True Defiance

Today, Demon Hunter's True Defiance album comes out. However, I pre-ordered and my package arrived yesterday. ^_^ You can see my unboxing in this video below.

The album is very awesome. I like the new tight sound they went for! The DVD included was a nice interview of Ryan Clark, the lead singer. While I was thinking they were going to show behind the scenes of the studio, Ryan spoke well of God and the band's stand for their faith. I thought that was very cool. I wish more bands did that. 

My favorite ballad right now is "Dead Flowers." It's pretty melancholy in a good way. "I am a Stone" is also a beautiful ballad, but it's only a strings arrangement. I would need a different category in my mind, since it's a different kind of ballad with no electric guitars. I think my favorite darkest and heaviest song is "We Don't Care." There are many others that are awesome, but that main riff is reminiscent of my song "Decimate." I like that style of riffing.

As far as my composing goes, it's kinda been at a stand-still as of late. I am practicing guitar. I hope to get back into the composing stage today after work.

Totally switching gears, I am going to be switched to overnight position at Walmart in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to the experience I am going to gain. Walmart is my planned career path. A department manager is my first goal. I'm really excited about this opportunity to learn.

Updates

Just restrung my Drop B guitar. Working on a playing a cover of Demon Hunter's "One Thousand Apologies." That's a great ballad by them. Yes, it's in Drop B. I'm anxious to do a dual cover of RED's songs "Feed the Machine" and "Faceless." I want to do one live take, one after the other. I will switch from my Drop A guitar to my Drop B guitar for the appropriate song tunings. I really wanted to wait until I get an HD camera. I'm not sure if I can wait that long. I am saving up for a Canon T3i. I am almost there. I think I can reach this amount in a few months if all goes well, budget wise. My latest video is a short tutorial on how my setup is wired. I was not ready to show anything new, as far as compositions go, and so I cooked up that video for you. I am finalizing my song "Surge" and will hopefully get it mixed and mastered soon. That may set me back further from the T3i though. My subscriptions haven't been growing as of late for my new artist channel. I'm guessing it's just not drawing attention yet. Maybe when I get Surge complete, I can promote the video and people will see my channel. Again, costs money. Perhaps people will support me though. ;)

By the way, I don't seem to be sore from my 3.6 mile walk I took yesterday. :)

haha. Can you count how many times I said "I" in my first paragraph?

Brandon

Someone to Hate

I love metal. This here is Christian Metal. The band is called Demon Hunter. Here is a new single for their upcoming album "True Defiance" on April 10. We defy the world.

Writing metal in Drop B

I posted the below video on YouTube yesterday. Here it is now on my blog with a little more of the back story.



I'm calling this song "Hard drive failure." =D At least right now anyways. I've experienced the failure of a hard drive a couple of times in my life and know how it feels. My external hard drive is messed up. I can't access it. I hope I can one day access it on my own or I've lost some important videos and pictures.

Demon Hunter is a big inspiration for this song. Their cover of Snap your fingers, snap your neck gave me a line or two in this song. A Romanian metal band Aria, with the guitarist Cosmin Lupu, was also an inspiration. Red inspired my use of a chord progression. WideK inspired a riff I am putting after the chorus.

I'll be posting my tone soon. But I'm using a Criminal amp in POD Farm, which is the same thing as the popular 5150 amp. I posted a clip of this song on my SoundCloud, but I have since then re-recorded the guitars. Keep a watch on that page, because I'll be posting another clip soon.

I'm using my cheap guitar: Ibanez IJX 121, tuned to Drop B, with Ernie Ball 12-56 strings.

Cheers!!
Brandon

Demon Hunter - Christian Metal

Christian Metal. Yes, you read it correctly. I realize some do not care for this heavy stuff. I understand. However, the lyrics by these Christians are deep and full of God's love. It's a wonderful alternative to the secular music. Same beat and style, but the message (the most important part) is healthy. I recently bought Demon Hunter's album "Summer of Darkness." I really like the lyrics of this song "Not Ready To Die." It's the first track on this album. Lyrics are under this video.



You've got a lot of nerve and I've got a lot of fingers to point
While you were busy building knowledge I was already right
I know a voice like yours is not a weapon at all
And even mine is not a chisel for a thickened skull
So you can chant your anthems to the deaf
And we can sit here and cry until there's nothing left
Or we can take our voices with our hands
Make like knives and make demands
We'll take our voices - with our hands
Make like knives - we'll make demands

I'm burning bridges for the last time

I'm breaking habits for the first time

I saw my future today, it said I'm going away
But I still haven't sung the last line
On my way down..
I'm not ready to lay, not ready to fade
I'm not ready to die
And everyday of my life I can feel it getting harder to breathe
With every minute ticking by I'm getting ready to leave
I know a life like mine is not a reason to fret
But I've been busy build scars that you will never forget
If only thirty three years can save my life
I've had twenty four more to make things right
So when I'm taken to the sky and you're still here
You can clear your mind and dry your tears
When I'm taken home - and you're still here
Just clear your mind - dry your tears
I'm burning bridges for the last time
I'm breaking habits for the first time
I saw my future today, it said I'm going away
But I still haven't sung the last line.
On my way down..
I'm not ready to lay, not ready to fade
I'm not ready to die
When I'm taken home - and you're still here
Just clear your mind - dry your tears
We'll take our voices - with our hands
Make like knives - we'll make demands
I'm not ready to lay, not ready to fade
I'm not ready to die


Basically, the meaning of this song is about how we Christians feel about death. We know where we are going when we die. We have everlasting life with God and will go to heaven. Sometimes we wonder if we were all we could be in our lives. It's a bitter-sweet thing with death.

Songs to Cover

So I came up with a list of songs that I should cover for you guys.

Demon Hunter
-Descending upon us
-Snap your fingers, snap your neck

The first song is a little challenging and it requires a bit more work. I'm learning it by ear and by tab from www.ultimate-guitar.com. (Always gotta check with your own ear - sometimes the tab is wrong.

The second song is quite simple and really fun! Kudos to the bassist who gives the guitarist a break. Listen to it to know what I mean. :)


Skillet
-Comatose
-Hero

I already did do 'Monster' (several times...LOL) and 'Awake and Alive' (tube screamer demo). Just check out my channel use the search function.

'Hero' is hard for me - mainly the rhythm. Needs a lot of work. Haven't practiced it in a while.

'Comatose' is kinda easy - just needs a little bit more practice.


Red
-Faceless
-Watch you crawl

The first song is fun and I almost have it down. The picking part in the middle is a bit tough. I'm using the YouTube lesson from the band guitarist.

'Watch you crawl' is really tough on the rhythm and I've only tried a little bit of it.


These are just some songs I could cover in the not-so-distant future. I might cover something else first, but subscribe to my YouTube channel if you want to see my videos. I know of the requests I have had, and I try not to make promises just in case, but I do still have them on the list. I do consider them. Thank you.

-Brandon