As I've said, I believe 2014 to have been an outstanding year for metal. There were just so many fantastic albums that it's hard to narrow down standouts without feeling as if you're excluding some really strong albums. That said, 2015 is shaping to be another exciting year, and here I will list the bands with work in production, slated for release this year, that have me excited beyond words.
Listing bands by my personal excitement, with my most anticipated album first, after the break!
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
My top albums of 2014
Edit 3/1/15: Moved Ghost Brigade's album from "Need to listen more" to "Honorable Mentions." Very powerful yet extremely catchy melancholic metal. Added the new(ish) album by Within the Ruins to "Honorable Mentions." Added albums by Abysmal Dawn, Revocation, and Winterfylleth to "Need to listen more." Also Ne Obliviscaris are still amazing.
It's been a fantastic year for metal. It was impossible to name only ten albums here, hence a lengthy "honorable mentions" list as well as several notable albums that I just can't judge having not listened enough yet. You may enjoy one of my "honorable mentions" more than some of my top 10, as music is of course entirely subjective but also this was just such a damn good year for metal that there was really something for everyone.
Since the Grammys (a ceremony that in my opinion embodies and perpetuates most of what's wrong with the music industry, but that's something else...) are tonight, I figured better late than never to get my two cents out there and give these artists some much-needed recognition.
Go past the break to see my picks! Added the gap so as not to bury my first post :P
It's been a fantastic year for metal. It was impossible to name only ten albums here, hence a lengthy "honorable mentions" list as well as several notable albums that I just can't judge having not listened enough yet. You may enjoy one of my "honorable mentions" more than some of my top 10, as music is of course entirely subjective but also this was just such a damn good year for metal that there was really something for everyone.
Since the Grammys (a ceremony that in my opinion embodies and perpetuates most of what's wrong with the music industry, but that's something else...) are tonight, I figured better late than never to get my two cents out there and give these artists some much-needed recognition.
Go past the break to see my picks! Added the gap so as not to bury my first post :P
Friday, January 16, 2015
Intro, the two purposes of this blog, my fundamental positive ideas, tl;dr background
A year ago I went by David. Since then I met some really cool friends and because there are a lot of Davids/Daves I was distinguished as "Metal Dave," for the music I'm passionate about. This past summer - the beginning of this period of unprecedented self-growth in my life - I realized that I actually really like that, so nowadays I'm Dave - Metal Dave.
I had a blog about two years ago. A lot has changed since then, hence I'm starting up this one.
This blog will have two purposes and I'm confident there will be some interesting overlap:
1. To share the practices that I'm finding lead surprisingly directly to a happier, more fulfilling life
2. To share my opinions on what's happening in the world of metal music
I just woke up so there's a few things on my plate for today, but I will share a few fundamental ideas that have gotten me a lot farther in my mental place in life.
1. Loving yourself goes an incredibly long way.
Even if you are feeling down or freaking out in any given moment, it is indescribably valuable to have your own self-love, confidence, and strength as a mental fallback. Personally, I worry myself about just about everything, and I've found that just being able to remember that I am a strong person and have earned my own respect has brought me out of countless ruts just recently.
2. Overcome doubts and fill your life with activities you will be proud of, you'll recognize your own strength.
This kind of ties to the first thing, mainly in that by overcoming doubts you'll feel so much better about yourself. It does take some effort and at first you will feel like you can't do this, especially coming out of a dark place, but once you act you'll see that you are a capable and strong person, and that itself feels amazing.
3. Think positively and be in control. Even if you don't feel in control, by faking it for a short time it will become more natural.
The way you think translates pretty directly to how you feel. There are positives to be found for almost everything, and there are lessons to take away from pretty much every experience. Actively look for these, you will have a brighter outlook on yourself and the world, and you can even take pride in your own ability to find these positives. It's rarely impossible to be unable to find two positives for every one negative unless you're actively trying to out-negative something, in which case I'd say you're needlessly doing it wrong.
4. Give new things within reason the benefit of the doubt, you never know until you try.
If something seems like it could potentially have a good place in your life, give it a shot. Everything has some redeeming value or else it wouldn't exist. You might find something you enjoy or are fulfilled from so much that you will want to change your life around it. Of course there's a chance this new thing will do nothing for you too, but you'll never know if you don't try. Your assumptions are in your head, the experiences are in the world outside.
5. Find lessons to take away from "failures."
Sometimes there will be some situation that you might have been able to handle better, there's no avoiding that. Look for what you can do better next time, or even just what not to do. Maybe this one thing didn't turn out so well, but in most cases I'm talking about it won't have any detrimental impact on your life so isn't worth ruminating on. Instead, find the lessons in this experience - there is always something - and keep moving forward.
6. Always breathe, when needed control and calm your breath.
Silly as it may sound this also goes a long way. Look up "diaphragmatic breathing" - breathing with your belly. I started to use it deliberately to calm myself in August and it basically became natural and even subconscious. For diaphragmatic breathing specifically, the pull comes through your nose from inflating your belly, but that's not the only way that works. My sister uses "square breathing" which I hadn't heard of. Look into it, it's a thing.
That's about all I can think of for now.
My background, why I'm so about being positive: I grew up with anxiety and crashed into depression in high school. I "bounced back" to an extent about a year and a half after my initial crash but in retrospect continued to not really do much beyond getting by at the bare minimum, and I still hated myself even if I was functional. This past summer - August of 2014 - I hit another low, and at this point I was just tired of being constantly held back, so the difference this time was that I decided to do something about it. In this case, I drove to and spent a good amount of time at a gym in the town over, overcoming a doubt I was beating myself up over - maybe you'd be surprised what anxiety makes you believe you can't do. Just from that, I realized that I actually might have potential, and that's where this amazing positive slope in my life began. Within a week of this first trip to the gym, I was able to genuinely feel like I loved myself, that I was strong, that I had potential that I was excited to explore. I'm starting this blog because I'm confident that there is a kid somewhere, like me a year ago, who could benefit from what I'm still learning.
Internally, I feel like three times the person I was a year ago. A lot has changed for me in the past few years, but there have been a few constants:
I had a blog about two years ago. A lot has changed since then, hence I'm starting up this one.
This blog will have two purposes and I'm confident there will be some interesting overlap:
1. To share the practices that I'm finding lead surprisingly directly to a happier, more fulfilling life
2. To share my opinions on what's happening in the world of metal music
I just woke up so there's a few things on my plate for today, but I will share a few fundamental ideas that have gotten me a lot farther in my mental place in life.
1. Loving yourself goes an incredibly long way.
Even if you are feeling down or freaking out in any given moment, it is indescribably valuable to have your own self-love, confidence, and strength as a mental fallback. Personally, I worry myself about just about everything, and I've found that just being able to remember that I am a strong person and have earned my own respect has brought me out of countless ruts just recently.
2. Overcome doubts and fill your life with activities you will be proud of, you'll recognize your own strength.
This kind of ties to the first thing, mainly in that by overcoming doubts you'll feel so much better about yourself. It does take some effort and at first you will feel like you can't do this, especially coming out of a dark place, but once you act you'll see that you are a capable and strong person, and that itself feels amazing.
3. Think positively and be in control. Even if you don't feel in control, by faking it for a short time it will become more natural.
The way you think translates pretty directly to how you feel. There are positives to be found for almost everything, and there are lessons to take away from pretty much every experience. Actively look for these, you will have a brighter outlook on yourself and the world, and you can even take pride in your own ability to find these positives. It's rarely impossible to be unable to find two positives for every one negative unless you're actively trying to out-negative something, in which case I'd say you're needlessly doing it wrong.
4. Give new things within reason the benefit of the doubt, you never know until you try.
If something seems like it could potentially have a good place in your life, give it a shot. Everything has some redeeming value or else it wouldn't exist. You might find something you enjoy or are fulfilled from so much that you will want to change your life around it. Of course there's a chance this new thing will do nothing for you too, but you'll never know if you don't try. Your assumptions are in your head, the experiences are in the world outside.
5. Find lessons to take away from "failures."
Sometimes there will be some situation that you might have been able to handle better, there's no avoiding that. Look for what you can do better next time, or even just what not to do. Maybe this one thing didn't turn out so well, but in most cases I'm talking about it won't have any detrimental impact on your life so isn't worth ruminating on. Instead, find the lessons in this experience - there is always something - and keep moving forward.
6. Always breathe, when needed control and calm your breath.
Silly as it may sound this also goes a long way. Look up "diaphragmatic breathing" - breathing with your belly. I started to use it deliberately to calm myself in August and it basically became natural and even subconscious. For diaphragmatic breathing specifically, the pull comes through your nose from inflating your belly, but that's not the only way that works. My sister uses "square breathing" which I hadn't heard of. Look into it, it's a thing.
That's about all I can think of for now.
My background, why I'm so about being positive: I grew up with anxiety and crashed into depression in high school. I "bounced back" to an extent about a year and a half after my initial crash but in retrospect continued to not really do much beyond getting by at the bare minimum, and I still hated myself even if I was functional. This past summer - August of 2014 - I hit another low, and at this point I was just tired of being constantly held back, so the difference this time was that I decided to do something about it. In this case, I drove to and spent a good amount of time at a gym in the town over, overcoming a doubt I was beating myself up over - maybe you'd be surprised what anxiety makes you believe you can't do. Just from that, I realized that I actually might have potential, and that's where this amazing positive slope in my life began. Within a week of this first trip to the gym, I was able to genuinely feel like I loved myself, that I was strong, that I had potential that I was excited to explore. I'm starting this blog because I'm confident that there is a kid somewhere, like me a year ago, who could benefit from what I'm still learning.
Internally, I feel like three times the person I was a year ago. A lot has changed for me in the past few years, but there have been a few constants:
- My family and awesome cats
- My friends from nature camp
- Metal music
I dedicate this blog to these constants - in other words, the people and cats who have literally been there for me every step of the way.
^ bedhead af
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