The Return: A thought is a thing, like water.. like wind.

"A thought is a thing, like water.. like wind. As soon as it’s had.. so shall it’s magic begin.”

The Return: Hmmm… seems like everything is where I left it for now. Just a little dust on things. I haven’t visited the lower tower yet but in the coming days I will power up the trinkets there and feed my pet frog Klipso. The cotton wicks I ran to the garden are still wet, so that was nice to see. The wick fed ivy is running hard and fast. It tried to trip me on my way in, which tells me that it’s doing well in the BOK sun. A winter chill has certainly filled the space whilst I was away… let me say some things quickly. I've had some time on the slopes of thought this last week... and seen many visions. I always

met some interesting people on pilgrimage… I always do… I tend to invite peculiar events and interesting characters into my life while traveling. In my younger days some of these happenings and meetings could have gone horribly awry in a wonderful way, but my demeaner is much more controlled these days and I tend to sit back and observe a bit more rather than partaking in the fruitful dance, so to say. “A sharp mind is a hidden dagger in an unseen war.” A thing that comes with age I suppose. “I’m more intoxicated with the wind, light and words that ride the breeze rather than the bottled spray that kills the weeds.” Gesh, I’m starting to sound like Zabble. Grumble grumble. Then there was the oracle who enchanted me during a morning tea… hmmm… she had very interesting things to say and I think it was no accident that she appeared when she did. Her words stayed with me a while, she knew my mother and gave me a secret key to a very old door which I’ve opened a few times during my pilgrimage. Spooky place filled with tears… just when I thought things couldn’t get any spookier. I will say that when I opened the door… something happened in me. Anyway, we all have doors that need a crack and a wrap on. Here is a few updates on things I’m working on.

The Novel: A face shifting gifted cloak, A queen and the lost city of Europa... just a few new things and places you'll soon hear about if you care to follow the story. I’ve returned from my first pilgrimage… for a short stay in an old place. It was nice to be so far away from everything. Reflection on songs and words and things is so detrimental to the story I am creating and living in. I had a flood of ideas for the Hadder novel I’m writing and so I’ll do my best to keep releasing “Hadder’ field notes as the picture of Evermore and the Diamonds Hadder journey becomes more and more clear… I left off with Hadder and Ezra leaving kilwaughter castle on a pilgrimage, although things will soon get very interesting as he arrived at a local tavern for some food only to get a very important message from a very peculiar fellow that will ultimately take him beyond the black forest in the hopes of getting the answers of who he is and where he comes from. There are a few characters along the way that will be rather interesting, A queen with diamond eyes, a human girl who was saved by Johnathan Hadder during the war, the plotted destruction of the secret city of Europa, a great battle between Warmoths and the New king who has been busy with his own dark Mage secretly devising some rather unique magic to defeat the Warmoths, A magic face shifting cloak, Wave shifting Destruktor Globes, glowing red swords, secret downloading chambers associated with the Diamond race, trainings and awakenings… Love, Death, spies, good against evil….. you know… stuff of legends… I’m starting to see more of the plot and details of the story. I don’t want to give away to much… we’ll see how Mr Hadders Field Notes play out. Now that some of the initial introductions and stages are set, Hadder, Zabble, Ezra… Evermore… Kilwaughter… Warmoths… Kings and Queens… it’s time maybe the adventure takes a little turn. Poor Zabble, I don’t think he’s very safe these days.

The Stargazer Video: I suppose “Stargazer” should be 1st on my list while I’m back in BOK for the time being. You may have noticed I uploaded the MP3 before I left on pilgrimage. Look for a video any day now as I light the torches again and revisit and release the stargazer into the woods.

Website: The news page is getting rather large and cluttered. So I've adding a search function to it for key word search and I think I’ll be adding an actual “Hadder - filed notes” page to the website as the “Diamonds Hadder” novel takes shape. I think it would be nice to have it all in one place.

Music: I’ve had some time to draw the picture of the first record, one that I hope will drive a spring “Hadder” tour. Some of that picture has to do with these first 3 Ramsay/Evermore songs and where they fit into the grand scheme of things. I have a few months till spring to work it all out, but some big things are in the dream machine and it’s turning fairly fast these fateful autumn days of 2021. If history repeats, as it usually does, I see nothing telling me that all I dream of and more… will not come to a blazing fruition. Zabble would say, “A thought is a thing, like water.. like wind. As soon as it’s had.. so shall it’s magic begin.” What are you thinking about? Grumble Grumble. One thing is certain, I’m excited to pick up my microphone.

Final thoughts: Updates will be a bit shifty these coming weeks as the tower gets lit for winter and the local eggnog brew is on tap. Like I said, I still have a few trips to make. But I think before good OLD St Nick arrives there should be some rather interesting things going on in the Hadder universe. I hope anyway. It will be a long cold winter before the great thaw, best hunker down and train for what is to come. That can be true of so many things in life as we know it. Good luck to you, stay safe out there. If you happen to be near the woods.. listen for some chatter in the tall trees... don't be afraid... these words are as old as time. You'll see soon enough.

#diamondshadder #johnevermore #heavymetal #musicupdate #website #sacredplaces #tour #spring #pilgrimage #stargazer #novel #update #klipso #ezra #europa #kilwaughter #destruktor #warmoths #zabblequotes

The Pilgrimage: Chasing time.

It's September 29th and I’ve been packing for a long trip. It's an annual event of mine. I tried desperately to finish up current hadder projects before I had to begin the packing and planning as I knew that once I started boarding things up, I would be away from the tower and unable to complete things until I returned. I was able to complete and release City of Fire which was a great accomplishment for me and it will feel good to reflect on that while I'm away, loudly. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't tie up all the lose ends.. but this is about the journey not the destination right? Yes. I will say the city has lost it's appeal to me as of late and I do wonder if I'll return from this pilgrimage at all. There are many places with foundations for rafters and towers.

New Material - Ramsay/Evermore “Hell Fall” – I spent the night in the lower chamber till midnight trying to complete the new song, which is coming out rather nice. It’s my 2nd full vocal tracking day on it and generally it takes about 3 or 4 vocal tracking days to complete a song from pen to mix. Not always, but most of the time. I seemed to have unlocked a few secret doors on the track. I had an amazing night with it as I created by candle light in my quiet chambers. I put some quick video clicks to the music below. My voice has come a long way in the last few years. It's nice to have the control and range that I always dreamed of. What a wonderful puzzle this track was, I think I’m getting good at finding pieces that fit but really it’s just about doing the work and looking an listening and I’ve always been dedicated to that. Regarding this collaboration with Scott Ramsay, who BTW has a very unique skill and talent for layering guitar tracks and sounds in a very vocal friendly way, I still don’t know where these tracks are headed on the official release side of things but after this third track I think we'll be able to figure that out. Looks like a Hadder tour to me but who knows. We have a live drummer laying tracks on one right now to see what that sounds like as well… for now, enjoy the demo’s as they are… who knows what will come of them. They sound good loud, so that's a great start. I will say I rather enjoy blasting these sounds out into the forest to see what shakes free.

Video Info: Just random video clips with some audio of "Hell Fall" in pre-production, REV 2. I threw some Matrix clips in there, why not right. Amazing creating something from a dream.

Other things going on:

Stargazer Music Video and NEW cover songs - I received the final audio track for the “Stargazer” video, as it turns out we decided not to master it any further. It was slightly mastered straight off the board, so I’ll just be using that. I’ll post the audio in the coming days, but my pilgrimage has now interfered with me completing the final edit… even though it’s really just a few hours of work… with an 8 minute video it just take time... I received the audio approval to late and it will be best to wait till I return from my pilgrimage… when I do get back that will be one of my first priorities. On a side note, looks like the same people involved in the stargazer track will be doing some other cover songs from the early sabbath days and I’m on board to track those as well. That should be a lot of fun. I think the plan is doing 3 tracks, “Nightwing” “Headless Cross” "Gates of Babylon” and ‘Kill the King” have all been talked about as well as a few others… I love them all so it doesn’t really matter to me. Great players on that stargazer track, so the songs should sound really great when they are done. Looking forward to it.

New material: Yes there’s so much on my plate and I love it. With “City of Fire” behind me I get to pleasantly pick the next song from the TOR project and complete it as I did with City of Fire. I think it will be a track called “Rivers End” and I can’t wait to grab my guitar and dive into it. I'll post the lyrics while I'm away, such a great story and I have fond memories of the work I put into it. It was recorded at 200 north, which I'll elaborate on as i start work on the track. All the vocals are done which is nice... so I’ll start releasing little clips like I did with "City of Fire" along the way as I start tracking music to it. There’s a 4th song on the Ramsay/Evermore front that’s floating around and talking to me, tentatively called “Queen of Hearts” which is basically done in my head. I’ve been singing to the track for a few weeks and it’s got a really great chorus from what I can tell anyway. And lastly, there is “The Rock King” and “Shine” which are all in the tower on paper and sketched out to some degree. Time is really the only thing between them and me. I think I’ll work on “The Rock King” and “Rivers End” in parallel as I did with “Hell Fall” and “City of Fire”, it’s nice to take a break from one and go back and forth, I think it helps to step away from each at times. Reflection is key for me… and that goes for everything in my life... stepping back is as important as stepping forward I notice. I may film some video footage for the rock king while I’m in the mountains this next week, I have the video all worked out in my brain… I already see it and it's so pretty and odd... it’s going to be really cool looking. Just have to press the video trigger and walk past the lens a few times.

Enjoy a short clip from Hell Fall - REV 2, I like this song.. it sings to me.

Not sure when you'll hear from me next, in a few days I suppose... where the river meets the road perhaps... but I'll be out there thinking and filming and planning the upper levels and the new rafter design. That's what I do.

#therockking #diamondshadder #johnevermore #heavymetal #lyrics #newsongidea #visions #sacredplaces #mybeach #spring #hellfall #riversend #cityoffire #stargazer #pilgrimage

Kilwaughter: The dream coin the rail and the queen.

Field Notes from Diamonds Hadder: On the topic of his dreams and the destruction of Kilwaughter Castle.

"It’s autumn in Bok. I awoke last night from some nightmares. I don’t often talk about such things but it’s true.. while I sleep, I often frequent places that seem unquestionably real to me. So real in fact I think I may even bring things out from the dreams. I’m not sure how I do that or what exactly that’s all about, but it happens. Another odd thing about my dreams is that I see other people with the same eye tattoos that I have in my dreams, something that Zabble has been pondering and scratching his head over. Ezra is with me now and we’re on the western rim this morning watching the sun come up… she’s extra close to me.. I think she heard me in the night talking in my sleep… shaking from the dreams. I wonder if she dreams… I often see her jittering while she sleeps… as though she’s running or playing…. grumble grumble... I wonder if she dreams of home… of other Fanglors in places she’s never been. I have a coin that I sleep with occasionally, a gift, it’s a simple thing that brings me comfort, the weight of it… the memory of the meaning… my fingers trace it’s etched markings in a silly pattern over and over as I sleep. I often clench it with a tight fist close to my heart to ward off my demons in the night. I did last night as well. Some people might say I’m foolish to put such value in trinkets and made things, but I see what others don’t and I feel what others don’t. I see memories in the air. In my dream I saw a poem and a paper… it was folded and I desperately was trying to see the date at the top of the page… it’s so vivid… me trying… I don’t remember what it said but I know that it left me with a very sad feeling… there was an image of a field on the opposite side of the paper, as though it was written on some card stock which I tried desperately to recognize but couldn’t quite place it. There’s other things too.. a child… a family that seemed like it was mine.. an elaborate golden rimmed deck of cards sat on a rather old ebony table… a queen of hearts was flipped and was shaking and vibrating making a strange uneasy rattling noise… unrested… it moved as I walked near it, turning as I did… almost staring at me.... I was playing a game and laughing with the child and for a moment that was so nice but there was a huge rift between us that wavered in the air… it shimmered between us bending time and space… it was like a window…. And I saw the most beautiful queen I’ve ever seen.. standing on an elaborate cobblestone terrace... she was in tears overlooking a vast ocean of waves and wind…… her hands clenching an iron railing with what looked like an ornate hand worked black twisted diamond pattern… seems an odd detail to recall but I remember staring at it as though I twisted it myself with my bare hands… she was clenching so tightly that her hands were bleeding down the iron railings and so the black diamonds were dripping in a dark red… there’s a strange feeling as though I know the place but yet I can’t place it… And then in a flash I witnessed what looked like the gardens and Lord Zabble’s Kilwaughter castle in ruins and a large raging fire on the hillsides covered in bodies… it was all so real. I wonder if I should go back… I worry about Zabble, he’s always so occupied with his books that I fear he wouldn’t even hear a Barkanian dragon wondering through the castle hallways chasing his magic books, let alone a kings raiding party. By now, word of my arrival and stay at the castle has made its way through the outer reaches of the kingdom and has surely caused a little unrest with the king, who still has a sharp hatred for john hadder and the war between the warmoths and men. I hear rumors that I’m not really welcome on these lands and that Zabble has fallen out of favor with the king. Something isn’t right I just feel it in my bones. Perhaps I just worry to much. Zabble says, “Little Hadder, leave the worry for the worry leaves.” Ha, a reference to the strange tree we have in the gardens that Zabble often touts over as it’s a rare species from the black forest which he planted when I arrived, a “Worry tree” they call it, aptly named after the warmoths who still rule that forest and the fear rightfully invoked when standing near one. Well, we should get going. All this talk of dreams and trees has made me hungry, I know a little place on the way. Pssst....Come girl... lets go.

#kilwaughter #diamondshadder #evermore #hadderuniverse #zabble #fieldnotes #erza #pilgrimage #magicbooks #johnhadder #thedream #thecoin #worrytree