The Miscellaneous Goings On Of Tom - Getting Life Advice From Medieval Authors

Rule 1: Get Drunk, Just Don't Be A Dick, Unless You Need To Avenge Your Family... 🪓🍻

As the title suggests, I have been buried deep into the stories of epic sagas and poems recently, and it has honestly taught me a lot about life. The Hávamál (Words Of Odin), have gone hand in hand with the positive changes I've made over the last six weeks or so, even returning to work hasn't dampened my determination too much despite infinite tiredness! As a bookworm I have devoured the Völsunga Saga, Ragnar Loðbrók's Saga and the Old English epic that is Beowulf in as many weeks. Whilst I'm now turning my attention to part one of Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla (The History of the Norwegian Kings) which contains the legendary  Ynglinga Saga (which I later found out is the same mythical family mentioned in Beowulf just under the name Scylfings) and the exploits of Olaf Tryggvason. I won't nerd out anymore, but I have found a lot of solace and reassurance in those old words, it goes to show that the basic human emotional condition hasn't really changed much, and there is still a lot of positives and guidance from that elder knowledge. A long with this increased reading, I am also attempting to learn a few languages along the way! Thankfully, bar one, they are all Germanic in nature so there is a lot of crossover, just spelling can get confusing. If you haven't guessed by now they are; German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and that Nordic anomaly Finnish. I've always felt as a native English speaker, I'm not really exposed to other languages and the school system made them very boring to learn, but now I'm making my own studies a priority I feel its good for me to have an understanding of how these languages work. It opens up a world of possibility really, given that I've lived in Germany, maintaining my German skills was always a must unsurprisingly. I love how languages have evolved and how they work, especially in relation to the Viking Age/Dark Ages as contemporary literature was emerging on the horizon. I think one positive in the last week is I'm finding a lot more motivation to keep working on the blog and my music, sometimes to the detriment of my job hunting but I am so determined to make a success of either or both. The mental shift that has occurred with me has been an eye opening and life changing journey that has only just begun, and I'm so happy I finally decided to take the positive path and not destroy myself from the inside any longer. I don't know about anyone else, but I have had an insanity inducing bout of travel lust recently, maybe it is because we had lockdown. However, having saved some money I am dying to get on a plane and go somewhere else, a real change of scenery. End of the day though, I am so happy with my new found confidence and my willingness to take on challenges I never previously thought that I would! 

What I'm Listening To At This Very Moment

It seems like the Finnish Invasion (Pidättämätön suomalainen on taas täällä! 🇫🇮) of Fjordhammer is continuing today, they're unstoppable! Finland's Archgoat have always been a favourite of mine. Black metal with brutal death metal style toilet bowl growls. They were one of the first more extreme bands I got into, and I know I've heard far more extreme now, but these guys blew me away from the first time I heard them. I'll never for get a BBC interview as part of a documentary on obscure festivals and this non-metal guy went to Lithuania's Kilkim Žaibu and interviewed Archgoat there. The interview was so awkward but hilarious to watch as the guys looked like they wanted to sacrifice the poor fucker to Satan!



What I've Been Jamming To This Week

Well, I've mainly got back on my black metal hype, been listening to a lot of it over the last couple of days. This is probably because it helps me get over the rubbish at work. Even so, I've listened to a variety from Venom to the Havukruunu album (which I bloody love! You can check out my review of it here). One album I have particularly enjoyed as well is from Manchester's own Burial, I thoroughly recommend checking out their album Satanic Upheaval, the cover art draws me in too, which could be dangerous, ah well.



TRVE KVLT Instrumental Demo

I've had Ugritone's Kvlt Drums and Kvlt Drums II for a while now and hadn't fully tested them out. Turns out it teams up pretty well with the Klevgrand Tape Emulator. With one foul swoop I'd taken myself back to a rehearsal room in Norway in the winter of 1992. Originally compiled of  a few riffs that I'd smashed together but I'm tempted to make this a Vanaheimr come back song after I've refined it. Either way, it put me back in touch with that side of my music writing and taking it right back to black metal basics. It was an enjoyable experience to just mess around but I'm ultimately proud of how awesome it sounds. Make demos great again!



New Home Studio Setup

I feel like I'm taking the right steps to get this mixing engineer career off the ground now, having finally set up my stereo system on my desk, where it is most useful! I feel like I am chiming in with my attempt on Darkthrone's underground and basic as possible mantra of recording and producing. As you should know by now I like my productions with a bit of edge and bite. Either way it hasn't done me too bad with Vanaheimr and Witchwood Wizard & The Psychic Yeti! As always, I am available to mix your tracks, just head over to my Fiverr gig page here.

That Is All For Now

As you can see a lot has happened since the 200th post special! As always thank you all for your patience and support in all my blogging, producing and artistic endeavours! 🤘🖤