"Tumbling" with Ethan

phodie:

The day we completed our scrims. Whole band minus Danny. Makes me happy.

If you haven’t seen this already, it’s a pretty accurate and entertaining account of what competitive MTG is all about. Best of all, it is aimed at making sense to people who don’t already know anything about Magic. Enjoy.

This is fantastic.

(via sundayb4con-deactivated20120325)

• Question: Meow? ;) - Anonymous
• Answer:

  Bark.

I realize that I am a little late on this, but I’ve been thinking about my favorite albums of the last year. So many bands had releases in 2011, and so many of them were good, but here are my top 5:

5. Volumes - “VIA”

VIA was an awesome album, overall. It definitely deserves a spot on this list because it was definitely one of the more diverse albums in the “progressive metal/djent” genre and the diversity was much needed. Volumes has always impressed me with just how tight and seamless their material is, as well as how deep it can be. There is just so much going on in this album, and the addition of clean vocals is very welcomed. I definitely think this is an album that you can just put on and take in while you are working or reading or what have you. “Edge of the Earth” gets the nod as my favorite track on the album.

4. Life on Repeat - “Struggle + Sleep”

Let me start off by saying that I just love Life on Repeat. I went to a show with my girlfriend Annie to see The Plot in You (who is NOT on this list, by the way, despite their album being very good) and was floored when I saw Life on Repeat. They are just as good live as they are on the album. This album might be the catchiest thing I’ve ever heard. I find myself singing these songs all the time, whether its in the car or in the shower. Everywhere I am, all I can think about is Life On Repeat. In addition to being super catchy, Life on Repeat has this wonderful knack for putting insane poly-rhythm breakdowns over the course of the album. If you don’t know what that is, it’s basically a breakdown rhythm that is constantly changing from bar to bar. It’s extremely difficult to execute, and it really makes this album stand out. “Southern Girls” is probably my favorite track.

3. Memphis May Fire - “The Hollow”

Memphis May Fire has been around forever. I remember seeing them with their old vocalist when they had just signed to Trustkill Records back in the day, and I’ve loved them ever since. This album is a big departure from the “southern posthardcore” vibes of their previous material, but I just love it. This is a super technical, super produced album. There are vocal effects, stutter effects, drum machines, synth parts, all kinds of things that nobody in the band is obviously doing live without utilizing MIDI samples, but with that almost over-produced technicality comes something that I can appreciate when I otherwise wouldn’t. I usually don’t like albums like this, because I am somewhat of a musical purist, but I just love this one. I’ve probably listened to the Hollow more than almost any other album in my life. My favorite track is definitely “The Victim”

2. Structures - “Divided By”

Ever since I heard the “All of the Above” EP, I’ve been in love with Structures and they have been one of my favorite bands. This album is very weird to evaluate though. I feel as though the vocals especially sound “sloppy” and over condensed or something. I just don’t like the way that they sound. That being said, the content of the album is really all that matters, and it’s fantastic. This is one of the most varied albums I’ve ever heard. Structures has always been heavy and aggressive, but they move to almost pop punk levels of poppiness at parts on this album. Definitely seen on the track “Divided By” Structures is not a one trick pony like so many other bands in the scene nowadays. This album has something to offer everyone, and it seems that I’m finding some new nuance to the album every time that I listen to it. Check out the song “Divided By” for sure.

1. Born of Osiris - “The Discovery” 

I don’t know what I can say other than “wow”. I wasn’t really a fan of the older material that BoO put out, and I can honestly say that I still really don’t care for it. It was cliche’, it all sounded the same, and there was almost no depth to it, but this album is a whole different animal. I firmly believe that this album is the best metal album of all time. Something like this is totally unparalleled by anything else that I have ever heard. The level of musicianship on this album in completely unfathomable. Every track is wonderfully deep and involved, and every part of it is near perfection. It is filled with shredding solos, awesome synth parts, incredibly powerful vocals, very technical drumming, and is overall just a masterpiece. I can’t find anything negative to say about this, and I don’t imagine any album every surpassing this one. Album of the year no doubt. I recommend getting prepared by eating a light, lean meal, taking care of all other outside distractions, setting up some way to listen to music in your bathroom through legitimate speakers, then sit on the toilet and listen to “Behold.” You WILL get an erection and void your bowels at the same time.

Structures - “encounter”

Hi there. My name is Ethan Poellinger. I reside in the frigid, yet wonderful State of Minnesota. If you are reading this, it means you stumbled across my Tumblr page, and probably already know me fairly well, but in case that isn’t the case, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself.

I live in a small town called La Crescent with my family of 2 brothers (Evan and Mason) and my parents, Mike and Leanne Poellinger. I also have an incredibly wonderful girlfriend named Annie who I’ve currently been with for almost 10 months. Life is pretty wonderful.

I love music, and I play guitar in a band called We Paint the Sky (facebook.com/wepaintthesky). WPTS is somewhat of a dream of mine, because I’ve always wanted to make music for a living. I certainly don’t do that right now, but I’m striving hard to make it at least into a potential possibility. I’ve been playing guitar for about 7 years, and while I wouldn’t consider myself to be a “guitar god” by any means, I can at least say that I have a decent music theory background and have become pretty proficient at playing music in my genre. I’m far less concerned with “shredding” or “sweeping” or what have you and much more concerned with tight rhythms and good guitar tone.

When I’m not playing music or spending time with my girlfriend, I’m probably playing Magic: the Gathering. I’m somewhat of a closet nerd, and while I’ve always liked video games and watching the occasional anime series, my true “nerd passion” is Magic. I’ve been playing it competitively for about 3 years now and I’ve become pretty enveloped in it. I find it to be a wonderful way to stimulate my brain, as well as provide me with an avenue to let out my inner competitive nature. While most people are watching football games on the weekend, I am streaming tournament coverage and trying to stay a few steps ahead of my competition while trying to trace a coveted invitation to the Pro Tour. 

Well, that’s pretty much it. I’d encourage you to contact me via facebook or here if you’d like. I plan on using Tumblr fairly frequently to post things that no one but me will care about, but isn’t that what Tumblr is for anyway?