Blitzkrieg #13: Return Trip

Goddamn y’all, I haven’t written one of these since 2013! But, I figured THKD’s return to active duty after a pretty meager 2021, in which I only published three reviews and zero interviews, was as good a reason as any to bring back da’ blitz.

So why the absence last year? I’ve often complained of being burned out on writing, but last year it really hit me. I worked on my YouTube channel for a bit, as well as a podcast that only lasted for two episodes in an effort to stay at least somewhat creative, but for the most part I found myself in a pandemic-induced malaise that I couldn’t seem to dig myself out of no matter what I tried.

But towards the end of 2021 I started to get reflective and remembered that I love writing and I also love metal too goddamn much to ever give up on either one. They’ve always been there for me and so I feel like I need to be there for them. I might not be the best writer out there and I definitely might not be as good as I once was, but I’m either too stubborn or too stupid for surrender to ever be an option, so it looks like you guys are stuck with me for the duration. Sorry about your damn luck.

Anyway, I’ve got some goals I wanna work on this year. First I want to post more regularly, I’m thinking I’ll start with at least two posts a month and increase from there. Secondly, I need to finish THKD’s Top 100 Metal Albums before I’m too old and decrepit to type, so I wanna focus on getting more entries under my belt; I’ve already got a few in mind that I think folks will dig. I also wanna bring back some of the old semi-regular features, such as the Blitzkrieg, Bandcamp Band Crap and of course Oodles of Brutals.

One thing I don’t intend to focus on is interviews; the last four or five interviews I sent out to bands got totally flaked on, which sure as shit didn’t help with my lack of desire to do much with THKD last year. It’s a pretty crummy feeling to work hard on coming up with good questions, only for the band to not have the respect or common courtesy to hold up their end of the bargain. Honestly, they could just tell me from the get-go to “fuck off” and I’d respect that way more than agreeing to do an interview and then flaking, because at least I’d know where I stood and wouldn’t have wasted my time writing a bunch of questions.

But enough complaining about flaky metal musicians. Now that I’m back, I’d much rather focus on the positives and make up for lost time. A big thanks to everyone that continues to stick with me on this wild ride throughout all the hiatuses, identity crises and assorted other nonsense I’ve put this blog through over the last dozen or so years. I ain’t done yet, so whether ya like it or not, learn to love it, because it’s the best thing goin’ today! WOOO!

Visions from the Fractal Generator

As Isolation Grind continues to evolve and grow, I’m hoping to do more “round-up” style pieces such as the one you’re about to read.  The reasons for this are many, but the main ones are as follows:

1. I hope to be able to cover more ground.  Let’s face it, a metric fuck-ton of metal albums get released each year, and my lazy ass covers only a small handful of them, meaning that year after year there are tons of albums I’d like to cover that slip through the cracks.  Round-up style pieces seem like a pretty good option for spreading the love and giving more worthy albums some digital ink.

2. The more I listen to metal and write this blog, the more I’m starting to realize that not every album needs a five hundred word review.  It’s entirely possible that I’m running out of shit to say about metal, but I honestly think a lengthy, in-depth review is a bit of a time-waster when you can just go listen to the damn album yourselves with a few mouse clicks and form your own opinion.

3. I discover and re-discover old shit just as often as I listen to new shit.  I often want to write about the older music I’m listening to, but not every used CD score or re-discovery of an old album is worthy of a Top 100 Albums post.  I’m hoping that this will give me the opportunity to talk about older albums, be they universally recognized classics or hidden gems on a regular basis.

Blitzkrieg #11: Just buy the damn thing!

The YouTube video above is of Suffocation guitarist Guy Marchais buying his band’s recently released seventh album, Pinnacle of Bedlam, at his local FYE. I myself attempted to do the same thing last night, except FYE didn’t have it and even though Best Buy‘s website said they had it in stock, it was nowhere to be found when I got there, and none of the employees wanted to help me (I saw the clerk I approached for assistance say “fuck” under his breath as I walked towards him; your customer service technique leaves a lot to be desired there, Poindexter); I probably won’t be going back there for anything, ever (sadly these are the only two options for buying metal in Des Moines, the one independent record store we have doesn’t know what the fuck heavy metal is). On top of this, Nuclear Blast for whatever reason isn’t down to supply THKD with promos in spite of my best efforts to work with them (the Fleshgod Apocalypse interview HERE and a Lock Up interview that was never returned). So, in spite of this being what I consider to be a pretty major new metal release that should be available everywhere, it looks like I’ll be Amazon-ing it up to get my Suffo-fix.