August 2023 - 2023 in Metal

Figured that I’d do something different for this monthly entry. I kinda just want to ramble a bit on how bland 2023 was in terms of metal releases. It’s interesting because 2023 so far has been an absolutely phenomenal year when it comes to other kinds of artistic media, namely video games (Hogwarts Legacy, Tears of the Kingdom, Resident Evil 4, and upcoming stuff like Starfield, Spider Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Sonic Superstars, etc.). Yet, in my opinion at least, the only good metal album that I listened to this year was Overkill’s “Scorched”. 

I’m especially disappointed in Metallica’s latest effort. While I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s God-awful, it’s easily their biggest modern letdown since St. Anger. It’s just so effing boring from start to finish, and the reason why I felt compelled to aimlessly ramble about them is that so many other metal bands have released wonderful “comeback from COVID” albums (Dream Theater, Megadeth, Overkill, Municipal Waste, Kreator, Exodus, and Iron Maiden to name some examples), yet Metallica go ahead and release one of the most lifeless 77-minute metal albums of the century. 

It’s kind of interesting to me how, despite the fact that so much when it comes to releasing art is mere coincidence, certain trends are more widely followed than others. In 2021 and 2022 it seemed like every metal band was releasing “comeback albums”, similar to how 2016 was such a packed year in metal, but now it’s slowing down again. While thousands of underground metal bands are always going to be active, it seems like the time for more well-known bands to shine ebbs and flows often in unison with each other. I know this is an extremely rambly post, but idk what else to talk about. No real updates since the last entry have occurred.

July 2023 - Long Time No See, Updates, Going Forward

 Be warned: this blog post is quite rambly.

I kind of gave up on this blog a while ago. A lot has been going on in my life and a lot has happened. I gave up on this blog because I didn't really find any motivation to write in it due to a lack of any ideas regarding what to put in this fucking thing. As much experience as I have in writing, I've never really been a blogger. But since my last post Decimate Our Kind has gotten bigger in terms of my following, and I have been "noticed" several times, so to speak, and I've actually started earning money from making music. So I'm primarily bringing back this blog, despite the fact that barely anyone reads these entries, to establish connections towards audience members that may choose to stumble upon these, regardless of how many or how few do.

Going forward, I'm going to try to stick to keeping this blog a lighthearted project. As mentioned before, I haven't much experience in blogging, and coming up with ideas for writing in a blog as specific as mine (with it being an official music artist's blog and all) has never been easy. My goal at the moment is to limit my activity on this blog to writing one entry per month. I'm also going to vary it up a bit in terms of what I write about. I will of course be writing about my music, but I may also write about other musicians and bands I'm interested in, as well as other non-music related topics I'm into (which a lot of Decimate Our Kind songs are about), such as religion, politics, literature, etc.

In terms of what's going on with my music, I'm continuing to spend much of my free time creating, writing, recording, mixing, and producing new original material. Since I do everything by myself on basically an empty budget, that's why I'm releasing new material so often, because I have perhaps too many ideas that I think are worthy of expanding upon. I'm one song away from completing my tenth "studio" (if you count my bedroom/dorm room a studio) album. This upcoming album, along with the previous two and (as of now) the following five, will be connected through a concept that I've already released the first two parts of (I. Businessman on the Ballot and II. The Wall of Nothing). I'm titling the concept "The Fundamentalist Suite" and it's basically a grand metal recap of the past several years in America and how a certain leader changed everything and the legacy he left behind.

I'm also working on another concept in addition to this, titled "The Nine Sins Suite". It's basically my take on Dream Theater's "Twelve Step Suite", except with the lyrics I'm giving my interpretation of Anton Lavey's Nine Satanic Sins, each song containing three parts (the first in the trilogy, "The Malevolent Father", is out now on my latest album, "Wheels of War").

As of right now, the album is slated to be released in October, with two singles coming out in August and September. At this point I don't want to say any more about what will happen next, because everything is unpredictable these days.

I think that should just about do it for this month's entry. I know not many people will read this, so I just want to say thank you to those who do take the time to read my rambly, directionless-as-fuck blog entries.