Some items worth purchasing.

A long time ago there was a magical record store that existed in a nearby city where we, The Funeral Pyre grew up. This record store, in it's hey day, was on top of the game. It had every kind of new metal/black metal/punk/grind/death metal and even indie rock band you could ever want! Tons of new releases, knowledgeable staff, fliers for shows. Oh it was a grand ol' time. When music was music, and shows were shows. But as we grew up and as we kept on frequenting this store, our music tastes constantly grew. At the end of the day though, there are 3 records that really stuck with me over my 12 years of attending that store.

1) Dawn - Slaughtersun
The almighty Dawn. So essential to Swedish black metal and metal in general. This band is probably one of the biggest influences for us. If you can find this record, I highly suggest you pick it up. 9-10 minute epic songs of pure Swedish black metal. Amazing.

2) In Aeternum - The Pestilent Plague
God damn this record is amazing. I remember, I was in high school at the time, and I went down to the record store and was just browsing. I was at the black/death metal section when from behind the counter came an employee, whom we knew each other by recognition, but not really by names and he points out this record and literally made me buy it. I'm glad he did cause this is a record i still play at least 5 times a week. Such a great Swedish death record. God damn.

3) Crescent - By The Roads And Fields
On a total non-metal tip, Crescents stunning record "By The Roads And Fields" is a lo-fi, incredible indie record. Tons of emotion is in this, not in a whiny way either, this is more depressing and was most definitely recorded on a tape player or reel to reel. It's fucking beautiful.

I wish that record stores were still around the same way they used to be. But times have changed. It's quite a bummer considering how much I used to learn about music just by going to the store. I guess this next generation will never get to know what it's like. Sucks for you guys, but you know, just keep downloading, I'm sure things will get better.

In Time,
JS