I haven’t shared a life update with pictures in ages, it seems, so here we go!
I turned 38 back in August. I was spoiled by my BFF and her husband that weekend. They took me to dinner, then I crashed at their place and did nothing but eat junk, watch movies, and swim. (Oh, and indulge in her fantastic cooking!) It was a much needed break from reality and did wonders for my depression. When we went out, I got dolled up and, honestly, I looked cute as hell. So cute, in fact, that we were barely inside the restaurant before a waitress ran over to tell me how cute I was. Lol.
My two work besties showed up, as well, which completed the perfection that weekend was. I spent Sunday with my parents, who bought me a red velvet cake. Then, on Tuesday, one of my older coworkers left a homemade lemon cake for me. I felt very loved.
In early September, I attended the Carbonstone show in Birmingham. They opened for Julien-K, Spineshank, and The Union Underground. Hanging out with Corey and Chrystal again was a balm to my soul. I also got to meet Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Julien-K. I almost chickened out, but Chrystal made me say hi to Ryan when he walked past their merch table, then Ryan was like “Come over here” and led me to their merch table. I bought a vinyl of my favorite album, Death to Analog, and we took a couple of selfies. It was an extremely good night, capped by my college football team winning their game.
Chrystal CoreyRyan and Amir
And now, it’s October. My favorite time of year – spooky season – is here. Which means, of course, that I’ve been living on fall drinks from Starbucks and Dunkin, and my mom and I have been exploring local cemeteries. Our most recent day out was spent at Athens City Cemetery. We actually have family buried there, but we kept our ventures to the older graves.
This is the Confederate Circle, taken from a bit of a distance.
October, November, and December are my favorite three months of the year, even if Christmas doesn’t excite me the way it did as a child. This year, though, my brother and his wife are back in Alabama, so maybe Christmas will regain some of its magic!
Alt-metal titans Carbonstone are coming out swinging with their latest single and music video, “Standoff,” which releases May 30th. The new track boasts a vocal collaboration with Jonny Santos of Silent Civilian, Spineshank, and The Less Dead. With “Standoff,” Carbonstone has taken their raw emotion and relentless energy to the next level, and it packs the punch of a speeding freight train.
This song is multi-layered, both musically and in its history. Says Carbonstone frontman Corey James, “I actually wrote this way back in 2010. [“Standoff”] was originally released as a demo on an old EP called Strength in Silence. It was completely organic with zero electronic elements.”
But the track stuck with him, as some songs do, and James found himself circling back to it. “I sometimes revisit songs from the past, and this one has always spoken to me. I thought it would be really cool to bring it back and give it a complete makeover.”
Enter Jonny Santos, an influential figure in James’ musical journey. The two artists began talking after James reached out. “I literally saw him make a post and took a shot in the dark.” The conversation turned to the topic of a collaboration and, says James, a reimagining of “Standoff” immediately came to mind. The result is an in-your-face piece with the electronic/industrial/nu metal stylings so true to Carbonstone.
“Standoff” is roughly four minutes of vented fury, unleashed in the form of crunchy guitars, steady percussion, and the vocal interplay between James and Santos. The track calls out those who take advantage of the people around them and gives a hearty middle finger to anyone who believes your only worth is in being used and controlled.
“It’s such a shame you betray everyone with the fucking words you say/You believe I’m so weak/Come and get a motherfucking piece of me!”
The song is another example of a story carefully constructed with music, something at which Carbonstone excels. Using a maelstrom of instrumentation with a dance between a low tortured growl and an outburst of rage-filled screams, it carries the listener through the narrator’s emotional journey of becoming fed up with somebody who is manipulative and breaking the chains that once bound them together.
Catharsis is then reached after the second chorus, when James and Santos declare “I’m letting you go.” Echoing the release of all the anger and the sense of resolve that has been found, there is a brief acoustic interlude, and the track reaches its conclusion with a sprinkle of flamenco style picking.
“Standoff” will be available on May 30th. The music video premieres at 8 p.m. EST, and the song will hit streaming services at midnight!
You can pre-save “Standoff” here, and you can find links to all of Carbonstone’s socials and streaming profiles at carbonstone.net.
Alt-metal band Carbonstone is back with new music. The Maryland-based outfit is set to release their latest single, “Echoes,” on October 26th, and after my first few listens, I have to say this one hits hard.
Carbonstone has never been a band to shy away from the darker side of self-reflection, especially the negative views we as humans often have of ourselves. “Echoes” puts words to that moment we peer into the mirror with complete honesty. It dives unflinchingly into the feeling of being trapped in your own head, succumbing to the belief that you are not enough and have failed in some immeasurable way because things didn’t work out as planned.
According to front man Corey James, the song is about heavy reflection and looking back at “fucked-up tragic events, or ‘echoes,’ that ultimately shape us into who we are.” For better or worse, life happens, and we are molded by external factors beyond our control. “Failed dreams, failed goals and aspirations, failed relationships,” James lists. “Substance abuse, and so on.”
The track is penned as a note to oneself. “You take the time to watch me bleed/Over and over/It’s like you love my suffering/This pain is contagious…” It is only too easy to spiral into the abyss once the narrator begins listening to those internal voices. “I see my ghost, it’s echoing/Repeating my failures/When I’m alone, it’s so haunting/The shadows consume me…”
“Bury me underground, I’ll lie with you/’Cause alone I’m nothing/Searching for anything to get me through/I’m so self-destructive.”
“The hook/chorus is basically about just giving in and submitting to everything, as it’s the only alternative to facing yourself alone,” James explains.
“Echoes” is a juxtaposition of hauntingly melodic singing and heavy, gritty music: an audio presentation of the emotions poured into the song. The choice of clean vocals for the majority of the track works on multiple levels. James was able to masterfully color his lyrics with the pain and resignation expressed in the words. Raging screams threaded throughout are the cries of hopelessness. Meanwhile, the other band members – guitarists Josh Provencio and Steve Junkins, bassist Eric Dee, and drummer Ted Hile – intricately weave together a sonic manifestation of anger and frustration. One final scream and the closing chorus are the last ounce of fight poured forth before our narrator ultimately accepts his/her fate and throws in the towel.
“Echoes” hooked me in from the first note and is a song that is well-crafted, relatable, and holds its listeners in thrall from start to finish. Carbonstone nailed it on all fronts. The song will hit streaming platforms at midnight. Meanwhile, the official music video drops tonight, October 25th, at 8 p.m. EST! Make sure to tune in to the band’s Facebook live at 7 p.m. EST for some drinks and other shenanigans.
If you haven’t already, visit Carbonstone’s socials and follow them on your favorite streaming service so you never miss a release – starting with “Echoes.”
Carbonstone is releasing a new song, “White Noise,” on February 17, 2024, and this is one you don’t wanna miss! I was given an early listen of the forthcoming release, and it is certainly a standout track in the Carbonstone library.
“White Noise” has an edge, musically revisiting the band’s heavier side. The aggressiveness of the guitars, carried by the combination of a driving drum beat and rapid-fire bass line, are the perfect foundation for a song that is thematically dark.
Front man Corey James utilizes his voice to evoke a visceral reaction from his listeners. The melodic delivery of the verses offers an audibly interesting contrast to the music; the clear intonation, almost a croon, lends beauty to the tale of heartache: “You poison everything, like you did to me…” Both the lyrics and the vocal performance speak of disappointment, a resignation to the situation our narrator finds himself in. “Somewhere I can’t be found, and now this wavelength is severed/We’re nothing but white noise.”
However, as the track progresses, anger and frustration leak through, raw growls woven intricately throughout until the breakdown, when they crescendo into a lengthy scream of catharsis. “Suffocating, close to breaking, you left me buried alive,” Corey snarls, and a strong sense of breaking free seems to be implied. Perhaps the struggle is not yet over, but the light at the end of the tunnel has been seen.
“White Noise” is a song that deals with the complexities of our relationships, romantic and otherwise, and does so in a way with which we all can connect. This is a must-hear, so head to Spotify, presave it, and get ready for Friday!
If you haven’t read my review of the new Carbonstone song, “Damaged Like You,” you should do that now. Here’s the link. I heard the track prior to seeing the video, and I must say that the eerie, foreboding imagery they used in the video was the perfect accompaniment to the overall atmosphere of the song.
Having honed the balance of industrial elements with their alternative metal sound, Carbonstone comes out swinging in their latest track, “Damaged Like You,” which will be officially released on April 22nd. I was given an early listen, and I have to say that while this song contains much that you would expect from Carbonstone, there is something more at work here.
“The concept is based around mental health (self-doubt, loneliness, depression, etc.) and how inescapable it is,” frontman Corey James says of the song. “I feel like we’re all always on the verge of falling apart, in a sense. A lot of people are broken and lost out there. A ton of them are so empty inside, they can barely even feel anything. That’s really where I drew the inspiration from. The song’s not so much about myself as it is really about people as a whole.”
The band captures this concept with an artful mix of music and lyrics. Featuring their well-crafted blend of the heavy and melodic, Carbonstone uses synths, a hard-hitting rhythm section, and driving riffs, all topped by James’ extraordinary vocals, to build an atmosphere. Playing with a metaphorical give-and-take, the tension seems to build during the verses — complete with an abrupt bridge-like moment near the end of the second — only to break into chaos at the chorus, an echo of the story addressed in the lyrics.
"Discomfort on your skin It makes me wonder How I can never win You pull me under I can see it in your eyes There’s something cold about you I think we're running out of time AndI know it haunts you
You'll never be without it It's always there when you're alone Can't even breathe without it Cut me open, I'm damaged just like you..."
While the subject matter seems dark at first glance, I feel that the message here is a positive one. “Damaged Like You” is a beacon, a signal to everyone who is struggling that they are not alone. As James growls “I’m broken, too,” there is a sense of acceptance, though the damage may still feel overwhelming at times, a fact that seems to be expressed in James’ raging screams that close out the song.
Overall, “Damaged Like You” is a well-written, wonderfully put-together, relatable track that many people are going to connect to, and isn’t that the most beautiful thing about music? Carbonstone has, once again, nailed it.
Carbonstone is a multi-faceted metal band hailing from Baltimore, Maryland. Having existed in various forms since 2005, Carbonstone blazed back onto the scene in 2021 with the release of Dark Matter and has been unleashing their creative energies almost nonstop ever since.
After a random hopeful post stating that I would love to interview the band, vocalist/guitarist Corey James was all in, encouraging me when I teetered on the edge of giving in to my nerves. This led to an enjoyable conversation about Corey’s start in music, the formation of Carbonstone, and what the band has in store for their fans in 2023, including their big show March 25th at Power Plant Live in Baltimore!
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First and foremost, thank you so much for talking with me – and for volunteering to do this at all. I guess I’ll start with something generic. What made you want to pursue a career in music? Was there any artist or band that specifically made you think “I wanna do that”?
Corey James: So, long story short, I grew up a military brat. My family and I were always on the road to keep up with base relocating. My mother always had several cassette tapes on repeat during those long drives. One of those was “Voodoo Lounge” by The Rolling Stones. That’s really where I got my first taste of Rock music as a child. (We actually have a full studio cover/remake version of “Paint It Black” out there in the internet music streaming pool!) My mother was also really heavy into Sci-Fi cons during my earlier years and would always bring my brothers and me along to them. She would dress us up in costumes and enter us into giant masquerade contests at the cons. Being 8 years old up on a stage in front of bright shining lights and several hundreds of people cheering was an incredible experience. I was instantly hooked by the feeling.
Fast forward several years…I found the band Korn. That was a completely life-changing moment for me. I was truly bitten by the music bug and knew that I had to pursue it! I already had a love for performing, so having an intense love for music alongside that only felt right. I saved up my allowance and bought my very first guitar a few weeks later!! I’ll always remember that summer! I couldn’t put the thing down!
So that kind of answers my next question, to an extent. Besides Korn, who are your other major influences?
CJ: There’s so many, haha! I was pretty damn obsessed with the band Orgy in my high school years. Those dudes could do no wrong! I also listened to a lot of NIN back then as well. I suppose I’ve always been drawn to artists that weren’t/aren’t afraid to do things differently when it comes to their sound. A completely off the wall artist that I listen to religiously is Ghostemane. That guy is just insanely talented!!
I loved Orgy. I still wanna see them, even though I think Jay is the only original member left. For my own curiosity, what was the first song you learned on guitar?
CJ: The very first song that I ever learned to play on guitar was actually “Come As You Are” by Nirvana!! Easy peasy.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
CJ: Oddly enough, I would have to say Ghostemane, and that’s for several reasons! Again, his sound is just so fucking wild. I really feel that we would come up with some really crazy sounds on a collab together!!
I think there would definitely be a shared adventurous spirit there. So, in regard to the band, how and when was Carbonstone formed?
CJ: I formed the band waaaay back in 2005 originally under the name “Unspoken”. Similarly like Jay and Orgy, I am the only original founding member still around.
Where did the name Carbonstone come from?
CJ: So long story short…Alcohol. Haha!! Our new name was originally supposed to be “Carved In Stone” but when you say that out loud with 12 or so beers in your system, it slurs out as “Carbonstone” !! I had a large party many moons ago and told a friend our new band name while inebriated. He repeated back to me “Carbonstone? That’s the new band name??”…..And the rest was history!
📷 Chrystal James
Well, you know what they say: no great story ever started with a glass of milk. Haha! Or down here in the South, every great story starts with “hold my beer.”
So,y’all released Dark Matter in 2021. Can you tell me a bit about the writing and recording process for that album? Or just your songwriting approach in general?
CJ: A song usually starts with just myself and a guitar. I’ll mess around with writing a ton of riffs until one speaks to me. Once that happens I’ll start to really flesh out the song (structure/vocal melodies). That can take as much as a few hours or up to a few days/weeks, depending on how inspired I am. “Scream” was literally written in a few hours! (The holidays are always a GREAT time for me to write, haha!!) Once I feel that I have a solid song, Neely [songwriter/guitarist] will then add a bit of his leads into it before we demo the song in its entirety. After the demo is completely done, I’ll listen to it about a billion times, picking it apart, making notes and finalizing lyrics. Eventually we bring the song into Tony’s (synth player/producer) studio, where we then shred it to complete pieces and begin rebuilding and recording it from the ground up. This is where all the extra polish and synths make their way in! Fast forward roughly 13-15 hours at Tony’s and the song is finally complete!! It’s a TON of work, but we all love doing it!!
Speaking of “Scream,” what’s the story behind that song? (It’s actually the first original I ever heard by y’all, followed by “Pins & Needles.”)
CJ: Ah, awesome!! Those are two very different songs for a new listener to be introduced to us by!! Yeah, so as I mentioned, “Scream” was just one of those songs that practically wrote itself. We had literally just dropped our new album (Dark Matter) at the end of October 2021 and I was messing around with the guitar one evening. It literally just happened and then our usual songwriting/recording process took place. I remember all of us laughing in the studio about how it totally should have been on the album!! Haha!! The song is pretty much an anti-hater anthem. I wrote the lyrics around the idea of someone out there constantly bashing/belittling you to the point of snapping. It’s just a big giant fuck-you song to anything/anyone in your life that attempts to drag you down!
With “Scream” being a non-album single upon its release, can we expect it on an album in the future? Like…2023?
CJ: Oh, for sure!! “Scream” will absolutely be included on our next body of work! We’re still working on the next album as of now, but we have some really killer plans to release something brand new VERY soon!!
What is next for Carbonstone? I know there’s a tour in the works, and y’all are hitting the studio in February, right?
CJ: Ahh, yes! We definitely have some really big surprises in store for 2023!! One of which is indeed a “little trek” down south! We also just announced two separate festival appearances (Maryland Day Festival, 3/25 in Baltimore, MD, and Rock On The Hill Music Festival, 5/13 in Hanover, PA.)
And yep, that’s correct!! We will be entering the studio in mid-February to begin recording some new material! It’s been a bit since we’ve released anything, so I’m definitely chomping at the bit!
So with that tour coming up, tell me (and the other misfortunates who haven’t seen y’all) – what’s a live Carbonstone performance like?
CJ: Ordered and structured chaos, haha!! On top of writing and recording, everyone’s schedules are so crazy that we all literally have to bounce dates/times back and forth just to book rehearsals. When we finally do get up on a stage and perform, everyone kind of just gets into their own personal zone and just cues off of everyone else’s energy. We also always have our nightmare bear “Frankie” up there with us getting the crowd hyped up! He’s a huge fan favorite! It’s a really wild time because no show we play is identical to the last!
You’re making me really hope for an Alabama show!Andhere’s another fun question that ties in: what would be your dream tour lineup that includes Carbonstone?
CJ: Hmmm, a dream tour lineup… That’s actually a tough question. I think I would have to say Korn, Static-X, Orgy, and us as the opener. A whole bunch of Nu Metal nostalgia! That would just be absolutely INSANE!!
That would be a phenomenal lineup! Okay, I have two more questions for you. Is there anything you want to say to your fans, new and old?
CJ: To all of our beautiful and amazing fans, Thank YOU!! We literally can’t do any of this without you!! You all make the hardships and battles of being an artist so truly worth it!!❤️
And last but not least, where all can my readers get their hands on Carbonstone’s music?
CJ: You can find our music in all of the usual places! Pandora, Apple Music, Spotify etc..We’re literally everywhere!! Thank you again!!
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And that’s a wrap! Y’all make sure to follow Carbonstone’s various socials and watch for updates (particularly those Southern tour dates; I tried to weasel details out of Corey, but mum’s the word right now).
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