Thursday, June 26, 2008

Putting the gun down.

So as things always work with this fucking curse The Banner, we had to come home early. Personal reasons arose that made it impossible to go any further,so like the pussy i am i lurched home 4 days early.

lovely.

What made it all the more tough to deal with was the fact that this was far and away the best tour we had ever done, on all accounts. The shows were amazing, kids were seemingly very into what we were doing and really enjoying themselves and praising the new material and being very gracious (im still stunned by Frailty's response) . Secondly, but no less an issue, was the bond that we had formed with our label mates/ tour mates in such a short time. Going into this tour and seeing/hearing the other bands and knowing nothing of them i have to admit i had some pre-conceived notions and fears about what i could expect from the other dudes sharing the trail with us.

holy shit was i an asshole.

Not only were they some of the most dedicated and genuine musicians i have encountered in my years in a band but some of the most down to earth, approachable and likable people ive ever met.Synt,Elysia,Knights and AGAGAG all blew me away with their performances each night as well as their clear love for the music they made. I had heard all the bands prior, at least a few songs but the live show for each, specifically synt, melted my brain.

If you have not seen SYNT live and are into aggressive music at all it is imperative that you go see this band at once. I had heard the cd a few times before and enjoyed it but seeing them live each night, taking nothing from the merits of the recording itself, made the cd absolutely useless to me. What Drew, Andy and Fox put together each night was unreal and a distinct pleasure to get watch. Thats not to mention watching them (including Dallas) run around and jump like a bunch of spastic retard monkeys having a blast.
And Fox's negativity on the mic? Beautiful, gorgeous,perfect.

A girl a gun a ghost, these idiots , or hardcore-cockroaches as i call them have more heart than i have seen in a group in a long time. I think they broke down three times and had their van broken into once and still,somehow trucked it out to each show. These guys are unreal and their record is solid through and through.
Alaskan king...fuck.
i wish i had learned the lyrics :( (next time guys)

KNIGHTS OF THE ABYSS metal,fuck, metal. perfect every night, brutal every night, stoned every night..and they have a viking (THEE VIKING) on Keyboards. Why this band is only part time escapes me but they shred harder than most full time bands so fuck it.

Elysia, Zak,Chris,John,Steve and Garrett. Now this band combined may weigh as much as any one member of The Banner but they more than make up for it in energy. Its rare you encounter a band, especially in the "hardcore/post-hardcore/metal-core" genre that gets on stage and plays as hard as these guys do and clearly loves every second of it. There was not a show they played on the tour where you looked at any of the guys and thought there was any place they would rather be.
The song from Lion of Judas (which i absolutely recommend to anyone) i really dug, and hearing the new songs they played every night i was really into what i heard. It wasn't until i got home and really got to sit down with the lyrics and give them the attention they deserved that i realized just what kind of record it was. I feel with the current excitement about this band and what they did on Masochist (which is not a bad record by any stretch) they could've taken the easy way and put out a "sure thing" that wouldve been eaten up by the retards at large. Instead what they did is record a record that was clearly crafted with love for the music they had written and a desire to push themselves artistically in an atmosphere that is largely unkind to such a practice, or maybe they just didn't want to humiliate themselves in front of Kurt at God City i suppose it doesn't matter as the record is gold.

Ok enough cock sucking for one blog post, music aside im going to miss everybody in all of these bands. Im going to miss struggling to get to my feet and crawling out of the van in pain and being instantly put in a better mood because Fox will be laughing at something with that laugh of his or i get to being a complete dick to Chris for no reason other than hes small and reminds me of my little brother or the knights dudes whipping around on those weird skateboard stick things they had or AGAGAG stepping out of the van looking like they just escaped a disaster.

or seeing if Zak had survived the night because each day he looked like he might keel over at any minute.

im going to miss them all.

And its very weird for me to come to the realization that i, of all people me, suddenly has 26 more people i consider friends.

but im sure ill get used to it.

best summer ever.


p.s. I did not forget you Kooter <3

Sunday, June 22, 2008

whats the point of even being here?

So im home sorta, and once again because of retardation on others people part i got screwed.

made some already stretched plans to be able to see ags but that feel through, awesome.Its only another week though so thats not too bad.

The shows have been really cool, last night we played NYC and it was definitely the best show of the tour, got to see Rick,Carl, Marc and Jerry and all the ferret fuckers and Erin and Natalie and crippen and joe and everybody came to see me which was great, definitely re-energized me on the touring and the record and everything. I wish greg and poodle couldve come but whatever.

it was an awesome time.

i think for the first time in the history of the band were going to be able to pay off a merch order upon our return from tour which is probably what im feeling best about right now.
im not gonna get too ahead of myself though, but for now im riding high, will the Karma boomerang of fuck fly back at my face 3000x as strong? history would say yes but ive got high hopes (bidip-bo)

im really looking forward to the vynil release and having the artwork have the full treatment it was meant too, i think im more excited on that than anything else.

i talked to will about writing an EP when i get home and he was stoked so that is gonna be amazing.

thats it fuck you.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

poolside/san diego

sorta, i guess.

so yesterday was day 8 of tour, we played SOMA it was far and away the best show of tour, we did really good here last time we played also but that was in 2006/05? so i was kinda nervous there was like 400 kids there.

tours been awesome for the band, really good reactions and interest from the crowd, its definitely exceeding my expectations and kids are seeming to be really into the new songs and begging for the new record wich is nice.

the whole agnes thing seems to be going well, we text back and forth pretty often so im less worried about that.

last night we stayed with Doug Katz after the show and there was some ridiculous rager going on here. I talked on the phone outside for a bit and then me a polooch slept in the van which really wasnt all that bad.

i really want to start writing a new record.

im kinda slacking on my writing since i hit the road i thought it would be easier than it is but its definitely proving to be a pain in the butt. I kinda got spoiled with the microsoft word feature on my old phone maybe i can find one for the voyager,i have more than enough memory for that stuff.

im kinda stoked for the nyc show,i hope it does well.

i wish i could just go home after the shows on this tour.

i forgot to send a bunch of artwork to kids before i left for tour so now its just sitting on my desk or in my comp waiting for me to get home...oof.

tonight were playing in westlake...wtf is westlake?

The real Wolf-

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Funerals.

Recently in an interview i was asked for some more insight to the sound Funerals on the new record. I found the request odd as lyrically i don't think the song is very strong or a standout by any means and wondered what struck the interviewer that made him want to know more. Regardless i answered the question and thought it would be something some people might be interested in.


"Well the song specifically isn't just about "Funerals" as in someone being buried, Don't get me wrong its definitely a huge influence for the song, but its also about long standing parts of your life that sometimes you maybe take for granted or don't realize how important to you they are and then they're suddenly gone and it either effects your life in a huge way or is just a catalyst for a flood of emotion or realization on how much things have changed,in this case for the worse.Honestly I'm an emotional retard, its feast or famine with me I'm either completely indifferent to the point i have no idea whats wrong with me or I'm just crippled with depression or anger to the point i cant function. For this reason i usually don't attend funerals, I'm either scared ill break down or nervous i don't look upset enough when my brain is actually going a thousand miles a minute.I'm not gonna mention specific names but the one person who passed away a few years ago that really had me thinking about where i started and where i was and the huge distance between the two was a fixture in my life when i first got into punk and hardcore as well as part of the scene where i really started figuring out who i was and wanted to be as a person. When he passed i hadn't spoken to him for about a year and i was just stunned,All these memories of me running around like a psycho with my equally ridiculous friends in the essex/bergen county hardcore/punk "scene", not giving a shit about anything, starting bands, drawing tshirts, fighting, graffiti , it was honestly the best times of my life. Sneaking out of my house to walk down to Newark to the pipeline every Thursday and weekend to see any band that was playing and to just see my friends who would be there for no reason other than it was a place to go.Id wake up and know that id have to turn the brain off till i got through a day of work at a shitty job and then id get to go hang out.Id have no idea what was gonna happen but it was gonna be amazing. It was awesome and there was never any doubts or cares about anything. Somehow in the years that past as those kids went to jail or got kids or just moved away somehow i ended up somewhere else with a new group of kids and i became totally jaded and angry and violent, it just sucked. Every time one of those kids passes away or even Friends outside the scene i had at that time passes i just think if i knew how shitty life without being surrounded by the poorest,ugliest, craziest kids i knew i would've been a thousand times crazier and just appreciated it so much more.Nowadays i sit in a shitty job hating it and seething at the world watching the clock till i can go home, hug my girl watch a movie and go to bed. Occasionally ill read a comic book or something or go to a show to see a friends band, but that means immersing myself in just a see a of kids who i for the most part don't understand, don't like and for the most part completely resent, and i find myself just trying to figure how most of my adult life has been spent as a part of the new jersey hardcore/punk scene and somehow now feel completely removed from it, like I'm some kind of visitor or something.I have some good aspects of my life now, some extremely good aspects and some lifelong friends who make my life at least tolerable, but not a day goes by i don't miss those kids and that era.But i suppose that's how life is for everybody and I'm just being an old cranky bitch who knows.
Also,i for the most part kinda hate the song funerals lyrically sometimes, most songs i sit and try to write something worthwhile to represent the feelings that lead to the song, sorta invest some effort that i feel the topic is due. But then sometimes i have a page of words that just came out in gush from a really low point and i just have to use them because they may not be the most poetic stuff or even make sense but they re real and represent the emotion behind the song better than any lame rhyme i could figure out for a stupid hardcore chant."

The full interview will be appearing in Rocksound magazine in the near future, thank you to Andy Kelham.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

two more days at this job, Im gonna miss it but the new job...yeah,killer.

today i have to do ten thousand things all of wich are boring and lame except for going to my dads house for dinner. sweet.

i would really like to know whats going on with this comic book thing,on the rare occasions i speak to the dudes they say theyre all about it but nothing ever really moves forward. i guess its up to me to kinda grab somebody and shake'em.
i just hope they still want to do it,ive been writing like crazy.

the giant book is moving alot faster than LIH, im having alot of fun with it, writing in book form is so much faster and more fun that writing directly into panel.
I think im just going to write lih in regular format first and then panelize when it comes time to draw it up.

Im writing it as a submission for wizards of coast hopefully for a forgotten realms novel,im using all the characters and monster from the monster manual, but ive been entertaining the idea of just rolling it over into my own little universe.
Not that the FR stuff has been constricting or handicapping but id like to have the book put out somewhere.

im really worried about my lyrics, they make me come off as completely crazy,its a little embarrassing.


agnes drunk is the most ridiculous thing ever.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

5/25/8

today i went grocery shopping and my mom let me do the deli counter...BWAHAHA
my mother likes to horde her money and live like were on government checks but i enjoy eating the food of humans.
i got all the good boars head shit and got the killer red potato salad and the coleslaw that you want to eat not that shite soupy shit she swears is from heaven.

my victorys are small and sparse, but fullfilling none the less

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Frailty Lyrics

Welcome Fuckers (Will played this on a smashed guitar that we stretched strings on with scissors,i think we wrote the music to this in ten minutes?)
Welcome fuckers its the end as you know
Welcome time to reap what you've sowed
Welcome fuckers with your face so cold
doesn't matter,lake of fire your new home
Nobody's listening little boy wipe your eyes
little bastard dont look so surprised
Little fuckers you weap and you moan
little brother what you gave you will own
did you know better? are you sorry? i dont know
doesn't matter wave goodbye as your thrown

The Wolf
i walk the path to tragedy
a worthless heart without empathy
as the sun now sets upon these chains
colossus rots where once were flames
rots and rusts in blackened fields
agonys screamed (at) the gates to hell
i crawl on towards deaths mercy
kept at arms length, theres no release.
i fall shivering (in) the shadow of the beast
seven serpents crawl up my legs and smother me
i am a liar to the crown
i dance on the tombs of kings and spit on hallowed ground
screams burn like fire, but make no sound.
i cower here a prisoner on the shore to the blackest sea
i ask not why the wolf howls
it howls for me
and i see the tide crawl in time with iron bells
call me back to father in the pits of seven hells.
and i fall.

Leechbath
Crushed under the weight of their writhing fits
teeth like hooks carve deep within
the heartless
and empty
feeding inside
swallowing what little lights in my life
spineless,the cowards
devoid of all depth
surround me, cling tightly
suck the life from my chest
you've
failed
every
day
you've
woke
you scum
you fucks
listen
and
choke
im buried alive, they crawl around me
blink of an eye, my whole life has been stolen from me
feel them crawl inside my neck,behind my eyes,inside my head
i choke and gasp to catch my breath while bloods coughed out across my chest

i know you know the truth about this fucking song
that nothings fucking over and nothings done
a hate unspoken still burns as hot
nothings forgiven
nothings forgot

because i feel no pain anymore.

The Hellbound Heart
Behold godless soul
wrought of hate for a sinners toll
awash in flesh and greed i bow
a thousands days in numbing cold
poisoned lips and poisoned cups
hidden knives and worthless fucks
a dance of death
and end of days
i worship none
none more than pain
through a pit of blades i stray,regret now blacks the light of days of younger flesh and younger hearts
where faith in time and youth still sparked the will to leave the house each day. i saw my path but chose to stray
and now i crawl on back and say ive seen my heart and youth decay.

im broken
and i hope to die alone
ive been failed by every hero ive held
ive called a burning house a home
im dying and its no ones fault but my own
ive chose to burn to this body and mind
this hellbound heart ill own

help me im in hell,among the lost to life i dwell
demons tear and shred this soul
as walking death infects the world i know

im unburied
but fucking dead.

On Hooks

everyday i feel this life is drowning me
every face to cross my path is sickening
a pit devoid of soul, of heart or empathy
i try to find a point at all but i cant see.
on these fucking hooks ill hang
to writhe and rot in iron chains
spirit guides and pills for pain
they drag me to an early grave
ive faced the truth i wont be saved
its far too late for epiphany
the cloaked ghost will strike the days
until this world is through with me

i try but i cannot relate at all
theres no place for me in this fucking world
every time i reach to try again
im knocked back down reminded who i am
with serpents eyes they smile up at me
they pull their hooks and suck dry what they need
they drop an empty corpse down at their feet
and with their cloven hooves step over me

here ill hang.

IWIWD (If you kill yourself its because youre stupid or their is something wrong with your brain, not because of this song,
if you or someone you know is using banner songs as input on life decisions you've already got problems so i strongly suggest you contact one of the many agencys available with help for depression or suicide prevention. These songs are written in contained short amounts of time,if i truly wanted to kill myself,id kill myself not write a song about it. please don't kill yourself.)


Ive got head full of bad ideas
ive got a pocket full of lead
ive got a gun down in my hand
and i put it to my head
all i do is lose
im held together by a thread
i wish to god i was never born
i wish i was fucking dead.

Sphrenia
Nothing is real
i see their shadows in the day
i hear the voices and they call my name
i know the demon by her eyes
the ice blue daggers stab
i see the liars with no face
they walk beside while they play their games
i know they're laughing at my fate
"there is no escaping" is what they say
i read the writing the on the wall
they leave their poison for me,its not too far
they lead me further down the hall
the doors are open for me,its not too far

sunset.

its getting harder just to see what is real,
this fucking nightmare i feel or what she sends when i wake
i cant tell if its my
heart or the hate
im not sure whats ok
are these friends that i see or something crueler for me?
its all her

i cannot see whats left for me
only the horror that comes to haunt the day
i cannot feel whats real in me
just phantom pain for a heart decayed

i will live forever among these mirrored walls
i will pull the curtain from where my tormentor calls
ill stalk the pale faces whose brought me to my knees
ill grasp her thin white neck as she laughs at me

Funerals
Cant get my head above the ground
cant take the heat
cant move on
i lose my thoughts within the sound
its grabs my heart and pulls me down

i feel as buried as any of them
another version of the faces i know
another pound for the weight i tow

another burial (for) a piece of me
another vision that id rather not see
another knife into the heart of me
another funeral is killing

You go on without me but im dragged along
another mark to remind me,how far ive fallen

Dusk
your arms that take
your arms invertebrate
venomous,constricting and cold
blood warms to life
tongue flickers in time
vibrations awaken your soul
the mind sheds away
you circle, break,swerve and stay
you stare so deep ,you rise so tall
you gently sway,your silhouette writhes and plays
its poison up on the wall
drumming hearts they sync and then slow
(you) whisper songs of peace and of home
whisper promise though don't show what you see
when those black diamonds stare straight through to me
flicker in time
gently entwine
daggers slide sharper than pain
rise up,around
liquid and vapor
a warmth that creeps up through my veins
now is your time
and ive walked this line
(while) you slid down deep in my soul
i fade away as you breathe your song heavy
and i take my show on the road
slide on black racer,slide on.

I am Legion (Originally some of these lyrics were lifted and used for the song "Tragedy" on our previous LP "Each breath Haunted". This is the full original version of the lyrics that the line in that song was taken from.)

I am
legion
Gadarene
for i am many
and many devils have entered me
i am legion
i am Gadarene
but these demons wont be cast from me
Abyssos, the farthest depths, from where they rose of Baal and Set
Seven serpents,seven seas, seven walls imprison me
but none shall pass without the key
and it was lain down at their feet
i welcomed them,they welcomed me
never blind
i chose not to see
the engine
the weapon
beneath the flesh
a fragile minds caverns
to hide within
an engine,a weapon is now my heart
the building of towers that crumble and fall apart
An angels boiling blood is flowing backwards through my veins
creatures feeding endlessly upon a child's pain
i am now the sum of all the demons that infest
a cancer of my own construct and built in self defense.
i am legion

Ratflesh (Originally i wrote these lyrics for a punk band i was working on, its kind of goofy but this fucking record was
getting way too heavy for me and i needed to lighten things up as i was kinda going off the deep end, besides everyone
hates their job.)


damn this place a fucking cage
damn another wasted day
at their desks like fucking dummies
making other people money
cant care less what they say
ill burn this fucker down one day
i hope this place burns to the fucking ground
with their ugly suits and cars in tow
i pray these fucking people die
with their bullshit lives and their bullshit smiles
run like rats caught in a maze
while to a desk i sit here chained
if i last another day
ill blow out my fucking brains

another day another dollar
and ill fucking sit here while my brain rots farther
but i have to play this game to pay my fucking car bill

The Father and the wayward son
The end
the union of the father and the wayward son
atop the sister peaks above the valley, Agamemnon
under angels
above the lightless fallen stars
a pale cloaked rider
circles to his call
with the countless counted
lost in confusion
await the harvest hour
await the son
the falling answers
clarity as a flood
the weaping liars
creation undone
revelation
as was told all along
the facing gates swing open
and drag their children home
so far from mercy
pay the boatmens toll
as we see the lightbringer has reclaimed his sword

they await the harvest hour
they await the descent

all i have and all i know

and it comes back to me,like a child's dream
all so familiar for things ive never seen