Sunday, July 9, 2017

Short recap & awesome music, of course

Yeah, well... 😳

I won't excuse myself for not writing for a long time. I actually think it's a good thing I didn't, because I usually feel an urge to write when I'm pissed off and stupid things bother me and I really don't find this constructive at all. And I don't wanna feed the trolls. And the shitheads that annoy me don't deserve my time. That being said, let's move on to a short recap of the first half of 2017.

Uh, 2016 was quite an emotional roller coaster, but I've managed to put it behind me and (tried to) focus mostly on myself this year. This was sort of a New Year's resolution and as lame as those things may seem, it was one of the best things that I could've done for myself. Realizing the fact that I really needed a full time healing process, both internally and externally, was somewhat like an eye opener. So I've started to solve some of the issues that needed to be taken care of ASAP. Health related issues, mostly. I won't go into details in this post, maybe later. All I can say right now is that you need to hold on extremely tight to that little moment of enlightenment when it hits you. If you realize that you have to love yourself first, before loving someone else, you'll know you are on the right track. If you feel like your "friends" are trying to bring you down by making you feel useless and guilty about most of the things that you say or do, then you understand that you need to distance yourself from these toxic beings. It may sound harsh, but enough is enough. "The hardest part is the art of letting go". It's a tricky lesson that I am constantly trying to master, because I see no point in being surrounded by fake people who are only watching over their own skins and who only reach you when they are in need of something. So clean your life a bit, it will make a big difference and you'll have time to meet new awesome people. The door is open! You can walk yourself out. Or feel free to come in, it's gonna be fun! 😎

I'm not saying it's all sunshine and rainbows, oh no, not the case. Temptations are everywhere and most of the times it all feels like an action game where I have to move on faster, jumping over obstacles, at the same time. And I sometimes stumble upon them, but I pick myself up and keep on going. Take a moment, breathe, remember why you are doing this and go on. At least that's what I'm telling myself and it usually works. I think it applies to a lot of situations. 

Besides this, it has been a lot of learning, working, getting into small things that make me happy and a lot of "adulting" LOL. Brace yourselves, we all reach that point. I'm currently dying inside because I'm searching for some specific pieces of furniture and it seems that everything I like is expensive as f*ck 😂Also, I developed a passion for planing trips and my friends are cracking up when I start speaking about this (M., I can sense that you are laughing with tears). Yeah well, sue me! I like to have everything covered in advance, so I can totally enjoy myself after. Leave me alone.

Also, I have some pieces written on the Art Out blog and I do recommend you check them out, if you're a fan of the bands mentioned below. Some other articles will probably follow, but all in due time. 

Enough vague chit chat for now. Let's get to the awesome part. THE MUSIC! 💗
I've made contact with a lot of new music since my last post about music (it's been a long time since then, two years maybe, so an update was really needed). I mean NEW for me, not necessarily new as in just released. I'm constantly searching for fresh sounds and I'm also very pleased when I receive delightful recommendations. And then I become obsessed with them. Story of my life.
In a very random order, I'll talk about some of the music that I've been listening to A LOT since last year's fall and I'll leave some links too. Let's get into it!

↬ Lacuna Coil - Delirium (2016, album) ↫
God damn, this, for me, is one of the greatest releases of 2016 and probably the best LC album to date. Important mention: I've started being a fan since 2012, when they released Dark Adrenaline. I saw them live in 2011 and I was not impressed. Once their sound turned more heavier and complex, I was hooked! Now I'm extremely happy to see them again at ARTmania and this time I will totally ENJOY the show. 


↬ Insomnium - Shadows of the Dying Sun (2014, album) ↫
This one hit me so hard I can't even explain it. My ring tone is While We Sleep for more than a year now. Instant love.

Insomnium - While We Sleep (official video)
Insomnium - Revelation (lyric video)

↬ Avenged Sevenfold - Avenged Sevenfold (2007, album) ↫
I'm not even going to tell you why I have avoided this band for a very long time, because the reason is soooo stupid. With some help, I like to think that I've made up for this and if I had a Last FM account, this would surely be no. 1 there. Nightmare and The Stage are closely behind. I found a lot of songs that are easy to resonate to and this means a lot to me.


↬ Wardruna - Runaljod - Yggdrasil (2013, album) ↫
I've been listening to Wardruna for some time now, but since it's always in my play list... it deserves its place on the musical obsessions list. Every time I need to chill and take a moment for myself, this music will start playing, granting me the needed breather. Norse culture has been one of my interests since I've studied it back in college and when this band popped into my life, I started to get into it again. Probably Vikings had something to do with it too. 

Wardruna - Helvegen (live video)
Wardruna - Raido (official video, from Runaljod - Ragnarok, 2016)

↬ Sólstafir - Berdreyminn (2017, album) ↫
Ah, you can't imagine the happiness that I've felt when ARTmania announced last year that Sólstafir will play at the festival. It was one of the highlights of 2016 for sure! Pure emotion. I just close my eyes when I listen to their music and imagine I'm roaming around the amazing Icelandic landscapes.

Sólstafir - Fjara (Live @ Artmania 2016)

↬ The Night Flight Orchestra - Amber Galactic (2017, album) ↫
If you consider yourself a "true metalhead", then you should skip this one. If you consider yourself a person that enjoys listening to fine music, then you should listen to this album right NOW! I didn't find this one on my own, but it was love at first listening. Sweden gives us some of the best music, ever. No spoilers, just hit the play button.


↬ Ghost - Meliora (2015, album) ↫
Simply browsing through the recommendation on YouTube, two years ago, I've stumbled upon a song named Cirice. Hmm, OK, let's see what this is about. Oh boy. A few minutes later, I was looking for the discography and after listening to everything, Ghost found its place among my favourite bands. I've chosen Meliora for this article, because I've started listening to them with this album, though I totally dig their other releases as well.

Ghost - He Is (lyric video)
Ghost - Mummy Dust (live video)

↬ Beyond the Black - Songs of Love and Death (2015, album) ↫
Another recommendation turned into obsession. Another happy happy joy joy moment because I'll get to see them live very soon. This one is quite a young band; they have released 2 albums and they are gaining lots of fans pretty fast. I love their sound and I think Jennifer Haben, the singer, is one of the best voices out there, at present. Great job!


↬ Kissin’ Dynamite - Generation Goodbye (2016, album) ↫
Oh man, I remember I first listened to these guys back in 2010 when they released Addicted to Metal and I really liked it, but then I wasn't so impressed with the following albums, so I kinda forgot about them for a while. And them BOOM! They came back with the amazing Generation Goodbye. 


↬ Treat - Coup de Grace (2010, album) ↫
Sweden, baby! Jesus, I haven't listened to something so GOOD in a very long time (within this genre). I've chosen this album, because I've listened to it the most, but I'm very serious when I say all their albums are top notch. The perfect word to describe this band is ADDICTIVE. Give it a shot and then listen to Ghost of Graceland (2016). PS: Friends that share awesome music with you should be kept close. 😏

Treat - Coup De Grace (full album)
Treat - Learn to Fly (from Treat, 1992)

↬ Korn - The Serenity of Suffering (2016, album)
After I've listened to their first single Rotting In Vain, the reaction was: Korn is back. Dudes did an amazing job. The music, the videos, everything screams THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! So, of course, this album was quickly put on repeat. Still is.

Korn - Rotting In Vain (official video)
Korn - Take Me (official video)

↬ Once Human - Evolution (2017, album) ↫
Funny story. This band appeared in my YouTube recommendations, because I'm following the channel earMUSIC. Saw a chick in the preview, clicked the video, moved in another tab to do my stuff, song started, hm pretty cool, THEN she started growling. Man, I clicked so fast back to the video. Lauren is absolutely awesome (seriously, she's one of my girl crushes). It seems to me they are pretty underrated, but they've just started to tour around the world and I hope they'll receive a lot of love, because they really deserve it. And I need to see them live, so... somebody, please?

Once Human - Eye Of Chaos (official video)
Once Human - Gravity (official video)

↬ Hair of the Dog - This World Turns (2017, album) ↫
This one is extremely fresh, it was released two days ago and I've received it as a recommendation on YouTube, because the channel Stoned Meadow Of Doom is currently streaming the album. So I gave it a shot and I've listened to it last night, when I started to write this. It stuck with me until the morning. Needless to say, I'll check out their other work, very soon. So I've got nothing to say right now, just that I really like it and you should listen to it!

Hair Of The Dog - This World Turns (full album)


OK, I think this is enough for now 😂Congrats if you have the patience to read all of this! I'll probably come back with an article about Romanian bands and projects and a full post-rock dedicated one, since I've been listening to a lot of such bands lately.

Please feel free to leave me some feedback. Have you listened to these bands? Do you like the albums I've mentioned or do you have other preferences? What are your current musical obsessions? I'm curious! I'll accept your opinions and recommendations, just as long as you keep the conversation nice and civilized. We all have different tastes in music, so please, keep it clean. On my pages. Or I'll bring down the Banhammer. You've been warned.

Cris


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