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Just added a first version of a contributing guide for Maps:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-maps/-/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
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I have now managed to run three of Free League’s fantasy games—Dragonbane, Forbidden Lands, and Symbaroum—and thought it would be fun to have them face off. How do these games compare to each other? Let’s find out!
Full disclosure
While I have now purchased multiple Dragonbane products, including a box set for a friend, I did receive review copies of both Dragonbane and Symbaroum. I did not, however, get any other compensation for sharing my thoughts on those games.
Organization
How a game is organized can have as much impact on its accessibility as the game’s mechanics. I’m ordering this section from most to least organized. In my mind, that is.
Dragonbane
Dragonbane is one of the best organized rulesets I’ve ever read. The character building process, in particular, is designed very well. Combat rules, the way skills work, and travel mechanics are all set up in a way that are “glanceable.” It’s one of the game’s characteristics that makes it a joy to run and play.
Forbidden Lands
Forbidden Lands’ layout is more minimalist than Dragonbane and is more text heavy overall. The game’s also broken up into two books, which can lead to a bit more page-flipping. The included booklet in the box set also feels like material that should have been included in the core books. Even so, Forbidden Lands is laid out well and the interiors are beautiful.
Symbaroum
Symbaroum‘s organization is rather scattershot. Essential pieces of information, like how to award experience points or starting equipment for archetypes, are hidden in text blocks or split into random places in the book. Hunting through the rulebook is a chore, which a shame because the game itself is really fun. It’s worth picking up, and I’d like to explore more products from the line, but Symbaroum‘s organization does hold it back a bit.
Core Mechanics
Each of these games is excellent for what they are trying to accomplish. For this section I’m listing them in the order I played the games.
Dragongane
Dragonbane has both the fastest and the simplest mechanics of the three. It’s a skill-focused, d20 based, roll-under system that players take to with minimal effort. Rolls are most often called against a skill, but attribute checks also happen. If a player rolls with a boon, they roll 2d20 and keep the lower die, if they roll with a bane they roll 2d20 and keep the higher die. If a player fails a roll and wants to try again they can push the roll, but will take a condition as a result. Each condition is tied to an attribute, and all checked based on that attribute with roll with a bane until it’s cleared.
A character’s hit points are equal to a character’s CON score, and willpower points are equal to their WILL score.
Spells are roll to cast against the character’s spell school (a secondary skill). Each casting costs Willpower Points and if a 1 is rolled it triggers a mishap. That’s never good.
Dragonbane has enough depth to make long-time gamers happy, but is so fast and clean it can keep a six year old’s attention. It’s nice.
Forbidden Lands
Forbidden Lands’ dice pool system requires a lot of dice rolling. I imagine learning how to form the dice pools may take a bit of getting used to [^1]. But rolls themselves are fast. 6s and 1s are set aside, and any 6 means a success has happened. Rolls can be “pushed” where any die that is not a 1 or a 6 is re-rolled. 6s add to a success (or trigger one) and 1s then damage the character’s stats or equipment according to the dice on which they appear. Everything feels consequential, and I love it. Pushed rolls also award a Willpower Point for every 1 rolled on the attribute’s dice (or base dice).
Spells auto-cast in Forbidden Lands, but players still roll dice equal to the power level (1-3) at which they cast the spell (they can never roll more dice than their current rank in a particular discipline). 6s will show that the spell has over-charged and will do more than the caster was attempting, but 1s mean a mishap was triggered and the player will need to role on a mishap table–which is a dangerous proposition! As a character’s casting rank increases, however, there are ways to reduce the number of required dice, or even negate the need for a roll at all.
Symbaroum
Symbaroum, is a d20 roll under system, with some interesting quirks. First, players roll all the dice. This can take some getting used to, as players roll for both offense and defense, but it does help keep players engaged even when it’s not their turn in initiative. Second, an opponent’s attribute modifiers change the target number a player needs to meet or roll under to succeed. This requires a bit of math before the dice can be rolled, but it’s pretty quick at the table.
In Symbaroum magic can be learned by anyone, but is dangerous. Wielding mystic powers, or bonding with artifacts, gives a character corruption. Every character has a threshold for this corruption to manifest, and a limit where they succumb to the power and are lost. It’s cool.
Character Builds
Each of these games has its own charm when it comes to building characters. I’ve arranged these in order of flexibility–from most flexible to least.
Symbaroum
Symbaroum provides some archetypes, but there’s no reason why a player can’t take the general rules for character creation and come up with their own ideas. Attributes are assigned through a point-buy system, though a standard array is provided. Skills in Symbaroum are called “abilities,” and can range from mundane learned skills to actual magical powers. If you want to make any fantasy concept you can think of for your character, Symbaroum is a great option. The process is straight-forward, but navigating the rules takes some getting used to.
Forbidden Lands
Forbidden Lands’ character creation is a point buy system with points distributed from two pools–one each for attributes and skills. The amount of points available to distribute is determined by a character’s age–younger characters have more attribute points to spend, while older characters are given more skill points. This trade off has a benefit, especially at the start of a game. Attribute points also serve as a character’s hit points for different types of damage, so having higher attribute scores is important. At the same time, dice rolled using a character’s skills can’t contribute to failures when a roll is pushed. This means, before they manage to increase their skill scores, younger characters will be more robust but less competent. Characters take up a profession, which will both grant them a special talent and provide a list of skills aligned to the role. Any skill in a profession’s list may have up to three dice assigned to it, while every other skill may only have one. The setup provides some decent variation among characters.
Dragonbane
Dragonbane‘s character creation process is the best defined of the three games. Players can choose whatever kin and profession they’d like to play, but the game is set up to make the process random from start to finish. In my experience with the system, the folks at my table have loved using this randomized process.
There are six attribute scores with values from 3-18, which are rolled using 4d6 and dropping the lowest value. These scores are used for “raw” checks, but Dragonbane‘s real emphasis is on skills. Each skill in the game is attached to a specific attribute, and the higher the associated attribute score the higher a skill’s “base chance” will be.
As with Forbidden Lands, each character has a profession which presents a list of skills in which the character can be trained. Training doubles the base chance in that skill, making success much more likely. Six of a character’s starting skills must come from their profession’s list, but the total number of a character’s trained skills is determined by their age. Older characters have more trained skills, making them more competent overall, but they also suffer some penalties to their attribute scores. Younger characters have bonuses to their attribute scores, but have fewer skills. Those in the middle suffer no changes to their attribute scores, and split the difference in the number trained skills. The variation is nice, and because skills are key to gameplay older characters don’t feel as though they’ve been penalized [^2].
Advancement
None of these games is class based, so grinding away for experience points isn’t an emphasis for game play. For this, I am grateful. In fact, one of the games doesn’t have experience points at all. I’ve organized this section by concept.
Experience Points
Symbaroum and Forbidden Lands both utilize experience points as a meta-currency which can be spent to improve a character.
Forbidden Lands grants experience points though a post session interview process, when a player is able to answer “yes” to any of the questions they get one XP. When a certain number of experience points are earned a character can have their current skills and talents improved, or learn new skills talents. This is represented by adding a die to the chosen skill or increasing a talent’s rank by one step. The higher the skill level or talent rank, the greater the cost to move up.
Symbaroum also allows players to spend experience points to advance, or learn new, abilities. The cost for doing is 10 XP per ability level–10, 20, and then 30 XP. Awarding experience is rather simple. A character is awarded 1 XP for each scene in which they appear during a session.
Advancement Marks
Dragonbane foregoes experience points in favor of advancement marks, which are awarded in two ways. First, when any player rolls a dragon (1) or a demon (20) on a skill check they place a check in the box next to that skill. Second, much like Forbidden Lands, post session the game master asks the table a number of questions. For each question a player answers, “yes” they are able to place a check next to any unmarked skill on their sheet. Once all the advancement marks are assigned, players roll a d20 for each checked skill. If the roll exceeds the current skill value it will increase by one. Casters may use their advancement marks to either increase their rank in their chosen school or learn a new spell. Though this takes some effort to learn, represented by a die roll.
New heroic abilities can be learned in two ways. First, when any skill score hits 18 the character receives a new ability. Second, when a character does something extraordinary the game master may award them a new heroic ability on the spot. Anyone who wants to learn a magic school must take the “Magic Talent” heroic ability and spend time with a teacher–after which the character makes an INT check, a success means the school has been learned. Even professions which are not casters may learn magic this way.
Combat Design
When I started exploring Free League’s catalogue I couldn’t understand how they could release so many fantasy role playing games. As I began to explore the games, however, I began to understand. Each of these games has a play style which is unique to it, and it’s best highlighted in how they each handle combat. I’m ordering these by how familiar they might feel to players.
Dragonbane
Dragonbane is the simplest design of the three. Initiative is card based, and combatants take turns in ascending order of the cards–it’s also drawn each round. Attacks are skill rolls, and damage inflicted is increased for characters with higher attribute scores. Monsters in the game auto-hit, which means players have to make calculated decisions to attack or reserve their action to take a defensive move in order to avoid taking damage. Armor in the game reduces damage by a set number.
Symbaroum
Initiative is set by the combatant’s QUICK scores. Characters may choose to go in a lower spot of combat if they choose, but once they do so order is set. The action economy is, “one move action, and one combat action,” but both are abstracted. Taking a healing elixir or switching weapons, for example is a “move action,” while rendering first aid and attacks are “combat actions.”
I am also a big fan of how armor works in Symbaroum. Each armor type is tied to a different die, which is rolled to mitigate incoming damage. The trade off is that while heavier armor uses larger dice, it also makes a character easier to hit. If a player rolls well, though, they can tank like a tank should tank!
Forbidden Lands
Initiative is card based but is not redrawn each round, though players may swap initiative cards with other PCs at the beginning of a round. Characters can take one fast action and one slow action each turn–though these are abstracted a bit. Things like movement and drinking an exlir are fast actions, while attacking is a slow action.Weapons do a set amount of damage, though extra 6s on attacks increase it.
Monsters, auto-hit and their entries have tables which denote their different attacks. The good news for players is parrying and dodging are both fast actions and can be used out of turn order as reactions.
Armor values in the game represent the number of dice a player roles in an attempt to mitigate damage. Every 6 rolled reduces damage by one. If the player rolls any 1s and takes damage from the attack, however, the armor’s protection is reduced by the number of 1s rolled. When an armor value hits 0 it needs to be repaired.
Production Value
Free League produces nice products. This section is ordered according to the date I first read the games.
Forbidden Lands
Forbidden Lands can be purchased a la carte, so players can pick up the Player’s Handbook and be ready to go. When it was first introduced, however, Forbidden Lands was sold as a box set–which can still be purchased. The set includes two faux leather, stitched binding, books–the Player’s Guide and the Gamemaster’s Guide, a beautiful map of the setting, some stickers to mark a party’s exploration, and a booklet with more complete options for character builds. The books are high quality, and everything about the interior is an homage to old school gaming. I’d have liked to see some of the Forbidden Lands dice included in the box set, but the quality of the books is a decent trade off.
Symbaroum
Symbaroum is the simplest setup, everything needed to play the game, excluding dice, is included in the core rulebook. Other books can be picked up to expand character options or the variety of creatures, but these aren’t needed to play. The game is a “full-size” hardbound book with stitched binding, and boasts some stunning artwork. The layout is quite good, and I appreciate how different elements are designed, but once again organization is Symbaroum‘s bane. A new edition could improve this a lot.
Dragonbane
Dragonbane is best in class when it comes to box set contents. The box set is often mis-labelled a “starter box”– but everything needed to play is included in the box set. There is a beautiful rulebook, an equally stunning campaign adventure book, a map of the default setting, a reversible battle mat with both dungeon and grassy terrain, cardboard standees and stands to depict combat, a booklet explaining solo rules, and a stunning set of dice. My only knock on the box set is the binding on the rulebooks, they’re glued in such a way that I can foresee the covers becoming a problem as some point, but the overall quality is terrific, and it’s typically under $50. Dragonbane has also released a separate bestiary and the core rules as stitched-bound hardbacks, printed on flat paper. If the stand alone books had book ribbons they would be perfect TTRPG products!
Conclusion
I make no secret how much I enjoy Dragonbane, it’s my favored blend of mirth, grit, and mayhem. I do, however, enjoy all these games for the different feel they each bring to the table. I have the most frustration with Symbaroum, but not because the system is difficult or clunky. It’s rather simple once all the bits are cobbled together, the organization is something I find difficult to navigate. This is a shame, because Symbaroum‘s a cool game I’d love for a lot more people to enjoy. Forbidden Lands is more gritty than my typical faire, but when I had that game at the table it was exciting and fast and fun. If you have the ability to try all three of these games out, do so. They’re a blast!
https://dmtales.com/2024/06/25/free-league-face-off/
#dd #DMing #DnD #DnD5e #Dragonbane #ForbiddenLands #FreeLeague #GMing #OSR #RPG #Symbaroum #tabletopRolePlayingGame #TTRPG
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Saunders and Dear Hollow’s Top Ten(ish) of 2025 By Steel DruhmSaunders
Yes, folks and loyal AMG readers and devotees, another year is nearly done and dusted. As per tradition, the time has come to share reflections and recommendations from another eventful year. Personally, 2025 threw down some rough moments and life challenges, navigating a spike in anxiety-driven mental and physical health concerns. Previously, I have mentioned how much AMG has grounded me over the years, keeping my focus and motivation on track when other parts of life navigate turbulence, stress, or uncertainty. This has proven especially pivotal this year and highlights the importance of contributing in some small way to this amazing blog and how much it means to me.
Highlights… After a few lean years post-pandemic on the gig front, as an avid concertgoer, 2025 proved productive for getting my mojo back for live music. I caught Karnivool in action for the first time in over a decade, ripping through infectious prog metal anthems and impressive new jams from their highly anticipated album set to drop in early 2026. An unexpected gig was a solo show in my hometown from none other than former Fear Factory legend Burton C Bell, performing in a local dive venue. Ploughing through career classics and some solo material, the setlist offered up gems like “Drive Boy Shooting,” “Scapegoat,” “Scumgrief,” and “Replica.” It was a nostalgic joy.
Meanwhile, after years of stubbornly jaded neglect, I finally bit the bullet and witnessed Metallica live. Probably a couple of decades too late, however, as an impressionable young’un raised on early Metallica, it was a cool experience to finally see the aging juggernaut in a stadium setting that will remain in the memory bank for years to come. A couple of days later, I once again caught the mighty Opeth at the iconic Sydney Opera House with quality support from Caligula’s Horse, before rounding out the year by finally seeing Dying Fetus live in an extra beefy triple bill including Ashen and 200 Stab Wounds. Good times indeed….
Big thanks to everyone for keeping this mighty blog running and cogs turning. From the ever-growing readership and awesome AMG community, through the entire, recently beefed-up writing crew, inspiring colleagues and all-around awesome people, to the higher powers (Steel Druhm, Angry Metal Guy, Sentynel, Doc Grier, and all the other editors) for their extra behind-the-scenes work whipping us into line. Cheers all to a safe, happy, and healthy 2026.
#ish: Green Carnation // A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia – After being mesmerized by Green Carnation’s timeless opus Light of Day, Day of Darkness many years ago, I never really expanded my listening beyond that widely regarded masterpiece. Then comeback album Leaves of Yesteryear dropped in 2020 and turned me from a casual listener into an avid fan of their work. A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia signals a long-awaited return and the first part of a planned trilogy from the seasoned Norwegian veterans of classy, mood-driven progressive metal. Admittedly, this album didn’t reach the dizzying heights or quite gain the traction of its predecessor. Nor does it disappoint, adding another finely crafted chapter in Green Carnation’s enduring career, while building excitement for the two albums to complete the trilogy. Meticulously crafted and chock full of emotive, silky, and delightfully catchy gems, A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia is another top-shelf prog metal jam.
#10. Caustic Wound // Grinding Mechanism of Torment – Back in 2020, Seattle’s Caustic Wound emerged from the muck and unleashed a gnarly ball of unvarnished deathgrind rage courtesy of debut, Death Posture. Due to the endearing old school charms and brawling, stomping attack, Death Posture left a lasting impression, amping anticipation for their long-awaited return on sophomore slab, Grinding Mechanism of Torment. Though a little less refined and losing a smidgen of the debut’s grimy charm, Caustic Wound otherwise pounded out wickedly crunchy, buzzsawing deathgrind with violent glee, infectiousness, and subtle variety to keep you coming back for more. The album’s tight construction and propulsive performances deftly harness the controlled chaos and blasty, groove-laced fun, as the likes of “Drone Terror,” “Advanced Killing Methods,” and “Blood Battery” attest.
#9. Phantom Spell // Heather & Hearth – One of the purest and nostalgia-driven prog releases of 2025, the sophomore album from Seven Sisters singer/guitarist Kyle McNeill was a progtastic delight, wielding old-timey, ’70s prog feels with a transportive, fantastical flair. Phantom Spell crafted a timeless, epic yet remarkably fresh experience, despite the obvious devotion to progressive rock legends and eras of the past. Dueling guitar leads, rollicking organ, and tight, expressive rhythms shine across a superbly performed and produced opus. For all the musical smarts, clever progressive arrangements, and technical showmanship, McNeill’s songwriting and powerful vocals are spot on, resulting in a nuanced though hugely hooky and focused collection, infused with folk and classic heavy metal elements, complementing the classic progressive rock core. Bookended by two spectacular epics (‘The Autumn Citadel” and stunning, heart-wrenching melodies of the closing title track), Heather & Hearth is equally compelling in its more compact, punchy forms (“‘Evil Hand,” “Siren Song”).
#8. Barren Path // Grieving – Grind delivered big time in 2025, with numerous high-quality releases to absorb. None quite delivered the hammer blow impact of the debut LP from Barren Path, featuring Gridlink alumni, including grind shredding extraordinaire Takafumi Matsubara. It’s amazing what can be achieved in a manic thirteen minutes of calculated mayhem and precision deathgrind madness. Barren Path shares traits with Gridlink’s razor-sharp precision and abrasive intensity; however, it refuses to be pigeonholed or cast into the shadows of the Gridlink legacy. Beefy production, coupled with a prominent death metal influence, riffs to burn, gripping performances, and techy edge, Grieving loudly announced Barren Path as the next innovative heavy hitter to take the grind scene by storm. All too brief if utterly compelling, I’m excited to see what this elite line-up can cook up next as they set about creating their own unmatched legacy.
#7. Changeling // Changeling – For the second time in my 2025 top ten, an album surpasses the hour-length mark, often questionable territory as far as optimal album length. The prolific Tom Geldschläger (aka Fountainhead) hired an army of high-profile musicians and contributors to bring his elaborate progressive death metal vision to vibrant life with an overstuffed and incredibly entertaining, wildly ambitious debut opus. Amongst the core lineup, Morean (Alkaloid, Dark Fortress) lends his unique vocals, Virvum’s Arran McSporran features on fretless bass, and powerhouse Mike Keller (ex-Fear Factory, Raven, Malignancy) mans the kit, while a stack of instruments, choirs, and guest musicians add further dimensions and intricacies to the color palette. Changeling is guilty of overreaching on occasions, and the whole thing is an overstimulating example of excess. And though far from perfect, Changeling is nevertheless an astonishingly complex, progressive, and technical marvel. Its bombastic, adventurous gallop, slick songcraft, earwormy hook,s and otherworldly melodies conjure up a hugely inventive and endlessly fun platter.
#6. Turian // Blood Quantum Blues – Generally, I tread carefully from anything core-related in the realms of hardcore, metalcore, and deathcore. I am not opposed to each style, but usually it takes a certain something to win me over. Another winning recommendation from the flippered one, Blood Quantum Blues, the third LP from Seattle metallic hardcore merchants Turian, found the band toying and upending their sound in wonderfully creative and ambitious fashion. Like other genre-busting albums, such as The Shape of Punk to Come and Miss Machine, Turian fuck with the conventions of their metallic hardcore. Shattering boundaries by lacing their signature sound with sharply integrated elements of rock, electronics, sludge, and grind, whipped into a grooving, raw smackdown and addictive delight, Turian pulls no punches and pushes their songwriting creativity to the limit. The line-up nails the newfound songwriting versatility through tight, explosive performances, topped by the raw intensity and charismatic vocals of Vern Metztli-Moon, who channels deeply personal, trauma-informed reflections of her Native American heritage, with vigor and rage.
#5. Retromorphosis // Psalmus Mortis – Carrying on the timeless legacy of legendary Swedish tech death wrecking crew Spawn of Possession, Retromorphosis emerged featuring the bulk of the SoP line-up and a rejuvenated sound, both familiar and energized enough to craft a new chapter of tech death excellence. Herein lies the key to the album’s success. SoP was such a special and unique entity in the tech death field. Retromorphosis pulls the signature songwriting components and twists and contorts them into their own slick interpretation, without simply rehashing past glories. Psalmus Mortis proved to have significant staying power since dropping early in the year, even amidst a pretty stacked year for quality death and tech death albums. Retromorphosis decorate their knotty, fluid and aggressive compositions with tasteful synth work, symphonic flourishes and bedazzling solos, whether charting smartly progressive, labyrinthine terrain (“The Tree,” “Machine”), and thrashy, warped tech death (“Aunt Christie’s Will,” “Vanished,” “Retromorphosis”).
#4. Terror Corpse // Ash Eclipses Flesh – After already delivering a killer grind opus earlier in the year, Terror Corpse got the creative juices flowing again in dropping a full-length debut of immense power and old school grit. Featuring a power-packed lineup featuring past and present members of acts including Malignant Altar, Oceans of Slumber, Necrofier, and Insect Warfare, Terror Corpse comes seasoned with death metal wisdom and experience. Despite a lack of innovation, Terror Corpse winds back the clock and transcends the typical old school death metal hordes. Injecting venomous strains of grind, death-doom, sinister atmospheres, and gut-churning brutality into beefy, riff-driven songs that fondly recall death metal’s glory days, Terror Corpse forge ahead into the here and now with their own character and inspired songwriting. Topped by a bevy of instantly gratifying, oozing riffs and Dobber Beverly’s elite drumming, Ash Eclipses Flesh is a gripping old school death experience.
#3. Dax Riggs // 7 Songs For Spiders – The return of Dax Riggs, and by extension the most unexpected re-emergence of the legendary Acid Bath, were surely two of the most heartwarming music moments of 2025. As a longtime devotee of both Dax and Acid Bath, I had begun worrying that Dax’s music-making days had passed as he slunk into the background and essentially dropped off the radar for the best part of fifteen years. While holding out slim hope Acid Bath will decide to cross our shores, I am stoked Dax and crew are getting the long-overdue credit and exposure they deserve. Though not strictly metal, Dax’s comeback album, and first since 2010’s Say Goodnight to the World, marks a triumphant and warm, comforting return from an underground icon. 7 Songs for Spiders delivered the goods, as Dax and friends dropped an album with a familiar, nostalgic feel that refuses to rest on its laurels. Riggs’ defining vocals sound as vital and deliciously smoky as ever, weaving signature morbid tales, deadly hooks, and earworm melodies through subdued yet deceptively hefty and bluesy folk-doom ditties.
#2. Messa // The Spin – It would be an oversimplification to describe Messa’s fourth LP as a streamlined version of the enigmatic Italian band’s doom-centric formula. Each album has impressed in its own unique way, adding intoxicating twists and charm to continually evolve and refresh their sound. The Spin carries over elements of their past works and character-defining idiosyncrasies, yet feels like Messa’s most laser-focused, accessible, and direct album to date, and also one of their best. While I’ve enjoyed each of the band’s prior works, The Spin is the band’s most efficient and instantly gratifying, and addictive album. Easily Messa’s shortest opus, The Spin, uncorks killer tune after tune. Sumptuous melodies and rich textures color blockbuster doom bangers (“At Races,” “Fire on the Roof”), residing alongside atmospheric, jazz-dappled charmers (“The Dress”), bluesy, emotive slow burners (“Immolation”), and brooding, psych-tinged doom (“Thicker Blood”).
#1. Tómarúm // Beyond Obsidian Euphoria – Weirdly enough, my number one picks often don’t materialize as obviously as one might expect. This has largely been a trend throughout my tenure here at Angry Metal Guy. In all honesty, any of the top three could have been interchangeable in the top spot, but I reserved top honors for the spectacular second LP from Atlanta band Tómarúm. All the more surprising due to sleeping on their well-received debut, Beyond Obsidian Euphoria smacked me upside the cranium with an explosion of creativity and ambitious songcraft, encompassing elements of progressive black, melodic death, and tech death bombast. It’s an overly ambitious, sometimes slightly messy masterwork. Yet the eye-watering 68 minutes largely warrant its exhaustive length. Sure, shrewd editing here and there may have tightened things up. However, the whole experience is so consistently gripping and superbly written and performed that minor quibbles are squashed well below the surface. This fully loaded, immersive masterwork sparkles and scorches through tremendously crafted, multi-faceted compositions, including standout epics, “Shallow Ecstasy,” “Shed This Erroneous Skin,” and “Silver, Ashen Tears,” nestled harmoniously against the blunt force discordance of ‘Blood Mirage,” and compact progressive fireworks of closer “Becoming the Stone Icon (Obsidian Reprise).”
Honorable Mentions:
- Sigh // I Saw the World’s End – Hangman’s Hymn MMXXV – Skepticism of the dangerous game of the re-record was swept aside in a stunning reimagining of their 2007 classic.
- Plasmodulated // An Ocean ov Putrid, Stinky, Vile, Disgusting Hell – The album title says it all. Delightfully scabby, grooving old school death, seasoned with quirky Voivodisms.
- Igorrr // Amen – When seeking that taste of batshit crazy experimentation and avant-garde lunacy, Amen proved a reliable tonic. A challenging, though freakishly creative and addicting listen.
- Blood Vulture // Die Close – A grungy, Gothy slab of doom designed by talented Two Minutes to Late Night host Jordan Olds (aka Gwarsenio Hall). The future appears bright, judging by this highly addictive debut, which garnered lots of rotation throughout the year.
- Vittra // Intense Indifference – Hugely impressive melodic death platter from Swedish up-and-comers Vittra. Drawing inspiration from their homeland’s classic melodeath past, Vittra injects oodles of thrashy energy, inspired axework, and hooky songcraft, bringing a fresh edge to a retro sound.
- Dormant Ordeal // Tooth and Nail – Perhaps a little late on this one, however, after spending considerable time with Dormant Ordeal’s latest opus, the hype and critical praise are indeed justified—a fine example of brutal, crushing Polish blackened death.
- Species // Changelings – Admittedly, like various other overlooked gems, I didn’t spend as much time as I’d like with Changelings. But catching up has been a blast. Species brought the weird on this wacky, proggy technical thrash thrill ride, not to be missed.
Disappointment o’ the Year:
Sadly, we lost a number of metal legends in 2025, headlined by three individual legends that had a profound impact on me over the years. There will never be a larger-than-life frontman/metal icon like Ozzy Osbourne. While his demise was not unexpected, it left a huge void and an incredible legacy never to be matched. At the Gates and all-around iconic Swedish vocalist Tomas Lindberg sadly passed away following a horrible illness, while former Mastodon guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds tragically passed in a motor vehicle accident. Rest in Peace legends….
Non-Heavy Picks (snapshot):
- Aesop Rock (Black Hole Superette & I Heard It’s a Mess There Too), clipping., Bon Iver, Miguel.
Song o’ the Year:
Messa – “Fire on the Roof” – Narrowing down a definitive song o’ the year candidate is often a futile task. Twenty-twenty-five was no exception. Rather than overthink or analyze the situation, I locked in one of the year’s most addictive, replayable gems from Messa’s stunning fourth LP, The Spin.
Dear Hollow
Welcome to the end of 2025! We at AMG hope the year has been kind to you—that your lives are filled with love, your hearts with joy, and our world with peace. I hope that you have found your people and have those you can lean on. If we have ever given you a voice, a platform, or just love and support when you need it, then we have done our jobs.
It feels redundant to say that this year has been a roller coaster, but 2025 pulled no punches. In May, the Hollow household welcomed a second kiddo, a boy, into the fold. He is a supremely easy, endlessly happy little guy, but the stresses of parenthood—and especially of two kids—are a daily lesson of “bend, don’t break.” Our daughter is now four, and learns new things and says sassy things day in and day out, enjoying gymnastics and dancing, and singing around the house for fun.
My reviewing has remained steady this year, if not a little less than the usual. Between parenting two kids, working as a high school English teacher to increasingly apathetic kids, working on a noir crime novel that has paid dividends in complexity (and all the noir jazz my ears can handle),1 continuing to unpack my upbringing and trauma and how they all have affected my views on family, relationships, and self-love, you can imagine how wild each day has been. But I’ve somehow managed it, and the end of the year is here to celebrate it.
Special shout-outs to those who have been instrumental in my journey this year: the ineffable and tireless dream team of Steel Druhm and Angry Metal Guy, the genre-confusing Dolphin Whisperer, my fellow Whitechapel apologists Iceberg and Alekhines Gun, and those who have been supportive all year (Thus Spoke, Killjoy, and Mystikus Hugebeard). Couldn’t have done it without y’all.
To the metal!
#ish. Kalaveraztekah // Nikan Axkan – Subject of a rollicking Rodeö, Mexico’s Kalaveraztekah’s balance of cosmic Aztec atmosphere and cutthroat death metal is sublime. Riffs for days balanced by an experimental madness that conjures cosmic destruction and rebirth, Nikan Axkan recalls the antics of Hell:on, folk influence only sharpens its attack and injects an atmosphere of foreboding. Refusing both gimmick and total immersion, Nikan Axkan is riffy, fun, and evocative, made for a mosh-pit and a soundtrack for the destruction of the Five Suns.
#10. La Torture des Ténèbres // Episode VIII – Revenge of Unfailing Valor – If you’re like MalteBrigge, you’ll probably end up with tinnitus and a sprained shoulder once Episode VIII kicks in, but Ottawa one-woman raw black metal/noise outfit La Torture des Ténèbres returns to the bleak space-faring atompunk of its 2016 debuts alongsdie the dystopic rage that pervades more recent efforts – moments of peace adding dimension and texture. La Torture des Ténèbres is about as ambitious as raw black metal can get.
#9. Imperial Triumphant // Goldstar – Goldstar is Imperial Triumphant’s most accessible album, the NYC trio’s signature brand of death/black and jazz funneled into a straightforward art-deco-themed brutalizing. It’s no less adventurous, always punishing, and will stay with you long after your ears stop ringing from the sound of New York City taxis and decadent skyscrapers displayed in extreme metal format: more straightforward, more melodic. While its recent predecessors are an affluent nightlife, Goldstar offers a sunbathed New York City.
#8. Howling Giant // Crucible & Ruin – Nashville’s stoner outfit Howling Giant reconciles the melodies and riffs, exploratory songwriting, and mammoth hooks gathering in each movement of Crucible & Ruin. Featuring hints of knuckleheaded sludge and proggy chord progressions, it’s an album that keeps your attention for forty-eight minutes. New member Adrian Zambrano offers more atmosphere and layers of guitar riffs and melodies to go with the surefire dichotomy of instrumental heft and vocal ethereality. Crucible & Ruin is an experience of fun, subtlety, and above all, riffs.
#7. Geese // Getting Killed – Perhaps the vocals of NYC’s Geese don’t bother me because of Cameron Winters’ similarity to singer/songwriter John Mark McMillan,2 so the album’s sonic anxiety of noise rock, post-punk, country, and blues that creep in and out like lovers who never stay does not bother me. Getting Killed feels viciously aggressive, venomously satirical, and fluid and elastic in its humble movements. Geese are overrated Pitchfork-bait, sure, but an overrated hill to get killed upon regardless.
#6. Structure // Heritage – Steel Druhm’s the real masochist for low and slow, but the balance of sad death/doom and devastating funeral doom in Netherland’s Structure is special. The guitar work in the mammoth riffs, melodic leads, and climactic solos has just a much of a voice to contribute as Pim Blankenstein’s formidable roars—as if griever and grieved converse in both melancholy and rage. Heritage is Structure paying homage to doom metal’s contemplation while paying its dues in death metal’s viciousness – pure devastation.
#5. Patristic // Catechesis – Catechesis is born out of the “impending shadow of the cross.” As tumultuous as the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the church and pagan rebellion, the black/death of Rome’s Patristic assaults the ears with tension, fury, and reverence. The first act is the holy war, a rationalization of steel and zealotry, while the second is the way the soldier tells it to his children, the lessons and cautions borne of blind faith and its devastation. Cathechesis is not only fiery sermons and unending blasphemy, but regret and meditation.
#4. In Mourning // The Immortal – I’ve loved Sweden’s In Mourning since their 2010 album Monolith: balancing chuggy guitars, progressive songwriting, and the slightest hints of doom (such as in 2008’s Shrouded Divine). The Immortal is an album that balances The Bleeding Veil’s darker elements, Garden of Storms’ signature melody, and The Weight of Oceans’ iconic patience. The Immortal offers yearning melodies and chords alongside vicious riffs, and melodeath has never sounded so good.
#3. Yellow Eyes // Confusion Gate – New York’s Yellow Eyes’ Confusion Gate conveys a black metal place better than most, an environment teeming with life. Like the Romantic Sublime, it maintains a crystalline beauty, like a light scattering through broken glass, and a madness born of terror—at the source of the light. Here is the crux of it, from poet Rainer Maria Rilke’s “The First Elegy”;
Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the Angels’
Orders? and even if one of them pressed me
suddenly to his heart: I’d be consumed
in his more potent being. For beauty is nothing
but the beginning of terror, which we can still barely endure,
and while we stand in wonder it coolly disdains
to destroy us. Every Angel is terrifying.#2. Igorrr // Amen – Gautier Serre’s work with Igorrr has rarely felt bad, but Amen evolves it from his typical standard. You get the typical apeshit antics in the midsection, but a full band fleshes out the jewel-encrusted skeleton for a fully, nearly spiritual experience. Minimalist compositions build upon a breakbeat before cracking into a full choir and death metal experience, while an overwhelming onslaught of insanity reminds us who exactly we’re listening to. Amen is hella fun, as expected, but also something we can take seriously.
#1. Primitive Man // Observance – Primitive Man is the heaviest band on the planet. While I’ve appreciated the Denver trio’s pitch-black approach to death metal laced with noise, doom, and sludge—from afar—Observance booked me in with upbeat tempos and a surprising melody. It swallows you whole like any good Primitive Man album ought to, but the devotion to deteriorating songwriting and weaponized noise. The atmospheric death/sludge counterpart to the riffs of Warcrab, for instance, Primitive Man offers a sound like no other—and it’s the best of the year.
Honorable Mentions:
- The Acacia Strain // You Are Safe From God Here – While incorporating the same ol’ hardcore beatdown you expect from the Massachusetts deathcore OGs,3 denser tones make for higher blasphemy. Simple math, trust me.
- Ethel Cain // Willoughby Tucker, I’ll Always Love You – Leaving behind the more experimental and darker tones in noise/drone counterpart Perverts, a more atmospheric and contemplative direction showcases the singer-songwriter’s nostalgic and gentle storytelling that does not shy away from darkness.
- Changeling // Changeling – While lacking the darkness and weight of Ingurgitating Oblivion, guitarist Tom “Fountainhead” Geldschläger is granted fretless freedom in a tech-death album whose lightness and amorphousness guide ethereal constructions of proggy sensibilities. More Dolphin Whisperer fare but still dope as hell.
- Author & Punisher // Nocturnal Birding – Tristan Shone releases an industrial sludge album that hits like an anvil, casting aside the more atmospheric tendencies for a headbanging good time, amplified by the crunch of new guitarist Doug Sabolick. Melodic motifs based on the birdcalls of migratory birds as a metaphor for immigrants, Shone and Sabolick offer the short and sweet despite a heavy-handed subject.
- Bad Angels // Until Silence – A late-year find, Polish composer Adrian Anioł concocts dense dark ambient sprawls with moody jazz, haunting saxophone glitches, ominous upright bass, and pitch-black meandering. Perfect for walks on spooky rainy nights.
Songs o’ the Year:
- Ethel Cain – “Dust Bowl”4
Surprises o’ the Year
- KPop Demon Hunters Soundtrack – Mainly, how much time I devoted to it. What can I say? I’m gonna be, gonna be golden.
- SpiritWorld // Helldorado – Knuckleheaded riffs for days.5
Disappointments o’ the Year
- Messa // The Spin – Maybe it’s because I saturated my year with sultry noir jazz, but Messa shorts its doom metal with some goofy jazz—all novelty, no substance.
- Orbit Culture // Death Above Life – Once again, the melodeath/thrash riff reigns supreme, but until they can get out from behind the wall of compression, the Swedes continue to tread water.
- Vildhjarta // Där skogen sjunger under evighetens granar – The undersung princes of atmodjent show up with the swampy djunz and forsake everything that makes them legendary. It’s djent—disappointingly nothing more.
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Marvelous Market: Best New Comics May 13
After a few low weeks, I’m buying too many comics again
Do the publishers collaborate in picking what week they release comics I’m interested in? Two weeks ago there was only one or two books I wanted even a little. This week there are like a dozen. I’m tyring to buy a house bro, I don’t have this kind of budget.
Hello and welcome to the Marvelous Market, my weekly guide for anyone interested in going to a comic book store today. In addition to a full list of new # 1s and new volume 1s, I’ll be giving you my top 4 recommendations in 4 categories. Like Houston legend Mike Jones rapped, “We’re still tippin’ on four-fours.” I’m going to give you the top four new comics, top four ongoing comics, the top four graphic novels, and the top 4 preorders.
The work going into this curation is made possible by readers like you. For less than the cost of a cup of coffee a month, you can help make this work possible.
New Issue # 1s
BARBARA GORDON: BREAKOUT # 1
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LEAPING FROM THE PAGES OF MAY’S BATMAN #9 INTO THE NEXT LEVEL! Framed. Outlawed. Hunted. The extralegal activities of Gotham’s vigilantes have never been more dangerous. After Barbara Gordon is arrested for aiding the Bat-Family, she is shipped off to Supermax, GCPD Commissioner Vandal Savage’s pet-project prison for all who oppose him. She will find herself alone, surrounded by dangerous criminals and equally dangerous guards, in a place where nothing is what it seems. The true danger is just beginning…
Eisner Award-winning writer Mariko Tamaki and fan-favorite artist Amancay Nahuelpan reunite to deliver a twisty, unexpected Bat-book for DC Next Level.
GOZILLA VS AMERICA: GODZILLA VS TEXAS # 1
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Everything is bigger in Texas.
Godzilla couldn’t settle for one city in the Lone Star State, so it’s going to trample over all of them. Hopefully those cowboys have a saddle big enough for the King of the Monsters… or else things are about to get ugly.
Join Godzilla and a cast of comic book creators from this great state on a whirlwind tour of Texas! Featuring four 10-page stories by comic book legends like Matt Frank (Mothra, Godzilla: Rulers of Earth) and more!
IF DESTRUCTION BE OUR LOT # 1
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While on a retirement community field trip, a group of aging ex-Hollywood stars encounter a baby kaiju on the run from military agents. Bonding quickly with the creature, the cantankerous cadre of former celebrities have to somehow get the kaiju to safety—before it causes the end of the world!
SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY # 1
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BRAND NEW BRAND NEW DAY! Spider-Man discovers one of the most valuable items the Kingpin, A.K.A. Wilson Fisk, possesses — THE LEXICON. This directory of the Kingpin’s criminal enterprise could destroy the criminal landscape of New York City and that’s Spider-Man’s goal when he takes it. But Fisk isn’t the only person who wants the Lexicon… Mr. Negative would love his competitor’s secret information, but so would Frank Castle himself, the Punisher. Taking the Lexicon sure seemed like a good idea to make the city safer, but it’s painted the biggest target ever on Spider-Man’s back!
ONGOING SERIES
ABSOLUTE BATMAN # 20
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A TRAGIC LOSS ROCKS GOTHAM CITY! As the dust settles in the city of Gotham after the loss of [redacted], Robins enter the scene ready to hunt and more than one secret will be revealed in this seminal issue.
BLEEDING HEARTS # 4
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WILL POKE’S BEST FRIEND BETRAY HIM? How do you bond with a human when you have little humanity yourself? Poke is figuring it out firsthand, but his best friend Mush is starting to notice. Poke is disappearing all the time, and when he’s around, he’s barely interested in preparing for the joyous holiday of Out-Break. Doesn’t he want to celebrate the devouring of Live One flesh? Poke has a tough decision to make… but the collision of his two worlds might end up making it for him!
BLOOD & THUNDER # 13
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NEW STORY ARC BLOOD IS IN THE LAST PLACE SHE EXPECTED! After the surprising conclusion of the previous issue, Blood finds herself in an impossible situation and desperate to get the odds back in her favor. But without Thunder, the galaxy’s most wanted woman will need to find new allies…
ULTIMATE ENDGAME # 4
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SPIDER-MAN MEETS HIS MAKER! Time is ticking on the Ultimate Universe!!! In this penultimate issue of the most climactic super-hero event EVER(!)… heroes will fall, villains will rise and your favorite characters will be forced to make difficult sacrifices!
Trade Paperbacks, Hardcovers, and OGNs
DETECTIVE KAIJU vol. 1 TP
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Detective Kaiju, the grizzled investigator of the hit-series Quested, finally takes center stage in his own thrilling murder mystery. Known for his relentless pursuit of the truth, Kaiju’s latest case will force him to confront the buried secrets of his past.
With danger closing in and time running out, Detective Kaiju must navigate a treacherous web of lies, alien conspiracy theory, a film industry underbelly, and long-buried secrets. On an island built on illusion, who can he really trust? And will solving this case finally give him the answers he’s been searching for—or destroy him in the process?
Gritty, atmospheric, and packed with twists, Detective Kaiju volume one is a must-read noir thriller that dives deep into the origins of crime fiction’s most larger-than-life investigators.
IMMORTAL LEGEND BATMAN TP
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From the void between our universe and its shadow come horrific apparitions craving nothing but destruction. But from this terror… an immortal legend known as Batman is born. Aided by Nightwing and Robin, this Dark Knight battles unceasingly against deadly shadow monsters who want to destroy our universe. But to fully triumph against a rogues gallery of cosmic evil, Batman must face how his incredible abilities are tied to the shadow universe itself!
Collecting Immortal Legend Batman #1-6.
LOBSTER JOHNSON Omnibus vol. 1
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Unconventional pulp hero Lobster Johnson keeps the streets of New York clean in this comics collection of his earliest supernatural, slick, and surprising misadventures.
After years of captivating fans’ imaginations from the pages of Hellboy and B.P.R.D., the pulp-style adventures of Lobster Johnson took the limelight in their own series of comics adventures. From gangsters to Nazis to an army of monkeys, the Lobster faces classic foes in strange new ways.
His adventures are now collected for the first time in a paperback omnibus edition, collecting trade volumes The Burning Hand, Satan Smells a Rat, and Get the Lobster and the short story “Lobster Johnson: The Empty Chair” featuring writing by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Tonci Zonjic with art by Zonjic, Joe Querido, Sebastián Fiumara, and more!
STAR TREK: RED SHIRTS TP
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The doomed Starfleet crew members, the red shirts, must track down spies on an isolated planet in this graphic novel.
Stranded on the snow-ridden planet Arkonia 89, the crew of the U.S.S. Warren has a small window in which to pin down spies seeking to steal classified secrets and keep Starfleet data out of their nefarious hands.
They face threats not only from their faceless enemies but from the brutalizing elements and wildlife of a planet far from home. In this complicated story of betrayal, loss, and redemption, the red shirts’ lives and Starfleet’s sanctity are on the line… and no one is safe.
This heartrending story by writer Christopher Cantwell (Star Trek: Defiant) and artist Megan Levens (Star Trek) marks a new beginning for the Star Trek universe, featuring Starfleet’s most intrepid and doomed crew members: red shirts. Now, finally, they get their own story.
Collects the complete miniseries Star Trek: Red Shirts #1–5.
Preorders on Final Order Cutoff
ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN # 1
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WITH ALL THE WEALTH… WITH ALL THE GEAR… WITH ALL THE SKILLS, SHE IS THE ABSOLUTE APEX PREDATOR! Selina Kyle has carved a good life for herself. Through her ingenuity and skills, she’s become the greatest thief the world has ever known. With high-tech gear and weaponry, there’s no place too secure for Catwoman. Selina has built this life for herself and thoroughly escaped Gotham. But when someone from her past comes knocking at her door, Selina’s life comes crashing down around here. She’ll need to get to the bottom of a mystery taking her all around the globe! Written by Che Grayson and Scott Snyder with art by Bengal, Catwoman bursts onto the scene in the Absolute Universe!
ASSORTED CRISIS EVENTS # 9
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Are you poor, desperate, huddled, massive? Do you live in a dark age, a depression, one of the many historical periods of slim pickings and no options? Welcome to the TEMPS, the first cross-temporal employment app! The past and future are filled with low skill, low wage gigs! Gigs such as: Cobbler’s assistant in plague-era Europe! Salvager in the ruins of New York, 2832! Soldier in Krang’s Cross-Time Army! Temp is shattering the temporal ceiling!
BETAS
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Roommates Xavier, Doug, and Tim are just regular guys trying to make it on the dating scene. Meeting women isn’t easy, they might even call it impossible! Changing social mores, dating apps, and good old-fashioned shyness cause misstep after misstep. Recent mixed signals at the restaurant all three work at cause a cascading series of rules and regulations, putting everyone on edge. Some people adapt, others dig their heels in fleshing out a hilarious comedy about modern communication where bad faith arguments and self-serving directives clash leading to HR reprimands and ever-expanding apologies. As friends and co-workers struggle to connect under these conditions, some become lovers while others become mortal enemies. In Betas, Nick Maandag lampoons popular ideas around free speech, consent, and scold culture all while asking: can ever learn to talk to one another? And can we ever feel safe?
STARSHIP GODZILLA: FIRST WARS TP
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Join a crew of cosmic misfits as they soar through the stars in Mechagodzilla in this series that ties in with the all-new Kai-Sei Era of Godzilla comics!
You didn’t think kaiju were only on Earth, did you?
In the fight for galactic supremacy, no weapon is more powerful than a kaiju…and no team is better equipped to capture and transport these titanic monsters than the crew of Starship Godzilla!
This ragtag group flies through space in Mechagodzilla and takes high-risk, high-reward missions across the galaxy. A kaiju heading toward your planet? Give them a call. A colossal space pest clogging up your trade route? They’ll get rid of it. A galactic civil war utilizing kaiju on both sides? They’ll…uh…do their best to stay out of it. But where there’s a galactic war, there’s a galactic conspiracy, and our crew members may not all land on the same side of this fight.
A brand-new kaiju space epic starts here in Starship Godzilla from Chris Gooch (In Utero, Under-Earth) and Oliver Ono (Godzilla: Monster Island Summer Camp)! Part of the new Godzilla connected comic book universe with Godzilla (Kai-Sei Era) and Godzilla: Escape the Deadzone!
What did I miss?
If there are some great comics, collected or in single issues, that you think I should be reading, tell me about them! And if you do try out any of these series, let me know how you liked them, or didn’t. This is a safe space for haters. If you enjoy this service, please share this article on social media or tell someone that you know reads comics about it.
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I'm officially keeping an eye on #Cowboys WR Jordan Hudson (not that one) going into training camp.
Think he has a better chance of making the 53-man roster than anyone expects.
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I'm officially keeping an eye on #Cowboys WR Jordan Hudson (not that one) going into training camp.
Think he has a better chance of making the 53-man roster than anyone expects.
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Baratza Encore ESP Pro Grinder
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ArticleOut of the Box
I won’t go into a lot of details about what’s new on this grinder, except to reference those new features, because we covered that in our initial post on the Encore ESP Pro. I will highlight and clarify some elements and assumptions based on the initial hands on use. If you do want a concise breakdown on what is new in this grinder, check that article out.
The Encore ESP Pro (or EEP for short) still adheres to Baratza’s “big beautiful brown box” philosophy of having sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging, right down to the compostable bags to protect the grinder from scuffs during shipping, but this time around they’ve also done a lot more printing on the box. It is packed securely and compactly, and when I first unboxed it, I thought perhaps they forgot to include the dosing cup and its little shelf, but nope, there it was, inside the larger grinds bin.
The front of the Encore ESP Pro box. Note, since Breville has taken over, they’ve added more graphics to the box compared to a few years ago.
Side of the box talks about the Etzinger M2 Burrs. We will too, below.
Other side is mainly branding.
The back of the box has some details about the grinder. Again, this is getting a bit away from Baratza’s “beautiful brown box” with the added ink.
Baratza has long figured out how to securely pack their grinders, and the Encore ESP Pro is no different
Inside the inner box is the main on demand hopper, in its own cardboard cocoon.
Once the top cardboard forms are removed, the main grinder body reveals itself
All removed from the boxes, the grinder and hopper are wrapped in compostible bags.
A first peak at the grinder itself. It looks quite good!
Baratza’s an industry leader in ethical, environmentally friendly packaging. They even use compostable bags to protect ther machines in transit.
The grinds bin, which looks identical to the older Encore and Virtuoso Plus models. Has extra goodies inside.
The single dose cup and its silicone base. Note the silicone ring around the top – remove that to fit the cup into 54mm portafilters.Setting up the grinder is mostly painless, though I did have a brief head-scratching moment that led to a quick call to Baratza support. I couldn’t figure out how to properly attach the bean hopper to the sleek, mostly metal single dose collar and grind adjustment dial. I checked the quick start guide and manual, but didn’t find anything about how to assemble the bean hopper. I noticed tiny “dedents” on the hopper and a subtle ridge inside the collar; it looked like they should snap together. I pressed hard. Nothing. Pressed harder. Felt plastic groaning. I had mild panic and visions of broken plastic.
Turns out, I was doing it all wrong.
Those dedents are part of a clever new system: they recess into the hopper body when you close the internal “trap door” for the beans, and stick out again when you open the bean flow vanes.The hopper, inspired by Breville’s Smart Grinder Pro hopper, but more minimalist, has a rotating handle inside. Turn one way and vanes shut the bean chute; turn the other and they open. The action also recesses and exposes the little dedents. The trick? Close the vanes, insert the hopper in the single dose bean collar hopper,, then open them. Voilà: hopper locked in place.
With that mystery solved, I set about my first use and exploration of the grinder.
These are the little small profile dedents that extend out, or retract, to lock the bean hopper into place on the single dose metal hopper.
Here, the dedents are retracted, making them flush with the rest of the collar.Materials and Build Quality
Let’s just get this out of the way: everything about the Encore ESP Pro (or EEP, for those who appreciate a good acronym) feels like it belongs in the premium league. Starting with the single dose hopper and grind adjustment collar, the construction is mostly metal where your hands interact, with plastic used only where it makes sense.
The hopper slots into a largely metal burr carrier and adjustment mechanism. There are no clicks when turning it either. This is a stepless grinder, so smooth rotation is the action you’ll feel. The metal is a sharp, nearly matte black, with bold white lines and bean size icons that are easy to read. It also rotates a full 270 degrees, a big jump from the 180 degrees on the regular Encore ESP.
Now for the side panels. I could have sworn they were metal. They even sound like it when you tap them. But surprise: they’re plastic. That said, they’re coated in some mystery finish that feels cool, textured, and convincingly metallic. Bonus points: they resist smudgy fingerprints. Actually, the whole grinder does. Even the front display somehow stays relatively clean despite daily use.
The metal parts of the grinder are mostly in the grinds chamber, motor mount, skeleton, and what I call the “shoulders” of the unit. That’s the section that wraps from the top, around the display, and down the front where the control dial lives. It feels like plastic at first touch, but it’s a coated metal wrap.
Front view of the Encore ESP Pro, in single dose setup.
Glad to see the company has gone with minimal branding. This panel is mostly plastic, but feels like metal.
The back, mostly plastic, has no branding. Note the cord placement.
Again, no branding, nice matte black, has a similar silhouette to the Encore ESP.
This is very well made, and is mostly metal. I do have slight concerns about the anti-popcorning bit in the middle impeding the flow from coffee beans from the full on demand hopper, given beans have to pass through that bigger hopper’s vanes first, before getting to the anti-popcorn plate.
Here’s a first peak at another innovation in the grinder: the Feed Control disk, which regulates and slows down the feed to the burrs.
Installing the single dose hopper: line it up with the marked tick line on the grinder body.
Attaching the single dose hopper is straightforward: line up the marker with the line on the grinder body, insert, and rotate to lock into place.
A Breville influence here: Baratza never used to put display stickers on their grinders to show you what the display would look like. That’s a Breville thing.
The single dose cap can also be used as a bean cup on your scale to measure out your single doses. I kind of wish it had an incorporated bellows design.The on demand bean hopper has been redesigned too, and is different from the bean hoppers Baratza has been using for over a decade. The EEP full bean hopper has a lower profile, and likely holds less than the older Encore models (I will measure that). But it has a slick new bean stop system that keeps your coffee from making a break for it when you remove the hopper. A lot of the engineering behind it been borrowed from the now 15 year old design of the Smart Grinder Pro hopper, but it is much more refined, more low-profile, with a lot less plastic and moving parts. It’s small things like this that show someone was thinking and evolving a product line.
The grinds bin seems to be the same one from the previous Encore and Virtuoso models. I’ll do a side-by-side check to be sure, but it looks and feels identical. No surprises there. Ditto with the single dose grinds catch and the little silicone base it slots into.
That front control dial, though, is a highlight. It has a good weight to it and turns with a satisfying dampened feel. It’s tactile and gives off a vibe that says, “I’m not like those cheap plastic knobs on budget machines.” Of all the control points Baratza has put out over the years, this one feels the most high-end. Etched into the dial are directional indicators on the front.
The on demand, full bean load hopper is designed to lock into the single dose metal hopper.
The vanes, open on the hopper. I did have concerns that these would have feed issues with the single dose hopper’s anti-popcorn device right below these.
The vanes closed on the new hopper design from Baratza
The hopper’s handle is used to open or close the hopper vanes, and lock the hopper into place on the single dose mini hopper.
The single touch control dial has a nice dampened feel to it, pushes confidently, and has etched directional indicators
Not talked a lot about in this First Look – this is the flow control dial. It’s meant to regulate the flow of beans into the burrs better.You also get a solid accessory lineup: the single dose grinds catcher, the bigger bin, the single dose hopper, and the larger bean hopper. Swapping them out is easy and intuitive. The grinds cup works with both 58 mm and 54 mm portafilters. Just pull out a silicone ring to accommodate the smaller ones.
Now the display. In a word, it is slick. When not in use, it stays completely blacked out. Fire it up and it lights up bright enough to read in a dark kitchen at 6 a.m. without blinding you. Yet it’s still easily readable in a fully lit, mid day kitchen. There are three little icons that pop up depending on what the grinder’s doing. Timer mode shows a clock. Grind setting mode brings up a container with a pyramid of dots. If you’re in the espresso range, it displays “ESP” with an underscore, on the right.
The numbers will show either a countdown or count-up timer, the grind setting, or “END” when it finishes a timed grind. It switches automatically depending on what’s happening. One small quirk: if you’re adjusting the grind while the EEP is running, the display only shows the timer, not the grind setting. It’s not the end of the world, just something to note.
Here, the grinder is in auto-off mode, at 50.5 on the grind dial setting. Note no “ESP” graphic or timer graphic.
Here, the grinder is in timer mode (long press to switch), but in standby still shows the grinder setting, and not the programmed time.
This mode is auto off mode, in the espresso grinding range (below 40), showing the ESP graphic.
Here, the grinder is displaying ESP grind range, timer mode, and I just turned the dial to set the time for 11.5 seconds grinding time. It will revert back to showing the grind setting after a few seconds.
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Except for the initial confusion over how to properly attach the on demand bean hopper, I found using the Encore ESP Pro to be quite intuitive. There’s something about a single touch point for most of the grinder’s smart controls that works very well on this grinder. Even without reading the manual, I knew that a long press on that main dial would switch the grinder’s two main modes, as an example.
Encore ESP Pro’s Modes
The EEP has two modes: timed and auto stop. Long press the dial to toggle between them. In auto stop, you just press once to start and again to stop. It also works as a manual mode for folks using a full hopper. The maximum grinding time is 60 seconds, even in manual mode.
In auto stop, the timer counts up. In timer mode, it counts down. You only get one timer setting, so changing from 10 to 45 seconds means spinning the dampened control dial quite a bit. Not exactly cutting-edge tech, but nothing a little patience can’t handle.
The Encore ESP Pro, set up for single dose mode, on the bar, paired up with a Breville Infuser. Grind time for a 17.5g dose is about 9 seconds.Grind Settings and Espresso Range
I was surprised to find out that the Encore ESP Pro’s espresso range of grind settings is 1 to 40 on the grinder’s 60 steps (actually 120 steps, because there’s a half step displayed digitally, like 10.5). I thought it would be evenly split, with 1-30 for espresso, and 31-60 for other brew methods (similar to the Encore ESP). But nope: that little ESP indicator stays on until you hit 40.5.
That’s a pretty wide range of adjustment choices, though Baratza claims each setting in the espresso range is a 2.5 micron adjustment finer or coarser and your finest turning control on the stepless adjustment. The non espresso range results in much larger micron jumps between “clicks”.
I do have to note that the initial unit Bartaza sent me had a calibration and alignment issue: the grinder could only produce an acceptable espresso grind for our test machines (Breville Dual Boiler, Breville Infuser) at 38.5 on the grind adjustment setting. Anything below that would “choke” or stall the shot pulls. This left well over 75 different grind settings unusable in most circumstances.
Baratza immediately sent a replacement unit, and here’s what I’ve determined after initially seasoning the machine with about 4 pounds of coffee.
Putting the Encore ESP Pro through some early test paces.Dialing in Espresso
On our replacement unit, the initial sweet spot for our test espresso blend (Social Coffee’s amazing People’s Daily Blend) was 26.5 for our 2.5:1 target range of espresso: 18.5g in, 45g out, within 35 seconds (which includes the Dual Boiler’s 10 second preinfusion stage). This was with fresh, 6 day old coffee. Because the adjustment ranges are very small on the EEP, 15 day old coffee would be down around 23.5 for the same shot target range.
We had the chance to use some of Coffee Kev’s fantastic Coffee Works Chocolate Brownie Blend, which has some robusta and is roasted a tad darker than People’s Daily, and its dial in spot started around 24.5 for the same targets and volumes.
Early on, it was clear that the M2 burrs were doing their job well for espresso, and there’s a nice wide range of adjustment play one can have in hyper-dialing in an espresso blend. I find the M2 burrs do an excellent job in presenting just the right amount of fines you want in an espresso grind, one that brings on board complexity and nuances with just about any espresso blend or single origin roasted for espresso.
Evaluating the shots of espresso made with the Encore ESP Pro. We love these Kruve Propel cups for sensory evaluation.Dialing in Brew Coffee
When testing the Encore ESP Pro for brew methods, of course I had to figure out a good starting point for my grind settings. And yeah, there’s a lot of chatter online about this. Reddit, Discord, early YouTube reviews… the usual suspects. Everyone seems to have a different number. Some are up in the 50s for a V60 brew, others hanging out in the low 40s. Typical early-days chaos.
Baratza actually gave me some solid info on exactly how the grind adjustment works outside of the espresso range. Based on their guidance, I started at 47.5 for pour over. Using an Ethiopian from Social Coffee that was hitting on all cylinders as my morning cuppa, I hit the expected particle range, around 750 microns, but there were a lot of fines in my grind sample testing.
To be frank, this is where the Etzinger M2 burrs start to show their design age. I’ve been lucky to use better conical designs lately, like the Lagom Mini with its Moonshine burrs, so I could really see the difference. Once you get coarser, the M2s just aren’t in the same league if you’re chasing cup clarity.
The M2s are still decent for brew. Better than a lot of what’s out there. But this burr set was designed over ten years ago, and burr geometry and engineering philosophy has moved forward since then. Of course, RPMs play a big part too. The faster you spin, the more fines you get with conicals, and I believe the Encore ESP Pro spins faster than previous Encore models.
Right now, Moonshine burrs are my gold standard, followed by the 1Zpresso X-Ultra and J-Ultra. Those burrs are tuned for clarity at low RPMs. M2s? Still solid for espresso and AeroPress, but never great at Chemex or French press. Early tests on the ESP Pro confirm that.
For instance, producing a 750 micron mid point grind for V60, brews would take about 30-45 seconds longer to drain out than with a similar micron mid point produced by the Lagom Mini and its Moonshine burrs. The spent coffee bed in the V60 was more visibly muddy with the Baratza as well. More to come about this in the full review. In the meantime, here are some photos of the process, and my apologies for the unappealing nature of them.
For this round, I was using the fantastic Kirimahiga Kenyan from Matchstick Coffee.
Soupy, slow draw down in the Kalita Wave filters in an Origami filter holder.
Evidenced by the scale, the drawdown time was slow with the grinder set to roughly 750um, 47.5 on the dial.
The finished bed of coffee, very muddy.I’m happy with the grind noise of the Encore ESP Pro. Not only that, but the motor sounds better too. It always sounded like the Encore ESP and Virtuoso+ struggled in the motor department when grinding (the motors in both weren’t actually struggling, it had to do with how the grinder was geared); the EEP sounds more smooth and consistent. It’s also quieter than those other two grinders; more so in single dose mode, but also with the on demand hopper in place (as long as you have the lid on).
The built in plasma coil does the job. I’ve seen others report some static issues, but I think they were confusing chaff flying around with actual grinds static (there is not a single grinder on the planet that can prevent chaff flyout). Both with the single dosing cup, and the bin, static is at a minimum, and I have tested a variety of coffees in a variety of conditions (hot, humid, hot, sun exposed, cool morning, late evening) to see how static is handled.
The grinder does side-load the coffee a bit (always to the right side), so if you don’t have the single dose cup perfectly lined up (or don’t use the included silicone base plate under the cup), some grinds can miss the cup. The output is fluffy, generally uncompacted, and the best I’ve seen from any Encore or Virtuoso grinder.
Because this is a plasma coil anti-static grinder, you should not do a RDT (Ross Droplet Technique) on your beans fed into this grinder. Doing so will gum up the anti-static coil inside, rendering it inert. It will also clog up the grinder. This rule holds true for any grinder with a plasma or ionizer system.
The EEP is pleasingly fast in its output, faster than the Encore ESP, and even faster than the Virtuoso Plus. As of publication date, I haven’t completed my timer tests for grind ranges on the grinder, but the speed is good, and an improvement over the older grinders.
Putting the Encore through a battery of tests.Conclusion
There was a time when the words “Baratza” and “Encore” (and going even further back, “Maestro”) meant one thing: an entry-level, capable grinder you could snag for under $150. And that’s still true; as long as Baratza keeps selling the original Encore, or you find a used one online. Given how repairable and easy to maintain they are, buying second-hand isn’t exactly a gamble.
Now we have an Encore that costs $300; entry-level doesn’t quite fit anymore. It’s a bit like calling a craft beer just a refreshing, cold drink. This grinder is squarely in premium territory, loaded with advanced features. It’s the spiritual successor to the Virtuoso line, only it’s been dragged into the present with upgrades like an ionizer, an excellent auto-off function, and enough UI and UX polish to make tech companies jealous.
The build quality? Outstanding. The attention to touch points and user feel is better than anything I’ve seen at this price point. The display nails it: subtle, legible, and clean. It wouldn’t feel out of place on a gadget designed by a certain turtleneck-wearing design perfectionist from Cupertino.
That said, the one part that’s starting to show its age is the burrset. Baratza’s been using the M2 conical burrs from Etzinger for over a decade now, and they’re fine. Great for espresso, solid for pour over. But compared to the moonshine conies in the Lagom Mini or Mini 2, the M2s are outclassed. They struggle with coarser grinds and don’t handle Chemex or French press as gracefully.
Honestly, with everything else modernized, it’d be nice to see Baratza nudge Etzinger toward developing a next-generation M2. This new Encore ESP Pro deserves it. Is this a deal breaker? Heck no. In fact, given Baratza’s history of after sales service and upgradability, I wouldn’t be surprised to see down the road a new iteration of the Etzinger burrs that will not only be backwards compatible with the Encore ESP Pro and ESP, but also sold without much markup. Both of which add years of serviceability to this grinder.
With all that said, everything you’re reading here is just a slightly learned opinion, borne of a few weeks’ use of the Encore ESP Pro grinder after a break in period. This grinder will continue to occupy a prime spot on our test bench, and a full review with scores will be out later this year. Stay tuned, but if you have any questions now, feel free to ask them in the comments below.
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The thread about a Leith “Beggar’s Badge”; when the Scottish state sanctioned begging as a privilege for a select few
This thread was originally written and published in December 2020.
Today’s Auction House Artefact is this Leith beggar’s badge or token. It is inscribed on the front with an earlier version of the emblem from the Burgh coat of arms and motto Persevere. The date 1565 which refers to the date of Mary Queen of Scots writing permission for Leith to erect its Tolbooth, and on the back with “Leith Poor No. 10.” It’s not date stamped, but I would wager this is from the second half of the 19th century, given the better quality of the token, the style of the crest and the fact the Persevere motto does not appear in use until around the 1860s.
Front and rear of a Leith beggar’s badge. Move the slider to reveal each face.“The growth of a large class of beggars in medieval times led to the necessity for limiting the numbers of those
Jacques Callot, Family of Beggars, 17th century. CC-by-NC National Galleries Scotland
officially entitled to beg“. This was put into Scottish law by an Act of Parliament as early as 1424. Only those with a badge were allowed to beg, and it had to be worn on outer clothing. Begging was seen as a privilege for certain “deserving poor” and restricted to such charitable cases as widows, the aged or those with disabilities or injuries that precluded them from working.Anyone found begging without a badge was liable to be dealt with severely by vagrancy laws. Sheriffs would round up “masterless men” and arrest them – these might itinerants such as wood or wool gatherers. They would be given 40 days to find a master or craft, under pain of either imprisonment, banishment from the county (which may involve the hand being branded) or being sent into bonded labour such as coal mining or salt panning. “Egyptians” (gypsies) were in particular persecuted, being banished from Scotland if they did not renounce their itinerant ways. Landowners and heritors in the 17th and 18th century were subject to a tax called “Vagabond Money”, which was to pay for the employment of vagrants as labourers. The words vagabond and vagrant both come from the Latin vagari, to wander.
Parishes and burghs all over Scotland issued these badges, as they were responsible for the maintenance of their own poor. It allowed the bearer to beg in the burgh or parish that issued it, and protected them from the force of the vagrancy laws. The parishes and burghs were resentful of having to support “idle beggars” or “sturdy beggars” from other areas, and so wanted to be able to identify their own. Begging was thus an official and strictly controlled activity.
A blind beggar in Edinburgh, c. 1750. Sketch by Paul Sandby. © Trustees of the British Museum, Nn,6.35Beggar’s badges were generally lead, pewter, copper or some other easily cast, cheap metal. Stone and pasteboard are also recorded. Not many survive, they usually have a serial number. Dates are less common and the holder’s name is almost never seen. There are at least four further Leith badges in public collections. The National Museum of Scotland lists three. Two are shown below, the third is described as “A lead circle, featuring the arms of Leith, similar to the one at the start of the thread, numbered No. 9“:
A lead oval, featuring the arms of Leith (below left), numbered No. 5A clipped lead oblong from from the 18th century, one round and one oval, numbered No. 7 (below right)I believe the Hunterian collection in Glasgow has a No. 4. And there are a wide range of other designs from across Scotland. Interestingly, as far as I’m aware no tokens from the 2 largest burghs (Edinburgh and Glasgow) are known to survive, this may be because they were melted down and recycled whenever they were renewed.
18th century Tokens from Adrrossan, Ayr, Alves, Conveth, Coupar Angus, Crieff, Croy and ellon.The other authority which could issue beggar’s token was the Crown. Such “King’s Bedesmen” were first appointed by King James VI. They were commonly known as Blue Gowns, on account of the official cloak that they were issued with, or Jockies. They had a lodge house outside the city of Edinburgh; the Jockies Lodge – this is where the neighbourhood of Jock’s Lodge takes its name from. Every birthday of the reigning monarch, each Jockie received a new cloak, their tin badge with the motto “pass and repass“, a Scots shilling for every year of the monarch’s age and their dinner. “Pass and repass” referred to the holder being allowed to pass freely through the land, not being subject to the local begging laws and being charged with vagrancy. The artist David Allan sketched many of the common folk of Edinburgh in the 1780s, including a blue-cloaked and badged Bedesman. Paul Sandby, whose work in the city in the 1750s clearly influenced Allan also drew numerous beggars and vagrants, and frequently colours their coats blue.
A late 18th century illustration of a Jockie. Note his blue cloak and badge. His clothing marks him out as a former soldier, and his missing leg is probably why he was given the beggar’s “privilege”.Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.
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New #JWST 🔭 images reveal cosmic question marks and buckyballs in a planetary nebula. Via @scientific_american #Space #Astrophysics #OrbitalMechanics #Astronomy 🚀 🌌 ☄️ 🛰️
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“Labor Is Life” (U.S. Postal Service’s Labor Day Stamp, 1956, U.S. Library of Congress, public domain).
Bakers, blacksmiths, boatmen, butchers, carpenters, cabinetmakers, cigarmakers, coal miners, factory workers, farmers, gardeners, gold miners, iron workers, masons, quarry workers, teamsters, tombstone carvers. These were just a few of the diverse job titles held by the laborers who enlisted with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry during the American Civil War.
Many returned to their same occupations after the war ended while others found new pathways for their life journeys. Far too many were never able to return to the arms of their loved ones and still rest in marked or unmarked graves far from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In honor of Labor Day, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers: One Civil War Regiment’s Story is proud to present this abridged list of blue-collar men and boys who served with the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry between August 1861 and January 1866, as well as the names of two of the women associated with the regiment who made their own unforgettable marks on the world.
* Auchmuty, Samuel S. (First Lieutenant, Company D): A native of Duncannon, Perry County and veteran of the Mexican-American War who was employed as a carpenter during the early 1860s, Samuel Auchmuty responded to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to defend the nation’s capital during the opening weeks of the American Civil War by enrolling as a first lieutenant with Company D of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry on August 20, 1861; after completing his three-year term of enlistment, he was honorably discharged in September 1864 and returned home to Pennsylvania, where he resumed his work as a house carpenter and launched a successful contracting business that was responsible for building new business structures, churches, single-family homes, and schools, as well as renovating existing structures; he died in 1891, following a brief illness;
First Sergeant Christian S. Beard, circa 1863 (public domain).
* Beard, Christian Seiler (First Lieutenant, Company C): A twenty-seven-year-old, married carpenter residing in Williamsport, Lycoming County when President Abraham Lincoln called for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend the nation’s capital, following the fall of Fort Sumter in mid-April 1865, Chistian S. Beard promptly enrolled for Civil War military service before that month was out as a private with Company D of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers; honorably discharged in July after completing his Three Months’ Service, he re-enlisted as a sergeant with Company C of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers on August 19; after rising up through the ranks to become a first lieutenant, he was honorably discharged on Christmas Day, 1865, and returned home to his wife in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, where he continued to work as a carpenter; after having several children with his wife, he was widowed by her; remarried in 1884, he relocated with his wife and children to Pittsburgh, where he continued to work as a carpenter; ailing with heart and kidney disease, he died there on November 16, 1911 and was interred at that city’s Highwood Cemetery;
* Burke, Thomas (Sergeant, Company I): A first-generation American, Thomas Burke was a twenty-year-old cabinetmaker residing in Allentown at the dawn of the American Civil War; after enrolling for military service on the day that the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was founded (August 5, 1861), he was officially mustered in as a private; from that point on, he continued to work his way up the ranks, receiving a promotion to corporal on September 19, 1864 and then to sergeant on July 11, 1865; honorably mustered out with his company in Charleston, South Carolina on December 25, 1865, he returned home to Lehigh County, where he married and began a family; sometime in early to mid-1871, he and his family migrated west to Iowa, settling in Anamosa, Jones County, where he was employed as a carpenter and contractor; he died at his home there on October 22, 1910 and was buried at that town’s Riverside Cemetery;
* Colvin, John Dorrance (Second Lieutenant, Company C): A native of Abington Township, Lackawanna County who was a farmer when he enlisted for Civil War military service on September 12, 1861, John D. Colvin transferred to the U.S. Army Signal Corps on October 13, 1863, and continued to serve with the Signal Corps for the duration of the war; employed as an engineer, post-war, he helped the Pacific Railroad to extend its service from Atchison, Kansas to Fort Kearney in Nebraska before returning home to Pennsylvania, where he married, began a family and resided with them in Olyphant and Carbondale before relocating with them to Parsons in Luzerne County, where he became a prominent civic leader and member of the school board; initially employed as a machinist, he went on to become superintendent of the Delaware & Hudson Coal company before taking a similar job with the Lehigh Valley Coal Company; the U.S. Postal Service’s postmaster of Parsons during the early 1890s, he died there on March 15, 1901 and was buried at the Hollenback Cemetery in Wilkes-Barre;
* Crownover, James (Sergeant, Company D): A twenty-three-year-old teamster residing in Blain, Perry County when he enrolled for Civil War military service on August 20, 1861, James Crownover rose up through the ranks of the 47th Pennsylvania from private to reach the rank of sergeant; wounded in the right shoulder and captured by Confederate troops during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864, he was marched to Camp Ford, near Tyler, Texas, the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River, where he was held as a prisoner of war (POW) until he was released during a prisoner exchange on November 25, 1864; during captivity, he was commissioned, but not mustered as a second lieutenant; given medical treatment before he was returned to active duty, he was honorably discharged with his regiment in Charleston, South Carolina on December 25, 1865; after returning home, he found work at a tannery near Blain, married, began a family and then relocated with them to East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, where he worked as a teamster; relocating with them to Braddock in Allegheny County after the turn of the century, he worked at a local mill there; he died in Allegheny County on July 18, 1903 and was buried at the Monongahela Cemetery in Braddock Hills;
Jacob Daub, circa 1862-1865 (carte de visite, Cooley & Beckett Photographers, Savannah, Georgia and Beaufort and Hilton Head, South Carolina, public domain).
* Daub, Jacob and William J. (Drummer Boy, Company A): A German immigrant as a child, Jacob Daub emigrated with his parents and younger brother, William, circa 1852; after settling in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where his father found work as a stone mason, Jacob grew up to become a cigarmaker, and also became the first of the two brothers to enlist in the American Civil War; after enrolling at the age of sixteen, he was classified as a field musician and assigned to Company A as its drummer boy; his nineteen-year-old brother, William, a carpenter by 1865, followed him into the war when he enlisted as a private with the same company in February of that year; after the war ended, both returned home to Northampton County, where they married, had children and went on to live long, full lives; William eventually died at the age of eighty in 1928, followed by Jacob, who passed away in 1936, roughly two months before his ninety-first birthday;
* Detweiler, Charles C. (Private, Company A): Berks County native Charles Detweiler enrolled for Civil War military service on September 16, 1862; a carpenter who later became a farmer, he served with Company A until he was severely injured in the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia, October 19, 1864, when he sustained a musket ball wound to the middle of his thigh; treated at a Union Army hospital in Virginia before being transported to the Union’s Mower General Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he learned that the musket ball had damaged his femur and femoral arteries; following his wound-related death at Mower on March 12, 1865, he was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in Kutztown, Berks County;
* Diaz, John (Private, Company I): An immigrant from Spain’s Canary Islands, John Diaz emigrated sometime between 1862 and 1865 and settled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a cigarmaker; on January 25, 1865, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted with the Union Army at a recruiting depot in Norristown, Montgomery County and served as a private with Company I of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry until it was mustered out on Christmas Day, 1865; following his return to Pennsylvania, he resumed work as a cigarmaker in Philadelphia, eventually launching his own cigarmaking firm, which became a family business as his sons became old enough to work for him; sometime between 1906 and 1910, he relocated with his wife and several of his children to Camden County, New Jersey, where he died on September 5, 1915;
James Downs (circa 1880s, public domain).
* Downs, James (Corporal, Company D): A twenty-three-year-old tanner residing in Blain, Perry County when he enrolled for Civil War military service on August 20, 1861, James Downs was captured by Confederate troops during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864 and marched to Camp Ford, near Tyler, Texas, the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River; held there as a prisoner of war (POW) until he was released during a prisoner exchange on July 22, 1864, he received medical treatment and was subsequently returned to active duty; following his honorable discharge with his regiment in Charleston, South Carolina, on December 25, 1865, he returned home, married, began a family and relocated with his family to Phillipsburg, New Jersey; suffering from heart and kidney disease, and possibly also from post-traumatic stress disorder, rather than “insane” as physicians at the Pennsylvania Memorial Home in Brookville, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania had diagnosed him, he fell from a window at that home and died at there on September 16, 1921; he was subsequently interred in the Veterans’ Circle of the Brookville Cemetery;
* Eagle, Augustus (Second Lieutenant, Company F): A German immigrant as a teenager, Augustus Eagle arrived in America on June 23, 1855, two years after his brother, Frederick Eagle, had emigrated and made a life for himself in Catasauqua, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania; both men married and began families there, with Fred employed as a laborer and Gus employed by the Crane Iron Works; when President Abraham Lincoln issued his call for volunteers to defend the nation’s capital during the opening weeks of the American Civil War, both men enrolled for military service on August 21, 1861 as privates with Company F of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; in 1862, Fred fell ill and was honorably discharged on a surgeon’s certificate of disability, but Gus continued to serve, rising up through the regiment’s enlisted and officers’ ranks; commissioned as a second lieutenant, he was honorably discharged on September 11, 1864, upon completion of his three-year term of service; post-war, Fred became a successful baker with real estate and personal property valued at $4,200 (roughly $155,750 in 2023 dollars) and died in Catasauqua in 1885, while Gus owned a successful restaurant in Whitehall Township before operating the Fairview Hotel, which became a popular spot for political gatherings; after suffering a series of strokes in 1902, Gus died at his home on August 17 and was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in West Catasauqua;
* Eisenbraun, Alfred (Drummer Boy, Company B): A tobacco stripper and first-generation American from Allentown, Lehigh County, fifteen-year-old Alfred Eisenbraun became the second “man” from the 47th Pennsylvania to die when he succumbed to complications from typhoid fever at the Kalorama Eruptive Fever Hospital in Georgetown, District of Columbia on October 26, 1861; he still rests at the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home Cemetery in Washington, D.C.;
* Fink, Aaron (Corporal, Company B): A shoemaker and native of Salisbury Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Aaron Fink, grew up, began a family and established a successful small shoemaking business, first in Allentown and then in Mauch Chunk (now Jim Thorpe) in Carbon County; on August 20, 1861, he chose to respond to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to help bring the American Civil War to a quick end when he enrolled for military service; shot in the right leg during the fighting at the Frampton Plantation during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina on October 22, 1862, he was treated at the Union Army’s hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina, but died there from wound-related complications on November 5, 1862; initially buried near that hospital, his remains were later exhumed by Allentown undertaker Paul Balliet and returned to Pennsylvania for reinterment at that city’s Union-West End Cemetery;
* Fornwald, Reily M. (Corporal, Company G): Born in Heidelberg Township, Berks County, Reily Fornwald was raised there on his family’s farm near Stouchsberg; educated in his community’s common schools and then at Millersville State Normal School, he became a railroad worker before returning to farm life shortly before the dawn of the American Civil War; after enlisting for military service at the age of twenty on September 11, 1862, he was wounded in the head and groin by an exploding artillery shell during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina on October 22, 1862; stabilized on the battlefield before being transported to a field hospital for more advanced medical care, he spent four weeks recuperating before returning to active duty with his regiment; promoted to the rank of corporal on January 19, 1863, he continued to serve with his regiment until he was honorably discharged at Berryville, Virginia on September 18, 1864, upon expiration of his term of enlistment; after returning home, he spent four years operating a blast furnace for White & Ferguson in Robesonia, Berks County; he also married and began a family; sometime around 1870, he left that job to become an engine operator for Wright, Cook & Co. in Sheridan and then moved to a job as an engine operator for William M. Kauffman—a position he held for roughly a decade before securing employment as a shifting engineer with the Reading Railway Company at its yards in Reading; following his retirement in 1905, he and his wife settled in Robesonia, where he became involved in buying and selling real estate; following a severe fall in May 1925, during which he fractured a thigh bone, he died at the Homeopathic Hospital in Reading on June 1 and was buried at Robesonia’s Heidelberg Cemetery;
Captain Reuben Shatto Gardner, Company H, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1863 (public domain).
* Gardner, Reuben Shatto, John A. and Jacob S. R.: Natives of Perry County, Reuben Shatto Gardner and his brothers, John A. Gardner and Jacob S. R. Gardner, began their work lives as laborers; among the earliest responders to President Abraham Lincoln’s call to defend the nation’s capital, following the fall of Fort Sumter in mid-April 1861, Reuben was a twenty-five-year-old miller who resided in Newport, Perry County; after enlisting as a private with Company D of the 2nd Pennsylvania Volunteers on April 20, he was honorably mustered out after completing his term of service; he then re-upped for a three-year tour of duty, mustering in as a first sergeant with Company H of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; also enrolling with him that same day were his twenty-three-year-old and twenty-one-year-old brothers, John A. Gardner and Jacob S. R. Gardner; John officially mustered in at Camp Curtin in Harrisburg on September 18 (the day before Reuben arrived), while Jacob officially mustered in on September 19; both joined their brother’s company, entering at their respective ranks of corporal and private, but Jacob’s tenure was a short one; sickened by typhoid fever in late December 1861, he died at the 47th Pennsylvania’s regimental hospital at Camp Griffin, near Langley, Virginia on January 8, 1862; his remains were later returned to Perry County for burial at the Old Newport Cemetery; soldiering on, Reuben and John were transported with their regiment by ship to Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida and subsequently sent to South Carolina with their regiment and other Union troops; shot in the head and thigh during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina on October 22, 1862, Reuben was treated at the Union Army’s hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina for an extended period of time, and then returned to active duty with his regiment; meanwhile, John was assigned with H Company and the men from Companies D, F and K to garrison Fort Jefferson in Florida’s Dry Tortugas; both brothers then continued to work their way up the regiment’s ranks, with John promoted to corporal on September 18, 1864 and Reuben ultimately commissioned as a captain and given command of Company H on February 16, 1865; both then returned home after honorably mustering out with the regiment in Charleston, South Carolina on Christmas Day, 1865; sometime around 1866 or 1867, Reuben and his wife migrated west, first to Elk River Station in Sherburne County, Minnesota and then to Stillwater, Washington County, before settling in the city of Minneapolis; through it all, he worked as a miller; Reuben and his family then relocated farther west, arriving in King County, Washington after the Great Seattle Fire of 1889; initially employed in the restaurant industry, Reuben later found work as a railroad conductor before prospecting for gold with son Edward in the western United States and British Columbia, Canada during the 1890s Gold Rush; employed as a U.S. Post Office clerk in charge of the money order and registry departments in Seattle from 1898 to 1902, Reuben died in Seattle at the age of sixty-eight on September 25, 1903 and was interred at that city’s Lakeview Cemetery; meanwhile, his brother John, who had resumed work as a fireman with the Pennsylvania Railroad after returning from the war, was widowed by his wife in 1872; after remarrying and welcoming the births of more children, he was severely injured on October 9, 1873 while working as a fireman on the Pacific Express for the Pennsylvania Railroad; unable to continue working as a fireman due to his amputated hand, he worked briefly as a railroad call messenger before launching his own transfer business in Harrisburg; after he was widowed by his ailing second wife, John was severely injured in a second accident in 1894 while loading his delivery wagon; still operating his business after the turn of the century, he remarried on January 3, 1900, but was widowed by his third wife when she died during a surgical procedure in 1911; he subsequently closed his business and relocated to the home of his daughter in the city of Reading, Berks County; four years later, he fell on an icy sidewalk and became bedfast; aged eighty and ailing from arteriosclerosis and lung congestion, he died at her home on February 20, 1918 and was buried at Reading’s Charles Evans Cemetery;
* Gethers, Bristor (Under-Cook, Company F): Born into slavery in South Carolina circa 1829, Bristor Gethers was married “by slave custom at Georgetown, S.C.” on the Pringle plantation in Georgetown sometime around 1847 to “Rachael Richardson” (alternate spelling “Rachel”); a field hand at the dawn of the Civil War, he was freed from chattel enslavement in 1862 by Union Army troops; he then enlisted as an “Under-Cook” with Company F of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry in Beaufort, South Carolina on October 5, 1862, and traveled with the regiment until October 4, 1865, when he was honorably discharged in Charleston, South Carolina upon completion of his three-year term of enlistment; at that point, he returned to Beaufort and resumed life with his wife and their son, Peter; a farmer, Bristor was ultimately disabled by ailments that were directly attributable to his Union Army tenure; awarded a U.S. Civil War Soldiers’ Pension, he lived out his days with his wife on Horse Island, South Carolina, and died on Horse Island, South Carolina on June 24 or 25, 1894; he was then laid to rest at a graveyard on Parris Island on June 26 of that same year;
* Gilbert, Edwin (Captain, Company F): A native of Northampton County and a carpenter residing in Catasauqua, Lehigh County at the dawn of the American Civil War, Edwin Gilbert enrolled as a corporal on August 21, 1861; after rising up through his regiment’s officer ranks, he was ultimately commissioned as a captain and placed in charge of his company on New Year’s Day, 1865, and then mustered out with his company in Charleston, South Carolina of Christmas of that same year; resuming his life with his wife and children in Lehigh County after the war, he continued to work as a carpenter; after suffering a stroke in late December 1893, he died on January 2, 1894 and was buried at the Fairview Cemetery in West Catasauqua;
Mrs. Caroline Bost and Martin L. Guth celebrated the anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday with fellow Grand Army of the Republic and ladies auxiliary members in February 1933 (public domain).
* Guth, Martin Luther (Corporal, Company K): A native of Lehigh County and son of a farmer, Martin L. Guth was a seventeen-year-old laborer and resident of Guthsville in Whitehall Township at the dawn of the American Civil War; after enrolling for military service on September 26, 1862, he was officially mustered in as a corporal; he continued to serve with his regiment until he was honorably mustered out on October 1, 1865, upon expiration of his term of service; at some point during that service, he broke his leg—an injury that did not heal properly and plagued him for the remainer of his life; after returning home to the Lehigh Valley, he found work again as a laborer; married in 1883, he became the father of four children, one of whom was born in New Mexico and another who was born in California; he had moved his family west in search of work in the mining industry; documented as a “prospector” or “miner” records created in Nevada during that period, he was also documented on voter registration rolls of Butte City in Glenn County, California in August 1892; by 1900, he was living separately from his wife, who was residing in Bandon, Coos County, Oregon with their two children while he was residing at the Veterans’ Home of California in Yount Township, Napa County, California; subsequently admitted to the Mountain Branch of the network of U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Johnson City, Tennessee on February 11, 1912, his disabilities included an old compound fracture of his right leg with chronic ulceration, defective vision (right eye), chronic bronchitis, and arteriosclerosis; discharged on December 12, 1920, he was admitted to the U.S. National Soldiers’ Home in Leavenworth, Kansas on July 30, 1912, but discharged on September 29, 1913; by 1920, he was living alone on Fruitvale Avenue in the city of Oakland, California, but was remaining active with his local chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic as he rose through the leadership ranks of chapter, state and national G.A.R. organizations; after a long, adventure-filled life, he died on October 11, 1935, at the age of ninety-one, at the veterans’ home in San Francisco and was interred at the San Francisco National Cemetery (also known as the Presidio Cemetery);
Lieutenant Charles A. Hackman, Company G, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1864 (public domain).
* Hackman, Charles Abraham and Martin Henry (First Lieutenant and Sergeant, Company G): Natives of Rittersville, Lehigh County, Charles and Martin Hackman began their work lives as apprentices, with Charles employed by a carpenter and Martin employed by master coachmaker Jacob Graffin; members of the local militia unit known as the Allen Rifles, they were among the earliest responders to President Abraham Lincoln’s call to defend the nation’s capital, following the fall of Fort Sumter in mid-April 1861; both enlisted as privates with Company I of the 1st Pennsylvania Volunteers on April 20 and were honorably mustered out in July after completing their service; Charles then re-upped for a three-year tour of duty, mustering in as a sergeant with Company G of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; he then spent most of his early service in Virginia; meanwhile, his younger brother, Martin H. Hackman, who was employed as a coach trimmer in Lehigh County, re-enlisted for his own second tour of duty, as a private with Charles’ company, on January 8, 1862; working their way up the ranks, Charles was commissioned as a first lieutenant on June 18, 1863, while Martin was promoted to sergeant on April 26, 1864; Charles was then breveted as a captain on November 30, 1864 after having mustered out on November 5; Martin was then honorably discharged on January 8, 1865; initially employed, post-war, with the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad’s train car facility in Reading, Berks County, Charles was promoted to car inspector at the company’s Philadelphia facility in December 1866; he subsequently married, but had no children and was widowed in 1904; remarried, he remained in Philadelphia until the early 1900s, when he relocated to Allentown; Martin, who worked as a bricklayer in Allentown, did have children after marrying, but he, too, was widowed; also remarried, he became a manager at a rolling mill; ailing with pneumonia in early 1917, Charles was eighty-six years old when he died in Allentown on January 17; he was buried at Allentown’s Union-West End Cemetery, while his brother Martin was buried at the Nisky Hill Cemetery in Bethlehem, following his death in Bethlehem from a cerebral hemorrhage on December 14, 1921;
* Junker, George (Captain, Company K): A German immigrant as a young adult, George Junker emigrated sometime around the early 1850s and settled in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, where he found employment as a marble worker and tombstone carver, and where he also joined the Allen Infantry, one of his adopted hometown’s three militia units; responding to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to defend the nation’s capital during the opening weeks of the American Civil War, George enlisted with his fellow Allen Infantrymen, honorably completed his Three Months’ Service, and promptly began his own recruitment of men for an “all-German company” for the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; commissioned as a captain with the 47th Pennsylvania, he was placed in charge of his men who became known as Company K; mortally wounded by a Confederate rifle shot during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina on October 22, 1862, he died from his wounds the next day at the Union Army’s division hospital at Hilton Head, South Carolina; his remains were returned to his family in Hazleton, Luzerne County for reburial at the Vine Street Cemetery;
* Kern, Samuel (Private, Company D): A native of Perry County who was employed as a farmer in Bloomfield, Perry County when he enrolled for Civil War military service on August 20, 1861, Samuel Kern was wounded and captured by Confederate troops during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864; marched to Camp Ford, near Tyler, Texas, the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River, he was held there as a prisoner of war (POW) until he died from harsh treatment on June 12, 1864; buried somewhere on the grounds of that prison camp, his grave remains unidentified;
* Kosier, George (Captain, Company D): A native of Perry County and twenty-four-year-old carpenter residing in that county’s community of New Bloomfield at the dawn of the American Civil War, George Kosier became one of the earliest men from his county to respond to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for to defend the nation’s capital, following the fall of Fort-Sumter in mid-April 1861, when he enrolled for military service on April 20 as a corporal with Company D of the 2nd Pennsylvania Volunteers; honorably discharged in July after completing his Three Months’ Service, he re-enlisted as a first sergeant with Company D of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; joining him were his younger brothers, Jesse and William S. Kosier, aged nineteen and twenty-three, who were enrolled as privates with the same company; all three subsequently re-enlisted with their company at Fort Taylor in Key West, Florida in 1863; sadly, Jesse fell ill with pleurisy and died at the Union Army’s Field Hospital in Sandy Hook, Maryland on August 1864; initially buried at a cemetery in Weverton, Maryland, his remains were later exhumed and reinterred at the Antietam National Cemetery in Sharpsburg, Maryland; both George and William continued to serve with the regiment, with George continuing his rise up the ranks; commissioned as a captain, he was given command of Company D in early June 1865; both brothers were then honorably discharged with their regiment on Christmas Day, 1865; post-war, both men married and began families; William died in Pennsylvania sometime around 1879, but George went on to live a long full life; after settling in Ogle County, Illinois, where he was employed as a carpenter, he relocated with his family to Wright County, Iowa, where he built bridges; he died in Chicago on December 3, 1920 and was buried at that city’s Rosehill Cemetery;
Anna (Weiser) Leisenring (1851-1942) , circa 1914 (public domain).
* Leisenring, Annie (Weiser): The wife of Thomas B. Leisenring (Captain, Company G), Annie Leisenring was employed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a factory inspector after the American Civil War; she became well known through newspaper accounts of her inspection visits and also became widely respected for her efforts to improve child labor laws statewide;
* Lowrey, Thomas (Corporal, Company E): An Irish immigrant as a young adult, Thomas Lowrey emigrated sometime around the late 1840s or early 1850s and settled in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a miner, married and began a family; responding to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln’s call for volunteers to defend the nation’s capital during the opening weeks of the American Civil War, Thomas enlisted with Company E of the 47th Pennsylvania on September 16, 1861; after completing his three-year term of enlistment, he was honorably discharged in September 1864 and returned home to Pennsylvania, where he resumed work as a coal miner near Shenandoah, Schuylkill County, and where he resided with his wife and children; after witnessing the dawn of a new century, he died in Shenandoah on January 11, 1906;
This image of Julia (Kuenher) Minnich, circa 1860s, is being presented here through the generosity of Chris Sapp and his family, and is being used with Mr. Sapp’s permission. This image may not be reproduced, repurposed, or shared with other websites without the permission of Chris Sapp.
* Magill, Julia Ann (Kuehner Minnich): Widowed and the mother of a young son at the time that her husband, B Company’s Captain Edwin G. Minnich, was killed in battle during the American Civil War, Julia Ann (Kuehner) Minnich became a Union Army nurse at Harewood Hospital in Washington, D.C. during the war in order to keep a roof over her son’s head; she then spent the remainder of her life battling the U.S. Pension Bureau to receive and keep both the U.S. Civil War Widow’s Pension and U.S. Civil War Nurse’s Pension that she was entitled to under federal law; forced to go on working into her later years by poverty, she finally found work as a cook at a hotel in South Bethlehem; she died sometime after 1906;
* Menner, Edward W. (Second Lieutenant, Company E): A first-generation American who was a native of Easton, Northampton County, Edward Menner was a sixteen-year-old carpenter when he enrolled for Civil War military service on August 25, 1861; working his way up from private to second lieutenant before he was honorably discharged with his regiment in Charleston, South Carolina on Christmas Day, 1865, he was wounded in the left shoulder during the Battle of Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864; after returning home to the Lehigh Valley, he secured employment as a hooker with the Bethlehem Iron Company (later known as Bethlehem Steel) on March 15, 1866; he married, begam a family and continued to work in the iron industry for much of his life; he died in Bethlehem on April 25, 1913 and was buried at that city’s Nisky Hill Cemetery;
* Miller, John Garber (Sergeant, Company D): A native of Ironville, Blair County, John G. Miller was a twenty-one-year-old laborer living in Duncannon, Perry County when he enrolled for Civil War military service on August 20, 1861; captured by Confederate troops during the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana on April 9, 1864 and marched to Camp Ford, near Tyler, Texas, the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi River, he was held there as a prisoner of war (POW) until he was released during a prisoner exchange on July 22, 1864; returned to active duty with his regiment after receiving medical treatment, he continued to serve until he was honorably discharged with the regiment in Charleston, South Carolina on December 25, 1865; after returning home, he married, began a family and relocated with his family to Philipsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania, where he was employed as a teamster; returning to Blair County with his family, he resided with them in Logan Township before relocating with them again to Coalport, Clearfield County; suffering from heart disease, he died in Coalport on February 16, 1921 and was interred at the Coalport Cemetery;
Captain Theodore Mink, Company I, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers (circa 1870s-1880s, courtesy of Julian Burley; used with permission).
* Mink, Theodore (Captain, Company I): A native of Allentown, Lehigh County who was apprenticed as a coachmaker and then tried his hand as a whaler and blacksmith prior to the American Civil War, Thedore Mink became one of the “First Defenders” who responded to President Abraham Lincoln’s call for seventy-five thousand volunteers to defend the nation’s capital after the fall of Fort Sumter in mid-April 1861; after honorably completing his Three Months’ Service in July, he re-enlisted on August 5 as a sergeant with Company I of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; after steadily working his way up through the ranks, he was commissioned as a captain and placed in charge of his company on May 22, 1865; he continued to serve with his regiment until it was mustered out on Christmas Day, 1865; following his return to Pennsylvania, he was hired as a laborer with a circus troupe operated by Mike Lipman before finding longtime employment in advertising and then as head of the circus wardrobe for the Forepaugh Circus before he was promoted to management with the circus; felled by pneumonia during late 1889, he died in Philadelphia on January 7, 1890 and was interred in Allentown’s Union-West End Cemetery;
* Newman, Edward (Private, Company H): A German immigrant who left his homeland sometime around 1920, Edward Newman chose to settle in Allentown, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, where he found work as a baker; after enlisting for Civil War military service in August 1862, he mustered in as a private with Company I of the 127th Pennsylvania Volunteers and fought in the Battle of Fredericksburg from December 11-15 of that year; honorably mustered out with his regiment in May 1863, he re-enlisted on October 23, 1863 for a second tour of duty—but as a private with a different regiment—Company H of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers; he continued to serve with the 47th Pennsylvania until he was officially mustered out in Charleston, South Carolina on Christmas Day, 1865, he returned to Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where he worked briefly as a baker; suffering from rheumatism that developed while the 47th Pennsylvania was stationed near Cedar Creek, Virginia during the fall of 1864, he was admitted to the network of U.S. Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers at the Central Branch in Dayton, Montgomery County, Ohio on July 17, 1877; still unmarried and still living there in 1880, his health continued to decline; diagnosed with acute enteritis, he died there on January 22, 1886 and was buried at the Dayton National Cemetery;
Captain Daniel Oyster, Company C, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, circa 1864 (public domain).
* Oyster, Daniel (Captain, Company C): A native of Sunbury, Northumberland County who was employed as a machinist, Daniel Oyster became one of the earliest men from his county to respond to President Abraham Lincoln’s call to defend the nation’s capital, following the fall of Fort-Sumter in mid-April 1861, when he enrolled for Civil War military service on April 23 as a corporal with Company F of the 11th Pennsylvania Volunteers; honorably discharged in July after completing his Three Months’ Service, he re-enlisted as a first sergeant with Company C of the newly-formed 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers on August 19; his brother, John Oyster, subsequently followed him into the service, enrolling as a private with his company on November 20, 1863; after rising up through the ranks to become captain of his company, Daniel was shot in his left shoulder near Berryville, Virginia on September 5, 1864 and then shot in his right shoulder during the Battle of Cedar Creek on October 19; successfully treated by Union Army surgeons for both wounds, he was awarded a veteran’s furlough in order to continue his recuperation and returned home to Sunbury; he then returned to duty and was honorably discharged with his company on Christmas Day, 1865; post-discharge, he and his brother, John, returned home to Sunbury; Daniel continued to reside with their aging mother and was initially employed as a policeman, but was then forced by a war-related decline in his health to take less-taxing work as a railroad postal agent; his brother John, who was married, lived nearby and worked as a fireman, but died in Sunbury on April 20, 1899; employed as a bookkeeper after the turn of the century, Daniel never married and was ultimately admitted to the Southern Branch of the U.S. National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers in Hampton, Virginia, where he died on August 5, 1922—exactly sixty-one years to the day after the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry was founded; he was given a funeral with full military honors before being laid to rest in the officers’ section at the Arlington National Cemetery on August 11;
* Sauerwein, Thomas Franklin (First Sergeant, Company B): The son of a lock tender in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, Thomas Sauerwein was employed as a carpenter at the dawn of the American Civil War; following his enrollment for military service in Allentown, Lehigh County on August 20, 1861, he was officially mustered in as a private with Company B of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry; from that point on, he steadily worked his way up the ranks of the regiment, ultimately being promoted to first sergeant on New Year’s Day, 1865; following his honorable discharge with his company on Christmas Day of that same year, he returned home to the Lehigh Valley, where he found work as a carpenter, married and began a family; by 1880, he had moved his family west to Williamsport in Lycoming County, where he had found work as a machinist; employed as a leather roller with a tanning factory, he was promoted to a position as a leather finisher after the turn of the century, while his two sons worked as leather rollers in the same industry; he died in Williamsport on July 29, 1912 and was buried at the East Wildwood Cemetery in Loyalsock;
* Slayer, Joseph (Private, Company E; also known as “Dead Eye Dick” and “E. J. McMeeser”): A native of Philadelphia, Joseph Slayer was a nineteen-year-old miner residing in Willliams Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania at the dawn of the American Civil War; after enrolling for military service in Easton, Northampton County on September 9, 1861, he was officially mustered in as a private with Company E of the 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers; he continued to serve with his company, re-enlisting as a private with Company E, under the name of Joseph Slayer, at Fort Jefferson in Florida’s Dry Tortugas on January 4, 1864; honorably mustered out with his company in Charleston, South Carolina on Christmas Day, 1865, he relocated to Zanesville, Ohio sometime after the war, where he joined the Grand Army of the Republic’s Hazlett Post No. 81; he may then have relocated briefly to St. Paul, Minnesota sometime around the 1870s or early 1880s, or may simply have had a child and grandchild living there, because newspaper reports of his death noted that he had been carrying a photograph of a toddler named Robert—a photo that had “To Grandpa” inscribed on it and indicated that the grandchild, Robert, was a resident of St. Paul in 1892; by the 1880s, Joseph had made it as far west as the Dakota Territory—but this was where his life’s journey took a strange twist; discarding the name he had used in the army (“Joseph Slayer”), he changed his name several times over the next several years, as if he were trying to shed his prior life and all of its associations; acquaintances he met in the southern part of the Dakota Territory during the early to mid-1880s knew him as “Dead Eye Dick” while others who met him after he had resettled in Bismarck, in the northern part of the Dakota Territory, knew him as “Eugene McMeeser” or “E. J. McMeeser” (alternate spelling: “McNeeser”); by the time that the federal government conducted its special census of Civil War veterans in June 1890, Joseph was so comfortable fusing parts of his old and new lives together that he was convincingly documented by an enumerator as “Eugene McMeeser,” a veteran who had served as a private with Company E of the 47th Pennsylvania Infantry from September 9, 1861 until January 11, 1866; in 1890, Joseph became a married man; documented as having rheumatism so severe that he was “at times confined at home,” he filed for a U.S. Civil War Pension from North Dakota on March 28, 1891—but he did so as “Joseph Slayer”—the name under which he had first enrolled for military service in Pennsylvania in 1861; ultimately awarded a pension—which would not have happened if federal officials had not been able to verify his identity and match it to his existing military service records, he was diagnosed with angina pectoris in 1904, but still managed to secure a U.S. patent for one of his inventions—a napkin holder; he died in Bismarck less than a month later, on January 12 or 13, 1905; found on the floor of his rented room, his death sparked a coroner’s inquest which revealed that he had been living under an assumed name; he was buried at Saint Mary’s Cemetery in Bismarck; the name “Joseph Slayer” was carved onto his military headstone;
* Snyder, Timothy (Corporal, Company C): A carpenter who was born in Rebuck, Northumberland County, Tim Snyder was employed as a carpenter and residing in the city of Sunbury in that county by the dawn of the American Civil War; after enlisting for military service as a private in August 1861, he was wounded twice in combat, once during the Battle of Pocotaligo, South Carolina (1862) and a second time, in the knee, during the Battle of Opequan, Virginia (1864), shortly after he had been promoted to the rank of corporal; he survived and returned to Pennsylvania, where he resumed work as a carpenter; after relocating to Schuylkill County, he settled in the community of Ashland; in 1870, he married Catharine Boyer and started a family with her; he continued to work as a carpenter in Schuylkill County until his untimely death in May 1889 and was laid to rest with military honors at the Brock Cemetery in Ashland; John Hartranft Snyder, his first son to survive infancy, grew up to become a co-founder of the Lavelle Telegraph and Telephone Company, while his second son to survive infancy, Timothy Grant Snyder, became a corporal in the United States Marine Corps during the Spanish-American War; stationed on the USS Buffalo as it visited Port Said, Egypt, he also served aboard Admiral George Dewey’s flagship, the USS Olympia, in 1899;
Drummer Boy William Williamson, 47th Pennsylvania Volunteers, Company A, circa 1863 (public domain).
* Williamson, William (Drummer, Company A): A farmer from Stockertown, Northampton County, William Williamson was documented by a mid-nineteenth-century federal census enumerator as an unmarried laborer who lived at the Easton home of Northampton County physician John Sandt, M.D.—an indication that William’s parents may have either died or were struggling so much financially during the 1850s and early 1860s that they had encouraged him to “leave the nest” and begin supporting himself, or had hired him out as an apprentice or indentured servant; like so many other young men from Northampton County, when President Abraham Lincoln issued his call for help to protect the nation’s capital from a likely invasion by Confederate States Army troops, he stepped forward, raised his hand, and stated the following:
I, William Williamson appointed a private in the Army of the United States, do solemnly swear, or affirm, that I will bear true allegiance to the United States of America, and that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies or opposers whatsoever, and observe and obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles for the government of the Armies of the United States.
Later in life, William Williamson became a champion for an older woman who had been struggling to convince officials of the federal government that she was worthy enough to be awarded a U.S. Civil War Mother’s Pension, after her son had died in service to the nation as a Union Army soldier.
Post-war, William Williamson found work at a slate quarry, married, began a family in Belfast, Northampton County, and lived to witness the dawn of a new century. Following his death at the age of sixty in Plainfield Township on June 17, 1901, he was laid to rest at the Belfast Union Cemetery.
Sources:
- “A Badge from Admiral Dewey and Schuylkill County” (announcements of Timothy Grant Snyder’s service on Admiral Dewey’s flagship). Reading, Pennsylvania: Reading Eagle: October 3, 1899 and November 21, 1899.
- Baptismal, census, marriage, military, death, and burial records of the Snyder family. Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, Ohio, etc.: Snyder Family Archives, 1650-present; and in Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records (baptismal, marriage, death and burial records of various churches across Pennsylvania). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1776-1918.
- Bates, Samuel P. History of Pennsylvania Volunteers, 1861-5, vol. 1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: B. Singerly, State Printer, 1869.
- James Crownover, James Downs and Samuel Kern, et. al., in Camp Ford Prison Records. Tyler, Texas: The Smith County Historical Society, 1864.
- Civil War Muster Rolls, 1861-1866 (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- Civil War Veterans’ Card File, 1861-1866 (47th Pennsylvania Infantry). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State Archives.
- Registers of Deaths of Volunteers, U.S. Army; Admissions Ledgers, U.S. National Homes for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers; federal burial ledgers, and national cemetery interment control forms, 1861-1935. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Office of the Adjutant General (Record Group 94), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
- Schmidt, Lewis. A Civil War History of the 47th Regiment of Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteers. Allentown, Pennsylvania: Self-published, 1986.
- U.S. Census Records, 1830-1930. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
- U.S. Civil War Pension Records, 1862-1935. Washington, D.C.: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
#47thPennsylvania #47thPennsylvaniaInfantry #47thPennsylvaniaRegiment #47thPennsylvaniaVolunteers #47thRegimentPennsylvania #AlleghenyCounty #Allentown #America #AmericanCivilWar #AmericanHistory #ArlingtonNationalCemetery #Army #Ashland #Baker #Beaufort #BerksCounty #Bethlehem #Bismarck #BlackHistory #Blacksmith #Blain #BlairCounty #Boatman #bricklayer #Brookville #Butcher #Cabinetmaker #California #CampFord #canal #CarbonCounty #Carpenter #Catasauqua #CentreCounty #CharlesEvansCemetery #Charleston #Chicago #Cigarmaker #Circus #CivilWar #ClearfieldCounty #coachTrimmer #coachmaker #Coalport #CommonwealthOfPennsylvania #DakotaTerritory #Dayton #Duncannon #Easton #Factory #Farmer #fireman #firemen #FirstDefenders #FloridaAndSouthCarolina #ForepaughCircus #FortJefferson #FortTaylor #FruitvaleAvenue #Germany #goldProspecting #GoldRush #Hampton #Harrisburg #HiltonHead #History #Illinois #Immigrants #Immigration #Infantry #inspector #Iowa #Ireland #Irish #Iron #JeffersonCounty #JohnsonCity #Kansas #KeyWest #LaborDay #LaborDayWeekend #Laborers #Leavenworth #LehighCounty #LehighValley #lockTender #Louisiana #LuzerneCounty #LycomingCounty #Machinist #Maryland #Masons #Miner #Minnesota #NapaValley #Nebraska #Nevada #NewJersey #NewMexico #NorthDakota #NorthamptonCounty #NorthumberlandCounty #Nurses #Oakland #Ohio #Oregon #PacificExpress #PennsylvaniaHistory #PennsylvaniaInTheCivilWar #PennsylvaniaRailroad #PerryCounty #Philadelphia #Phillipsburg #Pittsburgh #Pocotaligo #POW #prisonerOfWar #Quarry #railroad #ReadingRailroad #Rittersville #Robesonia #rollingMill #SanFrancisco #SchuylkillCounty #Seattle #Shenandoah #ShenandoahValley #Slavery #SouthCarolina #StPaul #Sunbury #tanner #tannery #Teamsters #Tennessee #Texas #TheUnionArmy #Tyler #USMilitaryAndTheUnionArmy #USPostOffice #veteran #VeteranVolunteers #veterans #Virginia #Washington #WestwardMigration #Whaler #Williamsport #Zanesville
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#running
“The #NorwegianMethod is about managing load over time. Threshold-adjacent work is executed at an internal intensity high enough to drive adaptation, yet stable enough to be repeated with quality. The goal is not individual sessions that impress, but weeks that hold together”The man credited with creating this popular and highly effective system of #training has published a brilliant guide which will be of interest to #runners of all levels https://athleticsweekly.com/performance/marius-bakken-delivers-the-ultimate-guide-to-the-norwegian-method-1040011050/
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Stuck in the Filter: February 2026’s Angry Misses By KenstrositySeems like the Filtration system is overburdened once again. Normally, my minions have to scavenge much longer to pick things up this early in the year, but 2026 is proving to be rich in moderately precious metallic ore. That just means I gotta push my team even harder to pull greater loads of filth from the ducts!
As I send them in for yet another round, please enjoy the spoils thus far exploited. BEHOLD!
Kenstrosity’s Tattered Tome
Overtoun // Death Drive Anthropology [February 13th, 2026 – Time to Kill Records]
Chilean progressive death thrash outfit Overtoun is what you get when you mix old school Death and Atheist with the proggier side of Pestilence, then amp the thrash up by a half turn. At a lofty 50 minutes, you’d expect third release Death Drive Anthropology to drag on, but to make that assumption is to criminally underestimate Overtoun’s creativity and versatility. Opening up the throttle in fine form, the one-two punch of “What Unites All (ft. Max Phelps) and “The Final Beat” manages to encompass many of these Chileans’ songwriting and performance skills in a scant 10 minutes. More introspective, nuanced songwriting takes center stage throughout Anthropology’s midsection, balancing smart melodies and minimalist atmosphere with complex guitar layering, proggy structures, and shreddy wizardry (“Dur Khrod,” “Jade, Gold, Obsidian,” “Yurei,” “Weeping”). The three-part “The Waves Suite” suite adds a mystical character to the affair that blends remarkably well with Overtoun’s more overt political messaging and emotional textures, which helps carry the record through its lengthy runtime without causing fatigue. It’s a neat record that’s modestly blemished by a bass presence that begs for more weight and wildness, especially considering the raw talent on hand. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a creative, thoughtful, and sophisticated entry into the death/thrash progosphere, Death Drive Anthropology makes a strong case.
Andy-War-Hall’s Primordial Pick-Up
The Grand Myth // Of Vultures and Dragons [February 26th, 2026 – Suncrusher Recordings]
I have a grossly limited capacity for seriousness. Yeah, I like my death metal progressive, technical, and thoughtful, much the way Brandon Bordman’s The Grand Myth deliver it on their latest record, Of Vultures and Dragons, but sometimes I just want fun, too. Of Vultures and Dragons, an adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ novel series Primitive War1 in which a rescue team searches a Vietnamese jungle for a missing platoon of Green Berets and fights for their lives against dinosaurs, has fun in spades. Utilizing a many-layered guitar attack (“Symbiotic Death”), shifting and propulsive rhythms (“Through the River Styx”), a wide cast of voice actors for brief narrative bits2 and surprisingly bright tones (“Agony”), The Grand Myth’s approach to progressive death metal isn’t revolutionary, but it’s deeply refreshing and engaging regardless. Though an absolute blast, The Grand Myth doesn’t spew embarrassingly stupid levels of campiness with their sci-fi dinosaur theming like Victorius. Rather, Of Vultures and Dragons can be fairly emotionally effective at times thanks to Bordman’s emotive clean/harsh vocals and elaborate soloing (“Pyre,” “Agony”). Nobody asks about your favorite dinosaur anymore,3 so feed your inner kid with The Grand Myth’s Of Vultures and Dragons now!
Saunders’ Sunken Shards
Puscifer// Normal Isn’t [February 6th, 2026 – Alchemy Recordings]
After losing track of recent offerings, I reacquainted myself with the latest LP from Puscifer, leaving me pleasantly surprised in the aftermath. The project featuring Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan returned for their first hit out since 2020’s Existential Reckoning. Normal Isn’t finds the shape-shifting project embracing its quirky, gothy industrial rock and electronic elements through an angsty filter of guitar-driven arty rock, post-punk, and infectious songcraft. Age should not weary Maynard, as he still sounds angry, cynical, and on point vocally through a mostly engaging, catchy bag of tunes. The dueling vocal melodies with collaborator Carina Round’s ghostly singing work a treat amidst jittery beats, angular riffs and strong electronic overtones. Rhythmically, it is an interesting ride, drummer Gunnar Olsen putting in a top-notch performance, while there is a vaguely progressive edge underlying the hook-centric songwriting. Opener “Thrust” sets the album in motion with sticky hooks, a darkly humorous, unhinged Maynard performance, and a dose of spite. Other key highlights include “Bad Wolf,” “Self Evident,” “A Public Stoning,” and “ImpetuoUs.” Puscifer made a fine return with Normal Isn’t.
Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows // Inexorable Opposites [February 6th, 2026 – Magnetic Eye Records]
You’ve gotta love a sneaky name drop from our trusty commentariat. It has led to many great discoveries over the years. On this occasion, one of our dear commenters enlightened me to Melbourne psych-blues-doomers Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows with fourth LP, Inexorable Opposites. And it didn’t take long absorbing this latest slab of rustic Aussie coolness to be struck by the album’s slow-burning, addictive power, and gritty tones. Boasting an expansive, rugged sound built on layers of distortion and a weighty blend of psych-drenched blues and doom heaviness. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows features old school, outlaw-driven lyrical content from mastermind and vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, meshing fictional tales of woe and adventure of character Jack Harlon, with relatable real-life struggles. Through the fuzz, thick jammy vibes, and Coutts-Smith distorted, menacing Aussie drawl, catchy songcraft shines through the muck and psych haze. From the tense, stoner-infected grit and catchy hooks of opener “Moss,” through to the stormy outback balladry of closer “To Die,” Inexorable Opposites is a hard-hitting, riffy delight, further evidenced through scorched earth, infectious cuts like “Venomous,” “Seer,” and the trippy, drug-addled “Mt. Macedon.”
Grin Reaper’s Reaped Recluse
Cold Communion // Monuments to Ruin [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Melodic death/doom isn’t a genre I dabble in often, but every now and again, one of its bands thwarts my defenses and wraps their tendrils around my precious listening time. Durham, North Carolina’s Cold Communion is one such band, featuring Barre Gambling (Daylight Dies) on guitar and Tim Rowland (Alchemy of Flesh, Silent Vigil) on everything else. If that sounds like an unfair split, take a spin and reassess, because Gambling’s performance defines Cold Communion’s melancholic character as much as Rowland’s emotive growl. Forgoing any long-form doom epics, Monuments to Ruin’s longest song comes in at five-and-a-half minutes, with the entire album clocking just forty-five. It’s a tidy platter, and both in song composition and mood shares ample common ground with Finnish sadbois Insomnium. Besides Monuments’ superior production, songs like “A Stillness Survival” and “When the Light Breaks” wouldn’t feel out of place on Across the Dark or One for Sorrow. And despite the somber trappings one might expect from doom-adjacency, there’s plenty of lively riffing and solos to find across Monuments to Ruin, adding a touch of boom to the gloom. In the end, Cold Communion doesn’t reinvent the genre or break new ground, but Monuments to Ruin offers a comfy chair by the fireside on a freezing cold day, and I’m perfectly content with that.
Mossgiver // Renewer [February 6th, 2026 – Sij MusicArt]
Atmospheric black metal often contrasts the beautiful with the bestial, typically prioritizing moods over hooks. ‘Twas a delight, then, to unearth Mossgiver’s Renewal, which deftly combines the two. Weaving together hypnotic passages flooded with strings, piano, flute, synths, double bass rolls, and the requisite blackened tremolos,4 Mossgiver’s mastermind Tilen Šimon (Ueldes) delivers the band’s best record to date. Above all, Renewer sounds like a celebration of nature in the vein of Autrest and Cân Bardd, evoking a whispering wind whipping at leaves or sunlight dappling a brook shaded by oaks and maples. Beyond the well-crafted soundtrack for a walk through the woods, Mossgiver etches emotion into the nooks and crannies of Renewer’s five tracks. From rousing string orchestrations (“I Bring the Spring with Me”) to soft-and-heavy tradeoffs pitting clean guitar and pan pipes against distorted guitar and blast beats (“Renewer”), Mossgiver shimmers with a lush backdrop of instrumentation rife with playfulness and pensiveness. The trio of primary songs5 revolve around powerful melodies that evolve over each track’s duration, with assorted instruments coming in and out to push refrains along. Renewer’s brisk thirty-four minutes showcase Mossgiver’s sticky compositions and leave me whistling its melodies for days at a time. Now throw on your hiking boots and get lost in the Moss.
Ossomancer // Banebdjed’s Path [February 28th, 2026 – Esoteric Evocations]
Six-and-a-half years removed from Ossomancer’s debut Artes Magickae, lone wolf and mastermind Kamose returns to tread Banebjed’s Path. Bursting with references to mythology and mysticism, Banebjed’s Path rumbles and shakes with arcane thunder. Although the backdrop and track names might recall the frenzied onslaught of Nile, Ossomancer instead conceives a realm recalling Aeternam, Iotunn, and Naglfar. Despite the scant thirty-four-minute runtime, Banebjed’s Path sprawls across diverse landscapes and textures. Opener “The Ogdoad Arrangement and the Osirian Creation” oscillates between In Flames melodies and a slinky crawl that could pass for a 90s Geddy Lee bass line played over synth injections from Rush’s 80s era. Follow-up track “Sobek – Cosmic Vibrations Devoured” features Kreator-bred riffing, while closing duo “A Sea of Sand, a Silver Star” and “Retraction into Kether” synthesize the ethereal atmospheres of Iotunn with the blackened assault of Naglfar. Through it all, Ossomancer sounds fabulous, as Banebjed’s Path flaunts an enviable DR 8 and a bodacious mix that spotlights its burly bass performance. Ossomancer’s sophomore outing is crammed with meloblack goodies, and though it’s not a long trek, the journey down Banebjed’s Path far transcends its distance.
Tyme’s Danish Dalliance
Ædel Fetich // Ædel Fetich [February 20th, 2026 – Deadbanger Productions]
That blinged-out pink dish-glove-clad hand is what first drew me to Denmark outfit Ædel Fetich’s self-titled debut. Then I clicked play and was taken on one of the more compelling “black” metal rides in recent memory. With roots primarily buried in the soil of the traditional second-wave, Ædel Fetich is rife with moments of rifferous tremolodic speed (“Ridderlig Lider,” “Madras”) and absolutely berserk guitar chaos (“Sort Magi”). There’s a Trhä-like sense of experimentation, and the rawness of the production enhances the oft-changing compositions, which, like weather in the Midwest, often shift on a dime without warning. Luckily, Ædel Fetich’s adept songwriting organically smooths these transitions, which could have easily come off stilted and jarring, but makes drawing direct comparisons to the Ædel Fetich sound difficult, as there’s a spectrum of other influences at play. There are tracks packed with punky punch (“Et Liv Fuld af Fejl,” “Ildtang”) or imbued with folky reverence (“Mit Billede af Dig”) and even some 80s pop—fans of the movie Flashdance shouldn’t have a problem finding the poppy easter egg hiding near the end of “Sort Magi.”6 Far and away the star of the show, however, is singer Skvat, whose performance is filled with as much black metal bravado as it is theatrical exuberance, his arsenal of shrieks, growls, hoots, howls, and operatic baritonations a refreshing treat, akin to if Mike Patton woke up one day deciding to record a Danish black metal album. Bottom line is, I really dig Ædel Fetich and think you will too.
Creeping Ivy’s Ashen Afterthought
Belzebong // The End is High [February 20th, 2026 – Heavy Psych Sounds]
In my humble opinion, lyrics are key to making stoner metal more than novelty music. If you’re referencing reefer in your album art, band name, and song titles, at least keep the reeferisms out of the songs themselves,7 or better yet, avoid vocals altogether. Taking this latter advice to heart is instrumental Polish four-piece Belzebong, who have been at it for almost 20 years now. On The End is High, their fourth full-length, Belzebong deal 35 minutes of fuzzed-out riffery described as “a new sermon for the final days.” While not as highbrow (huh huh) as the instrumental stoner metal of Bongripper, Belzebong are similarly ominous on opener (yes) “Bong & Chain,” which caps its ten-minute burn with creepy, haunting synths. From there, the band settle into material more akin to Bongzilla; sound clips adorn the chill grooves of “420 Horsemen,” “Hempnotized,” and “Reefer Mortis,” which closes things out with some solid Electric Wizard worship. If you instinctively (and understandably) recoil from music with marijuana aesthetics but dig the meditative repetition offered by stoner metal, consider sampling The End is High. It’s not exactly the caricature it advertises itself as.
Baguette’s Bygone Bounty
Sundecay // The Blood Lives Again [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Toronto’s Sundecay has been around for a while. These Canadian doomers spawned sometime prior to 2014, quietly releasing EP material every once in a blue moon. The Blood Lives Again is their first full-length release—their first signs of life since 2018 in general—and the time and care they took to develop their sound and songwriting prowess pays off here in spades. The doom and proto-doom inspirations from Black Sabbath to Saint Vitus are obvious (“Here Comes the Wizard”), complemented by other influences from proto-metal, psychedelic, and progressive music (“Silence Spoken”). The hefty, layered guitars have a nice fuzz without fully landing in stoner territory. Ambitious long-form tracks like “Will Dusk Defy Dawn” flow like water while carrying significant emotional heft. Lastly, a moody, reverb-heavy vocal performance crowns the classic doom trance the band is aiming for. At five tracks and some 43 minutes, The Blood Lives Again is a total vibe and flies by before you’ve even noticed. Fans of the ’70s should take notes!
Temple Balls // Temple Balls [February 13th, 2026 – Frontiers Music]
One of the most authentic ways you can honor rock music tradition is via questionable naming conventions. On an unrelated note, Temple Balls is a Finnish hard rock/glam rock band, and they’re fun as hell! They’re not particularly new around the block, either: the group formed in 2009, and self-titled Temple Balls is already their fifth album since debut Traded Dreams in 2017. 2023’s Avalanche felt like a watershed moment, a welcome surprise that brought some new life and energy to a fairly dated genre of Europeisms and Hanoi Rocks rehashes. Temple Balls proves that Avalanche wasn’t a one-off, continuing their extremely authentic throwback approach. The heavy/power-metal-meets-AOR direction of songwriting (“Flashback Dynamite,” “Soul Survivor”) gives it that extra guitar oomph and energy that melodic music like this requires to be anywhere near competitive. With great all-out vocals from Arde Teronen and gigantic hooks to match, it’s just a damn good time front to back. Though it will sadly be the last time we’ll hear Niko Vuorela’s guitar work on record (R.I.P., and fuck cancer), the self-titled is certainly a worthy final milestone for him—and hopefully, another beginning for his comrades.
ClarkKent’s Enchanting Earworm
Hela // A Reign to Conquer [February 27, 2026 – Ardua Music]
Just as it put a pause on many plans and projects, the COVID pandemic slowed down the output of Spain’s Hela. A Reign to Conquer marks their first record since 2019’s Vegvìsir, which was their third release since 2013. This brief hiatus brought new blood in the form of vocalist Raquel Navarro, though, in truth, the only consistency in Hela’s lineup is the other three members—Tano Giménez on bass, Miguel Fernández (The Holeum) on drums, and Julián Velasco (The Holeum) on guitars. They have a deep bond, first forged in 2009 with The Sand Collector before forming Hela just three years later. Though they brand Hela as melodic doom, and the band does have a little in common with Katatonia, I think it’s more accurate to describe them as dreamy progressive rock. Navarro is a major reason for this, with dreamy croons that guide listeners through breezy soundscapes. She bears a passing resemblance to Maud the Moth, though the music Hela plays is decidedly more metal than our Dolphin friend’s favorite nocturnal insect. Guitarist Velasco plays a hypnotizing mix of atmospheric fuzz, crushing doom, and melodic riffs that add some heft and crunch to the ethereal sound. A Reign to Conquer has plenty of layers to probe, rewarding listeners who bear with it for repeat listens. While my initial spins left me wanting, I’ve since become spellbound. Add to that some gorgeous artwork, and this is a nice addition to anyone’s vinyl collection. Hela yeah!
Spicie Forrest’s Vicious Vittles
A Wilhelm Scream8 // Cheap Heat [February 27th, 2026 – Creator-Destructor Records]
A Wilhelm Scream9 returns after a four-year hiatus with their eighth long player, Cheap Heat. Sounding like the best combination of The Story So Far and Rise Against, A Wilhelm Scream delivers an impressive tour de force so late in their career. Vocalist Nuno Pereira10 is the highlight of Cheap Heat, driving the album with urgency and passion (“Somebody’s Gonna Die,” “Fell Off”), but no one here is a slouch. The rhythm section—bassist Brian J. Robinson, rhythm guitarist Trevor Reilly, and drummer Nicholas Pasquale Angelini—gleefully tosses gas on Pereira’s bonfire (“I Got Tunnel Vision”) and delivers solid grooves (“Poison II”) and searing ragers (“Unsolving the Mystery”) that keep the energy cranked to 11 all through Cheap Heat. Hooks are by far the most common lead duty, and Ben Murray puts on a fucking clinic. Each note that rings out from his axe sounds like it fucking owns the place (“Run,” “Visitor: Unimpressed”). Cheap Heat is a smidge front-loaded with “Midnight Ghost” and “I Got Tunnel Vision” being album highlights, but no song on here is anything short of a barn burner. At a super tight 28 minutes, Cheap Heat hits hard and fast and gets the fuck out of Dodge before you’re even sure what hit you. I didn’t expect a 26-year-old hardcore outfit to knock my teeth out when I queued it up on a whim one morning, but Cheap Heat is proving to be one of my favorite albums of the year.
Lead Injector // Witching Attack [February 20th, 2026 – High Roller Records]
Who doesn’t like the combination of thrash’s unchained aggression and black metal’s cold hate? There’s never been a better pair. Lead Injector hit the ground running on debut LP Witching Attack. From the opening moments of “Siege Upon Heaven” to the closing moments of “Nuclear Antichrist,” Lead Injector is here to do two things: feed high-speed buckshot to God, skeletons, and anything else that gets in their way, and have a Hellripping good time. “Angel Destructor” and “Siege Upon Heaven” barrel pell-mell through searing riffs and blast beats, while groovier tracks like “Evil Executioner” and “Nuclear Antichrist” let black metal’s punk ancestry shine through. Heavy metal influences a la Judas Priest can be found injected into tracks like “Sacrifice This Bitch” and “M.C.C.I.” While nothing about Lead Injector’s sound is particularly new, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This debut is a unique and retro spin on a tried-and-true formula that bodes well for a young band. Witching Attack is a killer time that Ash Williams would gladly spin while boomsticking Deadites alongside Lord Arthur’s army.
#APerfectCirlce #AReignToConquer #AWilhelmScream #Aeternam #AlchemyOfFlesh #AlchemyRecordings #AmericanMetal #ArduaMusic #Atheist #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #Autrest #ÆdelFetich #BanabdjedSPath #Belzebong #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BluesRock #Bongripper #Bongzilla #CânBardd #CanadianMetal #CheapHeat #ChileanMetal #ColdCommunion #CreatorDestructorRecords #DanishMetal #DaylightDies #DeadbangerProductions #Death #DeathDoom #DeathDriveAnthropology #DeathMetal #Doom #DoomMetal #ElectricWizard #EsotericEvocations #Europe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #GermanMetal #GlamRock #HanoiRocks #HardRock #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #HeavyPsychSounds #Hela #Hellripper #HighRollerRecords #InFlames #InexorableOpposites #Insomnium #Iotunn #JackHarlonTheDeadCrows #JudasPriest #Katatonia #LeadInjector #MagneticEyeRecords #MaudTheMoth #MelodicDeathMetal #MelodicDoomMetal #MelodicHardcore #MetallicPunk #MonumentsToRuin #Mossgiver #Naglfar #Nile #NormalIsnT #OfVulturesAndDragons #Ossomancer #Overtoun #Pestilence #PolishMetal #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #PsycheledicRock #Puscifier #Renewer #RiseAgainst #Rush #SaintVitus #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #SijMusicArt #SilentVigil #Sleep #SlovenianMetal #SpanishMetal #StonerMetal #SuncrusherRecordings #Sundecay #TechnicalDeathMetal #TempleBalls #TheBloodLivesAgain #TheEndIsHigh #TheGrandMyth #TheHoleum #TheSandCollector #TheStorySoFar #ThrashMetal #TimeToKillRecords #Tool #Trhä #Victorius #WitchingAttack -
Stuck in the Filter: February 2026’s Angry Misses By Kenstrosity
Seems like the Filtration system is overburdened once again. Normally, my minions have to scavenge much longer to pick things up this early in the year, but 2026 is proving to be rich in moderately precious metallic ore. That just means I gotta push my team even harder to pull greater loads of filth from the ducts!
As I send them in for yet another round, please enjoy the spoils thus far exploited. BEHOLD!
Kenstrosity’s Tattered Tome
Overtoun // Death Drive Anthropology [February 13th, 2026 – Time to Kill Records]
Chilean progressive death thrash outfit Overtoun is what you get when you mix old school Death and Atheist with the proggier side of Pestilence, then amp the thrash up by a half turn. At a lofty 50 minutes, you’d expect third release Death Drive Anthropology to drag on, but to make that assumption is to criminally underestimate Overtoun’s creativity and versatility. Opening up the throttle in fine form, the one-two punch of “What Unites All (ft. Max Phelps) and “The Final Beat” manages to encompass many of these Chileans’ songwriting and performance skills in a scant 10 minutes. More introspective, nuanced songwriting takes center stage throughout Anthropology’s midsection, balancing smart melodies and minimalist atmosphere with complex guitar layering, proggy structures, and shreddy wizardry (“Dur Khrod,” “Jade, Gold, Obsidian,” “Yurei,” “Weeping”). The three-part “The Waves Suite” suite adds a mystical character to the affair that blends remarkably well with Overtoun’s more overt political messaging and emotional textures, which helps carry the record through its lengthy runtime without causing fatigue. It’s a neat record that’s modestly blemished by a bass presence that begs for more weight and wildness, especially considering the raw talent on hand. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a creative, thoughtful, and sophisticated entry into the death/thrash progosphere, Death Drive Anthropology makes a strong case.
Andy-War-Hall’s Primordial Pick-Up
The Grand Myth // Of Vultures and Dragons [February 26th, 2026 – Suncrusher Recordings]
I have a grossly limited capacity for seriousness. Yeah, I like my death metal progressive, technical, and thoughtful, much the way Brandon Bordman’s The Grand Myth deliver it on their latest record, Of Vultures and Dragons, but sometimes I just want fun, too. Of Vultures and Dragons, an adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ novel series Primitive War1 in which a rescue team searches a Vietnamese jungle for a missing platoon of Green Berets and fights for their lives against dinosaurs, has fun in spades. Utilizing a many-layered guitar attack (“Symbiotic Death”), shifting and propulsive rhythms (“Through the River Styx”), a wide cast of voice actors for brief narrative bits2 and surprisingly bright tones (“Agony”), The Grand Myth’s approach to progressive death metal isn’t revolutionary, but it’s deeply refreshing and engaging regardless. Though an absolute blast, The Grand Myth doesn’t spew embarrassingly stupid levels of campiness with their sci-fi dinosaur theming like Victorius. Rather, Of Vultures and Dragons can be fairly emotionally effective at times thanks to Bordman’s emotive clean/harsh vocals and elaborate soloing (“Pyre,” “Agony”). Nobody asks about your favorite dinosaur anymore,3 so feed your inner kid with The Grand Myth’s Of Vultures and Dragons now!
Saunders’ Sunken Shards
Puscifer// Normal Isn’t [February 6th, 2026 – Alchemy Recordings]
After losing track of recent offerings, I reacquainted myself with the latest LP from Puscifer, leaving me pleasantly surprised in the aftermath. The project featuring Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan returned for their first hit out since 2020’s Existential Reckoning. Normal Isn’t finds the shape-shifting project embracing its quirky, gothy industrial rock and electronic elements through an angsty filter of guitar-driven arty rock, post-punk, and infectious songcraft. Age should not weary Maynard, as he still sounds angry, cynical, and on point vocally through a mostly engaging, catchy bag of tunes. The dueling vocal melodies with collaborator Carina Round’s ghostly singing work a treat amidst jittery beats, angular riffs and strong electronic overtones. Rhythmically, it is an interesting ride, drummer Gunnar Olsen putting in a top-notch performance, while there is a vaguely progressive edge underlying the hook-centric songwriting. Opener “Thrust” sets the album in motion with sticky hooks, a darkly humorous, unhinged Maynard performance, and a dose of spite. Other key highlights include “Bad Wolf,” “Self Evident,” “A Public Stoning,” and “ImpetuoUs.” Puscifer made a fine return with Normal Isn’t.
Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows // Inexorable Opposites [February 6th, 2026 – Magnetic Eye Records]
You’ve gotta love a sneaky name drop from our trusty commentariat. It has led to many great discoveries over the years. On this occasion, one of our dear commenters enlightened me to Melbourne psych-blues-doomers Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows with fourth LP, Inexorable Opposites. And it didn’t take long absorbing this latest slab of rustic Aussie coolness to be struck by the album’s slow-burning, addictive power, and gritty tones. Boasting an expansive, rugged sound built on layers of distortion and a weighty blend of psych-drenched blues and doom heaviness. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows features old school, outlaw-driven lyrical content from mastermind and vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, meshing fictional tales of woe and adventure of character Jack Harlon, with relatable real-life struggles. Through the fuzz, thick jammy vibes, and Coutts-Smith distorted, menacing Aussie drawl, catchy songcraft shines through the muck and psych haze. From the tense, stoner-infected grit and catchy hooks of opener “Moss,” through to the stormy outback balladry of closer “To Die,” Inexorable Opposites is a hard-hitting, riffy delight, further evidenced through scorched earth, infectious cuts like “Venomous,” “Seer,” and the trippy, drug-addled “Mt. Macedon.”
Grin Reaper’s Reaped Recluse
Cold Communion // Monuments to Ruin [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Melodic death/doom isn’t a genre I dabble in often, but every now and again, one of its bands thwarts my defenses and wraps their tendrils around my precious listening time. Durham, North Carolina’s Cold Communion is one such band, featuring Barre Gambling (Daylight Dies) on guitar and Tim Rowland (Alchemy of Flesh, Silent Vigil) on everything else. If that sounds like an unfair split, take a spin and reassess, because Gambling’s performance defines Cold Communion’s melancholic character as much as Rowland’s emotive growl. Forgoing any long-form doom epics, Monuments to Ruin’s longest song comes in at five-and-a-half minutes, with the entire album clocking just forty-five. It’s a tidy platter, and both in song composition and mood shares ample common ground with Finnish sadbois Insomnium. Besides Monuments’ superior production, songs like “A Stillness Survival” and “When the Light Breaks” wouldn’t feel out of place on Across the Dark or One for Sorrow. And despite the somber trappings one might expect from doom-adjacency, there’s plenty of lively riffing and solos to find across Monuments to Ruin, adding a touch of boom to the gloom. In the end, Cold Communion doesn’t reinvent the genre or break new ground, but Monuments to Ruin offers a comfy chair by the fireside on a freezing cold day, and I’m perfectly content with that.
Mossgiver // Renewer [February 6th, 2026 – Sij MusicArt]
Atmospheric black metal often contrasts the beautiful with the bestial, typically prioritizing moods over hooks. ‘Twas a delight, then, to unearth Mossgiver’s Renewal, which deftly combines the two. Weaving together hypnotic passages flooded with strings, piano, flute, synths, double bass rolls, and the requisite blackened tremolos,4 Mossgiver’s mastermind Tilen Šimon (Ueldes) delivers the band’s best record to date. Above all, Renewer sounds like a celebration of nature in the vein of Autrest and Cân Bardd, evoking a whispering wind whipping at leaves or sunlight dappling a brook shaded by oaks and maples. Beyond the well-crafted soundtrack for a walk through the woods, Mossgiver etches emotion into the nooks and crannies of Renewer’s five tracks. From rousing string orchestrations (“I Bring the Spring with Me”) to soft-and-heavy tradeoffs pitting clean guitar and pan pipes against distorted guitar and blast beats (“Renewer”), Mossgiver shimmers with a lush backdrop of instrumentation rife with playfulness and pensiveness. The trio of primary songs5 revolve around powerful melodies that evolve over each track’s duration, with assorted instruments coming in and out to push refrains along. Renewer’s brisk thirty-four minutes showcase Mossgiver’s sticky compositions and leave me whistling its melodies for days at a time. Now throw on your hiking boots and get lost in the Moss.
Ossomancer // Banebdjed’s Path [February 28th, 2026 – Esoteric Evocations]
Six-and-a-half years removed from Ossomancer’s debut Artes Magickae, lone wolf and mastermind Kamose returns to tread Banebjed’s Path. Bursting with references to mythology and mysticism, Banebjed’s Path rumbles and shakes with arcane thunder. Although the backdrop and track names might recall the frenzied onslaught of Nile, Ossomancer instead conceives a realm recalling Aeternam, Iotunn, and Naglfar. Despite the scant thirty-four-minute runtime, Banebjed’s Path sprawls across diverse landscapes and textures. Opener “The Ogdoad Arrangement and the Osirian Creation” oscillates between In Flames melodies and a slinky crawl that could pass for a 90s Geddy Lee bass line played over synth injections from Rush’s 80s era. Follow-up track “Sobek – Cosmic Vibrations Devoured” features Kreator-bred riffing, while closing duo “A Sea of Sand, a Silver Star” and “Retraction into Kether” synthesize the ethereal atmospheres of Iotunn with the blackened assault of Naglfar. Through it all, Ossomancer sounds fabulous, as Banebjed’s Path flaunts an enviable DR 8 and a bodacious mix that spotlights its burly bass performance. Ossomancer’s sophomore outing is crammed with meloblack goodies, and though it’s not a long trek, the journey down Banebjed’s Path far transcends its distance.
Tyme’s Danish Dalliance
Ædel Fetich // Ædel Fetich [February 20th, 2026 – Deadbanger Productions]
That blinged-out pink dish-glove-clad hand is what first drew me to Denmark outfit Ædel Fetich’s self-titled debut. Then I clicked play and was taken on one of the more compelling “black” metal rides in recent memory. With roots primarily buried in the soil of the traditional second-wave, Ædel Fetich is rife with moments of rifferous tremolodic speed (“Ridderlig Lider,” “Madras”) and absolutely berserk guitar chaos (“Sort Magi”). There’s a Trhä-like sense of experimentation, and the rawness of the production enhances the oft-changing compositions, which, like weather in the Midwest, often shift on a dime without warning. Luckily, Ædel Fetich’s adept songwriting organically smooths these transitions, which could have easily come off stilted and jarring, but makes drawing direct comparisons to the Ædel Fetich sound difficult, as there’s a spectrum of other influences at play. There are tracks packed with punky punch (“Et Liv Fuld af Fejl,” “Ildtang”) or imbued with folky reverence (“Mit Billede af Dig”) and even some 80s pop—fans of the movie Flashdance shouldn’t have a problem finding the poppy easter egg hiding near the end of “Sort Magi.”6 Far and away the star of the show, however, is singer Skvat, whose performance is filled with as much black metal bravado as it is theatrical exuberance, his arsenal of shrieks, growls, hoots, howls, and operatic baritonations a refreshing treat, akin to if Mike Patton woke up one day deciding to record a Danish black metal album. Bottom line is, I really dig Ædel Fetich and think you will too.
Creeping Ivy’s Ashen Afterthought
Belzebong // The End is High [February 20th, 2026 – Heavy Psych Sounds]
In my humble opinion, lyrics are key to making stoner metal more than novelty music. If you’re referencing reefer in your album art, band name, and song titles, at least keep the reeferisms out of the songs themselves,7 or better yet, avoid vocals altogether. Taking this latter advice to heart is instrumental Polish four-piece Belzebong, who have been at it for almost 20 years now. On The End is High, their fourth full-length, Belzebong deal 35 minutes of fuzzed-out riffery described as “a new sermon for the final days.” While not as highbrow (huh huh) as the instrumental stoner metal of Bongripper, Belzebong are similarly ominous on opener (yes) “Bong & Chain,” which caps its ten-minute burn with creepy, haunting synths. From there, the band settle into material more akin to Bongzilla; sound clips adorn the chill grooves of “420 Horsemen,” “Hempnotized,” and “Reefer Mortis,” which closes things out with some solid Electric Wizard worship. If you instinctively (and understandably) recoil from music with marijuana aesthetics but dig the meditative repetition offered by stoner metal, consider sampling The End is High. It’s not exactly the caricature it advertises itself as.
Baguette’s Bygone Bounty
Sundecay // The Blood Lives Again [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Toronto’s Sundecay has been around for a while. These Canadian doomers spawned sometime prior to 2014, quietly releasing EP material every once in a blue moon. The Blood Lives Again is their first full-length release—their first signs of life since 2018 in general—and the time and care they took to develop their sound and songwriting prowess pays off here in spades. The doom and proto-doom inspirations from Black Sabbath to Saint Vitus are obvious (“Here Comes the Wizard”), complemented by other influences from proto-metal, psychedelic, and progressive music (“Silence Spoken”). The hefty, layered guitars have a nice fuzz without fully landing in stoner territory. Ambitious long-form tracks like “Will Dusk Defy Dawn” flow like water while carrying significant emotional heft. Lastly, a moody, reverb-heavy vocal performance crowns the classic doom trance the band is aiming for. At five tracks and some 43 minutes, The Blood Lives Again is a total vibe and flies by before you’ve even noticed. Fans of the ’70s should take notes!
Temple Balls // Temple Balls [February 13th, 2026 – Frontiers Music]
One of the most authentic ways you can honor rock music tradition is via questionable naming conventions. On an unrelated note, Temple Balls is a Finnish hard rock/glam rock band, and they’re fun as hell! They’re not particularly new around the block, either: the group formed in 2009, and self-titled Temple Balls is already their fifth album since debut Traded Dreams in 2017. 2023’s Avalanche felt like a watershed moment, a welcome surprise that brought some new life and energy to a fairly dated genre of Europeisms and Hanoi Rocks rehashes. Temple Balls proves that Avalanche wasn’t a one-off, continuing their extremely authentic throwback approach. The heavy/power-metal-meets-AOR direction of songwriting (“Flashback Dynamite,” “Soul Survivor”) gives it that extra guitar oomph and energy that melodic music like this requires to be anywhere near competitive. With great all-out vocals from Arde Teronen and gigantic hooks to match, it’s just a damn good time front to back. Though it will sadly be the last time we’ll hear Niko Vuorela’s guitar work on record (R.I.P., and fuck cancer), the self-titled is certainly a worthy final milestone for him—and hopefully, another beginning for his comrades.
ClarkKent’s Enchanting Earworm
Hela // A Reign to Conquer [February 27, 2026 – Ardua Music]
Just as it put a pause on many plans and projects, the COVID pandemic slowed down the output of Spain’s Hela. A Reign to Conquer marks their first record since 2019’s Vegvìsir, which was their third release since 2013. This brief hiatus brought new blood in the form of vocalist Raquel Navarro, though, in truth, the only consistency in Hela’s lineup is the other three members—Tano Giménez on bass, Miguel Fernández (The Holeum) on drums, and Julián Velasco (The Holeum) on guitars. They have a deep bond, first forged in 2009 with The Sand Collector before forming Hela just three years later. Though they brand Hela as melodic doom, and the band does have a little in common with Katatonia, I think it’s more accurate to describe them as dreamy progressive rock. Navarro is a major reason for this, with dreamy croons that guide listeners through breezy soundscapes. She bears a passing resemblance to Maud the Moth, though the music Hela plays is decidedly more metal than our Dolphin friend’s favorite nocturnal insect. Guitarist Velasco plays a hypnotizing mix of atmospheric fuzz, crushing doom, and melodic riffs that add some heft and crunch to the ethereal sound. A Reign to Conquer has plenty of layers to probe, rewarding listeners who bear with it for repeat listens. While my initial spins left me wanting, I’ve since become spellbound. Add to that some gorgeous artwork, and this is a nice addition to anyone’s vinyl collection. Hela yeah!
Spicie Forrest’s Vicious Vittles
A Wilhelm Scream8 // Cheap Heat [February 27th, 2026 – Creator-Destructor Records]
A Wilhelm Scream9 returns after a four-year hiatus with their eighth long player, Cheap Heat. Sounding like the best combination of The Story So Far and Rise Against, A Wilhelm Scream delivers an impressive tour de force so late in their career. Vocalist Nuno Pereira10 is the highlight of Cheap Heat, driving the album with urgency and passion (“Somebody’s Gonna Die,” “Fell Off”), but no one here is a slouch. The rhythm section—bassist Brian J. Robinson, rhythm guitarist Trevor Reilly, and drummer Nicholas Pasquale Angelini—gleefully tosses gas on Pereira’s bonfire (“I Got Tunnel Vision”) and delivers solid grooves (“Poison II”) and searing ragers (“Unsolving the Mystery”) that keep the energy cranked to 11 all through Cheap Heat. Hooks are by far the most common lead duty, and Ben Murray puts on a fucking clinic. Each note that rings out from his axe sounds like it fucking owns the place (“Run,” “Visitor: Unimpressed”). Cheap Heat is a smidge front-loaded with “Midnight Ghost” and “I Got Tunnel Vision” being album highlights, but no song on here is anything short of a barn burner. At a super tight 28 minutes, Cheap Heat hits hard and fast and gets the fuck out of Dodge before you’re even sure what hit you. I didn’t expect a 26-year-old hardcore outfit to knock my teeth out when I queued it up on a whim one morning, but Cheap Heat is proving to be one of my favorite albums of the year.
Lead Injector // Witching Attack [February 20th, 2026 – High Roller Records]
Who doesn’t like the combination of thrash’s unchained aggression and black metal’s cold hate? There’s never been a better pair. Lead Injector hit the ground running on debut LP Witching Attack. From the opening moments of “Siege Upon Heaven” to the closing moments of “Nuclear Antichrist,” Lead Injector is here to do two things: feed high-speed buckshot to God, skeletons, and anything else that gets in their way, and have a Hellripping good time. “Angel Destructor” and “Siege Upon Heaven” barrel pell-mell through searing riffs and blast beats, while groovier tracks like “Evil Executioner” and “Nuclear Antichrist” let black metal’s punk ancestry shine through. Heavy metal influences a la Judas Priest can be found injected into tracks like “Sacrifice This Bitch” and “M.C.C.I.” While nothing about Lead Injector’s sound is particularly new, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This debut is a unique and retro spin on a tried-and-true formula that bodes well for a young band. Witching Attack is a killer time that Ash Williams would gladly spin while boomsticking Deadites alongside Lord Arthur’s army.
#APerfectCirlce #AReignToConquer #AWilhelmScream #Aeternam #AlchemyOfFlesh #AlchemyRecordings #AmericanMetal #ArduaMusic #Atheist #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #Autrest #ÆdelFetich #BanabdjedSPath #Belzebong #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BluesRock #Bongripper #Bongzilla #CânBardd #CanadianMetal #CheapHeat #ChileanMetal #ColdCommunion #CreatorDestructorRecords #DanishMetal #DaylightDies #DeadbangerProductions #Death #DeathDoom #DeathDriveAnthropology #DeathMetal #Doom #DoomMetal #ElectricWizard #EsotericEvocations #Europe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #GermanMetal #GlamRock #HanoiRocks #HardRock #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #HeavyPsychSounds #Hela #Hellripper #HighRollerRecords #InFlames #InexorableOpposites #Insomnium #Iotunn #JackHarlonTheDeadCrows #JudasPriest #Katatonia #LeadInjector #MagneticEyeRecords #MaudTheMoth #MelodicDeathMetal #MelodicDoomMetal #MelodicHardcore #MetallicPunk #MonumentsToRuin #Mossgiver #Naglfar #Nile #NormalIsnT #OfVulturesAndDragons #Ossomancer #Overtoun #Pestilence #PolishMetal #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #PsycheledicRock #Puscifier #Renewer #RiseAgainst #Rush #SaintVitus #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #SijMusicArt #SilentVigil #Sleep #SlovenianMetal #SpanishMetal #StonerMetal #SuncrusherRecordings #Sundecay #TechnicalDeathMetal #TempleBalls #TheBloodLivesAgain #TheEndIsHigh #TheGrandMyth #TheHoleum #TheSandCollector #TheStorySoFar #ThrashMetal #TimeToKillRecords #Tool #Trhä #Victorius #WitchingAttack -
Stuck in the Filter: February 2026’s Angry Misses By KenstrositySeems like the Filtration system is overburdened once again. Normally, my minions have to scavenge much longer to pick things up this early in the year, but 2026 is proving to be rich in moderately precious metallic ore. That just means I gotta push my team even harder to pull greater loads of filth from the ducts!
As I send them in for yet another round, please enjoy the spoils thus far exploited. BEHOLD!
Kenstrosity’s Tattered Tome
Overtoun // Death Drive Anthropology [February 13th, 2026 – Time to Kill Records]
Chilean progressive death thrash outfit Overtoun is what you get when you mix old school Death and Atheist with the proggier side of Pestilence, then amp the thrash up by a half turn. At a lofty 50 minutes, you’d expect third release Death Drive Anthropology to drag on, but to make that assumption is to criminally underestimate Overtoun’s creativity and versatility. Opening up the throttle in fine form, the one-two punch of “What Unites All (ft. Max Phelps) and “The Final Beat” manages to encompass many of these Chileans’ songwriting and performance skills in a scant 10 minutes. More introspective, nuanced songwriting takes center stage throughout Anthropology’s midsection, balancing smart melodies and minimalist atmosphere with complex guitar layering, proggy structures, and shreddy wizardry (“Dur Khrod,” “Jade, Gold, Obsidian,” “Yurei,” “Weeping”). The three-part “The Waves Suite” suite adds a mystical character to the affair that blends remarkably well with Overtoun’s more overt political messaging and emotional textures, which helps carry the record through its lengthy runtime without causing fatigue. It’s a neat record that’s modestly blemished by a bass presence that begs for more weight and wildness, especially considering the raw talent on hand. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a creative, thoughtful, and sophisticated entry into the death/thrash progosphere, Death Drive Anthropology makes a strong case.
Andy-War-Hall’s Primordial Pick-Up
The Grand Myth // Of Vultures and Dragons [February 26th, 2026 – Suncrusher Recordings]
I have a grossly limited capacity for seriousness. Yeah, I like my death metal progressive, technical, and thoughtful, much the way Brandon Bordman’s The Grand Myth deliver it on their latest record, Of Vultures and Dragons, but sometimes I just want fun, too. Of Vultures and Dragons, an adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ novel series Primitive War1 in which a rescue team searches a Vietnamese jungle for a missing platoon of Green Berets and fights for their lives against dinosaurs, has fun in spades. Utilizing a many-layered guitar attack (“Symbiotic Death”), shifting and propulsive rhythms (“Through the River Styx”), a wide cast of voice actors for brief narrative bits2 and surprisingly bright tones (“Agony”), The Grand Myth’s approach to progressive death metal isn’t revolutionary, but it’s deeply refreshing and engaging regardless. Though an absolute blast, The Grand Myth doesn’t spew embarrassingly stupid levels of campiness with their sci-fi dinosaur theming like Victorius. Rather, Of Vultures and Dragons can be fairly emotionally effective at times thanks to Bordman’s emotive clean/harsh vocals and elaborate soloing (“Pyre,” “Agony”). Nobody asks about your favorite dinosaur anymore,3 so feed your inner kid with The Grand Myth’s Of Vultures and Dragons now!
Saunders’ Sunken Shards
Puscifer// Normal Isn’t [February 6th, 2026 – Alchemy Recordings]
After losing track of recent offerings, I reacquainted myself with the latest LP from Puscifer, leaving me pleasantly surprised in the aftermath. The project featuring Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan returned for their first hit out since 2020’s Existential Reckoning. Normal Isn’t finds the shape-shifting project embracing its quirky, gothy industrial rock and electronic elements through an angsty filter of guitar-driven arty rock, post-punk, and infectious songcraft. Age should not weary Maynard, as he still sounds angry, cynical, and on point vocally through a mostly engaging, catchy bag of tunes. The dueling vocal melodies with collaborator Carina Round’s ghostly singing work a treat amidst jittery beats, angular riffs and strong electronic overtones. Rhythmically, it is an interesting ride, drummer Gunnar Olsen putting in a top-notch performance, while there is a vaguely progressive edge underlying the hook-centric songwriting. Opener “Thrust” sets the album in motion with sticky hooks, a darkly humorous, unhinged Maynard performance, and a dose of spite. Other key highlights include “Bad Wolf,” “Self Evident,” “A Public Stoning,” and “ImpetuoUs.” Puscifer made a fine return with Normal Isn’t.
Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows // Inexorable Opposites [February 6th, 2026 – Magnetic Eye Records]
You’ve gotta love a sneaky name drop from our trusty commentariat. It has led to many great discoveries over the years. On this occasion, one of our dear commenters enlightened me to Melbourne psych-blues-doomers Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows with fourth LP, Inexorable Opposites. And it didn’t take long absorbing this latest slab of rustic Aussie coolness to be struck by the album’s slow-burning, addictive power, and gritty tones. Boasting an expansive, rugged sound built on layers of distortion and a weighty blend of psych-drenched blues and doom heaviness. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows features old school, outlaw-driven lyrical content from mastermind and vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, meshing fictional tales of woe and adventure of character Jack Harlon, with relatable real-life struggles. Through the fuzz, thick jammy vibes, and Coutts-Smith distorted, menacing Aussie drawl, catchy songcraft shines through the muck and psych haze. From the tense, stoner-infected grit and catchy hooks of opener “Moss,” through to the stormy outback balladry of closer “To Die,” Inexorable Opposites is a hard-hitting, riffy delight, further evidenced through scorched earth, infectious cuts like “Venomous,” “Seer,” and the trippy, drug-addled “Mt. Macedon.”
Grin Reaper’s Reaped Recluse
Cold Communion // Monuments to Ruin [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Melodic death/doom isn’t a genre I dabble in often, but every now and again, one of its bands thwarts my defenses and wraps their tendrils around my precious listening time. Durham, North Carolina’s Cold Communion is one such band, featuring Barre Gambling (Daylight Dies) on guitar and Tim Rowland (Alchemy of Flesh, Silent Vigil) on everything else. If that sounds like an unfair split, take a spin and reassess, because Gambling’s performance defines Cold Communion’s melancholic character as much as Rowland’s emotive growl. Forgoing any long-form doom epics, Monuments to Ruin’s longest song comes in at five-and-a-half minutes, with the entire album clocking just forty-five. It’s a tidy platter, and both in song composition and mood shares ample common ground with Finnish sadbois Insomnium. Besides Monuments’ superior production, songs like “A Stillness Survival” and “When the Light Breaks” wouldn’t feel out of place on Across the Dark or One for Sorrow. And despite the somber trappings one might expect from doom-adjacency, there’s plenty of lively riffing and solos to find across Monuments to Ruin, adding a touch of boom to the gloom. In the end, Cold Communion doesn’t reinvent the genre or break new ground, but Monuments to Ruin offers a comfy chair by the fireside on a freezing cold day, and I’m perfectly content with that.
Mossgiver // Renewer [February 6th, 2026 – Sij MusicArt]
Atmospheric black metal often contrasts the beautiful with the bestial, typically prioritizing moods over hooks. ‘Twas a delight, then, to unearth Mossgiver’s Renewal, which deftly combines the two. Weaving together hypnotic passages flooded with strings, piano, flute, synths, double bass rolls, and the requisite blackened tremolos,4 Mossgiver’s mastermind Tilen Šimon (Ueldes) delivers the band’s best record to date. Above all, Renewer sounds like a celebration of nature in the vein of Autrest and Cân Bardd, evoking a whispering wind whipping at leaves or sunlight dappling a brook shaded by oaks and maples. Beyond the well-crafted soundtrack for a walk through the woods, Mossgiver etches emotion into the nooks and crannies of Renewer’s five tracks. From rousing string orchestrations (“I Bring the Spring with Me”) to soft-and-heavy tradeoffs pitting clean guitar and pan pipes against distorted guitar and blast beats (“Renewer”), Mossgiver shimmers with a lush backdrop of instrumentation rife with playfulness and pensiveness. The trio of primary songs5 revolve around powerful melodies that evolve over each track’s duration, with assorted instruments coming in and out to push refrains along. Renewer’s brisk thirty-four minutes showcase Mossgiver’s sticky compositions and leave me whistling its melodies for days at a time. Now throw on your hiking boots and get lost in the Moss.
Ossomancer // Banebdjed’s Path [February 28th, 2026 – Esoteric Evocations]
Six-and-a-half years removed from Ossomancer’s debut Artes Magickae, lone wolf and mastermind Kamose returns to tread Banebjed’s Path. Bursting with references to mythology and mysticism, Banebjed’s Path rumbles and shakes with arcane thunder. Although the backdrop and track names might recall the frenzied onslaught of Nile, Ossomancer instead conceives a realm recalling Aeternam, Iotunn, and Naglfar. Despite the scant thirty-four-minute runtime, Banebjed’s Path sprawls across diverse landscapes and textures. Opener “The Ogdoad Arrangement and the Osirian Creation” oscillates between In Flames melodies and a slinky crawl that could pass for a 90s Geddy Lee bass line played over synth injections from Rush’s 80s era. Follow-up track “Sobek – Cosmic Vibrations Devoured” features Kreator-bred riffing, while closing duo “A Sea of Sand, a Silver Star” and “Retraction into Kether” synthesize the ethereal atmospheres of Iotunn with the blackened assault of Naglfar. Through it all, Ossomancer sounds fabulous, as Banebjed’s Path flaunts an enviable DR 8 and a bodacious mix that spotlights its burly bass performance. Ossomancer’s sophomore outing is crammed with meloblack goodies, and though it’s not a long trek, the journey down Banebjed’s Path far transcends its distance.
Tyme’s Danish Dalliance
Ædel Fetich // Ædel Fetich [February 20th, 2026 – Deadbanger Productions]
That blinged-out pink dish-glove-clad hand is what first drew me to Denmark outfit Ædel Fetich’s self-titled debut. Then I clicked play and was taken on one of the more compelling “black” metal rides in recent memory. With roots primarily buried in the soil of the traditional second-wave, Ædel Fetich is rife with moments of rifferous tremolodic speed (“Ridderlig Lider,” “Madras”) and absolutely berserk guitar chaos (“Sort Magi”). There’s a Trhä-like sense of experimentation, and the rawness of the production enhances the oft-changing compositions, which, like weather in the Midwest, often shift on a dime without warning. Luckily, Ædel Fetich’s adept songwriting organically smooths these transitions, which could have easily come off stilted and jarring, but makes drawing direct comparisons to the Ædel Fetich sound difficult, as there’s a spectrum of other influences at play. There are tracks packed with punky punch (“Et Liv Fuld af Fejl,” “Ildtang”) or imbued with folky reverence (“Mit Billede af Dig”) and even some 80s pop—fans of the movie Flashdance shouldn’t have a problem finding the poppy easter egg hiding near the end of “Sort Magi.”6 Far and away the star of the show, however, is singer Skvat, whose performance is filled with as much black metal bravado as it is theatrical exuberance, his arsenal of shrieks, growls, hoots, howls, and operatic baritonations a refreshing treat, akin to if Mike Patton woke up one day deciding to record a Danish black metal album. Bottom line is, I really dig Ædel Fetich and think you will too.
Creeping Ivy’s Ashen Afterthought
Belzebong // The End is High [February 20th, 2026 – Heavy Psych Sounds]
In my humble opinion, lyrics are key to making stoner metal more than novelty music. If you’re referencing reefer in your album art, band name, and song titles, at least keep the reeferisms out of the songs themselves,7 or better yet, avoid vocals altogether. Taking this latter advice to heart is instrumental Polish four-piece Belzebong, who have been at it for almost 20 years now. On The End is High, their fourth full-length, Belzebong deal 35 minutes of fuzzed-out riffery described as “a new sermon for the final days.” While not as highbrow (huh huh) as the instrumental stoner metal of Bongripper, Belzebong are similarly ominous on opener (yes) “Bong & Chain,” which caps its ten-minute burn with creepy, haunting synths. From there, the band settle into material more akin to Bongzilla; sound clips adorn the chill grooves of “420 Horsemen,” “Hempnotized,” and “Reefer Mortis,” which closes things out with some solid Electric Wizard worship. If you instinctively (and understandably) recoil from music with marijuana aesthetics but dig the meditative repetition offered by stoner metal, consider sampling The End is High. It’s not exactly the caricature it advertises itself as.
Baguette’s Bygone Bounty
Sundecay // The Blood Lives Again [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Toronto’s Sundecay has been around for a while. These Canadian doomers spawned sometime prior to 2014, quietly releasing EP material every once in a blue moon. The Blood Lives Again is their first full-length release—their first signs of life since 2018 in general—and the time and care they took to develop their sound and songwriting prowess pays off here in spades. The doom and proto-doom inspirations from Black Sabbath to Saint Vitus are obvious (“Here Comes the Wizard”), complemented by other influences from proto-metal, psychedelic, and progressive music (“Silence Spoken”). The hefty, layered guitars have a nice fuzz without fully landing in stoner territory. Ambitious long-form tracks like “Will Dusk Defy Dawn” flow like water while carrying significant emotional heft. Lastly, a moody, reverb-heavy vocal performance crowns the classic doom trance the band is aiming for. At five tracks and some 43 minutes, The Blood Lives Again is a total vibe and flies by before you’ve even noticed. Fans of the ’70s should take notes!
Temple Balls // Temple Balls [February 13th, 2026 – Frontiers Music]
One of the most authentic ways you can honor rock music tradition is via questionable naming conventions. On an unrelated note, Temple Balls is a Finnish hard rock/glam rock band, and they’re fun as hell! They’re not particularly new around the block, either: the group formed in 2009, and self-titled Temple Balls is already their fifth album since debut Traded Dreams in 2017. 2023’s Avalanche felt like a watershed moment, a welcome surprise that brought some new life and energy to a fairly dated genre of Europeisms and Hanoi Rocks rehashes. Temple Balls proves that Avalanche wasn’t a one-off, continuing their extremely authentic throwback approach. The heavy/power-metal-meets-AOR direction of songwriting (“Flashback Dynamite,” “Soul Survivor”) gives it that extra guitar oomph and energy that melodic music like this requires to be anywhere near competitive. With great all-out vocals from Arde Teronen and gigantic hooks to match, it’s just a damn good time front to back. Though it will sadly be the last time we’ll hear Niko Vuorela’s guitar work on record (R.I.P., and fuck cancer), the self-titled is certainly a worthy final milestone for him—and hopefully, another beginning for his comrades.
ClarkKent’s Enchanting Earworm
Hela // A Reign to Conquer [February 27, 2026 – Ardua Music]
Just as it put a pause on many plans and projects, the COVID pandemic slowed down the output of Spain’s Hela. A Reign to Conquer marks their first record since 2019’s Vegvìsir, which was their third release since 2013. This brief hiatus brought new blood in the form of vocalist Raquel Navarro, though, in truth, the only consistency in Hela’s lineup is the other three members—Tano Giménez on bass, Miguel Fernández (The Holeum) on drums, and Julián Velasco (The Holeum) on guitars. They have a deep bond, first forged in 2009 with The Sand Collector before forming Hela just three years later. Though they brand Hela as melodic doom, and the band does have a little in common with Katatonia, I think it’s more accurate to describe them as dreamy progressive rock. Navarro is a major reason for this, with dreamy croons that guide listeners through breezy soundscapes. She bears a passing resemblance to Maud the Moth, though the music Hela plays is decidedly more metal than our Dolphin friend’s favorite nocturnal insect. Guitarist Velasco plays a hypnotizing mix of atmospheric fuzz, crushing doom, and melodic riffs that add some heft and crunch to the ethereal sound. A Reign to Conquer has plenty of layers to probe, rewarding listeners who bear with it for repeat listens. While my initial spins left me wanting, I’ve since become spellbound. Add to that some gorgeous artwork, and this is a nice addition to anyone’s vinyl collection. Hela yeah!
Spicie Forrest’s Vicious Vittles
A Wilhelm Scream8 // Cheap Heat [February 27th, 2026 – Creator-Destructor Records]
A Wilhelm Scream9 returns after a four-year hiatus with their eighth long player, Cheap Heat. Sounding like the best combination of The Story So Far and Rise Against, A Wilhelm Scream delivers an impressive tour de force so late in their career. Vocalist Nuno Pereira10 is the highlight of Cheap Heat, driving the album with urgency and passion (“Somebody’s Gonna Die,” “Fell Off”), but no one here is a slouch. The rhythm section—bassist Brian J. Robinson, rhythm guitarist Trevor Reilly, and drummer Nicholas Pasquale Angelini—gleefully tosses gas on Pereira’s bonfire (“I Got Tunnel Vision”) and delivers solid grooves (“Poison II”) and searing ragers (“Unsolving the Mystery”) that keep the energy cranked to 11 all through Cheap Heat. Hooks are by far the most common lead duty, and Ben Murray puts on a fucking clinic. Each note that rings out from his axe sounds like it fucking owns the place (“Run,” “Visitor: Unimpressed”). Cheap Heat is a smidge front-loaded with “Midnight Ghost” and “I Got Tunnel Vision” being album highlights, but no song on here is anything short of a barn burner. At a super tight 28 minutes, Cheap Heat hits hard and fast and gets the fuck out of Dodge before you’re even sure what hit you. I didn’t expect a 26-year-old hardcore outfit to knock my teeth out when I queued it up on a whim one morning, but Cheap Heat is proving to be one of my favorite albums of the year.
Lead Injector // Witching Attack [February 20th, 2026 – High Roller Records]
Who doesn’t like the combination of thrash’s unchained aggression and black metal’s cold hate? There’s never been a better pair. Lead Injector hit the ground running on debut LP Witching Attack. From the opening moments of “Siege Upon Heaven” to the closing moments of “Nuclear Antichrist,” Lead Injector is here to do two things: feed high-speed buckshot to God, skeletons, and anything else that gets in their way, and have a Hellripping good time. “Angel Destructor” and “Siege Upon Heaven” barrel pell-mell through searing riffs and blast beats, while groovier tracks like “Evil Executioner” and “Nuclear Antichrist” let black metal’s punk ancestry shine through. Heavy metal influences a la Judas Priest can be found injected into tracks like “Sacrifice This Bitch” and “M.C.C.I.” While nothing about Lead Injector’s sound is particularly new, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This debut is a unique and retro spin on a tried-and-true formula that bodes well for a young band. Witching Attack is a killer time that Ash Williams would gladly spin while boomsticking Deadites alongside Lord Arthur’s army.
#APerfectCirlce #AReignToConquer #AWilhelmScream #Aeternam #AlchemyOfFlesh #AlchemyRecordings #AmericanMetal #ArduaMusic #Atheist #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #Autrest #ÆdelFetich #BanabdjedSPath #Belzebong #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BluesRock #Bongripper #Bongzilla #CânBardd #CanadianMetal #CheapHeat #ChileanMetal #ColdCommunion #CreatorDestructorRecords #DanishMetal #DaylightDies #DeadbangerProductions #Death #DeathDoom #DeathDriveAnthropology #DeathMetal #Doom #DoomMetal #ElectricWizard #EsotericEvocations #Europe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #GermanMetal #GlamRock #HanoiRocks #HardRock #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #HeavyPsychSounds #Hela #Hellripper #HighRollerRecords #InFlames #InexorableOpposites #Insomnium #Iotunn #JackHarlonTheDeadCrows #JudasPriest #Katatonia #LeadInjector #MagneticEyeRecords #MaudTheMoth #MelodicDeathMetal #MelodicDoomMetal #MelodicHardcore #MetallicPunk #MonumentsToRuin #Mossgiver #Naglfar #Nile #NormalIsnT #OfVulturesAndDragons #Ossomancer #Overtoun #Pestilence #PolishMetal #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #PsycheledicRock #Puscifier #Renewer #RiseAgainst #Rush #SaintVitus #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #SijMusicArt #SilentVigil #Sleep #SlovenianMetal #SpanishMetal #StonerMetal #SuncrusherRecordings #Sundecay #TechnicalDeathMetal #TempleBalls #TheBloodLivesAgain #TheEndIsHigh #TheGrandMyth #TheHoleum #TheSandCollector #TheStorySoFar #ThrashMetal #TimeToKillRecords #Tool #Trhä #Victorius #WitchingAttack -
Stuck in the Filter: February 2026’s Angry Misses By KenstrositySeems like the Filtration system is overburdened once again. Normally, my minions have to scavenge much longer to pick things up this early in the year, but 2026 is proving to be rich in moderately precious metallic ore. That just means I gotta push my team even harder to pull greater loads of filth from the ducts!
As I send them in for yet another round, please enjoy the spoils thus far exploited. BEHOLD!
Kenstrosity’s Tattered Tome
Overtoun // Death Drive Anthropology [February 13th, 2026 – Time to Kill Records]
Chilean progressive death thrash outfit Overtoun is what you get when you mix old school Death and Atheist with the proggier side of Pestilence, then amp the thrash up by a half turn. At a lofty 50 minutes, you’d expect third release Death Drive Anthropology to drag on, but to make that assumption is to criminally underestimate Overtoun’s creativity and versatility. Opening up the throttle in fine form, the one-two punch of “What Unites All (ft. Max Phelps) and “The Final Beat” manages to encompass many of these Chileans’ songwriting and performance skills in a scant 10 minutes. More introspective, nuanced songwriting takes center stage throughout Anthropology’s midsection, balancing smart melodies and minimalist atmosphere with complex guitar layering, proggy structures, and shreddy wizardry (“Dur Khrod,” “Jade, Gold, Obsidian,” “Yurei,” “Weeping”). The three-part “The Waves Suite” suite adds a mystical character to the affair that blends remarkably well with Overtoun’s more overt political messaging and emotional textures, which helps carry the record through its lengthy runtime without causing fatigue. It’s a neat record that’s modestly blemished by a bass presence that begs for more weight and wildness, especially considering the raw talent on hand. Nonetheless, if you’re looking for a creative, thoughtful, and sophisticated entry into the death/thrash progosphere, Death Drive Anthropology makes a strong case.
Andy-War-Hall’s Primordial Pick-Up
The Grand Myth // Of Vultures and Dragons [February 26th, 2026 – Suncrusher Recordings]
I have a grossly limited capacity for seriousness. Yeah, I like my death metal progressive, technical, and thoughtful, much the way Brandon Bordman’s The Grand Myth deliver it on their latest record, Of Vultures and Dragons, but sometimes I just want fun, too. Of Vultures and Dragons, an adaptation of Ethan Pettus’ novel series Primitive War1 in which a rescue team searches a Vietnamese jungle for a missing platoon of Green Berets and fights for their lives against dinosaurs, has fun in spades. Utilizing a many-layered guitar attack (“Symbiotic Death”), shifting and propulsive rhythms (“Through the River Styx”), a wide cast of voice actors for brief narrative bits2 and surprisingly bright tones (“Agony”), The Grand Myth’s approach to progressive death metal isn’t revolutionary, but it’s deeply refreshing and engaging regardless. Though an absolute blast, The Grand Myth doesn’t spew embarrassingly stupid levels of campiness with their sci-fi dinosaur theming like Victorius. Rather, Of Vultures and Dragons can be fairly emotionally effective at times thanks to Bordman’s emotive clean/harsh vocals and elaborate soloing (“Pyre,” “Agony”). Nobody asks about your favorite dinosaur anymore,3 so feed your inner kid with The Grand Myth’s Of Vultures and Dragons now!
Saunders’ Sunken Shards
Puscifer// Normal Isn’t [February 6th, 2026 – Alchemy Recordings]
After losing track of recent offerings, I reacquainted myself with the latest LP from Puscifer, leaving me pleasantly surprised in the aftermath. The project featuring Tool/A Perfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan returned for their first hit out since 2020’s Existential Reckoning. Normal Isn’t finds the shape-shifting project embracing its quirky, gothy industrial rock and electronic elements through an angsty filter of guitar-driven arty rock, post-punk, and infectious songcraft. Age should not weary Maynard, as he still sounds angry, cynical, and on point vocally through a mostly engaging, catchy bag of tunes. The dueling vocal melodies with collaborator Carina Round’s ghostly singing work a treat amidst jittery beats, angular riffs and strong electronic overtones. Rhythmically, it is an interesting ride, drummer Gunnar Olsen putting in a top-notch performance, while there is a vaguely progressive edge underlying the hook-centric songwriting. Opener “Thrust” sets the album in motion with sticky hooks, a darkly humorous, unhinged Maynard performance, and a dose of spite. Other key highlights include “Bad Wolf,” “Self Evident,” “A Public Stoning,” and “ImpetuoUs.” Puscifer made a fine return with Normal Isn’t.
Jack Harlon & The Dead Crows // Inexorable Opposites [February 6th, 2026 – Magnetic Eye Records]
You’ve gotta love a sneaky name drop from our trusty commentariat. It has led to many great discoveries over the years. On this occasion, one of our dear commenters enlightened me to Melbourne psych-blues-doomers Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows with fourth LP, Inexorable Opposites. And it didn’t take long absorbing this latest slab of rustic Aussie coolness to be struck by the album’s slow-burning, addictive power, and gritty tones. Boasting an expansive, rugged sound built on layers of distortion and a weighty blend of psych-drenched blues and doom heaviness. Jack Harlon & the Dead Crows features old school, outlaw-driven lyrical content from mastermind and vocalist/guitarist Tim Coutts-Smith, meshing fictional tales of woe and adventure of character Jack Harlon, with relatable real-life struggles. Through the fuzz, thick jammy vibes, and Coutts-Smith distorted, menacing Aussie drawl, catchy songcraft shines through the muck and psych haze. From the tense, stoner-infected grit and catchy hooks of opener “Moss,” through to the stormy outback balladry of closer “To Die,” Inexorable Opposites is a hard-hitting, riffy delight, further evidenced through scorched earth, infectious cuts like “Venomous,” “Seer,” and the trippy, drug-addled “Mt. Macedon.”
Grin Reaper’s Reaped Recluse
Cold Communion // Monuments to Ruin [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Melodic death/doom isn’t a genre I dabble in often, but every now and again, one of its bands thwarts my defenses and wraps their tendrils around my precious listening time. Durham, North Carolina’s Cold Communion is one such band, featuring Barre Gambling (Daylight Dies) on guitar and Tim Rowland (Alchemy of Flesh, Silent Vigil) on everything else. If that sounds like an unfair split, take a spin and reassess, because Gambling’s performance defines Cold Communion’s melancholic character as much as Rowland’s emotive growl. Forgoing any long-form doom epics, Monuments to Ruin’s longest song comes in at five-and-a-half minutes, with the entire album clocking just forty-five. It’s a tidy platter, and both in song composition and mood shares ample common ground with Finnish sadbois Insomnium. Besides Monuments’ superior production, songs like “A Stillness Survival” and “When the Light Breaks” wouldn’t feel out of place on Across the Dark or One for Sorrow. And despite the somber trappings one might expect from doom-adjacency, there’s plenty of lively riffing and solos to find across Monuments to Ruin, adding a touch of boom to the gloom. In the end, Cold Communion doesn’t reinvent the genre or break new ground, but Monuments to Ruin offers a comfy chair by the fireside on a freezing cold day, and I’m perfectly content with that.
Mossgiver // Renewer [February 6th, 2026 – Sij MusicArt]
Atmospheric black metal often contrasts the beautiful with the bestial, typically prioritizing moods over hooks. ‘Twas a delight, then, to unearth Mossgiver’s Renewal, which deftly combines the two. Weaving together hypnotic passages flooded with strings, piano, flute, synths, double bass rolls, and the requisite blackened tremolos,4 Mossgiver’s mastermind Tilen Šimon (Ueldes) delivers the band’s best record to date. Above all, Renewer sounds like a celebration of nature in the vein of Autrest and Cân Bardd, evoking a whispering wind whipping at leaves or sunlight dappling a brook shaded by oaks and maples. Beyond the well-crafted soundtrack for a walk through the woods, Mossgiver etches emotion into the nooks and crannies of Renewer’s five tracks. From rousing string orchestrations (“I Bring the Spring with Me”) to soft-and-heavy tradeoffs pitting clean guitar and pan pipes against distorted guitar and blast beats (“Renewer”), Mossgiver shimmers with a lush backdrop of instrumentation rife with playfulness and pensiveness. The trio of primary songs5 revolve around powerful melodies that evolve over each track’s duration, with assorted instruments coming in and out to push refrains along. Renewer’s brisk thirty-four minutes showcase Mossgiver’s sticky compositions and leave me whistling its melodies for days at a time. Now throw on your hiking boots and get lost in the Moss.
Ossomancer // Banebdjed’s Path [February 28th, 2026 – Esoteric Evocations]
Six-and-a-half years removed from Ossomancer’s debut Artes Magickae, lone wolf and mastermind Kamose returns to tread Banebjed’s Path. Bursting with references to mythology and mysticism, Banebjed’s Path rumbles and shakes with arcane thunder. Although the backdrop and track names might recall the frenzied onslaught of Nile, Ossomancer instead conceives a realm recalling Aeternam, Iotunn, and Naglfar. Despite the scant thirty-four-minute runtime, Banebjed’s Path sprawls across diverse landscapes and textures. Opener “The Ogdoad Arrangement and the Osirian Creation” oscillates between In Flames melodies and a slinky crawl that could pass for a 90s Geddy Lee bass line played over synth injections from Rush’s 80s era. Follow-up track “Sobek – Cosmic Vibrations Devoured” features Kreator-bred riffing, while closing duo “A Sea of Sand, a Silver Star” and “Retraction into Kether” synthesize the ethereal atmospheres of Iotunn with the blackened assault of Naglfar. Through it all, Ossomancer sounds fabulous, as Banebjed’s Path flaunts an enviable DR 8 and a bodacious mix that spotlights its burly bass performance. Ossomancer’s sophomore outing is crammed with meloblack goodies, and though it’s not a long trek, the journey down Banebjed’s Path far transcends its distance.
Tyme’s Danish Dalliance
Ædel Fetich // Ædel Fetich [February 20th, 2026 – Deadbanger Productions]
That blinged-out pink dish-glove-clad hand is what first drew me to Denmark outfit Ædel Fetich’s self-titled debut. Then I clicked play and was taken on one of the more compelling “black” metal rides in recent memory. With roots primarily buried in the soil of the traditional second-wave, Ædel Fetich is rife with moments of rifferous tremolodic speed (“Ridderlig Lider,” “Madras”) and absolutely berserk guitar chaos (“Sort Magi”). There’s a Trhä-like sense of experimentation, and the rawness of the production enhances the oft-changing compositions, which, like weather in the Midwest, often shift on a dime without warning. Luckily, Ædel Fetich’s adept songwriting organically smooths these transitions, which could have easily come off stilted and jarring, but makes drawing direct comparisons to the Ædel Fetich sound difficult, as there’s a spectrum of other influences at play. There are tracks packed with punky punch (“Et Liv Fuld af Fejl,” “Ildtang”) or imbued with folky reverence (“Mit Billede af Dig”) and even some 80s pop—fans of the movie Flashdance shouldn’t have a problem finding the poppy easter egg hiding near the end of “Sort Magi.”6 Far and away the star of the show, however, is singer Skvat, whose performance is filled with as much black metal bravado as it is theatrical exuberance, his arsenal of shrieks, growls, hoots, howls, and operatic baritonations a refreshing treat, akin to if Mike Patton woke up one day deciding to record a Danish black metal album. Bottom line is, I really dig Ædel Fetich and think you will too.
Creeping Ivy’s Ashen Afterthought
Belzebong // The End is High [February 20th, 2026 – Heavy Psych Sounds]
In my humble opinion, lyrics are key to making stoner metal more than novelty music. If you’re referencing reefer in your album art, band name, and song titles, at least keep the reeferisms out of the songs themselves,7 or better yet, avoid vocals altogether. Taking this latter advice to heart is instrumental Polish four-piece Belzebong, who have been at it for almost 20 years now. On The End is High, their fourth full-length, Belzebong deal 35 minutes of fuzzed-out riffery described as “a new sermon for the final days.” While not as highbrow (huh huh) as the instrumental stoner metal of Bongripper, Belzebong are similarly ominous on opener (yes) “Bong & Chain,” which caps its ten-minute burn with creepy, haunting synths. From there, the band settle into material more akin to Bongzilla; sound clips adorn the chill grooves of “420 Horsemen,” “Hempnotized,” and “Reefer Mortis,” which closes things out with some solid Electric Wizard worship. If you instinctively (and understandably) recoil from music with marijuana aesthetics but dig the meditative repetition offered by stoner metal, consider sampling The End is High. It’s not exactly the caricature it advertises itself as.
Baguette’s Bygone Bounty
Sundecay // The Blood Lives Again [February 13th, 2026 – Self Released]
Toronto’s Sundecay has been around for a while. These Canadian doomers spawned sometime prior to 2014, quietly releasing EP material every once in a blue moon. The Blood Lives Again is their first full-length release—their first signs of life since 2018 in general—and the time and care they took to develop their sound and songwriting prowess pays off here in spades. The doom and proto-doom inspirations from Black Sabbath to Saint Vitus are obvious (“Here Comes the Wizard”), complemented by other influences from proto-metal, psychedelic, and progressive music (“Silence Spoken”). The hefty, layered guitars have a nice fuzz without fully landing in stoner territory. Ambitious long-form tracks like “Will Dusk Defy Dawn” flow like water while carrying significant emotional heft. Lastly, a moody, reverb-heavy vocal performance crowns the classic doom trance the band is aiming for. At five tracks and some 43 minutes, The Blood Lives Again is a total vibe and flies by before you’ve even noticed. Fans of the ’70s should take notes!
Temple Balls // Temple Balls [February 13th, 2026 – Frontiers Music]
One of the most authentic ways you can honor rock music tradition is via questionable naming conventions. On an unrelated note, Temple Balls is a Finnish hard rock/glam rock band, and they’re fun as hell! They’re not particularly new around the block, either: the group formed in 2009, and self-titled Temple Balls is already their fifth album since debut Traded Dreams in 2017. 2023’s Avalanche felt like a watershed moment, a welcome surprise that brought some new life and energy to a fairly dated genre of Europeisms and Hanoi Rocks rehashes. Temple Balls proves that Avalanche wasn’t a one-off, continuing their extremely authentic throwback approach. The heavy/power-metal-meets-AOR direction of songwriting (“Flashback Dynamite,” “Soul Survivor”) gives it that extra guitar oomph and energy that melodic music like this requires to be anywhere near competitive. With great all-out vocals from Arde Teronen and gigantic hooks to match, it’s just a damn good time front to back. Though it will sadly be the last time we’ll hear Niko Vuorela’s guitar work on record (R.I.P., and fuck cancer), the self-titled is certainly a worthy final milestone for him—and hopefully, another beginning for his comrades.
ClarkKent’s Enchanting Earworm
Hela // A Reign to Conquer [February 27, 2026 – Ardua Music]
Just as it put a pause on many plans and projects, the COVID pandemic slowed down the output of Spain’s Hela. A Reign to Conquer marks their first record since 2019’s Vegvìsir, which was their third release since 2013. This brief hiatus brought new blood in the form of vocalist Raquel Navarro, though, in truth, the only consistency in Hela’s lineup is the other three members—Tano Giménez on bass, Miguel Fernández (The Holeum) on drums, and Julián Velasco (The Holeum) on guitars. They have a deep bond, first forged in 2009 with The Sand Collector before forming Hela just three years later. Though they brand Hela as melodic doom, and the band does have a little in common with Katatonia, I think it’s more accurate to describe them as dreamy progressive rock. Navarro is a major reason for this, with dreamy croons that guide listeners through breezy soundscapes. She bears a passing resemblance to Maud the Moth, though the music Hela plays is decidedly more metal than our Dolphin friend’s favorite nocturnal insect. Guitarist Velasco plays a hypnotizing mix of atmospheric fuzz, crushing doom, and melodic riffs that add some heft and crunch to the ethereal sound. A Reign to Conquer has plenty of layers to probe, rewarding listeners who bear with it for repeat listens. While my initial spins left me wanting, I’ve since become spellbound. Add to that some gorgeous artwork, and this is a nice addition to anyone’s vinyl collection. Hela yeah!
Spicie Forrest’s Vicious Vittles
A Wilhelm Scream8 // Cheap Heat [February 27th, 2026 – Creator-Destructor Records]
A Wilhelm Scream9 returns after a four-year hiatus with their eighth long player, Cheap Heat. Sounding like the best combination of The Story So Far and Rise Against, A Wilhelm Scream delivers an impressive tour de force so late in their career. Vocalist Nuno Pereira10 is the highlight of Cheap Heat, driving the album with urgency and passion (“Somebody’s Gonna Die,” “Fell Off”), but no one here is a slouch. The rhythm section—bassist Brian J. Robinson, rhythm guitarist Trevor Reilly, and drummer Nicholas Pasquale Angelini—gleefully tosses gas on Pereira’s bonfire (“I Got Tunnel Vision”) and delivers solid grooves (“Poison II”) and searing ragers (“Unsolving the Mystery”) that keep the energy cranked to 11 all through Cheap Heat. Hooks are by far the most common lead duty, and Ben Murray puts on a fucking clinic. Each note that rings out from his axe sounds like it fucking owns the place (“Run,” “Visitor: Unimpressed”). Cheap Heat is a smidge front-loaded with “Midnight Ghost” and “I Got Tunnel Vision” being album highlights, but no song on here is anything short of a barn burner. At a super tight 28 minutes, Cheap Heat hits hard and fast and gets the fuck out of Dodge before you’re even sure what hit you. I didn’t expect a 26-year-old hardcore outfit to knock my teeth out when I queued it up on a whim one morning, but Cheap Heat is proving to be one of my favorite albums of the year.
Lead Injector // Witching Attack [February 20th, 2026 – High Roller Records]
Who doesn’t like the combination of thrash’s unchained aggression and black metal’s cold hate? There’s never been a better pair. Lead Injector hit the ground running on debut LP Witching Attack. From the opening moments of “Siege Upon Heaven” to the closing moments of “Nuclear Antichrist,” Lead Injector is here to do two things: feed high-speed buckshot to God, skeletons, and anything else that gets in their way, and have a Hellripping good time. “Angel Destructor” and “Siege Upon Heaven” barrel pell-mell through searing riffs and blast beats, while groovier tracks like “Evil Executioner” and “Nuclear Antichrist” let black metal’s punk ancestry shine through. Heavy metal influences a la Judas Priest can be found injected into tracks like “Sacrifice This Bitch” and “M.C.C.I.” While nothing about Lead Injector’s sound is particularly new, I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. This debut is a unique and retro spin on a tried-and-true formula that bodes well for a young band. Witching Attack is a killer time that Ash Williams would gladly spin while boomsticking Deadites alongside Lord Arthur’s army.
#APerfectCirlce #AReignToConquer #AWilhelmScream #Aeternam #AlchemyOfFlesh #AlchemyRecordings #AmericanMetal #ArduaMusic #Atheist #AtmosphericBlackMetal #AustralianMetal #Autrest #ÆdelFetich #BanabdjedSPath #Belzebong #BlackMetal #BlackSabbath #BluesRock #Bongripper #Bongzilla #CânBardd #CanadianMetal #CheapHeat #ChileanMetal #ColdCommunion #CreatorDestructorRecords #DanishMetal #DaylightDies #DeadbangerProductions #Death #DeathDoom #DeathDriveAnthropology #DeathMetal #Doom #DoomMetal #ElectricWizard #EsotericEvocations #Europe #FinnishMetal #FrontiersMusic #GermanMetal #GlamRock #HanoiRocks #HardRock #Hardcore #HeavyMetal #HeavyPsychSounds #Hela #Hellripper #HighRollerRecords #InFlames #InexorableOpposites #Insomnium #Iotunn #JackHarlonTheDeadCrows #JudasPriest #Katatonia #LeadInjector #MagneticEyeRecords #MaudTheMoth #MelodicDeathMetal #MelodicDoomMetal #MelodicHardcore #MetallicPunk #MonumentsToRuin #Mossgiver #Naglfar #Nile #NormalIsnT #OfVulturesAndDragons #Ossomancer #Overtoun #Pestilence #PolishMetal #ProgressiveMetal #PsychedelicMetal #PsycheledicRock #Puscifier #Renewer #RiseAgainst #Rush #SaintVitus #SelfRelease #SelfReleased #SijMusicArt #SilentVigil #Sleep #SlovenianMetal #SpanishMetal #StonerMetal #SuncrusherRecordings #Sundecay #TechnicalDeathMetal #TempleBalls #TheBloodLivesAgain #TheEndIsHigh #TheGrandMyth #TheHoleum #TheSandCollector #TheStorySoFar #ThrashMetal #TimeToKillRecords #Tool #Trhä #Victorius #WitchingAttack -
@cetan It appears to be how board games (especially crowd funded ones) are going. Moving from an affordable hobby to a luxury hobby. Those with big pockets make greater profits.
I’m not sure, aside from the legacy element, what this brings over a fully expanded Terraforming Mars? Other than the eye watering price.
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Happy #MothersDay. It's a day of celebration for some, and a day of difficult & often complicated feelings for others, so be gentle with yourselves & each other.
I wrote about my relationship with my own Mom here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/relearning-mom-32431858
It's one of the most raw, vulnerable, and honest things I've ever written. Four years later, I still think it's well worth reading - especially if you have a difficult or abusive relationship with a parent or family member.
I have a much happier story to tell now than I did when I wrote this post, but it marks an important beginning. I feel so much wonder, to reread this and note how differently I feel about my #family now. There's a lot of pain between us that's hard to heal. But what I've learned is that, at least sometimes, even the people you know well will surprise you. Somehow, even with #dementia, my relationship with my #Mom is the best it's ever been. It's a gift I'd long since given up hoping for, and yet here we are. I'm grateful for this and for her - and also deeply mindful of what it felt like before this unexpected change in our relationship. So often, in so many parental relationships, that positive change never comes - and that is hard, hard, hard. So if this is you, I'm sending you extra love today.
#MothersDay2024 #healing #ToxicFamily #trauma #abuse #CPTSD #PTSD #FamilyRelationships #AgingParents #portrait #SpeedSketching #ink
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Happy #MothersDay. It's a day of celebration for some, and a day of difficult & often complicated feelings for others, so be gentle with yourselves & each other.
I wrote about my relationship with my own Mom here:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/relearning-mom-32431858
It's one of the most raw, vulnerable, and honest things I've ever written. Four years later, I still think it's well worth reading - especially if you have a difficult or abusive relationship with a parent or family member.
I have a much happier story to tell now than I did when I wrote this post, but it marks an important beginning. I feel so much wonder, to reread this and note how differently I feel about my #family now. There's a lot of pain between us that's hard to heal. But what I've learned is that, at least sometimes, even the people you know well will surprise you. Somehow, even with #dementia, my relationship with my #Mom is the best it's ever been. It's a gift I'd long since given up hoping for, and yet here we are. I'm grateful for this and for her - and also deeply mindful of what it felt like before this unexpected change in our relationship. So often, in so many parental relationships, that positive change never comes - and that is hard, hard, hard. So if this is you, I'm sending you extra love today.
#MothersDay2024 #healing #ToxicFamily #trauma #abuse #CPTSD #PTSD #FamilyRelationships #AgingParents #portrait #SpeedSketching #ink
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Encyclical Coming!
If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.
- Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
- Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
- Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
- Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
- Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
- Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.
One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.
- John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September. ↩︎
- To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
- One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎
-
Encyclical Coming!
If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.
- Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
- Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
- Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
- Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
- Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
- Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.
One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.
- John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September. ↩︎
- To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
- One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎
-
Encyclical Coming!
If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.
- Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
- Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
- Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
- Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
- Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
- Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.
One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.
- John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September. ↩︎
- To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
- One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎
-
Encyclical Coming!
If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.
- Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
- Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
- Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
- Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
- Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
- Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.
One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.
- John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September. ↩︎
- To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
- One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎
-
Encyclical Coming!
If reports are true, Pope Leo XIV will release his first encyclical on May 15th, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent humanity). Since this is unrelated to my day job, I will almost certainly not be among the first to read and report on this, so I wanted to try to flag a few things in advance for my friends who do not live and breathe this kind of thing.
- Papal encyclicals: These are relatively rare doctrinal teaching documents that a pope issues. (Pope Francis released four in his 13-year pontificate.) While not making dogmatic declarations, (and not speaking infallibly), when a pope releases an encyclical, it’s meant to contribute to church doctrine in a significant way. Popes have lots of other channels for sending messages, but encyclicals tend to be the big deals.
- Legacy of Rerum Novarum: You might remember that, when he was elected pope, then-Cardinal Prevost selected the name Leo as a reference to Pope Leo XIII, whose encyclical Rerum Novarum, written to outline Catholic social teaching in response to the economic, political, and cultural disruption of the Industrial Revolution, is generally considered to be the first papal contribution to Catholic social teaching. Several popes intentionally released (or planned to release) encyclicals on major anniversaries of the May 15, 1891 release of Rerum Novarum as a way of highlighting, updating and expanding Church social teaching: Pius XI (40th), John XXIII (60th), Paul VI (80th), and John Paul II (90th1 and 100th) all followed this model. Thus the release date for this one, on Rerum Novarum’s 135th anniversary marks a return to this tradition after Benedict XVI and Francis did not release social encyclicals on anniversaries. (Francis’ two major social encyclicals, Laudato Si and Fratelli Tutti, were released on non-anniversary years.)
- Title: The title is the first two words of the Latin (official) version of the document. That, plus a Friday release (a slow news day), show that the Vatican still sides with tradition over marketability and communications sensibilities.
- Expect big things: It’s been said that Leo wants to talk about artificial intelligence (AI), but I would expect this not to be a relatively narrow document (like Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae, which focused specifically on articulating Catholic teaching on birth control), but one that treats AI as a source of broad disruption of the economy, politics and culture, just as the Industrial Revolution was. Whether or not you’re Catholic, you may not be aware with the breadth of Catholic social teaching, because the Church only gets attention for a few hot-button culture war issues.2 The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been highlighting seven different principles of Catholic social teaching during the Easter season on social media, but you can also catch up through the resources on their website. When you think about it, all seven themes – the life and dignity of each human person; subsidiarity and the ordering of community; rights and responsibilities; the preferential option for the poor and vulnerable; the dignity of work and the rights of workers; solidarity; and care for God’s creation – all face challenges by the current trajectory of AI’s development and adoption. I would be surprised if this encyclical is “only” a primer on ethical use of AI, as much as that is needed.
- Avoid the temptation to make this all about the US: One thing that I haven’t seen reported on much that could become a big deal is that Leo has consistently criticized an obsession with stock market results over other measures that better reflect how an economy is or isn’t serving the common good, especially the most vulnerable. I keep waiting for someone to portray this as a Leo-vs-Trump item, given that the Administration regularly uses the record-setting stock market as a justification for any attack on their agenda. Truthfully, Leo’s critique of a Dow Jones-centric view of the economic world is consistent with what popes across the board have said since Rerum Novarum. I would be surprised if it weren’t a theme in this encyclical, nor would it surprise me if it’s played up by those who want to spark another anti-Leo response from President Trump.
- Media matters: I see a lot of social media posts about the pope from sources that are primarily engines of American partisanship. Sometimes they are completely untrue; other times they are misconstruing facts to fit within an ideological context. I wish that Ad Fontes would put out a media bias chart specific to Catholic journalism, similar to the ones they do for US and world journalism in general. Lacking that, know that there are Catholic and secular media outlets across the ideological spectrum who have dedicated Vatican reporters. Ideally, you should try reading the encyclical itself – it will be available at vatican.va for free, and should be really well-written, based on what we’ve seen from this pope – but if you really just want a quick rundown, at least try to restrict yourself to outlets with a dedicated Vatican beat. Start with the Vatican’s in-house shop, Vatican News, which will have a suite of stories. OSV News, and Religion News Service are two I’d recommend for down-the-center coverage, as well as secular wire services like AP and Reuters. Thoughtful commentary outlets range from Commonweal on the left to America, National Catholic Reporter, Crux, First Things, The Pillar and EWTN, the Fox News of Catholic media. There are even some blogs worth reading, lol.
One off-the-beaten path angle: When I get a chance to read it, I’ll try to share my thoughts, unless they’re redundant to the great analysis that I know will be coming from the pros. The one thing I’m likely to focus on (that others may not) is the footnotes. Not because they are likely to be a source of controversy (which they can be!3), but because Francis was unusual in the breadth of sources he cited in his encyclicals. Normally, you see references to the Bible (obviously), predecessor popes, Vatican II documents, and other things that the particular author-pope has written or said. Sometimes, you’ll see references to prominent Catholic theologians (there should probably be a prediction market on how many references to Augustine we see). But Francis included poets, non-Catholics, and (my favorite) statements by bishops’ conferences from all over the world in a way that broadened the Church’s understanding of where wisdom resides. I’ll be curious if Leo follows that example or returns to tradition. My guess is that he sticks to the basics, since there are so many anniversary documents, he’s already said a lot in his various addresses (and his apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te), plus Augustine. But if he does call out the bishops of, say, Oceania, or Africa, it would be a subtle way of underscoring the need for a synodal church to listen to those at the margins.
- John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens was scheduled for release on May 15th, but he was the victim of an assassination attempt a few days before, so it was postponed until September. ↩︎
- To be fair, until very recently, the leadership of the USCCB seems to have been pretty content to just focus on the culture war issues. ↩︎
- One of the biggest controversies of Francis’ pontificate stemmed from a footnote (#351!) in an apostolic exhortation (not even an encyclical!) about married love, Amoris Laetitia; in fact, Pope Leo has scheduled a big meeting of bishops this fall to come back to that document, probably in part to smooth over the kerfuffle of the footnote. Remind me why the Church has a rap for being too self-absorbed? ↩︎
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This is a story of a #monopoly. It is also a story of #government #licensing, and #accessibility. There’s a bit of #MLM, but not the usual kind.
I am seeking employment as an #administrative #professional (#administrativeAssistant, #executiveAssistant, basically, #administrativeSupport). I was on a #contract with a #BigTech company, and the program I was supporting is sundowning, so about two-thirds of us were let go at the end of the fiscal year.
I’ve been applying to many places, some of which turned out to be #scams (any company with the word “travel”, “adventure”, or “vacation” in their name, and who claims to be looking for administrative anything is a scam. Ten times out of ten).
I also managed to apply to an insurance … organization. They are agents selling policies from a specific #BigInsurance, only through “agencies” (and sub-agencies - they unfortunately invited prospects (including me) to join their "huddles" on Zoom and I'm observant) and they are looking for prospects in specific regions of the #USA and #Canada.
This costs money, as this is a profession where you need a #license. The investment was reasonable, $49 for #training, another $49 for the #test, and another $50 for the license application, plus $45ish for #fingerprinting. Even if I choose not to work for the people who recruited me, credentials tend to be useful in some way.
I paid for the training on 04 Nov, paid for the test on 12 Nov (scheduled for 26 Nov), did the fingerprinting on 16 Nov. Also on 12 Nov, I tried to initiate the #accommodations process with the testing company, (the above-mentioned monopoly) Pearson VUE.
To apply for accommodations, the test-taker is asked to create an additional account on the accommodations portal. The final step of this process is to follow the steps in a “verification email” that may take up to fifteen minutes to be sent.
I /never/ received this email. Thus, I was never able to verify my account, or move forward in the process. After several telephone calls, I was provided an email address for the accessibility team.
On 21 Nov, I emailed the Pearson Accessibility team with a detailed, step-by-step, description of what I was doing, what I was seeing, and the fact that their system never provided me that verification email. Of course, since I’d already created the account, I was attempting to use the “Resend verification email” link (it runs a script). I included ten marked-up screenshots, and asked for a Read #Receipt.
I actually got a reply. However, the reply was “you actually sent this to the wrong place.” It also stated that Pearson VUE did /not/ manage accommodations requests, that was done by the entity who owned the test.
I replied to that email, copy-pasted the email with the steps, attached the screenshots, and asked for another Read Receipt. In that email, I said, “This should be a simple process. I have invested hours of my time in documenting the behavior I am seeing because no one at Pearson VUE accepts my word that I'm following the procedure and it is not working. This will also cost me money to extend my access to training materials until I'm able to test.”
This got a reply where I was informed my account had been locked due to “too many attempts.” On 22 November, I was able to actually log into the portal and get the information I needed to request the appropriate document from my #VocRehab counselor. I sent an email to both my counselor and her assistant, including the #IDC codes corresponding to my current situation (I’ve been an administrative pro long enough to know that the easier the request, the quicker it’s completed).
I received a request on 02 December to complete a DocuSign granting permission for my counselor to share the info with Pearson. Pearson’s website says the process can take “up to ten days,” so I scheduled my test for Friday, 20 Dec, figuring that would work.
On 13 Dec, Pearson notified my counselor that my request had been accepted, and the email included specific instructions for scheduling. The only option is to call a specific phone number. And they aren’t open on the weekend.
On Monday, 16 Dec, when I called, I was on hold “for the next available…” for 40 minutes. When I was finally able to speak to someone, they asked me to verify absolutely every bit of personal data they have on me. Then, I was told I would have to schedule the test at a Pearson Testing Center (there are several local ones). The first center, the one closest to me, did not have any openings until February. The next-closest had an availability for noon on January 17. I was put on hold while the agent tried to request that time. The call dropped.
Another 45 minutes waiting for an agent, and, again, I had to verify all the data. This time, after three “brief” holds of 5+ minutes, I was told the request was pending, and that I would receive a call.
I did receive a call on Thursday, 19 Dec, but my caller ID said it was from “State of California.” Which is /not/ Pearson, so I sent it to voicemail. The voicemail said I had to confirm that I wanted that time “within two business days” and I called back. After another long wait time, the agent said they needed to reach out to “that department” and after even more hold times, I was told that “Marcus” would call me back /that day/.
Of course he did not. I called back Friday morning, and, again, long hold times, and give the agent all the information. And “Marcus” wasn’t going to be in for twenty minutes (it was 9:40 CST, so, aha! he’s on PST). I called back at about 3:00 pm PST (5:00 pm my time). I used to support folks in all five time zones in the contiguous 48, so this is second nature). After another 45 minutes and stuff, the agent said that time was no longer available.
I followed all their steps and procedures. Apparently, the accommodations department at Pearson VUE is dependent on one person, Marcus. I should have been able to take this test by now. Nowhere on the website does it say that test takers requesting accommodations should NOT schedule online. I even deliberately scheduled to test at a local college because I /know/ they have the capability to provide the accommodations I need.
The really stupid part of this is all that time on hold and all that time documenting the misbehavior of their system.
I was promised a call on Monday, 23 Dec. Of course, I'm calling them.
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Thousands flock to new city centre hub as Y Storfa officially opens
The former BHS department store on Oxford Street has been transformed into a buzzing community hub, bringing the city’s Central Library, housing services, archives and advice centres together under one roof.
Crowds pour in since doors opened
Y Storfa has been open since December 1 and has already welcomed thousands through its doors. Social media has been flooded with praise from locals.
Visitor Pat Baldrian said:
“I really like it. I’ll be a regular visitor – it’s so convenient whilst in town.”
Ronny Oner added:
Library visitors engage with Swansea’s cultural collections at Y Storfa, now more accessible than ever.“It was super busy when we popped in to have a gander.”
(Image: Swansea Council)Council leader Rob Stewart, Minister Julie James and cabinet member Elliott King officially open Y Storfa, Swansea’s new city centre public services hub.
(Image: Swansea Council)Ministers cut the ribbon
The hub was formally opened today (December 17) by Julie James MS, Counsel General and Minister for Delivery, alongside Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart and cabinet member Elliott King.
Council leader Rob Stewart said:
Bilingual plaque marks the official opening of Y Storfa in 2025, funded by the UK and Welsh Governments.“It’s fantastic that Y Storfa has enjoyed successful public and formal openings – and that so many people have already visited and given us great feedback. It’ll deliver essential services to people from across Swansea and will help drive new business to nearby traders. It’ll be even better when we complete our ongoing transformation of the neighbouring Castle Square which will soon be greener and more welcoming than ever.”
(Image: Swansea Council)Exhibition at Y Storfa traces the history of the site, from Victorian arcades to modern public services.
(Image: Swansea Council)Services under one roof
Inside Y Storfa, visitors will find the city’s Central Library, a children’s library with sensory play, the West Glamorgan Archive Service, Housing Options and Housing Support, plus bases for Careers Wales and Citizens Advice Swansea Neath Port Talbot. Swansea University’s South Wales Miners’ Library has also moved in.
To mark the opening, an exhibition in the community event space highlights the building’s history and the changing face of the city centre.
Employment support on offer at Y Storfa through Communities for Work, helping residents find jobs and training.
(Image: Swansea Council)Praise from partners
Jayne Bryant, Welsh Government cabinet secretary for housing and local government, said:
“With the opening of Y Storfa, we’re bringing essential services together under one roof – making support more accessible while creating a vibrant hub that strengthens Swansea’s community and boosts local businesses. I’m proud that our Welsh Government Transforming Town programme helped to fund this project, and I’m delighted that so many residents of all ages are already using this fantastic space.”
Caroline Newman, chief officer of Citizens Advice Swansea Neath Port Talbot, said:
“Citizens Advice Swansea Neath Port Talbot are already settling in to Y Storfa. Access for clients is much easier and the surroundings warm, bright and welcoming. Having the right environment is far more conducive to helping some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”
Sian Williams, head of Cultural Collections at Swansea University, said:
Visitors explore digital resources at Y Storfa’s Central Library, now housed in the repurposed BHS building.“We are delighted that Y Storfa will be the new home of the South Wales Miners’ Library. Our new location will mean these remarkable collections — rich in stories of Wales and Swansea’s industrial and cultural heritage — are even more accessible. We look forward to collaborating with Swansea Council colleagues and the other Y Storfa tenants to engage new audiences, inspiring and informing future generations.”
(Image: Swansea Council)A new heartbeat for the city
With hundreds of nearby parking spaces and easy access to public transport, Y Storfa is set to become a central hub for Swansea life.
Ian Rees, regional director for Kier Construction Western & Wales, said:
“It has been fantastic to see Y Storfa buzzing with life since it opened. Delivering this vibrant space in the heart of Swansea city centre embodies our commitment to creating sustainable, community‑focused facilities that will benefit future generations for decades to come.”
The council says the hub will grow even further once the neighbouring Castle Square is transformed into a greener, more welcoming public space.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Swansea city centre library opens at Y Storfa
The new Central Library opens its doors inside Y Storfa, offering books, digital access and sensory spaces.New Swansea city centre hub Y Storfa opens its doors
Thousands visit Y Storfa in its first week as council services, archives and advice centres move in.Castle Square transformation work set to start in January
Major works begin next month to create a greener, more welcoming public space next to Y Storfa.#archives #BHS #CastleSquare #CentralLibrary #CitizensAdviceCymru #CllrRobStewart #CommunityHub #HousingOptions #KierConstruction #Library #OxfordStreet #PrincessWay #Swansea #SwanseaCouncil #SwanseaLibraries #SwanseaUniversityMinersLibrary #WestGlamorganArchiveService #YStorfa
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150 Years after the 13th Amendment
After the United States civil war, in 1865 the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution were approved by Congress and ratified.
What seems so natural, so obvious and simple was not so simple in the New World. it took a long time before the majority was willing to accept it was wrong in every sense.
13th Amendment of the nited States Constitution. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads:
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
But lots of pioneers who came from Europe and liked those cheap labour-forces did not want to have those “monkies” like they were often called, being part of their normal co-habitats.
Abraham Lincoln and his son Tad looking at an album of photographs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
President Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, based on congressional acts, which gave the president authority to confiscate rebel property and forbid the military from returning slaves of rebels to their owners. Being liberated from their masters those Negroes started to create their own free businesses. Only addressing the rebelling southern states the proclamation did not resolve the issue of slavery for the nation as a whole. It was thought the Thirteenth Amendment (the first of the three so-called “Civil War Amendments“) would bring a solution for all coloured people, prohibiting slavery throughout the country. To extend the rights of citizenship to all people regardless of race or colour the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were added.
Congress enacted a number of statutes to enforce the provisions of the Civil War Amendments, but by the end of the nineteenth century, most of those statutes had been overturned by the courts, repealed, or nullified by subsequent legislation.
Segregation of the races in schools, public accommodations, public transportation, and various other aspects of public life, was honoured for a long time after the amendment was written.
It has taken many man years before that all persons could have full and equal enjoyment of public inns, parks, theatres, and other places of amusement, regardless of race or colour. Even today, anno 2015, we see that in the United states there are still many states or regions where the white people are not so happy with those with a darker skin. In several regions it is still more difficult for a coloured man to find work than for a white man.
1904 caricature of “White” and “Jim Crow” rail cars by John T. McCutcheon. Despite Jim Crow’s legal pretense that the races be “separate but equal” under the law, non-whites were given inferior facilities and treatment {John McCutheon. The Mysterious Stranger and Other Cartoons by John T. McCutcheon, New York, McClure, Phillips & Co. 1905.}
The Supreme Court struck down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by an 8–1 vote, holding that Congress had exceeded its authority to enforce the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court held that private discrimination against African Americans did not violate the Thirteenth Amendment’s ban on slavery. Following this decision, several northern and western states began enacting their own bans on discrimination in public places. But many other states did the opposite: they began codifying racial segregation and discrimination in laws that became known as the Jim Crow laws. Enacted after the Reconstruction period, these laws continued in force until 1965.
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Potter Stewart (1915–1985)
Justice Potter Stewart, writing for the majority, turned to the Thirteenth Amendment and observed that it was adopted to remove the “badges of slavery” and that it gave Congress power to effect that removal. Stewart wrote:
Congress has the power under the Thirteenth Amendment rationally to determine what are the badges and the incidents of slavery, and the authority to translate that determination into effective legislation…. [W]hen racial discrimination herds men into ghettos and makes their ability to buy property turn on the color of their skin, then it too is a relic of slavery.
Normally this 13° amendment also enables Congress to pass laws against sex trafficking and other modern forms of slavery, but the sex trafficking is still a very flourishing business, though some part may come under threat when Donald Trump shall be able to get a firm wall between the Mexican border with increased controls.
“At the bus station in Durham, North Carolina.” May 1940, Jack Delano. Deutsch: “An der Bushaltestelle, Durham, North Carolina.”, Mai 1940, Jack Delano. Français : “A la gare routière, Durham, Caroline du Nord.”, Mai 1940, Jack Delano. Español: “En la estación de autobuses, Durham, Carolina del Norte.”, Mayo de 1940, Jack Delano. Italiano: “Alla fermata dell’autobus, Durham, Carolina del Nord.” Maggio del 1940, Jack Delano. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was a long overdue step in the long road the Americans continue to walk in their efforts to address and uproot the systemic injustices embedded into their society. Still today we can see there too many people being forced to terrible inhuman conditions.
Having politicians speaking arrogantly about other coloured and other cultured people makes it that other Americans do not see any harm in using those people as cheap labour and treating them as scum. This week in Europe we once more got to see and hear how a man with lots of money could point his finger to those whom he considered to be cullings and scourings which were just there to be used outside the United states of America to produce cheap products for the American White supremacy.
In the Republican primary the material or essence of those amendments from 150 years ago are at large.
In Europe many people, like me, were afraid the first black president of America would have been put in the grave soon. It worked out differently, for the good. Though lots of good ideas were retained by the republicans, America may be proud of the work Barack Obama still could establish with all that counteraction.
Standing in the United States Capitol today, President Obama reflected on the history of the progress which was made in the United States of America — hard-fought, hard-won, incomplete, but always possible.
Watch his remarks here about the century and a half of freedom and about the stealing of men, women and children from their homelands, separating husbands from wives and parents from children:
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As many made clear at the time of its ratification, the 13th Amendment was not a final step, but rather the first step in making real the promise that all men are created equal. Read the letter that Annie Davis, an enslaved woman living in Maryland, wrote to President Lincoln asking if she was free after he had signed the Emancipation Proclamation. He never replied, but the answer was no. It would take an amendment to Maryland’s constitution — and the 13th Amendment — to ensure that she and all enslaved people in the U.S. were free in the eyes of the law.
“President Lincoln understood that if we were ever to fully realize that founding promise, it meant not just signing an Emancipation Proclamation, not just winning a war. It meant making the most powerful collective statement we can in our democracy — etching our values into our Constitution.”
The 13th Amendment: 150 Years Later, President Obama Reflects on the Abolition of Slavery 9 December 2015
“We would do a disservice to those warriors of justice — Tubman and Douglass, and Lincoln and King — were we to deny that the scars of our nation’s original sin are still with us today. We condemn ourselves to shackles once more if we fail to answer those who wonder if they’re truly equals in their communities, or in their justice systems, or in a job interview. We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms.”
“For however slow, however incomplete, however harshly, loudly, rudely challenged at each point along our journey, in America, we can create the change that we seek.
“All it requires is that our generation be willing to do what those who came before us have done: to rise above the cynicism and rise above the fear, to hold fast to our values, to see ourselves in each other, to cherish dignity and opportunity not just for our own children but for somebody else’s child. To remember that our freedom is bound up with the freedom of others — regardless of what they look like or where they come from or what their last name is or what faith they practice…
“That is our choice. Today we affirm hope.”
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Preceding
Coming closer to the end of 2015 and the end for Donald Trump as presidential candidate
Vatican against Opponents of immigration
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Additional reading
- Stand Up
- Consequences of Breivik’s mass murder
- Religion, fundamentalism and murder
- Believing in God part of being American for Discriminating Americans who feel discrimiated
- Why I’m Angry
- A last note concerning civil rights
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Further related articles
- Obama-McCain-latina. June 15, 2008
- White Australian Panel Fails To Grasp The Concept Of Racism In Discussion About The Word “Negro”
- “Adding Insult With Significant Physical Injury”: The 2016 Campaign Joke That’s No Longer Funny — Just Violent
- Donald Trump, the Great Wall of China … and a little history
- Trouble on the border?
- America’s Berlin Wall
- Think it’s time to admit Donald Trump is right about Mexico but of course you won’t…
- Trump proposes increase of fees on Mexican visas to build Mexico border wall
- We Already Have a Wall, Mr. Trump
- “Donald Trump’s hot minute at the US-Mexico border”
- Trump: Border Patrol Union Backed Out Because They Were ‘Petrified’ To Say What’s Happening At Border
- Border Patrol Union In Texas Backs Out Of Meeting With Donald Trump
- Donald Trump fights back
- Why the Donald is dangerous
- “Sinvergüenza”: Trump, Bush Don’t Care That ‘Anchor Baby’ Isn’t ‘Politically Correct’
- Democrates Hope Race Across US-Mexico Border Will Ease Building Tension Over Trade
- Refugees on Our Doorstep
- The Draft Riots of 1863
- How well do you know your American history?
- The Emancipation Proclamation
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Emancipation Proclamation and Gettysburg Address
- More thoughts on The Civil War rebroadcast
- 5 Things You May Not Know About Lincoln, Slavery and Emancipation : Sarah Pruitt
- If Slavery Is Not Wrong, Nothing Is Wrong
- Hallowed Ground Retained
- Ben Carson Uses Empowerment Message in Bid to Sway Black Voters
- The New Slavery
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Related articles
- San Marino 2015 Abraham Lincoln 10 Euro Silver Coin (coinweek.com)
- Pope Francis Inspires Black Catholics, Despite Complicated Church History On Race (wnyc.org)
- Pope praises activists Day, Merton for shaping US values (chippewa.com)
- New Agreement Keeps Civil-War-era House Open To The Public (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
- How SCOTUS perverted the “equal protection” clause of Sec. 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. (siriuscoffee.com)
- The Mero Moment: Kim Davis – September 17, 2015 (utahpoliticohub.com)
- Kentucky Republican state Senator: the First Amendment protects my right to receive bribes (boingboing.net)
- What Ben Carson gets right about a religious test for office (theweek.com)
- How Rand Paul Misunderstands the Fourteenth Amendment (theatlantic.com)
- Muslim Brotherhood Front Group Responds to Carson (truthandaction.org)
Rate this:
#13AmendmentToTheUSConstitution #14AmendmentToTheUSConstitution #15AmendmentToTheUSConstitution #1865 #2015 #AbrahamLincoln #AfricanAmericans #AmericanSettlers #AnnieDavis #CheapLabour #CivilWarAmendments #ColouredPeople #DonaldTrump #EmancipationProclamation1863_ #JimCrowLaws #Maryland #MexicanBorder #Negro #NewWorld #PioneersOfNorthAmerica #PotterStewart #RacialDiscrimination #RacialSegregation #ReconstructionPeriod #Segregation #SexTrafficking #Slavery #USCivilRightsActOf1875 #UnitedStatesConstitution #WhitePeople #WhiteRace
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Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education raises urgent questions – The 19th
‘Selling off the Department of Education for parts’: The agency’s major overhaul faces fierce backlash
The Trump administration’s restructuring plan will create “more confusion, more mistakes and more barriers” for students and families in need of support, advocates say.
The Trump administration’s shift of K-12 programs to the Department of Labor raises major concerns about the wellbeing of economically disadvantaged students. (Jessica Christian /The San Francisco Chronicle / Getty Images)By Nadra Nittle, Education reporter
Published November 19, 2025, 11:21 a.m. PT
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President Donald Trump has taken his most decisive step yet toward dismantling the Department of Education, a move that will have widespread ramifications for vulnerable students and has raised concerns among education leaders and lawmakers who contend that it will create chaos and confusion for families instead of giving them the help they actually need.
His administration announced on Tuesday that it will transfer core agency functions to four other federal offices — news met with fierce criticism by education advocates who questioned its legality and said it is an abandonment of the nation’s students.
“Donald Trump and his administration chose American Education Week, a time when our nation is celebrating students, public schools, and educators, to announce their illegal plan to further abandon students by dismantling the Department of Education,” said National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle in a statement. “It’s cruel. It’s shameful. And our students deserve so much better.”
The Trump administration will reassign the department’s key programs involving K-12 education, higher education, Indian education and international studies through so-called interagency agreements with the departments of Labor, Interior, Health and Human Services and State.
The reorganization marks one of the most significant overhauls to the department since its establishment during former President Jimmy Carter’s administration in 1979. Only Congress can create a federal agency and has the sole authority to approve its restructuring or elimination.
The move to restructure the agency, Trump officials argue, will lead to more efficiency by reducing administrative burdens and making it easier to pursue objectives like aligning education with workforce readiness.
Vulnerable students stand to be uniquely affected by the reorganization with the shift of K-12 programs to the Department of Labor raising major concerns about the wellbeing of economically disadvantaged students. The Labor Department will manage programs such as Title I, which provides additional resources to K-12 schools serving such students. Labor will also administer postsecondary education grant programs authorized under the Higher Education Act with the goal of ending an estimated labor shortage of over 700,000 skilled jobs nationally.
- Previous coverage
- Supreme Court ruling allows Trump to gut Education Dept., sparking fears for vulnerable students
- ‘A dark day’ for American children: Trump issues order to kill the Department of Education
- Trump’s attempt to gut special education office has some conservative parents on edge
“Moving Title I, the largest federal funding stream providing important resources to the schools serving the lowest-income students in America, to the Department of Labor makes no sense,” said Denise Forte, president and CEO of The Education Trust, a nonprofit that advocates for equity in the nation’s schools.
“The Trump administration began the process of selling off the Department of Education for parts,” Forte said in a statement. “Further diminishing these offices… and sending them off to be run by agencies that work on public health and short-term training, which lack the skills, expertise, or capacity in education, isn’t about improving student outcomes. It’s about implementing a business model that transforms students into widgets instead of human beings who need support.”
Leaders of the nation’s two largest teacher unions, the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), characterized the restructuring as a betrayal of students and families.
“This move is neither streamlining nor reform — it’s an abdication and abandonment of America’s future,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. “Rather than show leadership in helping all students seize their potential, it walks away from that responsibility.”
Similarly, Weingarten pushed back against the idea that the restructuring was about efficiency.
“What’s happening now isn’t about slashing red tape,” she said. “If that were the goal, teachers could help them do it …Instead, spreading services across multiple departments will create more confusion, more mistakes and more barriers for people who are just trying to access the support they need.”
Other changes affect groups of students who have traditionally needed extra support: The Department of the Interior will be the primary administrator for Indian Education programs, functioning as the point of contact for tribes and students. The Department of Health and Human Services will manage a program for student-parents in college called Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS) and another related to foreign medical school accreditation standards. Finally, the Department of State will administer the Fulbright-Hays Program which awards grants to students, teachers, administrators and institutions.
It’s unclear how Native American students will fare with Indian Education programs moved to the Interior Department, an agency that manages natural resources and not the education of children. The future of the thousands of student-parents in college who rely on campus-based childcare grants is also uncertain, since moving the Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools program to the Health and Human Services Department could lead to disruptions in support for them that sidetrack their journey to a degree. Transferring responsibilities from the Department of Education to the Department of Labor undermines public education’s purpose, according to National Parents Union President Keri Rodrigues.
“At a time when the public demands transparency regarding the Epstein files, the Administration has instead launched a chaotic assault on education,” she said in a statement. “Families see this clearly: a political diversion, not a vision for better schools. Public education has never been about turning children into factory workers, it has always been about preparing creators, innovators, and dreamers who will shape the future of our nation.”
Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who serves as vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, questioned the constitutionality of the interagency agreements.
“Donald Trump and Linda McMahon are lawlessly trying to fulfill Project 2025’s goal to abolish the Department of Education and pull the rug out from students in every part of the country,” stated the Washington lawmaker, a former preschool teacher.
Democratic Rep. Summer Lee, who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on Education and Workforce, called the shakeup “a direct assault on the students, families, and educators who depend on its essential protections.”
In her statement, the Pennsylvania lawmaker emphasized that even the education secretary has acknowledged that only Congress has the authority to eliminate the department.
“Our children deserve better than political stunts that jeopardize their futures,” she said. “And let’s be clear: an uneducated electorate isn’t a by-product of authoritarianism — it’s a prerequisite for it. We will fight back.”
Critics of the department’s makeover also said they feared that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services would be the next to be reassigned to other federal agencies. The Trump administration has diminished their power and effectiveness through staff cuts and — in the case of OCR in particular — regional office closures that have led to civil rights cases not being investigated.
“Transferring OCR’s authority to another department that is ill-equipped to carry out its critical functions would all but guarantee that civil rights complaints will continue to be dismissed en masse without resolution,” Forte said. Such a development would disproportionately affect students of color, students with disabilities and English learners.
Education leaders, including the AFT, and lawmakers are already preparing to challenge the reorganization in court.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Trump’s dismantling of the Department of Education raises urgent questions
Tags: 2025, America, Books, Department of Education, Dismantling Education, Donald Trump, Education, Health, History, Libraries, Library, Library of Congress, Opinion, Politics, Reading, Resistance, Science, The 19th, Trump, Trump Administration, United States#2025 #america #books #departmentOfEducation #dismantlingEducation #donaldTrump #education #health #history #libraries #library #libraryOfCongress #opinion #politics #reading #resistance #science #the19th #trump #trumpAdministration #unitedStates
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Tallest ancient Roman arches still standing
Arco di Constantine in Rome – Source: thetrainline.comListed below are the tallest Roman arches that are still standing. As measured to the highest point of the remaining arch structure unless otherwise noted. The list includes triumphant arches, ceremonial arches, gates, and bridges with arched entries, but does not include arches that are part of Roman Aqueducts. If information is located on the 10 arches where height data is needed, they will be moved up into the list. Pax!
Arco di Titus in Rome – Source: classicist.org——-
- Arco di Septimius Severus (203 AD): Rome, Italy = 23 m/75 feet
2-3. Arco di Constantine (315 AD): Rome, Italy and Arch of Hadrian: Tyre, Lebanon = 21 m/68.9 feet
4. Triumphal Arch of Orange (27 AD): Orange. France = 19.21 m/63 feet
5. Arco di Trajan (113 AD): Ancona, Italy = 18.5 m/60.7 feet.
6. Arch of Hadrian (132 AD): Athens, Greece = 18 m/59 feet
7. Arco di Janus: Rome, Italy = 16 m/52.5 feet
8. Arco di Trajan (117 AD): Benevento, Italy = 15.6 m/51.2 feet
9. Arco di Titus (82 AD): Rome, Italy = 15.4 m/50.5 feet
10. Arch of Germanicus (19 AD): Saintes, France = 15 m/49.2 feet
11. South Gate: Anazarbus, Turkiye = 14 m/45.9 feet
12. Arco di Augustus (8 BC): Susa, Italy = 13.03 m/42.7 feet
13. Porte de Mars: Reims, France = 13 m/42.6 feet
14. Arco di Trajan (ca 109): Canosa di Puglia, Italy ~ 13 +/-m/42.6 feet
15, Arco di Gavi (ca 50 AD): Verona, Italy = 12.69 m/41.6 feet
16-17. Arch of Caracalla (216 AD): Djémila, Algeria and Arch of Galerius (299 AD): Thessaloniki, Greece = 12.5 m/41.5 feet
18. Arc de Berà (ca 13 BC): Roda de Berà, Spain = 12.3 m/40.3 feet
19. Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus (183 AD): Latakia, Syria = 12.2 m/40 feet
20-21. Arch of Trajan: Timgad, Algeria and Arco di Glanum (25 AD): Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France = 12 m/
22. Arco di Augustus (25 BC): Aosta, Italy ~ 11.4+ m/37.4 feet
23. Porte Noire (175 AD): Besançon, France = 11.2 m/36.7 feet
24. Arch of Hadrian (130 AD): Jerash, Jordan = 11 m/36.1 feet
25. Arch of Caracalla (211-214 AD): Tébessa, Algeria = 10.94 m/35.9 feet
26-27. Arco di Hadrian: Capua, Italy and Arch of Carpentras (19 AD): Carpentras, France = 10 m/32.8 feet
28. Arch of Campanus: Aix-les-Bains, France = 9.15 m/30 feet
29. Arco di Gallienus (262 AD): Roma, Italy = 8.8 m/28.9 feet
30. Roman Arch of Medinaceli: Medinaceli, Spain = 8.1 m/26.6 feet
31-33. Hadrian’s Gate: Antalya, Tukiye; Heidentor (361 AD): Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria; and Arch of the Sergii (27 BC): Pula, Crotia = 8 m/26.2 feet
34. Arco di Drusus (9 BC): Rome, Italy ~ 7.21+ m/23.7 feet
35. Arco di Riccardo (33 BC): Trieste, Italy ~ 7.2 m/23.6 feet
36. Pont Flavien (ca 12 BC): Saint-Chamas, France = 7 m/23 feet x 2 arches
37. Arch of Cabanes: Castellón de la Plana, Spain = 5.8 m/19 feet
Need More Information:
Arco di Drusus (Spoleto)
Arco di Marcus Aurelius
Arco di Mark Anthony
Triumphal Arco di Tiberius
Arch of Septimius Severus: Khoms, Libya
Arch of Marcus Aurelius: Tripoli, Libya
Arch of Caracalla: Morocco
Arch of Alexander Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Arch of Septimius Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Triumphal Arch of the Tetrarchy: Tunisia
SOURCES:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_triumphal_arches
- facebook.com
- gemini.google.ai
- https://aroundus.com/p/7393165-arch-of-carpentras
- https://aroundus.com/p/10435626-arch-of-glanum
- https://www.historyhit.com/locations/arch-of-germanicus/
- https://structurae.net/en/structures/arch-of-augustus-8-susa#:~:text=Table_title:%20Dimensions%20Table_content:%20header:%20%7C%20arch%20height,width%20%7C%2013.03%20m:%2011.93%20m%20%7C
- https://www.italyscapes.com/places/veneto/verona/ancient-monuments/arco-dei-gavi/#:~:text=ARCHITECTURE,resting%20on%20two%20Corinthian%20pillars.
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/547381242515105/posts/1612246909361861/
- https://www.catalunya.com/en/continguts/patrimoni-cultural/bera-arch-17-16003-11#:~:text=Ber%C3%A0%20arch,and%2012%20metres%20in%20length.
- https://makedonia-alexandros.blogspot.com/2020/03/triumphal-arch-south-of-cilician-gates.html#:~:text=The%20picture%20published%20recently%20by,)%20%E2%80%93%20an%20impressive%20landmark%20anyway.
#acros #ancient #arches #arcs #cities #conservations #design #geology #geometry #history #Italy #landUse #planning #preservation #RomanEmpire #Rome #travel
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Tallest ancient Roman arches still standing
Arco di Constantine in Rome – Source: thetrainline.comListed below are the tallest Roman arches that are still standing. As measured to the highest point of the remaining arch structure unless otherwise noted. The list includes triumphant arches, ceremonial arches, gates, and bridges with arched entries, but does not include arches that are part of Roman Aqueducts. If information is located on the 10 arches where height data is needed, they will be moved up into the list. Pax!
Arco di Titus in Rome – Source: classicist.org——-
- Arco di Septimius Severus (203 AD): Rome, Italy = 23 m/75 feet
2-3. Arco di Constantine (315 AD): Rome, Italy and Arch of Hadrian: Tyre, Lebanon = 21 m/68.9 feet
4. Triumphal Arch of Orange (27 AD): Orange. France = 19.21 m/63 feet
5. Arco di Trajan (113 AD): Ancona, Italy = 18.5 m/60.7 feet.
6. Arch of Hadrian (132 AD): Athens, Greece = 18 m/59 feet
7. Arco di Janus: Rome, Italy = 16 m/52.5 feet
8. Arco di Trajan (117 AD): Benevento, Italy = 15.6 m/51.2 feet
9. Arco di Titus (82 AD): Rome, Italy = 15.4 m/50.5 feet
10. Arch of Germanicus (19 AD): Saintes, France = 15 m/49.2 feet
11. South Gate: Anazarbus, Turkiye = 14 m/45.9 feet
12. Arco di Augustus (8 BC): Susa, Italy = 13.03 m/42.7 feet
13. Porte de Mars: Reims, France = 13 m/42.6 feet
14. Arco di Trajan (ca 109): Canosa di Puglia, Italy ~ 13 +/-m/42.6 feet
15, Arco di Gavi (ca 50 AD): Verona, Italy = 12.69 m/41.6 feet
16-17. Arch of Caracalla (216 AD): Djémila, Algeria and Arch of Galerius (299 AD): Thessaloniki, Greece = 12.5 m/41.5 feet
18. Arc de Berà (ca 13 BC): Roda de Berà, Spain = 12.3 m/40.3 feet
19. Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus (183 AD): Latakia, Syria = 12.2 m/40 feet
20-21. Arch of Trajan: Timgad, Algeria and Arco di Glanum (25 AD): Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France = 12 m/
22. Arco di Augustus (25 BC): Aosta, Italy ~ 11.4+ m/37.4 feet
23. Porte Noire (175 AD): Besançon, France = 11.2 m/36.7 feet
24. Arch of Hadrian (130 AD): Jerash, Jordan = 11 m/36.1 feet
25. Arch of Caracalla (211-214 AD): Tébessa, Algeria = 10.94 m/35.9 feet
26-27. Arco di Hadrian: Capua, Italy and Arch of Carpentras (19 AD): Carpentras, France = 10 m/32.8 feet
28. Arch of Campanus: Aix-les-Bains, France = 9.15 m/30 feet
29. Arco di Gallienus (262 AD): Roma, Italy = 8.8 m/28.9 feet
30. Roman Arch of Medinaceli: Medinaceli, Spain = 8.1 m/26.6 feet
31-33. Hadrian’s Gate: Antalya, Tukiye; Heidentor (361 AD): Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria; and Arch of the Sergii (27 BC): Pula, Crotia = 8 m/26.2 feet
34. Arco di Drusus (9 BC): Rome, Italy ~ 7.21+ m/23.7 feet
35. Arco di Riccardo (33 BC): Trieste, Italy ~ 7.2 m/23.6 feet
36. Pont Flavien (ca 12 BC): Saint-Chamas, France = 7 m/23 feet x 2 arches
37. Arch of Cabanes: Castellón de la Plana, Spain = 5.8 m/19 feet
Need More Information:
Arco di Drusus (Spoleto)
Arco di Marcus Aurelius
Arco di Mark Anthony
Triumphal Arco di Tiberius
Arch of Septimius Severus: Khoms, Libya
Arch of Marcus Aurelius: Tripoli, Libya
Arch of Caracalla: Morocco
Arch of Alexander Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Arch of Septimius Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Triumphal Arch of the Tetrarchy: Tunisia
SOURCES:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_triumphal_arches
- facebook.com
- gemini.google.ai
- https://aroundus.com/p/7393165-arch-of-carpentras
- https://aroundus.com/p/10435626-arch-of-glanum
- https://www.historyhit.com/locations/arch-of-germanicus/
- https://structurae.net/en/structures/arch-of-augustus-8-susa#:~:text=Table_title:%20Dimensions%20Table_content:%20header:%20%7C%20arch%20height,width%20%7C%2013.03%20m:%2011.93%20m%20%7C
- https://www.italyscapes.com/places/veneto/verona/ancient-monuments/arco-dei-gavi/#:~:text=ARCHITECTURE,resting%20on%20two%20Corinthian%20pillars.
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/547381242515105/posts/1612246909361861/
- https://www.catalunya.com/en/continguts/patrimoni-cultural/bera-arch-17-16003-11#:~:text=Ber%C3%A0%20arch,and%2012%20metres%20in%20length.
- https://makedonia-alexandros.blogspot.com/2020/03/triumphal-arch-south-of-cilician-gates.html#:~:text=The%20picture%20published%20recently%20by,)%20%E2%80%93%20an%20impressive%20landmark%20anyway.
#acros #ancient #arches #arcs #cities #conservations #design #geology #geometry #history #Italy #landUse #planning #preservation #RomanEmpire #Rome #travel
-
Tallest ancient Roman arches still standing
Arco di Constantine in Rome – Source: thetrainline.comListed below are the tallest Roman arches that are still standing. As measured to the highest point of the remaining arch structure unless otherwise noted. The list includes triumphant arches, ceremonial arches, gates, and bridges with arched entries, but does not include arches that are part of Roman Aqueducts. If information is located on the 10 arches where height data is needed, they will be moved up into the list. Pax!
Arco di Titus in Rome – Source: classicist.org——-
- Arco di Septimius Severus (203 AD): Rome, Italy = 23 m/75 feet
2-3. Arco di Constantine (315 AD): Rome, Italy and Arch of Hadrian: Tyre, Lebanon = 21 m/68.9 feet
4. Triumphal Arch of Orange (27 AD): Orange. France = 19.21 m/63 feet
5. Arco di Trajan (113 AD): Ancona, Italy = 18.5 m/60.7 feet.
6. Arch of Hadrian (132 AD): Athens, Greece = 18 m/59 feet
7. Arco di Janus: Rome, Italy = 16 m/52.5 feet
8. Arco di Trajan (117 AD): Benevento, Italy = 15.6 m/51.2 feet
9. Arco di Titus (82 AD): Rome, Italy = 15.4 m/50.5 feet
10. Arch of Germanicus (19 AD): Saintes, France = 15 m/49.2 feet
11. South Gate: Anazarbus, Turkiye = 14 m/45.9 feet
12. Arco di Augustus (8 BC): Susa, Italy = 13.03 m/42.7 feet
13. Porte de Mars: Reims, France = 13 m/42.6 feet
14. Arco di Trajan (ca 109): Canosa di Puglia, Italy ~ 13 +/-m/42.6 feet
15, Arco di Gavi (ca 50 AD): Verona, Italy = 12.69 m/41.6 feet
16-17. Arch of Caracalla (216 AD): Djémila, Algeria and Arch of Galerius (299 AD): Thessaloniki, Greece = 12.5 m/41.5 feet
18. Arc de Berà (ca 13 BC): Roda de Berà, Spain = 12.3 m/40.3 feet
19. Triumphal Arch of Septimius Severus (183 AD): Latakia, Syria = 12.2 m/40 feet
20-21. Arch of Trajan: Timgad, Algeria and Arco di Glanum (25 AD): Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France = 12 m/
22. Arco di Augustus (25 BC): Aosta, Italy ~ 11.4+ m/37.4 feet
23. Porte Noire (175 AD): Besançon, France = 11.2 m/36.7 feet
24. Arch of Hadrian (130 AD): Jerash, Jordan = 11 m/36.1 feet
25. Arch of Caracalla (211-214 AD): Tébessa, Algeria = 10.94 m/35.9 feet
26-27. Arco di Hadrian: Capua, Italy and Arch of Carpentras (19 AD): Carpentras, France = 10 m/32.8 feet
28. Arch of Campanus: Aix-les-Bains, France = 9.15 m/30 feet
29. Arco di Gallienus (262 AD): Roma, Italy = 8.8 m/28.9 feet
30. Roman Arch of Medinaceli: Medinaceli, Spain = 8.1 m/26.6 feet
31-33. Hadrian’s Gate: Antalya, Tukiye; Heidentor (361 AD): Petronell-Carnuntum, Austria; and Arch of the Sergii (27 BC): Pula, Crotia = 8 m/26.2 feet
34. Arco di Drusus (9 BC): Rome, Italy ~ 7.21+ m/23.7 feet
35. Arco di Riccardo (33 BC): Trieste, Italy ~ 7.2 m/23.6 feet
36. Pont Flavien (ca 12 BC): Saint-Chamas, France = 7 m/23 feet x 2 arches
37. Arch of Cabanes: Castellón de la Plana, Spain = 5.8 m/19 feet
Need More Information:
Arco di Drusus (Spoleto)
Arco di Marcus Aurelius
Arco di Mark Anthony
Triumphal Arco di Tiberius
Arch of Septimius Severus: Khoms, Libya
Arch of Marcus Aurelius: Tripoli, Libya
Arch of Caracalla: Morocco
Arch of Alexander Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Arch of Septimius Severus: Dougga, Tunisia
Triumphal Arch of the Tetrarchy: Tunisia
SOURCES:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Roman_triumphal_arches
- facebook.com
- gemini.google.ai
- https://aroundus.com/p/7393165-arch-of-carpentras
- https://aroundus.com/p/10435626-arch-of-glanum
- https://www.historyhit.com/locations/arch-of-germanicus/
- https://structurae.net/en/structures/arch-of-augustus-8-susa#:~:text=Table_title:%20Dimensions%20Table_content:%20header:%20%7C%20arch%20height,width%20%7C%2013.03%20m:%2011.93%20m%20%7C
- https://www.italyscapes.com/places/veneto/verona/ancient-monuments/arco-dei-gavi/#:~:text=ARCHITECTURE,resting%20on%20two%20Corinthian%20pillars.
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/547381242515105/posts/1612246909361861/
- https://www.catalunya.com/en/continguts/patrimoni-cultural/bera-arch-17-16003-11#:~:text=Ber%C3%A0%20arch,and%2012%20metres%20in%20length.
- https://makedonia-alexandros.blogspot.com/2020/03/triumphal-arch-south-of-cilician-gates.html#:~:text=The%20picture%20published%20recently%20by,)%20%E2%80%93%20an%20impressive%20landmark%20anyway.
#acros #ancient #arches #arcs #cities #conservations #design #geology #geometry #history #Italy #landUse #planning #preservation #RomanEmpire #Rome #travel