New Member of New Transcendence: Audhinn Pelletier

July 22, 2019 Audhinn Pelletier Off All Posts,

Hello everyone! My name is Audhinn Pelletier, a new member to the New Transcendence family. This is my introduction, so I hope you enjoy.

Slice the Cake – Castle in the Sky artwork

I was born in Western Massachusetts, given the name Audhinn. The name comes from the Norse god Odin, but my mother didn’t want people nicknaming me Odi, the dumb dog from Garfield, so she altered it. Throughout childhood, I was raised with Metal in every part of my life. Most people may say that, but since the age of four I can remember hearing Type O Negative and Lamb of God being blasted in my living room while moshing in my underwear. When I was older, I started to focus more on music and decided I wanted to start playing music instead of just listening to it; after eight years of singing and guitar lessons, I started my own band in 2016.

Photo Creds: Arianna Albano, Big Spring Jam 4/19/19, the band I’m in called Orbitus

Metal music is something that made me isolated in middle and high school. I never understood pop references, never got in with any cliques, I was on my own. I started doing theatre work as a stage manager because I didn’t want attention on myself and, quite frankly, didn’t have enough confidence to get on stage. I started listening to musicals as time went on, but metal music was something that spoke to me; while Cannibal Corpse definitely didn’t pluck any intellectual stimuli, its vast anger spoke to me on a different level. The sheer aggression of bands such as Sworn In, Reflections, and others made me feel less alone even when I didn’t relate to others in the same room.

My current partner Alicia doesn’t enjoy Metal music. She says that she appreciates the musicianship, but says that “everything happens at once, and it makes me anxious.” This was intriguing to me; music is something that is interpreted differently by everyone, such as language. Music is a language that will ebb and flow within the consciousness of the listener, activating different parts of the brain and receiving whether there is enjoyment or not. As we started dating, I started to open up more to other genres of music, and it made me realize that there was more than just Metal music. I began to pick certain aspects of songs and I think of different ways that Metal could apply to it, such as throwing blast beats into songs like “All-Star” and others (thanks to 66Samus for making this come true). My mind is constantly riddled with ideas that I can execute with a pen, paper, and eight lovely strings.

Studying music throughout high school made me feel confident until it was time for me to go to college. I was too scared to audition for the Music Therapy program at Anna Maria College, instead taking to English. While John Mulaney has an entire skit about it, the versatility of language is as close to music as I could get. Double majoring with English and Business, I’ve become more strategic in approaches to life and, in a sense, it has made me a more tactical musician.

I am humbled and proud to be part of the New Transcendence family. I want to share the feelings that Metal music makes me feel. As I’ve grown older, my taste in music has changed. Originating with my favorite bands being Avenged Sevenfold and Arch Enemy, delving deeper into bands such as Mitochondrion or Necrophagist, my teen years were spent finding what music truly spoke to me. There are several albums that mark pinnacle points of my life, certain changes with what my taste was attuned to. So, to wrap up this introduction, here is a list of a few albums that show my progression throughout life. I can’t wait to share my reviews with you all.

Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare (the first time I started truly paying attention to music)
Arch Enemy – Khaos Legion (delving into heavier music)
Allegaeon – Fragments of Form and Function (finding out that aesthetics can be translated into music)
Necrophagist – Epitaph (discovering that Metal can get wild)
King Conquer – 1776 (“wow, I can’t understand him, but this hits like a truck full of bricks”)
Sworn In – XIII (“music can be angry… with lyrics I understand?”)
Slice the Cake – The Man With No Face/Odyssey to the West (the first time music truly spoke to me. Still my favorite band to this day, no matter what is released they will remain my most favorite and listened-to band)
Gift Giver – Shit Life (crashed my mother’s car driving to school with my permit, listening to the title track. Ironic)
Infant Annihilator – The Palpable Leprosy of Pollution (told my mom to buy me this album because it was “comedy”… she yelled at me after the first breakdown)
Reflections – The Color Clear (showed me that letting your heart bleed into music makes for intricate listening)
Rivers of Nihil – Where Owls Know my Name (veering away from sheer aggressive music, at this point I started to open my eyes to other genres and realized that I can listen to John Coltrane and Brain Drill)
Vale of Pnath – Accursed (the most recent pinnacle point – I got a new car, a job on my school’s campus, and New Transcendence accepted my submission of me writing about this album)