25th May 2009: Monday Mosh #3

25th May 2009: Monday Mosh #3
Well here we are, edition 3 of the Monday Mosh already. I’m finding that time is flying now that I’m doing a weekly update. I’m really enjoying the process however.

We have a significant Monday Mosh today. First of all, we are celebrating the release This Day Forth last Friday. People who preordered should be getting their copies very shortly, and I know a lot of people already have received theirs. So far the feedback has been terrific! Thanks to all those people who have emailed in letting us know they love the disc. The general consensus is that it is our best album yet. I haven’t had one person say otherwise! We would really appreciate you all spreading the word about this release to your metal loving mates. We are part of an extremely competitive music market, and every sale counts. I was recently reading a thread on Firestream talking about how Christian metal bands survive. Well the simple answer is that nearly every Christian metal musician I know works a full time job to support their family. The only way Grave Forsaken happens is by us doing things in our spare time on weekends, evenings and mornings before work. If we didn’t love what we do so much, the whole thing would fall apart. We all dream of being full time musicians one day, but in the meantime we will just keep doing what we have to.

Anyway, enough soapboxing for now. To celebrate the release of This Day Forth on Soundmass, we have made a new song available on myspace. Visit www.myspace.com/graveforsaken and you will hear “Holy Blood”. We are so thrilled to finally have Holy Blood recorded and released, as the song has been written since 2006. It wasn’t until we were putting together this new album that we really got the arrangement and feel right. It’s one of those slow burners, but we think you’ll agree the final result speaks for itself. This weeks www.graveforsaken.com music stream will be Mother Of Harlots, This Day Forth and Holy Blood from the new album, so head over to the site and have a listen. While you’re there, post something in the forum to let us know what you think of the new album and tunes!

Also available are the official This Day Forth t-shirts from Soundmass. I have my shirt and I think it looks great. If a big robot laying waste to a city is your thing, then this shirt is for you! Also on the clothing front, we are looking into doing another batch of our famous Mosher Crew hoodies. Keep an eye out for them in the future.

Now onto some huge news for the band. Mosher Crew members will have picked up on this in Mosher Crew Confidential last week. It is with great pleasure that we welcome our newest member Simon Hoggett from Scourged Flesh into the band. That’s correct folks, we have a new member! Simon has been a great friend of the band for the last 18 months, and has now joined the ranks officially as second guitarist. Those who have been following the band closely will have seen Simon in Grave Forsaken TV a couple of times. Simon also filled in on drums for Dave a couple of times last year when Dave was unavailable.

By Simon coming in on guitar, it means that I will be putting down my guitar and switching to the role of full time lead vocals. I love playing my guitar live, however this move allows me to focus purely on the vocals and crowd interaction. Simon is a great rhythm player and has already learnt our entire setlist, so when you see us live next, you will really notice the improvement. Our recent rehearsals as a 5 piece with Simon have been truly awesome, and we are genuinely excited about unleashing this new line up live. So from all of us at Grave Forsaken, we would like to welcome Simon on board.

From that massive news onto something I’m sure you’ll find interesting. This week we have made a rare mp3 exclusively available to Mosher Crew members. I was digging through the vaults (ie, my computer hard drive) and I came by a Grave Forsaken recording from late 2004. It is an early version of “Tribulation Cometh”, which later appeared on our first album. It is a very raw and underground version, and was recorded while we were still learning how to use my home studio. At the time we felt it was too unpolished for release, but now it is time to let you hear it. So if you are a Mosher Crew member, head over to the members area on our website and you will be able to download it. If you aren’t in the Mosher Crew, joining is free. Simply fill in the form on the Mosher Crew page at our website and you are in! When you’ve heard the song, I would encourage you to go post your thoughts on our official forum.

Well, that’s about it for this week. I’ve really been enjoying putting together a Monday Mosh each week, and long may it continue. At Grave Forsaken, we honestly strive to be a peoples band. We want the supporters of the band to feel like part of the family. We are here for you, and we really appreciate your encouragement. God has been teaching the band about patience lately. Sometimes I want to jump head first into situations and not really think them through. As we continue to build this ministry it becomes increasingly obvious that things only happen in God’s timing. We are blessed to have 3 albums and 2 EPs out, and we pray that those releases will be a blessing to you and your friends also. Until next time

MOSH ON!
Vaughan and Grave Forsaken