The Chariot - Long Live

Way back when I was just a wee little boy discovering "heavy" music for the first time I came across this little known band called Norma Jean. Their spontaneity and raw aggressiveness really struck a chord with me; the music reached out, grabbed hold of my neck and rang it out to dry. Amid the sea of Botch impersonators, they were really doing something different in a scene plagued by unoriginality and malaise.

"The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

I've never been an avid reader of historical non-fiction simply because history has never been something that has fascinated me. I know, sounds terrible, but outside of school I never had the compulsion to research and learn too much about the world's history. However, something about "The Devil in the White City" caught my eye. In all honesty it was because of the story of H.H. Holmes: America's first serial killer. Having always been fascinated by serial killers, I could not pass up the chance to learn a bit about how the practices and infamy all began.

Thomas Giles - Pulse

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Tommy Rogers, he is the lead singer/keyboardist for the hugely successful progressive metal outfit Between the Buried and Me. This record is (almost) nothing like a BTBAM record. Yes, some of the songs to bare resemblance to BTBAM's mellower moments, but as a whole Pulse is more of a rock record than anything else.