Here's some trivia about a member of my favorite local heavy metal band,
Vanquish.
Greer Cawthon, their lead singer and keyboard player, played drums, keyboard, and guitar in a doom metal band called
Necare.
Necare (pronounced "neh KA reh") released an album through a record label from Finland called
Firebox Records some years ago. If you google the band's name, you'll actually still be able to find the album for sale through several outlets, including
amazon. While this band is actually no longer playing or recording together, the album they released continues to gain attention around the world for its remarkable contribution to this type of music.
These are the tracks from that album:
1. Stillborn Twilight
2. Rite of Shrouds
3. Desire (The Dawn & The Chrysalis)
4. Canto XXXIV
5. Ruin
6. Celia
7. Gethsemane
8. Waters of Quiet
9. Touching Eternity
Readers who might not be familiar with
doom metal must be wondering
what exactly is doom metal? Metal music, after all, has so many classifications and in my opinion, not all of them accurately describe the music at all. After listening to
Necare today, all I can say is that if you like gothic music (not to be mistaken with that screaming out your blood and guts kind of stuff), then you will enjoy listening to the almost hypnotic yet haunting melodies of
Necare. As defined in wikipedia, doom metal "typically employs very slow tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much 'thicker' or 'heavier' sound than other metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics intend to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom."
This is the description of
Necare's music that I read in their
biography:
Necare's sound can be best described as atavistic: they craft a raw, melodic soundscape eerily reminiscent of three early '90s UK doom/death bands (Anathema, My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost) that were influential to so many - while adding to the mix a substantial dose of tranquil atmosphere.
If you want to see what music critics and reviewers mean about the lyrics of doom metal songs, take a look at the lyrics of
Necare's title track from the signed album RUIN:
Ruin
Falling, sightless, the final hours have passed.
The soul becomes flightless.
The silence of the grave, the evensong.
Bereft of form and void.
Deadlights dance in the séance obscure.
And the damned lick the black tendrils of hastur.
Conjoined amidst the circles nine.
The prophecy of the soil and secret rites of the worm.
An ossuary of flesh amongst all our living tombs.
Crawling, limbless, through the pale valleys displaced of time.
Our lidless eyes forward to the ever-fixed mark.
This worm-web known as mortality.
A single, labyrinthine tier across the yawning abyss.
Whose walls are featureless and purchase - impossible.
And so begins the litany of the lie.
Scraping the precipice toward the slough of despond.
I have found strange purity in this oblivion.
Impending dissolution brings no pause.
Upon ashen splinters is my body - which is given for you.
I call the vermin to their feast, and the worms to paradise.
Then go to their
myspace page and listen to their music. I assure you, you will
not be disappointed.
and Endgame
) to boot for RR Records, Dave keeps turning tricks on those strings like only one of the most talented guitarists in the world can do. Check out the rest of the list at the Roadrunner Records website. I'm sure you metalheads out there will find one of your faves on that list!
, Dylan was able to capture a lot of great shots that my older model 
just can't quite do. (I'm hoping to be able to upgrade to a digital SLR model later this year but since I'm focused on my art and writing at this time, my photography ambitions can wait...) 
artist myself). 
