I probably owe Gary Holt from Exodus some royalties for all the riffs I jacked on this bad boy (including massive nods to both “Strike of the Beast” and “Pleasures of the Flesh”).  More than a few nods to Lars and James band as well factored in, along with drawing massive inspiration from Cliff Burton on numerous songs.

But you might be surprised to know that equal parts My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park and even *gasp* Coldplay factored heavily into this album.  The rapper Immortal Technique was also a massive inspiration to me lyrically during this time, as well as the book “Johnny Get Your Gun“. Ignite’s “Our Darkest Days” was also in heavy rotation and likely seeped into the overall vibe. 

Random thought: I never liked this song “Slanderous“. It’s “all right”... not bad... but the stinker of the record for me. Not that I'm complaining… I’d rather be the guy who wrote "The Blackening”, than the guy who didn’t.  Good problems to have, right?

A year before it's release, I made the absurd claim that I wanted it to be the "Master Of Puppets" of it's generation.  Not sure if we accomplished that, but it certainly connected with folks.

I've been a lucky enough man to have had a few moments like this in my musical career... Life was never the same after this album. 

And the funny thing about music, is that while all of the songs were intensely personal to me, they are no longer “my” songs. They’re your songs now. They are the soundtrack to your life, to your moments… and to someone else’s life far into the future.

14 years... crazy... happy birthday #6