This One's for Fun. It's Called "Never Surrender!"

  I have posted about Negative Approach before, quickly reviewing their 10 song 7".  It really is a nearly flawless piece of music history tightly rolled up in a tiny package to be unleashed upon the unsuspecting. Negative Approach then put out some tracks on a couple of comps and finally an LP called "Tied Down". On this sweet ass DVD entitled "Reproach DVD Vol. 1" you see the band evolve from a very early show(their first?) with only songs from demos to a full on wrecking force destroying venues full of young hipsters and punks. There are three full sets present, including a bonus song I talk about below, each showing off the bands growing strength and expanding repertoire of songs including favourites of mine such as "Can't Tell No One", "Pressure", "Live Your Life", "Whatever I Do", "Lead Song" and "Lost Cause".

 Here's a link to them doing a fucking amazing cover of "Never Surrender" by Blitz. They do this three different times on the DVD, and to be honest I NEVER get tired of it. I have a deep seeded love of covers, and this one fucking rules. I have this link starting at the cover because the rest of the video is a mostly poor rip of the DVD. When I watch my copy it's not nearly as bright and the sound is much better. You need to see this either way.
 Never say why, never say die, it's always worth another try"!

Also the very last song on here is ANOTHER cover. This time it's the Misfits playing a show in MI and having John Brannon(with hair!?!) helping them vocals for a rendition of "Can't Tell No One". Brannon's voice overpowers everything else that has mics attached to it, although you can hear Danzig in the backround during vocal pauses yelling "Go!" in true Danzig fashion.

LP To Do Massive Bong Rips To All Week

 Hey guys so I have some cannabis left over from my week long fighting and camping excursion I briefly talked about in my last post. So I'm packing that mother fucker up and getting ripped to give a real update. Sorry it's been so long bros. Did you like the Le Scrawl cover I posted? 
 For sure a band I can't listen to all the time, much like Fugazi or the Deftones, but Gojira is one that always get my blood stirring and metal ear perking up. "From Sirius to Mars"  is their third full-length album and it came out around seven years ago. They also released "The Way of All Flesh" in 2008, which I thought was a huge fucking disappointment. To be expected though, people were giving out Metallica and Meshuggah as comparisons. Those are correct assessments however and is probably a contributor to why their sound evolved on the 2008 follow up and on their new album "L'Enfant Sauvage". Which is French for something, who fucking speaks French today?
 Sonically they most resemble early Metallica in song length, format and some atmosphere as well as Strapping Young Lad for production, atmosphere and volume of emotive energy. Gojira and SYL straddle that line of progressive and thrash where Metallica early on were straight thrashers giving little thought to studio time and dynamics. Gojira utilized their time, in what I'm assuming is a secluded studio somewhere in the rolling green hills of France, to create a soaring epic display of melody, song writing and fucking heavy metal in their grandiose masterpiece, "From Mars to Sirius". Like SYL, Gojira do a perfect mix of crushing metal riffs with technicality, clean singing and harmony, then they find a heavy groove and just carve that mother out. This technique recalls SYL again as well as Pantera whom Gojira have a lesser affinity for. It's so beautiful to listen to after you've taken five or six huge BRs(bong rips). My favourite tracks can be narrowed down to "From the Sky", "The Heaviest Matter Of the Universe" and "In the Wilderness". They do a good job of displaying all the things the band is capable of doing well.
 Like I mentioned earlier, I can't listen to Gojira all the time like I can Insect Warfare or Black Sabbath or the Bad Brains. I have to be in a particular "mood" to really get into it. Maybe it's partially because of the clean singing with just straight up slow parts intermixed with the mid paced riffs amongst the blitzing metal shrapnel. Too much filler and not enough shrapnel makes for a boring hand grenade, catch my drift Deftones? Gojira sort of lye in the middle between Dream Theater and Between the Buried and Me if that makes any sense. Maybe it's the overuse of that fucking click-track, pro-tools out, sterile triggered double bass. I can not STAND it when metal bands ruin a perfectly good concept like mid paced double bass and man does Mario Duplantier ruin it. Take a fucking break from that shit man, learn something new and interesting. There's even a part in "Heaviest Matter.." where he could play a real short sustained blast, but no. He plays all fucking mid paced and like a girl. Not okay. Not metal enough!
 With all of these minor quirks, good and bad, this album is still hauntingly beautiful and utterly crushing all at once. Except the song "Unicorn" and "World to Come". Delete them and never bother wasting your time. Nevertheless this is a great album for getting stoned and going on long bike rides or epic road trips. Do yourself a favor, download this and give it two or three full listens before casting it aside like you did all those old Fear Factory CDs we wanted to be good, but really never were.

Living respectful
Low your axe
And learn from the trees

Hey How Ya Doin', Sorry Ya Can't Get Through, Why Don't You Leave Your Name, And Your Number, And I'll Get Back to You

 So I have computer access now, I've been without for some time now. I can do things like download music, add new music to my iPod and take music off. All good things. But why can I do all these now?
 Because I live in mother fucking Philidelphia now. Moved here Sunday. So anyone thinking I'm still in KS or OH....







 I moved here on Sunday night after spending a week at Ragnarok, a foam fighting event. I was pimping with newly built gear, new garb and a better attitude then ever. For the first time in my 10 year fighting career I used a spear. A short 6 ft. harpoon that was difficult adjusting to at first but after two days I began becoming a menace with it. Now I need to add one to my personal arsenal.

 This year also marked something new for me. I started a squireship under a knight I greatly respect, Sir Rune of Mittlemarch. Here's a picture of us together on Wednesday. He's the burly mother fucker on the right side of the picture with the chain mail.

 Over the next two years(minimum) I will truly show my dedication to the sport , myself, my knight, my local realm, my fighting, my attitude and my garb. I will step up my game in all aspects be it physical, mental, personal, in game, out of game, on the field or off. I will learn what it means to be exemplary and how to lead by being exemplary. I'm pretty excited about it.

 Once I get settled in with a job and all that stuff I can start updating again talking about bands and shit. Good vibes.

 As a new chapter begins, the others remain barely open only to glance back at what's happened. Memories of blast beats, Fugazi, fucking epic pocket stabs.