I cannot stop thinking about Meggan Lambesis. As much as I cannot fathom the horror she is going through, I can just barely see the edges of it. I shudder at every awful comment levelled at her, because I see what I have avoided by sheer virtue of refusing to speak out. Meggan did not have the luxury of choosing silence; the crimes against her were made public without her consent and were beyond her control. Not speaking twists me, hurts me every day. But as long as the world continues to respond to powerful men harming the women in their lives the way they have responded to Meggan Lambesis, it is safer for me in the dark.

I saw a number of responses to this today, and most miss the point: Meggan Lambesis is the target of hatred here. And the writer, someone I consider an online friend, has been harassed and tormented. She’s been terrorized in the past.

As a human, how can I ignore this?

@sethw aaand now you know another (me). probably lots more, counting social media here.

— JUCIFER (@_JUCIFER_) May 16, 2013

When I recently got into the car of a female friend and the first thing she says is, “I want you to know there’s a gun under your seat. I just bought it because I have a stalker,” I can’t ignore that.

I can’t ignore people attacking my friends and missing the point of being systematically terrorized.

I can’t ignore that my female friends must take extra precautions walking home at night, or not drink too much or dress “slutty,” lest she be assaulted and “asking for for it.”

This post ain’t gonna change the world, but if it can get just one person motivated to think about these things (as I have in recent years), then I’m happy with that.

@skulltoaster “God Forbid” I get this one wrong.

— Bruce Fraser (@BruceFraser) May 16, 2013

When I’m writing my weekly metal trivia, I pretend I’m Alex Trebeck, reading the questions in front of a studio audience of nerdy headbangers. I try to imagine contestents answering questions, too, and being this is “heavy metal Jeopardy,” I envision, “Slayer!” Shouts of, “Megadeth!” A slap of the podium while yelling, “Mike Patton!”

Keep this in mind when answering metal trivia throughout the day. I keep an eye on Twitter all day and night for when you answer, and stuff like this above makes me smile!

My dudes in Arterial Mist just released two tracks from their debut ep. Go listen. It’s brutal. arterialmist.bandcamp.com

— Collin Simula (@CollinSimula) May 7, 2013

For every Tweet and blog post about trivial metal matters a band who needs the press loses. We all lose. A link, a retweet, a click on the TMZ-flavored bullshit perpetuates the celeb-style culture machine, as if we should all replace our metal magazines and websites (what’s left of them) with PEOPLE Magazine and extra large frappacinos from Starbucks.

So give Arterial Mist a chance, and think twice about your next mouse click. Every click is a vote, every pageview a show of support.

Saw this band in Columbus, OH. Grind metal with violin, amazing bass lines, no hi-hat. LOVED ‘EM.

Swarming, blackened drums and guitars. (Thanks, @GrimKim)

20 minutes of organs and giant guitars.

Crashing and swaying, like caught in a wind storm.

Call out sick from work. Cancel your plans. You’ve got a date with 24 tracks of amazing music.

Carolyn Kopprasch from Buffer wrote recently ‘Today, I gave the wrong answer to a customer,’ which inspired this post (Buffer is a rad service that lets you space our your Tweets throughout the day – check ‘em out).

You see, over the past few weeks I haven’t given wrong answers, but inaccurate questions. Twice I’ve been told by my @skulltoaster followers of slip-ups; Matt Pike did not sing in Sleep (though he does in High on Fire), and Mastodon did not win a Grammy Award (they were nominated). Duh.

It’s official; I need an editor.

When I launched Skull Toaster I started by posting just five questions a week to Twitter. Now I do three a day. Soon I’ll have published over 700 questions since November, 2011. That’s 700 times I hit “Tweet” without a second set of eyes.

The danger here is slipping up with too many tiny details. As the Skull Toaster brand (oh my, it’s a brand, right?) grows, getting trivia wrong isn’t acceptable. It’s like the “you had one job” meme; I publish 14 questions a week and it’s “my job” to make sure they’re accurate.

Here’s what I’m doing to fix this:

1) Finding an Editor / Fact Checker

This will be easy, since I already know a bunch of smart metal folk – they follow @skulltoaster! Since writing this I’ve found a few people to contribute their metal wisdom and fresh eyes.

2) Writing Metal Trivia Everyday

When it was snowing and dark at 4pm I was researching and writing five questions a day. These days I’m traveling (New York, NY > Philadelphia, PA > Columbus, OH in the past week alone), and since the days have been getting longer I don’t sit on my computer quite as long. Getting back to a regular, slower schedule of researching and writing will only help.

When I started at AOL Music back in 2006 (my first “web gig”), I worked with a photo editor on some daily tasks. When dealing with a very “hands on” boss, my friend would mumble to me, “man, we’re not saving lives here.”

He’s right. There’s no need to rush my metal trivia onto the web. I’ll take my time, try to figure out where my system breaks down, and fix it before hitting publish.

Heck of a track.

I was standing up front, pressed against a metal railing as they played earlier in the day. The memory that stands out is looking up at Chino Moreno as he was screaming from atop a monitor, with the glare of the sun shining from behind. It was like a shot from a music video directed just at me. It was magic.

This story would’ve been better if I said it was bassist Chi Cheng that made that magical moment, but that’s okay. Chi, who passed away early Saturday morning this weekend, was still a major part of that memory. He was up there playing those bass lines from ‘Root.’ He wasn’t just “part of the band.” He had a hand in everything. Without him, without any of those members, and the work they put into it over the years, they wouldn’t have played at Warped Tour that year. And that magical moment, with Chino, wouldn’t have happend for me.

That sun-soaked moment wasn’t the one magical point in my life where I proclaimed, “I’m going to make music the center of my life,” but it was a damn big piece of the overall picture that led me to where I am today. I met the band in 2010 when I booked them for a video interview with Noisecreep. Today, I’m sitting in a Starbucks in Columbus, OH and listening to ‘Adrenaline,’ holding back tears to ’7 Words.’ There’s enough magic in those three points in time for me.

Don’t ever trivilize the bands and musicians and the albums, nor the hardworking label people, tour support, writers, photographers, editors, and countless others. Don’t shake it off when you get chills listening to an album, embrace those goose-bump moments when seeing your favorite bands. Smile, cry, get it out! Music is magical; it’s life and love. If we cherish the moments we have with the music we hold dear, and spread those magic moments with loved ones, I believe we’ll carry on the memory of Chi Cheng for decades to come.

Unrelenting metal from Spain.

Dark, doom, and gloom.

Coarse, gritty, and grating metal from Germany.

Lovely metal from Denmark.

Sludgy, bass-heavy metal from Estonia. A crusher from beginning to end.

@skulltoaster Better late than never! I think I have more on vinyl/tape in MS. m/ twitter.com/robertobariton…

— RobertoNYC (@robertobaritono) March 28, 2013

This is my all-time favorite, when my @skulltoaster friends answer questions with photos of physical albums!

Inspired by @skulltoaster, #nowplaying some W.A.S.P. “The Idol” youtu.be/cv8yg4s-6h8 Long live metal ballads.

— Bruce Fraser (@BruceFraser) March 27, 2013

If any bit of metal trivia that gets published each day leads to someone listening to some classic metal, then Skull Toaster is a success.