Here in After, VA

Charlotte was well-attended and well-behaved (which is sometimes a double-edged sword). I managed to break free of the flu's grip to help turn in a very satisfactory performance with the band, which was a good omen since often times the first show is invariably one of the worst. I am donning quite a bit more armor than before and between the newness of it and my lingering fatigue it felt like I was performing on Jupiter. No matter; it will all lock into place soon as it always does. Everyone in the bands are agreeable people, and I look forward to getting to know them more in the days ahead. Immolation in particular was amazing, and watching them play was exhilarating as usual. I've seen them perform since 1991 and I think they are truly at the top of their game. There are no other remarkable events to report at this time. We are here in Springfield at Jaxx and I expect a good show tonight. The sound at this venue is massive, and there are plenty of AVRS adherents in the area. I have to begin answering interviews for magazines while on the road, and it is already mildly irritated due to the patent nature of many of the questions. It is a real chore to have to try and turn a one-note question into something of substance as if I am some kind of hostage negotiator. Yes, yes, fame is a burden.

Photos should be forthcoming as soon as I figure out a reliable way to resize them.

Fall in Disease

Touring by definition means to forgo many comforts and guarantees, including a regular wage, a warm bed, decent food, or enough sleep. This life isn't for everyone and it never surprises me when even members of successful touring bands suddenly panic and abandon their comrades at the end (or sometimes in the middle) of a tour. I walked away from a job that was going well and could still become a productive career for the sake of this tour, never mind the fact that I also came down with the flu less than forty-eight hours before we were due to embark. Yet here I am again along with my band mates who share in my situation. We have no certainties as to whether or not we'll see any success or money at the end of this run, though I'd like to think that based on the standing response to the new material we will hold our own. In any case, there's no place I'd rather be. Money and jobs come and go, but these experiences will echo through eternity.

For those of you keeping score, here are the dates for the tour:

04 Feb 2008 USA Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
05 Feb 2008 USA West Springfield, VA @ Jaxx
06 Feb 2008 USA Hartford, CT @ Webster Theater
07 Feb 2008 USA Rochester, NY @ Penny Arcade
08 Feb 2008 USA Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
09 Feb 2008 USA Bedford, NH @ Mark�s Place
10 Feb 2008 USA New York City, NY @ B.B. Kings Blues Club
11 Feb 2008 USA Cleveland, OH @ Peabody�s
12 Feb 2008 USA Detroit, MI @ I-Rock
13 Feb 2008 USA Louisville KY @ Uncle Pleasants
14 Feb 2008 USA Nashville, TN @ The Muse
15 Feb 2008 USA Chicago, IL @ Logan Square Auditorium
16 Feb 2008 USA Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
19 Feb 2008 USA Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
20 Feb 2008 USA Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
21 Feb 2008 USA Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro
22 Feb 2008 USA Santa Ana, CA @ Galaxy Theater
23 Feb 2008 USA San Marcos, CA @ Jumping Turtle
24 Feb 2008 USA West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
25 Feb 2008 MEX Mexicali @ El Jardin del Silencio Extreme Rock Bar
26 Feb 2008 USA Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theater
27 Feb 2008 USA Tempe, AZ @ The Sets
28 Feb 2008 USA Albuquerque, NM @ Launch Pad
29 Feb 2008 USA San Antonio, TX @ Rock Bottom Bar
01 Mar 2008 USA Mc Allen, TX @ Cine El Rey
02 Mar 2008 USA Houston, TX @ Meridian

The Approaching Advent

So here we are once more, preparing for yet another assault of the USA. This journal will once again come active and will be duly chronicled as before, though with any luck the entries will not feature any outages. The format has also been adjusted for better legibility. As for our cabal, we are now fully prepared. The featured tracks off of our new "Advent Parallax" are now whetted and deadly and shall lacerate the psyches of new initiates. More soon.

So it is written

And thus a new page in our history is written. The fourth album by Averse Sefira is complete and now coiled to strike at the dawning of 2008. Additional information will remain withheld for the time being. There will be no samples or leaks. In the meantime, I can confirm that this is our best work to date in terms of both material and sound. February looms as the anti-empyreal and the physical collide in deadly unison. Prepare.

Dawn of Possession

Week 3 of the Process: Much ground has been covered in a short time and thus my earlier optimism remains founded. Sanguine and The Carcass have turned in proficient performances that will ensure triumph for the album. Many have asked, "What will it sound like?" and "What is the title?" All I can offer is that the release will speak for itself, while the title will be announced in about two more weeks. In the meantime, Ross Dolan of Immolation was present on Saturday to contribute vocals to one of the songs. It was both exciting and an honor to have him contribute, as Immolation is among our all-time favorite bands and they have influenced the work of AVRS since its inception. Sanguine and I were admittedly sheepish when it came to directing him on ways to approach the lyrics. Who are we to tell one of the most enduring voices in Death Metal how to perform? The gravity of this was mitigated by the fact that Ross is also a close friend and an affable person in any case. He did very well with the material and at the same time fulfilled my long standing aspiration to feature him on a recording.

As I write, Sanguine is diligently recording additional guitars. I am particularly impressed with his efforts on this record as he is performing with a degree of surety and ease that I have never seen before, though it is still coupled with his usual intense workmanship. While I hesitate to curse us with any grandiose statements, if this album failed to sell a single copy I would be completely satisfied in knowing we did something great. In the end this must be the reason to pursue the art. All other motivations are merely afterthoughts.

Breech Birth

As is true with all expectant parents, the commencement of birthing the new album felt like a surprise despite many months of preparation. We are on day four now, and the first week is usually the most worrisome in that it takes time to set up and mic the drums and prepare the studio equipment in general. It invariably seems that time is slipping away and that not enough is being accomplished, but then all at once there is material committed to tape and the album is officially underway. The period of time to write our fourth album was about nine months, which is about thirteen months less than what we prefer. Then again, about two thirds of our usual schedule is used up with Sanguine writing and ruminating over the work. Our actual official writing time was about the same, but the difference is that this is the first time we do not have complete lyrics to dictate the course of the music. Nevertheless, the process has begun and while we can steer it we cannot stop it. Tore Stjerna is producing for us once again, and as usual his ideas are sage and his methods are studied. This will be another success for Averse Sefira, and it will also prove to us that we can rise to the demands of less time and more output. We shall not fail.

A Paean to a Weapon

Today is the 60th Anniversary of the Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifle. A reliable weapon is sometimes the only arbiter of victory or defeat. I know this well. For seven years (effectively the whole of Averse Sefira's tour history) I wielded a BC Rich Beast called Stormbringer and in that time I abused it far more than it deserved. It got slammed in a door before I had ever laid hands upon it. I sheared off the bottom edge of it leaping off a PA speaker in the Czech Republic. I have inadvertently (and sometimes purposely) drawn the blood of my band mates and or audience members with its headstock. It has met with repeated and relentless spiked assaults that left a maze of scratches and the need for repeated applications of wood putty and glue. Its scars are testimonies to the distances it traveled and the violence it sustained. Stormbringer served me well indeed, and it was in dire need of retirement though I will miss it. It helped shape the visual assault of our unit, and it is hard to put it aside in favor of a newer model.


Fortunately a worthy replacement came to me in the form of a Moser Arachnid Ultra. Adherents of Altars of Madness will note the significance of the color scheme. It will take some time for the black magick to be imbued into this new device, but in keeping with tradition the mongoloid enclave known as DHL succeeded in breaking off the bottom horns during shipping so I take this as a sign that we were meant to do battle together.