A week earlier, I attended a stoner rock concert. The headliners were from Portugal. At the end of the concert, the bass player(I believe) said they just came from a gig in Italy and that they were clean, in the context of today´s main problem, the Coronavirus. In the end, he said: “F*CK CORONAVIRUS!”
As much as I would like to say that myself and as much as I would like that the show just goes on, man ought to be cautious in situations like this, and, of course, not panic.

In many countries, including my home country and my hometown, public manifestations are forbidden for a longer period. Furthermore, this will be a problem for the economy and event management. I am not an economy expert, but since our economy is relying too much on tourism, it is not an understatement to say that we could become like Moldova. Even now, heavy metal culture is still developing here and it is not even close to USA, Germany, Finland and so on. If this epidemic will not be solved quickly, it will definitely have a huge negative impact on the world of heavy metal and on the world itself.

In this text, I will try to provide practical solutions which can help you, your family and friends from getting the virus and try to provide some solutions which can help the heavy metal world “breath” as much as possible.

Practical solutions against the virus

  In situations like this, I think the best thing you can do is to consult with an expert and to learn about viruses as much as you can while taking preventive measures. First thing you can do is to make sure you have enough food and water. The more you have stored in your house, the less you need to go out. If “sh*t hits the fan”, you could consider growing your own food and find a source of water. Next thing you should have are soaps and hand sanitizers. Apparently hand sanitizers made from alcohol are the best for killing the germs. Soaps, of course, to keep your hands clean. I am not sure about the masks, but apparently, keeping your hands clean is much more important because there is less chance to get infected.
Elderberry juice(lat.Sambucus nigra) is apparently a strong antiviral juice that you could use or even make by yourself. You should watch for the roots and leaves because they are toxic. I would advise that you should prepare it carefully and try to consult with someone who knows how to prepare it. You could also try to find out if it grows in your area

Alcohol and alcohol-based disinfectants are also a good solution against the viruses because they are highly flammable.

I know that honey is good for killing bacteria and  for keeping the immune system strong, but I do not know how much honey can help against viruses.

If the water you want to drink is dirty and filled with bacteria, viruses and germs, you could try throwing silver or copper in it. Apparently it kills almost all of it after one night.

It is not much, but I hope this helps. Try to learn about this as much as possible, it could help in the future.

Heavy metal

  In situations like this, I believe that listening to music that you extremely like can lift your spirit up in no time. From personal experience, I can say that heavy metal can pump you up and calm you down when necessary. Perhaps if someone is an enormous Caribbean music enthusiast, that kind of music would have the same effect as heavy metal has on me. Music, in this case could, as a personal, and yet as an universal shaman, have placebo or adrenaline rush effects on people which could be really useful and helpful.
The second thing you could is just listening to heavy metal so the genre itself is not forgotten. Unforgetfullness is important if one wants to accomplish a continuum of something. There is of course uploading new songs and content so that the scene lives on.

Third thing you can do, if possible, is buying merch, so you can directly support them.

Behemoth stated on their Instagram page: “2. According to WHO the virus can´t survive on packages or products for more than very short amount of time. Online shopping is considered now as the most safe one. So, no risk you will get the virus because of us! Stay safe!”

On the other hand, apparently making cotton t-shirts needs very high amounts of water so it would not be environmentally friendly to make them in an abundance. That is a subject for another time which needs a further and deeper investigation.

You can always try to help locally as much as you can right now and staying in contact with relevant people.

I hope this helps. Try to educate yourselves on these things that I have listed, because not everything that I have wrote needs to be 100% correct. Take care of yourselves and the ones you love the most! Stay safe, stay healthy, live on and rock on!!!

                                                                                                     The Mage