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La Jolla
Baking CO.
A lways Est. 1984 F r e s h
nEVER fROZEN nO pRESERVATIVES
nO cHOLESTEROLnO sATURATED fAT
nEVER fROZEN nO pRESERVATIVES
nO cHOLESTEROLnO sATURATED fAT
La Jolla Baking Co.Est. 1984
La Jolla Baking Co.Est. 1984
Maya-Bloodthirsty, or just too smart for their own good
Inspiration begets Creation
Galar “Til Alle Heimsen Endar”Album Review & Others
Vol. IMMX
A
IndIcIaI.
coVer.
II.IndIcIa
III. IV. V.maYa - bLoodthIrStY, or juSt
too Smart For theIr oWn good
VI.the SorcerS Stone
VII.akIn magI & arcane WorkS
VIII.gaLLerY
aLL WorkS WordS & ImageS bY mIke dIaz For noIr ImagerY 2010
Maya b L o o d t h I r S t Y ,o r j u S t t o o S m a rt FortheIroWngood
n In
SPIr
Ing c
uLt
ur
e, a
bSo
LuteLY
. gen
IaL In
th
eIr
keen S
teLLa
r o
bSe
rVa
tIo
n, r
Igh
t
ag
aIn
. Con
sider
ed b
y sc
hola
rs a
nd sc
ient
ists a
s the
“G
reek
s of t
he A
mer
icas
”, 9
out
of
10 d
octo
rs w
ould
agr
ee. B
lood
thirs
ty, c
hild
-sac
rific
ing
expl
oite
rs o
f kno
wle
dge
or la
ck
ther
eof,
wai
t wha
t rea
lly?
You
wou
ldn’
t be
far
off.
Yeah
, fun
ny h
ow c
an th
e M
ayan
ca
n be
so c
ompl
etel
y im
mer
sed
in n
atur
al st
ates
of c
hang
e of
the
wor
lds a
mon
g th
em
and
yet s
till h
ave
a co
mpl
ete
“unc
ivili
zed”
sid
e th
at p
rom
pts
the
ques
tioni
ng o
f the
ir m
enta
l hea
lth.
Sa
nity
que
stion
ed, o
k, s
o po
ssib
ly th
ey c
ould
be
prom
pted
to b
e so
. Pro
mpt
ed b
y th
e fa
ct th
at
all t
hey
have
is th
emse
lves
to c
ontro
l. The
y ar
e at
the
mer
cy o
f the
ir en
viro
nmen
t and
per
cept
ions
. All
cultu
res,
exte
ndin
g to
bot
h en
ds o
f chr
onol
ogic
al s
pect
rum
are
at t
he m
ercy
of p
erce
ptio
n, in
form
atio
n ga
ther
ed. T
hese
peo
ple,
the
May
a, w
ere
only
con
cern
ed w
ith t
heir
surv
ival
and
if
all th
ey h
ad w
ere
thei
r ow
n bo
dies
to c
ontro
l, th
en th
ey w
ere
will
ing
to sac
rific
e bl
ood
if th
ey b
elie
ved
thei
r mai
ze w
ould
flo
urish
and
kee
p th
em fe
d fo
r th
e se
ason
.
They
also
kne
w w
hen
the
seas
ons s
tarte
d, o
n th
e da
y, fo
r the
ext
ent o
f the
ir liv
es a
nd fo
r tho
usan
ds
of y
ears
afte
r. So
may
be a
ll th
ese
thin
gs, y’
know
hum
an s
acrif
ice,
and
thei
r ob
sess
ion
with
the
nigh
t sk
y go
es h
and
in h
and.
The
y ha
d a
mor
bid
yet r
evea
ling
view
on
the
wor
lds
amon
g th
em, I
mea
n, b
elie
f in
the
wor
lds
they
see
m to
live
in. O
n Ear
th, th
ey li
ve, co
-hab
itate
, th
rive,
love
, an
d ex
perie
nce
the
hum
an d
ram
a.
The
y al
so b
elie
ved
in th
e un
derw
orld
, spi
ritua
lly, a
pla
ce th
at th
e so
ul g
oes
whe
n it
mig
rate
s fro
m o
ur
inha
bite
d cr
eatu
re o
n Ear
th. It’
s a
plac
e w
ith lev
els,
seem
ingl
y lik
e a
12 s
tep
(or
in t
he M
ayas
cas
e,
nine
-ste
p) p
rogr
am for
the
true
disc
over
y of
the
soul
. It s
eem
s th
at th
ere
mig
ht b
e so
met
hing
to th
is un
derw
orld
thin
g th
at w
e he
ar o
f all
over
the
wor
ld. A
lso, p
eopl
e ha
d th
e op
portu
nity
to g
o to
a s
ort
of s
anct
uary
, a h
eave
nly
plac
e fo
r th
e so
ul to
be
rew
arde
d by
. And
nig
ht is
whe
re th
ese
wor
lds
are
at
a cr
ossr
oads
. “The
Tre
e of
Life
” th
at e
xten
ds fr
om th
e un
derw
orld
(ro
ots)
, thr
ough
the
Ear
th (
trunk
),
and
bran
ches
in
the
Hea
vens
(ca
nopy
). It
is al
so r
egar
ded
that
the
tre
e th
at the
y sa
w w
as the
Milk
y W
ay g
alax
y. It
is w
here
all
thei
r obs
erva
tions
of t
he p
lane
ts an
d sta
rs (
save
for t
he S
un)
wer
e m
ade.
The
ni
ght t
ime
was
whe
re th
ey fe
lt th
at th
e so
ul w
as m
ost a
live.
As
keen
as
Cop
erni
cus,
and
Gal
ileo
wer
e,
the
May
a al
read
y kn
ew th
at w
e w
ere
on a
big
bal
l whi
zzin
g al
ong
with
som
e ot
hers
aro
und
anot
her
gian
t bal
l. The
ir en
tire
wor
ld, a
nd s
eque
nce
of e
vent
s de
pend
ed o
n w
hat t
hey
saw
whe
n th
ey lo
oked
in
to th
e ni
ght s
ky.
3
A III
nterconnectedneSS IS a StaPLe oF aLL maYa reLIgIon, and other Pre-chrIStIan cIVILIzatIonS. They believed
that the heavenly bodies, the souls stirring within us, the world under our feet were all part and parcel of the same machine. A machine we, in the modern world, lost contact with, one we built a robot and programmed it to keep our function within it automatic, allowing us to completely disavow all the special and amazing parts of being human. Technology has sent us into a world of digital information, analog is like the stone tablets archeologists seek to find the answers of our past. But, as bad as technology has steered us into the synthetic, it also seems to be taking us back to where we need to be. I mean, taking us to that place where we realize that the collective soul of man, the earth, and sky, are all connected.
I
4
the eSSentIaLS oF the maYa caLendrIc SYStem are baSed uPon a SYStem WhIch had been In common uSe throughout the regIon, datIng back to at LeaSt the 6th centurY bc. It ShareS manY aSPectS WIth caLendarS emPLoYed bY other earLIer meSoamerIcan cIVILIzatIonS, Such aS the zaPotec and oLmec, and contemPorarY or Later oneS Such aS the mIxtec and aztec caLendarS. aLthough the meSoamerIcan caLendar dId not orIgInate WIth the maYa, theIr SubSequent extenSIonS and reFInementS oF It Were the moSt SoPhIStIcated. aLong WIth thoSe oF the aztecS, the maYa caLendarS are the beSt-documented and moSt comPLeteLY underStood. - WIkIPedIaI V
here is a population that, either by mere trend or otherwise, feel that applying our energies to
understanding the worlds we inhabit, that we can find a harmony, albeit less bloody, that they found with their world. A cycle of 5128 years is the span of the Mayan calendar, it starts and ends on the winter solstice 2012, as we all hear ad nauseum. However, with all this technology this cycle of self discovery and rebirth as the sole objective of the Mayan calendar, our own knowledge of self and the world around us is becoming astounding. The Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland is currently looking for the proposed particle that gives matter mass. Now that’s a pretty neat thing to figure out, but how does a particle accelerator and the Mayan calendar have anything to do with each other? Hell, if I know, but they’re both crazy. Just kidding, it shows that we are all at the mercy of our perceptions, and the more keen and disciplined they are, the better we can, perhaps, understand our own fate.
T
5V
GALAR - Til Alle Heimsens Endara Somber PreLude.
quartet oF chamber ceLLoS WIth a WhImSIcaL meLodY, Surge LIke an ImPendIng SIgn oF moodS to
come. Then when the crescendo is about to hit, the guitars, drums, lift off as if a moment of euphoric spatial awareness. Taken to different times and places, you feel like you are standing upon the cliffs of the mighty fjords of Norway, arms stretched and feeling the midnight sun splash its cold rays on you. These black metal bands, Galar in this specific case, are getting really, really good at creating moments and sustaining their atmosphere within the context of distorted guitar, harsh and clean vocals, as we’ll go into further detail later, and unorthodox drumming patterns. Introductions being their bread and butter, they create a mood to place the rest of their album, as if setting the scene in a strange-yet-beautiful in pagan film. The first two song of their newest album, “Til Alle Heimens Endar” are possibly the finest and most inspiring and well-written 8:37 minutes I have heard in a long, long time. Not to discount the rest of the album, I just wouldn’t have space to write how truly thankful I am to have
A found this band. Not since Windir has a band so perfectly represented the cold epic landscape of the Nordic. As if screaming to Odin himself, one of the vocalists, seemingly conjures spirits to lift his soul from this earth using music as the vessel. The second vocalist, with a classical bassoon and piano background, demonstrates his keen ear for harmony and places a tapestry of voice to sooth and mind and help it understand where it is the musicians are placing the listener. All the while this section has the standard black metal riffage of high-mid double-plucking and a two-note beat on the drums. Somehow, this is one of the most lifting sections of the song. When one immerses themselves into the music as the musicians have, you can feel the elation that they felt when writing the entire album and song…especially the last lead guitar melody of that second song, fading for a whole minute is epic as epic can be. A dynamic play of mellow, melodic, harsh, fast, groovy is what makes “Til Alle Heimens Endar” an exciting album to close one’s ears and fly. The standard vocal style for black metal is a screaming style, not
The Sorcer’s Stone
6VI
5
so much death metal, cookie monster, but more like a rasping technique. Imagine, whispering really, really loud and forcing a lot of air through your throat but not really using your vocal chords. It’s supposed to sound like a white noise. Granted, it’s not really all that common in pop music…or is it? With new bands like The Used and other “Emo” bands, this vocal style is slowly coming into the collective ears. But, not that I am promoting this vocal style, I am merely explaining its diverse usage. It is not the harsh vocals that makes this band what it is. It is their usage of clean vocals. It is uncommon that a “Black Metal” band would use this much clean vocals. I’m happy to say that there are more BM (Black Metal, for short)bands using clean vocals, but not in the way that Galar is using them. It’s like a feature co-star, the movie wouldn’t be right if the other character didn’t have as big a part as they did. It is all so perfectly put together in the BM style of music that one would wonder where Galar has been this entire time!
&Akin Magi
Arcane Works
EluvitE
Folk ProgrEssivE BM
Windir MElodic EPic BM
AlcEst
AMBiEnt shoEgAzE BM
lEMuriA
Folk/PAgAin/viking MEtAl
MidWintEr
PAgAn Folk BM
EMPylvEr
Folk MEtAl
svArtsot
viking BM
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