2017 A to Z Blogging Challenge reflections post

Let the reflective countdown begin:

"Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror; but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely." - 1 Corinthians 13:12

5. Five reasons why this worked:

1.     The switch from a linkylist to using Facebook posts was a master stroke by the A - Z team. Much easier to participate and only active participants posted.

2.     I met, as always (this was my 4th year in the Challenge), some new people, discovered some cool blogs and learned a few things.

3.     From most of the blogs I visited and commented on, I received reciprocal action.

4.     I successfully challenged some people's perceptions of heavy metal.

5.     I enjoyed myself through discovering a whole bunch of new bands and expanding my knowledge of the diversity of my favourite music genre.

4. Four new bands I now want to hear more of because I've 'fallen in love" with them:

1.     A Breach of Silence (Australian metalcore)

2.     Hiranya (Spanish metalcore)

3.     Insomnium (Finnish melodic death metal)

4.     Taberah (Australian heavy metal)

3. Three bands which just missed the 26 cut. There were other worthy contenders but three notables who were very close were:

1.     Nightwitch   (US heavy metal)

2.     Barbie on Death Trip (German metalcore)

3.     Barbarion (Australian parodic metal)

2. Two top commentors. My thanks to all who visited and commented, but in particular let me name the following bloggers:

1. Keith Hillman Keith's Ramblings
2. Geraint Issit Penguin Ponderings

1. One reason why this was my best year so far in the A - Z: 

This year I wrote for myself. I wasn't trying to sell/promote my books, or increase traffic to/followers of my blog, I simply wrote about one of my passions. I guessed it would not be popular, but that wasn't the point. I write for myself, and that is the biggest thing I am taking away from the challenge this year.

I wish success and happiness to all of you, however you define those things, and I'll catch in 2018.

27 A to Z bands in all their glory (what? 27?)

O is for Oblivion Denied

The Crown Princess of Denmark is an Aussie. She was born in Tasmania. Why am I telling you this? Oblivion Denied is a Danish band and I am an Australian. My gut tells me that the Crown Princess is not a fan of heavy metal, but you never know. I mean if she listened to these guys she might just convert to headbanging. Stranger things have happened.

This duo, yes duo, (Thomas Wagner and Eske Meldgaard Krogh) hail from the city of Stautrup, and offer metal in the groove genre.

Ridin' High is the second single from their upcoming sophomore release titled Lack of Faith.

Both my children attended Dapto High School which held an annual talent show called MADD night. It was at one of these shows where I first heard Four Words to Choke Upon by Bullet for my Valentine. The impressive amateur performance was enough to turn me on to this Welsh pop metal band.

M is for Mortal Soul

For some reason there aren't many African metal bands. I only

found three to include in the A to Z. Mortal Soul are a metalcore band based in Nairobi, Kenya, and this instrumental track, Solace, has been running around in my head for weeks now. I love it. It is from their debut EP called Ashes in the Wind which was released in 2013.

Mortal Soul, who have been likened to Bullet for My Valentine, are Leon, Pete, Joey and Celeste. They got together in 2010. On their Facebook page they list their musical likes/influences, and five of my fave bands are in the list: Bullet for my Valentine, As I Lay Dying, Creed, Trivium and Metallica.

In 2001, I was staying in a motel in Newcastle, NSW, to where I travelled fortnightly for many years for work. I usually stayed in the same hotel, but for some reason I stayed at the Sovereign Inn in Mayfield on this occasion: one and only. They had music channels in their pay TV arsenal, and I was channel surfing when I hit one of them and saw a band which knocked me out.

In 2001 this band released their breakout, and most commercially successful LP to date, Satellite. The song I saw on that video channel was Alive. I soon owned a copy of Satellite, and now have every record they've made. To say I love POD, is a gross understatement.

L is for Lefutray

Hailing from Santiago, Chile, Lefutray were formed in 2005, and they play groove and thrash metal. The band's name is a word taken from the Mapudungan language meaning 'fast sound'. Totally appropriate, right? In case you're interested as I was, Mapudungan is the language of the Mapuche people of south western Chile and central western Argentina.

This track is called Screaming in Silence and it's from their 2011 release Last Breath. Their latest album is called Oath (2015)

On the 31st of March, 1989, I saw Stryper play at the Sydney Sports Arena. Stryper raised the bar for Christian metal, and not without some controversy. They attracted plenty of criticism from Christian fundamentalists for their music, but particularly for their habit of throwing Bibles into the audience at their shows. Despite the furor of the small-minded, Stryper gained respect in mainstream metal circles and reached a lot of people with a very positive message. As one metal loving atheist said: "I generally hate everything Christian, but this song kicks f#$%^ ass." He was referring to the 1984 classic Soldiers Under Command.

The 1989 show was great by the way, and the boys in yellow and black are still rocking the world with their message of faith, hope and love.

K is for Karat

Another new kid on the headbangers block, is this metalcore band
from Malang, East Java in the world's largest archipelago, Indonesia. The name means 'rust' in English, and they formed in 2015. 

Elegi is the debut record by Karat, and from it comes this track Kitalah Luka (which means "Our Wound"). For a debut video, this is pretty slick, and I really like the sound of these Indonesian metalheads.


In 1987, I stopped running from God, and became a Christian. One of the first challenges I faced in my new life was what to do with my huge collection of 'ungodly' heavy metal music. I was working at the time and had sufficient disposable income to purchase a lot of LPs. Most prized was my KISS collection. I had a copy of every record they had released since their debut in 1973, including each of the solo albums.

What did I do? I gave them all away. Yes. All of them. I then began to search for Christian metal. Bands like Whitecross and Bloodgood were every bit as good musically as the stuff I listened to, but they sang about God and positive things like love and forgiveness. Arguably the most successful, and certainly the most high profile Christian metal band of the 80s and early 90s was Stryper...and I'll have more to say about them next time.

J is for Jackdevil

Sepultura is perhaps Brazil's most famous metal export (even though I only recently discovered this), but the largest country in South America, this Portuguese speaking island in a Spanish speaking ocean, produces more than its fair share of metal bands: for example Jackdevil who hail from Sao Luis.

This thrash metal group sings about satanism and evil stuff generally, so consequently they are not on my Christmas card list. Nevertheless, musically they are pretty good. 

Formed in 2010, their latest release is called Evil Strikes Again (2015) This track is from their debut full length album Unholy Sacrifice: Under Metal Command.

I is for Insomnium

Finland is one of only three countries in headbanging around the world to provide two bands. Insomnium is a melodic death metal band formed in 1997 in the city of Joensuu. Singing about darkness, loss, sorrow, pain and nature, the band also features doom and progressive metal influences. For me they epitomise the very best elements of melodic death metal.

This is my favourite song at the moment. I can't get it out of my head. While we sleep is from their 2014 album Shadows of the Dying Sun.

In September last year they released Winter's Gate: a concept album featuring one 40 minute track.

Insomnium are Niilo Sevanen (bass and vocals), Ville Friman (guitar and vocals), Marcus Hirvonen (drums) and Markus Vanhala (guitar.)

In the mid 1980s, I was experimenting with more extreme genres of metal when I discovered a band called Possessed who have been credited as the founders of the death metal genre. At the time, I was also trying out other things like petty crime, binge drinking and drugs. I also had a strong negative reaction to many of my friends becoming 'born again' Christians. Possessed were the exact opposite of a Christian worship band. One of the songs proclaimed their faith with the lyrics: 'We love you Satan, we worship you.'

Hearing that record was part of a series of events in my life which I would describe as turning points. It was too much for me. I actually threw it away after just one partial play through, and have steered clear of bands with overt references to Satanism or occultism.

H is for Hiranya

There are a handful of songs in this awesome A to Z line up which I loved instantly, and am still loving. This is one of them. Lost is from newbie metalcore band Hiranya. They launched in 2015 in the Spanish capital, Madrid.

Sara is the vocalist, and what a voice: a wicked growl and clean vocals. Backed by Johnny W and Dani on guitars, Jio on bass and Carlos on drums, this brand of metal is right up my alley.

Very little info available on these guys, but I reckon they are very good, so don;t be surprised if we hear a lot more from them. I leave you with this: hiranya is a sanskrit word which means 'golden.'

G is for God Damn

Not the British rock band, but the French southern metal band from Lyon. Formed in 2004, they are Charly (bass), Pich (guitars), Renato Di Falco (vocals), Jerem (drums) and Julien Alves (guitars.)

They've released two full length albums: Old Days (2009) and Back to the Grindstone (2012). Other than this sparse information, I can tell you nothing more. They don't even have a wikipedia listing. According to their Facebook page (last updated late 2016) they are working on a new album.

This track is called All In

In the late 80s, I was a regular binge drinker and often went to pubs and clubs to see bands play. I may have been under age, but I didn't look it, so I was never hassled for ID. One night my friends and I went to the Petersham Hotel (Sydney) to a live music venue called Max's. They showcased a lot of local metal bands, and we were metal fans.

I recall not being greatly impressed by the amateurish bands that night, but decidedly more interested in a young lady who was there. I spent most of the night imagining starting a conversation with her, which never eventuated.

On our way back to the train station, someone called out to us from behind. We stopped, as you do. The speaker was a punk who spoke in an accent so thick we had no idea what he was saying. From his increasing tone and agitation we suspected something might be wrong, and had that confirmed when he hit one of us, then pulled out a butterfly knife.

We ran. Thankfully, he didn't follow.

F is for Flesh Juicer

Really? Flesh Juicer? This is one of the worst names in the list, but entirely appropriate for a deathcore band. They all have horrible sounding names. Anyway, Flesh Juicer is from Taiwan (shout out to all my Taiwanese ESL students.)

Although I really don't like deathcore, this video clip is pretty cool: Funeral  is off their 2017 sophomore album Flesh Temple: Build it on Brutal Taichung. 

Information on this band is pretty scarce, but I can tell you they won Best Rock Debut Album (2015) at the Taiwanese equivalent of the Grammy's, so I expect metal heads will hear plenty more from these guys who, apart from frontman Gigo Pro (he of the pig mask), remain nameless because I can't find out who they are.

E is for Eluveitie

Describing themselves as the new wave of folk metal, Swiss band Eluveitie single-handedly changed my view of folk metal. The particular track which caught my attention was The Call of the Mountain. I dare you not to like it. Crunchy guitars, and something that looks like some sort of guitar, harps, violins and bagpipes...what's not to like?

Founded in Zurich in 2002, Eluveitie are Chrigel Glansmann, Rafael Salzmann, Kay Brem, Matteo Sisti, Nicole Ansperger, Alain Ackermann, Jonas Wolf, Michalina Malisz and Fabienne Emi. It reads more like a mixed football team than a band, doesn't it? How do they combine so many instruments and make it metal? Check them out.

In July, 2017 they will release Evocation II: Visions, and I might even buy it.

D is for Decapitated.

With a name like Decapitated, is there any need to question what kind of music they play? This critically acclaimed technical death metal band was formed in 1996 in Krosno, Poland.

I have an anti cooking food blog called I Don't Cook, on which I regale readers with tales of frozen dinners and take-away meals. How is this relevant you ask? Most of my readers are from Poland, so I was really hoping I would find a Polish band good enough to make the cut. As it turned out they nearly didn't make it. I had the slot filled with a Greek band called Distortion of Perception, but during my research, I discovered they had disbanded many years ago. Only bands who are still producing new music and touring qualified for this A to Z. I stumbled on Decapitated as I searched through a list of wannabe 'D' bands.

Decapitated is: Waclaw Kietyka (guitar), Rafal Piotrowski (vocals), Michal Lysejko (drums), and Hubert Wiecek (bass).Their last studio release was Blood Mantra (2014) This track is called Instinct

A is for A Breach of Silence

My headbanging journey around the world begins at home, almost. In Australia's second most northern capital city (Darwin, where I live is the most northern). Brisbane is home to a metalcore band called A Breach of Silence. 

Formed in 2010, they consist of Matt Cosgrove (guitar), Kerrod Dabelstein (guitar), Blair Layt (bass, vocals), Rhys Flannery (lead vocals), and Daniel Trickett (drums). Their latest album, titled Secrets, was released in February 2017.

Click here to see and hear them in action  Falling Away

My journey to the heavy side of music began in the late 70s when I was a tween who used to hang out in my room and listen to the top 40 countdown each week. It might have been on Sunday nights - I forget- but I was more attracted to crunchy guitars and drums than I was to lighter stuff. I guess you could say I was born to rock.

Ironically, the first album I bought, which was in fact a tape, was Dynasty by KISS. They toured Australia that year, but at the age of 11, I was too young to go see them. I've seen them since so, and I'd still count myself a KISS fan. (I say 'ironically' because KISS's biggest hit in Australia was criticized by some as being a disco track.)