New Music Revue: Drugs of Faith destroys with efficiency on new album

Drugs of Faith Asymmetrical (Selfmadegod Records) 4/5 North Virginian metal trio Drugs of Faith has returned with their third LP, Asymmetrical, exploding back onto the scene with a timely tackling of modern issues. With each song clocking in at an intense one-to-two-minutes long, the album says a lot with efficiency.  An instrumental “Opening” builds intrigue, […]

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Reasons to Live… In Victoria: Garden: a noun and a verb

I love gardening. You might not guess that if you were to walk by while I’m cursing the weeds or momentarily blacking out as I stand up from the garden beds (low blood pressure), but despite the back-breaking spring cleanups and landscaping projects, it brings me joy and balance. Except on days when I find […]

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No books allowed: What libraries face when challenges hit shelves

When it comes to distribution of books, there’s always a question of propriety and the follow-up of censorship. The subsequent challenging, shadow banning, or outright banning of books is most common in school libraries and curriculum-required books for students of high-school age and younger. This problem is most heavily documented south of the border in […]

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Lydia’s Film Critique: A Face in the Crowd

In his little old town of Riddle, that’s where scruffy vagabond Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes earned his southern Americana charm. His bluesman aptitude to carry a tune. His folksy witticisms. No, Riddle does not really exist. It’s more of a composite, or, rather, a compost heap, he says. Still, it runs deep through his very veins, […]

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Pieces of Performance: Rallying in prosperity in the Forbidden Land

As I passed through the US border in March, I was terrified. Having recently changed my gender on my passport to X, during a period of a new “president” law-maker, there is a potential to ban me from entering with the accusation of fraudulent paperwork. All for a little alphabetical letter. I don’t think I […]

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New Music Revue: Galgeberg’s Cerberus disorienting, non-stop wall of sound

Galgeberg Cerberus (Our Ancient Future) 2/5 Cerberus is the debut album from Norwegian death metal band Galgeberg. It consists of six songs that are an amalgamation of death metal and punk; each song will shred your eardrums like thin slices of cheese. The guitars and drums are an assault to the inner ear. The song […]

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Fellas, Let’s Figure It Out: Toxic vs. healthy masculinity

A lot has been made in recent years about the concept of toxic masculinity and its harmful effects on society. In this piece, I am going to attempt to cut through some of the noise surrounding this topic to get to the core of the discussion: what differentiates the two. First, I want to establish […]

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