Way too much good new albums coming out this year

Jeez, 2018 is turning out to be the most amazing year for new metal releases.  There are tons from some of my favorite bands (Deicide, Behemoth, Soulfly) as well as releases by bands I'm not as familiar with (Harms Way and Jinjer).

Posthuman - Harms Way (February 9, 2018)
Cloud Factory (reissue) - Jinjer (February 16, 2018)
And Justice For None - Five Finger Death Punch (May 18, 2018)
EX_MACHINA - Crossfaith (August 1, 2018)
Head Cage - Pig Destroyer (September 7, 2018)
Scourge of the Enthroned - Krisiun (September 7, 2018)
Overtures of Blasphemy - Deicide (September 14, 2018)
Terrorvision - Aborted (September 21, 2018)
Total Retaliation - Terror (September 28, 2018)
I Loved You At Your Darkest - Behemoth (October 5, 2018)
Battlefields of Asura - Chthonic (October 12, 2018)
Ritual - Soulfly (October 19, 2018)
The Legacy of Shi - Rise of the Northstar (October 19, 2018)
The Book of Suffering - Tome 2 - EP - Cryptopsy (October 26, 2018)
Upon Desolate Sands - Hate Eternal (October 26, 2018)
The Arrow of Satan is Drawn - Bloodbath (October 26, 2018)
Battlefields of Asura - Chthonic (October 12, 2018)
Victim of the New Disease - All That Remains 

Also, here are some things that already came out:
Devouring Mortality - Skeletal Remains
With Inexorable Suffering - Our Place of Worship

Split - Integrity and Krieg

Monument of the End - Soreption

Slaughter Monolith- Abhorrent Deformity
Tu - Alien Weaponry

Then there are some non-metal and heavy rock albums:
And Justice For None - Five Finger Death Punch
Vicious - Halestorm
One Bad M.F. Live!! - Marty Friedman

Fulfilled - Anna Yusim

It took me awhile to finish this book.

I really loved it at around 2/3rds through it.  I loved the parts about living an authentic life and doing a "soul correction".  But in the last (3rd) section, I was immediately turned off.  She talked about some supernatural concepts that I was a little skeptical about - psychic phenomenon, communicating with the dead, etc., and I felt that those things undermined the whole idea of the "science" of spirituality.

I have a hard time enjoying books with endings that I don't like.  I wish I had ended reading this after section 2 - and if I had, I'd give this book an 8 out of 10.  But with the last section, I didn't much like this book.

My favorite books

I was asked by a friend to recommend some books, so here are some of the books that have made lasting impressions on me.  My favorite books of all time are highlighted.

My essential health/wellness/happiness reading list
(Note:  for what it's worth, I've read authors like Jen Sincero, and supposed self-help books that talk about how to get rich and get everything you want like the Law of Attraction or the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, and they seem to emphasize finding happiness through material wealth and career advancement.  Those books didn't resonate with me at all.  The following books are the exact opposite, as they emphasize finding happiness through kindness, health and wellness, empathy, meditation, purpose, and positive connections with people.)

The Art of Happiness - The Dalai Lama
The Book of Joy - The Dalai Lama and The Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
Emotional Intelligence - Daniel Goleman
The Power of Kindness - Piero Ferrucci
Your Inner Will - Piero Ferrucci
The Blue Zones Solution - Dan Buettner
The Blue Zones - Dan Buettner

Flow -  Mihaly Csikszentmihaly
Ikigai - Hector Garcia  
Captivate - Vanessa Van Edwards 
Man's Search For Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl
Fulfilled - Anna Yusim, MD 
Supersurvivors - David B. Feldman


My favorite fiction

1984 - George Orwell
The Little Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Never Let Me Go -Kazuo Ishiguro
Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Hunger Games series - Suzanne Collins
The History of Love - Nicole Strauss


Great biographies

A Higher Loyalty - James Comey
Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama
The Audacity of Hope - Barack Obama
Troublemaker - Leah Remini
Wild - Cheryl Strayed
The Rainbow Comes and Goes - Gloria Vanderbilt and Anderson Cooper 
Without You There Is No Us - Suki Kim

History and science books

Sapiens - Yuval Noah Harari
Team of Rivals - Doris Kearns Goodwin

Philosophical books

What I Believe - Bertrand Russell
Socrates in 90 Minutes
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu 
Why Buddhism Is True - Robert Wright

Books about World War II

Unbroken - Laura Hillebrand
To Hell and Back - Charles Pelligrino
Midnight In Broad Daylight - Pamela Rotner Sakamoto

Beautifully written poetry books

Milk and Honey - Rupi Kaur
The Sun and Her Flowers - Rupi Kaur
Love Her Wild - Atticus

Books about Japan 

Rice Noodle Fish - Matt Goulding
Ghosts of the Tsunami - Richard Lloyd Parry
Understanding Japan - Mark J. Ravina

Kitchen Confidential - Anthony Bourdain

If my enjoyment of this book was analogous to the late Anthony Bourdain being up to bat at a baseball game, it would go something like this.

Pitch 1.....

There appears to be a lot of hyper-masculine posturing to his writing, everything from talking about how badass every kitchen is (apparently all kitchen workers are drug addicted, tattoo'd, burn resistant handed badasses), to sexual prowess (ironically, Bourdain's only direct sexual "encounter" was the cook he was working with mock fingering his ass through his pants - not something to be proud of), to the fact that he will not let anyone listen to Billy Joel or Elton John in his kitchen.  Not to mention his disdain for vegetarianism.  Strike 1

Pitch 2.....

He does, however, occasionally exercise some humility and reverence when referring to chefs or people he admires.  Ball 1

Pitch 3......

He slams celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay, but I still don't understand why he doesn't like them - perhaps he thinks their craft is compromised by commercialism, but then he hypocritically says that had he been at a certain level, maybe he'd be a Food Network star too.  Strike 2

Pitch 4......

Shit, I can't remember where I was going with this whole analogy thing, nor do I have any more opinions about this book.  I think his arrogance put me off a little bit, and I wonder if he judiciously exercised hyperbole.  Nonetheless, I think if I were uninitiated, I would have found some of the things he talked about shocking and interesting, but I got the gist of kitchen life through Sous Chef, which was a very similar read, only without the arrogance.

Sadly, Bourdain is no longer with us, having taken his own life.  I wish he was able to conquer his demons and/or his drug use.

It was a fairly enjoyable book to read from the perspective of being interesting, but as far as personalities go, and delving into the mind of someone to be inspired by, I think I prefer reading more positive approaches to life, from bios by people like Shep Gordon, Leah Remini, etc.

I Loved You At Your Darkest - Behemoth

 I've been looking forward to this album for a long time.  It came out today, and I'll do a stream of consciousness review as I'm listening to each track......

Solve - A very cool start to this album.  It begins with chanting children and the band soon comes in with a killer intro.  I love drummer Inferno's fills - they remind me of my favorite Behemoth album - Demigod.

Wolves ov Siberia - I got to see this song live when they opened for Slayer.  The chord structure reminds me of their Apostasy-era songs, but the blast beats in the verses remind me more of traditional black metal.  This song translated really well live and I really love the orchestral stuff near the end - more an element to enhance the music, ala Nile, rather than classical virtuosity stuff like Fleshgod Apocalypse or Abigail Williams.

God = Dog - This song sounds evil.  The drumming is very creative, which is what I love about Inferno.  Nergal's vocals sound like his old stuff.  I love the production of this song and album - very clear.  I loved the layered vocals in their older stuff.  I wish they did that here.  I wonder who's singing the choir sounding stuff.

Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica - This song has the kind of drumming that made me lose interest in Behemoth before The Satanist came out.  It's very straightforward double kick, but perhaps it's growing on me as a different sound for them.  With extreme music, I mostly like a lot of changes - I think I get that from my love of Cryptopsy's "None So Vile".  This song is kind of straight ahead driving.  Oh wait now, check out this ending.....  acoustic guitars that go into a different end section.  Black metal blast beats - that's pretty cool.

Bartzabel - Whoa, a slow intro.  Damn, those toms sound huge.  I love Orion's bass sound.  Cool song.  Heavy as fuck when the loud section comes in, and then it drops back again.  More of those weird classical vocals - not sure if I like them, but they change up the song.  A lot of times, a slow song breaks up an album in a bad way - that's

If Crucifixion Was Not Enough - Cool, a punk rock beat!  Something different for Behemoth.  Works pretty good with the arpeggiated guitars.  Nergal really has a unique style of writing.  I think he's one of the few guys that write guitar riffs that sound both evocative of his influences and unique at the same time.  Seth's (I think it's his) guitar solo is killer and I wish he shredded more of the other songs, but that's not really a huge part of the Behemoth sound.

Angelvs XIII - Where the hell do they get these song titles from?  Aah, there are those Inferno drum fills that I love.  I'm wondering if this album sounds disjointed, or interesting?  Maybe if Inferno played the same beats for the whole album it would be boring.  Oh, there are those layered vocals that I love.  This might be my favorite song on the album.

Sabbath Mater - More classic Behemoth goodness (evilness?).  Oh wait, there's that double kick beat.  Hmmm....  now there's that punk beat.  Cool high tom fill.  Damn, Nergal's vocals are near perfect.  This is the best he's ever sounded.  He's definitely my favorite death / black metal vocalist.  I think that's what I don't like about a lot of black metal - the vocals are too "high".  Nergal never sounds like the Exorcist, but then his vocals aren't just pure low growl like Glen Benton or Corpsegrinder (both of whom I absolutely love).

Havohej Pantocrator - Another slow intro.  Sounds like a mood piece in the beginning.  Now it goes into a standard slow dirge type Behemoth piece.  I like this one - it breaks up the album pretty well.  Wow, they've really matured as songwriters.  Cool blast beats in the middle.  This is pretty epic sounding.  Maybe this is my favorite song on the album.  :)

Rom 5:8 - Another slow song with blastbeats throughout.  I like this style.  It's much more black metal than death metal, but it has more depth than a lot of black metal, or at least what I've heard.

We Are The Next 1000 Years - This sounds more traditional black metal.  I think this would satisfy guys that are into Immortal and Gorgoroth, though it's a little more atmospheric and pop.

Coagvla - Good closer for the album.  Blast beat fest with orchestral parts.  I can totally see them closing shows with this.  I'm headbanging to this as I'm listening to it.

This is a solid album!  Having just seen them opening for Slayer, I have a renewed interest in their new music.  I've always loved Demigod and The Apostasy, but I didn't like The Satanist as much, even though it's a great album.  I think they strayed too much from the Death Metal aspect of their music and got more Black Metal.  While I love BM, I love Behemoth because of the balance they achieve between the two.  This album feels like a return to form for me.