When All Lights Fail

Posted in Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , , , , , on January 18, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

I have pondered for a few hours what to blog about, as most of my day has been consumed by school assignments I really don’t know what to write about. So I thought I’d give you a little share of some of my favorite songs,  Alright? Alright.

So, I will put these songs up in no particular order, just as I come to think of them.

First of all, “Don’t Be Afraid of Your Dreams” by Go West. I’ve already written about this before I believe, in the 30 Days song challenge. I consider this my all time favorite song. Mostly because it’s pretty perfect as it is, but on the same time, it inspires me. And I discovered this song at a time when I needed it the most, and despite being the soundtrack for a slasher movie, it just… means so much to me. The music makes me happy because it’s that PERFECT 80’s kind of pop that you can’t even replicate these days, that just pumps me, those beats hello? The keys?

But on top of that… the lyrics. THEY inspire me. THEY make me strong, helps me let go of some of my anxieties as it goes and… yeah I don’t know what else I can say about this song. It’s just amazing. And important. So important.

Next song is “Intuition” by TNT. I’m sort of starting to notice a pattern here – both songs are about not being afraid to do what you want and keep fighting for what you want. And this is basically what my life is about, so no wonder really. But aside that, this is probably, to me, the most ultimate 80’s rock anthem. I don’t think TNT ever really got the success they truly deserve, which breaks my heart. The melody-line in this one just… It just puts me in a happy place. This is the kind of song I put on when I’m really down, or need to make a decision. Hearing Tony Harnell going “One decision” in my ear kind of you know… sets me off. To achieve things.

 

Can’t make an entry like this and not include Lordi now, can I? “Deadache” by Lordi. This is also a song I can relate to so much, since I also keep the skin of my mothers face… no just joking. “And loneliness – it makes nights endless” has sort of become my tagline in everything and anything. I should probably have it written on a vest if I ever get one. This is an easy-peasy song, 80’s kind of vibe to it (do you sense a pattern here?) but it’s the chorus – the “big” chorus, especially the last one with the pitch change that just… How do you even describe the feeling, you know that one where it feels like your whole inside is about to jump out because you are so excited and happy? That’s what “Deadache” do to me.

Days Gone By” by Slaughter. Ahh Slaughter… how much don’t I love this band. I usually consider it my number one band, but on the later years they have fallen down to third place as I started to judge bands a little more on how much I can “interact” with them – like, how close they are and such. Lordi gets closer because I have more memories with them. And so on. I waited up until 2012 before I managed to catch the lovey-doveys live, and it was one of the best days of my life. I couldn’t even BELIEVE it. Slaughter. In Sweden? Like really?

Anyway. “Days Gone By”…. first of all, this song is so beautiful. The melody line, the simpleness of it leaving Mark and his amazing voice to do the work just ahhh. And the song…  well. Sometimes it feels like I have lost a lot, friends, and what not, because of time slipping out of my hands. I especially think about one person, I’m not going to mention her on here though. So yeah.

 

Last song I’ll bring up for this time is “All About Us” by t.A.T.u. So, all of you who were surprised – raise your hands. Interesting fact, this, still to this day, marks my MOST PLAYED SONG of ALL TIMES. This was before LastFM days though, so no technical record of it, but I remember it having 888 plays on my iTunes before the computer died. And no other song has reached that far since.  t.A.T.u and I go waaay back, many, many years. They are one of my favorite duos (alongside Go West and Lili & Susie) and particularly this song.

I remember the video terrified me like hell when I was younger, when it was new, and I saw it. But what I love so much about it, is the friendship. The fucking strength of friendship. They are fighting, but despite that Jelena turns around to come get Julia after the dude is doing major shit business. That, is friendship that doesn’t die. And those are the kind of friendships I strive to have, and well, I do have them with a close amounts of friends, for example, Jennie whom I’ve had ENDLESS of fights with, someone I’ve stopped talking to for YEARS and yet we always found our way back to each other. Because it’s all about us.

 

Wow. So this turned out to become a lot more personal and emotional than I had actually planned this blog entry to be, but I guess it just allowed you all to get to know me a little more and my priorities in life. You should always pay attention to what songs people like the most – they can tell you so much more about the person than you ever knew.

// Sara

We search the seas for the silver and gold…

Posted in Uncategorized on January 17, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

Whoo people! For the first time in forever, or more like, since July, we went reality questing again. This time around, they had closed the quest that was unconquerable for us, and there was quite few new quests, so we were excited as can be!

We started off the whole day by nailing Bootcamp within the first five minutes! The day looked promising. We immediately did Tivoli after, since we kinda…. hate it. After that we went back and forth on the old quests and we managed to get done about 15 quests in the first four hours!

But, most importantly, we finally got to try out TimeHunt, one of the newer quests. It was… exhausting, but hella fun! First room was fairly simple, but the second room, where you are supposed to spin the wheels…. JESUS CHRIST. I have all the respect to DJ’s from now on…

The ballroom was fun though. Not only did we look and finish the task, but we also played around a bit, like, burying Emelie deep under the balls. Because, seriously, how often to do you get to play around with giant balls?

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We also got to try out “The Castle”. And you know what. I LOVE THE QUEST. Sadly, this quest became the one who defeated us. The last room… JESUS CHRIST, how did they even! It’s amazing. I love the scenario, and you felt kinda royal doing the whole thing. I look forward to conquer it the next time, but considering that we got through it almost immediately up to the last room without any problems kinda shows how badass we are, since one of the tasks was to climb an inverted staircase…

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But you know. In the end, we managed to complete 23 out of 24 quests, and I think that’s actually pretty amazing. Had we had the arm strength we needed, we would have gotten The Castle too, but you know – there’s always a next time!

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AND, on top of everything: Team Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious was NUMBER ONE UNDEFEATED the entire day! WOHO!

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// Sara

High And Low

Posted in Uncategorized on January 16, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

You wanna know what I love about this year so far?

It’s only gone about a week or two or three, but I’m still seeing this being one of the most promising years  in a very long time. The summer is starting to fill up with concerts and festivals, and the spring time is working itself out as well. More and more options and possibilities are coming in, and I’m just waiting for it all to take off. On January 30th, it WILL start with Amaranthe in Västerås (unless it sells out before I get a ticket) and then it’s just gonna keep on rolling for the next few months. Summer is going to be heavy too – a lot of people are like “how can you even do all of this?”

Well, why couldn’t I? I love this life. I love being on the road, not really knowing what is gonna happen, but it’s OK. Because you are there with the best of your friends, it’s another city another country another venue. Whatever band is playing on the stage, will always be the best band in the world for the night. On Jan 30th Amaranthe will be the best band in the world. On February 11th SlipKnot will be the best band in the world. Because for this one night, nothing in this world matters. Nothing, at all. School, work, injustice, mental health, physical health, worries, stress, anxieties – NOTHING matters. When the drums explodes in the chorus for “The Nexus” or when Corey Taylor screams for the hell of it or when Hella’s ripping off the pre-chorus to “The Riff” – that is all that matters in that moment. And when the curtains has fallen and the show is done, you might just be so lucky to meet some of these inspiring people and even if you don’t, you’ll still spend the rest of the night in some dark alley behind some suspicious building in Lichtenfels waiting ’til the break of dawn when the plane leaves, with your best friends. Shenaningans, music talk, laughter and tears of joy is what is being shed.

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And how can you not want to do THIS every day? Sure, being sleep-deprived is a thing, but it’s ALWAYS. ALWAYS. Going to be worth it.

Tomorrow is a another venue, another city a new hotel room oh. And I just can’t live without it.

// Sara

REVIEW: Orden Ogan – Ravenhead

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , , , on January 15, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

People! Orden Ogan is back, three years has passed since their latest release, “To The End” which gained them international success. “More metal, more chorusses, more Orden Ogan” is how vocalist Seeb describes the album and while Seeb is the main contributor to the album, it has had all of the band members involved. Teamwork, if you like.

The album starts off pretty aggressively with the title track, but to my surprise it turned out to be very melodic. I’m going to be honest with you – I was fairly unfamiliar with this band prior to hearing this album, so I excepted it to be a lot heavier than it was. This isn’t anything bad though, as you know, I love power metal more than pretty much anything.

I think the album is pretty good – or perhaps decent. There’s a few tracks that stands out quite a lot for me – the bombastic “F.E.V.E.R” and “Sorrow Is Your Tale” where our ever so loved Joacim Cans happen to guest sing on. Aside them two tracks, I think the album is pretty even. Not bad, not at all, but also… nothing amazing, you know? Nothing new. What I do like a lot with this band, as a band, is the vocals. Seeb has one of the more interesting voice I’ve heard in the genre, which I’d say defines the band a little extra.

Production-wise, however, it’s  pretty solid. Mixed by Seeb himself and mastered by Dennis Köhne it’s a polished product that is given to us, the only thing I can remark on would the vocals which I find a tad bit low, but it’s just me.

While this is a good album, it still leaves me wanting just a little bit more, despite it being very promising. It’s like, ALMOST there.

3,5 / 5

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Label: AFM Records

Amazon I EMP Online I CDON

// Sara

REVIEW: Serious Black – As Daylight Breaks

Posted in CDs, Music, Uncategorized with tags , , , , on January 14, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

You may ask me, Sara, what is Serious Black? Well, I’ll tell you. Serious Black is the result of musicians from various successful metal bands coming together as one – but unlike most all-star bands, this is an actual band rather than a project. The idea for the band formed during a backstage talk in Spain during 2013, and after if’s and but’s they got together in the studio in Munich in January 2014 and started working on material, which ran real smooth and already after seven days together they had the foundation of what would become “As Daylight Breaks”.

The album is 11 tracks long and… how do I describe it. Imagine you taking your favorite songs from various different bands, and put them together as on a “Best of” album, and you get this album. Aside this isn’t a best of album by various bands.

We are talking about 11 powerful, melodic and at times EPIC songs. Like, first of all, we have the pretty raw and intense opener that is “I Seek No Other Life” – I can’t help but somehow think of the formation of this band when I hear “The time and place must be now”. The intensity and, how do I say it, seriousness in “Sealing My Fate”, the epicness that is the title track – sweet, serene and later on bombastic power-ballad. And this is only mentioning a few of the amazing songs on this album – if I was to go through each and every song, this would be a very long review.

A song I NEED to bring a little extra attention to though, is “High And Low”. This is the single, but it’s also the best song on the album, for a change. Normally I don’t fall for the singles, but this one… I can’t even. I’m literally sitting here, listening to it right now and swearing over the fact I won’t be seeing them any time soon.

This is a good production – solid material, fantastic production technicality wise and just a damn good start. I don’t know what else to say, but let me just say this: This album is so good, I was pulled over by the cops while driving. Headbanging deluxe!

4.5/5

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Label: AFM Records

Amazon I EMP Online I CDON

// Sara

Noch Ein Bier! Noch Ein Bier! Noch Ein Bier!

Posted in Uncategorized on January 13, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, this kind of happened today:

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YAAAY! So it’s confirmed; I’ll be going to Sabaton Open Air in Germany, the Noch Ein Bier fest. Going to be so awesome! The line up was just too good to resist, so yeah, I set sail for Germany!

Aside this, we also got it confirmed today that Marilyn Manson will come to Gröna Lund. Like, WHAT?

Like, this concertsummer is truly getting itself together, don’t you think?

// Sara

Skallbank

Posted in Music, Uncategorized on January 12, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

So, when checking the email of Hårdrock.com I came across an email from a band called Skallbank which made me instantly interested. Apparently, it turned out that this is a local act as well, from my hometown!

This band was formed on a late June night in 2014 here in Karlstad, Sweden and is the project of a few other bands coming together as one. Vocalist Tömte, guitarists Mats and Rickard, drummer Jocke and bass player Janzon it was makes the band what it is. They entered the studio already in September to record what would become their first single “Falsarium” which they later recorded a video to and released on Youtube, and you can see it later on in this entry.

I know, I know – it’s really my own fault I lack of knowledge of local bands, but it took me a little bit by surprise to see a local act sending on an email, and I was glad to see it because I really liked what I heard! How about you guys?

 

// Sara

Gravity Falls Challenge Day 11: Favorite Teenager

Posted in 20 Days Gravity Falls Challenge, Gravity Falls, Uncategorized on January 11, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

Too easy. Mabel may be my spirit animal, but one of my favorite characters on this show is Wendy.

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I love her. Laid-back, doing things she wants to,calls it as it is and just generally cool. I love the way she treats Mabes and Dips as a part of the gang despite them being “only” 12 years old. She never let people walk all over her and she’s a trustworthy friend. I think this should be enough for you to understand why she’s the best.

// Sara

Gravity Falls Challenge Day 10: Place I’d like to go

Posted in 20 Days Gravity Falls Challenge, Gravity Falls, Uncategorized on January 10, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

This one is EASY.

In all of Gravity Falls, where would I rather go? Of course – The Mystery Shack.

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The home of Stan and the Twins. Mostly because I wanna meet them all – Mabes, Dips, Wends and Stan. AND SOOS! Always Soos. But to make it a little more… interesting, I think the place I REALLY wanna visit the most is the basement. You know, Stan’s hidden room behind the soda machine.

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I really just wanna know what is in there, what all of this means. It’s possible we have already found out, since the second season has yet to begin here in Sweden… We’ll see when I get my answers!

// Sara

Until The End

Posted in Uncategorized on January 9, 2015 by Sara Hammerzmith

So today was the big day, haha. Like, it’s so fun in a way. I had prepared myself with Butcher Babies album for company (figured it’d be brutal enough to cut out the sound, yet melodic enough to keep my brain occupied) and really tried to prepare myself, and I still freaked out in the chair and kicked around. Of course, a lot of this has to do with my fear of needles. I didn’t really FEEL that much when she injected everything, but you know, just the mere knowledge of the needle, knowing there is this thin, sharp metallic item piercing through your skin, piercing into places it shouldn’t be… it send shivers down my spine and I can’t even breathe when this happens. Tears were falling even thought I didn’t feel said. Panic attack? Maybe, maybe not.

And then, when she was gonna pull out the thing, I only came through half of “Denial” before she said she was done, before the procedure was over. What the hell. So undramatic. My vivid fantast gets in my way sometimes… Either way, this dentist was a doll and she was taking SO good care of me. Kudos to her and her patience.

However, I’m not sure if it’s after effects from the emotional event this morning or if it’s the antibiotics, but I’m still sick. Very sick. It feels worse than it has this past week, which is bad. Really bad. So I only really spent the day in bed watching some DVD’s. Started off with “Antennas To Hell” and later on I was up to watch the Goat documentary… And I shit you now.

So it opens up with this goat thing, right? So I watched that. And watched. And watched. And then I noticed how it started to start over, and over, and over. So we thought, maybe the CD doesn’t work in the DVD. So we tried it in a small transportable DVD. There, you could press skip, but I thought, maybe I could do it in the computer. Didn’t work in the computer, so I settled to watch in on the small DVD. And I pressed forward and forwarded pass all the music videos but I never reached goat. Why wouldn’t they make a proper menu? I was so pissed.

And this my friends. THIS is when I start thinking about the damn numbers in the corner. “3.14”. I mean, sure, it’s in their design of the star, it’s not like it’s anything important right? Pressed the arrow on the remote….

….

and would you look at that. It moved around.

APPARENTLY. THIS WAS THE MENU.

APPARENTLY. THE FUCKING NUMBERS WAS THE MENU.

AND I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE.

Jesus fucking christ, some days, I’m just NOT THAT BRIGHT. This was one of my “blonde” moments, for sure.

Or maybe it’s the illness. Yeah, I’ll blame the illness.

// Sara