Happy birthday to Nick Hexum!

 

Happy birthday to Nick Hexum of 311!  I wanted to write a blog post today and I had no idea what to write about.  Then I noticed 311's Facebook page had a video wishing Nick Hexum a happy birthday.  Well I want to wish a happy birthday here on my blog.  He is 51 years old today.  Have an awesome day, Nick Hexum!

Remembering Nick Hexum's birthday is not difficult, after all he says "my birthday happens to land on April 12th... whack" in the song "Welcome" off their first major label album Music.  If you're new to 311, check out this song first and then go from there!

Putrilage, great band!

 

As I wrote this, I'm listening to this cool brutal death metal band called Putrilage.  Don't know them?  Of course, you don't!  Unless you're a death metal aficionado such as myself.  They're a great band.  I first listened to them in December 2019, but only the first couple of tracks off their album Devouring the Gutted.  Then I decided to check out the other tracks.

 

Want to know more about them?  Check out their page at The Metal Archives.  If you're into death metal that's on the brutal side, I highly recommend them.  Got an open mind and like any music?  I recommend them.  Look for more of their tracks on YouTube/YouTube Music.
 

The Faceless, an excellent band!

 

Today's blog entry is about a technical death metal band I love called The Faceless. What happened to them?  Will they ever get their shit together?  I have no idea.  I started listening to this neato band circa 2007.  I absolutely loved the album Akeldama.  The song "An Autopsy" is a brilliant song and it's my favorite song by them.  It's fast, technical and awesome.  This was back when they were more of a deathcore band.  Back then, I didn't care if they were a deathcore band.  I listen to other deathcore bands such as Arsonists Get All the Girls, Dr. Acula and Brand of Sacrifice.

They became more of a tech. death metal band with their sophomore effort Planet Duality.  Then they released a couple of more albums after that one.  I was lucky to witness them live in person in 2009.  They were touring with Atheist.  I loved that they played "Prison Born", which is probably my second favorite song by them.  They really knew how to put on an awesome live show. 

R.I.P. Lars Göran Petrov

Unfortunately, we lost another figure in the world of music.  I know I'm a bit late, but yeah I had to report this unfortunate death since he's a fellow death metal musician.  Lars Göran Petrov was a death metal musician who was in bands such as Morbid, Nihilist, Entombed, Entombed A.D. and Firespawn.  He drummed for Morbid, which I did not know.  He went by the stage name Drutten when he was in Morbid.  Petrov died of a rare form cancer, duct bile cancer.  He was diagnosed a year ago.  My condolences go out to his family and bands he was involved in.  R.I.P. L-G Petrov.

The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band

 

I've had a few blog entries about rock and metal musicians/bands.  However, I have not posted about a psychedelic rock band.  I love psychedelic rock, one of my favorite sub genres of rock music.  Today's blog entry is about The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band.  They're a terrific band that you ought to know.  I'm not going to get into their history since you can find that on Wikipedia or Last.fm.  Here you'll find songs I like and my thoughts on them.

Here's an awesome song by them, one of my favorites.  It's off their album Vol. 2.  Groovy stuff and you should check it out.  I remember listening to this on the Garden State Parkway a few years ago.  One of their best songs.

This one is taken off their album Part One and it's a good one.  I don't think it's better than "In the Arena", but it's also groovy.  This song was recorded earlier and it appears on their Volume One album.  I think the Part One recording is superior.

Another off Vol. 2, of course it's awesome.  Ya gotta love anti-war songs of the 1960's.  There's usually always something special about them.  This one in particular is one of the best anti-war songs and it's a shame not too many know about this one.  Check this one out!

Last, but not least... a cut off their final album Where's My Daddy.  I listened to this one as I wrote this.  It features fantastic piano and guitar work.  Brilliant vocals in this song as well.  Fantastic track overall.

Like them?  I highly suggest you search 'em up on YouTube.  If you wanna go the extra mile, buy one of their albums!  Have a good day/night!

R.I.P. MF DOOM

 

Rapper MF Doom unfortunately died on October 31, 2020 and his death wasn't announced until a couple of months later.  This was an absolute shock to me.  I was going to originally post this blog entry on December 31, but didn't get around to it.  What a sad way to end off 2020... announcing the death of someone who actually died a couple months ago.  It also happened on Halloween.  I have no idea why we didn't get to know this on October 31 or November 1.

I knew of MF Doom for years, but didn't start listening to his music until around 2016.  This was one of the most shocking deaths of 2020, due to the fact that he was quite young.  I honestly forgot about him until his death was announced.  I feel really bad that I didn't listen to that much and according to my stats on Last.fm... I had no scrobbles for him at all in 2019.  Then I find out he dies... well of course, I listened to him on December 31.  For more info, go to the Complex article about it.  I only listen to hip-hop/rap occasionally, but I'm thinking about listening to more hip-hop/rap artists in 2021.  We'll see, I'm guessing I'll still listen to my usual rock and metal.

The final day of 2020

 

2020 was a turbulent year for most.  It was not a happy new year at all.  It did start off as a happy new year and then nose dived into an awful year.  Surprisingly, it was a decent year for me!  If you talk about 2020 in general, it was a dismal year.  What about the positive aspects of 2020?  I don't want discuss the negative aspects at all.  That's best documented elsewhere.  I want touch on the positive aspects of 2020.

What were the good things that happened in 2020?  Well, there were some good music albums this year.  You can say that.  The L.A. Lakers became NBA champions this year.  People met new friends online and they did achieve some personal accomplishments.  People who probably always wanted to work at home finally got to work at home this year due to the pandemic.  I don't know what else... wow!  2020 did truly suck!

I have to say it... thankfully today is the final day of 2020!  I hope 2021 is much more prosperous and things will get better.  2020 was an odd year and it will go down in history as an odd year & more!

 

Two thrash metal bands from Costa Rica

Today's blog entry is about a couple of thrash metal bands from Costa Rica.  Usually, I find most metal bands from Latin American countries to be terrible (especially metal bands from Chile, Honduras and Mexico).  I have found out that Costa Rica has a good thrash metal scene.  Today I'll shed some light on two thrash bands from Costa Rica, Epidemik and Heavy Chains.

 

Not too much is know about this thrash metal band who hail from Cortago, Costa Rica.  They only have one EP which is called Murder by Command.  It's pretty solid, if you don't mind lousy sound production.  I think they have great potential.  I hope they release more music.  For the EP and hopefully more albums, go to their Bandcamp.

 

Next we have Heavy Chains.  Heavy Chains is more established than the band above.  They are from Heredia.  They are slightly better as well and have professionally produced releases.  They have the EP Deathstalker and full-length album Eye Commander.  I highly recommend this band.  For their music, check out their Bandcamp.
 

Check those two bands out now!  I'll probably have blog posts about more metal bands from other countries in the near future.  My next blogs are going to be about 2020 and my thoughts on 2021.  That's if I remember... we'll see!

Thoughts on Last.fm

Last.fm has been around for well over fifteen years on the internet.  What happened to this amazing site?  I fondly remember joining this website in late June 2005 under the username CynicalDev.  Then I had a few usernames after that.  I decided to register to Last.fm in June 2013 and now I'm ChaosDevin* nowadays.  What has been going on with Last.fm?  It has been in the beta stages since 2015.  This is quite alarming since most sites under the beta stage move on.  Last.fm has stupidly been in the beta stage for nearly five years.  Yes, you read that right.  Five years!!!  No site that I've ever known has ever been in the beta stage for that long.

I'm amazed that this website is still alive.  I could go on and on about the negative stuff (like their recent censorship of certain artists).  Alas, I will not do that.  Simply ask anyone who has been a member for years and they'll let you know the negative points.  I do not want to focus on the negative points of Last.fm in this blog entry.

Well that does it for this entry.  Have a nice day!

*I originally registered with the username GodofDeathMetal, but decided to change my username to ChaosDevin.

I have decided to continue using the name Mick Bynes

Yes, I have decided to continue using my long time alias"Mick Bynes" since I'm known as that in IRC servers and other places on the internet.  It'll be rare that I use that name when I register to sites, I'll go with ChaosDevin, KaosDevin or even my full name.  However, I have decided phase out the Mick Bynes alias for music projects.  Now I got my real name removed from MyLife.com, so that's a good thing.  Ya know what's weird?  I had an insanely high score on there.  I gave up that high reputable score.  Seriously?  The highest score I've ever seen on there was a friend's mother (name withheld, I don't want you looking her up for her privacy and security) and someone else (I will also withhold their name for their privacy and security)... Really?  That person has a higher score than me!  I say more power to them and they're a better person than me!  Bravo!

I dunno what else to jot down.  I'm in the process of moving at the moment.  I'm moving from my long time home of Pomona, NY to Brick, NJ.  Personal reasons and financial reasons are the reasons why.  And I know down in Brick, I'll be able to get a job.  I can't get a job anywhere in Rockland and I haven't for 11 years.  Eleven years!  However, during 2014-2016... I was working with my father (R.I.P., he died of prostate cancer on his birthday on September 12, 2016) with his garage door company.  It paid well, because he got paid well.  He had some high-end customers.  I was highly fortunate during my childhood since he had such high class clientele.  That's how I had all the TMNT action figures, video games and whatever else I wanted as a child.  I had a brilliant childhood and it was awesome.  Not too many people can say that.  I'll get into more with my childhood in a future posting.

That's pretty much it.  If you're wondering what else is going on... umm... hit me up on Facebook and/or Last.fm.  I'm highly active on both of those sites.  OH you may even also message me on Tumblr (yes, I'm a Tumblr freakazoid lol!  who cares...)...  I will be more than happy to communicate with youse.  Thanks for reading and I hope you have an awesome day!  Peace, love, joy, high vibes and positive energy to all of you reading!