Hello There!

My name's Luis, and I like stuff! I wrote a blog post a little while ago (oh god that was two months ago) about stuff I was into. It was a nice and positive thing that I really enjoyed writing, and recently I've been needing some extra positivity in my life. I also would like for this to be a place where y'all can post about anything that you're into lately, whether it be books, movies, music, games, and really anything else.

More and more I try to expand my horizons, and become more competent in different media/cultures/aspects of life, and I hope through this blog we can all expand our interests. If you want recommendations on music/games/other stuff from my previous blog post, check out the link above and take a look, also be sure to check the comments, there are some cool recommendations in there too!

Things listed here won't always be new or trending, but just what I'm into at the moment, feel free to comment about what you're into lately below!

Let's Goooooo!

Music

Last time I wrote about some Jazz Fusion/Progressive metal, and this time won't be too different. I was also tempted to write about my favorite artist of all time, but I think they deserve a whole dedicated post, so I'll write that later.

Divulgence by Organized Chaos

Dec. 7, 2017

Progressive Metal, Rock

There is only one reason I found this band, and it's because of the Vocalist. His name is Vladimir Lalić and he is my favorite vocalist of all time. He was a guest vocalist for my favorite artist in a few of their albums, and wow he was a huge highlight. In those albums he mostly did vocal solos, which are mind-boggling in their complexity and style He has such a unique sound and he is incredibly proficient in his craft. He can hit extremely high notes without going into falsetto and back to low notes very smoothly. Just as well he does such a good job making harmonies, hell there's even a pure acapella track on the album. He also puts a lot of flavor into his singing that really is unique to him and him alone. There are a few moments in the album where he screams, and it's very good, but I'm happy this album is mostly clean vocals.

In terms of instrumentation and composition, this is very much Progressive Metal. Though, the musicians here definitely had a lot of fun with different instruments and sounds throughout the album. The guitars are mostly heavy with some djent-y grooves, but also a lot of clean/acoustic guitar as well. There is also a lot of really great keyboard/piano work.

I love this album to death, and it's one of those that can give me goosebumps still.

Highlight tracks: Cinnamon, The Mask

Oneiroid by Walking Across Jupiter

May 31, 2018

Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal

This one's a weird one for me. I first listened to this band when they released their first album, and I really disliked how formulaic it was. The realm of Progressive Metal is filled with so many bands that just do what everyone else is doing. I suppose this is true for all genres too, but it's quite annoying all the same. I was curious to hear what they'd been up to since then so I checked this album out, and I was pleasantly surprised.

This album uses a lot of faux orchestra throughout along with their guitars/vocals. I usually really despise the use of midi orchestra/fake strings and stuff, but here it is mixed incredibly well and they don't overuse the orchestra. The composition and instrumentation is also really well done, again I was pleasantly surprised at how not monotonous or boring this album is. The vocals are almost entirely clean, and are quite good. Lots of choir and harmonies used throughout. On top of good drumming, the percussion is quite good as well, with timpanis and other instruments used.

The guitar work is a lot of clean guitar, with some heavy stuff, and some moments of djenty groove. All very progressive with complex rhythms and such.

The weirdest part of the album is the final track. Which is a cover of David Bowie's Space Oddity. It is completely not what I expected, and really not bad at all. Space Oddity is one of those songs that gets covered a lot, and I'm sure there are better covers out there, but this one surprised me and is actually worth a listen.

Highlight tracks: Samum, Le Festin en temps de peste

Video Games

Escape From Tarkov - Battlestate Games

Currently in Beta

PvPvE First-Person Shooter, Military Simulation

I bought Escape From Tarkov a long time ago, back before it was in a beta form I believe. I didn't enjoy the game much at the time, but it has come a way since then and I really really love it now. Escape From Tarkov is a hardcore first person shooter that focuses on modern military simulation. There is so much in the game that would take a long time to explain, it has mechanics that are completely unique and the systems are deep. As you can tell from the screenshot above, there is almost no HUD elements, and there are no markers over other people whether they are human, AI, or even your teammates. The weapons in this game are designed to be exactly like their real life counterparts, and are fully customizable. Every weapon can be dismantled and fitted with appropriate attachments, mounts, sights, stocks, barrels, etc.

Combat in this game is so tense and exciting and the only way to come out on top is to move, shoot, and engage your enemies strategically. Getting out of a scuffle alive and looting the corpses of your enemies is satisfying, and getting out of any Raid alive is awesome and tense. The pace of this game is SLOW, and I love that about it. If you've played Hunt: Showdown it is similar, it's also similar in that sound plays a major role. Footsteps are one the main ways enemy players can find/kill you, and of course the sounds of guns/explosions help you make decisions on where/how to move. Side Note: I might also write about Hunt sometime, because I love that game and it just got a big update today.

The player can use their main PMC character, which brings in their loadout and any gear they can carry into a raid. The player can gain experience, find loot, and level skills with their main character, but if they die in a raid they lose any gear they had on their player. The player can also choose to play as a "Scav" which is the AI faction. Playing as a Scav means the player joins a raid in progress with random starting gear, and when they die there is no penalty. The AI Scavs are also non-hostile to player Scavs unless attacked. I'll stop there because there's too much to break down.

Just to give an example of how intense the weapon functionality and systems are in the game I'm going to list some controls:

• Shift + T: Check Chamber
• Alt + T : Check Magazine and estimate remaining ammo
• 2x R : Quick Reload, this tosses current mag to the ground
• Holding C + Mousewheel Up/Down: Switches between 7 standing stances
• Mousewheel Up/Down: Change walkspeed

If you want to read a little more on the game and how it works I wrote up a big, big wiki post on it this week

Other Stuff!

Board games!

I've been introducing my family and friends to more board games this year, and even some D&D. I love the idea of sitting down with some friends, having a drink, and just playing some relaxing board games. I've bought something along the lines of 5 different board games since Janurary, some of them old, some of them new, but all of them I really love playing.

Some notable ones:

• Dixit
• Letter Tycoon
• Garbage Day

More recently I picked up this big huge box of Carcassonne. It was about $80 and contains all the expansions along with the base game. I. LOVE. CARCASSONNE. I first played it with my best friend @zagzagovich on TableTop Simulator a few years ago and fell in love with it then. It took me many years to get a physical copy, but I'm so happy I did.

I played it with my family the other night, and it was so much fun. The best part about it is that it's such an easy game to pick up and play. Our resident 10 year old really had a fun time placing tiles and won handily the first time we played together, besting 4 adults. I wish I had taken some pictures of our table covered in massive maps of Carcassonne tiles, maybe next time.

New phone!

A few weeks ago I bought a new Google Pixel 2. I had an Iphone 6 before, and I became really sick and tired of just how bad it ran. So much hitching, horrible battery life and such. I suppose it's to be expected in this age of planned obsolescence, but I needed a new phone so I went with an Android device. I have been very happy with no longer being strapped to the Apple way of life, and this phone has been wonderful. I especially love the customizablility of the Android OS. I also became a for-real millennial by getting a Giant Bomb Pop Socket, and custom widgets are cool as hell.

Also, I just bought Cook, Serve, Delicious! and it's a great game for mobile. It's also always great to see homages to Ryan Davis in video games.

it's also funny because both Ryan and Jeff have quotes in the product description:

"There's an odd appeal to this game." -Ryan Davis, Giantbomb.com

"This seems like a cool game...I just want a corndog..." -Jeff Gerstmann, Giantbomb.com

That's it for me this time, my friends! I hope you enjoyed reading about my interests as of late, and I really hope this encourages you to be positive and get your fingers into some new and interesting pies! But, I want to hear from you, so...

What are y'all into lately?