2020 Vision: An Empty Essay

 

Borrowing the tittle from the album by Die Krupps, the lyrics of which could be perfectly adequate to describe what the world needed before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, I decided to write a short essay on a disastrous year for the music business and all the artists and workers in said industry.

Being from Portugal, where the music business is plagued with many problems, all the way from the artists themselves to the public, one can always complain about the restrains and the decrease in revenues that the pandemic brought, but I believe that many specialists have already written a lot about this matter and in a more informed way.

From my perspective the problems have always been there, only now do we see them in an amplified lens due to the circumstances of lockdowns and related situations. Many will lose, and have lost in this terrible year, but many will continue to create and find ways to go around the existing problems. The examples of this situation are many: from streaming concerts in general, Bandcamp waving its revenues all the way to May 2021, Raging Planet Records creating bundles of Cds’ to support the venues that suffer from the pandemic, the Gaerea releasing Limbo to a dedicated audience in two concerts supported by Oak.

Those examples go from the general to the specific, but show that in the world in general, and Portugal specifically, although culture is never a focal point for general nor political discussion, the artists always find a way, and the fans/public will support if they have a chance.

So why do I consider this an “empty essay”? Firstly because in English I can get away with a tittle like that, although it is not a very well thought out one, when it comes to syntax. Secondly because I know this post is just a drop in and ocean of opinions regarding a terrible year, and also I have no conclusion to offer other than: if music matters to you, create and play, support through the many channels that are available (listen to their music on streaming platforms, buy a piece of merchandising, buy a ticket to a streaming concert).

In truth, the pandemic will eventually go away, but the problem of the struggling musician in Portugal will continue to exist, and there are ways to mitigate that problem; one must learn from 2020 in order to make 2021 a better year for everybody in the music business in our country.

Static- X "Project Regeneration Vol. I"

 

The first release in eleven years by the industrial/nu-metal band Static X is presented as a tribute to the late singer and main composer, Wayne Wells Static, with the compositions built around the last remaining vocal performances and lyrics. As a tribute, the album works perfectly with the vocal performances being divided among Wayne and new vocalist Xer0 (who make an excellent performance that sometimes requires attention to differentiate from that of Wayne himself).

 

 

As a new album by Static X, it works as a progression of the sound of the bands’ sound with a greater emphasis on electronic instruments and samples, well balanced with guitars, bass and drums. On its own, Project Regeneration Vol. I is a great industrial metal record, up to par with Fear Factory from the Digimortal and Archetype era, and leaves great shoes to fill with the second volume of this project.

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Band: https://static-x.org/

Merch: https://static-x.org/collections/static-x-merch

Singled out - Nothing Fragile Mind

The first song that I heard from the resurrected/revamped solo band of Jeffrey Nothing (ex-Mushroomhead), “Fragile Mind”, seemed to follow in the same vein that the singer had pursued along with guitarist Tommy Church on the latest Mushroomhead album, “The Righteous and the Butterfly”, metal/hard rock pushing the melodic side of the spectre while maintaining an hint of sadness and rage underneath.

As such, “Fragile Mind” has melancholy yes, along with a catchy guitar solo and several layers of vocals which seemed to intensify the emotion brought up by the lyrics, also the use of piano was just perfect to coincide with the desperate cries that echo them. It’s simple but yet, well executed and with details that go beyond just another metal ballad.

This single, was followed up by another (“Bead Space/Dead Inside”), and then after a few live shows the project was silent with hints of another one surfacing in its place (the industrial Doomcandy). One can hope for a full-length album by Nothing in the future, but until then both Jeffrey and Tommy have been putting out some interesting music that deserves its own time. And this song definitely deserves yours.

Band: http://www.jeffreynothing.com/?fbclid=IwAR3XYKJq_C4Jf3IlG-UH_WZpAs3MlKdJDFeOlJkoYWjTsCV5_qw0zn71emU

 

Merch: https://www.facebook.com/pg/jeffreynothing/posts/?ref=page_internal