LET'S GO ALL THE WAY

This has been the best ascent into winter in recent years. Autumn stretched out in a surprisingly mild way and now there's light snowfall almost every day. Hardly oppressive, there's this cozy, soothing thing happening. I'm really trying to fall back in love with Michigan and the weather seems like a good place to start since it's often the first thing one can hate on in this state.

Realizing that I've spent a bit too much of time outside of the void, I picked up Growing's most recent album, All The Way, and FUCK -- it's really fucking good. My god, have I never written about the void here? Or Growing?! They're pretty close to the aural equivalent of a Brakhage film. Being exposed to either will propel me into the void: the tunnel of majestic light(!), the column of fractured color(!!), the entrance to the soul(!!!). I'm talking about GLEAMING THE EFFIN' CUBE here!

A few months back, I was on a heavy Growing kick, not really listening to anything else. I recoiled only after their last full-length, Vision Swim, tasted like a bit of an undercooked bummer. One track was righteous but the rest of the album didn't compare to anything they'd done before. Or since! Geezus, like I said, All The Way is unreal.

Moving on, it's great having a girlfriend that can hold a discussion on black metal. And maybe strange, too. But good-strange, y'know.