ALL HAIL THE OBELISK

This of course refers to none other than Hybrid Nightmares, a band who are yet to release a debut album but are already surpassing many other Melbourne metal bands who have released one, two or even more full lengths. But they have existed for many eons in our galaxy and have produced 5 EPs thus far, all of which have shown a huge growth over the course of time in their musicianship all around and as such have built up quite the reputation, and with The Ages releases this year (three of four already available for the faithful servants of The Obelisk) they are showing many of their fellow comrades in the local metal scene how things are done.

To go on about the high quality of their studio work is one thing, but the real brutality and power is when they play live with the energy from both on stage and the fans, with the mosh pits being quite intense, far more so than many other locals.

This is a band that has evolved and matured greatly over the years, from the early days of 2008 playing at small venues like Daisy's in Ringwood and EV's in Croydon and in the infamous Battle of The Bands to becoming a strong headlining force in venues such as The Evelyn, The Tote, Cherry Bar, etc and pulling crowds in excess of 200.

While that may not be huge considering other bands playing to 500+ it's more about quality than quantity when it comes to Hybrid Nightmares, and if you are yet to experience the power of The Obelisk then you need to do yourself a favour and make it to a show, and listen to the The First, Second and Third Ages available on their Bandcamp.

They are renowned for their witty humour at their live shows mainly brought to you by their frontman Loki, with the odd banter back and forth from the crowd, which shows the connection the band has with it's fans who are extremely loyal as I have been seeing the same faces for years at their shows. And with the upcoming release of The Fourth Age in the coming months, and eventually a debut album sometime in the future, there is only bigger things lying ahead for this extreme metal quintet.

All hail the Obelisk.

UNITY

NOT THE SAME, BUT EQUAL.

On Wednesday night I went and saw this documentary, written and directed by Shaun Monson who did Earthlings which is still the most powerful 95 minutes I have ever seen, so needless to say I had considerable expectations going into this one, and I am glad to say I was not disappointed.

Shaun has a knack of getting under the viewer's skin and making them actually think about what is being shown to them, and to give their full attention all the way through. He shows the truths of many things that people try to either ignore or keep hidden, the dark truths we all really know exist, but just don't think about. However it's not simply Earthlings Pt. 2, in fact there is only about 14 minutes of animal footage out of 98 in this documentary, yet it still portrays quite significantly our treatment of non-human animals. This documentary also covers the inability for people all across the globe from all ethnicities, cultures, religions, sexual orientations, genders, etc to be able to co-exist peacefully with one another and that, as Ben Kingsley states in the documentary, mankind has been at war for about 95% of recorded history. That's an astonishing figure. It's quite obvious that war is wrong as it goes against the very laws of nature creating death and destruction to not just humans, but also animals, the environment and the planet, but we continually accept it throughout generations and on and on the wheel turns obliterating everything under it. As stated in the film "the harmony of being is when we feel the suffering of every creature in our own hearts" and it explains that it is not until then that we are truly conscious of not just ourselves but the world around us and then and only then can we truly have peace.

Like Earthlings, it covers five chapters;  "Cosmic", "Mind", "Body", "Heart" and "Soul" and consists of 100 narrators consisting of actors, artists, athletes, authors, businessmen, entertainers, filmmakers, military personnel, and musicians.

I would highly recommend this to anyone and everyone. Not just pacifists, vegans or activists, but everyone. This is something that everyone needs to see as the message is so incredibly important for the survival of all life on Earth.

There are limited screenings in selected cinemas and you can find where and when it is showing near you through the official Unity website.

Until then, enjoy the trailer.