The Miscellaneous Goings On Of Tom - 2020, And So It Begins...

*Insert Picture Of King Theoden At Helm's Deep Here* "And So It Begins...

After a short-ish break, I'm back! 2020 is set to be a big year for me and all things in the music world. The start of a new decade filled with new opportunities and sounds to be created and discovered. It is strange to think of the infinite possibilities that a new decade brings to human arts and creative thinking. For me, I know there is going to be a lot of new challenges that I have not encountered before, that will test me and push me right of my comfort zone. Whilst naturally anxious, I cannot wait to have a crack at them and do the best I can to start my journey down another path. Honestly, I'm filled with optimism, the last decade was a tough one, coming of age under some difficult circumstances and situations has made me the person I am today and now that person is ready to fight tooth and nail for every inch of what I put my mind to over the next 10 years. It's exciting times to be alive!

What I'm Listening To At This Very Moment

A nice bit of atmospheric black metal to get the year started! Howling North are one of those many bands that I have found on my deep searches through the similar artists of some of the bigger bands on Spotify. Occasionally I get given gems like this, something that is easy to relax to but can also get you going. I'd say if you're a fan of Alcest you'll probably like these guy (yes, it's a one man band!), a melodic and groggy vibe but a bit heavier. It's mostly instrumental so you can imagine all sorts of stories and scenery within the music. 

What I've Been Jamming To This Week

In truth, not a lot, as I've been gorging myself on roast meats, cheese and alcohol, so between eating and sleeping there hasn't been a lot of time for music! Even so, I've reflected back on my albums of the year in The Metal Scholar's Albums Of The Year & Decade and on reflection I've been rotating Myrkur and Behemoth. A phenomenal combination if they ever worked together in my opinion. I think Mareridt was probably one of the most groundbreaking albums personally on my musical style and shift towards the more extreme side of metal. I still hold this album close to my heart as it has set the scene for a lot of my own work. 

A Walk Through Time

Whilst not strictly a Vanaheimr/Fjordhammer update, I want to let you all know about the launch of Fjordhammer History! As many of you know I'm a big history lover and a very amateur historian but this is something I've wanted to have a crack at for a while. Anyway, this is a second blog for me to talk about all things fascinating me in the historical and mythological world (with some crossover into fantasy as a lot of what I read literature wise is influenced by the past). I have a few ideas of how I'm going to sort out this new branch of Fjordhammer, but what I can tell you is that the posts won't be as regular as the Fjordhammer Music ones. Anyway this is all explained in the first post (link below)! It'd be awesome to get the same amount of support for the new history branch as I do for the music branch, if you don't I'm sending my boys Ragnar and Rollo over with a raiding party... 

Fjordhammer History

Here's To A Prosperous Year!

2019 was phenomenal, so lets make 2020 even better! I still need to plan what I'm doing musically and blog wise throughout the year but I'm determined to keep the ball rolling with plenty of content and not have such big gaps between specific categories of content (album reviews I'm looking at you). The Weekly Listening List will keep growing as well with all the new bangers that are yet to be revealed and released. In the meantime, it's time for me to burn off this Christmas blubber!