Tell us what's happening in your life

It's been an intense last couple of weeks at work & that's not likely to change any time soon as I'm heading to New Zealand tomorrow morning to spend a week traveling around the country visiting key customers. It's a little bit stressful to be doing that right now as the COVID risk is rising again in Australia & there is the chance that the borders may be shut at some point. It's also made worse by the fact that my 81 year-old father-in-law has COVID at the moment & is being monitored by my wife. I've already cancelled this trip twice before though so I think I'm reluctant to do that again & are just gonna have to play it by ear.

I have embarked on a campaign to improve my health recently.  Not that I ever had a drinking problem (which is what people who did have a problem with drinking probably say a lot) but I have successfully got myself in the habit of having 5 days out of 7 completely alcohol free.  On the two days that I do have a drink it is virtually no more than 2 bottles of beer and to be honest I am at the point of considering stopping altogether such is the improvement I have seen in some very basic aspects of life.

To begin with, I instantly noticed how much better I slept if I had no beer before going to bed of an evening.  I could guarantee waking up in the night and staying awake for at last an hour as my brain would wake up and focus on all the shit I would need to get done that week or mull over life in general.  However, now the alcohol intake has reduced I sleep through for at least 7 hours a night and have a very set routine of when I am in bed for and when I get up. With a good night's sleep I am also a lot more relaxed in my approach to work and life in general - this has been a little counter-intuitive as I have a job that demands that I am very dynamic and need to be thinking on my feet a lot and if I am honest I am a little too laidback nowadays but that can be remedied.

Over the past few months I have felt better and a lot more energetic throughout the day and my digestive system is much more placid than it used to be as I did suffer quite badly with reflux.  I am not off to climb any mountains or start running marathons or anything but I am looking to get back to daily walks in the coming fortnight before starting work.  I do need to work on my diet a bit, it is already pretty balanced but still a little light on vegetables and fruit in all honesty.

So an Aussie record label is interested in remastering & re-releasing the Neuropath demos on vinyl & CD which is amazing. What's not amazing is that I don't know what happened to the master tapes & DATs & it can't go ahead without them. I was definitely the one that had them but I can't remember seeing them since the late 90's. I feel sure that I wouldn't have thrown them away but if that didn't happen then I have no fucking idea what I've done with them. Let's hope I make a very unlikely rediscovery over the weekend. Wish me luck guys!

Good luck, Daniel!

We've gotten through the harmony test & the twelve week scan unscathed sao it seems that it's gonna happen. We're having a third daughter in March!

We've gotten through the harmony test & the twelve week scan unscathed sao it seems that it's gonna happen. We're having a third daughter in March!

Congrats sir.

We've gotten through the harmony test & the twelve week scan unscathed sao it seems that it's gonna happen. We're having a third daughter in March!

Congrats, Daniel!

Dude!

And so the family grows!

So an Aussie record label is interested in remastering & re-releasing the Neuropath demos on vinyl & CD which is amazing. What's not amazing is that I don't know what happened to the master tapes & DATs & it can't go ahead without them. I was definitely the one that had them but I can't remember seeing them since the late 90's. I feel sure that I wouldn't have thrown them away but if that didn't happen then I have no fucking idea what I've done with them. Let's hope I make a very unlikely rediscovery over the weekend. Wish me luck guys!

So I couldn't find the master DAT tape but it's looking like this may happen using some clean rips of the tapes regardless as the production was very good for demos of the time & there's plenty of room for mastering given that the originals weren't mastered. I'm meeting with the label on Tuesday to progress it. Apparently there's quite a following for these old tapes in the underground death metal scene in modern times which is nice to hear.

Bad news: I have COVID. Passed down from my grandmother, then grandfather, then brother, then me. Please wish me the best of luck that I survive and recover within the next week or two. And maybe then I'll be better enough to comment on next month's clan playlists and feature releases, and work on January's feature releases and Revolution and Sphere playlists.

All the best for your recovery Andi. COVID has been making a resurgence in my area in recent weeks thanks to a new strain. I'm not sure how it's being handled in your part of the world but we're not even required to isolate after registering a positive test any more, despite hospitalizations rising fairly sharply. It's a fine balance & I'm not sure we've quite got it right just yet.

Thanks, Daniel. In my country, a COVID victim has to isolate in their room at home, or if it's really bad, in a hospital. So far for me, it's only been the former.

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

Hope you recover soon, Vinny.

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

That sucks. Get well soon both of you.

As Vinny knows I'm sure, it has been the coldest week for years here in the UK and annoyingly, my wife and I have had no heating or hot water since last Friday due to a broken down boiler and a useless boiler insurance company (yes, SSE, I'm looking at you)! Hoping it will be finally fixed tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest.

COVID finally caught up with me after 3 years of avoiding it.  Both my wife and I tested positive towards the back end of last week.  We have isolated since then even though only "guidance" to do so as opposed to any mandatory requirement in the UK.  Keeping an eye on my wife who has breathing problems anyway but to date she seems to be okay.  I am glad of the downtime in some respects but really conscious that work was starting to pick up this past couple of weeks and eager to get in amongst my emails as I know there's money to be made, however will look after our health first and be sensible.

That sucks. Get well soon both of you.

As Vinny knows I'm sure, it has been the coldest week for years here in the UK and annoyingly, my wife and I have had no heating or hot water since last Friday due to a broken down boiler and a useless boiler insurance company (yes, SSE, I'm looking at you)! Hoping it will be finally fixed tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath to be honest.

That's a pain mate.  I have just dragged my arse outside as we don't have a mains gas supply here so I have to check the tank under the front lawn so I know when to order some more.  Hatch was frozen shut, took me ages.  Hope your heating gets fixed soon fella.

Hooray, after a mere eleven days of sub-zero temperatures and no hot water, we have finally got a new boiler fitted. You sometimes take for granted the simple things like having a shower, but after washing in a bucket with kettle-boiled water for a week and a half, it feels like one of life's great luxuries!

Good to hear, Sonny!

Hooray, after a mere eleven days of sub-zero temperatures and no hot water, we have finally got a new boiler fitted. You sometimes take for granted the simple things like having a shower, but after washing in a bucket with kettle-boiled water for a week and a half, it feels like one of life's great luxuries!

Good news, having lost heating and hot water for a mere 2 days by comparison last week due to a frozen pipe I cannot agree more how the simple things can be taken all too easily for granted.  Glad your sorted.

I'm in the final 2 months of preparing for my professional engineering exam, (Civil, Construction focused) so you won't be hearing too much of me until then. I think I made this post in here almost a year ago when I was optimistic that I was going to get this over with last November, but obviously that dream is long gone. It's extremely difficult to analyze and write about music past just listening to and enjoying it when I have to learn and remember how to do everything from pipe flow calcs, to concrete compressive strength, to retaining wall bearing capacities, to earthwork computations and OSHA regulations. Plus keeping on my gym schedule on top of everything else.

Just know that I'm still listening to music and checking out the Feature Releases and Draft albums here and there and am still very much enjoying them, even though I might not have the motivation to say much as of now. I'll probably remind Ben/Saxy to take me out of the next Draft round for the next two months while I get things sort, and I'll let someone know if I have issues making the Guardians playlists for March, April, and May. 

All the best with preps and the exam Xephyr! There are always times when things like Metal Academy have to take a backseat. I've found that having a little break and focussing on other priorities for a while reinvigorates me on return.

Let me know if you want to skip drafts for a bit, or we'll just assume if we don't here from you for a day or two that you're not taking part.

All the best, Xephyr!

Xephyr, it's your turn to select the March feature releases for The Guardians & The Infinite. Do you want to participate or skip your turn?