And I Believe . . .

In the fall of 2003, I was working in a music store, though my time there was drawing to a close.  One of my jobs there was checking in new releases.  On one particular Monday, I was going through our delivery when a cover caught my eye, an angel with silver wings, seemingly dressed for battle.  It was the kind of art I might find on the type of books I typically read.  Now, a lot of CD cover art like that turns out to be death metal, which I don’t really go for, but I was still intrigued.  We had only recently installed listening stations in the store to get samples of most anything, so I went out to take a listen.  You can’t always get a real sense of an album from 30 second samples, but this definitely wasn’t death metal.  Instead, it sounded quite like the electronic music I like.

So, I bought the CD.  I began to fall in love with it on the drive home.  At first, I just enjoyed the sound of it.  I don’t always pick up lyrics until after a few listens.  I started to pick up on some of them, though, and I realized that the songs were basically a reinterpretation of Homer (the epic poet, not the bad parent and donut aficionado).  For the next few days, that CD was basically all I listened to.  This was essentially the exact music for my tastes in every facet, “dark” music  but with a lot of heart and positivity, woven into several layers of sound and imagery.

Eventually, I made it onto the internet to learn more about the band and see what else they had to offer.  During my explorations of their other CDs, I made a discovery.  One of their earlier songs happened to be one that I remembered and enjoyed from the goth club near Boston during my college (and a few after) years.

Some months later, I discovered they were on tour.  Given that I live in a cultural backwater, the closest they would get to me was Orlando, about a three and a half drive away.  Still, I decided to go.  Now, anyone who has spent some time around me will know that the idea of going to any kind of social setting by myself is about the complete opposite of my personality, and that’s before factoring in a drive of several hours.  That should tell you how powerful of an effect the music had on me.

The show was scheduled for August, 2004, and as the date approached, things got a little weird.  Feel free to ask anyone living in Florida at that time what went on for a few months starting then.  Hurricanes crisscrossed the state.  Charley left a nice dent in the side of my roof.  In retrospect, I certainly made out better than many other folks down here, but at the time, I was unprepared for anything like that and I kind of freaked out.

Still, I don’t recall ever considering not going out to the show, though when I got there, Orlando still seemed to be reeling a bit.  Apparently, this was the first day after their hurricane curfew.  Being inflicted with social anxiety as I am, the crowd seemed both pretty full, but still on the light side.  I’m not sure that I really knew what to expect from a live show, but it exceeded any expectations I could have had.  After the show, shy little me even stuck around to say hi and thanks and get signatures.

Since then, I’ve seen them three more times, and been inspired to attend Dragoncon, which is pretty far out of my usual social comfort zone.  I’ve also discovered several other artists that I really enjoy through them, either as opening acts or from similar artists searches on Amazon.  The music itself continues to lift me up on bad days and help energize me on good days.  At the risk of overstatement, it’s truly enriched my life.  On the one hand, I’d love to see them “make it big” because I think they deserve it, but on the other hand, I kind of like the bit of intimacy from smaller shows.  It makes me feel like I really matter as a fan, though that’s enhanced by how accessible the band makes itself.

That album was “Ethernaut”, the song from my college clubbing days was “Marilyn, My Bitterness”, and the band is The Cruxshadows.  The reason I’m writing this now is that they have a new album coming out next Tuesday, and I’m rather excited about it.  You can read their own update here.  The first single, Valkyrie, was actually released almost a year ago at Dragoncon, and I’ve enjoyed it a great deal.  In addition to how much I like the music, I can tell you that Rogue (the lead singer and main person overall) is one of the nicest people you could ever meet.  I encourage everyone to go to YouTube, or the band’s website and listen to some of their music.  A lot of older material is out there, as well as some samples of the new stuff.  Of course, musical taste is a highly subjective realm, so I know it won’t be for everyone, but I hope everyone will at least give it a try.