Quitting Smoking (I)

It's been 48 hours without a cigarette. I've been here before. I can't tell if it's better or worse this time. It's certainly unpleasant. I don't know. Maybe it's not that bad. I'm not bouncing off of the walls this time.

I'm banking on the fact that I've been here before. It's rare that I've ever gone the full 12 months of any calendar year smoking the entire time. I've been here before. I can do this.

I don't want this affecting my health. I've got that stage instinct that, "Hey, it's time to stop." I want to run two miles in 12 minutes again (which is totally possible, by the way). I've dodged catastrophe. It's time to leave the table while I'm ahead, which is hard to do because temptation lies around every corner.

I had quit smoking when I moved to Austin. I was six months tobacco free when I got here. What made me start again? Working at the AT&T Call Center. Hell, that job's enough to make people smoke crack, much less cigarettes.

I had the monkey off of my back and then I started again, That begs the question: when are you really "over it?"

It's been 48 hours, heading to 72. I've still got a lot of life left to live; still got tons of goals that I want to achieve. It's time to take my health seriously. I'm getting off lucky. This shit killed my Dad's parents. I'm not going to let it get me.

Sorry about the ranting and raving. Here's some motivational music:

Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant

zippyshare

mega.co.nz



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New Impending Doom song - "Ravenous Disease"

Impending Doom premiered another new song today and I'd like to share it with you. You know why? Because Impending Doom is the rare band that's actually getting better as it goes along.

In an age where most bands simply regurgitate whatever their "breakthrough hits" are, Impending Doom continues to refine it's "gorship" sound. Remember, "gorship" is what Impending Doom calls their brand of gory, doomy, nu-metally death/grind with lyrics that reflect the band members' Christian beliefs. The band has hit one of those streaks where each new release blows away the old stuff and Death Will Reign is no different. I've been a fan of Impending Doom for years and have had nothing but positive things to say about the band. Anyway, less talk and more rock. Here's "Ravenous Disease."





Pretty cool, huh? Well, check this out. "Ravenous Disease" is the second song from Death Will Reign to be debuted so far. Listen to the title track.





Awesome stuff. Good band gets better. Touring and all that jazz soon. Go get the record on November 5, 2013.




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Welcome to Forever

Impending Doom
The Serpent Servant
Facedown



Here we go again. Is it deathcore or not? I’ve expressed my views on this subject multiple times before, like here and here. When it comes to Impending Doom’s first album, Nailed.Dead.Risen., that album is firmly entrenched in the deathcore sound. However, the mark of any good band is improved songwriting and further development of said band’s overall sound, which The Serpent Servant has in spades.

You want to talk about development? Listen to the mosh riff in the middle of “Anything Goes.” Listen, during the change, to the bass player keep the same rhythm with the drummer’s high-hat and snare while the drummer double-times his kicks and the guitarists double-up the picking of the riff. No, it’s not technicality on the level of Necrophagist but it’s worlds apart from what the deathcore scenesters are doing. Plus, the scenesters can’t lay down a groove like the one found on “Storming the Gates of Hell.”

The members of Impending Doom call their music “gorship” – a combination of gore-metal music and worship-based lyrics. While the tag may be a bit silly, I couldn’t think of a more accurate description of their sound than they already did. The gore-metal influence is pretty obvious (think Suffocation) but Impending Doom accomplishes something remarkable with the lyrics.

Like the band, I’m a believer and I’m very impressed with the fearlessness Impending Doom displays on The Serpent Servant concerning the band’s Christian beliefs. I burned this album for Jerry Phillips, the pastor of my church; a dude who is by no means a “square.” His first comment was that Impending Doom is influenced by Slipknot (true) and that, while he likes the music, he could never get into the harsh vocal thing. Then he opened up the lyric sheet. Phillips was pleasantly surprised at the large portion of the lyrics influenced by scripture and the number of direct quote from the Bible. For the record, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the four books of the Gospel are the lyrical influence of The Serpent Servant.

It’s easy for any band to get on stage and talk about how much they hate George Bush. That’s what Family Guy does – taking easy shots at easy targets without any fear of repercussion from the public. Whether you agree or disagree with the views expressed, you have to respect the bravery displayed by Impending Doom in this day and age. Also, the album rocks. Highly recommended.





Impending Doom - The Serpent Servant




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