Category Archives: Music

Don’t Tell Us What’s Right, Don’t Tell Us What’s Wrong.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

Like many people of my age, I spent many days after school watching G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero on TV. Along with Transformers, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, Voltron, and Robotech, it was of my favorite cartoons. I always knew the cartoon was a little bit cheesy and the animation was cheap, but none of that mattered. I was fully entertained for the 30 minutes that I spent watching it.

There were a few episodes that stood out to me as favorites or very memorable. I even learned what deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is from the 1986 mini-series in which Doctor Mindbender created a super human to lead Cobra by extracting DNA from the unearthed remains of some of the greatest generals and conquerors of all time as well as other notable historic figures. I was in 4th grade when I saw that and I very clearly remember being excited and proud that I knew the answer to “Does anyone know what DNA stands for?” when it was asked in my high school biology class. I knew the answer, and remember kids, knowing is half the battle.

But, when it comes down to just one episode that I say was my definite favorite, the one that I remember the most, it would be the one that aired on Tuesday, December 2, 1985. No, I didn’t know that date from memory, I went to IMDB.com to find it. The episode was called “Cold Slither” and in the episode Cobra Commander is informed that his organization is broke and he needs a quick scheme to make money. He comes up with the idea go have a gang that he often works with, Zartan and his Dreadnoks become a rock band to they can control the masses with subliminal messages, make money, and take over the world. It seems like a good scheme, right?

The band that they create is called Cold Slither and their eponymous song was a big hit, until GI Joe put a stop to all of, as they do.

I’m not going to spend this entire entry going over the plot of that episode, although, I could. But, if you want to see it, you can just click the link right after this sentence and enjoy its greatness for yourself.
https://youtu.be/NGBpP2B83E8?si=X2N_YNay_UufKCsS

As I said, this episode was the most memorable of the series for me. For 40 years, the “Cold Slither” song was in my head. Occasionally, I would go back and watch it for fun. Last year, I even bought a Cold Slither t-shirt from 80stees.com, which does not sponsor me, but I’m plugging them anyway. So, as you can tell, I am a fan of that episode.

Earlier this year, I saw a post that there would be a San Diego Comic-Con exclusive 40th anniversary collection of Cold Slither action figures, featuring Zartan and the Dreadnocks in their Cold Slither attire. I thought that was pretty cool, and was glad to see this great episode getting some attention.

Just about two months ago, YouTube suggested a video to me, it was called “Cold Slither – Official Lyric Video, The Anthem That Shook the World.” Naturally, I clicked the link (and you can too, right here) and I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, it was a new recording of the classic Cold Slither theme song. I immediately went to the Google and discovered that there was a real band going around as Cold Slither now and not just that, they had played a show in conjunction with the San Diego Comic-Con, and were going to be playing a show when the New York Comic-Con would be happening just about on month later. Being that I live near New York City, I had to know more.

After confirming the date of the concert, I informed my girlfriend about the show and how much I wanted to go. She agreed to go with me, so I got the tickets. I listened to their full-length album a few times before going to the show. Yes. They have a full-length album, and it’s good. Is it good enough to appear in my Top 10 Albums of the Year blog that will be posted in late December? You’ll just have to wait to find out.

The show itself was loads of fun. They start off with the GI Joe cartoon intro, and then Cobra Commander appeared on a screen to discuss how he didn’t like being in New York, due to that incident on the Statue of Liberty in 1987 (see the opening of the 1987 GI Joe movie for that reference). From there, Cold Slither took the stage and played all of the songs from their album. The final song of their set was “Cold Slither.” The song from the episode. I sang along. Every word. I had a huge smile on my face, and I felt emotional. I’ll explain more about that in a minute.

The encore for the band was them coming back and singing “Cold Slither” again, but this time with more audience participation. At their San Diego show, the encore included an appearance by Jem (yes, the actual singer from the 1980s Jem cartoon) to sing the Jem theme. We didn’t get that, unfortunately. That would have been truly outrageous. Yeah, I said it.

When the show was over, the band did a meet and greet downstairs. They were all in character. Ripper handed out donuts while talking about how he wanted some grape soda, while Torch and Buzzer talked about how much they wanted some as well. As someone who knew the characters, I was loving every second of this. I got to speak to Zartan, the singer for a moment. I said “this may sound weird, or it may make a lot of sense, but I can’t thank you enough for tonight. I’ve been singing that song for 40 years and to be able to do it tonight was so much fun. Thank you. As you can probably tell, I’m a fan.” Zartan rolled down his arm band a bit to show me a GI Joe themed tattoo and he said “So am I. Thank you.”

While, on the surface, my conversation with Zartan was nice and it was just two people showing their appreciation for the legacy of the cartoon and the franchise, as a whole, it was a lot deeper than that. Being that I liked the band so much, I wanted to know more about the individual members and the bands that they’re in. Zartan is portrayed by Gus Rios. He’s played drums in bands such as Malevolent Creation, Gruesome, and Left to Die. That’s a good resume, but that it isn’t what made an impact on me. It was his story about depression, his attempt on his own life, and how as a child, his toys such as GI Joe and the Transformers were his friends.

I found that to be very powerful. I often locked myself away in my basement and played with the GI Joe and Transformers toys that I had. I would sometimes mix in the Star Wars toys too in a massive intergalactic war, but I digress. I don’t know if playing with the toys and feeling connections to the characters had as deep of an impact on me as it did with Gus Rios, but I could relate to his story. I’m glad that he was able to share it. Not just because it’s a good story, but because he’s with us and he got to enjoy being a part of the lore that he enjoyed so much as a kid.

You never know what someone is going through. You never know how much something as simple as attending a concert, even one that is featuring a band based on one episode of a children’s cartoon from 40 years ago, can mean to someone. I had a great time at that show. It was a very memorable experience. By no means did the show attract a large crowd, but it attracted people who were very passionate about what they were about to see (and some significant others that were with them to support them). And the people that bought the tickets enjoyed 60ish minutes of nostalgia in the form of heavy metal music, and some videos in which I’m pretty sure Cobra Commander indoctrinated all of us into his “ruthless terrorist organization determined to rule the world.”

Was this a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me? It very well could have been. Yes, it meant that much to me, and others. The GI Joe and Transformers universe mean that much to me. Their recent co-existence in the new Energon Universe comic books is what brought me back to the world of comics. So, as I said those 60ish minutes were magical. And for the time that I was there, I felt like I was (said in Destro’s voice from the “Revenge of Cobra” mini-series) “on the roof of the world.”

I Look At the Floor and I See it Needs Sweeping.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

Over the past 15 years, I’ve told people that “it never gets better, it just gets easier.” In general, I stand by that. But some days, it’s not as easy as others. One day per year, this one in particular, is one of those days.

I may not clearly remember what I did yesterday. However, the events on this date, 15 years ago, are etched into my memory with incredible clarity. It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long since I lost my mother. The more I think about it, the more I realize the passage of time. In just two years, I’ll have been without her for half as long as I had her. I think that fact alone is what is hitting me the hardest today.

I’ll never have a more complex and complicated relationship with anyone than I had with her. I’m completely sure of that. I don’t know where I would be today if things turned out differently. I don’t know what path I would have traveled in life. For the most part, I like where I am today. I’m in a much better mental and emotional place than I’ve been in for a very long time. I appreciate so much more than I used to. Would I be here now if things were different on this date in 2010? As much as I love a good “what if?” story, it’s probably for the best if I don’t go there.

There’s a lot of things that I want to say and there’s a lot of things that I’ve never said about all of this. I know that talking about things is good, but I don’t know what the point of discussing all of it would be. It won’t change anything. I can’t change anything.

And since I don’t know what else to say about everything right now, I’m going to do the do the same thing that I’ve done a few times in the past and go back to the first time that I publicly spoke about any of this and re-post a blog entry from 2010 that I originally posted on MySpace.

Thanks for reading.

My Guitar Gently Weeps
July 8, 2010

Being that my birthday falls in the beginning of July, I see my year split into equal halves. I’ve discussed this in previous blogs. I’ve also discussed how I usually get very reflective during this time of year. I look back on the year and try to figure out where it’s gone and then figure out where I need to go. For the past two months, I’ve been more reflective than ever. I’ve not just looked back on the last six months, but I’ve looked back on 34 years that I had with my mother.

I lost her at the end of April and it’s been a rough few months ever since. I’m not going to get into details about the circumstances, as I don’t feel the need to do so. As a generally private person, I feel there are certain things that should remain private, so that’s what I’m going to do here.

For almost 34 years, she was here with me. For almost 34 years, I had a meal waiting for me every day. For almost 34 years I knew what I was coming home to. And since the end of April, I don’t have any of that.

One of the things I’ve noticed about my memories of my mother is how perspective on them has changed. Many of the things that had negative thoughts associated with them have been pushed aside and positive thoughts are prevalent now.

My mom and I were both die-hard New York Yankees fans, but didn’t go to games. She spent a great deal of her childhood in the Bronx and went to countless games at the Old Yankee Stadium when it was in its original form. It tore her heart out when they renovated it in the 1970s. She often told me of the tears she shed while going past it on a train and seeing the walls being torn down. She was pregnant with me on April 15, 1976 when they had the grand opening of the new Yankee Stadium. The changes were so severe that she never wanted to go back. While I was always a bit upset that she didn’t want to take me to games, her stance on the ballpark helped to create my old school baseball purist mentality. For those of you asking why my dad didn’t take me to games, well, he grew up in a National League/Yankee-hating household, so it wasn’t an option.

When old enough to go to games on my own, I finally did. I managed to see some good ones too, including David Cone’s Perfect Game in 1999. Ironically, my mom was originally going to go to that game with my sister, but the heat was too much for her that day and she backed out. Her not going allowed me to go.

2008 was the last year the Yankees played in that particular building and I told her she HAD TO go to a game with me at that place. There were no options. On April 6, 2008 we finally attended a game together. It was a chilly Sunday afternoon game. We saw the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 2-0. The score of the game was not important to me, all that mattered to me was that I finally got to a game with my mother.

And a little side note, the Yankees have since moved to their new stadium, and I haven’t gone to it. I wonder where I get that from.

While we didn’t agree on many things musically, there was one artist that we always agreed on, Dion. She grew up in his neighborhood, and kind of knew him from the town. While she was more of a fan of his early doo-wop stuff, I liked his late 80s stuff and the blues albums he did over the last few years. We got to see Dion perform in 2009. I knew it was going to be a special time, but I had no idea how special it was going to be. The smile I saw on my mother’s face that night was amazing. She had been brought back to her childhood and the more simple things that go along with it. He played all of his classic songs and told stories of the neighborhood, and my mom was hooked on every word. It was seriously one of the best things I had ever seen, she was overwhelmed with joy.

Ironically, my mom often said I go to too many concerts and didn’t think I needed to see the same band over and over again. Dion was playing in our area again a day or so after the show we saw and she had thought about getting us tickets to that show as well, but unfortunately for us, it was sold out.

Obviously, there was a lot more to my mother’s life than the Yankees and Dion, but they played a huge part of her life. It’s all about her time in the Bronx, and one those two particular days I was able to bring her back to things from her childhood, and what I saw in her face those days was just magic to me.

I’ve had to learn a lot of things very quickly over the last few months. Things that I probably should have known earlier, but didn’t need to know, since she took care of them. Things like cooking and how to properly take care of our birds. I think I’m doing a decent job adjusting to that. The cooking part will take some work, but what I’ve done so far has been good.

Another thing I learned, and again, I probably should have realized this before is just how incredible my friends are. The support they’ve given me during this time has been downright amazing. They’ve greatly helped me get through my days and provided me with a great outlet when I need it. But should it surprise me? That’s what friends do. I just hope that I can be as good to them when it’s needed as they’ve been to me.

2024 Album of the Year

Posted by MaskedSanity on

1 – Cemetery Skyline – Nordic Gothic
2 – Lonesome Wyatt & the Holy Spooks – Afraid
3 – Opeth – The Last Will and Testament
4 – Scott H. Biram – The One & Only Scott H. Biram
5 – Human Impact – Gone Dark
6 – Kings Never Die – The Life & Times
7 – Mushroomhead – Call the Devil
8 – The Black Keys – Ohio Players
9 – Gangastagrass – The Blackest Things on the Menu
10 – Civerous – Maze Envy

Some years when I hear an album for the first time I immediately know that it will be ranked very high in my Top 10 Albums of the Year list. Cemetery Skyline’s Nordic Gothic is one of those albums. Cemetery Skyline is a “supergroup” consisting of members of Amorphis, Omnium Gatherum, Dimmu Borgir, Sentenced, and Dark Tranquillity. I’m a fan of most of those groups and familiar with the others. Dark Tranquillity’s contribution to the band is their singer, Mikael Stanne. He can belt out some tremendous Death Metal growls when needed and he can also croon very well. This album has a mellow, gothic sound to it. There’s only clean vocals on it, and it’s just so good. Over the course of a few months, they released one single after another and I liked every one of them. There was no doubt that this record would be my 2024 Album of the Year.

Some of the tracks that I liked the most include: “In Darkness,” “Behind the Lie,” “The Coldest Heart,” and especially “Violent Storm.”

I first became aware of Lonesome Wyatt from his work in Those Poor Bastards, who have appeared on this list a few times. I’ve usually preferred his work with the group to his solo stuff, but this year seems to be the exception since both acts put out an album. Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks’ album, Afraid, much like Nordic Gothic won me over right away. I knew it was good and it never bored me when I listened to it. Those Poor Bastards also put out an album in the year, but I’ll get to that later. Wyatt’s unique sound and creative ways to describe misery are entertaining and I’m glad that this album was ranked so high. I find it impressive after his 6th place finish last year.

“The Woods” starts the album well, with “Too Late to be Afraid,” “Kewpie Doll” and “The Chills” standing out to me.

I think a common theme of this list will be albums that I did not expect to be so good. We started with a supergroup that put out a great record, we then had an act that has put out of a lot of material over the past few years and seems to be getting better, and now we have Opeth’s latest album, the Last Will and Testament. I’ve been listening to Opeth for close to 25 years and I thought they released so many great albums. Their 2005 album, Ghost Reveries, was that year’s Album of the Year. What I really liked about them was the mix of Death Metal vocals, clean vocals, and how their songs took me for a ride with their changes in tempo and direction. Opeth’s singer, Mikael Åkerfeldt, abandoned the Death Metal growls during albums about 15 years ago. He would still break them out in live shows. So, when the first single from the Last Will and Testament, “§1” was released, I was very surprised to hear growls on it. The return of the growls wasn’t enough to get a high ranking on this list, but it was enough to get my attention. I’ll admit that the album took a few listens, but I can safely say that it deserves its rank as the 3rd Best Album of 2024. I really like how they’ve managed to take the more recent Prog sound of the band and mix in the Death Metal style that they used to be more known for.

The tracks on the album are all named “§1” through “§7” with the final track called “A Story Never Told.” I think “”§1,” “§3,” and “§4” are my favorites.

The One & Only Scott H. Biram is an good name for an album by Scott H. Biram, the Dirty Old One Man Band. As obvious by what I just said, he’s a one man band and I’ve never seen anyone quite like him in concert. His albums have a unique style and I’m very glad that it works so well for him. This particular album stands out as one of the best that he’s done. If you like a one man country blues, punkish, gospel, occasionally growling show, you should check him out.

I recommend the opening track “No Man’s Land,” “Easy Rider,” and “Inside a Bar” from the album as tracks to check out.

Until a month or so ago, I didn’t know that Human Impact had released an album in 2024. The algorithms must have failed me. Nonetheless, I did find out about their album and I’m glad that I did. Gone Dark continued the sting of good albums from this “American noise rock supergroup.” I’m not quite sure what that genre is, but I guess it’s Human Impact.

“Destroy to Rebuild,” “Collapse,” and “Disconnect” were my favorite songs from the album.

Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks are not the only act to have albums in my Top 10 list two years in a row, as Kings Never Die also have one. Their second full length album, The Life & Times surprised me. I pretty much know what to expect from them. I’ve seen them so much since their formation a few years ago. But, even with my familiarity with them The Life & Times was better than I expected. If you like NJ/NY Hardcore, I would definitely recommend this album.

I think it starts off great with the title track and jumps right into another great song with “Bigger They Come, Harder They Fall” and it keeps up the strength from one song to the next. “Can I Get a Witness?” may be my favorite song on the album. It’s just a good one, especially live in concert.

Mushroomhead appearing on this list is not a surprise to many. I’ve been a fan of theirs since 2003. They even had the 2014 Album of the Year with the Righteous and the Butterfly. What first drew me to them was the dueling vocals of Jeffrey Nothing and J Mann. Over the years, J Mann had left and came back. They had Waylon Revis on vocals with Nothing for a while. What I liked about the Righteous and the Butterfly was that it featured all three of the singers that I liked. However, none of them are with the band now. This album took a while for me to fully like it. I couldn’t get past the singer differences for a while. But, I did my best to listen to it with an open mind and I realized that it really is pretty good. If you liked Mushroomhead and may have given up on them, I would recommend that you give them another chance, like I did.

The first single from the album was “Fall in Line” and it caught my attention, the songs that kept it and I liked enough to rank this album as the 7th Best Album of the Year include “We Don’t Care” and “Grand Gesture.”

Algorithms failed me again. I didn’t know the Black Keys had released an album. I found out a while after its release. Still, Ohio Players is a good album that I expect will be often be in my queue to listen to. The Black Keys put out mellow rock albums that I can dedicate my full attention to or have playing in the background and still get something out of it. Ohio Players reignited my fondness for them.

The album starts hot with “This is Nowhere,” continues strong with “Don’t Let Me Go,” and I think it peaks with “Only Love Matters.”

It’s only natural that my Top 10 Albums of the Year list includes a bluegrass hip hop group, right? Well, Gangstagrass is that band and they’re making another appearance in one my Top 10 Albums list with their latest album, The Blackest Thing on the Menu. I became aware of them a few years ago and I saw them live not long after that. I was instantly hooked. They’ve released two albums since I’ve known of them and both have made the list.

Like other albums that I mentioned here, this one also starts off well with “The Only Way Out is Through.” The second song “Good at Being Bad” is my favorite from the album. I also recommend “Obligatory Braggadocio.”

The 10th Best Album of 2024 is Maze Envy by Civerous. This band was recommended to me earlier in the year by a beertender that I’m friendly with at a local brewery. I had never heard of them and when I searched for them, I saw that they had a new album out. I listened to it, and it was obviously to my liking enough that it made my Top 10 list. It’s a good Death Metal album that I can relax to. I know that may seem like a weird concept to some people, but I do find this type of music calming.

If you were to give this band a try, I suggest “Shrouded in Crystals,” “Endless Symmetry,” and “Levitation Tomb” as songs to check out.

There were a lot of good albums in 2024. Some others could easily have been listed in my Top 10. Here is a listing of other albums that came out during the year (in alphabetical order by artist):

Body Count – Merciless – A good Body Count album. But, not a great one.
Chat Pile – Cool World – This album sounded a lot like Nirvana. I wasn’t really expecting that.
Dark Tranquillity – Endtime Signals – A pretty good album, but it was overshadowed by Cemetery Skyline, in my opinion.
IDLES – Tangk – It was okay.
Kittie – Fire – This album was very close to making the list.
Ministry – Hopiumforthemasses – The album starts good, but it doesn’t hold my interest beyond the first few songs.
The Pineapple Thief – It Leads to This – Nothing stood out. I was disappointed.
Robert John & the Wreck – Red Moon Rising – Good Southern Rock. I would like to hear more from them.
Scars of Solitude – Under Disheartening Skies – They’re Finnish. They’re depressed. They’re not bad.
A Swarm of the Sun – An Empire – This will probably be played in the background a bit. It’s good atmospheric dark metal.
Those Poor Bastards – Back to the Primitive – It started okay, but didn’t hold my attention. Wyatt’s solo album was better.
Warren Haynes – Million Dollar Whisper – This album was comfortable for me, but not outstanding.
Weather Systems – An Ocean Without a Shore – I guess this band is the follow up to Anathema, who were great. So far, Weather Systems is just okay.
Zeal & Ardor – Greif – It had its moments, but it just wasn’t good. Reviews said they tried to modify their formula, and I did hear some shades of Porcupine Tree’s Prog style in it. And no, I did not spell the name of the album incorrectly.

I’m not sure who will be releasing albums in 2025 other than Lacuna Coil (winners of Album of the Year in 2016) and The Halo Effect. I’m hoping to hear good things from all of acts that I’ve mentioned and I also hope to find a lot of new acts, like I did this year.

A note about eligibility for my 2024 Album of the Year:
– the album must have had a United States release date in 2024.
– the album must be new material (for the band or artist).
– live albums are only eligible if they’re new material.

The Trick is to Keep Breathing.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

This may seem like an overly simplified statement, but there is nothing that you do that is more important that breathing. Yoga guru Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr. often says “If you own your breath, you will be on your way to owning your life.” It’s taken me close to five decades to figure that out, but it’s starting to click.

When people are stressed, they’re often told to breathe. I’ve heard various Yoga instructors talk about “cleansing breaths.” None of that made sense to me until somewhat recently. How can breathing not make sense? Well, because I never thought about it.

As I’ve talked about in recent entries, I’ve been diagnosed with sleep apnea. For those that may not know, the Mayo Clinic defines sleep apnea as “a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts.” So yeah…
Imagine my horror when a sleep study informed me that (on average) I would stop breathing 24 times per hour when sleeping. Thanks to my CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, I’m now averaging only 1.5 episodes per hour. The trick is to keep breathing and the machine makes the trick happen.

I attempt to run 5k races. I word it that way due to how often I stop running and start walking during those races. But, I digress. I often have to remind myself to take deep breaths during the run. My heart rate will spike and through breathing, I can get it come down a bit. I know that there’s other factors at play here, but my breath is the key to all of this.

I would tell you that I’ve started meditating, but that’s almost overstating my participation in the practice at this point. Through one program that I’m in, I downloaded a course on how to meditate. When I finally got around to attempting to learn the practice, I couldn’t figure out my password and I had trouble logging in. I was eventually able to get in and started it, but by the time I started, I was a bit frustrated and I didn’t get the full impact of the lesson. A few weeks later, I tried another program and had other, somewhat similar issues. I laughed it off and attempted to learn again. Being at one with my breath is not something that I’m particularly good at… yet.

There’s various aspects of my life that I need to improve. I have a lot of work to do. And as I said in last month’s entry, the work is SO important. Something else that I mentioned in that same entry was how recent life events have impacted my perspective on things. I believe that my need to improve, to grow, and to heal was greatly amplified by an event that recently happened. I’m not going to mention specifics of that here, since it’s not my story to tell. I’ll just say that it opened up a lot of thoughts.

The overall majority of the thoughts that were opened up were centered around the concept of attempting to fix wrongs in my life. My thoughts spiraled a lot for a while, but it always came back to the concept of “how can I fix this?” I don’t think that I’ve mentioned this in any of my entries over the past two or years, but I have been speaking to a therapist regularly. My discussions are often about current things in my life, and once the dust settles a bit, I want to start attempting to dive deeper in the root causes of things. I know how very uncomfortable that may be for me. But, I think it’s necessary. I may need to practice mindful breathing during those discussions. The trick is to keep breathing. Breathing requires work. The work is SO important.

I’m on journey. And much like the races that I mentioned earlier, there’s going to be times when I’m out of breath. There’s going to be times when my heart rate goes up a lot. This journey may cause me some anxiety. The trick is to keep breathing.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get to the proverbial mountain top, but my current plan is to keep climbing. I may fall a bit. I know that I’m going to have setbacks. It’s part of life. Not everything goes smoothly. But, I think I’m going in the right direction. And when times get rough, I will defer to the words of one of my favorite poets, Neil Fallon of Virginia,

“So I take a deep breath and count to ten, ain’t gonna let it get under my skin. Take a deep breath and count to ten. Think of all the nice places that I been.”

Far Away From What’s Yesterday.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

I always write an entry at the end of each year where I look back and ask myself the same question that I asked myself one year earlier. “Am I better off than I was one year ago?” This year, it isn’t a question. Is everything in my life perfect? Not even close, but my life being better than it was one year ago is obvious, even to me.

I managed to get through 2023 without any health issues. I had my share of sinus related problems, as I always do, but that was it. I had started a weight loss program in late 2022 and I did really well with it for a while, but as it often happens with these things, I had a setback and I’ve put on some of the pounds that I had lost. One of my goals for 2024 is to not only lose all of the weight that I had gained, but to get to my actual goal weight, which I was closing in on during 2023. I was so close, yet so far.

As the world continues to open up to “normal” activities coming, a lot of local towns started having their 5ks again. Some are still skipping them and some just aren’t going to happen any more. I was able to compete in five of them during the year. None of the finishes during those races were my all-time slowest, but they were all some of my slowest. I’m not upset about that because it’s always a good thing when I finish a race, but I would like better results. That is a goal for 2024, and it ties together with the weight loss and fitness. And like many years, except 2021, I was not able to successfully do a DDPY Black Crow. Maybe I’ll put more effort into that as well.

Since I’ve enrolled in a book reading challenge, 2022 was the only year that I was able to meet my goal of reading 12 books or more during the calendar year. 2022 is still the only year that I’ve met that goal. I was only able to get 8 books completed in 2023. I’ll find ways to meet the goal in 2024.

Nothing stresses me out more easily or frequently than my financial situation. But, 2023 saw a change there that has alleviated some of the stress. In June, I was given a promotion and a substantial pay increase. I started to think of plans of what to do with the money. The plan was to save up to have enough to make a nice first payment on a new car. The car that I was driving was a 1999 Chevy Blazer that I had since July of 2000. I started with that car with 11,161 miles and ended with 268,331. Yes, it ended. The air conditioner in it died and I was told that it wasn’t worth fixing. So, my plan was thrown off and I had to scramble to get a new car, which I did. So, while I make more money, I’m making car payments now. I wasn’t completely prepared for it. But, while I’m able to afford it, it did set me back a bit. My number one goal is 2024 is to get my finances in order. I know that will require me to (possibly) cut back on some things. I often talk about balance. There’s usually a very big high in my life followed by a very big low. I don’t want that with my fiances in 2024. I just want balance. As in balanced books, accounts, etc.

My social life in 2023 was really good. Seriously good. And it wasn’t just good because of the people in my life, I think it was good because of my appreciation for things. I’ve really begun to appreciate my people a bit more. I think there’s various reasons for that, but overall, it was a very good year for me. And if you’re reading this, thank you for being a part of it. No matter how big or small of a part that you played.

So many times over the last few years, I said that my life had become surreal. It’s still quite surreal, but as I just said about my social life, I have such an appreciation for the surrealness. The surrealness is becoming part of my normal. I get to be a part of things that wouldn’t have seemed possible to me a few years ago. Now, I’m a part of so much and it’s amazing to me how much of I enjoy right now is directly from the 1990s. While that may cover a lot of ground, and I don’t have the time to get into specifics of it, since it would take a long time to type and I don’t want to bore anyone that bothers to read this. But, seriously, I can pinpoint various things from the early-mid 1990s and they’ve somehow led me directly to where I am today.

I’ve appeared in various music videos over the past two years. I’ve done backing vocals on an album. I’ve reconnected with friends. I’ve strengthened friendships. I’ve created new ones. I’ve really enjoyed it all.

And while on the subject of the 1990s, I started reading comic books again during the year. But, in order to not have more collections of things, I’ve been reading the digital versions, and I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying being back in that world again. Of course what I’ve been reading is mostly the new versions of stuff that I enjoyed in my younger days. But, it’s just so good to have it all be new again.

My New Year’s Resolution is ALWAYS the same. It’s always “I want to make it better.” I want my 2024 to be better than my 2023. It’s simple, it’s to the point, it’s achievable. But, I think it’ll require a bit more effort than I put forth in 2023. I think the biggest motivation for me to put forth all of the necessary effort is that I’m pretty sure that I’m at the point (or beyond it, depending on your perspective of “norm”) where I have no choice. I need do to more to achieve more. When I look back one year from now, I hope to have good things to say about that. And moreso than other years, I think I’m in a good position to get it done. And, I think that I have more support and ability than I’ve had before. There’s 366 days in 2024. That gives me ONE MORE DAY to make it all happen.

2023 Album of the Year

Posted by MaskedSanity on

1 – Katatonia – Sky Void of Stars
2 – Host – IX
3 – Dog Eat Dog – Free Radicals
4 – Dorthia Cottrell – Death Folk Country
5 – Bruce Soord –  Luminescence 
6 – Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks – Longing For Oblivion
7 – Within Temptation – Bleed Out
8 – Laid Back Country Picker - Go West
9 – Oxbow – Love’s Holiday
10 – Kings Never Die – All the Rats

From the moment that I heard the first notes of Katatonia’s Sky Void of Stars, I knew it would be ranked very high in this list. I’ve written about their influence on me a few times. You can read more about it by clicking here if you’re so inclined. I purposely didn’t listen to much of anything from this album before it was released, other than the few songs that they had put out as singles in late 2022. I’ve often gotten emotional while hearing their songs, especially when I see them live. Yes, their music impacts me THAT MUCH. But, with Sky Void of Stars, it wasn’t their lyrics that first gave me goosebumps, it was when I heard THEIR familiar guitar sound at about the one minute mark of the second song of the album, “Colossal Shade.” I knew that I was listening to something special just from that moment. As for the rest of the album, it is classic Katatonia. And by classic, I mean it should be thought of as one of their better albums. It’s that good.

Other than the already mentioned “Colossal Shade,” I really think that “Atrium,” “Austerity,” “Birds,” and especially “Author” stand out as some of the better songs on this album, which for the record, marks the 3rd time that I’ve given Album of the Year to Katatonia in the 20 years that I’ve been doing these lists. No other band has more than two Albums of the Year from me, which ties directly to the 2nd Best Album of 2023.

In 1999, Paradise Lost put out an album that a lot of fans and critics weren’t too crazy about, Host. I’ve ALWAYS liked that album. It was by far more electronic and less metal than Paradise Lost had previously done, but it fit within the direction that they were going at the time and if you listen to their progression, Host made sense. And regardless of what anyone else thought of it, Paradise Lost’s founders Nick Holmes and Gregor Mackintosh surprised the world by putting out a new album under the band name Host. The debut from Host, called IX, picks up exactly where Paradise Lost’s Host left off and is nine of the best songs that I never knew I needed. Seriously. I had often joked that I would love to hear Paradise Lost do more Host stuff, but for the most part, they ignore it. But, the Host project has filled that void for me. I can’t say enough good things about it.

Songs that I recommend from IX include “Wretched Soul,” “Tomorrow’s Sky,” “Hiding from Tomorrow,” and “My Only Escape.” And also, if you get the deluxe edition of the album, their cover of “I Ran.”

This is the 20th time that I’ve done a list of the Top Albums of a Year. If at any point since I started this in 2004, you had told me that Dog Eat Dog would release an album that would have distribution in the United States I would say “well, I really hope so.” If you had told me that not only would Dog Eat Dog put out an album in 2023 with US distribution, but I would be on it, I would probably have a lot of doubt and profanity in my reply. But, both are true. Dog Eat Dog released Free Radicals, their first full-length album since 2006’s Walk with Me and the first one that has been readily available in the US since 1996’s Play Games. And, as I hinted at, I am on the album. Yes, I was invited to participate in the Gang Vocals recording session, so my voice (along with a few others) is included in the choruses of some of the songs on the album. While this album does have a deep personal connection for me, I also believe that it would still be ranked this high if I did not have a part in it. It’s a good album. I’m proud of my (small) contribution to the album and proud that it’s ranked so high.

Some of my favorites from Free Radicals include “Lit Up,” “Never Give In,” “Time Won’t Wait,” ” @Joe’s,” and “Man’s Best Friend.”

The fourth Best Album of the Year is from an artist that I had never heard of until she was suggested by YouTube. Dorthia Cottrell is the singer for American Doom Metal band Windhand. And while I’m aware of them now, Cottrell’s solo album Death Folk Country is the one that was suggested to me and I immediately took a liking to it. This is really one of those albums that was designed to be listened to from beginning to end. I’ve enjoyed having it on in the background while I’m doing work and even while I’m driving. It’s solid from beginning to end and has a somewhat unique sound to it.

Even though I said that the album should be listened to from beginning to end, “Harvester” and “Family Annihilator” are probably my favorite songs.

Bruce Soord has appeared in my Top 10 lists before. His 2013 collaboration with Katatonia’s Jonas Renske, Wisdom of Crowds, was that year’s Album of the Year. He’s also appeared with his group, the Pineapple Thief. But, this is the first time that he’s on here with his solo stuff. Luminescence is such a solid album from beginning to end. If you’re not aware of Soord, but you like Porcupine Tree or Katatonia’s more recent albums, you should check out his work.

“Lie Flat” is my favorite song from Luminescence, but “Dear Life,” “Never Ending Light,” and “Stranded Here” are also good ones.

Like Bruce Soord, Lonesome Wyatt has appeared in my lists before, but not with his solo act. His other band Those Poor Bastards has been in the list of a few times. I’ve found Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks’ albums to be missing something in the past. But, 2023’s Longing For Oblivion is not lacking. It’s got everything that I like from Wyatt’s voice and the style that’s similar enough to Those Poor Bastards, but still distinct.

The albums title track, “Counting,” Walking Shadow,” “Something Out There” and especially “Time Makes Monsters” are the songs that I recommend.

Within Temptation is pretty consistent with their albums. I don’t think that they haven’t been ranked since I’ve been doing these lists and their 2011 album, the Unforgiving, was the Album of the Year. Don’t think that because Bleed Out is ranked 7th that it’s a slacker. It’s a very good album, but it just had better ones ahead of it this year.

Check out “We Go to War,” “Worth Dying For,” and the title track, which I really like.

Another act that is making his debut on my list is Laid Back Country Picker with his album “Go West. Laid Back Country Picker is described as “devoid of genre, pure music with one foot in the truckstop, the other in 1970s guitar rawk. Playing country music and treating people right.” And, I think that’s pretty accurate. From his unique look, his drummer and her unique look, and their unique sound, this was another pleasant suggestion by YouTube.

I recommend the title track, “Cooper,” and “LB’s Truth/Civillian Vic” as songs to search for.

The 9th Best Album of 2023 is from another band making their debut in my list, Love’s Holiday by Oxbow. I’m not certain, but I’m guessing that they were suggested to me by YouTube because they’re on Mike Patton’s Ipecac records. But, regardless of how I discovered them, I’m glad that I did. They’ve been around since 1989 and I may need to go back to and listen to some of their experimental noise.

Some of my favorite songs from Love’s Holiday include the opening track “Dead Ahead,” “The Night the Room Started Burning,” and especially “Lovely Murk.”

The 10th and final spot in my Countdown is one more band that is making their debut in my list, Kings Never Die. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing these guys perform live multiple times over the past few years and I’ve seen their evolution from when they started. Their debut full length album All the Rats is a solid hardcore record. But, what do you expect from a band that includes members of Mucky Pup/Dog Eat Dog, Murphy’s Law, Robots & Monsters, Wisdom in Chains, and Biohazard?

Songs that I think really stand out from All the Rats include “Were We Friends at All?,” “Side by Side,” “Stand for it All,” and my favorite song from them “Make Them Anymore.”

There were a lot of good albums in 2023. Some others could easily have been listed in my Top 10. Here is a listing of other albums that came out during the year (in alphabetical order by artist):

– Corey Taylor – CMF2 – I thought this was much better than CMFT. It had more focus and direction.
– The Dark Side of the Moon – Metamorphosis – It got my attention, but didn’t keep it.
– Dave Neabore – Star Feels – A very good EP, but it doesn’t qualify for Album of the Year.
– Depeche Mode – Momento Mori – This was solid, but not great.
– Duff McKagan – Lighthouse – I wasn’t familiar his solo work. I liked this album and will listen to more of his stuff.
– Gov’t Mule – Peace… Like a River – Warren Haynes and crew are always good, but I need more from them if they’re going to crack the Top 10.
– Incendiary Device – Incendiary Device – A decent hardcore album with short songs.
– Invent Animate – Heavener – A good album by a band that I didn’t know before but want to hear more of.
– King Dude – Nursery Rhymes – This was a very interesting and weird album.
– Metallica – 72 Seasons – By Metallica standards, this was good, but not great.
– Orbit Culture – Descent – see Invent Animate
– Steven Wilson – Harmony Codex – Wilson’s solo albums are often more experimental than I can deal with, and after reuniting with Porcupine Tree and releasing album album last year, I want more of the Porcupine Tree sound.
– Terrify – Side Effect – Another good hardcore album.
– Troller – Drain – A dance/electronic band with a goth hint. I’ve heard a few things from them that I’ve liked. I think they’re good to play in the background.

I don’t know who will be releasing albums in 2024 other than Scott H. Biram, IDLES, Ministry, Per Wiberg, and Gost. I also know that Dark Tranquillity and 2016’s Album of Year winner, Lacuna Coil are working on things now. I’m hoping to hear good things from all of acts that I’ve mentioned and I also hope to find a lot of new acts, like I did this year.

A note about eligibility for my 2023 Album of the Year:
– the album must have had a United States release date in 2023.
– the album must be new material (for the band or artist).
– live albums are only eligible if they’re new material.

Simple Needs, Perversities, You Serve the Shame.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

Very recently, I received a text from someone asking me if I enjoyed a particular Professional Wrestling show. That text confused me. When it was explained that my interests matter, it got me thinking about why that wasn’t normal to me. And thus, we have this blog entry.

Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, Professional Wrestling, loud music, and various other things were the interests that I had as a kid that I was told were stupid and not worth my time. I was made to feel less than for liking them. Some of the things that I liked were mocked by classmates of mine. Just about all of them were belittled by my parents. It does a lot of damage to someone’s self esteem when they’re often told that the things they like are not worth it. It’s even worse when it’s everywhere.

As someone that is “middle aged” now, all of the things that I listed at the start of this are still my interests. I’m thrilled that Star Wars, GI Joe, Transformers, Star Trek, Doctor Who, and other pop culture things that I liked when I was a kid are going strong today. And I’m even more thrilled that I’m now able to freely enjoy them without the ridicule that I used to endure.

It’s not that there aren’t people out there that will mock those things or the people that like them, but I’ve now found outlets to discuss them and enjoy them with other people. I know everyone has different experiences in the world of Social Media, but I’ve found it to be a valuable tool for me. I have forums to go to for almost all of my interests. And I find it to be very good for me.

I’ve grown up a bit (finally). That doesn’t mean that I need to stop liking the things that I liked when I was 40 years younger. To me, it means that I’ve finally realized that it’s okay to like whatever you like and do whatever you want to do, as long is it’s not harmful to yourself or anyone else. Yes, that last sentence goes beyond enjoying random sci-fi TV shows.

As a kid, I didn’t really have any choice in the people that I interacted with on a daily basis. I would get mocked at school. I would be criticized at home. I had no outlet. If I was mocked at school for liking something that I was also criticized at home for liking, it made me feel ashamed of the things that I liked. Nobody should be embarrassed for having an interest or a passion for a TV show or movie. But, that’s what was done to me.

Realizing that I now have choices as to who I associate with, it’s very freeing.

I’ll be completely honest. There’s a lot of genres of entertainment that I don’t understand. I have friends that like things that I’m not interested in. How does it benefit anyone if I insulted those things or mock those friends for liking them? It would probably make those friends not like me, or at the very least not want to talk about them with me. And knowing how I’ve felt when it’s been done to me, I wouldn’t want to do it to anyone else.

Unfortunately for me, as much as I’ve said that it’s good that I have the outlets to discuss things with people now, so much damage was done for so long that I find it odd when anyone encourages me to share my interests with them. I should not be taken aback when someone texts me to ask me if I enjoyed the wrestling show that I watched the previous night.

I feel that my interests play a huge part in my identity. They partly define me. The belittling in my younger days helped cause the low self esteem that plagued much of my life. I’ve been in a good mental place for a long time now. Being allowed to be me and realizing that the overall majority of people in my life accept, like, encourage, and even share my interests is a good thing.


Everyone needs to find their thing and not be ashamed. I no longer feel ashamed of who I am. I no longer feel embarrassed or scared to discuss the things that I enjoy. I’m finally at the point where I’m proud of all of it. It took me a long time, and I didn’t do it alone. And I think that’s really the point of all of this. Encouragement really does go a long way and is so much better than the alternative.

Tossed Into My Mind, Stirring the Calm.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

As good as things are for me right now, I’m always concerned about things falling apart. I’ve said that many times in these entries. I question good things. I question why I don’t feel awful. I question why I’m doing well. I’m so used to chaos, misery, sadness, anxiety, angst, etc, that I’m almost calm when things are bad. Various lyrics from bands like Nirvana, Garbage, and Katatonia just popped into my head as I was writing that last sentence. I will offer another Marvel Comics-like No-Prize if you can figure out which lyrics. But, don’t worry about that now. Keep reading.

The first month of 2023 is over. It’s been a good month. I’m (mostly) in a good place. I’m doing pretty well with my weight loss. I’m doing well at my job, and there’s so much happening there. My social life is good. And yet, there’s a feeling of dread. What’s causing it? Is it my aforementioned doubt of good things? Is it fear of change? What’s the issue? Seriously, I’m asking you. I don’t know.

My car is old. If it were an American citizen, it’s legally been allowed to buy alcohol for a few years. I don’t know how much more life is left there. My mechanic, who I’ve been with for a few years and has taken very good care of the car recently made a comment which makes me know the time is numbered. So, based on that, I went car browsing recently. I made it very clear to the dealer that I was NOT there to buy. But, I was there to price some stuff. Just the fact that I couldn’t afford ANYTHING monthly did trigger a mild downward spiral for me. That is the one thing that I can isolate as being a factor recently.

When that slight bit of discouragement happened, my mind went into a self-destructive mode. I started stress eating. I bought a few more things that I probably didn’t need. Based on one setback, my mind’s instinct was to destroy all of the progress that I had made with my weight and my finances. Those two things have been some of my biggest stress causing areas for a while. And I’ve made positive changes in both of them. But, a voice in my head told me to blow it all up.

This type of thing isn’t new to me. I can very clearly remember being told about the first new television that I was going to get as a gift. I don’t remember how old I was at the time, but the hand-me-down TV that I had was either broken or had some issue with it. I was told that for a birthday I would be getting a new one. I emphatically told my parents not to get me a TV because I did not deserve one. Self doubt, misery, sadness. It’s always been there.

I am capable of being proud of myself. I am also very capable of being ashamed of myself. More often than not, my mind has me closer to the shame side of things, even if I haven’t done anything to warrant it. It’s just where is goes. The pride/shame mid-way point is not where my mind goes to. The balance isn’t centered. It’s not even one or extreme or the other, it’s just more a of 30% off to the side of the shame direction for a while and then 30% on the proud side, but for a lesser time. There isn’t that content middle point.

When my mind starts going to the darker areas, my attention span also suffers. I can’t distract myself with a book or a movie. I don’t have the ability to do much. I’m fully capable of going through most of the motions. I’ll go to work and do my job effectively and accurately, but without a sense of being there as I’m doing it.

As I was typing that last paragraph, I thought of two somewhat recent things that happened. In both of those situations, I drove to an event and met some friends there. And in both of those times, I dealt with really bad traffic. While I did get to my destinations and (basically) on time, my ability to really enjoy the events was not there. I should have had a much better time and been in the moment, but something that stressed me out had prevented it, even if the direct cause of the stress was no longer an issue. On the bright side, I’m aware of this. It’s something that I can work on. I think this is more easily controlled than other things that I’ve talked about here.

I am pretty sure that I thought about more scenarios from my life, I could keep this entry going for a very long time. But since I’m tired and don’t want to ramble on and on and on and on and on and on and on (see what I did?), I’m going to start wrapping this up. I’ve always believed that being aware of issues and wanting to fix them is the first thing that anyone need on a road to recovery. I don’t want to be complacent. I don’t like the self-destructive nature of my mind. Just saying that pushed me closer to the self-destruction because that’s on the shame side of things. I hope that my awareness of these things will eventually start to transition to progress in changing them, and then I can think about how I used to be self-destructive and my mind will go to the proud side of things, because I’ve made it happen.

Reflective Summary Froze Me in a Frame.

Posted by MaskedSanity on

I always write an entry at the end of each year where I look back and ask myself the same question that I asked myself one year earlier. “Am I better off than I was one year ago?” I can look back at 2022 and say that, for the most part, I am definitely better off than I was one year ago. 2022 was not perfect. It had its ups and downs, but as long as whatever remaining time in 2022 doesn’t throw me a major curve ball, I can say that 2022 was really a good year for me.

One of the very first things that I talked about in my 2021 recap was how I had managed to still avoid having COVID-19 at all. That streak didn’t last long into 2022. By the end of January, I ended up getting sick with it. It wasn’t bad for me at all. And due to the fact that I (most likely) had a sinus infection at the same time, I think it’s very possible that I wouldn’t have even known that I had COVID-19 if it wasn’t for that sinus infection. But, as I attempt to look at the bright side of things, not only was my experience with the illness not bad, but I got 10 days off from work. And they were seriously some of the most relaxing days that I’ve had in years.

With the world returning to somewhat “normal” behaviors in 2022, I was able to compete in one 5k race. I knew going into it that having one of my best times was not likely to happen. It had been 3 years since my previous race, I was a bit heavier, and just out of practice. Nothing that I said in the previous sentence was meant to be an excuse, the statements were just facts. I probably could have put more effort in, but I didn’t. And I ended up finishing with my slowest time ever. However, the important part isn’t the “slowest time ever” part, it’s the “finishing” part. I finished the race and I’m thrilled to have competed in it.

So, I just said that I was a bit heavier than I had been. That was then, this is now. I’m currently the lightest that I’ve been in a long time. That doesn’t mean that I’m close to the lightest that I’ve been. I’m just lighter than I’ve been for a while. I still have a lot of work to do there.

And building from that is my workout routine. I don’t have one at the moment. I’ve barely done any type of workout since the 5k race a few months ago. I fully intend to recommit myself to that in the new year. My goal is to compete in as many of the local 5k races as I can, and in order to get the most of them that I possibly can, I need to be in shape for them. That will require me putting in a lot of work and if I stick to a plan, I should be able to do it. But, since I mention this ever year, DDPY (formerly called DDP Yoga) is the plan that I’ll be returning to. And unlike in 2021, when I was able to pull it off one time, I did not successfully complete a Black Crow pose.

Every single year that I’ve enrolled in a book reading challenge, I’ve failed to meet my goal. I’ve been doing this for a few years. My goal has always been to read 12 books in the year. It’s always seemed simple enough for me. One book per month. But, I’ve never been able to do it. And in 2022, I did not read 12 books. I read 13. I’m very happy with that. I COULD easily point out that many of the books that I completed were pretty short, but I did not make any rules about the length of the books. It was just how many that I could read from beginning to end within the calendar year. I’m going to keep the same goal for 2023 and I hope to match or surpass it.

Nothing stresses me out more easily or frequently than my financial situation. And for various reasons, my bank account isn’t nearly as high as I would like it to be. But, for the first time in a very long time, there looks to be potential for something to change there. A few things need to fall into place, and that includes me making some things happen, but if all goes as I’m hoping, when I do my 2023 recap, I should have good stuff to say here.

My social life was pretty good in 2022. If I gauge it only on if I have more friends than I started the year off with, then it was definitely a success. As is the case with basically all aspects of life, my social life had some ups and downs. But, when looking back, I really have no regrets. There’s nothing that I would change about my socializing during the year.

One of the things that I’ve said many times during 2022 (and even a bit before) is how surreal some aspects of my life had become. I’m not going to name names, but those that know the names know the names. There’s a few bands that I’ve seen multiple times. I’ve gone from being a fan of their music and their shows, to knowing people that know them, to knowing them personally. That has morphed into being called up on stage to do backing vocals a few times (including at the legendary Stone Pony) to being invited to do backing vocals on an upcoming album. I also got to appear in a music video for another band. A friend once told me that this surrealness would wear off and I told him that don’t ever want it to, because it helps me appreciate just how amazing the entire thing is. And while having some drinks with one of the members of a band a few months ago, I was talking about how surreal all of this is for me, he said “you made this happen. You talk to people and you made this happen.” After hearing something similar from another friend a little while ealier, it was that moment when it finally clicked for me. While I’m not still a bit of an introvert, I’m also out there doing things. It’s sort of a contradiction, but it’s worked out for me in ways that I would never have imagined and’s pretty awesome.

And that brings to me something that another friend recently said to me. I told him what I’ve said recently about my life and how “there’s never been a better time to be me.” He looked at me and said “there’s where you’re wrong. There’s never been a bad time to be you.” That was a “WOW” moment for me. The only bad thing about my friend’s statement is that I really like my own phrase and want to keep using it, even if I think it’s lessened by his great affirmation.

My New Year’s Resolution is ALWAYS the same. It’s always “I want to make it better.” I want my 2023 to be better than my 2022. It’s simple, it’s to the point, it’s achievable. But, I think it’ll require a bit more effort than I put forth in 2022. I think the biggest motivation for me to put forth all of the necessary effort is that I’m pretty sure that I’m at the point (or beyond it, depending on your perspective of “norm”) where I have no choice. I need do to more to achieve more. When I look back one year from now, I hope to have good things to say about that.

So, to summarize this entry which has taken me way too long to write, “am I better off than I was one year ago?” I think the answer is defintely yes. I have my anxieties, frustrations, and other issues, but I really do feel like I’m in a good place. And like I just said, I hope that I’ll have similar things, if not better things to say at the end of next year.





2022 Album of the Year

Posted by MaskedSanity on

1 – Zeal & Ardor – Zeal & Ardor
2 – Absent in Body – Plague God
3 – Porcupine Tree – Closure/Continuation
4 – Lacuna Coil – Comalies XX
5 – Bloodbath – Survival of the Sickest
6 – Strigoi – Viscera
7 – League of Distortion – League of Distortion
8 – Chat Pile – God’s Country
9 – Muse – Will of the People
10 – Clutch – Sunrise on Slaughter Beach

2022 produced A LOT of good albums. In the 19 years that I’ve been coming up with these lists, this was possibly the most difficult one that I’ve done. But, for someone that enjoys new music as much as I do, that’s a good problem to have.

I had never heard of Zeal & Ardor until this year. They’ve been around for just under 10 years and they were recommended to me by a friend due to their unique blending of genres. Their Wikipedia profiles describes them as “avant-garde, black metal, and neo-soul.” That alone was enough to get me interested. Then I started looking on YouTube for videos and I could not stop listening. I got a copy of their latest album and again, I could not stop listening. They have such a unique sound that (as I’ve said) combines so many genres into one cohesive musical vision. Being that I like more some more extreme metal, blues, and soul music, this is the band that I never knew that I needed to hear. I also had the pleasure of seeing them live in Brooklyn a few months ago and it was an incredible experience.

Some of the songs that got me hooked on this album and band include “Run,” “Death to the Holy,” “Golden Liar,” “Feed the Machine,” “Church Burns,” and “Götterdämmerung.”

If it wasn’t for Zeal & Ardor, Absent in Body’s debut album, Plague God, would easily be my number one album this year. I know that sounds like an almost silly thing to say, but it’s true. This album is THAT good. And just like last year’s Album of the Year, Amenra’s De Doorn, I became aware of Absent in Body because of All Elite Wrestling’s Malakai Black. He uses a song from De Doorn as his entrance theme for this singles matches and he uses a “Rise from Ruins” from Plague God for one of the teams he’s in. Absent in Body is actually sort of a “sludge metal” supergroup that has members of Amerna, Sepultura, and Neurosis. I would list what tracks stand out more than others, but there’s only five songs on the album, and they’re all pretty good.

Porcupine Tree broke up in 2011. Their 2007 album, Fear of a Blank Planet, was my Album of the Year. They had others ranked high in my lists. Their last album before their split, 2009’s The Incident, was not good. In the time since their split, their front man/main song writer, Steven Wilson went on to do some really good stuff with his solo band and some others. I was not sure what to expect from the Porcupine Tree reunion, but Closure/Continuation, was excellent. I was able to see all of the songs on the album and a lot more of my favorite songs from them at Radio City Music Hall in September and it was such a great show. Not only did I get to hear some of their “classics,” but hearing the new songs live really made me like them more. If you were a fan of Porcupine Tree from their original run and didn’t listen to Closure/Continuation, I highly recommend that you give it a listen.

“Harridan,” “Of the New Day,” and “Herd Cullling” are the songs that I consider to be my favorites on this album.

I put a lot of thought into whether or not Lacuna Coil’s Comalies XX was even eligible to be considered for this list. For many years, I’ve had an established set of rules that include “the album must be new material (for the band or artist).” Comalies XX is Lacuna Coil paying tribute to the 20th anniversary of their 2002 album, Comalies. They didn’t just re-master it or re-mix it, they re-imagined it. While the melodies are very close to the original and the lyrics are the same, that’s where the similarities end. They re-wrote every song and played them in a style that more accurately reflects their current sound. And after hearing a few songs from Comalies XX, I joked that some of them were the versions of the songs that I’ve always wanted to hear. But, even after that, I still wasn’t sure about if I could include it in my list. I was lucky enough to see Lacuna Coil a few times in September and was able to discuss the album with members of the band and they told me about the effort that they put into making this version of Comalies different from the original. They succeeded.

The track listing is the same as the original so it starts off with “Swamped.” The new version of the song is (in my opinion) the most similar to the original than any of the others, which is probably a good way to ease the transition for any skeptical fan. The next song, “Heaven’s a Lie” goes in directions that I wouldn’t have expected, but I’m glad it did. Hearing Andrea Ferro do the growling vocals that he’s enjoyed doing over the last few years really added to that for me. I’m not going to go song by song on this, as it would take up so much time, but in addition to the ones I’ve already listed, the other new versions that really stood out to me include “Daylight Dancer,” “The Ghost Woman and the Hunter,” and especially “Unspoken” (where Ferro growls vocals orginally done cleanly by Cristina Scabbia, who sounds great on this album too).

Bloodbath makes another appearance in my Top 10 Albums of the Year list with Survival of the Sickest. I believe this album is easily the best one that the Death Metal Supergroup has done with Paradise Lost’s “Old Nick” Holmes as their vocalist and the best one from the band since 2004’s Nightmares Made Flesh. It’s just a good Death Metal album. And if you’re a fan of Paradise Lost, Katatonia, and/or Opeth, you should be aware of Bloodbath.

The opening track of “Zombie Inferno” is one of the better songs on the album, and the video for it is perfect for the song. I also recommend checking out “Malignant Maggot Therapy,” “Affliction of Extinction,” and my personal favorite song from the album “No God Before Me.”

Continuing with albums that feature members of Paradise Lost, the 6th Best Album of 2022 is Strigoi’s Viscera. Strigoi was founded in 2018 by Paradise Lost’s Gregor Mackintosh. Instead of just playing guitar, like he does on Paradise Lost albums, Mackintosh is the vocalist for Strigoi, and like Bloodbath, this album is just a good Death Metal album. And like I said about Bloodbath, if you’re a fan of the bands I mentioned earlier, you should check this one out.

Some of my favorites from Viscera include “King of All Terror,” “A Begotten Son,” and “Byzantine Terror.”

Like Zeal & Ardor, Absent in Body, and Strigoi, League of Distortion are also making their first appearance on my list with their debut self-titled album. YouTube suggested to them to me and YouTube did well. Not only did YouTube introduce me to League of Distortion, but it also made me aware of it’s lead singer Anna Brunner’s other work, which I hope will make this list at some point. But in the meantime, League of Distortion’s sound reminds me a bit of Butcher Babies, Snake River Conspiracy, and Drain STH.

“Wolf of Lamb,” “It Hurts so Good,” and “I’m a Bitch” are my favorite songs from this album.

The final band making their first appearance in my Top 10 is Chat Pile. They’ve been around for a few years, have released a few things, but their first full-length album, God’s Country, is my 8th Best Album of 2022. I was not aware of Chat Pile until a just before I finalized my list. They were recommended to me and I listened to some songs and I was immediately in need of more from them. Maybe it’s just me, but I think this album reminds me of early Clutch, some IDLES, with late 1980s era Mike Patton style vocals. I listened to the entire album and knew it was one of the best of the year. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them in the years to come.

The opening track “Slaughterhouse,” “Why?,” “Wicked Puppet Dance,” and “I Don’t Care if I Burn” stand out a lot.

Muse is the most well known band on my list. I’ve enjoyed all of their releases, and this one is no exception. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing Muse a few times. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to on this tour. I would have liked to have heard some of the new songs in person.

The title track, “Compliance,” “You Make Me Feel Like it’s Halloween,” and the last track on the album with the “f word” used a few times in the title stand out as some of the better ones.

Preview in new tab

While Clutch’s Sunrise on Slaughter Beach is obviously good enough to be ranked as the 10th Best Album of 2022, it still wasn’t close to their best work. I don’t want to really make it seem like I’m disappointed by it, but it didn’t draw me in as much other other releases of theirs. If you’re a fan of Clutch, as I certainly am, this album is worth listening to, and at only 33 minutes and 10 seconds, it’s a very quick listen. Maybe I just expected more.

Regardless of what I just said, the songs “Slaughter Beach,” “Nosferatu Madre,” and “Mercy Brown” do stand out a lot.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, there were a lot of good albums in 2022. Here is a listing of other albums that came out during the year (in alphabetical order by artist):

– Amorphis – Halo – This album really didn’t do much for me. I’m hoping that after the last few really good albums from them, that this is just a mis-step.
– Dead Cross – II – This is a good album that barely missed the Top 10.
– Downset – Maintain – This is easily the best thing that Downset has done since 1996 and could have made the list if the Top 10 wasn’t so stacked.
– Florence & the Machine – Dance Fever – Another album from a band that I like that didn’t really do anything for me.
– IV and the Strange Band – Southern Circus – IV is the 4th Generation of Hank Williamses to be in the music industry. This was a solid debut and I look forward to hearing more from him.
– The Gathering – Beautiful Distortion – I wanted to like this, but I’ve never been able to get into the Gathering since Anneke Van Giersbergen left in 2007.
– Ghost – Impera – This was a good album that also could have made my Top 10. It has the least progression of any Ghost album from the previous, but that’s probably intentional since they didn’t change the character of the singer this time.
– The Halo Effect – Days of the Lost – It took a bunch of ex-In Flames members to reunite and do a good In Flames record.
– Patriarchs in Black – Patriarchs in Black – This was a solid “stoner rock” album.
– The Pineapple Thief – Give it Back – Their 2020 album Versions of the Truth was ranked as the 4th Best Album of the Year. This one didn’t come close to being as good as that.
– Slipknot – The End, So Far – It just didn’t do anything for me.
– Tedeschi Trucks Band – I am the Moon (volumes I – IV) – The Tedeschi Trucks Band released four albums in the year, and while they’re good, I think they may have been better off releasing just one with maybe two of them combined. And then maybe do it again next year. There was just too much in 2022 and not much stood out as a result.
– Those Poor Bastards – God Awful – I REALLY want this group to have an Album of the Year. God Awful, while A LOT better than the name would allude to, wasn’t their best work. It does have some good songs though.

I know 2023 will have a new album from Katatonia. Will they receive their 3rd Album of the Year from me? I also know of the debut album from Host, which is Nick and Gregor from Paradise Lost returning to the sound of their underappreciated album of the same. Other than that, I don’t know what else 2023 will bring as far as new music goes. But, I do know that I’ll enjoy listening to some stuff along the way.

A note about eligibility for my 2022 Album of the Year:
– the album must have had a United States release date in 2022.
– the album must be new material (for the band or artist).
– live albums are only eligible if they’re new material.