The New Album "Days From Evil" is Now Available for FREE DOWNLOAD on the Merch page!

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Friday, July 11, 2008

Yet another Days From Evil review

This one from PerfectPorridge.com

http://www.perfectporridge.com/2008/07/10/jagged-spiral-days-from-evil-cd-release-party-july-11/

...and I quote, "With creeping guitar riffs, crunchy bass and haunting vocals that whisper fear into your soul, this album pretty much gives me piss-myself nightmares."

Mission Accomplished.

-Z

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Days From Evil - Another Perspecitive

Micheal Metzger is my new hero. His review of "Days From Evil" is here:

http://www.minnpost.com/michaelmetzger/2008/07/10/2514/jagged_spirals_bone-chilling_descent_into_northern_rock

I think I've read it about thirty times now.

-Z

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

The very first review of "Days From Evil"

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Deflowered

Being in a band is, in a lot of ways, like being in your stereotypical romantic relationship. Not exactly, mind you, but there are plenty of parallels you can draw between them. For instance, there is the initial stage of flirting/courtship, and the period of 'going steady'. There is the period of going through what likes/dislikes you have in common.

And one day there is a turning point in the relationship where you do something together that changes everything. You know of what I speak.

For a band, one of those turning points would be playing a live show at a public venue. Buried in your practice space, safe from the world, you can make all the shit-rock you want, but the minute you expose yourselves to public scrutiny, the possibility is opened that people you don't know and who have no vested interest in your happiness can critique your work, or your performance, or both, and they have no reason to be dishonest with you.

And so it comes to pass that Jagged Spiral has taken the next step on the path, and played together live on stage, opening up their work for criticism. After the show at Staisu's, I chatted with a handful of people, trying to get a feel for how the show went, and trying to read through the platitudes and compliments. Not that I wasn't thankful for the praise, but I wanted someone to tell me we sucked, or at least tell me we did something wrong, something we could use to make our future shows better. That information came, but not until the remaining handful of us were kicked out at 2AM.

I trudged out to the parking lot steeping in about 16 be-fucking-low zero.

"You guys were great!"

I recognized him right away. It was the guy who went up to Colin during the show, between songs and gave him some kind of advice. Later Colin told me the guy said Colin should turn down the low end on his guitar. I think the real problem was that I didn't have my bass amp up loud enough, but either way, the guy was drunk, and for sound problems, you complain to the guy at the sound board, not the band.

"You think so?" I responded.

"Feh," he slurred, "Who are you fucking kidding? You guys blew those other bands away! You're gonna be famous!"

I laughed.

"But you should stop whispering," he said, shaking his head, "Between the songs when you were talking to the audience. It don't matter if there's only a couple people here, you gotta talk to them like there's ten thousand!"

"Really," I stopped laughing.

"Hell yeah, cus' that's what you're gonna have. Ten thousand people, and you're gonna have to speak up. You can't whisper like that."

"Hey, thanks for the advice."


And so, some useful advice, and enough money to buy each band member an imported beer at the next practice, and Jagged Spiral walks away from Stasiu's paid, sweaty, and deflowered, but still wanting more...

-Z

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

Truth In Blasphemizing

I received a call from Jess, who had heard a rough preview copy of Days From Evil. She just wanted to let me know that she really liked the vocals in Monsters.

Now, there's people in this world who could hear an audio recording of all three members of Jagged Spiral getting kidney stones removed simultaneously without anesthetic and they would say it sounded good, (my mother, for example) and I've learned to take that praise with a pound of salt. Even within the band, it is sometimes difficult to be objective about the work of others and ourselves.

But Jess is not afraid to tell us when something is not good, and more importantly, Why. Too loud. Too lame. Too [negative adjective goes here]. Because I know she is not afraid to tell us the truth, I value her opinion much more than someone who is only positive (Sorry Ma) or only negative.

-Z

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