Free tune for July 19, 2005

Obituary - Insane: Not that any of my handful of readers would care, but I just found out tonight that Obituary as a new album out (their last studio album was 8 years ago). And that makes me very happy.

But good lord - Allen West aged more over the past 8 years than even I did:

Bonus: Here's the (horrible & low-quality) video for the same song.

God bless the Tardy boys!

3 down, 4 to go

I finally finished the 3rd book in the A Song of Ice and Fire trilogy (A Storm of Swords). I have already written about the first two books. The third book became swung back a bit towards character development by trying to blur good and evil in several characters. It definitely made me appreciate the series as a whole more, but the second book is still easily my favorite so far.

As for hopes for the rest of the series... I really hope they expand more on some of the "minor" houses, such as Greyjoy and Martell. I'm a bit burnt on Lannisters & Starks, but I continue to enjoy the Baratheons immensely (which probably has a bit to do with them being my favorite house in the CCG). The Night Watch storyline is still easily my favorite; there are some real heartbreaking moments in the second two books.

Free WMV for July 06, 2005

Machine Head - Imperium: One of the heroes of 90's American metal, Machine Head manages to continue to reinvent itself and stick around well after most bands of that era have retired. One thing they are always good for is a blastin' opening track, and Imperium is no exception. It is a typical non-conformist anthem ("Fuck these chains / No god damn slave / I will be different"); not as good as the best Pantera or Fear Factory, but Rob's roar is impressive, and they employ over a dozen riffs here (although maybe only a couple really good ones).