All posts by vladkraykulla

Active member of alternative underground scene and culture since early 1990-ies. Underground is a way of life!
News

(new single – metalcore) NEW ALBUM / SINGLE FROM HOLYNAME with Facedown Records

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After joining the Facedown Family in 2021 and releasing four singles, HolyName is back with one more single and the announcement of their self-titled full length release. 

Check out the new single “Creed” (ft. Eric Gregson of xDeathstarx) everywhere you listen to music.

The “HolyName” LP drops JANUARY 13, 2023

HolyName’s watchword is preachcore, and their self-described sound of “holy drone violent worship” makes a lot of sense when you hear their songs. The new album is essentially a love letter to Christ and a tribute to the history of eastern orthodoxy.

A season of death and profound brokenness caused Tommy Green to dive deeply into the very beginnings of the church, seeking for the connection between holy orthodoxy and liturgical practices, and today’s modern Pentecostal charismatic church. He found beauty in a hidden treasure that he didn’t fully understand, his pain driving him to a place he never intended to go. Orthodox imagery is extremely influential to the graphics and lyrics of HolyName’s work. The holy orthodox church and the historical origin of Christianity became very important to Tommy personally and that’s why the imagery seems so saturated with traditional ancient orthodox Christianity.

The genesis of the idea of HolyName sprang from a lockdown project when Joe and Tommy recruited friends from their church community nationwide to participate in a worship “mix tape.” Tommy’s initial contributions were an acoustic song he wrote in 2014 called “Meet Me Somewhere Quiet” and a cover of a song by his brother-in-law Aaron Craner called “Fall On Your Knees”. He sent the songs to Joe who turned them from acoustics to fully instrumental heavy tracks. When the duo heard the first finished products they were excited to keep going. Tommy felt like he was using the songs and the choruses and the sounds of HolyName to try to keep his faith alive when he felt like it was dying.

“Some of the answers that I have been given by the modern charismatic Christian culture weren’t adequate. There were gaps that I couldn’t seem to fill in the face of death. I knew the faith that brought me brought me through Sleeping Giant and nurtured that ministry was beautiful, but I was losing such faith that I needed to find the eyes of Christ somewhere and I couldn’t seem to get my feet under me with the answers that I had. I was really in danger of walking away from quite a lot.”

The search into the origin of his faith opened the door for Tommy to fall in love with orthodoxy. He has been able to use the experience of this project to process his grief and work through broken-heartedness.

In addition to Tommy Green and Joe Holt, the HolyName project features mixing and mastering by Ryan Leitru, additional vocals from The REV Gang choir, Brook Reeves of Impending Doom, Eric Gregson of xDeathstarx, Joe Advent, Danon Saylor of Nothing Left, Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter, and Mike Felker of Convictions, with beats produced by Hunter Babcock of Wolf Skin.

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books

(knjiga) Pustinjska zvijezda

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Fibra nastavlja sa izdavanjem samo kvalitetnih stripova kako oni kažu. Pustinjska zvijezda je knjiga 214 u njihovoj ediciji Kolorka, dakle riječ je o western stripu. Matthew Montgomery je na visokom položaju u Ministarstvu obrane, bahat i tvrd, dok jednog dana ne dođe s posla i nađe ženu i kćer masakrirane i jedini trag je zvijezda urezana na tijelo kćeri i ima Cauldroy iz Topeke. Odlazi na Divlji zapad iz Washingtona kako bi pronašao krivce i osvetio se. Ova pomalo noir western priča sa twistom na kraju je osvetnička storija o nasilju, gubitku, prostituciji, iskorištavanju Indijanaca, gradnji željeznice i napretku, kao i o tome da je svaka osveta kopanje dva groba, jednog za neprijatelja, a drugog za sebe. Isto tako, ovo je priča o iskupljenju i pronalaženju novog smisla u životu. Odlično. Pročitati definitvno. Moja preporuka.

Reviews

(review) Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram (Nuclear Blast)

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Nergal and his hordes are back with new twelfth studio full length opus. I must admit that I became a fan of Behemoth with last two albums, the previous was just too death metal for me in the newer phase and too poor black metal in the old school Behemoth phase. The grandiose Satanic black death metal that they evolved into last three albums including this one is just fantastic. Here, the band continues where they left off delivering mighty strike of brutality, aggression, blast beats and precise breakdowns, courtesy of superb drummer Inferno, the whole unit delivering atmosphere, anger, war and inner peace at the same time. Those are the feelings I enjoy while listening to the record. Great plus to Nergal´s singing is that I can understand what he is singing about, despite brutal vocals and his voice is so fantastic, ranging from growl, angry shouting, spoken word, clean singing and reciting, depending on the atmosphere. Post-God Nirvana opens as kind of intro, a weird mixture of Slavic and Nordic ritualistic chant, courtesy of guest performance by none other than Einar Selvik of Wardruna. Relentless crushing is at hand with Malaria Vulgata, The Deathless Sun, but first highlight of the album comes with Ov My Herculean Exile, being mid tempo anguished anthem with blast beat crescendo at the end and melancholic melody. Besides traditional instruments the song structures include piano, tuba, timpani and orchestral arrangements which are done with majestic supremacy. Off To War! and Versus Christus, the song with creepiest atmosphere on the record, deliver a fist in the eye of hypocrisy and stagnation delivering Behemoth´s charging war cry to new legions and old ones. Great album.

10/10