My Ruin 'A Southern Revelation': free music to download

I've moved and still getting settled. I will pick things back up in the new year and hopefully finally getting around to making this blog the place I meant it to be.

Thought I would post though that former Century Media recording artists, My Ruin; have a new album released today and one of the many awesome things about it is that it is free.

It is available from http://myruin.net. You just have to click on 'Download' below the header picture. Though make sure to dig in to the previous posts to see the music video for the first track on the album, "Tennessee Elegy", and other tidbits.

On the music page you can also download a couple of cover songs just look for the links!

Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Release October 18, 2011

October 18,2011

Alarum - Natural Causes
Alesana - A Place Where the Sun is Silent (regular and deluxe edition)
Ascension - Consolamentum 
Cradle of Filth - Evermore Darkly

Cryptborn – In the Grasp of the Starving Dead

Electro Quarterstaff - Akyroyd
Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth
Hypocrisy - Hell Over Sofia: 20 Years of Chaos and Confusion
Iced Earth - Dystopia
Insomnium - One for Sorrow
Nunfuckritual - In Bondage to the Serpent
Solstafir - Svartir Sandar
Tsjuder - Legion Helvete

next week teasers: Black Tusk, Hammers of Misfortune, Russian Circles

Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.

Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Release October 11, 2011

October 11,2011

3 - The Ghost You Gave Me
Absu - Abzu
Amebix - Sonic Mass
As You Drown - Rat King
Black Cobra - Invernal
Brand New Sin - United State
Casino Madrid - Robots
Charred Walls of the Damned - Cold Winds on Timeless Days
Cipher System - Communication the Storms (just the single on Zune Marketplace)
Corroded - Exit to Transfer
Cyco Miko - Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour
Divine Ascension - As the Truth Appears (for whatever reason listed as Divine Acension on Zune Marketplace)
Eldritch - Gaia's Legacy
Evanescence - Evanescence
Five Finger Death Punch - American Capitalist
Fuck the Facts - Die Miserable
Halford - Live at Saitama Super Arena
Hull - Beyond the Lightless Sky
I Declare War - I Declare War
Jeffrey Nothing - The New Psychodalia
Judas Priest - The Chosen Few
Michael Schenker - Temple of Rock
Myrath - Tales of the Sands
Nile - Worship The Animal: The 1994 Lost Recordings
Pain of Salvation - Road Salt Two
Redemption - This Mortal Coil (regular and deluxe edition available)
Renaissance of Fools - Renaissance of Fools
Skeletonwitch - Forever Abomination
This Is Hell - Black Mass
Threat Signal - Threat Signal
Trapped Under Ice - Big Kiss Goodnight
Volumes - Via
Voyager - The Volume of I

next week teaser: Cradle of Filth, Evile, Iced Earth

Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.

Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Release September 20 - October 4, 2011

Sorry for the delay. Was on vacation and took a little time to get motivated afterward.

September 20, 2011
Atlas Moth - An Ache for the Distance
 Mournful Congregation - Unspoken Hymns
Neurosis - Sovereign (extra track remaster) *original issue on Zune Marketplace
Opeth - Heritage (regular and special edition available)

September 27, 2011
Abhor - Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti
Axel Rudi Pell - Ballads IV
Sebastian Bach - Kicking & Screaming *for whatever reason album listed as 'Kicking' on Zune Marketplace
Betraying the Martyrs - Breathe in Life
The Body & Braveyoung - Nothing Passes
Brutal Truth - End Time
Extreme Noise Terror - Holocaust in my Head (reissue) *2009 reissue on Zune Marketplace
Falloch - Where Distant Spirits Remain
The Fucking Wrath - Valley of the Serpent's Soul
Fyrnask - Bluostar
Generation Kill - Red White and Blood
Glorior Belli - The Great Southern Darkness
Hatesphere - The Great Bludgeoning
Hundredth - Let Go
Junius/Rosetta - Split *for whatever reason Zune Marketplace actually splits the record find each artists track in their individual artist spots
Kyng - Trampled Sun (regular and deluxe edition)
Landmine Marathon - Gallows
Machine Head - Unto the Locust (regular and special edition)
Mastodon - The Hunter (regular and deluxe edition)
Nightbringer - Hierophany of the Open Grave
Nightrage - Insidious
Noothgrush - Live for Nothing
Oh, Sleeper - Children of Fire
Rose Funeral - Gates of Punishment
Rwake - Rest
Saxon - Call to Arms
Derek Sherinian - Oceana
Single Bullet Theory - IV
Suffokate - Return to Despair
 The Tangent - COMM
Textures - Dualism
Van Canto - Break the Silence 
 Warbringer - Worlds Torn Asunder

October 4, 2011
The Browning - Burn This World
Nachtblut - Antik
Thulcandra - Under a Frozen Sun
Wayne Static - Pighammer

next week tease: 3, Black Cobra, Nile, Skeletonwitch

Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.

Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Release September 13, 2011

September 13, 2011

69 Eyes - Bump N Grind (reissue)
Akin - The Way Things End
Alice Cooper - Welcome 2 my Nightmare
Anterior - Echoes of the Fallen
Anthrax - Worship Music
Anubis Gate - Anubis Gate
Arabrot - Solar Anus
Arch/Matheos - Sympathetic Resonance
The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne
Discharge - Disensitise (reissue w/ bonus tracks)
Dicharge - War is Hell (reissue w/ bonus tracks)
Doro - 25 Years in Rock
Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn of Events
Edguy - Age of the Joker
Einherjer - Norron
Elks - Destined for the Sun
Everwood - Without Saving
Evil United - Evil United
Iron Maiden - Virtual XI (reissue collector's edition)
Only Flesh - From the Gutter to the Grave
Pathology - Awaken to the Suffering
Primus - Green Naugahyde
Sabaton - World War Live: Battle of the Baltic Sea
UFO - Chrysalis Years 1973-1979
Untimely Demise - City of Steel
Vader - Welcome to the Morbid Reich
Winter Tree - The Winter Tree
Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage
Wolves Like Us - Late Love

next week tease: The Atlus Moth, Opeth

Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.

Zune Zalk: Hard Rock and Metal Releases for September 6, 2011

 September 6, 2011

Arkona - Slovo
Cthonic - Takasago Army
Exmortus - Beyond the Fall of Time
Monstro - Monstro
Saviours - Death's Procession


next week tease: Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, Dream Theater, Vader, Wolves in the Throne Room


Release dates are subject to change. All titles in bold were available on the Zune Marketplace at the time of this post. These releases can be added or removed from the Zune service at any time.

Zune Zalk: How I Listen To My Zune

It has been almost two and a half years since I bought a Zune. Almost three hundred and eighty nine thousand plays. Nineteen hundred and thirty four listener badges. After all this time I finally got a gold badge.

A gold badge is acquired when one accomplishes five thousand listens of a specific band or song.  In my case it was the Silverlake, CA based band My Ruin. Understandable since they are one of my favorite bands of all time. What took so long?

Five thousand plays is barely 1.25% of my total listens. With so many plays one would possibly think I would have a crap load of gold badges.

I probably would but I have a philosophy or a belief. A belief their is to much good music out there to simply listen to a single album over and over. It was the simple thing to do when I was a kid. Move that record player needle back to the beginning of whatever side of the record album. Cassette players, 8 track players, and CD player could be set to play their reels/disc over and over. Today with digital technology it is easy to listen to loads of albums. Though I don't simply have every album loaded on to my 120 GB Zune.

If I was simply going to do a random play from every song it would cut the impact and not allow a song to grow on a me. Sometimes when you first hear a song you miss stuff with that first quick impression.

On the go I have 20 albums on my Zune most of the time. Usually a mix of ten albums around a theme and another random ten albums. For example, a good number of months I was mixing albums named in the Terrorizer magazine essential 200 list with whatever. Currently I have noticed my recommended choices from Zune to be rather stagnant after digging through all that metal so I recently been using the theme of electronic music (mostly in the industrial vein) in hopes of changing this and hopefully discovering some new bands.

20 albums isn't an overwhelming number. With it I am able to give albums a good chance and really listen to everything. I switch an album out once I earn a badge. That is the reason I have so many badges especially bronze badges (200 listens).

Otherwise when it comes to the home I have a number of play lists I switch between each day. I have a silver album one where I play what I consider to be classic albums, a random fifty track list of 'hearted' tracks,  hundred random tracks from my whole collection, and a lot of others to keep things fresh and exciting.

I have nothing against those who can listen to things over and over again. If you enjoy it go for it. I am lucky enough participating in radio I am getting new music constantly. It can be overwhelming and my listening habits is one of my ways of doing music justice.

Comicbook Caucus: The New DC

Yesterday, DC Comics put into effect a plan to close one era and start a new era. Flashpoint was the key to the closing and opening of business.

Flashpoint, it turns out, could have just as easily been called, 'Crisis of Infinite Time Streams'. Though another recent event, Final Crisis, kind of put a end to the use of the 'crisis' term.

'Crisis of Infinite Earths' some 25 years ago took the universe of many corresponding Earth' concept previously established  by DC creators and merged all these Earth's into one. Bits of previous stories were kept and new ideas were introduced.

Most noticeably a certain 'Man of Steel' starting from scratch. Wonder Woman, Justice League, and Flash soon followed. New titles were introduced with the likes of Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, etc. The Elseworld's were kind of started too with the non-continuity stuff like Frank Miller' - The Dark Knight and Moore/Gibson - Watchmen.

It just so happened; this is the period I started to take my comic reading to more than a random pick-up when hitting the Cork and Bottle. When I would start to actually keep each issue rather than allowing my mom to throw them away. These titles starting out made them appealing and sucked in someone who really had no knowledge other than Saturday morning cartoons.

What has been done now is pretty much the same with all these adjacent points in time now all merged into one conscious stream. Once again things are changed while other things will stay the same. This time though DC is doing a line wide reintroduction with every book starting at issue one. Trying to make things exciting again and re/capture people to the medium.


I admit at first I was flabbergasted and feeling a little bit hurt. In the end I realized a number is just a number. Marvel Comics has really shown this with their seeming constant restart of a titles numbering and starting out certain newer titles/characters at something other then a #1 but with 800 or some number like that.

I realize everyone has their favorite stories and views about what events actually shaped a character. In reality probably the only stories that matter are those that manage to be made into trade books. Trade books for the most part stay in print the longest and the easiest thing for a person to find, especially with Amazon.com at your beck and call. You already see the trades effects with how they are supposedly treating Green Lantern and Batman while other books are seemingly going back to the drawing board.

It is an exciting and worrisome time to be a comic fan. Their is just so much mystery at this point behind what is happening. The new Justice League that was introduced along side Flashpoint really doesn't do much to answer anything. It actually looks at the past rather than our comicbook present. Hopefully this next week with the first thirteen of the fifty-two titles starts to clear the picture a bit.

I look forward to the ride though. All I am looking for is great story telling. I hope that comes through in spades in the weeks ahead.

Just the facts: Who? What? Why? Where? and How?

Me:

WHO: I'm Martin or 'Yerfuneral' as my long running web alias has been. It has been around since the AOL days so you do the possible math how long since American Online has been a powerhouse. Referring to my alias not my name. I was born with that.

In other words I am not some teen filled with some kind of angst for the world. Yeah I may be a snob or a so-called Nazi about the things I like. I do have some opinions. You can agree or disagree.

WHAT: So what is this blog all about? It is my way to get things out. Some of it may be informative but pretty much it is an opinion piece. Something I have to get out. A therapy for 'my' pain so to speak.

WHY: So why now? Blog are an almost extinct dinosaur you can see as you ride by on the super information highway. It is all about Twitter, Facebook, and whatever becomes the next social god.

I just want a place to talk about stuff like comics, music, television, movies, and on and on in a medium without an overly social aspect. This is stuff that interests me and hopefully those who run across it. I don't need to invade some persons space who happens to be a friend of a friend with my thoughts.

WHERE: Well I could tell you where I am from but all you really need to know is it is somewhere in California. If that helps you understand the politics of it all or to make it easier for you to pigeon-hole everything.

HOW: Well through this blog of course.

So that is my little intro and test post. Now fasten your seat-belt and put that tray table upright. It is going to be a bumpy ride.