Friday, June 23, 2017

Music: I am Gemini by Cursive

THANK'S FOR SUGGESTING THIS DAENIEL!


Image pulled from YouTube
Image result for cursive gemini

Daeniel has been a friend of mine for a long time now, and he has unique musical tastes. Just one week ago, he suggested two albums for me to review, and I'm more than satisfied with his selection.

Firstly, this is quite a haunting album. Just listen to it, and you'll understand. Cursive accomplished this with far greater success than Trocadero did with the Red vs. Blue Season 13 soundtrack. I find it impossible to describe the feeling with words alone.

In each song, the lyrics and instruments complement each other perfectly, like crushed Oreos and chocolate ice cream (I'm eating that right now). Each time, chills go throughout my whole body.

Overall, I absolutely love this album. Thank you Daeniel for suggesting this, I cannot say it enough!

Update: COMING UP NEXT!

COMING SOON TO ACRM

Into the Sea by Attalus
I am Gemini by Cursive

SPECIAL THANKS TO DAENIEL DATU FOR SUGGESTING THESE TWO ALBUMS!


Also, how do you guys like my new profile picture? It doesn't risk copyright infringement anymore!

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Update: BIG NEWS!

Remember my Splatoon review?

Well, whether or not anyone remembers that review, I still feel that making reviews of video games doesn't work in writing, so I started my own YouTube channel!

So, the first video goes up at 8:00 AM CST tomorrow. Check it out when it releases!

The link to my YouTube channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbNexZz9NQgiAd-PHhrm1w

Monday, June 19, 2017

Music: Denouement by Gates of Ivory

I've been alluding to this moment for about two weeks now

So, as those of you who regularly read this blog know, I've been wanting to review this album for quite some time. Well, I've been taking my time with this review, and so here it is! Image copied from CD Baby. Click it to go to the page!

As always, I made this review of my own accord. It has not been endorsed by Gates of Ivory in any way, as far as I know. I have not been paid to make this review, and I was not given a review copy of the album. 
Denouement by Gates of Ivory on CD Baby

I might as well say this before anything else: Gates of Ivory is absolutely one of my all-time favorite bands, and I'm hoping they come out with new songs soon. Some of you who know me in real life know that I tried to play The Deadly Poetic on acoustic guitar, which didn't go as well as I hoped it would. Still trying to improve though. If anything, I'm stubbornly persistent. 

One of this album's greatest strengths is that it only has 5 tracks. 5 well-written tracks of indescribable awesomeness, none of which feel out of place. The instruments are utilized perfectly, the lyrics are quite fitting, and each song creates incredibly vivid and unique scenarios in my mind. 

Image may contain: text

Here is a screenshot of the first search I made regarding this album. Now I'm wondering if this means Denouement is Gates of Ivory's final album...

I don't want it to be.

Overall, I enjoyed this whole album (if that wasn't obvious already). If you like metal, I'd recommend buying it, and also searching up this album on YouTube so that you can follow Gates of Ivory there. Again, they did not endorse this review. I wrote it because I wanted to, and I was not paid to do so. I have no complaints when it comes to this album.

Gates of Ivory, keep making great music! You're one of the few groups left that produces real music!


Saturday, June 17, 2017

Update: Back in...

Back in black? Back in business? Which one is it? Well, I have news for you!

So, I set up a Patreon page a few months ago (as evidenced by the link on the right of the page), and I discovered that it didn't work. Well, good news: I fixed it! If you've been trying to pledge money to me, but have been unable to do so, please go back to the page and try again, as any issues should now be fixed.

Remember: I need to pay for albums somehow!

Have a good day everyone, and here's a link to my Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/AlexCossack

Also, I'm going to review a Gates of Ivory album now.

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Video Games: Splatoon

I know I promised book reviews, and I'll get one posted soon enough, but I felt as if I just had to post my opinion on Splatoon for everyone to see. Here we go! I can't remember, but I think I pulled the image from one of Nintendo UK's sub-pages. 

 Splatoon on Amazon

By now, you've probably heard of Nintendo's quirky third-person shooter. After all, the "You're a squid now! You're a kid now!" memes were nearly everywhere on the internet for quite some time. 

First things first: the Inklings. You play as a kid that can turn into a squid, and while I won't get too much into the game mechanics yet, I will say that this is strange in concept, but was executed quite well. You fire ink at your opponents, trying to cover as much turf as you can in your team's color. To refill your ink supply, you swim through ink of your own color, which you can also do to move up walls and through grates. 

The controls handle quite well, although I would recommend turning off the motion controls, as they do make things... considerably more difficult than need be. 

The soundtrack is just as goofy as the game itself, which I absolutely love. No other way to put it.

If I have any complaints, they lie with the lack of customization options. The selection of clothing is limited, as is the color of clothing, and the preset weapon loadouts are quite lacking at times. Also, the skill gap between players becomes apparent if you play in Ranked. Then again, that's not much of a complaint.

I would go more into the game, but I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone. Overall, I actually enjoy it, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for something fun to play on the Wii U. Stay tuned for more reviews, as I've been listening to songs by Gates of Ivory. 

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Update: New Review Type!

Notice: I Like Reading

Originally, this blog was meant for music reviews, and only music reviews. However, I've been reading The Peripheral by William Gibson, and I'm enjoying it. Since I've been enjoying it, and want to make a post regarding my opinion of other books I've read, I have decided to begin writing reviews of books. I don't care if it's a novel, short story, or any other type of book, I'm going to post reviews of books!

Looks like I'll have to reread my collection of books, which is mostly made up of actual books, not files stored on my Kindle. 

NOT DONE YET!

So, I want to get an idea of what books you want to see reviewed, and thus I have set up a poll on my Patreon page. Check it out if you want. Link is below, poll ends Saturday, June 10.