Monthly Archives: January 2012

Arcane’s Last Show: The End of an Era

Posted by on January 29, 2012 1 comment

 

Arcane at Lanza's, 1/28/12

Arcane Malevolence‘s first show was December 14, 2007 at Monkey Bar with Age Old Nemesis, Lesser Being, and Year of Confession.

Monkey Bar shut its doors years ago and reopened as some dance club.  Lesser Being and Age are now defunct; I don’t know who Year of Confession is, but they’re probably defunct too.

And now Arcane Malevolence has joined them in the graveyard.

Despite several obvious conflicts of interest, I think Arcane’s last show deserves a spot in our music column.  For almost five years, Arcane has been known in the CT metal scene for seven-minute songs, the stage antics of their singer, and for never dropping off of a show.  Some people didn’t embrace their unusual style, but nobody could deny each member’s musicianship and the creative effort they collectively put into their endeavors. Read more »

Winter Gauges

Posted by on January 22, 2012 1 comment

 

It’s getting colder out now! Yeah, I know: “Thank you, Captain Obvious.” The night has slipped its way across the border of summer’s days, creeping in with lower temperatures over the evening hours. Leaves change into colorful attire, as if they are dressing up for a special occasion, readying themselves for their fall journeys. Time to get out the winter clothing, put the suede shoes away and hunt down coats that will fit our swollen bodies stuffed with holiday feasts. This is the time for scarves and long-sleeved shirts, snow boots, and head-gear to cover easily frost-bitten ears; these are all the familiar things to anyone used to New England life. Read more »

The Writer in Musician’s Skin: A Commentary on the Local Metal Scene

Posted by on January 21, 2012 4 comments

I’m really not conceited enough to think that the breakup of Arcane Malevolence should take up an entire music column on this excellent e-zine. I originally decided to fit it in as a supplement to a bigger issue. Over the last few days however, I’ve come to realize that the breakup of my band IS a big deal to a number of people; more of a big deal than the band members themselves make it out to be. Being the vocalist of this band, I’m surprised that we really meant that much to people, and I suppose our breakup deserves a more thorough explanation. It’s not my place to explain the case of my band mates and their reasons to move on, but I can certainly speak for myself. So here we go…

The author performing with Arcane in 2009 -- photo by Chris Rivera.

First of all, I am honored to say that this band was a part of my life for the last three years. Because of a last minute decision, I took a leap of faith and joined in on something that truly felt special. It wasn’t just the music that turned me on, but more importantly, it was the people. For the first time in the eight-or-so years of being involved with bands, I was grouped with three people I had no musical history with – it was immediately refreshing. What I didn’t know at the time was that these three people were to easily become three of the best people I’ve ever been in a band with. In the entire three years that we were together, there was never any drama, jealousy, complication or unnecessary confrontation. They are and will remain very good friends of mine, and in no way do I regret joining in with them. On top of that, this band also introduced me to a shit-ton of other great people that I probably wouldn’t have ever met had I not gotten involved. There are too many names to mention, and you all know who you are anyway. Read more »

Bars are Nice, Part I: Downtown Stamford Edition

Posted by on January 16, 2012 1 comment

 

Stamford is the city that works. And we all know what happens after work – time to unwind! Stamford offers many ways to decompress in the evening hours, and most of them will feed you too. How convenient! The Bar/Restaurant has always been a favorite of mine; those from my childhood bring back warm nostalgia of good food, family, and getting in trouble. Little did I know how much more trouble the loud people in the other room were getting into, and that they were wearing the shoes I would one day fill.

Being such a frequenter and having such a strong opinion, I figured I’d share some of my thoughts and experiences at these tiny oasises (oasi?) I find between the workplace and my couch. I’m easy when it comes to booze, but when it comes to food there is a very narrow window of success, so I hope to expose the best of the best. Like I said, Stamford has a lot to offer, so let’s start with just downtown. And now, without further ado, I really enjoyed my last visit to… Read more »

Richard Christy: From Death in a Storage Locker to a Room with a View

Posted by on January 13, 2012 4 comments

 

Twenty-seven years ago, a Kansas farm kid named Richard heard Van Halen’s new song “Hot for Teacher” and begged his parents to buy him a drum set.  Today you know that boy as Richard Christy, former drummer for Death, Iced Earth, and many more bands – and currently the drummer and primary composer for his own project, Charred Walls of the Damned.  Christy talked with Alternative Control on January 13th about CWOTD’s second album, upcoming news from Control Denied, and his journey from a ten-year-old Van Halen fan to one of the most well-known drummers in metal today.

Richard Christy looking suave -- photo stolen from Facebook.

“‘Hot for Teacher’ blew my mind,” he said. “It was fifth grade, the same year that school band started.  I went to band class on the first day of school and I’ve been a drummer ever since.”  His music teacher Willie Abate was an accomplished drummer in his own right, and soon saw potential in his young student.  “He came up to me and said ‘You should really stick with playing drums.’  I was like eleven or twelve, and that really inspired me.  He’s one of the reasons I stuck with it – and he still teaches band in Kansas.  He even hung up a Death poster in the band room!” Read more »

To Spawn or Not to Spawn: That is the Question

Posted by on January 8, 2012 No comments

As a woman who’s almost 28 and almost married, I’ve been hearing a lot of the same two questions lately:

“How are the wedding plans going?” and,
“When are you going to have kids?”

My answer to the first question is, “Great!”  For the second, “Oh, probably in a few years…” But I’m really thinking, “Fucked if I know, lady!”

The truth is, I have mixed feelings about kids.  Most of the time I feel like an overgrown kid myself — except when I’m hung over after four or five drinks and think, “Wow, I’m getting old!”  There are definitely a lot of cons to reproducing, but a few strong pros might outweigh them… Read more »

Places to Go: The Bowling Alley?

Posted by on January 8, 2012 4 comments

 

Are you tired of hanging around your house drinking?  Or going to a restaurant with your friends, sitting there staring at each other, and drinking?  The solution might be to pile everyone into a couple cars and head to the nearest bowling alley.

Last night, a few friends and I went out bowling at Rip Van Winkle Lanes in Norwalk.  I loved bowling as an elementary-schooler, but then went through a twenty-year period of thinking it was dorky — something for little kids’ birthdays, or an activity for non-custodial parents to do with their offspring when it was “their” weekend.  Turns out that if you add a couple pitchers of Sam Adams and give yourselves goofy names on the score-keeping TV, it’s a blast! I did better on my first game (79 — wow!) than my second (don’t even wanna know), probably due to the Sam Adams… Read more »