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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

A Good Read: "Edge" by Thomas Blackthorne

   Well today, since I've been slacking a bit on the blogging department, decided that it's high time I did a book review. I purchased this book maybe two days ago and just finished it, it's that good. This one has some really gut-wrenching revelations about scientific what-if's, so if futuristic decline scares you, well, suck it up.

   I don't want to reveal too much about the plot, but will give a basic overview of how the story is set up. There are several developed characters in the novel, whom are all richly displayed in a not-so-far-away London/Great Britain setting. Nuclear development and other scientific advances have led to wider distribution of technology, even among children in slums. Guns are banned in Great Britain however knives have become legalized, as a way of curbing 'crime'. What is described by the author to be dueling, is that any citizen wearing a knife, can bear a formal challenge to another knife bearing citizen as a way of resolving conflict. The former United States, (it's now a triumvirate, both seaboards are their own countries) has done something similar by legalizing the usage of firearms in a similar fashion. The main character has a storied past and a bleak future, with some severe violence issues. (He is ex-special forces) So you think to yourself, this must be a friggen violent book. Dang straight. If you are squeamish, I'd not recommend it. However it is definitely one of the best sci-fi/fantasy reads I've come across in a long while.Edge


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Concert Review

So I found myself attending a concert last night in which I was pleasantly surprised. It was only $20, ordered my ticket online and went with a couple friends. The line-up was as follows in order of appearance:

Carnifex www.myspace.com/carnifexmetal
Unearth www.myspace.com/unearth
All That Remains www.myspace.com/allthatremains
As I Lay Dying www.myspace.com/asilaydying

I am going to give my personal opinions on the music quality/stage show & presence/overall of each band in the order that they played.

Unfortunately, the line was a bit long so it took us about a song and a half to actually get into the venue to see Carnifex playing. If you are into some heavy stuff, Carnifex would be worth your time to check out. These guys rip some heavy riffs that are fast played and delve into what most people would call death metal. Double bass petal is pretty much omni-present throughout their entire set, which gets a little repetitive. Some good ole' fashion head banging and thrashing accompanied most of their stage antics. Overall these guys weren't an absolute "wow" for me, however they put on a good show.

Unearth, on the other hand...were very "wow". I had never seen these guys prior to last night and let me tell you, they bring some awesome energy. The scream style of their vocalist has never been my favorite, as it borders on punk/hardcore type yelling, as opposed to raw screaming. I guess the main difference is pronunciation of whatever he is saying, its easier to tell in his form, but not as aggressive if you ask me. That aside, these guys were killer live. They were all over the stage, in the crowds face, and even one of the guitarists toward the end of their set, ran back to play within the crowd. They ended one of their songs with the blow of an airhorn, while ridiculous was actually pretty hilarious. Overall, sick show I would recommend anyone able to see them live.





All That Remains, I am still a little undecided about how I feel about this band. I like them all in all, but they were kind of a downer after Unearth. Not that they didn't have great energy, it was just noticeably lower than the band before them. Everything was spot on sound wise, minus the vocals. Vocals to me are pretty important if you decide to sing, especially when a good majority of the crowd knows the words. That's a pretty big bone to pick however, they were still pretty cool live.


As I Lay Dying, kaboom the place exploded. I've seen these guys a couple times live and they never disappoint. Everything was great again sound wise, except I think their drums were a little too loud and the guitar riffs weren't always distinguishable. Pretty surface stuff, because everything else was perfect. They always throw down and last night was no exception. The pits were great all night, but when As I Lay Dying came on, they really went nuts.






So here are some more of the tour dates if you happen to be interested in checking this show out.
Sep 15 2010 6:00P
Dos Amigos Odessa, TX Find Tickets
Sep 16 2010 6:00P
Midnight Rodeo Abilene, TX Find Tickets
Sep 17 2010 6:00P
THE VILLAGE Little Rock, AR Find Tickets
Sep 18 2010 6:00P
New Daisy Theatre Memphis, TN Find Tickets
Sep 19 2010 6:00P
VALARIUM Knoxville, TN Find Tickets
Sep 20 2010 6:00P
The Madison Theater Cincinnati, OH Find Tickets
Sep 21 2010 6:00P
Orbit Room Grand Rapids, MI Find Tickets
Sep 25 2010 6:30P
Webster Theatre Hartford, CT Find Tickets
Sep 26 2010 6:30P
IMPERIAL Quebec, QC, CANADA Find Tickets
Sep 27 2010 6:30P
METROPOLIS MONTREAL, QC, CANADA Find Tickets
Sep 28 2010 6:00P
Capital Music Hall Ottawa, ON, CANADA Find Tickets
Sep 29 2010 6:00P
COWBOYS LONDON, ON, CANADA Find Tickets
Oct 1 2010 6:00P
THE GARRICK WINNIPEG, MB Find Tickets
Oct 3 2010 6:00P
ODEON SASKATOON, SK, CANADA Find Tickets
Oct 4 2010 6:00P
MACEWAN HALL CALGARY, AB, CANADA Find Tickets
Oct 5 2010 9:00P
EDMONTON EVENTS CENTER EDMONTON, AB, CANADA Find Tickets
Oct 7 2010 6:00P
VOGUE VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA Find Tickets
Oct 8 2010 6:00P
El Corazon Seattle, wa Find Tickets
Oct 11 2010 6:00P
Senator Theatre Chico, CA Find Tickets
Oct 15 2010 7:00P
Tropicana Yuma, AZ
Nov 4 2010 6:00P
Volkhaus Zurich, SWITZERLAND Find Tickets
Nov 5 2010 7:00P
Rock Planet Pinarella di Cervia (RA), Italy, ITALY Find Tickets
Nov 6 2010 6:00P
Gassometer Vienna, Austria, AUSTRIA Find Tickets
Nov 7 2010 7:00P
Löwensaal Nuremberg, Bavaria, de Find Tickets
Nov 8 2010 6:00P
Le Laiterie Strasbourg, FR, FRANCE Find Tickets
Nov 9 2010 6:00P
La Trabendo Paris, PARIS, FRANCE Find Tickets
Nov 10 2010 7:00P
Kulturfabrik Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, lu Find Tickets
Nov 11 2010 7:00P
Tonhalle Munich, Bavaria, de Find Tickets
Nov 12 2010 7:00P
E-Werk Köln Köln, Nordrhein-, de Find Tickets
Nov 13 2010 6:00P
Longhorn Stuttgart, Baden-Würt, de Find Tickets
Nov 14 2010 6:00P
Skaters Palace Münster, Nordrhein-, de Find Tickets
Nov 15 2010 7:00P
Columbia Club Berlin, Berlin, de Find Tickets
Nov 16 2010 6:00P
Brewhouse Gothenburg, Västra Göt, SWEDEN
Nov 17 2010 6:00P
Hovet Stockholm, SE, SWEDEN Find Tickets
Nov 19 2010 6:00P
NOSTURL HELSINKI, FINLAND Find Tickets
Nov 21 2010 6:00P
KB MALMO, SWEDEN
Nov 22 2010 7:00P
Grossse Freiheit 36 Hamburg, Hamburg, de Find Tickets
Nov 23 2010 7:00P
Werk II Leipzig, Saxony, de Find Tickets
Nov 24 2010 6:00P
Trix Antwerp, Belgium, BELGIUM Find Tickets
Nov 25 2010 6:00P
Waterfront Hall Norwich, UNITED KINGDOM Find Tickets
Nov 26 2010 6:00P
Koko London, London and, UNITED KINGDOM Find Tickets
Nov 27 2010 6:00P
Wolfrun Wolverhampton, UNITED KINGDOM Find Tickets
Nov 28 2010 6:00P
Manchester Academy 2 Manchester, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM Find Tickets
Nov 29 2010 6:00P
Garage Glasgow, UK, UNITED KINGDOM Find Tickets
Nov 30 2010 6:00P

Monday, September 13, 2010

Musical Influence

This evening, I would like to make a post about musical influence. Music has played a role in shaping society, popular (as well as unpopular) culture, and individuals lives, for centuries. In our advanced society today, music touches anyone and everyone, most people will talk about songs they remember from when they were small children. Some of you might say; "HAHA NO WHAT ABOUT POOR PEOPLE IN AFRICA AND OTHER PLACES WITHOUT RADIO!?!". Ah well, good point, not everyone in our world today does own a radio, however music still manages to impact daily life. Music is portrayed in its most pure form, through the voices of friends and families, at gatherings or mealtimes. So even though someone in a jungle tribe of the amazon who has never seen or heard a radio in their life, will still know the value, and importance, of music. It's safe to say, music in performance to simple appreciation, is one of the few things that connects human beings. I mean TRULY connects us. All people know the art form, and in some way are impacted by its existence in our lives. Granted, we maybe cannot all agree on a single style of music, but there you have it. :]

I have developed my musical tastes over a great many years, and I would say I'm insatiable when it comes to the stuff. I am by no means the expert critic, performer, or connoisseur, but I would still like to share some of the stuff that I find enjoyable. That disclaimer aside, I have a wide range of likes and dislikes, some may not agree but if we all did, it would make for a boring life.

I'll end up picking some older/newer bands/performers and doing some more in depth reviews on them, so stick around :p.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Sick as a Dog.

Well today's blog is dedicated to my dog, whom as that lame saying is; "he is sick as a dog". Poor little feller got my up almost every hour last night to go outside to potty. I feel terrible for him, got him in to see the vet today and got him some meds. Nice vet trips, gotta love em....only $80 down the tubes. Would of been more if I had done a different test to determine that he doesn't have worms, because he is on anti-worm junk. I need to get him some doggie insurance or something haha ;[...anyway, going to post a picture of him, his name is Hunk. He totally has only child syndrome and is stubborn as crap so I know he isn't feeling well when all he wants to do is lay down. I hope he gets better soon.....

Probably the cutest thing ever, he dug himself a little cave :p

Friday, September 3, 2010

Music Review: A Plea for Purging: The Marriage of Heaven and Hell



So I have been listening to A Plea for Purging's new album titled, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, for a couple weeks now. First and foremost I'd like to say they have come a long way. Depravity, their release prior to Heaven and Hell, had some excellent ideas musically however they weren't executed quite as well as they could have been. I digress however, A Plea for Purging is a METAL band, so stop right thar if you don't dig. They are also a Christian band, which should not be a turnoff to how awesome they are. Even if you aren't religious their musicality on this album alone is reason to appreciate it. The album opens with a crazy preacher rant into some nice blast beats with a real break-chorus type feel. Don't forget the ugly chords, these guys love to throw those in. By ugly I don't mean power chords, I mean harmonically incorrect chords. Another really interesting thing about this album is their incorporation of some really technical parts. It honestly reminded me of Meshuggah on a smaller scale. Oh and the singing, they have some aweeesome clean vocals throughout the album, not a ton mind you, but enough to make you go 'wow'. I'd give this album a 9/10 it's really worth the listen.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Man I want to play in Germany

This festival is an outdoors version of Warped Tour in Germany. Except the bands don't suck and the crowd is AMAZING. Even if you don't like the music, check out the pit!




Apparently these people know how its done.