Written by: Ingrid Newton

All of us, at some point in our lives, are dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, and great loss due to a death.  Finding ways to cope is key in our ability to handle these adverse times; to have the motivation to carry on and move forward.  With the help of Julie Morris, we will publish articles on how you may find the best way(s) to endure and cope with what life throws at us daily.  Remember, you are not alone and you are encouraged to reach out to those you trust when you feel you need emotional or psychological help.

​We look forward to your feedback on this article and any others we will publish in the near future here. 

​- Ingrid Newton 

Blog Author: Julie Morris

​The widespread access and use of the internet have made it extremely easy to learn new skills and hobbies online.  It is now incredibly easy to simply pull out your smartphone or sit down at your computer and learn anything you could ever want.  However, with so much access, it can be hard to figure out what to learn.  After all, if you can learn anything you want, where are you supposed to start?  Of course, some hobbies are better for you than others.  Some have inherent health benefits, while others can be downright damaging.  If you’re looking for some hobbies that are both fun and beneficial, give some of these a try.

Playing an Instrument

Learning to play a musical instrument has never been easier, thanks to sites like YouTube, Lessonface, and Udemy offering both free and fee-based lessons for every tunemaker under the sun.  Playing an instrument has all kinds of physical and mental health benefits, including a boosted immune system, better posture, and improved memory and focus.  If you’ve ever dreamed of becoming a rock star or concert pianist, surf the web for a course or instructor that will get you started toward becoming the next musical prodigy - and think about asking a friend to join you in your new hobby!

Dog Training

Dog training is a great hobby that can greatly affect your lifestyle and ease of living.  It can be extremely difficult to live with a canine that isn’t properly trained.  While some dogs just automatically make great companions, others need a little extra help to get started.  For example, you can’t really have friends over if your dog is dangerously fearful of people or extremely excited.  Furthermore, you can’t take your dog out if they aren’t trained on a leash or don’t know how to follow simple commands.  By learning how to train your dog by yourself online, you can open up a whole realm of possibilities.  Instead of leaving your pooch cooped up at home, you can take them out with you to explore the world!

As Rover.com explains, “Useful in so many situations, ‘sit’ is often the first command dogs learn. In fact, most dogs ‘sit’ on their own, so all you have to do is connect the command to the behavior.”  After you get through this basic command, it is time to move on to slightly more complicated but extremely important commands, such as “lay down” and “heel.”  According to Cesar’s Way, you should also teach your pooch “come” and “stay.”  Training a dog to walk correctly on a leash is also important, as is teaching them how to behave in public.  You can learn how to teach your dog many of these by following videos online.

Exercise

Most North Americans don’t get all of the exercise they need.  In fact, many get far below the daily recommended amount of exercise.  A huge factor that gets in the way of exercise is knowing how to do it appropriately.  Sure, everyone knows how to run, but if you don’t know what equipment you need or how hard you should push yourself, you can easily injure yourself, which can cause you to put off exercising altogether.  Learning how to exercise correctly is even more important if you’re planning on hitting the gym, where much of the equipment is commonly misused.  Back, shoulder, and ACL injuries are the most common exercise injuries, according to LifeHacker.  Luckily, you can learn many of these things on the internet.

Cooking

Cooking is a quickly dwindling art.  In our increasingly fast-paced society, it can be incredibly difficult to find the time to shop for ingredients, decide what to cook, and actually do the cooking.  However, the internet is full of recipes, cooking directions, and tutorials that make learning how to cook healthy dinners easy.  You can learn how to cook nearly anything online, and you can even order your ingredients online without leaving home.

With the internet, learning new hobbies is easier than ever.  With so much access to online learning, teaching yourself new skills that increase your well-being is fun and easy.

It is with great pleasure we announce an upgrade to our writing services and photo sales.  

REVIEWS
1. Paid Review – includes band pics, fully detailed written review, and a choice of one of the following features to be included: a newly released video, or embedding the bands bandcamp link, or one MP3/MP4 to upload our audio player, or embed the SoundCloud player. When payment is recieved by management for this paid service, a team member will be assigned, and we will publish the full review within 7- 10 days. Once we receive the completed submission form, we will make payment arrangements then. We will require EPK's if available, or the band will provide us with links and info related to the band and any ongoing projects. We will provide a link to payment options once we have reviewed the submission form and make contact with the band, or artist. 

Fees:
Album review: base fee of $35.00 and up + addition of features like Bandcamp, or You.Tube video, or Soundcloud shares, or an MP3/4 song upload at a fee of $5.00 per feature with a max of 3 features. 

Song review base fee: $20.00 + addition of features like Bandcamp, or You.Tube video, or Soundcloud shares, or an MP3/4 song upload at a fee of $5.00 per feature with a max of 3 features. 

FEATURED BAND fee - $25.00 (fee can increase if we are requested to either include more features, or if we are including material written by MMK member)

SONG / VIDEO PREMIERE: $20.00 - $30.00 

2. Regular Review – this is similiar to the paid service, just a scaled back version. We will provide a written review, the album cover pic, and basic band info. 

It's only fair to advise you that PAID reviews are given higher priority over REGULAR reviews. 

PHOTOS 
Our photographers would like to invite bands and artists to contact us for photo purchases featured at Metal Master Kingdom. Simply fill out the PHOTO REQUEST box below with your contact name, band or artist name, copy and paste the show review url containing requested photos, and if high or low resolution. We will reply to all requests at our earliest convenience. ​

Click below for the REVIEW & PHOTO REQUEST submission form: 
​www.metalmasterkingdom.com/metalmasterkingdomreviewsubmissonform.html

​“Downfall is an impressive effort…Their musicianship is first class…” – Hellbound

​With some bands, the second effort fails to live up to the majesty of the first record, and the album unfortunately is given the "sophomore slump" title.  However, there have been many second albums released over the years that managed to match the greatness of the debut, or surpass the debut in terms of greatness, and it turns out to be some of their best work ever.

After just doing a list of my favourite debut albums, I thought it would only make sense to follow it up right away with a list of my favourite sophomore albums.  With most of the albums featured below, you could see and hear how each band matured as songwriters and musicians.