Metal Overview: Slaughter

Been a while since I did a smaller Metal Overview fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

As much fun as it is to cover a band with a giant library of music, sometimes it’s nice to look at a group that has a more humble output, and the band I’ve chosen is a strange one for some. Coming in at a time where their style of metal was just about out the door, these Las Vegas boys none the less held fast to what they wanted to play, and managed to achieve a surprising amount of success. I rediscovered them in recent memory, and it seemed only right that I chose this group to be the first covered on Metal Overview for 2025. So, without further delay, here’s my look at the 1990s Hard Rock/Glam Metal band Slaughter. Let’s begin!

Stick It To Ya (1990)

The year was 1990. Heavy Metal, while still popular, would get taken out of the spotlight a year or two later by the musical colossus known as Grunge, but Hair Metal was almost out of the public consciousness as soon as the new decade came in, outside of a few small holdouts that some people had a slim interest in still. Enter the band Slaughter: formed in late 1988, lead vocalist Mark Slaughter and bassist Dana Strum were previously in ex-Kiss member Vinnie Vincent’s group, the Vinnie Vincent Invasion. After Chrysalis Records took the $4 million contract away from Vincent for exceeding his credit line with the label, it was then transferred over to Slaughter and Strum (Who were former band members, btw), and in 1989 the two would complete the lineup with lead guitarist Tim Kelly and drummer Blas Elias. After the formation was finished, the band would enter the studio from May to June of 1989, and on the 23rd of January in 1990, their first record Stick It To Ya was released.
                    
Commercially, Stick It To Ya did a surprisingly good job in the music charts! It wound up selling over 2 million copies in 1990, becoming one of the biggest selling records of that year. It would also chart at no. 18 on the Billboard 200, and by the end of 1990 it would go to no. 23. On top of that, Stick It To Ya would produce 3 singles (Up All Night, Fly To The Angels, Spend My Life), and have music videos for the previously mentioned singles. Pretty impressive if you ask me!

Best Track? Even if you never listened to this album, or even this band to be honest, I have a sneaking suspicion that some of you may have hear Fly To The Angels on the radio at one time. An incredibly soulful & blues influenced track, it becomes all the more sorrowful once you find out the inspiration for it. As Mark Slaughter said in an interview in 2017:

“That song was written about a girlfriend who I went to high school with. I remember I came back from touring and couldn’t get a hold of her. So I asked a friend and he told me he hadn’t seen her. The next thing I know, he calls me back with the news that she had passed away and the funeral was the next day. It was one of those surreal moments. I went to her funeral and it inspired me to write a song about letting go. There’s a real sense of composure in going through those life events that I’m always very conscious of in my music. Seeing what it does for other people is why I continue to write.”

Fly To The Angels

Worst Track? To be perfectly honest, Stick It To Ya doesn’t have a single bad track on it! From top to bottom it’s a hell of a good time, and thankfully there are plenty of people who still remember it. Really it’s own fault is the timing of it’s release: like I said earlier, once it hit 1990, Glam Metal was largely ignored by music listeners outside of some holdouts. To be honestly, it was beginning to leave the musical zeitgeist towards the end of the 1980s.....but that’s a story for another time.

Stick It To Ya. A shockingly good start for a band who’s style wasn’t the juggernaut it used to be, it would establish the band as one of the best of the decade. If by any chance this record interests you, the please listen whenever you can. Next album!

The Wild Life (1992)

Stick It To Ya ended up being a surprising success for Slaughter. Despite Glam Metal almost being out the door as the 90s continued onward, the band’s first release proved that even though it wasn’t massively popular anymore, people still liked that style of music. Because of that love from the fans, not to mention the boost of energy they got from said fans, the band went into the studio in 1991 to record their second album, and on the 21st of April a year later, The Wild Life was released. Ironically, it would chart higher than Stick It To Ya from 2 years prior. Number 8 on the Billboard 200 to be exact, and it would get enough sales to the point where it would be certified Gold. Funny enough, the album didn’t produce any singles that got into the Top 40 Hits on the US Hot 100, though one song did get to the no. 69 spot if you can believe it.

Best Track? Real Love (The song that got to no. 69, btw) harkens back to the Glam Metal height of the 1980s, and it isn’t ashamed of that at all! If anything, it almost feels like the band’s take on the Whitesnake classic Still Of The Night: the instrumentation evokes feelings of sensual love that’s equal parts real & forbidden, and Mark Slaughter’s vocal work just grabs you from the moment he starts singing. The run time is shorter than Still Of The Night, and because of that you’ll have to listen a few time for it to stick.....but when it’s this good, it’s not an issue in any way!

Real Love

Worst Track? Kinda like Stick It To Ya, The Wild Life’s only real fault is timing. It came out at a time where Glam Metal wasn’t really in vogue anymore, only this time it came out a few months after the musical colossus known as Nevermind, and was practically shoved into the closet. It does explain why (at least in my opinion) there’s a hint of Grunge here and there on the album. Not enough to push it away from Hard Rock & Glam Metal in any way, but noticeable enough if you manage to catch it.

The Wild Life. Simultaneously it own thing while possibly adding something new to the mix, it manage to come out stronger than it’s predecessor despite Glam Metal not really being a thing anymore. If Stick It To Ya didn’t work out for you, then perhaps this release will. Next album!

Fear No Evil (1995)

Things were rough for Slaughter after The Wild Life came out. Prior to the recording of their 3rd album, lead singer Mark Slaughter was recovering from nodule surgery on his vocal cords, Tim Kelly was arrested for charges of drug trafficking in 1993, and bassist Dana Strum was rehabilitating from a motorcycle accident that injured his playing hand around the same time. Because of this, recording on the new record, though the songs were completely written during that time. Even then there was still some trouble, as Chrysalis Records was absorbed into EMI Records, and EMI would drop the band from their label not long after that. Luckily, Slaughter got a deal with CMC International, which was a relatively new record label at the time. Once they secured a new deal, and launched a contest to determine the new album’s name, they got back into the studio from 1993 to 1994, and on the 2nd of May in 1995, Fear No Evil was released.

Fear No Evil would go on to be one of the worst charting releases of Slaughter’s career, making it to no. 182 on the Billboard 200. It would go on to sell around 500,000 copies, have a video make for the track Searching, and the band did manage to promote this CD with a North America tour, as well as selling surprisingly well in Japan if you can believe it. Definitely not as impressive as what came before, that’s for sure.

Best Track? Breakdown N' Cry is one of the biggest examples of full-blown Blues Metal I’ve ever listened to! Though it leans more in the Blues sides of things, there’s still some metallic undertones when it comes to the instrumentation (Especially around the end) & the vibes it was trying to create. This isn’t a fast song either, as it goes by nice & slow for just over 6 minutes. Just as the Blues should go by.

Breakdown N' Cry

Worst Track? Really the only bad thing that’s going against Fear No Evil is the startling lack of Glam Metal elements in the music. There’s still some traces of it in a few tracks, but for the most part it’s nowhere to be heard. To play devil’s advocate, it was the mid-90s by this point, and Hair Metal was pretty much non-existent at this point, but it seems as if Slaughter was doing everything they could to go along with the times. This musical shift would continue over the rest of this decade, for the better.....but maybe for the worst.

Fear No Evil. Not as good as the band’s prior 2 records, but it still manages to be entertaining all the same. I don’t recommend it as strongly as I do Stick It To Ya & The Wild Life, but it’s still nice to listen all the same. Now before I go on, I will say that information on the next 2 releases will be sparse. My primary source of information on bands (Metal & Otherwise) doesn’t have as much info on what’s to come, so I hope that’s okay. Next album!

Revolution (1997)

By the time that the tour for Fear No Evil was coming to an end, Tim Kelly’s legal trouble from the drug trafficking charges a few years prior ended. After that situation ended, and everybody was back on the same page, Slaughter went back into the studio to record their 4th album, and on the 20th of May in 1997, Revolution was released. The record.....did not do so good. In fact, it didn’t even make it onto the billboard 200. There weren’t any music videos as far as I know, but I think there might have been a tour for it.

Best Track? Hard To Say Goodbye mark the only track in my opinion that kept it’s Glam Metal past mostly intact. The more modern recording & production quality along with the Grunge vibes keep this from sounding like something you’d hear in the 80s, yet there’s still plenty of nostalgia from the prior decade coming in hard that you really can’t avoid it at all. To a certain extent, It almost sounds & feels like Old LA Tonight from Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzmosis from 2 years prior, what with the feelings of nostalgia and looking at the past. It may be cheese in some respects, but it’s that cheese factor that makes me smile so much.

Hard To Say Goodbye

Worst Track? Like Fear No Evil, Revolution’s only real fault is the lack of Glam Metal elements. It’s more apparent on this issue, as the music went much more down the eclectic and psychedelic road I talked about earlier. You can still get a trace of Glam here & there, but you gotta pay really close attention in order to find it. However, I still find the shift to be pleasant on the ears, and is still a nice change. However, it’s a shame that it came at the cost of their prior identity.

Revolution. Though the abandoning of their Glam Metal roots is sad, the potential for Slaughter to be a great eclectic and psychedelic band is definitely there. If you like your music to be a little weird at times, then definitely give this record a try. Unfortunately, not only did the album not chart, but by 1998, tragedy would strike. Next album.

Back To Reality (1999)

Like I said a moment ago, by the time it reached 1998, tragedy would strike Slaughter. On the 5th of February in that year, longtime band member Tim Kelly would pass away in Arizona due to a car accident. His passing hit the band pretty hard, but none the less they trudged on, as they didn’t want to be stuck because of grief. Dave Marshall would briefly perform with them while they were in Japan, but Tim’s full-time replacement came in the form of Jeff Blando. His prior groups were Left For Dead and Saigon Kick, so he definitely has some credit to his name. Once they got their replacement, they went right into the studio, and on the 29th of June in 1999, their final album Back To Reality was release. Like Revolution, it failed to chart on the Billboard 200, and there weren’t any music videos or touring as far as I know.

Best Track? Kinda gotta give to the tracks Love Is Forever & Dangerous. Both tunes come across as incredibly nostalgic, as while there aren’t any Glam Metal elements to be heard, the vibes & the energy of these two songs most certainly conjure the Glam scene of the 1980s to early 90s. There’s even some cheese factor from that time as well, and yet it’s not overwhelming either. Please don’t skip these two when you hear them!

Love Is Forever

Dangerous

However, I gotta give some very high Honorable Mentions to Silence Of Ba. From the moment I first heard this, it almost came across like a Devin Townsend instrumental. Maybe not in terms of instrumentation (Even though the instruments sounded similar to what HevyDevy would do in the 90s), but the vibes come across like that of something that the Mad Canadian would unleash upon one’s ears. Definitely a pleasant surprise!

Silence Of Ba

Worst Track? To be honest, at this point in Slaughter’s career they’ve all but abandoned their Glam Metal origins, and seemingly embraced a late 90s Hard Rock shell that’s got some eclectic & psychedelic spots painted on it. You might, and I do mean MIGHT, get a minuscule sliver of Glam in some rare moments, but by 1999 the band was done with what got them so popular in the first place. To play devil’s advocate again, it was 1999, and by this point nobody was asking for the subgenre anymore except in cases where they wanted to experience a flood of nostalgia. Even so, you almost feel like you gotta do a double take when you listen to this record for the first time, as fans from the beginning of the decade might not believe what they’re hearing at first.

Back To Reality. The furthest away from 1990, yet the quality from prior releases is still very much accounted for. If you were a longtime fan that was disillusioned by Glam Metal in the 90s, or you’re a fan of 90s Rock, then this is the album for you!

And that was my look at Slaughter. Perhaps a bit too late to the 80s Glam Metal party, but none the less they managed to hold onto a little of that time’s musical magic. Even if they never produce a new album, the ones they did are wonderful in their own right. So with that, February continues onward, and in a few weeks I’ll have my review for Katsucon 2025. Until then, take care!



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If you’re curious about listening to these albums, click on the links below:

Stick It To Ya (w Bonus Tracks)

The Wild Life (w Bonus Tracks)

Fear No Evil

Revolution

Back To Reality

Also, if you would like a documentary on the band, check out the link below:

Slaughter - The Wild Life (Documentary 1991)

MTG Set Review: Theros Beyond Death

Happy 1st of February fellow Otaku & Metalheads?

So, uh, the rest of last month was a bit of a shitshow. Already, the beginning of the 2nd Trump administration bent the United States over the table & started molesting it, but at least nothing blew up, so I’ll take what we can get. In the meantime, we’re now at the number 4 spot of my albums from 2020, but that’s not all I have in store for this month! I’ve got a few extra goodies I’m releasing, and today’s is something I alluded to on the 1st of January. MTG was pretty big in 2020, and the first output was pretty big. It was a return to a fairly recent plane we all went to, but one that was going through some pretty massive turmoil. Old characters came back, new ones emerged, and plans were set into motion that would affect the plane a few years later. So, craft that gold mask, escape the underworld, and get a look at my review for Theros Beyond Death. Let’s begin!

Story & Setting
Taken from the MTG Wiki:

“There is no ebook for Theros Beyond Death, nor were there weekly updates for Magic Story. It was revealed that the blowback from War of the Spark: Forsaken caused the Theros Beyond Death fiction to be delayed. The Franchise Team tried to find the correct time and channel to release it at a later point in time.

The set focuses on the Underworld of Theros over the normal world of the plane, with a major plot point being the return of Klothys, the Therosian god of destiny. It features the planeswalker Elspeth Tirel and her torturer Ashiok.

The Gods are at war, and they bring their champions to fight. Elspeth breaks free and defeats Heliod with a weapon created from her past traumas. Klothys finds out about Elspeth escaping the Underworld so she is sending someone to bring her back to the Underworld or capture her. ”

The blurb is just a condensation of what goes on in the set. There is a lot more that goes on than what’s above, and for the most part it’s actually pretty entertaining & well written. However, I will also say that there are places where story & characters are rather rushed. I’ll bring it up again a little later, but I thought I heard back then that Beyond Death was meant to be 2 sets, not one. Given that almost every main release since then has just been one, it’s entirely possible.

Art
The original Theros had wonderful artwork, and Beyond Death continues this quality. Many of the images seen really show off the Greco-Roman nature of the plane incredibly well: from the populace, to all of the various creatures, and the magic that many have access to, it’s clear that the art team were putting in a lot of work. My favorite detail that was in the first release of Theros that comes back in space in this second outing is the enchantment theme of constellations & stars. Because the gods come from & live in the stars (Save for Erebos, who dwells in the Underworld), the various beings born from them look like they’re partially made from stars, and much of the magic of the plane looks like it’s manipulating stars & constellations as well. It’s a pretty interesting take on Greco-Roman mythology, and it continues to be stunning 5 years later.

Mechanics
For the most part, Theros Beyond Death shares some of the mechanics from the original Theros block. Constellation has return, as well as the overarching theme of Enchantments. Whether it’s enchantment creatures (Including the gods of the plane), simple enchantments & auras alongside sagas, or even enchantment artifacts, it’s all back on the table. Given the theme of the Underworld coming into play, they gave us a new mechanic called Escape. Representing getting out of the realm of the dead, it’s actually pretty easy to understand: you tap some mana, and then you remove some cards from your graveyard from the game, and the amount of cards to remove is right next to the mana cost. On top of that, creatures with the mechanic often come back a little stronger after escaping, or they create an effect when they escape. Either way, it’s a flavorful mechanic, and one I hope comes back in the future!

Negative Aspects
Theros Beyond Death only had 2 bad spots in my view. The first point would be the somewhat rushed nature of the set. I don’t know if this was true or not (Probably was), but I could have sworn that TBD was meant to be 2 sets instead of one. If that was the case, it could explain why parts of the story went by fast (There are 3 Titans mentions, but only 2 got released in 2020, with the last in 2024 in Modern Horizons 3). Secondly, and maybe this is more of a nitpick than anything else, but the Escape mechanic can a little irksome to me. Flavor wise it’s perfect, as it shows off how those who are trapped in the Underworld can get out. My issues are that it’s spread out a bit unevenly among the colors, and the fact that there are a few non-creatures with the mechanic as well. Again, I give it to flavor reasons some non-creature spells have them, but it just come across as odd to me.

Overall Impression & Rating
Theros Beyond Death was a fun way to start the 2020 MTG season. It was a return to a fan favorite plane, and it had some new twists that made it different when compared to it’s first appearance. Sure, it felt rushed in a spot or two, and perhaps some of the mechanics were clunky, but our trip to the Underworld of Theros was neat. Hopefully if we go back a 3rd time, things will be smoothed out by then.

Theros Beyond Death gets an 8 to 8.5  out of 10.

And that was my review for Theros Beyond Death. A little dented in some spots, but still comes out strong everywhere else. So, I’ll see you tomorrow for my annual metal overview for my friend Al, and then before the 15th of this month, when we’ll look at a monstrous compilation, and not long after that my review for Katsucon 2025. See you later!

Album Review: Alestorm's Curse Of The Crystal Coconut (Revised)

The end of the first month of 2025 is already here somehow fellow Otaku & Metalheads.

So, uh, we’re somehow still standing everybody. Sure, the cheeto is now back in power, and has molested the country in a few ways that would make a pimp crap themselves, and there’s now the thought that he’ll screw things up so bad we might not be here in the future, but we are all here right NOW. In an effort to somehow infuse all of us with some kind of positivity, today’s review might be the start of that! As you can tell, I’m taking a revised look at Curse Of The Crystal Coconut, which I looked at once before back in 2020 during the final portion of my 2nd Power Metal Pandemoniun. Time has changed in the near 5 years since then, but has my opinion on the record changed? Well, find a bottle of the strongest rum, sharpen your cutlass, and take a look at my revised review of Alestorm’s 2020 release, Curse Of The Crystal Coconut. Let’s begin!
                                        
Background
Taken from my original review:

“As the years went on for Alestorm, their musical craftsmanship improved from album to album. From Captain Morgan’s Revenge to No Grave But The Sea, there was a clear advancement and evolution of the band’s musical talent & taste. However, this crew of musical scallywags didn’t rest on their treasure chests and rum barrels, and so they decided to set out on another musical voyage. On the 8th of January, 2020, our boys from Scotland would reveal the name of their new adventure, and on the 29th of May within the same year, Curse Of The Crystal Coconut would be released to us cutthroats and drunkards in such a plagued time. The album was received very well across the board: while there were some that gave it a more neutral rating, the consciences seems to be that the album is a worthy addition to Alestorm’s musical treasure horde.”

Basic Description
Silly pirate fun!

I spoke of it in 2020, but I said in my original review that I really appreciated the good hearted humor of Curse Of The Crystal Coconut. Back then I said I loved it because it helped make that plague-ridden time easier to go through, and to a certain extent that’s what the record is going to be doing this year. Even taking a brief mention of politics out of the picture, Alestorm are top to bottom going down the goofy road hard, and it doesn’t let up at any point.

Best Track
I said it back in 2020, and I’ll say it again here, but the duo of Treasure Chest Party Quest & Tortuga still slaps! These two songs are practically night & day, as the former is basically a rap song gone metal, and the later is a metal song gone rap. Regardless of which style they pursue, both tracks have plenty of quality instrumentation & vocal work, not to mention plenty of Alestorm’s modern humor. This is especially evident in the music videos for both tunes, as they don’t let up with all of the comedy, memes, and even the trolling I originally talked about back in 2020. There’s plenty of other good songs, but you can’t skip these two at all!

Treasure Chest Party Quest

Tortuga

Worst Track
I said back in the original review that the only real fault lies with the band’s seemingly excessive trolling on this record. In hindsight, I’m not exactly sure why I said that, save for maybe some of the lyrics in a few of the songs. However, one thing I will say this time around is Alestorm’s seemingly over-correction of their prior vibes. While they were never 100% serious on most of their older work, they did seem to strike something of a balance between having fun & having some bite. But on the prior 2 releases, they seemed to move away from almost all of the seriousness that their starting material had, and completely braced the comedic aspect overtime. To play devil’s advocate, Christopher Bowes did say in interviews that he & the rest of the band didn’t want to be like groups that took the style more seriously, and I respect them for that. Even so, they went too far in the comedy direction, and that’s pretty overwhelming for some.

Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:

Curse Of The Crystal Coconut

Also, I should make a mention of the racism & abuse accusations that spawned back in 2021. More specifically, the accusations & allegations with Gloryhammer & Chris Bowes. Without getting into massive detail, singer Thomas Winkler had be fired from the band for reasons I believe are still unknown to this day. Not long after, it was rumored that bassist James Cartwright allegedly abused a former partner, and not long after that a series of leaked group chat conversations came out, with members of the band using some really awful racial & sexist language. I won’t get into it here any further, but the link below will provide more of the sordid details.

Alleged Leaked Chats Show Gloryhammer Are Misogynists + Obscene Racists (Loudwire)

Overall Impression & Rating
Curse Of The Crystal Coconut is still fun even now. Sure, it’s a giant correction from their oldest material, and the racism//sexism charges did sully the band’s reputation for a bit, but at the same time it’s hard to not smile when you’re listening to this record. If you’re up for some absurd fun on the high seas, then this is the album for you!

Curse Of The Crystal Coconut still gets a 9  out of 10.

And that was my revised review for Curse Of The Crystal Coconut. I liked it back in 2020, and I still like it now. Faults aside, Alestorm still manage to have a hold on their fans, and I hope that one day their issues are completely scrubbed clean in time. Well, I got my no. 5 reviews done, and now it’s time to go onto number 4. See you all in February, and see you all in a day or two for a look at the first MTG set of 2020. Until then, take care!


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If you’d like to read my original review of this album, click on the link below:

Album Review: Curse Of The Crystal Coconut (Original)

Album Review: Haunt's Mind Freeze

The first review of my retrospective look at 2020 begins here fellow Otaku & Metalheads.

We begin 2025 with the look at my no. 5 albums of that year, and given how chilly it is outside where I am, our first is quite appropriate. The record I’m looking at today is from a fairly new band, as they have been putting out releases since 2018. On top of that, the group is one of many that conjure up old-school metal vibes while putting their own little twists on the style. The end result is just a fun slab of 80s-styled nostalgia, but with modern recording & production to make it feel fresh. So, get on your warmest winter clothes, drink a nice hot cup of cocoa, and take a look at my review of Mind Freeze from the band Haunt. Let’s begin!

Background
Our story begins in 2017. Originally a side project of Trevor William Church, Haunt was to be worked on alongside his existing band Beastmaker, which was considerably more Doom Metal than the more tradition metallic sound that the side project was going to embody. In the same year, Church would write and record Haunt's debut release, the extended play Luminous Eyes, with Daniel Wilson playing drums for the recording. It was first released digitally as an independent release, but the Shadow Kingdom Records label would later put it out on CD.

Cut to 2018, and Church wrote and recorded a single for Haunt, Ghosts. Later in the year, Haunt would release their first full-length studio album, Burst into Flame. Daniel Wilson would come back to  play drums for the record, but this time as a full-blown band member. Accompanying him were Matthew Wilhoit on bass and John Tucker on guitar. Both of them would stay as permanent members, but Wilhoit would be eventually replaced by Taylor Hollman on following releases.

This all leads us to 2020. On the 10th of January in that year, Haunt released their 3rd full-length release, Mind Freeze. The lineup for that record would be Daniel Wilson on drums, Church on vocals & guitars, John Tucker on lead guitar, and of course Taylor Hollman on bass. I confess I actually haven’t listened to the band’s material prior to this release, but if the subject matter is anything even remotely like what came before.....then you won’t be surprised as to what I’m going to say next.

Basic Description
When Thrash & Power Metal collide.

There’s been a few albums I’ve covered in recent years where I think that the mixing of two styles doesn’t work at first, but Mind Freeze is a giant exception for me. Thrash Metal & Power Metal are sub-genres that are made for each other, with the former carrying bringing it’s speed and aggression, and the later with it’s upbeat energy and intensity. The end result can either be considered a Thrash Metal album with some more positivity, or a Power Metal album with a little more aggression. Despite how imbalanced that might sound for some, the truth of Mind Freeze is that both styles are evenly balanced, with neither overpowering the other.

Best Track
It’s hard to not fall for the title track of the album! If I recall correctly, Mind Freeze was the first single off the record, and if it was I think it was a smart move. The rhythm & beats are simple but they pull in potential listeners with ease, Trevor William Church’s vocal work is on the simple side, but he’s got quite the presence & works well on the track, and the overall production leaves no obvious signs of scuff. Though it should have opened the album, something about it being a little further in gives it a little extra magic.

Mind Freeze

Worst Track
To be honest? There really isn’t a bad track on Mind Freeze. From top to bottom, the 9 songs we’re given are just wonderful. If there is one complaint to say, and I admit that it’s a little childish at this point to call this out in some of my prior reviews, but it’s run time is on the short side somewhat. To play devil’s advocate it’s not as short as other smaller running time albums, as it clocks in at 37 minutes & 12 seconds, and because of that you don’t need to listen to it as many times for it to stick in your head when compared to other shorter records. Even so, there are probably some people that will get turned off by the run time, and those individuals will possibly not listen to this release because of that factor.

Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, click on the link below:

Mind Freeze

Overall Impression & Rating
Mind Freeze is just a fun & simple time. It may be a bit on the fast side for some, but the fun mix of 2 popular sub-genres into one whole makes for a pleasant experience. In the time since this release, Haunt has released 7 more records, and while I haven’t listened to them yet, I can only assume that they improved in quality when compared to this pleasant little frosty.

Mind Freeze gets an 8 out of 10.

And that was my look at Mind Freeze. The very first album of 2020 I came across, it would help build a shield for me to go through that year without too much harm. Shorter in terms of running time as it may be, it’s recording & production quality along with the fun factor. So see you all at the end of the month, for we’ll be returning to the hunt for a very peculiar coconut. Until then, stay warm!

Food For Thought/Thought For Food No. 34: 5 Years Later

2020. Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since the start of this rather horrible decade. Hard to believe it’s been 5 years since a world-wide plague came & swept over the entire planet, killing so many & hurting just as much. Here in the United States, I don’t think I even need to say what it was like. We had the most people die from The Plague, all thanks to our “Dear Leader” at the time, who unfortunately will be sworn in again on the 20th. We had racial tensions the likes of which we haven’t seen in forever, food & supply shortages, and incompetency from (Most, if I’m being honest) our political leaders (ESPECIALLY the GOP) the likes of which will only get worse during these next 4 years.

I think we can all remember moments from 2020. Remember moments pretty easily from that year to be honest. However, trying to recall that whole year from beginning to end is practically impossible. The isolation, not to mention the disease-ridden blur that was COVID, makes 2020 such a hazy year for pretty much all of us. Not only that, but with all of the people that died, along with many business both small & large closing their doors for good, makes that entire time so much more obscured than it needed to be.

For a brief period, after that god-awful time I thought there was hope. I thought that things would get better, and in various times since that year it almost seemed like it. However, with what’s been happening over in the Middle East towards the end of 2023, not to mention all of the increasing rise of “Conservatism” in so many parts of the world, that hope almost feels like an illusion at this point. To be perfectly honest, hope does truly feel kind of pointless nowadays, and with the kind of year I had in 2024, it’s just made that feeling so much worse for me. However, I’m still alive. Maybe not very happy or joyful, but I still have a heartbeat, and maybe I’ll get through whatever kind of pit I’m in.

So for 2025, I wanted to do something different when it came to my reviews. For this year, I want to review the various pieces of media that helped me through 2020. My top albums of that year, some of the video games & MTG sets, and even some of the anime from that time. I’ve already looked at a few pieces from then, so in response to that I’ll be doing revised versions of those reviews. On top of that, I’ll be putting up some less.....hostile Food For Thought/Thought For Food articles, talking about what I was thinking during that time, along with a few other things. I'll have it on a tight schedule as well: the 1st of a month, the 15th, and on the 30th unless otherwise (Looking at you, February).

So, I’ll be starting this hopefully year-long retrospective series of reviews in the middle of this month, when I’ll be looking at the two albums at my no. 5 spot from that year, and the 1st album will be a bit......chilly. See you then!




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If you’re curious where the image came from, click on the link below:

Sad Meditative Cyberpunk Music - Ethereal Blade Runner Ambient Journey - Rain Sounds