Tag Archives: Heavy metal

Reintroducing…

Third time’s the charm. Or so I’ve heard it said. Hopefully, that will be the case here.

I’ve tried the podcasting thing twice before to varying degrees of non-success, but it’s something I’d like to try again. While I don’t enjoy the sound of my voice, I do like using it to record things.

So, here’s why I’m telling you this. While I could record a monologue and make that a podcast, these aren’t necessarily to everyone’s taste. Perhaps a short Q & A format would be better, yes? If you agree, and if there’s anything you’d like to ask me about, then now is the time. It can be literally any topic! Just pop your questions into the comments section and I’ll answer what I’m able in the reboot of a little podcast series I like to call ‘The Crumbcast’.

And, look, I understand I’m nobody, but who knows? Me gassing on about whatever subject tickles your fancy could be… well, a gas. Okay… a gas for me. Okay, fine… I’m a gasbag. Is it getting gassy in here?

Yours precariously,
Tony!

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2026

Tumblevision #42

We’re coming to the end of Pride Month now. I wish we could officially celebrate our LGBTQIA+ friends all year round. Oh well, we’ll just keep doing that unofficially then. Y’all are totally metal!

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2026

Tati’s Father

In 2019, I visited with my creative partner, Tetiana, in Ukraine. I wanted to experience what everyday life was like for her there, and was lucky enough to stay for a period of about three months. I had known Tetiana for years by that point but not her family, who still welcomed me—a complete stranger—into their lives with open arms. They really were so very generous and accepting, treating me like I’d always belonged there. I’ll always be grateful for that.

I loved spending time with Tetiana’s family so much that I vowed to myself that I’d return one day. However, there will be one less person to greet me when that day finally comes. Sadly, her Father has just passed away. As you can imagine, Tetiana, and her Mother and Brother, are gutted—so am I, to be honest. Her Father and I often bonded over our shared love of heavy metal. We’d do devil horns as a greeting, and he’d comb through YouTube clips to introduce me to many of his favourite, classic bands.

While I was there, Tetiana and I cobbled together some personalised mugs as a gift to her family—a thank you for allowing me to stay with them. Along with loving all things metal, her Father was also a huge Beatles fan, so I’m sure you can tell what famous photo our own image was aping. The man on the far right there is Tetiana’s Father. He was so fucking cool, and I hope my drawing captures something of his indomitable, adventurous spirit.

Truly, he was a beautiful man, and the world is poorer without him. I miss him greatly.

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2025

PERFECTION IN ACTION // Heavy Metal Mauna

I opened my mouth and screamed at the top of my lungs. The wind snatched up my scream, carrying it far, far away to a land where all people are mute.

As a result, I too became mute, and was so for many years. The scream had left me completely spent, so I retired to bed and existed there in a state of perfect, perpetual sleep.

Meanwhile, those people in that faraway land had all caught the scream. They took it, they shared it, and they all began to talk to one another again.

And they’d never felt more awake.

by TETIANA ALEKSINA & TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2023

Sullen Earth

Is there a band whose music has been like an old friend to you down through the years? My Silent Wake has been that band for me. Hailing from the coastal town of Weston-super-Mare in England, they’ve been making doomy metal since 2005. And while the music itself may seem quite brutal and depressing, believe me when I say that it’s gotten me through some bleak times in my life.

There were many years of suicidal ideation, many years of crushing anxiety, many years of toxic religion. Throughout it all, the songs of My Silent Wake gave me a safe space in which I could unearth myself and actually breathe. I felt buried by life. I needed air. This music gave me that.

I’ve been doing much better for over a decade now, and listening to My Silent Wake these days continues to bring me joy. I feel moved by it, free because of it, maybe even a bit empowered by it. I am grateful that this band exists, and I’m grateful to all its members, past and present, who have made it what it is today. I recently shared an image I’d created with Ian Arkley—one of its founding members—as just a little thank you for… well, everything. Unbeknownst to me, he decided to set this image to the song it had been inspired by—called ‘Sullen Earth’—and put it on YouTube.

I’m grinning like a dope.

by TONY SINGLE
© All rights reserved 2022