A little touch upon what's been going on, and a discussion of this week's new arrivals:

Drawn into Descent S/T: terrific atmospheric black metal with tinges of depressive and even a little doom and gloom. 

Bonebranches - Bloodbark: one of the most strikingly melodic and gorgous atmospheric black metal releases in my collection.

Inclemency S/T: didn't even listen to this one yet. Bough essentially site unseen since Tim Yatras (Woods of Desolation, Austere, etc.) is part of the project. CD had a manufacturers defect. Based on the fact it listed as ABM and Depressive black metal, this shoudl be a no brainer for me.

Ardour Loom S/T: I hear from Wolves in the Throne Room influence here and I dig it.

All acquired from www.shadowkingdomrecords.com

It's been awhile since I've looked at my "top" records in terms of value. On a whim I did and a surprise or two, especially if I get out of the top five I did here. If anything, it shows that I'm certainly all over the map with my tastes! I suspect if you're a fan of heavy music, you've at least heard the names, but if not, I'll link to YouTube below since no Bandcamp pages are easily found:

Tesseract - Altered State

Hopefall - The Satellite Years

Veil of May - ID 

Isis - Panopticon

The Contortionist - Exoplanet

First metal and hardcore hybrid I heard was local in '96. I've waded through that genre since then, through it's good and bad, and have landed back at chasing the dragon of the original approach.

Some of the bands mentioned:

It Dies Today - Forever Scorned

Corrin - Plutonian Shores

Overcast - Expectational Dilution 

Bleeding Through - The Truth (fucking catchy chorus; got 3 back to back to back plays last night)

Atreyu - Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses (one of my favorite songs from this time period, Someon's Standing on my Chest)

Caliban - A Small Boy and a Grey Heaven

Caliban - Opposite from Within (to show the evolution to the more formulaic structure; still a track I loved, but this was near the end of the road for me) 

Nothing conjures up more passionate and pleasant debates within the metal community like putting "nu" before it. I enjoyed and still enjoy A BIT of music from that period (Nothingface and 36 Crazyfists will never get old to me), but the full "nu-metal" genre, image and all, isn't something I'd welcome back. But... It ain't me their after. I discuss one of the bands leading (or being pushed in front of) this revival.

More importantly, I point to a couple of bands that take some pointers and influence from nu-metal but stay away from the worst parts of it.

Vein - Virus://Vibrance

Left Behind - Early Mourning

I honestly don't think I mentioned music at all. Obviously a huge part of my workouts, but I was more focused on critiquing what I have become. From a chubby kid to a great physique to severely over weight to the best shape in my life at 38 to... this. Working out harder for less results can be deflating. Eating without working out can be inflating... I'm at a crossroads and honestly have no idea which path I'll take.

PSA: if you're male and of a certain age and feel both mentally and physically like you've just lost it, get your testosterone checked. Mine had plummeted and the effects were noticeable in every aspect. I felt almost mildly depressed, unmotivated, and lethargic. Those feelings are opposite to what my normal feelings and energy levels were, so it became very noticeable.

I discuss my with myself how much I miss live shows, why I always have to poop when I go to my office. Really just riffing a bit while sipping some cannacoffee. Happy Sunday!

This is a very short one. There's not truth to the rumor that's it's because I had to poop. 

One day my kids pulled an old favorite that is in my top 10 of all time, and a new favorite that has been spun to death since I grabbed it:

Darkest Hour - Undoing Ruin (melodeath/thrash) which has been a personal favorite for the 1 5 years it's been out.

Boundaries - My Body In Bloom (metallic hardcore) which is one of the most spun records I've picked up over the last couple of months. I'M MY OWN DISAPPOINTMENT *DUN DUN DUH DUH DUN DUN* 

Something old, something new, sometimes they pick one record, sometimes they pick two.

How you handle yourself in tough circumstances has an impact on future events, without a doubt. Staying amicable with my ex-wife led to the recent return of some very old and meaningful pieces of my music collection. I mostly discussed local bands and some really old demos; some of the bands I touched on I'll link below with a lil description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Dhyx-heAhY - Eastcide: '97 Massachusetts hardcore/hip-hop/nu-metal hybrid. Strong release.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA-ox1qNryI - Madball: Set it Off - what got me started in hardcore and extreme music a quarter century ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaCijH0USo8 - Life of Agony: Through and Through - right behind Madball as extremely influential early on for me

There are probably more, but I'm now watching Life of Agony videos on YouTube so I'm out.