3IOB - Warriors Of The Great White North

Canadian metallers, 3 Inches of Blood, recently released their tour documentary. It offers a glimpse into life on the road, and is worth downloading and checking out if you haven't already:

http://www.3iobfilm.com

Inspiring Women Involved In The Metal Scene

I happened to catch a short documentary segment on Global TV’s 16x9 program entitled ‘Black Metal’ the other night. While the term ‘black metal’ typically brings to mind that particular sub-genre of metal, this is about something entirely different. Namely, black women involved in the metal scene. The story contains interviews with MilitiA Voxx, vocalist of Judas Priestess (a heavy metal tribute band) and Laina Dawes. Laina is the author (amongst many other credentials) of the book ‘What Are You Doing Here?’, chronicling black female musicians and fans in the metal world. 

Both women have experienced the same sentiments revolving around their apparent inability to fit anywhere into a scene traditionally dominated by white males. From this short documentary, and other interviews and creative endeavours that both have been involved in, it is apparent that both MilitiA and Laina are as passionate, if not more so, about metal than anyone else in the scene. It’s worth giving the the program a quick view. If nothing else, it leads one to at least think about gender and racial stereotypes. 

I am still meaning to read ‘What Are you Doing Here?’, as I am interested in the perspective that it can provide. With Laina’s presentation at the Noctis festival in Calgary in September 2013, she again proved how passionate and fully approachable she is regarding the work she has done. I was impressed, and thus am looking forward to eventually picking up a copy of her book for myself. 

16x9 Segment: Black Metal

Fanny Janssen is another young woman currently making waves in the metal world. Although not quite in the traditional sense. She is the talented seamstress behind Obscura Morgana, creating unique viking and folk metal themed clothing. 

Reading an interview that was recently published with Fanny provides some insight into the creative process behind her work. Her work inspires me to want to sit behind my own sewing machine and attempt something creative, although I can’t ever see myself doing something quite as profound as what she has created. 

Read the interview here:

http://tattooedheroine.com/2014/01/23/fanny-janssen/

Vampire - Death Metal Up-And-Comers?

With a description of ‘skull-fucking death metal’ on their Facebook page, Stockholm/Gothenburg band Vampire are set to release their debut album in a few short months. Having previously never heard of them, I was immediately intrigued by the descriptors of a ‘deadly horror vibe’ and hints of a throwback to old-school Swedish death metal. (Much like fellow Swedes Entrails have very successfully achieved). 

While Vampire may not be the most creative name, I actually love the cover artwork and the distinctive logo that accompanies the name. After being able to stream ‘Howl From The Coffin’ from the upcoming self titled album, this may just be one that I have to pick up upon its release date. 

Image from Vampire's official website.

Read more from Blabbermouth:

Vampire: 'Howl From The Coffin' Song Available For Streaming

'Father Of The Wolf' Video

It has finally premiered: Amon Amarth's 'Father Of The Wolf' music video, from their 2013 album, Deceiver Of The Gods.

Check it out:

Amon Amarth - Father Of The Wolf

New Rock Boots and Shoes

I recently spent hours polishing and applying leather conditioner to both pairs of my New Rock boots. The pair on the left has remained looking relatively new through almost six years of fairly frequent wear in mosh pits and every type of unfavorable weather. I love New Rock boots. Although expensive, the quality is evident.

The next time I feel as though I can massively indulge myself, I have discovered that New Rock also makes some fantastic pairs of women's heels. The few below have definitely caught my eye:

Septum Jewelry

I might have to consider buying some different jewelry for my septum piercing, just to change it up every once in a while. While these are neat, I have doubts that some of them are available in a small enough gauge, and it's been ages since I've been to a tattoo or piercing shop. Having a retainer with shorter posts, so that it will actually comfortably flip up, might be useful as well. 

Ultimate Metal Cruises: A Sinking Business Strategy?

For those who don’t know, Ultimate Metal Cruises is the company responsible for both the 70000 Tons of Metal and the Barge To Hell cruises. The inaugural cruise took place in 2011 and continues to be an annual event. Barge To Hell took place in December of 2012, and appears as if it may have been the first, and the last, of it’s kind.

While the idea of a metal festival onboard on a cruise ship is fantastic, the execution of the event as of late has definitely left room for improvement. Namely, a lack of timely information and a serious lack of band announcements has left many wondering what exactly is occurring within the company. With the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise to set sail at the end of January and just over half of the bands announced at the beginning of January, it leaves customers playing a waiting game of frustration. A serious lack of timely band announcements is nothing new; it happened for both the last 70000 Tons cruise and the Barge to Hell cruise. Barge to Hell was plagued by cancellations, with Hypocrisy’s last minute cancellation coming to mind, being announced after several of the cruisers were already in Miami. One begins to wonder if there is a public relations problem between bands and the company, or if the company takes the same approach to band satisfaction as customer satisfaction. 

As a cruiser on board Barge to Hell, I was expecting more than what was delivered. While more research on my part regarding the accommodations on board the Majesty of the Seas (Royal Caribbean's ship that had been chartered for the cruise) would have been useful, it was still surprising. Especially considering the extraordinary prices. Unless you are in a position to shell out huge amounts of money for a reasonable cabin, be prepared for tiny, dank, dingy accommodations that could use a bit of upgrading. (Perhaps the upgrading has fallen by the wayside, as Royal Caribbean is set to retire the Majesty of the Seas). Dining options are limited and the food was inferior and of a contradictory quality in comparison to everything I had been told from others who have participated in various cruises. While managing to get one good meal from the formal dining room, every other option including other formal dining room meals left much to be desired. The best bet for decent food turned out to be Johnny Rockets, which was an additional charge. Alcohol is certainly not economically priced either, with an automatic gratuity being charged at most service points and a request for additional tips on each bill. When paying borderline outrageous prices for services, I expect the service to come closer to meeting the expectations that one has when paying such prices. While these complaints generally fall into Royal Caribbean’s fault, it would be nice if Ultimate Metal Cruises was interested in forwarding concerns about their charter cruise to Royal Caribbean itself.

Expensive beer? Check. 

It is the general lack of care towards paying customers on the part of Ultimate Metal Cruises that becomes irking. This in itself makes one question whether they should continue to support this company. If large, multi-day metal festivals can announce the vast majority of their line-ups months in advance, why does Ultimate Metal Cruises consistently fail to do the same? When the line-up is announced a reasonable amount ahead of time, choices are left open. Ultimate Metal Cruises makes it feel as though it is a gamble to buy a ticket, and hope for a decent lineup. While line-ups are always subjective and festivals generally offer a few unknown bands with potential to be surprisingly good, completely gambling on a line-up is only good when you have excessive money, can afford time off and have the resources to make last minute (expensive) decisions. To metal heads who potentially spend months planning, working to save money and anticipating, it’s baffling. At least, to some of us. Others seem content with this business strategy, feeling that all of the pieces will fall into place, or that it will simply be a fantastic vacation regardless. 

Responses from Ultimate Metal Cruises are generic and stereotypical when customers make contact, asking about the status of cruises, why more bands have not been announced and the looming possibility that the event could be cancelled entirely. Browsing through online rumors, it seems it could be a possibility. While rumors are rumors, a lack of information and updates does not help to quell speculation. Both the official forum for 70000 Tons of Metal and the respective Facebook pages for 70000 Tons and Barge to Hell have seen their share of disgruntled comments and posts regarding a lack of announcements, poor customer service and general worries about the sustainability of the company in light of the aforementioned shortcomings. A quick scan of comments reveals people voicing that it’s a waste of money, and if they had not booked flights already, they would cancel. 

Pool deck stage on Barge to Hell. My own photo. 

While several people have been expressing their concerns, there are always the contingent of people who have been on the previous cruises, trying to assure those who are discontent not to worry. Whether this stems from an optimistic outlook, denial, or something else entirely, it serves to divide the cruise ‘family’ from other potential cruisers either before or during the cruise. With the root of this problem growing from a lack of informative and timely communication by Ultimate Metal Cruises, it seems as though it would have been a reasonably easy issue to prevent, or a relatively easy one to solve. The skipper, and ‘organizer’ at Ultimate Metal Cruises, Andy, could serve to lose some of the arrogant, conceited attitude that he has not bothered even attempting to hide. When the head of your company manages to create this public persona for themselves, I suppose it shouldn’t be surprising that dissatisfaction is the result. The amount of dissatisfaction being publicly expressed should serve as a wake-up call. In simple terms, it should serve as a warning to “get your shit together”. 

Personally, I dislike the direction that Ultimate Metal Cruises has chosen to take. The idea is great, and I would love for it be executed in a manner that shows concern and respect for paying devotees. Unlike some of the loyal patrons, I feel that I cannot again support a company with such a lackadaisical attitude until they prove that they deserve patronage. Multiple reviews are available showcasing the exceptional experiences to be had upon 70000 Tons of Metal, but unless one begins to dig further, it is rather difficult to find honest criticism, which should be taken equally into consideration when undertaking such an endeavor, both as a potential customer and as a company. 

Top 5 Albums of 2013

Being that I was unable to write reviews to do justice to each new album I got my hands on in 2013, I thought I'd pick my five favorites of the year. I am hoping to still do the reviews,  but they are currently a work in progress and I just ran out of time.

Picking five was somewhat difficult. Both Finntroll and Kataklysm released albums that could have easily made this list. The reason they didn't? Because I was expecting excellence and familiarity out of both of those bands, and they delivered. I picked albums that came as a bit of a pleasant surprise, and that unexpectedly blew me away. I did manage to listen to several other very solid albums, and some of them were so early into 2013 that I feel like I'd have to put in some serious listening and comparison effort in regards to making a list like this. There were also a few albums that I got ahold of so late in the year that I have not had the time to properly absorb them, and they may very well have been strong contenders for this list. There were also a few that had one or two things I didn't like, which took them out of contention for such a short list. That being said, this is what I have come up with off the top of my head in terms of memorable albums.

My top five albums of 2013, in no particular order:

Månegarm - Legions Of The North

Kalmah - Seventh Swamphony

Entrails - Raging Death

Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods

Death Angel - The Dream Calls For Blood