Mare Cognitum, Solar Paroxysm

By John Fisher, 7/15/2021

If I am going to be a decent teacher, I am going to need to be a great role model, and I have some things to work on. My narcissism has to subside a bit. My self-righteousness is obnoxious. My preachiness absolutely needs to go. I need to work on taking even the slightest criticism without lashing out ten-fold, and, I need to quit drinking. I quit Metal Bros, and decided to go solo again, mostly because I lashed out for the tiniest little digs and then regretted sending the texts. Of course, I was drinking. Then I started thinking about how many people I have “unleashed” on in the past couple years (at least 5 of which were pretty close to me). I’ve become far too opinionated and set in my ways. I even get mad when I hate a band and somebody else I know likes them, or I love a band and somebody hates them. How ridiculous is that? I need to remember certain sayings that have always proved useful to me, including “live and let live” or “to each his own” or “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it.” Anyway, I clearly have some maturing still to do, and my first step was to text Banner and Ster and suggest a dry July (come to find out they’ve both been anti-alcohol awhile). It’s good to know I’ll have the support of those two dudes going forward. They are both the shit and we made a pact to stick together so now I need to jump on the wagon myself, for real this time. So, dry July, here we go. I am happy to go it alone again on my music search too and I have missed regularly writing reviews.

In other news, I slept in my car last night and got the windows tinted today. The CRV is totally going to work as a car sleeper. I actually kind of prefer it, because (1) I never look at my phone because I don’t want to tip anyone off, so no bright screens right before bed; (2) I sleep well and can just park under the stars in cool places; and (3) I wake up at the crack of dawn because who sleeps in late...in their car? I have a plan in place for August when student teaching in the Bay Area begins (likely Walnut Creek). I am thriving in school and I think I’ve finally found what I am looking for. There were a few voids in my life. One, I did not feel like my career was worthwhile. I have won sales awards, met lifelong friends and colleagues, traveled all over California, earned enough money to be pretty comfortable, and found a career with an incredible work/life balance that allowed me to rediscover my hobbies and afforded me plenty of extra time to spend with my daughter. But, I still felt empty inside with my choice of a career. I think this journey is going to be one of the things I am most proud of at the end of my life. But, my path is my path, and I need to realize this ASAP. 

Which leads me to Mare Cognitum, the new best one-man band for me (just passing Eneferens’ the Bleakness of Our Constant). Mare Cognitum was created by Jacob Buczarski, and in an interview he said, “I just make music that I would want to hear, I suppose.” Well I’m glad you did, sir. You put together a journey to the cosmos with an unrelenting melodic black metal attack. Outside of Terra Requiem, this is full speed ahead, blistering guitars and epic solos behind the constant tremolos and blast beats. It’s rare to see an album get straight to epic metal and stay there for over an hour, continuously keeping the intensity high throughout. If he had somehow been able to cleanly play the programmed drums from this album I might have to throw in the towel for 2021’s little AOTY contest. As great as the drums sound, I am a little old school and I would love to see him bring in a session drummer for the next one. Anyway, this is atmospheric black metal at its finest, with perfectly fitting raspy black harsh vocals, and incredible instrumentation. My favorite track is Luminous Accretion and I love that intro. I think the theme of the album is to highlight the massive destruction of planet Earth and the horrors we will be facing in the near future if things continue on this path. This is one thing worth preaching about, and music is a great way to deliver a message.