Post by Deepfriar on Aug 28, 2015 9:38:00 GMT -6
Hey guys, DF here. Some know me from CMR and/or CHM, and if you do know me you probably know that I enjoy many forms of extreme Christian metal. My irl name is Mike and I was born and bred in east Tennessee (with a brief few years in Pennsylvania during grade school). After growing up with grunge (favorite bands were Tool, Smashing Pumpkins, Type O Negative, etc.), I lost interest in mainstream music not long after the millennium change. I had a select few Christian metal releases during my teens (Mortification, Stryper, Mortal, Deliverance, Tourniquet, etc.) but didn't truly become an extreme metal connoisseur until I was around 20. By this time I had begun running from God so I ended up into a lot of secular metal... started out with stuff like Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Agalloch... ended up listening to all kinds of black metal as well... even stuff like Behemoth, Gorgoroth, Burzum, Naglfar... many others, memory is a little foggy during this very dark time in my life (alcoholism).
Anyway, long story short, about four years ago I had an experience where I was firmly planted at a crossroads in my life and I could choose darkness or light, and I turned back to God and haven't looked back. There are always trials and tribulations, but my faith in God and in Christ can never be shaken for I know irrefutably that Jesus is the Way, Truth, and Life (just as He said). I believe free grace theology which I know is not always the most popular, but I have to mention it because it is who I am.
Anyway, after turning back to God, I began again my quest to collect Christian metal (I had lost most of my CD's) and I am still to this day always looking for new music.
Being that this is a black metal forum, I suppose I should list my favorites (probably mostly cliché bands, but whatever):
Antestor, Crimson Moonlight, Slechtvalk, Grave Declaration, Vials of Wrath, Horde, Evroklidon, Sanctifica, Vardøger, Renascent, Admonish, Bealiah, Immortal Souls (melodic death but wintery themes warrant the mention here), Wintersoul, Hortor, Fire Throne, Poems of Shadows, Usynlig Tumult, and the list goes on.
My latest acquisitions have been the Vials of Wrath - Days Without Names pre-order, Immortal Souls - Wintermetal, Broken Flesh s/t preorder, and the latest Crimson Moonlight single (The Suffering). Will receive them from Metalhelm in September (though I believe they went ahead and shipped the CM single which I'm pretty stoked about).
My holy grail list is:
Antestor - The Defeat of Satan
Crimson Moonlight - Eternal Emperor EP
Immortal Souls - Under the Northern Sky
Vaakevandring - s/t EP (2004)
I have just about every other semi-rare release that I want, so now I plan to work on odd and end releases that I always meant to pick up and never did (Dalit, Eulogium, etc.).
Enough about music...
I work as a customer service rep at a home medical equipment company. We do oxygen concentrators, wheelchairs, hospital beds, PAP devices, etc. It's frustrating sometimes dealing with the public all day, but those rare occasions when you help someone and they show their appreciation to the point of making you feel like you truly impacted their life make it all worth while.
My hobbies include (but are not limited to): writing (poetry, starting novels that I never finish), watching UFC (I have the $9.99/mo Fight Pass and I rarely watch the events live--I can't justify spending $60--so don't ruin the latest fights for me because I don't get to watch them until they are about a month old lol), Diablo 3, PS4, movies, etc. I'm a pretty boring guy I guess lol but hey, all the excitement of being a social butterfly causes tsunamis halfway across the world so I'm happy to mostly stay at home.
More time to listen to metal that way, right? [headbang]
Anyway, just wanted to say hi. Look forward to hanging out from time to time. I'm a little unpredictable and sometimes disappear for weeks (or even months) at a time, so don't be alarmed or offended.
Peace!