#orch talks

[orchidshroomgardenselfships]

For my selfshippers who struggle with executive dysfunction, and adhd paralysis, your f/o sees you. They see you’re trying, and they’re proud of you. They don’t think you’re lazy, and when you complete a task you have to do, no matter how small, they’re proud of you. They’re right there by your side, cheering you on every step of the way.

*Proship Dni*

[orchideon]

Added regretevator and phighting! to my list of stuff you can request from! <:

[daughterofsarenrae]

Ok i do stand by my post that escala is a really good album but they DO fall victim to one of my pet peeves, which is playing adagio for strings too fast. And like i get why they did that for this album. But its supposed to be painfully slow. And then u get to the climax and its so much that u get swept away and forget how slow it actually is. Its not andante for strings for a reason. Pls stop rushing thru it

[supercantaloupe]

ok the concert and recital schedule has been announced... orchestra has managed to dodge my rage by only very narrowly avoiding putting a performance during yom kippur this year

[orchideon]

…Anyways I’m thinking of showing static coldfront next

Finished watching my gf play Rot in Paradise and. This game. /pos

I did not expect that but god it hit home. and hard

[music-class-quotes]

conductor: [bassist]! shut up!

[crystalbehindthescenes]

anyone know where saturn's fuku being brown in concept art comes from

[scary-ivy]

What does it mean that almost all my biggest crushes on men/masc people are mostly online crushes where I barely see them and know they definitely aren't interested in me ?

[orchidshroomgardenselfships]

hellooooo selfship/character appreciator nation! I have another one for you!

another challenge/game for you all! Make your f/o’s/fav’s papa’s hotdogeria order!

Just as before, this piccrew isn’t by me!

also I’m hyperfixating on papa’s somethineria help

*Proship Dni*

[orchideon]

Had a dream last night that a regretevator update came out and the update added a floor called “suspense” where the players would just sit in the elevator and watch a yellow sphere slowly rotate while menacing violin music played in the background. When the sphere finished rotating it was revealed to be the ball from the mouse maze floor.

[katyspersonal]

List Master Willem’s war crimes for the judge and jury, please!

Alright this is genuinely a good question! I'll start with a plain one:

1) Fishing Hamlet massacre is Willem's order

Sorry, Laurence only condoned two massacres, not three. xD We yet can see he did have a good teacher in more ways than one hfsdhffd And it is definitely not hard to guess what was the reasoning:

2) The OG grave-robber

Obscure lore because it is locked to an item most players never found as it's gathered through unlikely platformer. But yeah, he and his friends done it before Tomb Prospectors made it cool XD Furthermore, some Chalice Rituals materials are found within Byrgenwerth (Red Jelly, Pearl Slug).

Granted, since Gehrman and Maria are associated with Byrgenwerth and Old Hunter Vitus is a summon in the Dungeons, he could have rather used aid of the Old Hunters instead of terrorising leftovers of Pthumerian civilisation himself. Maybe what he and his friends did was simply checking! But in that case, bothering Pthumerians was still his order, similarly to Fishing Hamlet.

3) Something to do with the infants..

There are multiple fetuses found in Byrgenwerth, in two variants: a petrified one (a common sign of strong Arcane exposure) and a 'cursed' one (with horns and multiple tiny skulls):

This is a large room for speculation on whether they were somehow lab-grown, or kidnapped from the Dungeons... Or, maybe, they were forcibly conceived in test subjects? Commoners that live in the woods around Byrgenwerth, kidnapped Pthumerians, whatever. To "lighten" the mood, maybe volunteer scholars? In either case, something heavily unethical happened here. The reason MUST have been the Great Ones' infants umbilical cords:

We are fighting adolescent (?) version of OoK, whereas their real 'presence' that we sever to destroy the heart of the Nightmare is a much smaller form, so, very likely, OoK was stolen as an infant, from the womb of Kos, and his cord was retracted.

(Side note: it is not necessary that the cord Fauxsefka drops was stolen from Byrgenwerth, let alone that it was the cord of OoK specifically, since she only drops it after Bloodmoon. I think that either she got pregnant like Arianna, especially since she is a Vileblood too, or she was on her way to be reborn into a GO infant like Paleblood Hunter does in the New Beginnings ending! The latter is very possible since that ending is only accessible after eating 3 cords, so, after gaining a lot of Insight, which Fauxsefka does! Basically we don't know the fate of OoK's cord, but nonetheless it is likely that Willem still had it!)

4) Was Rom's fate his fault?

This is the potential one rather than apparent! There is a common assumption that he was experimenting on Rom, supported also by the fact that Byrgenwerth is the only place where Gardens of Eyes type of Kin are found (otherwise they're only found in generated Chalice Dungeons, so, "non canon" ones). Granted, there is a lot to talk about Amygdalae and Nightmare Apostles involvement with the 'Spiders', as well as Patches the Spider being in Byrgenwerth! Still:

Not an unreasonable assumption! Though it is up to interpretation whether Rom was forcibly experimented on, groomed by him to "agree" to it for greater good as Byrgenwerth is hardcore gatekeepers, volunteered herself, or did have that weird involvement with 'Spiders' and Willem simply utilised the (unwell) result by at least hiding it in the Lake. Another sidenote though is that by the game's events, Rom is THE person concealing Mensis Ritual, and Willem is the one to urge our Hunter to hunt her with his scepter!

(Backing this up because there might be people that didn't play BB yet since Sony hates fun and joy)

So I think whatever was his reason to hide her in the Moonside Lake was not Mensis Ritual; he did not see it coming back then, and now understands what has to be done to stop it! (Damn, this brings back memories, this issue was one of my very first loredigs...)

5) Willem secretly orchestrated the Choir?

This is the second potential one. Yurie was strangely titled The Last Scholar, and considering her spot, I can only think of the implication of her returning in the walls of Byrgenwerth! There is a secret cave in the woods (most likely the one Fauxsefka invaded from) that allowed communication with Byrgenwerth, as well as White Church Set is found in the Woods! And furthermore, Gatekeeper that guards the entrance to the Woods on the way in Byrgenwerth uses the adage coined in by Willem as the password, and adopted by the Healing Church!

From the looks of it, the way to Byrgenwerth was not only declared to be a forbidden area, but even hidden from the "lower rank" Healing Church staff, as Alfred says gatekeeper would not open. That'd mean he doesn't know the adage, when Amelia must be. Choir and School of Mensis are higher echelons of the Healing Church, and as you can see, Yurie(Choir) is an NPC there, whereas Damian(Mensis) is a summon there! My interpretation here is that communication with Byrgenwerth remained, just that Healing Church made effort to hide it so the unsightly, as Simon put it, secrets of their origins REMAIN secrets.

(For lyrics: ( x )) The petrified spider found in Altar of Grief IS possibly Rom! That theory could be easily discarded at the first glance because the legs don't match, but they do, as you can see from the holes in her Lake form! Lyrics of Ebrietas' song also seem to refer to Mensis Ritual, as if she knows what has to be done to stop it when she cherished Rom for one reason or another and cries at her "grave".

Willem could have had connection with Ebrietas from the start. And, hell, he should have pulled the biggest "told you so" face when Laurence's Healing Church first took a big route around to try and mess with the Deep Sea, and only through so many failed experiments decided to seek the guidance of the Stars instead, and find the 'right' way to aspire for ascension:

Myazaki please stop tormenting me enough is enough sfhdhfd So, the way things likely happened: Willem was able to tell 'Stars' was the way to go even before meeting Ebrietas in person, Laurence separated from Byrgenwerth to try out Blood Ministration when Willem already warned him it was dangerous, then his Healing Church had attempts to dive into Deep Sea for the eyes (if Micolash and Rom somehow had nothing to do with it I am suing everyone fdhfhds), then turned out patients are doing better seeking Stars (Lumenflowers balcony) and it even happens besides their will (Living Failures), they find Ebrietas and reform Research Hall into Choir/Orphanage, they focus on Eyes when Laurence favours Blood and Hunt more, they remember what Willem told them from the start and seek him, eventually people like Yurie and Rom return to their roots for the lack of better term. As for Fauxsefka, either 1) she returned with Yurie but then changed her mind on being a lazy fence-sitter and rage-quit 2) she invaded Byrgenwerth later on, after 'Choir's ways differed from Willem', might have stolen a cord from there but we don't know 3) she never even invaded and her story goes separately, but she IS from Choir's era of 'differing from Willem', that Yurie didn't catch onto.

...what I am saying, is that for all we know, experiments on the orphans and maybe-grooming Rom into sacrificing herself were under his doing, behind Laurence's back, even. Too bad that Micolash in the end turned out to be more cunning than EVERYONE in this scheme, but still, Willem could have played not the last role here! Poor Laurence, so ambitious yet so very dim.

____________________________

So yeah... This might not seem like much, especially as part of this is speculation, but I think this paints the picture of 'mad researcher' character that appears in basically every Soulsborne game at least once x) Laurence and Micolash maybe have created the main mess of the story, but even if they never existed, with Willem, there would be a lot of unethical experiments, a lot of extermination of "less intelligent" species, and a lot of dead infants! He is guilty not as much for teaching Laurence and, likely, Micolash (the boys still had their agency), but for just being himself lol. ROFL at the guy ordering to kill a pregnant mother and her baby and their worshippers in order to learn how to stop being barbaric as human beings fdjhhfdsds

[liquidorcard]

This isn’t completely related to Lily, but after reading your break down of her Harley Quinn show video I’m curious what you think about Mikaila’s opinions on the Eat, Bang, Kill! Tour comics. I went looking and I think the video was deleted so if you can’t find it then I’d love to hear your opinions of the comics if you just want to talk about it. From what I remember of the video Mikaila was mostly just gushing about how pretty the art was and good the comic was aside from having a slight issue with the pacing.

(I’m interested in reading comics and this is one I was planning on picking up so now I want to know from someone more familiar with comics if it’s worth the read).

I haven't seen Mikaila's video on it, no. Though I like the art too, I'd say. Me and Mckail at least agree on that (look at us gals, getting along.)

It is a tie-in comic, which really limits the span of time and things even that can go on (and even then, there's some stuff that contradicts other stuff that goes on in the show) during it's run, so keep that in mind. With all that said . . .

That comic was probably not for me. Not that I hated it, I didn't. My reaction was more or less, "Okay, cute. Cool." And then I gave away my copies because I knew I wasn't going to read them again.

I'm just not really a person into romance in general, and that's what the comic was for, and all they could really do with it. There is a plot and stuff, and it was perfectly suitable from my recollection. No new characters are introduced, I don't think, and it's just expanding on plot elements from the show. Again, tie in comic. It probably wouldn't really do much for someone who hasn't seen the show, but that's fine.

Lily is right that it's more Ivy's story than Harley's. But again, no shit, it's a tie-in comic. They more or less can't add anything since the third season was in development at the same time, and she's the fucking main character. But it dives a little deeper into Ivy's past relationship with Catwoman, it expands on some of the fall-out with Ivy and Kiteman's wedding fail, etc.

If a sapphic rom-com with superheros sounds like a good time to you, maybe you'll like it. Again, I feel like I'm very much not the person for that comic, and unlike SOME PEOPLE WE MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW WHO'S NAME STARTS WITH AN L AND ENDS WITH AN ORCH, I can admit that.

I'd recommend this video for better insight:

[annawayne]

Hello Anna <3 I hope you are doing well 🌻

Can you answer questions for the artist game 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 29 :)

I like your art and I want to you talk more about your art. 🥐🥐🥐

Oh, hello-hello!

Thank you so much for these kind words and for your interest! And, haha, I see that you've read the previous post, too 🥐🥐🥐

2 most popular piece?

It's ironic how one of the most popular pieces is the one I don't like :D But this is it!

Another popular one, is this one, but in this case, I still love this art (sometimes I wonder if I'll be able to create something like this ever again...)

7 easiest thing for you to draw?

It's a very interesting question! Let's say, on the stage of the rendering, it's, how ironically it wouldn't sound, but backgrounds! I know that usually it's considered like the least thing you would name as "easiest", but somehow, it works for me...

9 whats something you always come back to when drawing?

Hm, very good question. I think, it's this simple thought that everything, in reality, doesn't have an end: drawing, no matter how good you are, is about constant studying, and this is also the beauty in it. I always try to keep it in mind, but when I start drawing, every single time I recall this idea, and, at some point, to be honest, it's also reassuring.

10 how do you deal with artblock?

You know, I must tell you that I have never had an art block. Demotivation and discouragement? Yes, and not because I can't draw what I imagined, but primarily because of the reach since I wish my arts would be seen more, but other than that - even if I had some small moments when I felt like something wasn't going the way I would like to - I felt upset and sometimes disappointed, but never to the point of artblock. So, in my case, the answer will be a bit different: when I have such moments, I just step away from it and let these feelings not interfere into my art process. Drawing or writing with such low emotions which whisper to you how "you're failing to match your imagination" (which, in fact, are nothing but lies) is a huge emotional turmoil and also, some kind of torture, so instead of forcing myself into it, I just let these emotions live and die as quickly as they appear. During this time while I'm away from drawing/writing, I try to distract myself with something usual like reading, for example. So, yes, that's it!

11 do you listen to anything while drawing?

Yes! I usually listen to lectures/discussions, this kind of content, or to the music - when it comes to it, I try to find the matching pieces of songs to the vibe of the drawing, so it also helps me to set the mood :3

For example, for this art, I was listening on repeat Eric Satie, and I hope it gave the mood to this art the one I hoped to achieve

12 describe your process while drawing

Thank you for this question! It all starts with the idea itself, usually it just pops up out of nowhere, or some official art happens, and the image of what to draw strikes me very clearly. Sometimes, I can have some ideas, and they float around, until the moment I realize how I want the art to look like. After that, I gather some pose references, and start sketching. How much the sketching stage takes, it depends on the art itself: sometimes, I can sketch it for 20 minutes, sometimes - for hours. When the sketch is ready, I do the flat colours: just basic shades to understand the palette, and after that - the general colorization of the art (the group with different layers such as Brightness/Contrast, Gradients, Solid Colours, Hue/Saturation etc), which changes through the process. And then, rendering! Now, I have the scheme: firstly, skin rendering + hair, in between - background, step by step; clothes; additional details; the general work with lightning; shades/volumes; final touches, and here we are!

13 talk about a wip you like!

Currently, I'm working on JeanPiku and AruAni double date, and while I think it's quite good piece, there are two WIPs I'll be working on after that, and I must tell you that this solo question made me *wheezing* because I'm both excited and a bit scared to work on them :D One of this WIPs is related to Ancient Greece mythology (sorry for not sharing details, since I want to keep it as a small surprise), and another one based on this official Annie art from brave order with pipa, and, off course, Armin too :3 I really hope I'll do justice to these ideas, and you'll like them!

16 how do you motivate yourself to draw?

AruAni (and JeanPiku) motivate me to draw! :D

But on more serious note (my first answer is still serious), it's as simple as it is - I can't simply not to draw. The drawing itself motivates me because it allows to tell the stories, to live through so many emotions and many scenarios. And, honestly, for me, it's more than enough.

29 do you use a lot of references while drawing?

I use reference for the poses - that's yes, my must have, since I try to make it quite "humanly fluid", and even if I study anatomy, I prefer to have references to always double check. As for composition and colour palette- no, it's always my free flight of imagination :D So, basically, I use references for characters and for some specific details, like furniture or flowers, for example.

Thank you a lot for all these questions! It was really interesting to answer, and it helped me to distract myself from everything, thank you so much, and have a good one :3

[mitchelljoni]

i am fucking loving your fic but i don’t know much about this kind of music, do you happen to have a playlist? i would love to listen

omg Yes lol this is the ideal ask to receive....firstly so glad ur enjoying the fic. secondly, i am by no means an expert (classical music is not my...forte) but this is just stuff i like/i think most people enjoy/know...it's not an exhaustive list. it is probably impossible to make an exhaustive list!! I am sure there are millions of people out there who could do a better answer to this qn (some of them will probably see this) so im mostly just gonna link the pieces that are mentioned (so far) in the fic and then maybe a few of my Favs...

mentioned in the fic

George Gershwin, Concerto in F (what Rhaenyra is set to play for the King's Landing concert) - this recording with Jon Nakamatsu on the piano and the Rochester Philharmonic is probably the best one (it's the first one I ever heard I think) but a personal fav of mine is Andre Previn with the LSO

George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue (what everyone bitches is better than the Concerto in F lol) - again, Previn does a lovely version of this, Jon Nakamatsu's is also great, and I would be remiss not to mention Leonard Bernstein's version

Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 6 ('Pathétique') (what they are rehearsing at the beginning) - just linking the NY Philharmonic conducted by Bernstein because it's soooooo cool that you can deadass just watch it on Youtube...

Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op 16 (what Rhaenyra tells Viserys she wants to play for the tour/she told Alicent she was always going to play w her conducting) - I think Alice Sara Ott's interpretation is mega, I tend to listen to her playing w the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orch but couldnt find it in my v cursive search on YT so the link is to her with the Danish National Symphony Orch

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor (what Rhaenyra was playing at the Eyrie that she then got up and stopped playing) - you almost definitely know this one!!!! The music from the second movement is aggressively interpolated into All by Myself by Eric Carmen lol. Ive linked a Khatia Buniatishvili version (of the second movement) bc it's like...perfect imo also she looks amazing. not the point but still

Sergei Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No 3 in D Minor (what Alicent suggests that Rhaenyra plays for the Sunspear concerts) - this is basically famous for being like the hardest piano concerto in history!!! it rocks. every movement is a banger. linked Yuja Wang bc noooo one is doing it like her. also, another slayful dress moment!

Tchaikovsky, Piano Concerto No 1 in B Flat Minor (what Alicent also suggests Rhaenyra plays but Viserys rejects) - another Alice Sara Ott win...

Mozart, Piano Concerto No 21 in C Major (what Alicent remembers watching Rhaenyra playing etc) - loveeee this recording:)

Chopin, Nocturnes (what Alicent finds a copy of in the practice room) - honestly I just went ahead and linked all of them. pick your fav! probably the 22nd is not in this compilation but that's bc no one likes it and everyone thinks it's not rlly his since they found it later :/ awkward

Beethoven, Piano Concerto No 5 in E Flat Major ('Emperor') (what Rhaenyra played however many years ago that Alicent pretended to have never heard) - I think Hélène Grimaud plays this especially well so it's the one i linked. oldie but a goodie! but really any are good

Bach, Prelude 1 in C Major (first of Rhaenyra's soul-soothing classics) - Lang Lang <3

Bill Evans, Peace Piece (second of Rhaenyra's soul-soothing classics) - this is jazz, which I am actually FAR more equipped to talk about, but i have for some reason shackled myself to writing about classical music so....anyway she doesnt mention it by name but shes talking about Peace Piece. everybody DOES dig bill evans

Claude Debussy, Rêverie (third of Rhaenyra's soul-soothing classics) - Lang Lang x2 <3

Jules Massenet, Meditation from Thaïs (fourth of Rhaenyra's soul soothing classics) - honestly this piece is such a classic lol. everytime i hear it im like Wow Religious Experience much??? anyway it's actually from an opera (Thaǐs) so some versions have some quiet vocalising in the bg. which is nice if it's ur bag tbf. ive linked a nicola benedetti version bc i love her and also bc this one is just piano and violin which is what i envisioned w alicent and rhaenyra

vaguely mentioned in the fic/will be shortly

Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64 (Rhaenys's solo violin appearance)

Edward Elgar, Cello Concerto in E Minor (Addam's solo cello appearance, one of my favourites in the world!)

Franz Liszt, Les préludes

Franz Schubert, Symphony No 9 in C Major

Jean Sibelius, Symphony No 1 in E Minor

Florence Price, Symphony No 3 in C Minor

Leonard Bernstein, Candide

ones i just like (this is not a list of the world's most exceptional classical music. i just like these ones)

Maurice Ravel, Pavane pour une infante défunte

Antonín Dvořák, Silent Woods

Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major and also all his jazz suites. love him

Like anything by Philip Glass

Hector Berlioz, Symphonie fantastique, Op 14

Felix Mendelssohn, Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op 64

Mahler!! All of Mahler!!

ive left out like the biggies like swan lake and the planets and mozart's symphony no 40 etc bc i feel like you will come across those v quickly...also i am actually a choral singer so I havent gotten into all that bc my playlist of THAT music is genuinely 8 hrs long which would need a whole other post.

so TLDR: this is a weird, selective, and not at all representative list of music you might want to listen to. Enjoy !

lol but in all seriousness, if u end up wanting to get into classical music, just sticking on any classical radio station is usually a good way to go, BBC Radio 3 is EVERYTHING to me, shes v important<3 also, in terms of streaming services, most are honestly p rubbish when it comes to classical music but apple music have a 'classical' app which is like the only decent way to stream classical music without literally wanting to scream in confusion imo. so if u happen to have apple music it comes w ur subscription and is good! ok i hope this helps and once again glad ur enjoying da fic :)

[albywritesfiction]

Alby's Notes (#9)

Hello everyone! It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it? 😅

Well, time for us to take a seat and talk, ‘cause I’ve got some news for y’all. Dunno if this is going to be good or bad news to you guys, so I’m just calling it news

1. I’m not going to be very active on Tumblr, at least for the foreseeable future.

It has honestly been rather challenging for me to juggle acads, orch, personal stuff, writing, and managing this blog all together, so for the sake of my sanity, I’ve made the tough decision to take a few steps back from posting content here.

2. I’ll be closing the ask box for a while.

Since I haven’t been able to answer asks for a month or two, I now have a backlog of asks to go through. The number of asks I have in my inbox is rather overwhelming to me, to be honest 😅 And some of them are similar to others that have been sent previously, which I feel bad about because it’s like, wasted time, y'know, like, you wouldn't have needed to ask a similar question if i had answered the first one 😓

And some similar questions I haven’t been able to answer because they’re questions that I need time (and the brainpower honestly) to answer. 😓

So until I’ve cleared out my Tumblr inbox, I’ll be closing the ask box.

3. I’ll be shifting more towards using Discord

I’ve made a Discord server while I’ve been slowly chipping away at Chapter 1 Part 3 :) Special thanks to my lil bro @system-operations for being my guinea pig as I worked on and tested out the server 🤭

So, part of the reason why it’s been difficult for me to do stuff on Tumblr is because my access to it is rather limited now due to personal stuff; it’s nothing bad, don’t worry, and it’s not because I’ve been doing anything shady or illegal (I think it’d be the shock of the century to people who know me if they ever heard that I did something like that 😅). It’s just personal stuff 😅

I also think that part of why I’ve been overwhelmed with Tumblr stuff is because of the similar asks that start to pile up the longer that I’m unable to answer them, which is why I’ve set up some forum channels in the server where people can send questions and feedback and you guys can see what questions have been asked and which ones have been answered, especially without needing to wonder if I received your questions and answered them or not.

But the main purpose of this server is to provide a lil space where you guys can hang out and maybe interact with each other and with me :3 I’ve got a few things planned for server activities:

Game Night: We would play some of the games in Discord Activities and some other online browser games like Red Flags and Cards Against Humanity

Watch Party: We would watch some animes that are available on Youtube (such as Campfire Cooking in Another World [10/10 great anime in my opinion we stan wholesomeness in this household]) and Starkid musicals (the Hatchetfield trilogy is fire y’all), and probably some other Youtube stuff

Study With Me: Just popping into a voice channel and playing some music while I study helps me quite a lot apparently, so if that works for any of you who might join the server, it’s a-okay if you wanna join in :3

But of course, participation in these activities is very much optional! It’s okay if you’d prefer to lurk, I’m a lurker myself in most of the other servers I’ve joined 😅

However, I do want to make it very clear now that this will be an 18+ server, as it will not only be for ATE but also for the other IF projects that I have planned, some of which will contain content that is not suitable for minors. So just to be sure, I’ve decided to restrict the server to those 18 and above. Please, for any underage followers that I may have, do not lie about your age if you join because I will have to remove you from the server. You have been warned.

4. Now, going back to the Tumblr asks...

So now that I’ve laid out the stuff with Discord, you might be wondering what’s gonna happen with the Tumblr asks after I’ve answered the stuff in my inbox. Well, here’s what I’m planning to do:

Step 1: Compile all Tumblr asks into a Google doc 

Step 2: Add any Discord asks into same Google doc

Step 3: Share the Google doc for public viewing

Step 4: Re-open Tumblr ask box

Step 5: Update the Google doc as I receive asks, even if I’m unable to answer the questions immediately

This way, everyone can see the asks, whether or not you’ve got Discord or Tumblr, and the search for the asks is gonna be a lot more efficient! 

So long, Tumblr search, hellooo my old buddy ctrl/cmd+f!

5. And what about the Tumblr blog in general?

It’s still gonna be here, and I’m still going to post about significant updates to ATE! It’s just gonna be quieter once I’m done answering all the asks that are currently in my ask box.

So, yeah! That’s my novella of news 😅 I’ll be sharing the link for the Discord server in the next post so the link and the stuff I’ve said about it aren’t buried in the wall of text you just read/skimmed through. 😅

Thank you all so much for all the love and support you’ve had for ATE, and I hope you all have a great day/night ahead!

[black-arcana]

MATTHEW GREYWOLF Talks POWERWOLF's 'Once-In-A-Lifetime' Ascension To Become One Of Europe's Top Metal Bands

By David E. Gehlke

Leave it to Europe and Scandinavia to produce the bands to take over when metal's legendary core of IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST and METALLICA call it a day. Germany's POWERWOLF and Sweden's SABATON are legitimate arena and festival headliners across the pond, solving what is now a regular issue for Stateside promoters: Who can headline outdoor amphitheaters and large arenas once the old guard is gone? SABATON got the early jump on POWERWOLF in North America, but the Germans are slowly gaining ground after a quick run of sold-out shows last fall. They will return in August with a full slate of dates in the territory with UNLEASH THE ARCHERS in support.

Therefore, the timing of POWERWOLF's ninth studio album, "Wake Up The Wicked" appears to be prudent. Perhaps not as over-the-top as some of their previous efforts, "Wake Up The Wicked" still exudes all of the POWERWOLF trademarks, but does it in a more efficient manner, thus explaining why it's their most effective release in a decade. Here to chat it up with BLABBERMOUTH.NET is guitarist Matthew Greywolf, who sounds like a man with his two feet planted firmly in the ground.

Blabbermouth: POWERWOLF made it to North America last year. Can you share the experience?

Matthew: "It was amazing. [Laughs] It's not only that Americans have waited; we have waited as well! We were really eager to tour the U.S. and it finally came true. We were really excited about it. Well, it couldn't have been better. We were overwhelmed by how we had been welcomed. Usually, touring the country for the first time is an adventure. You don't know what's going to happen or how people will react. But, I think from the first minute of the first show, we felt, 'Wow. This is amazing.' There was a very direct connection to the audience. The audience was very communicative. We enjoyed ourselves a lot."

Blabbermouth: Did you have any idea that the turnout would be like this?

Matthew: "I mean, we knew in advance that some of the shows were sold out within a few days, which was amazing. It even raised our excitement. Still, we've never been there, and you don't know whether it's going to click. Will the audience and the band connect? It was perfect. It was such a good time there. Then, we had a fantastic schedule when we came over. We went sightseeing in different cities for a few days. We enjoyed the entire trip."

Blabbermouth: The new album coincides with the band's 20th anniversary. Has it felt like 20 years? Is that a hard number to wrap your head around?

Matthew: "It feels like it hasn't been 20 years. [Laughs] It feels like it's been five years. It's been a super-busy 20 years. We've always been into the next project, so to say. We never looked back. When people tell us we've been around for 20 years, we go, 'You must be kidding!' But it's been 20 fucking years. [Laughs] But, no, we're busy all the time. It still feels like we're starting, even though 'Wake Up The Wicked' is our ninth album."

Blabbermouth: Moving over to the new album, where did you want to go musically? What did you have in mind when writing?

Matthew: "It's more direct and natural than the previous albums, especially the last one, 'Call Of The Wild', which was a pretty bombastic album with lots of orchestration. This time, we wanted to let the basics talk. One of the first songs we had written is the opening song, 'Bless 'Em With The Blade'. It's a very straightforward, very fast metal song that does not need any add-ons or larger-than-life orchestration. It's a statement song: This is the band, this is the energy. It's actually one of the songs we enjoyed so much when writing that it really gave a bit of attitude and direction for the rest of the songwriting."

Blabbermouth: Was it difficult to resist the bombastic side?

Matthew: "It was refreshing. [Laughs] This doesn't mean I dislike the albums where we had more orchestration. Still, 'Wake Up The Wicked', all the ingredients are still there. Falk Maria's [Schlegal, keyboards] orchestrations are still there. But it's done more dynamically. When the band is talking, let the band talk. When the orchestration is talking, give the orchestration a spot instead of piling up everything at the same time. That easily happens when you start working with these kinds of ingredients. On 'Wake Up The Wicked', we managed just to find the right balance. It makes the album more dynamic and raw.

"Falk loves to run around onstage in the live situation. So, he's almost begging me to bring passages to the songs where there's no organ and orchestration. That way, he has the time to run to the front of the stage and cheer on the audience. [Laughs] He's definitely not the keyboardist who wants to be busy all the time or tries to bring in more and more elements. There's no egos involved. It's like, 'Give the song what the song demands.'"

Blabbermouth: What made "1589" the right choice as the first single?

Matthew: "The storytelling approach of the song made it the song that was predestined to have a video. In the video, we really tell the story of the werewolf trail of Peter Stump. It was kind of a bold decision to take; let's say it's the slowest song on the album. It's the 'ballad' of the album. Having it as the first single is kind of, well, not the most typical choice. But we thought it was interesting. [Laughs] We thought, 'Let's confuse people a little bit and bring a more epic and slow storytelling kind of song.' That was done instead of taking the obvious choice, which is the opening song that blasts out a lot of energy. I feel like the song is very well received. People do enjoy the storytelling approach of the song. It's nice to tell the story with the song. We haven't done such a thing before."

Blabbermouth: The story of Peter Stump felt like a very POWERWOLF kind of topic.

Matthew: "Most of our lyrics and entire visual and conceptual approach is definitely based on a fantasy world. It's quite unusual to have some historical events in songs or songs about historical events such as '1589' or 'Joan Of Arc'. It felt like the right time to enrich our world a bit by telling some historical stories. We just enjoyed a lot. Every now and then, things like this happen. We just let it happen. There's no closed world to POWERWOLF. It felt refreshing to do that."

Blabbermouth: It reminds me of the cover you recently released of "Bark At The Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne. Where did that cover come from?

Matthew: "That was my idea. I was a huge Ozzy fan. When I started playing guitar, I was all about Ozzy and Randy Rhoads. They were my heroes. I just wanted to do it like them. But I'll say that it was a bit risky for me. I'm so much in love with the way Ozzy performs these songs. It was like, 'Let's give it a try, but I'm not sure if we'll enjoy ourselves,' but we did! It's not easy to cover an Ozzy song and do it justice. But I remember when Attila [Dorn, vocals] came to the studio and performed the song. It's like, 'Wow. He really has something to say about the song.' There's no such singer as Ozzy, but he made the version his own. That's what really got me then."

Blabbermouth: Are you a Jake E. Lee fan?

Matthew: "When you name the legendary eras, it's never going to be this one. But I love the songs. There are so many good songs. There's 'Shot In The Dark'. Jake's era has good songs. I also really like Jake E. Lee's guitar playing, but maybe Randy Rhoads's footsteps were larger than life. I enjoy all eras of Ozzy's career."

Blabbermouth: You and SABATON share some similarities, both in terms of your gradual rise in popularity and the fact that you both are self-managed. How is that working out?

Matthew: "We have been a do-it-yourself band, and we still are. It's kind of a challenge. The bigger the band grows, of course, there are so many aspects to be covered and so many things to consider. We refuse to let things out of our hands. I'm pretty convinced you never should. If you really want to make sure that the vision as a band gets realized in the way you want, then you have to do it yourself. It's as simple as that. The more people who are working on things, the more the vision gets blurred. That's why, for us, it's super-important to be in charge of everything. It can be a pain in the ass for people working with us. No matter the cost, you have to maintain your vision. For a band like POWERWOLF, our visual aspect is very important. We want it to be exactly like we have it in our minds. The only way to make sure it happens is to make it yourself. We get help here and there, of course. But we're involved in literally everything. The merch, the stage design — anything. And it's passion. To me, of course, writing and performing new music comes first. That's why we're a band. But I love all the side aspects. I love designing merchandise or being involved in every little detail of the tour production. It's really exciting. I always consider a gift to be able to take part in all these processes."

Blabbermouth: You've put in the work

Matthew: "We have. And what we've experienced is a dream come true — a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We're super grateful for that. We're happy to put in all the work and all the passion."