Iraq and music

Last Friday, I went to a concert that my old roommate's band played at. They are called Shadowed Beneath, and they play doom metal. Doom is one of my absolute favorite musical styles. It is very dark, and very melodic. I can't really give a good example of who they sound like, because mainstream radio doesn't play their style of music. Ever. But that's another gripe for another day. The closest band in terms of style is probably Metallica, circa the Black Album. But even that isn't quite right.

The concert itself was great. Shadowed Beneath isn't all that big, even on the local scene, but a decent-sized crowd was there in time to see them play. They were the opening act for a concert that included two of the biggest rock acts in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex, The Guns of August (a band which, despite its cool and historically aware name, I cannot stand) and Element 80 (a band with decent talent and an awesome live show to go along with its great name). Shadowed Beneath got a good response, which I was of course very glad to see.

Unfortunately, they also had some bad news. Their drummer, a member of the Texas National Guard, has been called up with his unit. This weekend, he goes to Ft. Hood, TX for six months of training. After that, he goes to Iraq for what will be at least a one year tour. This is a huge blow to my roommate and his band. They have been together for over two years, and were just starting to make some headway on the local metal scene. Now, they are going to be forced to hope and pray while their friend and bandmate is sent off to Dubya's War. Chances are, he'll come back and be fine, but we are all left in limbo. His life is interrupted, and ours are altered, even if only slightly. This is what war does.

Robert