4040
Greg Clayman

@clayman #4040

OG web3 talent guy (ex-a16z, Chapter One, Google, lotsa startups), trivia nerd, metalhead
364 Follower 211 Following
Probably time for me to start another streak (I was MIA and lost my 150+ day streak!) and count down my top albums of the year.

This was a reeeally good year for prog/power metal and I probably have 30 albums that are fighting for a top 10 spot, so I’m going to have to figure it out and narrow it down.

New streak starts tomorrow!
Late-entry contender for album of the year.

Right now I have it behind Azure - Fym. There was a lot of solid new music this year; going to make figuring out a top 10 pretty difficult!

https://youtu.be/yVTDjdHuivg?si=_mgb6J0pwR8MWtv7
Been raining here all week and going to continue to rain for another ~5 days.

For some reason this song always gets stuck in my head when it rains. And it's still one of their best tracks, IMO:

Poets of the Fall - Carnival of Rust
https://youtu.be/MKk1u5RMTn4?feature=shared
I've been sauna-ing every other day for the last month or so now and every single time I'm in there I'm singing Kiuas' 'Across The Snows' to myself as I stare at the lil sauna stove/kiuas:

🎵🎵 Yksinään hän vaeltaa mis varjot lankeaa
Halki usvan ja roudan vain teräs seuranaan
Sydämensä kylmä on kuin maa routainen
Mutta silmissään viha polttava kuin kiuas tulinen 🎵🎵

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6ocJWHs6qs
Worked like 62ish hours this week with two new clients (Provable and Plume - we’re hiring a ton, so this is a /jobs crosspost!) so I wasn’t able to get to the gym at all (I hadn’t missed a day in months before this week).

But it meant I got the pool all to myself around 7:00 PM on Friday night. Getting a little cold here, but swimming under the moon and stars made it all worth it
This worked fairly well last time I posted on here (met arguably the best DevRel I've ever spoken to :-) so let's try this again:

Currently hiring for a bunch of roles, mostly engineering (specifically Rust), but also a BD/sales position at an RWA company focused on institutional sales with neobanks.

I know most of y'all are in Thailand or on your way there, but if you're interested in exploring new opportunities now/when you get back, DM me and I'll run things by you.

US-based only though, can't sponsor Visas at the moment. SF and NYC or ability to relocate highly preferred.
Joined the 2000 yoink club!
I guess Savatage is back?

I'd also predict there's a very, very good chance they end up being one of the ProgPower headliners for the last festival in 2026 based on this news.
Welp, that was short lived. Hammerfall already dropped out.
ProgPower 2025 Day 1 announcement video:
https://vimeo.com/1021838560/f28703a949

tl;dw:
* Aries Descendant
* Secret Sphere
* Eclipse
* Green Carnation
* Hammerfall

Solid lineup! I'll be skipping Day 1 (have seen all these bands, less Aries Descendant, multiple times) because four days of this festival is too much time to take off, but this may be the best four-day lineup they've ever had.
Finally checking out TEMIC (they’re opening ProgPower next year) and not sure why I haven’t listened sooner. All my favorite musicians are in this project and I totally neglected it until now.

Super solid album; all the good stuff from Haken and Maraton with some really nice grooves

https://youtu.be/nS7Wx43HRYk?si=Hg2xMFlrLbMYFVc1
Smooth experience buying ProgPower tickets this year. That may be a first.

Ticketmaster fees were absolutely absurd though - $73 or something per ticket!
ProgPower tickets go on sale tomorrow!

Anyone else from /metal planning on going?
I guess we get Moxie for sharing today. And I don’t have any Moxie, so this is exciting
One of my favorite vocal performances.

Ascendia released one absolutely killer album ~10 years ago and have been dicking around making terrible pop/metal lately. Haven't released a second album yet but based on some of the clips I've seen, I don't even know if it'd be listenable

Ascendia - At The End Of It All:
https://youtu.be/AAJu0JEazw8?feature=shared
On /r/powermetal on Reddit, someone asked everyone’s favorite power metal albums from 2020-2023.

This was my list. Pretty weak, to be honest. Though 2024 has been solid - Sonata Arctica and Myrath are both my new #1 and #2 for this decade on this list.

Still a lot better prog and power metal-adjacent than pure power metal this decade though.
New Dragony album dropped today and my first impression is that it's not terrible!

Dragony - Dreamchasers
https://youtu.be/KB1JY2a2LMY?feature=shared
Ayreon announcing more live shows in September 2025!

https://youtu.be/uxrPI9heYIM?si=rSZQKvGOiefYwdY9

I’ve done the VIP thing for two of the previous three but I think I’m likely skipping this one, unfortunately. Have ProgPower the week before (though in the past I’ve done both) and not having worked since June means a depleted bank account, wompwomp
Been playing this every day but sharing for the first time.

Not a movie buff at all (and haven’t even seen 95% of these movies) but I’ve one or two guessed all of them so far; haven’t missed yet!
Getting crushed at the casino this week and this has become my go-to rage-in-the-car-on-the-drive-home song

https://youtu.be/91mBYino-oU?si=WRmhst61N66iAb_0
Veonity dropped their new lyric video for 'Carry On' today.

At one time these guys were one of my favorite bands but the last two (or three? I lost count) albums have been soooo generic. Not much to see here either, but if you want straightforward power metal, here ya go:

https://youtu.be/TgY45Mv-YLo?feature=shared
Borealis released this album two years ago today.

This track is one of my all-time favorite vocal performances. Matt Marinelli is the closest vocal comparison we have to Russell Allen, though there are times I prefer Matt’s tone even more (Russell has way better highs and vibrato though)

https://youtu.be/eiA99ht0ffs?si=7i-oM2f4bRmAqElg