Inspired by Blut Aus Nord

These dudes... This band has two sole members that have been recording all this amazing shit since 1994. Such a good fucking year for music! They haven't stopped since. Another insanely talented band from France and their brand of Blackened ethereal mystifying metal is soo influential in the riffs I write. In German the name Blut Aus Nord means Blood from North. I cannot recommend this stuff enough. To start, I would recommend Memoria Vetusta II ; Dialogue with the stars, this album feels like space. There's a lot of material recorded by these guys and a lot of it is very experimental and I've grown to  appreciate it all as a collective... I could write about this forever, but I'll stop here and let the music speak for itself, which is what I prefer to do always.

 

Daniel Higgs: The Uncommon Musician

World renown, legendary Tattoo artist, whom these days only wants to be referred to as of now a Musician. Legendary on both plains if you ask me. Higgs has been relevant in both tattoo and music worlds for quite some time with his first and most recognizable project Lungfish where he layed down some crazy poetic vocals. His current project in which he plays his banjo and sings is on a whole other level. Some serious Spiritual and profound music laced with meanings left to the listener to interpret. His style is quite unorthodox and that's the main reason I'm all about. Higgs' Organic and free flow songwriting is something untouchable in many realms of understanding. Probably why Al Cisneros and OM decided to play a handful of tour dates with Higgs. Do yourself a favor and delve into Daniel Higgs' spiritual world of enlightenment. Support the man by purchasing some of his recordings HERE and never forget his contributions to the Tattoo world.

JEF WHTHD

Not only is this man responsible for some of thee most devastating releases Ive ever heard but he's also an amazing painter and tattoo artist. His flash is insane. I recently had the pleasure of playing an Art collective show that featured him Stevie Floyd, Jas Helena, Brian Proteau, amongst some other fine artists. I picked up some rad art work, played an awesome set alongside Funerary, and got to wrap out with Jef and he is one hell of a genuine dude. Cheers man, you are such an inspiration on so many levels and I looking forward to getting some of your artwork on my skin in the near future and visiting the new shop you and Stevie are opening in Portland. Keep it up. Hails Leviathan and the almighty Lurker of Chalice.

Obsidian Grave Druids Hymnal

Shameless self promotion plug..... this is off my lo fi demo Ive been working on for awhile, everything is organic and recorded within a couple takes, mistakes and everything included to keep it real and as genuine as possible     http://obsidiangrave.bandcamp.com/track/druidshymnal  this is the cover, o photo i took in the Oregon caves that had me feeling quite captivated and spiritual. This project is my "ode to nature" and the mighty aptitude all around us that we can harness and express from within. ObsidianGrave

GATEKEEPER VISIONS

Gatekeeper and Salvador Dali? and Rainy days.. with pills... shit

These dudes know whats up. 2 piece Electro group from NY.  Im down, like some evil knight rider fantasy dreamscape shit on opiates. They even came out with a VHS with videos of the songs  Damn.
Here's some images from the shit..

Old Familiar Comb Company

These dudes are legit! GO check them out, Quality, sustainable, "metal", beard and mustache combs . I was sick of breaking my wood ones and then i found this, complete with a bottle opener and even personalized if you wish. http://oldfamiliarcombcompany.com/   for good quality...

Hearses Live at Monstro's, Chico, CA 03/22/2014

 Here's a recent live clip shot by Scott Carlson from Ancient Altar. Check his band out.Good dudes and Heavy Tunes. Also this is a song from the forthcoming Hearses demo. Your ears have been warned. We are set to record in the next few weeks

HELL III

If you don't own this you missed out like I did. I somehow missed this even though there should be a copy out there somewhere with my name on it. MSW is a friend of mine and I've got to watch the progression happen through the years and this motherfucker Impresses the "Hell" out of me. Once upon a time My band visited The Burial Grounds in Salem Oregon and I knew nothing of the place besides the few cult-like things i was following around on the internet which wasn't much, All I knew was that members of the project Munn may be there and maybe I would have the chance to meet them and talk about "real underground music".

The Burial Grounds greeted us with open arms and shared the mutual appreciation and affinity as did we for extreme underground music. Little did I know we were playing in the PALACE of all things fucking heavy and amazing. This particularly small scene and crew are responsible for more influential albums and music than I could even comprehend,  or keep track of for that matter. Mania, Merkstave, Hell, the Fools, Will 'o the Wisp, River, LEECH, and there's so much more..

So one night after another awesome basement show we played on another northwest tour Iii was taken to a dark place of the backyard and given a blank white tape with "HELL" written in sharpie on it. I was told to keep this close and to not share with many others. Well, I held up my end of the bargain but I had to show the band mates that night on our rainy drive from Salem to Portland and we popped the tape in and I proceeded to have my mind blown for the next 40 mins or so... my only response? "That Motherfucker" "I had no idea". Turns out that was a copy of the HELL I tape. Since then everything put out as "HELL" has been heavily influential and crushingly devastating.

Now we are here with the the Third Vinyl release in the Trilogy of Hell, and my favorite release yet. I don't EVER want everyone to understand what I'm talking about here because that would ruin all this, but I did have to share my experience with not only HELL but this scene I hold so close to my heart...

HEY Salem friends, sorry to get all sappy on your asses but I had to. ... Fuck 

(My only complaint to you my friend is that I wish I could afford all of your stuff, but if I did buy it all I couldn't pay my rent every month, you fucker)

INQUISITION cassettes

Fuck.

I'm not saying much here, if you know then you know. NOW I can blast this at the river this summer. Thanks HHR for doing this. Now can you please do the rest of their discography? I missed out the first time on the rest of their cassette releases. Inquisition Is on tour once again playing shows too big for me to enjoy them in a live setting. Inquisition, please do another tour at smaller venues with bands without egos. Thanks.

Mania Revel

out on Eternal Warfare A damn fine label.

Mania never ceases to amaze me from the first time I saw a "Mania set" in Nate's (aka Mania) basement I had no idea what to expect or what the fuck a "Mania set" was going to be. It would be something that changed my view on one man musical projects and what you can do live as a solo artist. Since then all of the recordings I've tracked down have never dissapointed. Revel continues on with the tradition except this release has alot more musical progression going on if you ask me. This is by far my favorite release yet and the music speaks for itself.

I don't know how many fucking guitar tracks he's used on some of these pieces but the harmonies are ridiculous adding an intense ethereal, otherworldly sound to the always harnessed chaos that Mania does so well. Stand out tracks are "The Storm" "Mirror" "Portals" and "Letting go". This album is much more trance induced and hypnotic leaving you with a sense of space and cosmic fury! Black metal to the infinite and beyond! Job well done my friend. Watch out for a vinyl release sometime this year.

New things.

Here's the deal,
 I do this blog for myself mainly, but also to share my interests with others. At first, this blog was intended all things metal, but as years have passed Obsidian Grave is more than the name of "this blog", my solo-project, and a song i wrote for one of my bands Hearses. Obsidian Grave is all things me, It's my true form of expression and this is the name I shall use for it . Apologies to anyone who may be let down by my future posts that shall not reflect "metal" at all. My taste is eclectic and I intend to express my interests right here. I got soo overwelmed with all the info and research I've found on the internet that this will serve as my file dumpster. Enjoy all the trash...