The Walk (not the run!)
I know that I was supposed to run yesterday. But first we had to do some shopping before the Eagles game. Then after the end of that upsetting loss to the Giants I was in no mood to run. However, I didn’t want to totally avoid exercise so I decided to walk instead.
Along with just not being not in the mood to run I also knew that it was late enough that it would be getting dark before I finished my run. I hate the switch back to standard time in the fall It would be so nice if it stayed light out until 5:30 to 6:00 at night! I’ll put up with it being dark in the morning! Anyway, I read a good article about the switch in The Washington Post yesterday and I whole heartedly agree: Turning back the clock 1 hour takes a serious toll on your mental health
Anyway back to my walk. I decided during that walk that instead of just walking 15 minutes out and 15 minutes back. I would just go further than two mules. My final distance was just a tick over 2.75 miles. I finished the walk in 39:42 for an average pace of 14 minutes and 21 seconds per mile! I was happy that I didn’t slow down during the walk. The last .76 miles of the walk was actually the fastest! I do believe that the soundtrack for the run, Liquid from Blind Ego was the reason I was able to keep up my pace throughout the walk. Several times during the walk I found myself, keeping pace to the driving beat of the music!
The Soundtrack: Liquid – Blind Ego
Neo-Prog – Germany
I first listen to Blind Ego a few years ago, when i listened to their 2011 release Numb. Blind Ego is the side project of RPWL guitarist Karlheinz “Kalle” Wallner. The name Blind Ego, according to Wallner, was created as follows: the Ego part of the name is derived from his desire to make music from a very personal space. Blind comes from his total commitment to this solo work.
From Blind Ego’s website……
Liquid – that is the term that Kalle Wallner has chosen to put on his latest work as a name. And there is hardly a different take that is better suited to describe the different flows and streams that push these nine songs forward. One can feel the unforgiving force of mighty waves while, only moments later, the melodic intensity of the music evokes that comforting feeling that we have all felt before when floating in the delicate surf: hovering, elegant yet exciting and, yes, stirring.
Everybody knows: “Water is life”, and yet the rapid power of destruction is inherent in the wet element. That also makes a good analogy for the schizophrenic nature of Kalle Wallner’s new record. At times Liquid appears to be pitch black, aggressive and heavy, while in different moments the music exudes a sense of crystal clearness and cleansing freshness. Starting with the first second, Liquid pulses elegantly and radiates the powerful intensity of the purest form of life. At the same time, though, the record allows the listeners to feel the violent anger of the artist.
Wallner took seven years to create. Liquid, Blind Ego’s third release. Again from Blind Ego’s website…..
Kalle Wallner took seven years to complete his third solo effort. While 2007’s debut Mirror sounded smooth and almost melancholic, the Freising-native Bavarian utilized the figurative steam hammer on 2009’s Numb and served the audience with a tough as nails monster of hard rock heavily influenced by metal.
Liquid now fuses the two earlier approaches without merely being a thrown together sum of its parts. In fact the elements were organically merged – and the result contains nine pieces of music that offer everything: from mighty hard rock melodies to brutal heavy metal riffing action all the way to emotionally charged passages. By means of those tools, Liquid ultimately completes a comprehensive artistic process that saw its beginning years ago
Here are the musicians that have joined with Kalle Wallner on Liquid.…
– Kalle Wallner (RPWL) / guitars, bass, backing vocals, keyboards, programming
With:
– Arno Menses (Subsignal) / vocals
– Erik Ez Blomkvist (Seven Thorns) / vocals
– Aaron Brooks (Simeon Soul Charger) / vocals
– Sebastian Harnack (Sylvan) / bass
– Ralf Schwager(Subsignal) / bass
– Heiko Jung (Panzerballett) / bass
– Michael Schwager (Dreamscape) / drums
Bottom Line
Liquid is definitely one of my favorite prog rock albums that I have listened to this year. I enjoyed everything about the about. I like the vocals and the instrumentation, but most of all I like the guitar work of Wallmer that weaves in and around the music. Definitely an album that you should check out!
As for me I’m going to check out some of the groups that the musicians who appear on the album are in. I know I already like Subsignal!!
Rating: Four Thumbs up!
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Links for the Further Exploration of Blind Ego
Artist’s Website
Facebook
ProgArchives
Twitter
Amazon
Here’s the official video for the track “Blackened” from Liquid
