I received assignments to write about heavy/aggressive/extreme music this week. I’ll be doing album reviews for About.com Heavy Metal, as well as a bi-monthly column for Portugal’s largest metal magazine, LOUD! To say that I am excited would be a major understatement. Both opportunities are a direct result of the story I wrote for Decibel Magazine’s blog—the Deciblog—this past January.

I have published music reviews in the past, but never on the scale of these two major outlets. I would like to publicly thank José Carlos Santos (LOUD!) and Chad Bowar (About.com Heavy Metal) for giving me a chance to write for a much wider, larger, and international audience. Much respect. I am both humbled and honored. I’ll be joining the ranks of some great writers.

Sometimes it pays to be a total geek about something. That “something” for me is music.

I can’t wait to get started.

JHS