One topic I haven't touched on much in these pages is the metal band I play in, Flaming Tusk. We formed, as I recall, around February of this year. It was me on drums, Don Blood on lead guitar (It was my idea, as a sort of lark, but he was the one foolhardy and stubborn enough to take me up on it), and soon after Zosimus PM and Schneidaar. Within--what, a couple weeks? A month?--We got ourselves a vocalist, my dear old friend Stolas Trephinator.

Since then we've been practicing and writing new songs, but we haven't played out or done any recording--until now! Late last month we started finally laying down tracks for a four-track demo, designed to get something on tape and maybe get us some shows.

Well, the recording went really well. Well enough, in fact--with dearly appreciated help by my friend James at the mastering console--that we have upgraded it from a demo to an EP. We called it Abigail1 and we have released it, for free, through the very nifty band hosting site bandcamp.mu. We've got our own website, of course: http://flamingtusk.com, a little number I drunkenly cobbled together over a weekend; but with bandcamp we've got great streaming, multi-format downloads, and embeddable players, and it's free for you and us. You can access the music at http://flamingtusk.com, but you can also go straight to the album at http://tusk.bandcamp.mu.

Anyway, I hope you listen, and I hope you like it. We're going to start looking for some shows, so maybe you'll see us soon, too.

Hail tusk.

1. King Diamond, please call your office.