.
Alex
