Underwater Unattended

What's This Found Lurking Behind the Madness?

The creature lurked behind the madness.  Frozen we stood behind the debris, patiently praying it had not already seen us lurking near its lair.

A mere moments that felt like years elapsed, and the creature began to fade from sight.  A few more minutes should eliminate it from our view.  We agreed not to follow. It wouldn't be wise, as what would a view of this tormenter mean if that sight would be the last we would know.  So stay in place we chose, until at least, every shadow of it was cleared from view.

The Realm Where Nightmares Keep

Beyond these walls
a pristine silence
envelops the earthen field

yet within the caverns of dream
this purity bears no witness
to the ravaging of sleep's seams

Portent etchings carve the dark veil

Transportation.  To a world unknown.
One that looks enticing from beyond
bear hellfire to those within

Ominous clouds enshroud above
pathways are in absentia
forcing the feet to maneuver through

Carnage is painted by some marauding pen
Scrawling image to the scry
Infusing agony within the eyes

Skeletal remains litter the field
I dare not search the wreckage

You know they are inside
burning still
yet, what could you do
really, herein this dark reflection,
what good could come

Overstepping burnt passage
Inhaling the toxicity it seeps
realizing
the scenic reminder
will never be
the same


One day perhaps my evening visions will be pastel rabbits and clover greens, but until such a day assumes the dream, the nightmares bleed their darkened screams.

Stop by the NWCU where for this weeks Wednesday Wake Up Call, Natasha gives us a really great prompt, night time, however we may find.  So stop on over, take in the prompt and check out those who've already linked up, which, by the way, all very good.  Take it all in and if inspired, which I'm pretty sure you will be, compose your inspiration as you may, link it up for other's to enjoy.  And while you're there, take a gander at all the excellent articles and offerings within the NWCU.

Ancestral Blood

Often do we embark on sojourns within,
dwelling thoughts upon those ne'er met,
where the blood refrain is identical to
what floe's haunt the veins in you.

Thoughtful essays prayed internal, traverse
history's tapestried veils, forging connections
you never new existed there…

Here we remember what we never could, dream in
memories never owned, hearing sounds-the whispers,
the elations and the moans-resonating as if was your drums
these initials melodies made aware

Staring intently upon a solitary object, perhaps a cracked tile or
a chipping of the ceiling's paint, comatose in nature you invoke the
hopes and dreams to which you and your ancestors shared…forging
a connection that no skeptic could dare understand, yet, freely you do beg your sires past, how the sacrifices they bestowed, today honor your purveyance, to each these relatives a kinship is born, to each, a thankful melody is hummed both calm and free, but it is the passion of remembrance that is owed, and in such gravities, your true inheritance here is shown….

Here, before the trance returns, you welcome the future, to eat upon your misery, to learn from each mistake you've made, to profit from your wisdom, a wisdom you let waste in grave, and pray, it is your smile they hold dearest through their most detrimental of days….


Stop on over to New World Creative Union, where, on this Halloween, they ask us to look back upon our ancestry and to pay credence to what their lives to you, this day, mean.

Outlets for Angst

“I’m a gangster,” Vito claims

just to douse that extra hope

away from his parents dream

“I set fires,” Dory does, watching

the flames build to voluminous peaks,

as the waters rage their violent breath,

to comfort the bystanders seek, yet never

move, not here, not now, loving the warmth

when the air’s far too cool

“I pick fights with strangers,” an unknown teen

says, “usually their much bigger than me, but it

makes no difference, as I don’t fight back, I won’t push back, it’s never been about none of that….instead, I want

to see, how bad they’ll beat me down, before they realize who

they are, in that moment, when kickback stands still.”

“I cut myself,” Oliver reveals, if only to regain the sense to feel.

Crows muster above the heads, like vultures do, but not as patient, hovering the carrion as it still walks, entrails and all…for it’s in their eyes…the future knows.

"Why so bleak, why so down, why so embarrassed, what's with that frown…how'd you expect to…do you even care…are you aware," YES.

Stop on over to the NewWorldCreativeUnion for their Weekly Wednesday Wake Up Call.  It's always a fun prompt and almost always exhilarates the creative sense.  This week Leslie Moon has offered a really atmospheric video, accompanied with the Haunting Violin of Max Ablitzer for our consumption.  She then goes on to tease us with thoughts of Poe.  Wasn't sure what direction this piece would manifest itself, but I simply let it go where the melody and scenery took me.  And then since I put this up on this blog, I accompanied it with a darker painting I'd yet to post.  Definitely check out all the NWCU does for the artistic community, not just poetry and Art, but all of it, literally.  And hey, join in, your more than welcome. 

Absence Spreads

Love, Abandoned to the Heaviness Inside

A Molten Core (Violent Piano Vol. 1)

The Junkyard of Tartarus

Every area and/or region has their junkyards.  The same can be said for realms and/universes.  Of course there is no way to prove that statement, but theres also no way to disprove it either.

For this piece I started with this premise.  And thought to myself, what would the junkyard in a place like Tartarus look like, and this piece was the culmination of the exercise.

Exiting Euphoria, Entering Dysthymia

Subterranean Staircase

Entering Dream State

Entanglement (before and after)

As usual, I begin with a random brain-writing session if you will, and see where that takes me.  Here, I had a general disarray of lines and decided to make connections between them all.  From that point I thought it would look better if I shaded in the stems, what I called them, the long connecting lines.  Then I smoothened out the the corners and finished up by darkening in some sections of the design.  I like the way the piece turned out; it reminds me of an entanglement of plant growth.  I picture a traveller who has just made their way through the dense brush of the woods.  Then, just as night appears, they reach the opening, where a beautiful and enchanted world can be seen, the vegetation comes alive entangling and entwining together, becoming an impenetrable wall.  The combined species of green growth turn dark.  Now only the beauty of the other side shows through the openings in the wall.  The traveller is now resigned to remain at least one more night in this, now, dark and unfriendly wooded confine.

Anyhow, once I got the story down in my head I decided to play around with color schemes.  The one shown in the lower painting is the one I through best represented the scene.

The Symbols before the Half-Shut Eye

Mouse Trap

Skeletonwitch- Forever Abomination

Forever Abomination is the new album, released today, October 11,2011, from the Ohio metal band Skeletonwitch.  Most of the bands I listen to are relatively unknowns when mentioned in conversation, however for those that are keen on the metal scene, these bands are household names.

Skeletonwitch offers a mixture in the way they present their sound.  You really can’t define them as any one subgenre within the heavy metal universe.  While not as varying in sound as say a band like Between the Buried and Me, they do change things up quite a bit, from track to track and even between chorus’ within each track.  The majority of Skeletonwitch’s songs are high tempo.  They typically combine an in your face guitar style with a seemingly ever-present drumbeat.  But make no bones about it, if you’re into this band, you are there for the raspy, nether worldly sounding vocals of Chance Garnette.

The bands latest release, Forever Abomination, picks up where breathing The Fire, the 2009 release, left off.  They’ve changed things up a bit for the new record though.  For starters Derrick Nau, drums, is out and Dustin Boltjes is in.  While darkened themes are still prevelant throughout the majority of the songs here, the album is quite a bit more melodic when compared to previous releases. For me, anytime a band can increase melody, it’s a plus, that is if they are able to retain that in your face attacking style of guitars, and of course the trademarked vocals.  Skeletonwitch is able to combine the heavy of heavy rifts with the rhythmic melodies that put a bit of sway into the songs, all the while showcasing Chance’s vocal prowess.  In fact, I might even go so far, as I’ve only listened to the album about four times now, that these melodic elements seem to coincide perfectly with Chance’s singing, almost adding a bit of “flow” to his words. 

Many metal bands carry stigmas around with them.  Often they’re categorized as black, or death or whatnot, and while themes and lyrical content can be used in many instances to advance these stereotypes, I have to say that if you go around only listening to songs that are positive in nature, or each member of a group is completely vetted out to what you, or others for that matter, deem acceptable, well then you’ll be drastically reducing the selection of music you have to choose from.  This dilemma, if you choose to call it as such, is ever more prevalent in the world of metal, especially if you’re dealing with groups who may not be on the mainstream level yet. 

Why is this? 

Well I think a number of factors might be at play here.  First I’d say packaging, web-site design and the like have a great influencing factor.  Many metal groups include pictures of what most would consider grotesque and just uncomfortable to look at.  Then you have the way many of the vocals sound, the most popular styles being the guttural, screeching and ghastly.  These styles don’t sit too well with the mainstream music listener.  You’ll often hear why do they make themselves sound like that?  Or most often you’ll hear a blanket statement like “I can’t understand a word they’re saying.”  Finally I would say lyrical content, and overall themes tow the line a bit, moving all across the board, typically settling on themes of death, destruction, betrayal and evil. 

So how could I listen to groups like this?

My answer to this question is so easy for me.  I don’t pay any attention to what other people say.  I don’t care about pictures or images, and if I do, instead of looking at the image as a representation of something ugly or evil, I look at the artistic qualities needed to compose such images.  The vocals, at first I have to admit, were tough to understand in many cases.  But after a while you get used to them and start appreciating how any of the various styles can fit in with, and even accentuate it’s accompanying instrumentation.  And finally, as far as themes and lyrical content go, I write a lot of poetry and have a very big imagination, so I welcome the creative imagery. I love metaphors, and if you listen to metal, you’ll get to use your imagination in a variety of ways, but none so important as sorting out the vastness of metaphors used throughout a bands work.

Skeletonwitch is a great band in my opinion.  They get to the point fast and fiercely.  They’ve added a greater depth of melody to their songs and are ripe with metaphor.  If you like their earlier releases you’ll love Forever Abomination.  If you like metal in general, you should seriously give this album, and their other 3 albums and EP’s as well, some serious consideration.  Just a brief sampling on Itunes or any other site that lets you listen to music will, I feel, give you enough of a sample-set to get a good idea if this band would be something you’d be into.

Forever Abomination (32 minutes)

1.    This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)   4:10

2.    Reduced to the failure of Prayer                   2:52

3.    Of Ash and Torment                                        2:55

4.    Choke Upon Betrayal                                      2:36

5.    Erased and Forgotten                                     2:24

6.    The Infernal Resurrection                              2:52

7.    Rejoice in Misery                                              2:47

8.    Cleaver of Souls                                                3:49

9.    Shredding Sacred Flesh                                  2:34

    10. Sink Beneath Insanity                                     2:55

    11. My Skin of Deceit                                              2:12

Every track on the album is really good, but a few highlights:

This Horrifying Force

Offers a good dose of the melodic line throughout.  It offers a killer lead-intro/buildup, which not only sets the tone for this song, but for the entire album. It’s easily my favorite track

Erased and Forgotten

More in your face, but a terrific rift throughout the central part of the track, highlighted by some great drumming underneath.

The Infernal Resurrection

Wonderfully catchy track that just never stops keeping the groove going.  The vocals are perfectly in sync with the instrumentation throughout the entire track.  Perhaps the best Skeletonwitch song period, including all previous releases.

My Skin of Deceit

A great last track, as it incorporates much of what the rest of the album offers, yet a tad bit on the heavier side, just to remind everyone what this band is all about.

After you pick the album up let me know what you think, I’d love to see those in agreement with my own viewpoint, as well as those with varying opinions.