2024.10.26
It's almost 2 AM here. What the fuck happened to Trelldom? Everyone who is praising this "By The Shadows" album as some brilliant mix of David Lynch's jazz work and Diamanda Galas will completely forget about this record days or weeks from now, guaranteed, once the hype dies down and their micro-attention moves on to the next PR-hyped crap. In itself it is low quality, but to place this under the rubric of Trelldom is obviously a slap in the face to those who've previously been on board with his work, though I think Ghaal really never recorded anything warranting more than a 5 or 6 out of 10 rating in his life. I am utterly sick of bands recording the same album over and over again (listen to Norwegians Djevel for a close reference point), but to mix oil and water and to put such an "experiment" into the world as if it is something new is almost as dumb. Most metal musicians' efforts, particularly today, at doing things experimental is just laughable... you don't experiment by mixing insipid music from two or more genres together, a good start is leaving the concept of genre behind. For Gen Z and Millennials this is unthinkable, but maybe for a 49 year old guy who had lived through a period of so much uncharted territory he would know better?
2024.10.22
New Slow interview received from Edmund/Gas for the next Ethere issue. I'm still not in the best place to start writing new material at length... although I already have an extensive plan! Disappointing sales have sapped my inspiration. I'm still keeping my eye on several distros to see how things flow.... please check Paragon Records, Ardua Music, Cult Never Dies and Bleeding Heart Nihilist among others who still have copies!
2024.10.07
You know how you know you are dealing with a racist when they start a sentence with "I'm not a racist, but..."? The same reversion holds true for those who say, "I have no ego..." There is no bigger red flag in my experience that you are about to deal with the biggest fucking egomaniac you have ever met in your life. It's all projection... they want to be what they categorically aren't.
2024.10.06
Just finished reading Metalegion #14 and I have this feeling that some writers, I won't name which, used AI to assist their text. Incredible to believe we have come to this point... are we really falling this low? I have seen AI text before and it is pretty obvious; the text is usually soulless and excessively formal. The zine itself has an absolutely beautiful layout and graphic design, some of the writing is very good, while other, in fact most, writing is pretty damn awful - words locking together smoothly, but vapid and bereft of content. Cliche, boring questions about "conscious" vs "natural" actions, reactions to albums, label preferences, etc. People that celebrate this zine likely have not read most of it and just admire it for its art and layout. As a graphic designer myself I get that... but 14 issues in this zine needs help... there's something very wrong with it.
2024.10.04
Ars Longa Vita Brevis (aka Necrocosm) has finally put up Ethere and Convivial Hermit in their distro, so if you are in France you can finally order these zines domestically!
Soapbox time: it's incredible to me that labels still charge $15 or more for CDs with sales as low as they are for this format these days. I even see some for close to $20 for new releases (not rare). For very rare albums this makes sense, but otherwise...? A CD should cost at the absolute maximum $10 today, no more. Vinyl is a different story with rainbow poke-a-dots glow-in-the-dark editions. You have to be a moron to buy these expensive formats anyway that are designed exclusively for profit.
2024.09.25
Sale/trade list has been updated, find it through the menu or here. A lot of new metal and industrial/ambient CDs added.
Also, Siren Records in Doylestown, Pennsylvania is once again stocking the latest Convivial Hermit issue as well as Ethere #1! Please check the store out the next time you visit the Philadelphia region and surrounding suburbs!
2024.09.21
Anyone who freely and casually insults people online in today's hyper-narcissistic ADHD mentally-ill internet and corporate culture should not be surprised if one day someone drives/flies over to their houses/mom's basements/cardboard boxes and beats them into a bloody fucking pulp. It's something I would never do, but I have heard of such things happening recently, and to be perfectly honest, I am 100% in full support of it. Fuck trolls. Also: fuck you if you are a poser that doesn't trade. Trading and selling music outside of labels and corporate middle-men is what defines the underground. It's what defines the underground today and it's what will define the underground always.
2024.09.13
What a Friday the 13th... pretty scary personal issues. Feeling a little bit like the last survivor of Texas Chainsaw Massacre... very unexpected. But maybe the kick in the ass I needed to change things in my life for the better. The creative drive is a bit stifled for now but I may be selling more music related items, I will update the sale list shortly. On the bright side... autumn will soon "officially" begin...
2024.08.23
Darkness Shall Rise in Germany will be the next distro to stock the latest Ethere and Convivial Hermit issues! Great deal with Denny and Mirko that came about after a lot of perseverance.
