Thy Art Is Murder: Holy War Review

Here’s another review from Cool Try.

This one was the sixth I had written for the website.
The review is rough which is partly due to inexperience.

To be honest, I didn’t like the album but I couldn’t justify saying it was bad.

The only thing I’ve fixed is a spelling error. Otherwise this is as it was.

I do think it highlights what I was trying to do at the time, which to be honest is what I’m trying to do right now.

Not sure if I’m doing a better job now. Definitely doing it with more words.

I hope you enjoy.

Thy Art Is Murder have been around for nine years and have continued to pick up momentum as they have progressed. Their third album is a good indicator that they’re going to keep rising.

The first eighty-seven seconds of Holy War is a crawl. An almost grinding guitar sits above a pulsing beat accompanied by pained gutturals.
After this, the album kicks into a full-speed technical assault.

As the the album goes through its tracks, the songs cycle through slow and fast with the occasional breakdown without sounding forced. The sections should be contradictory, but instead they sit together nicely and flow well, allowing the lean thirty-eight to thirty-nine minutes to pass by without dragging.

The band sound quite disciplined here. Whilst there is a feeling that the music will become chaotic at any point, everyone hold the reins tightly and keep everything on track.
The pinpoint timing of the bass and drums underpin the semi-relentless riffing whilst the vocals scream with the intensity to match.

Occasionally there can be more ambient sounds heard.
It’s difficult to discern what they add to the songs other than making them sound a slight bit more full, but they don’t take anything away as they are kept in the background.

Lyrically the album is alright.
They come across quite clearly and don’t waffle on.
Considering the delivery, they seem to be more about the feel than they are about the thought.
As they come off as bleak, oppressive, and confronting, they sit well with the music.

Holy War is a solid release.
It isn’t the most inviting release but it’s better off for it.
It doesn’t feel forced or as though there were detrimental compromises made.
Both the band and their fans can be satisfied with this one.

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 562: Meeting Dialogue

Two people sat down in a meeting room. It was a long day at the office, with much stress flying about. Tension was thick and decisions of a difficult nature needed to be put into action.

“Well, we’re here now.”

“Yes. Is there anything else that need to be said at this particular juncture?”

“Well, I guess the main issue regards whether we go ahead with the decision at hand, or not.”

“We need to, but it is a difficult one to make. Surely that needs to be understood.”

“Well, a lot of people are going to be put out by this, if you go ahead.”

“If I go ahead? This is not a singular decision. This is both ours to make and pursue.”

“That I realise, but it is you who w ill have to make the announcement after all. Not me. This really rests on your shoulders. Not mine.”

“So what you’re saying is that whilst you will take part in pushing this forward, you are not going to accept any responsibility. Is that what I am to understand you are saying?”

“Not necessarily in those words, no. It’s more that I do not have the privilege, nor the competence to be able to carry something of such weight out. Surely you would be better suited for such a thing on your own.”

“Well, that may be. However, you need to also sign off on it. If I announce it solely, then you only serve to lose out. After all, all of them need to know that this was a joint decision.”

“Are you certain that that is what you want to pursue? That that is the course of action that you wish to take?”

“Of course. It’s a joint decision. You’re not going to be able to only go half of the way. After all, when all this is said and done, who would want to work with someone who doesn’t see their actions the whole way through?”

“My only action is to sign off on the decision. I have nothing else to contribute.”

“As part of this company in what many would consider a lofty middle management position, you still have quite a lot to provide. Or are you going to try and not do what is required of you once more, and let someone more qualified take over instead?”

“I’ve never done such a thing.”

“So you say, but you’re not going to be getting out of responsibility again. You sign on this and you see it the whole way through, just like I will.”

And so they sat in silence for a long time. The tension remained thick as hesitation and anticipation took over, but eventually they had to reschedule the meeting as neither were budging.

Thus a hard decision was postponed indefinitely as meeting after meeting with no conclusion occurred. Neither would budge but both would keep employees on the edge due to the weight of expectation.

And on and on it continued.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 09:11:30

Not sure what I was aiming for with this one.

I really wanted to write some dialogue but I don’t think I did a good job.

That said, I think I painted a picture of a meeting. Perhaps not a very professional meeting, but a meeting nonetheless.

Written at work.

Posted in Fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 561: Need a Good Way to Start

Public holidays are a fun thing as they allow for a great deal of procrastination

Yes; that’s a good way to start of the writing of today, I think.

Wait, maybe it is not a good way. Maybe there are abetter ways to start off the post of the day that is the current day known as today. Maybe there are not. But how do I discern all of this when I am merely on person with one thinking brain?

I don’t know how I’m going to solve this conundrum.

What is the optimal way to start the writing of today off? What is the best and most impactful thing that I could use that would lead to some good writing?

Well, some acceptable, tolerable writing? I’m really not sure at this point. Still, this is something that I need to discern as I need to start the post off soon and if I don’t have a strong start, then what will it lead to? It could lead to catastrophe if I’m not careful.

Words need to be chosen carefully and words need to be doled out at a steady, unrelenting pace. There needs to be words that are in a particular order that allows for some sort of communication so that I can get across what I am trying to get across. However, it needs to not be many words. It needs to be only an appetiser that allures people into the rest of what is being written so that I can get on with the more in depth stuff and leave something to be taken away from all of this.

I don’t know where to start and I don’t know as to how I am going to start off the whole thing. I need to find a better introduction, I think.

At the same time, the start may be fine as it is. However, if that is indeed the case, then I need to find a better body to go with the head, for if the head and body don’t fit, then there will still be issues of many varieties, or maybe only one issue and that issue being the unfortunate mismatching of the body and the head.

That is something that I’d much rather avoid. Sure, sometimes you can haphazardly ram things together and hope for the best, but that is not something that I want to do at this present juncture in time and space. I’d much rather have something with a strong start, strong body and strong conclusion.

I still need to work out as to how I’m going to go about doing this though. This is the task at hand and it is mine to address and try to solve.

If I can do this, then surely I will be one who is able to do something, such as write text and present it in a visual format of sorts.

But then again, I still need to start on that strong introduction very soon.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:33:10

I think that what this one does well is that it (mostly) focuses on something and sticks to it.

Otherwise, could be more fluid.

Written at home.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Suspended Sediment Among Breaking Waves

Kind of a companion shot to this one.

The sediment being moved around blends in well with the water, as well as the rocks above the water’s surface.

The breaking waves are more spread out and almost seem to be forming a channel of their own.

I like that there’s less visible rock in this shot without it feeling less prominent.

This is my submission into The Lens-Artists Photo Challenge.

The theme this week is “Creativity“.

This shot was a capturing of nature in process, but it displays an unintentional creativity, I think.

The challenge is hosted by four people and cycles weekly:

Week 1 – Patti

Week 2 – Ann-Christine aka Leya

Week 3 – Amy

Week 4 – Tina

This week is hosted by Leya and next week’s will be hosted by Amy.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 560: I Beat the Hair

The last day of the weekend of a length of days equal to the number of four, and that is what this is presented by today. This is presented by the number four, and the wallet sitting on my desk, and the hair that is slowly moving into my field of vision whilst I beaver away and try to beat it before it beats me.

Sweating a bit heavily this morning. Was sweating last night. Am tired. Dehydrated. Probably getting the last of the illness out of my system at this point.

Heating up at the moment. Heating up a bit more than I would expect to at this hour of the morning. Don’t know why. Probably something to- do with being ill. Oh well. Who am I to question the processes of the body as they purge stuff out of my system?

Well, it is my body, but then again, am I really well within my rights to question as to what it i s currently doing?

Maybe. There is no way of telling. Or there is.

tomorrow is a day off, and it is one well earned. Maybe. I do know that there are many things that I want to do tomorrow, but in all likelihood it will be one spent creating. After all, there is much to do and there is little time in which I can be bothered to do it.

There are a number of things that I want to try out and get done. There are a number of things that I want to play around with There is a backyard that needs a bit of elbow grease and by Jove, I am certainly the one to grease it all up!

Then again, maybe tomorrow will be spent relaxing even more. Hard to tell at this point in time. Then again, is it really?  Maybe I’m just waffling about how much I have to something something and blah blah blah.

Inside at work for three hours.

Oh, that’s right; I was going to write about people threatening to go to The ACCC about us when they don’t get their way! I forgot that I was going to write about that.

Oh well. That will have to come later. For now it’s just rambling on about things that do not really matter. Well, not in the grand scheme of things, but I ramble about them as in the grand scheme of things is not where I am currently living. Currently I’m living in my immediate world and that is where I would  much rather be. Need to do so in order to get back to getting a whole bunch of things done.

But with all of that in consideration for your taking,. I do need to admit that I have been lazy and the further into university life that I get, the less that I want to do university. I would  much rather spend my time creating stuff, if I am to be completely honest.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:03:85

It seems that in what I want to express comes in circles.

Written at work.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clouds Drift Across The Water’s Surface

Across the water’s still surface the clouds do drift on by.

Casting light from the sunset, they become a relaxed colour, and gain tones and shades not normally seen upon their form.

The water remains still but the clouds continue to move unassumingly toward wherever they may dissipate.

I really like how well the reflection is captured by the water’s surface. A lot of the detail comes through really well. However, as this was a shallow part of Smiths Lake the clouds partially blend with some of the lake bed. It kind of leads to a slight retexturing of the clouds.

Outside of that, I think that this makes for a pretty relaxing shot. I think that the way some of the lake bed sticks out from the water makes for a jarring, but not unwelcome contrast.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s photo challenge for this week.

The theme for this one is “Perspective”.

I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit into the challenge.

You can find the challenges here.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 559: Still Coughing, Still Spluttering

Coughing and spluttering for far too many days in a row now. Need to get it all out of my system. Need to purge, or something.

I guess the coughing is the purging, but I want it purged completely. well, as completely as possibly can be.

Maybe I’m hoping for too much, as I want it out  now. All of it. Not later. This is not a gradual move. Get out of me. Stop doing this to me. Et cetera.

Maybe I should just reach down on inside of myself and pull out whatever it is that is causing all of the coughing and spluttering. Maybe I should reach inside and pull it out and let myself take in a deep breath and feel a strong sense of relief. I don’t think I’m as flexible, or as spatially compressible as that implies, but still, I feel like that is the course of action that I should take. Get it all out and get on going on with the going good and whatnot.

I don’t think that there’s enough Melvins in my life right now. Still, there is some and that is a good thing. It’s always a good thing. Such a mean, tight, evil-sounding song.

Maybe I should see if I can rhythmically cough to the beat and see if that gets all of the stuff that is still within my being and flesh out of me. maybe it would work. Maybe it is not worth trying.

Today is the third day of a long weekend of four. It is getting tiresome, but I’m at work and the pay is good, so who am I to complain about the fact that I am making, as they say, “bank”? Who am I to do that? I am merely one person. Life is good, I’m making money that will help out down the track and I am on track to get on top of everything that I want to get on top of.

Still a lot of work that needs to be done, but it  is getting done and that is the main thing.

Still, I haven’t done any photography for a couple of weeks now and that is a little bit of a negative thing. Need to get out and take more photos then, I think.

Some days coming up. Well, of course there are days coming up. What I mean to say is that there are some days off coming up. Therefore, I should go out and take some photos. View the city a bit more. Well, maybe not the city, but somewhere. Get a good view of the landscape and take stock of my surroundings. Go on a bit of an exploration. Maybe I could go back to Lane Cove National Park. It would be the first time in a few years. The last time I was there, I went home after and uploaded the photos that I took.

Well, I thought that I did.

Erased them by mistake.

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 05:06:73

This one hurt to write.

I think I need to work on my writing more. Haven’t been doing enough outside of this.

Written at work.

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Five-Hundred Word Challenge 558: Sitting Here

Tappity tap tap tap. Coffee number two is sitting next to me. It awaits. I await.

Sitting here. Looking beyond the desk. Looking at the coffee, but only in the peripheral vision that is all my own.

Timing. Looking at the time. Tapping my feet. Looking at the time whilst tapping my feet. Feeling the beat. There is a beat in my ears and it does not rotate. Pretty solid, as far as beats go. What a beat.

Coffee, dark and brown. Nasty, nasty coffee, but getting the job done. Need to fight off the tyranny of sleep for the next many hours. Need to get to the home. Need to eat. Need to get through the day of work. Need to stop looking at things that I need. What a bout wants instead?

Want to play some games. Want to not be here. Would rather be there. Would rather listen to something that does not involve people having hair. I want to listen to a hairless band. Completely without hair. Hair absent. I want to listen to a band that is devoid of the physical manifestation of hair. Perhaps also devoid of the ethereal manifestation also.

I want to listen to whatever it is that I just so happen to be listening to at this current moment. Kind of bluesy. Kind of a chaotic, mad sounding recording. Very all over the place, yet at the same time very tight and controlled. Very wonderful stuff. Very unconventional, but also conventionally conventional. Makes me tap along but shaking my leg, although my leg moves to a rhythm, all of its own.

Almost sounds like a band playing to not go right over the edge. Almost.

Sitting. Waiting. More coffee. Coffee not done. Looking at the desk. Made of wood. Wood and metal. Patterns in it. Interesting, kind of in a way. Feels like wood that has had some sort of layer applied to it to prevent it from roughing everything up. Kind of feels like a desk. It has a mouse.

It has a mouse and next to the mouse is a keyboard. There is a maddening sound. Is that a guitar or a piano? Or is it a guitar emulating a piano? It has to be something and that something is producing a sound that sounds like something that it may not be. Perhaps it is what it is but it has assumed a form that implies what it is not,.

Gotta get back. Gotta get a load of this. Gotta do some other things. Gotta get going toward another source of sound. But not yet. Gotta wake up. Soon gotta get goin’… something else and something or other.

Gotta make sure that I don’t descend into the galaxy of my own creation. Need to remain humble. Don’t boast about the greatness of one’s own mess. Better to boast about the deliciously awful coffee that is next to me. Still not done with it. Need to change ghats.

But why?

The time it took to write five-hundred words: 06:23:32

I was rather tired when I wrote this.

Still am.

Written at work.

 

Posted in Life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sunset’s Reflections

One of the better sunsets I’ve seen at Smiths Lake.

I really like the clarity of the reflection and how strong the contrast is between light and dark.

I also like the way everything is shaped in the shot.

I hope you enjoy.

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Lighthouse With a View

Another field trip shot.

This was taken at Sugarloaf Point. The photo features a small part of Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse, as well as some vegetation, geology, ocean and cloud cover.

There’s a strong contrast between some of the features, but I think it works as it gives a better sense of layering.

I think that the colours are balanced nicely, and I think that the scene gives an idea of how massive the view feels without necessarily stating it.

This is my submission into Leanne Cole‘s photo challenge for this week.

The theme for this one is “The Letter H”.

I’ve included this one due to it featuring a house, light.

I suggest checking out Leanne’s photography, as well as checking out what other people submit into the challenge.

You can find the challenges here.

I hope you enjoy.

1K4A8975B

Posted in Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment