OBLIVION WINTERS-All the guitars are done for the song “Take My Hand”. I’m happy with the way they turned out. Next will be the keys… I should have it finished before the end of February. I’m excited about this song (I know… I always say that). I can’t wait until it’s finished. After this will be the last track “Requiem” which will have keyboards, drums, but no guitars. Then I’ll record the instrumental tracks, which should number about 3. Then The Lake of Widows’ Tears will be all finished and I can try to get it released somehow…

OBLIVION WINTERS-The drums are finished for the new song “Take My Hand”. Should be good…… The doomiest song on the album by far. It should clock in at a little over 5 minutes. It’s going to be one of those songs that you have to listen to many times because it seems to move fast in the beginning, but it bordering on ambient at the end. Some of the riffs work together like clockwork but it stays interesting.

OBLIVION WINTERS-The shaping of the song “Take My Hand” is nearly complete. About 3/4 of the song is put together. I plan on doing the drums for the 3/4 I know and then adding the ending 1/4 later. It shouldn’t take long. I have the riffs but I just need to figure out the order. It’s possible that this song could end up being somewhat long. Too early to tell though… All I know is that the album already clocked in at over 40 minutes before I started on this song. I can’t wait to be finished with the album and start working on new stuff.

HEARTSICK-“Tales of the Dead and Dying” looks to be the title of the debut HEARTSICK album. I have yet to run the idea by Ominous, but I’m sure he’ll like it…

OBLIVION WINTERS-Update on the new song “Take My Hand”. I’m doing what I do best and that’s procrastinating. It’s more like thoughtful procrastination because I am making some progress with the new song. Sometimes it takes a while to piece all the ideas together and make the correct decision. Good judgement makes good songs (along with direction and good material of course). So I guess you can say that I’m still in the brainstorming phase. Hopefully I pull my head out of the sand soon and actually start recording. Once this song is finished, I’ll try to get the last song “Requiem” done as soon as possible. Requiem will feature no guitars. Should be interesting. After that, I’ll try to hurry up and get the instrumental tracks done (which should number about 4 I think).

OMINOUS GRIM/SPELLGHAST/JEZEHELL-Ominous was here to visit for the holidays and we talked about the direction and progression of these 3 projects. He has a song or 2 written for the new OMINOUS GRIM cd, 2 songs written for JEZEHELL, and 1 song almost written for SPELLGHAST. We have to decided to let things take their course with the new SPELLGHAST album. It was originally planned to be a concept album about the inquisition, but we have decided to just let it hang out and make the darkest dark metal album possible. The leading title so far is In Awe of Murder. We’re going for a darker and more extreme sound on this one. Don’t expect to hear clean vocals and tons of keyboards. We want SPELLGHAST to become darker and heavier. We’re in the process of figuring out a new heavier guitar distortion. The first two albums, while very dark, will sound tame compared to the new stuff.

OBLIVION WINTERS-Work is underway on the next song entitled “Take My Hand”. It’s just a matter of piecing the riffs together and getting the recording process started. The door is open, I just need to walk through it. Also, the final track “Requiem” will actually be a song. It was originally planned to be an instrumental piece. Instead it’ll be a song comprised of keyboards, drums, bass, and vocals. No guitars. Should be interesting. It won’t be overly long or complex. I’m thinking in the 2-3 minute range. I will do my best to finish the album as soon as possible. Realistically, it’s not going to be completed until early 2009. I had events occur which forced me into 8 months of inactivity. Worry not oh children of winter. I will do everything in my power to make sure The Lake of Widows’ Tears will become available for everyone to purchase if they so desire.. If I have to launch a small label of my own, I will. I’m determined to release this album.

OBLIVION WINTERS-The new song “The Lake” is all finished and online. Enjoy you winterheads ha ha. Now on to the next song. Phew!

OBLIVION WINTERS-The bass parts are finished and the vocals will most likely be done tonight. I went back and remixed the drums/guitars and am finally happy with the mix. I have refrained from recording the keyboards due to my indecision about the extent of usage on the song. I may only have keyboards on a few parts. We’ll see. I have a great idea about how I want the vocals to be, so I’ll do them tonight. Hopefully the song “The Lake” will be finished and online within the next week. I plan on spending the next few days at my parents’ house, so that’ll set me back slightly. It’ll definitely be done sometime next week (barring a disaster, such as my voice giving out etc…). I’ll try to get finished before Tuesday, because there’s a good chance I’ll be going to San Diego that day and wont be back until sometime Wednesday. Blah blah blah. I know….. The song will be done very soon. There. Oh yeah… I determined today that I do indeed have enough lyrics to span the song. I’m hoping to be able to ride a wave of activity and finish the album within the next month or two. But you know me… I’m one procrastinating bastard.

It’s been a tough tough week for me. I’ve been suffering from withdrawal symptoms while getting off Paxil. Needless to say, I took a serious beating. I slept like 18 hours one day and 2 hours the day before. I felt like absolute shit a few days ago and miraculously (not really…) I ate dinner and felt much better that night. I still show some residual effects from that dreaded fiend of a drug, such as dizziness whenever I turn my head. The next few months will be a journey. Hopefully I’ll be able to find the answers I’m looking for. I have suffered from depression for about 14 years. What many people don’t understand is that depression is more often physical than mental. Many physical problems can cause depression. Vitamin deficiencies, diabetes, allergies, etc. I need to find the combination to this lock or I’ll end up never amounting to shit (or worse yet, amounting to nothing but shit). Whatever the code, I’m determined to break it. I’ve learned things about myself recently that I never knew. I’m much stronger and more couragious than I had ever imagined myself to be. I’m no longer the shy, scared little boy. I’ve been through some real nightmarish stuff lately and somehow I seem to be making a comeback and regaining motivation. I will not surrender. I will die one day like every living creature does, but I will never let the world break me. I’m not for this world. I realized that a long time ago. Life isn’t that long though. I’m already 33, and have been through some horrific and heartbreaking events. I know it can get much worse. I’m not afraid of dying. I’ve spent the majority of my life afraid of living. No more. I’m prepared to do battle.

OBLIVION WINTERS-The guitars………………………………………………are all done. I’m excited about this one. I took more liberty on rythm guitar than the typical OW song. The guitar solo turned out, shall we say… interesting. Not flashy, but powerful and interesting. It looks like more lyrics will have to be written. I’ll probably just wait until the night I record vocals and see what I can come up with. Believe it or not, there’s even a semi black metal riff on the song. It has many different elements. Doom, death, a pinch of thrash and black, sadness, melody, heaviness, darkness etc.. I have a good feeling about “The Lake”. If I don’t manage to fuck up the mix like the last song, it’ll be great (I did go back and fix the mix for the record..). I took time in between acoustic and electric guitars to record a short neo-classical piece, that sounds like it belongs somewhere in 18th century Vienna.

OBLIVION WINTERS-Drums are on the recorder. The plan is to do the guitars next week on my days off.

OBLIVION WINTERS-The drums are finally finished for the new song “The Lake”. Now all I have to do is go through a quick play-through to test the tempos. The fact that I hate programming drums probably contributes to the straightforward and simple style. Every time I do drums, I’m guaranteed to spend at least 2 hours tapping and tapping on pads. Needless to say, I try to get finished as soon as I possibly can. As long as the timing and tempos are correct, I really don’t care. I never claimed to be a drummer. I don’t add many fills. I just don’t have that kind of percussive vision I guess… Hopefully I’ll be able to get the guitars done before Farcegiving. The plan is still to finish the album The Lake of Widows’ Tears before 2009. Once it is complete, I’m going to figure out the best way to release the album. I’ll probably contact Gelid Glacier Records, which released OMINOUS GRIM-Gaze into the Mirror Dark. If not, I may just release it myself somehow. I’ll figure something out. One way or another, it’s going to be released to the public.

SPELLGHAST-I have about 1/3 of the music for a song written so far. It’s quite dark ha ha.