Doc’s 2017 Top Ten Lists

Here are my favorite albums, films, television shows, and podcasts of 2017. As always, I wish I would have listened to more and watched more, and these lists are in no particular order. I have to admit that podcast listening has sincerely cut into my music time. A lot of stuff didn’t make my list, because I just haven’t gotten around to checking it out.

(Some of these lists go to 11)


Top Albums of 2017

Body Count – Bloodlust

Mastodon – Emperor of Sand

In Search of Sun – Virgin Funk Mother

Sons of Apollo – Psychotic Symphony

Darkest Hour – Godless Prophets & The Migrant Flora

Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

Zeal and Ardor – Devil Is Fine

Glassjaw – Material Control

Power Trip –  Nightmare Logic

Havok – Conformicide

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The Ex Man Podcast 16 – Mike Schleibaum (Darkest Hour, Battery)

Doc chats with Darkest Hour founder and guitarist, Mike Schleibaum, about the sacrifices and grind of DIY touring, Doc’s challenge with learning the guitar technique behind Darkest Hour songs, how Mike stays so enthusiastic and Darkest Hour’s unique longevity, how the line-up changes have allowed the band to excel, Mike’s time playing with the legendary hardcore band, Battery, dealing with the transition and backlash of being ex-straight edge, they brainstorm on ways to make independent music careers more achievable by organizing through collectivism, and compare the approaches and reactions between the previous more commercial self-titled album and their latest more gritty album, Godless Prophets and the Migrant Flora.

This episode features the song “This Is The Truth” by Darkest Hour from the album Godless Prophets and the Migrant Flora.

Follow Darkest Hour on Facebook – www.facebook.com/DarkestHourDudes/
Instagram – www.instagram.com/darkest_hour_official/
Twitter – twitter.com/darkesthourrock
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Doc Joins Darkest Hour Filling in on Guitar for European Tour

So the cat is out of the bag. I will be filling in on guitar for my homey Mike Lonestar from the the legendary Darkest Hour on a short European run. This is an incredible opportunity and I couldn’t be more excited. Thanks to everyone in the band and for having me aboard. I’ll do my best to do you fellas proud.

Euro tour ticket link:
http://smarturl.it/DarkestHourEU2017

April 29 Dunkerque, France Les 4 Ecluses
April 30 Birmingham, UK The Flapper
May 1 Cardiff, UK CLWB Ifor Bach
May 2 London, UK The Underworld Camden
May 3 Cologne, Germany Underground
May 4 Haarlem, Netherlands Patronaat
May 5 Aarschot, Belgium De Klinker
May 6 Hamburg, Germany Hafenrock-Festival
May 7 Copenhagen, Denmark Beta
May 8 Berlin, Germany Cassiopeia
May 9 Warsaw, Poland Poglos
May 10 Praha, Czech Republic 007
May 11 Leipzig, Germany Conne Island
May 12 Munchen, Germany Feierwerk/Hansa 39
May 13 Bezrik Landstrasse, Austria Viper Room

This Is The End

Headbangers ball

“This is the end!” This is the emphatic, anthemic line in the God Forbid opening track from the album IV: Constitution of Treason, which was released during the peak of our powers in 2005. In fact, it wasn’t the end. The end came much later. At the time, it felt like we were invincible, destined for heavy metal immortality. And we were in the lower tier of the NWOAHM (or Metalcore or whatever you want to call it) in all metrics for determining the success or popularity of bands. If you look at album, ticket, and merchandise sales, Myspace friends, Youtube views, Facebook “likes”, or the ever mystical buzz on the street, God Forbid was probably never half as big as any of the rest of the Big 4 of Quitters (I should trade mark this) including Bleeding Through, Shadows Fall, and now Chimaira. Knowing that, even we felt invincible. That’s how intoxicating achieving any discernible success with your art can be. Shadows Fall and Chimaira hanging it up in the last couple weeks have brought an outpouring of sadness, shock and disappointment from fans. It seems like the end of an era, and maybe it is.

Hearing that these great bands are moving on makes me sad and disappointed, but not shocked. The truth is that amongst peers a good majority of our conversations have to do with figuring out how to stay relevant by finding new audiences, getting great tours, signing with the right label, writing the next game changing album, and more. Teetering on the edge of existence has been much of our collective realities for half of our careers. As the O.G. quitter, I’m here to explain why this is happening and why you shouldn’t be surprised.

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