The Miscellaneous Goings On Of Tom - I Keep Marching On

Channelling The Spirit Of Sabaton's Great War 

As we approach the first anniversary of when England went into lockdown for the first time (16th March 2020), it is easy to let the sheer frustration and grievance of this pandemic to get to you. We're all pretty sick of it now and whilst we do have some hope later in the year, there is still a degree of uncertainty that we all have within us, as we speculate as to wether life really will be "normal" on 21st June. All that aside, with March now here, we can look forward to longer days and a bit more sunlight, I am fully embracing the spirit of spring and will keep marching on with the situation at hand. Whilst the lockdown is dragging I'm so thankful for this time to immerse myself in books (of which I have bought a considerable amount recently, more than I care to admit) to escape the monotony of modernity. Today is also World Book Day, a day which I have fond memories of dressing up at my favourite book character in school for the day. I think escapism is particularly poignant at the moment, as we are all longing to be out of the scenario that we find ourselves in because it is such a drain on our morale. Accompanied by a lack of social interaction and it is just a whirlwind of just naff emotions really. I guess what I am trying to say, is that even if it is just for today, pick up a something and read it. Tear yourself away from screens and immerse yourself in a book that grabs your interest. Storytelling has been such an important component to humanity that, as I read centuries old literature, I feel is being lost to some extent because of a lack of creativity and constant remakes. As the great Lemmy once said "Reading's the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it's someone else's vision, isn't it?". March is shaping up to be a bumper month of releases which I'm looking forward to writing about! It constantly feels like the blog is growing and evolving as new opportunities come up regularly and it makes me so happy that I'm making a good impression on the reviewing community! Of course, I set a hits target for this year and that is to get to 20,000 hits, and at the time of writing we are sat at 14,534 which is tangibly close already, so I thank you all for your constant support for my written ramblings! It's taken a month or so but I've finally settled into the blog's new aesthetic, much sleeker and less old school (as much as I love that in my music), how are you guys finding it? Do I need to shuffle it round again or are we ok as is? Either way, despite everything I'm feeling quite optimistic about this second consecutive bumper year for music! Channelling the spirits of Sabaton's Great War, I am just marching on now, we're so close to the end now and I can't wait to see everyone again, in the mean time, I'll keep pressing on and giving you some epic album reviews. 

What I'm Listening To At This Very Moment

A little bit of the Phox! I was gutted I couldn't see them in February but with COVID claiming everything I can't say I was surprised, I do get to see them in October though. Royal Swan was easily one of my albums of the year last year and to see the guys go from strength to strength to strength over the last few years has been incredible. I remember seeing them tear up Mr. Wolf's in, it must have been 2017/2018 and now they're on the bills of some pretty big festivals. Just cataclysmic riffs and beautiful melodies in every song. Alongside punks IDLES they're fast becoming the pride of Bristol, in my opinion anyway. 

What I've Been Jamming To This Week

A variety of things really, obviously the new Architects album For Those That Wish To Exist and the latest Sabaton single Livgardet kept me busy for a couple of days. Definitely a wide scope, but predominately I've been intermittently have a break on account of my ears being incredibly fatigued from daily use, but one album that I have loved spinning is Primordial's Where Greater Men Have Fallen, it is an Irish epic of an album for sure. 

Keeping It Short And Sweet

With the sunlight lengthening these days, I find myself wanting to make the most of them. Going on long rambles listening to audiobooks and music, just lapping up the beauty of nature. This coincides with self-limiting screen time as it's really been taking a toll on my eyes recently. Anyway, thank you all so much for your continued support as always. Make sure you find healthy ways to escape this monotony that we're in at the moment, we're almost there. Big love 🤘💙