It’s a list of band members in my band, with some custom icons I made. I figured, instead of just writing [nickname] – [name] – [instrument], I’d use an icon to indicate the instrument. I based it off the round social icon set, except using my own vector shapes for the instruments. Working at such a small size and still maintaining clarity was quite tricky, especially with the drumset. However, I’m pretty happy with how this came out.

Near Future (Like within a month or two)

• T-Mobile G2: $250. I need this really badly, my Blackberry is just dying nowadays. I could be just calling or checking my texts and then it just cuts out. And then doesn’t power up until I plug it in. Which is really annoying, because it happens to always die while I’m outside. I’m about a week or less from getting the G2, I already have the money in my bank account for it and everything.
• Line 6 Pod Studio UX2: $200. I originally wanted to get the UX1, because I thought the UX2 was $250, but it turns out the UX2 is only $200, so I’m getting that. It supports pretty much any instrument that you can plug into it, and has pretty good quality and POD Farm 2. Plus it’s got phantom power, which means that in the not-so-distant future when I get a professional condenser mic, I won’t have to shell out more money for a mic pre-amp.
• Jeans: $40-$50 for two pairs. Being in a metalcore band really takes a toll on your pants, with all the on-stage acrobatics and jumping around and all. I ripped two pairs while playing shows with my band. Thankfully we’re not playing shows for a while, or I’d run out of pants ._.
• Shure SM58: $100. One of the best, most durable, and affordable mics for vocals. While most venues provide mics, they’re usually crappy or covered in some other dude’s spit, so it’ll be nice to have my own that’s only used by me. Plus I can record vocals with it at home, plugging it into the Pod Studio UX2 that I’ll have at that point.

Further Future (Like within a year or so)

• Schecter Blackjack ATX C7: $850. This guitar is an utter fucking beast. Seven strings, Duncan Blackout active pickups, set neck, string-through body, 24 frets, and light weight make this guitar amazing. Plus I love the matte black finish (I hate glossy finishes), and I’ve wanted a Schecter for the longest time. This is my dream guitar, basically. While I still love my modded-out ESP WA-200, I want something new and with an extra string for the heavier tunings that I enjoy playing in, and the C7 delivers in that aspect.
• MXL 3000 Mic Bundle: $150. It’s a condenser mic bundle that comes with everything I’d need for recording vocals in semi-professional quality at home.

So yeah, a lot of what I want is related to audio production. I figure that while the upfront investments are rather expensive, I can make some money recording local bands. I can already get decent audio quality with a cheap guitar amp and my Mac’s built-in mic, so with all this gear, imagine what I could do. I’ve taken an interest in audio production lately, because it’s pretty creative, much like design, and I love music, so what’s better than making it? Plus it’s always annoyed me how nearly all the NYC local bands have utterly terrible-sounding demos. Yeah they’re demos, but when you have bands like Chelsea Grin and Horizons making demos that sound better than most full-lengths, shit quality’s not gonna cut it. I want bands to have really nice-sounding recordings, because it’s always a lot more enjoyable to listen to music that’s well-mixed (unless you’re a hipster that likes shitty garage recordings).

Oh and slightly off-topic design note: I finished designing and coding up a website for a church. Check it out here.

To tour we’d all need quite a bit of cash and a van/transportation of some kind. One of our guitarists already has a job, and the rest of us are looking for work in the meantime. We’ll also have a bassist if everything works out right. I’ll probably bring my Nikon and laptop with me so I don’t die of boredom during the long drives from state to state.

Now for the demo, I’ll be producing it in Logic Studio, which is a great and fairly easy to learn program. I’ve made several rough demos with it, all with pretty good results.

This post also marks a slight change in this blog’s direction. I still love technology and web design, but I’ve begun to take an interest in music production as well, so I’ll be writing about that on this blog too. Often I’ve wanted to post something here but I reconsidered because it wouldn’t “fit” my blog’s focus. That’s gone now, starting today I’m writing about whatever I want here.

Just because they were the first doesn’t mean they were that good. I’ve listened to some of their music over the years and I can honestly say there is absolutely nothing special or memorable about it. Their songs are boring, dragged out, and sometimes repetitive. They weren’t anything technically amazing either… give any heavy drug abuser a guitar and some time and he’ll make a song too. What I don’t get is how do people even honestly like them? And that’s where my next point begins.

The Beatles have been inflated to such a level and have so many fans that everybody claims to like them just to be accepted. Nobody dares to speak out against the holy Beatles lest they be angrily glared at. Moving in a more general direction, people do this with a lot of older bands. They pretend to like an old band just because “everybody likes them,” rather than if they actually like them. I can say that I used to be guilty of this, too. However now I always say exactly what I think of a band. “Zeppelin? Lame.” “Nirvana? Blah.” “Beatles? Suck.” Sure a lot of people hate me for this, but I’d rather be hated for my real opinions rather than loved for my fake views.

Call me close-minded, call me a poser, call me a scene kid, but you can’t call me fake. I am who I am, and I like what I like, and if you don’t agree you can either accept it or fuck off.

I’m aware that this is awfully close to April 1^st, but this post is on a completely serious note.

RIP, Les Paul. Your jazzy riffs will not be forgotten. 

Every Coldplay song sounds the same, and they practically put me to sleep…

If putting people to sleep with boring music is Coldplay’s objective, then they succeed with flying colors. However if their intention is to actually make good music, then they fail miserably. Secondly, Coldplay are way overrated, yet most of the girls in my school are in love with them.

Ear Tunnels/Plugs

If you live in a city, then you’ve probably seen at least one person with stretched ears. Why people choose to stretch their earlobes open is beyond me. Tunnels (often called gauges, which is an incorrect) look disgusting, and they flap around in a sickening way whenever you move your head. Not to mention it’s nearly impossible to get a good job with large ear tunnels.

Recreational Drug Use/Drinking

People who use drugs just for fun are losers. Same with people who “get wasted” just for fun. I don’t see the fun in any of those dreadful activities.

Tanning

This topic is especially relevent in the summer, with teens practically roasting themselves in salons and at the beach. While doctors agree that sunlight is beneficial for the skin, purposely burning it by tanning is not. Excess tanning causes skin to age faster, and may cause skin cancer in the long run. This need to tan stems from the false belief that having a tan is a sign of being healthy, or normal. Tans are actually the body’s defense reaction to an excess of UV rays. Just think about that the next time you’re about to go roast in the sun.

Christian Rock/Metal

This is a fairly recent trend in music, actually. Many metalcore and rock bands are taking up the Christian title, and it’s mainly for profit. There are some labels that only sign Christian bands, so being one practically guarantees a contract, regardless of actual talent or ability.

Life Updates

It’s August, meaning my summer is about halfway over. Thankfully, school begins quite late this year, on September 9th. I still haven’t found a job (damn you, recession), even though I applied to quite a few places. I’ve also been rather busy with my band, which is my half-assed excuse for posting so rarely. I also have tickets to the Thrash and Burn tour, which features awesome bands like Despised Icon, Oceano, and Veil of Maya. It’s on Tuesday (tomorrow), and I can’t wait! 

The musical aspect of pop consists of either very simple instrumentals, or boring, repetitive computer-generated beats. The vocal aspect of pop also sucks. Most of the so-called “singers” in pop can’t sing for their lives, and are solely successful due to the hard work of a computer in the hands of a skilled producer. Even some bands in metal and hardcore have started utilizing auto-tune. Attack Attack! is an example of a hardcore band that uses so much of it that it makes me want to puke. Proper vocal technique has gone down the drain as well. Singing used to require proper breathing technique as well as use of the diaphragm, but now singers are using zero technique, and are just straining their vocal chords; which is why most pop singers burn out their voices after just a few years. Lack of technique can be quite easy to spot- if the singer is practically deep-throating the microphone, that’s a dead giveaway, as untrained singing is often much quieter and therefore requires the artist to be closer to the mic in order to be heard.

Screaming

Branching off the singing topic is screaming. Some genres of metal, as well as hardcore punk, use it as either their sole method of vocalization, or as a supplement to singing. The use of screaming in music elicits more or less the following statement from most people: “Screaming takes no talent and is not music.” On the contrary, screaming actually takes much more effort than singing. Firstly, screaming requires much more air as well as proper breathing technique. Without that, one would not last for more than a few minutes. Ideally, screaming should be done with the false vocals, much like singing. And just like singers, screamers also have vocal ranges. Some can effortlessly shift from high to low, while others are confined to a more specific range. Screaming also takes practice, just like singing. Screaming as a form of vocalization is not at all like real screaming (ie: screaming in fear, screaming in a fight, etc.). Rather, it is a controlled, harsher form of singing. 

The record starts out with a soft keyboard track, titled Rebirth, which is somewhat reminiscent of the synths in the previous album. The second track is quick and violent, with a nice melody as well. The second track is pretty much more of the same goodness. After that comes Now Arise, which is one of the longer songs on the album. The keyboardist provides some solid backup vocals on the track as well. The following two tracks are good, but nothing exceptional. After those comes Exist, which I consider to be one of the best tracks on he album. It’s heavy as well as melodic, with a lot of technical riffing. The track ends with a fantastic palm-muted breakdown, which is one of the qualities Born of Osiris is known for. The track that comes afterwards is a very melodic one as well, with a catchy, almost chorus-like middle. It ends with a slow melodic section, leading into A Descent, which has a mellow intro, followed by punishing technicality. The title track is unexceptional, much like the title track in their previous release. An Ascent follows after, and is as melodic as A Descent. The last two tracks are good enough, but nothing special.

Compared to their earlier release, the guitars have greatly improved, and they take the lead this time, with the keyboard only providing atmospheric sound. The keyboardist provides more backing vocals in this release, and the bass is inaudible as usual. The drumming remains top-notch, and vocals have improved slightly, but they were pretty good in the last release as well. The vocalist has a somewhat limited vocal range, staying with the mid-range screams, but he uses them well, providing a solid performance throughout. Production is just as good, if not better, than that of the previous album’s.

Summary

In conclusion, this record is a worthy succesor to The New Reign, but it does have some flaws. Some of the tracks on the record feel like filler, and the whole record is a bit short, due to the short song lengths. Out of 10, I’d say this record earns a solid 9. If you like metalcore, deathcore, or any combination of the two, this record is worth picking up. If you’re a Born of Osiris fan, then getting this record should be a no-brainer for you.

Academy Awards

Metal Detectors?

Conservapedia

Custom PC cases

Other Stuff

I also have a ton of work on the weekend, so most of the updates will probably be on weekdays.

Badminton at 7:10 am has been turning out okay, and I haven’t had much trouble in waking up on time.

There are about 2 weeks left until the big Bleeding Through show in the city.  Bleeding Through, As Blood Runs Black, Impending Doom, and the Acacia Strain are playing, making it a rather awesome lineup.