Spotlight On: Tanks of Zen...

I've been listening to this album near-constantly since I found where it had been misplaced when it came in the mail. I have a ferret (read: 4-year old) in my household, so that makes it hard to keep track of stuff sometimes.

That said, Tanks of Zen are the latest project masterminded by Nick Pollock (Alice N' Chainz, My Sister's Machine, Soulbender). Knowing Nick Pollock's background, I have been listening to the CD for days, trying desperately to come up with a way to describe his music without the gratuitous Alice in Chains comparisons that My Sister's Machine got so very often back in the 1990's.

The album, Love's Gentle Maw, is amazing. This project is partially fan-funded with folks contributing on Kickstarter to help fund the mix-down of this awesome record. Kudos to all the fans who contributed: without them, we'd still be waiting for this sonic masterpiece to be released!

Love's Gentle Maw is a solid record from beginning to end. The tracks fit together in a continuous groove, downbeat at times but always sonically intense. Be warned, you will fall victim to one earworm or another after listening. The tunes are catchy and well-performed. Pollock's vocals are outstanding. As an old-school fan of MSM, I've always liked Nick's voice, but had never thought of him as a top vocalist until now. His voice and vocal control have matured over the years and the lyrics flow from his throat in a groovy, seamless manner. I almost want to call this radio-friendly, but it seems only manufactured pop stars are considered radio-friendly these days. Owen Wright (MSM guitarist) makes a guest appearance on the album and his solos are exactly the kind of quality you would expect from him.

I really love this and it's going to take some effort to get it out of the CD player in my car. You can find sound samples and download tracks, as well as read a review from another fan here at amazon.com.

I'm not going to pick a favorite track as I seem to prefer to listen to the CD on repeat in its entirety. If you're looking for a more-rock-y track, "Alibi" is my pick for you. If you like a groove, try "Skin Deep." If you're not sure what to pick, try "Oh..."

Can anyone identify where I've heard of Steve Rehnstrom (bassist) before? I want to say he used to play in Jesus Headtrip, but I'm not positive. Help!

If you aren't familiar with My Sister's Machine, they put out two really awesome CD's in the early 1990's. While neither of them is available for download on amazon, you can purchase them here. Diva features awesome tracks "Diva," "I Hate You," and "Love at High Speed." Wallflower features awesome tracks "Cracking New Ground," "Enemy," and "Empty Room." MSM is more like stereotypical grunge rock than Tanks of Zen, hence the comparisons to Alice in Chains.

I was a big fan of MSM in my teen years and was sad when they called it quits. I know there were a few demo tracks intended for a third record, but even though I loved them (heard them on a radio show, forever and a day ago), they'll probably never see the light of day like so many other great songs: Lost to an unforgiving music industry.

MSM was one of the first bands I saw live, due to an overprotective parent. My mom's line when I asked to go see a concert was always, "But... there'll... be... drrrrrugs there!" I always rolled my eyes when ex-hippie mom played the drug card with me. I had better sense than that. But I digress.

In 1993, I saw MSM at Pain in the Grass, a now-defunct local music series featuring up and coming local bands. That's where I really got bitten by the photography bug. I had always liked to snap pictures, but had never gone gonzo for the art until that day...

This is an incredibly lucky shot for a then-inexperienced photographer. It is also one of my favorite shots of all time. So, thank you, MSM for inspiring a lifelong interest!

Do I only talk about ZOMBIES?

No, but I do support a few zombie-related fan events. As I related a while back, nobody knows what will become of Seattle's ZomBcon at this point. They are still low on funding to keep planning events.


I am trying to remain hopeful for Ryan Reiter (Head Zombie) and his crew of undead event organizers. With everything they've been through (from low sponsorships to a lawsuit) this past year, it's been terribly tough to keep shufflin' along. I'm solidly behind anything they plan for 2012, even if it's just a cocktail event, a zombie concert or a pub crawl. Anything to keep moving forward... and as long as there are more events, there's a chance that it'll once again reach the level it was at these past two years.


I don't get to Seattle nearly often enough as I live about 1 1/2 hours from Seattle, even if it is just across Puget Sound. My options are fighting the ferry schedule or driving around and dealing with a toll booth and Tacoma traffic. With my finances in a bit of a bind, it's hard to justify an extra trip.


That said, if ZomBcon decides to go ahead with a fundraising event, I'm going to find a way to get there! Maybe a Zombie Walk with volunteer makeup artists on site for a fee to be donated to the con? Would a club get behind having a Zombie Night with bands and part of the proceeds going to help with future ZomBcon branded events?


These cons cost a lot of money to put on. In fact, I had a little bit of sticker shock. But at least I know my ticket fees were a total bargain!


Names keep getting thrown around for celebrity guests at ZomBcon, but they need to have sponsorships to pay these people. Celebrities are not cheap! If I said I'd be okay if ZomBcon didn't have at least one celebrity or B-celebrity guest this year, I might be lying, but just a little. It's more important to preserve the hopes of future events than it is for me to get my fangirl thrills.

Please check out ZomBcon's Facebook and "like" them to show your support! Also, they are @ZomBcon on Twitter and their official website is HERE.

Zombies of Montana announce first guests for Zombie Prom 2012!

I'm getting excited for my friends at Zombies of Montana! Their Zombie Prom is set for May 18th at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Billings, with a zombie walk planned prior to the Prom. The Prom is an all-ages event with a 21+ VIP Party (a $10 per person extra charge) after the fact.

To make this all even more mind-blowing, they have announced two celebrity guests: Alex Vincent (Andy from Childs Play 1 & 2) and Timothy Patrick Quill (Army of Darkness, Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except).

Vincent is an actor, poet and sound engineer. His current volume of poetry is Below the Surface.

You can find ordering info and more at Alex Vincent's website. There is also a schedule of 2012 appearances there in case you can't make it to the Billings event.

Tim Quill is ridiculously hilarious! Having had the pleasure of meeting him previously, I can attest that you will have a blast if you attend this event or any other appearance that Tim does. He's full of funny anecdotes and is well worth spending a few minutes chatting with. You will not be bored.

I've used this one before, but here it is again. Tim Quill, myself and Danny Hicks at ZomBcon 2010. Tim's IMDB can be found here.

I'm not sure if I'm going to make it out to Montana for this event at this point. Finances haven't been looking so promising. But I wish ZOM the best for their event, it looks to be a total blast! And don't forget, a portion of the proceeds from ZOM events goes back into the community as donations to the Billings Food Bank!

How could I forget giving you the link to ZOM's website?

Writer's Anxiety...

I feel it's time to confess the real reason I started this silly little blog o'things that nobody cares about but me.

I suffer from a strange affliction: Writer's Anxiety. Worse than writer's block, my anxiety is twofold: First, I cannot (or could not) stand to let anyone read anything I've written. This excludes silly Facebook posts and apparently, this blog. Second, I cannot return to any writing project that I've saved and walked away from without having a full-on panic attack. I go to click on the file name and my heart starts racing, my hands get sweaty and if I manage to open the file, I start to hyperventilate until I have to close the file and walk away again.

Imagine the musician who can't touch their instrument without losing it; an actor who cannot bear to even look at his script. That's me. A writer who cannot write. Utterly useless. A bibliophobe is one who is afraid of books, I'm not sure what you'd call me.

So, as I will turn 35 this year, I decided I was running out of time to do something creative. I've devised a therapy plan for myself in the hopes of overcoming my anxiety.

Phase one is writing this blog. This keeps me writing, even if it is topical stuff that nobody cares about. It also forces me to get used to the idea of letting people read my writing.

Phase two is to start writing actual stories again. I was going to start with short stories I could finish in one sitting, avoiding the anxiety of having to open the file again after the fact. In reality, I decided I'd get something written for a larger project I've been pondering. Now I'll have to see if I can return to it in a few days with no ill effects.

Cross your fingers. If things go awry, I take a step back and return to blogging-only until I feel brave enough to try again.

Snow Days...

I have spent the better part of the past two days stuck inside as we've having what they refer to here as a "Weather Event." Yes, it's snowing. Yes, we've had freezing rain. Yes, it's cold and icky out there. Yes, we've ventured out both days. No, we didn't do donuts in parking lots.

I know people who aren't from Western Washington laugh and ridicule us for how we deal with weather. But they forget exactly how hilly our area is compared to a lot of other places. Maybe we're snow wimps. Either that or we just take after Californians. They forget how to drive in rain; We forget how to drive in snow.

As I type, I'm watching little snowflakes fall at high speed, creating a new layer of fluff on top of the frozen crust of yesterdays snow and this mornings frozen rain. It just keeps falling and falling and falling. I want to scream. I wanted to go to work yesterday and I want to go to work tomorrow. Ooh. Now it's going sideways!

When the cabin fever gets this bad, I want to find something, anything, to do. I want to write, read, fold laundry. Anything but sit here and watch the snow fall. I miss being a kid and getting so excited to have a few days off school. I just can't muster enthusiasm for this kind of weather now.

The rumor is that it's supposed to be 44 and wet tomorrow. Here's hoping I can get back to work. I don't like losing pay because of bad weather. I like my money, of which there is never enough!

Heavy Music...

... also known as the blog post that will make my friends call me a Buttrocker (again).

Time to delve into my Mp3 player again and see what sonic wonderment it may contain...

Fates Warning:

I had the pleasure of seeing Fates Warning twice when they toured with Dream Theater back in 1994-ish. I had gone more for Dream Theater and came out with a preference for Fates Warning. I had seen them in Seattle and liked the performance so much that I spent my lunch money for the next two weeks, lied, cheated and stole in order to make it to their show in Portland. Okay, it was more like sweet-talked, begged and skipped school, but...

I had liked Fates Warning prior to seeing them live. Afterwards, I sought out a bunch of their back catalog, in the end settling on the first two CD's of theirs that I had purchased.

Early Fates Warning featured John Arch on vocals. I personally don't care as much for Arch's voice, but it's a relative thing. I like a few songs off this...

... but it's not one of my favorites. I would recommend "The Apparition," "Kyrie Eleison," and "Orphan Gypsy" as highlights on The Spectre Within. You can listen to song samples and download tracks here.

Parallels is probably the first Fates Warning album that received a lot of commercial attention.  Tracks such as "Point of View," "Eye to Eye" and "We Only Say Goodbye" have catchier hooks than some of the earlier releases. New vocalist Ray Alder has a much more appropriate voice for the material in my opinion. The music and vocals flow together smoothly as if they were one and the same. MGX refers to them as "musically perfect." I agree. While not my favorite band (as if I could choose just one), they are one almost every playlist and Mp3 player you'll ever catch me with.

You can check out sound samples and purchase downloads from Parallels here.

My favorite of all the Fates Warning releases is Inside Out. "Monument" is an amazing track and I could easily leave my description of Inside Out at that. Every single track on this is golden. I used to take a radio boombox with CD player into my photography class at school and listen to this while processing prints every day. Inside Out is like a loyal friend to me.

You can listen to sound samples and purchase tracks from Inside Out here. I dare you... download just one. Any one. Pick a title that sounds cool. Buy the track. You'll like it. Well, if you like what I like, you'll like it.

Fates Warning - Monument (from Inside Out).

If you've listen to some sample tracks and still need a good starting point, Chasing Time is a good place to start. Chasing Time is a compilation of tracks from their back catalog up until Inside Out.

You can listen to sound samples or purchase tracks from Chasing Time here.

Savatage:

Florida speed metal band Savatage beget Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Maybe you knew that, but I doubt it. Savatage was another band I randomly found in my early teens. I think I picked up Streets: A Rock Opera because I had been so enthralled with Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime that I wanted to check out another metal concept album.

I'm going to explore the career of Savatage in a slighty different manner, by discussing their records in the order in which I purchased them.

Streets: A Rock Opera turned out to be a totally different animal when it comes to concept albums than Operation: Mindcrime. Streets tells the story of successful musician turned drug addict turned drug dealer and deals with misery and redemption. The album is great listened to straight through, but not all of the tracks are good as stand-alones. Some of the lyrics seem contrived, gimmicky and/or dated. But for an overall sonic experience, Streets is a good listen.

Tracks like "Can You Hear Me Now," "New York City Don't Mean Nothing," and "If I Go Away" are worthy listens. You can check out sound samples and purchase tracks here.

My next Savatage purchase was Edge of Thorns, which featured a change of vocalists from Jon Oliva, one of the founders of the band to Zak Stevens who is a slightly more polished vocalist. Sadly, this is the last release that guitarist and band co-founder Criss Oliva appears on. Criss Oliva was killed in an accident in 1993 when his vehicle was hit by a drunk driver.

"Conversation Piece" is my personal favorite track on the record. Lyrics: "Pieces of myself, cut off in desparation, as offerings to thee. I keep them on a shelf, they're good for conversation, over a cup of tea..." Okay, so reading them, they aren't nearly as endearing as when hearing them. Some people take the lyrics of this literally to assume that it is about a man mutilating himself over a lost love. Personally, I think it's better when not taken literally, as a descriptive about how love and relationships can tear us apart. "Follow Me," "Lights Out," and "All That I Bleed" are other highlight tracks on this one. You can hear sound samples from Edge of Thorns and purchase tracks here. 

Gutter Ballet is the release that came previous to Streets: A Rock Opera. Gutter Ballet has a similar sound to Streets, though slightly less refined. I always got the impression that this album was a practice run for Streets, as it has a very loose concept album feel to it. Gutter Ballet also features Jon Oliva on vocals, as do the rest of the Savatage records I'll mention for the remainder of this post.

Highlighted tracks on Gutter Ballet are: "Gutter Ballet," "Of Rage and War," "When The Crowds Are Gone," and "Summer's Rain." You can listen to sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Hall of the Mountain King comes next. This record is a classic, so if you were old enough to rock out in 1984-ish, you may have heard this. If not, here's a chance to check it out.

All tracks on this are tops, so if you like early 80's power metal, a'la Iron Maiden, you should snag this at the first opportunity. If you are still doubting, you can find the sound samples and purchase tracks here.

For all of Savatage's early catalog, the one I recommend you save for the very last purchase is Fight for the Rock. 1986 was a weird year for metal bands and Savatage's 1986 release did not escape said weirdness. My gut feeling is that there was some record label meddling going on with a lot of bands at that point.

The album cover, the album title and song titles all scream out to me, "Record exec is crying about how we need to be more commercial!" Tracks include "Crying For Love," "Fight for the Rock," and "She's Only Rock and Roll." If you're brave enough to check them out, you can find the sound samples and purchase tracks here. Bottom line: buy any Savatage album you like, but leave Fight for the Rock for last.

Queensryche:

Speaking of bands that released a rather weird album in 1986, there's Queensryche. I figure enough people are semi-familiar with them and don't need a big review with each CD. Therefore, I'm going to save my typing fingers a bit and only rate the Queensryche albums I own.

Note: I was the uncool, non-preppy one of my friends when I got into Queensryche. The QueenScreech and QueensRetch jokes still ring in my ears. Yes, I am a Buttrocker. Next.

Queensryche's 4-song EP was originally released on 206 Records back when I was, oh, three years old. The version you find for download now has a ton of bonus tracks and I'm not sure how many of those you really need, as they are tracks you can get on other albums. Like this one, but 4 songs is just too short.
You can listen to sound samples and purchase tracks here.

The Warning: Best album cover ever! I had a birthday cake one year with this on it, thanks Grandma Martin! Now there's cool grandparents who'll go find a place to make a custom album cover cake for you!

"Roads to Madness" is the best song in the world. Too damn long for radio airplay with an explosive ending too difficult to pull off live, "Roads" rocks. "NM156" is another classic: "One-world government has outlawed war among nations; Now social control requires population termination..." Lyrically and sonically, The Warning is one of my favorite albums of all time.

Rage for Order was just another victim of 1986 weirdness. The music industry must have been having some crappy growing pains at this point. Queensryche put out a pretty awesome, original album as expected. The big-haired vampire look they sport in publicity photos for this album, on the other hand, was obviously concocted by the record company. If you're a fan, you know all about how the blue-ringed album covers have collector's value. I love this one as well. Tracks like "Walk in the Shadows," "I Will Remember," "Neue Regel," and "London" make this a sonic treat. You can hear sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Operation: Mindcrime. Brilliant. Nothing else needs to be said. If you haven't heard anything off this record, you either live under a rock, or you're laughing and calling me a Buttrocker right now! If you are living under a rock currently, you can hear sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Empire. More commercial. Not on the top of my list, but not at the bottom either. I like it, but I tend to skip tracks on this one a lot. "Silent Lucidity," I've heard you so much, you are dead to me. You've heard it, but in case you live under an even bigger rock, you can hear sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Promised Land. Sonically amazing. I got to attend a preview party for this one at the Museum of Flight in Seattle back in the day. Got to shake hands with the band and get autographs afterward. The line was so long, they shut the power off on us to try and get us all to leave. Didn't work. Geoff Tate won points from me for being really cool. As my cousin and I were some of the last in the line, I said something to Tate about it being a long night for him and he replied to me how he was having fun drinking beers and shaking hands. What a good sport. Some celebs really hate their fans. I'm glad that not all of them are like that.
Back to Promised Land. I love this album to death now, but there have been times when I was totally lukewarm to it. I guess it was because a lot of it was fairly downbeat and not as agressive as Mindcrime, nor as commerical as Empire. The more I listened, the more it grew on me. "Promised Land" is the most amazing track. If you can find a live version, you won't regret it. You can check out sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Hear in the Now Frontier. I think I actually hated this one when it came out. If Promised Land was slightly eccentric next to Empire, HITNF was the crazy cat lady of Queensryche's catalog. HITNF requires a few listens and an occasional skipped track, but it's definitely one that will grow on you. Highlights include: "You," "Some People Fly," "sp00l" and "Hit the Black." You can listen to sound samples and purchase tracks here.

Q2K. Commercial, no Chris DeGarmo. I'm actually indifferent to this release. I like it enough to own it, but it's never something that I absolutely have to listen to above everything else in my collection. Heck, I think I skip the tracks from this one pretty often on my Mp3 player. Don't want to knock it too much, if you like Empire above all else in the Queensryche catalog, you should get Q2K. Either way, you should check out the sound samples and purchase tracks here. It seems that there are a couple tracks for download here that I don't have. Guess I'll have to suck it up and get them on payday.

That's where I'm going to end my foray into the world of Queensryche. I think I bought Tribe and Operation:Mindcrime 2 and never even listened to them. At some point, Queensryche lost me and I'm unsure of how or why. I still give them props for their earlier works and will always love them. But it might take some convincing to get me to check out any of their more recent stuff. I have a couple of their live albums that I didn't mention here. Live albums are one of those things: you either love them or hate them. It takes a pretty, pretty darn well done live version to get me interested. Very few bands sound like their recorded works live.

Thanks for following me into Buttrocker Canyon. Don't hike in Chelan Gorge, you will drown when they let the dam out!

Spotlight on: Zombies of Montana!

Zombies of Montana (ZOM) are a nonprofit group operating out of Billings, Montana, formed in March 2011. Their mission is a unique one: to enrich the community with zombie-themed activities while helping support their local food bank, as well as other charities. Their events are paid for by sponsors and private donations, which are tax deductible.

I came to know of ZOM though a friend who lives in Billings. Last October, they hosted an awesome Zombie Carnival to bring in donations for the food bank.  They also host a zombie walk, zombie-themed bake sales and are working on a Zombie Prom and a horror convention for 2012.

The 2011 Billings Zombie Carnival was on October 22nd at Pioneer Park. Zombies could partake in Jell-O Brain-Eating Contests, carnival games, live music from END ever, DeadNecks, Wake the Forsaken, Plumblue, and Mandie Bradley. There were also performances by Zombie Belly Dancers and The Rimview Dance Studio Thriller Dancers. The Zombie Carnival was free admittance and a portion of the proceeds from game tickets was donated to the Billings Food Bank.

The first ZOM-organized Zombie Walk was a week after the Zombie Carnival.

The 2012 ZOM Zombie Prom will be Friday, May 18th, 2012 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Billings, MT. There will be musical performances, celebrity appearances, VIP after-party, prom photos, contests, and more! Tickets are $15.00 per zombie, or $25.00 per hungry couple. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the Billings Food Bank. This will be an all-ages, non-alcoholic event. The VIP Party is 21 and older. There will be a Zombie Walk prior to the Prom held in downtown Billings. Further details will be announced on the web site and Facebook as they develop.

ZOM is also planning a horror convention for 2012. Keep checking the website and Facebook for more info as the details fall into place. If all goes as planned, this will be Montana’s first horror convention, freeing horror fans from an 18-hour drive to the nearest con venues. And while Seattle folks love our Montana Zombie friends coming to visit, it’ll be cool to have an event for us to travel to and return the favor! Being that this zombie is afraid to fly, it takes a certain amount of coercion to get me anywhere to visit friends and fiends.

You can find the ZOM Website here. You can also hook up with ZOM on Facebook here.

Photos in this post are (c) Zombies of Montana and their respective owners. Shared by permission. Don't steal! If you would like to use these photos, just ask them. They were more than willing to let me use them!