Our original logo 

One year ago on this date, I built Kingdomz X Extreme Arts & Entertainment. It has been a long journey, and there have been lots of changes. I’ve become friends with many of you, and have supported your efforts when and where possible. It wasn’t easy. I didn’t have a job then, and I was spending money I really didn’t have to maintain this site. Still don’t have much yet, and I’ve yet to make a dime off of this site (not that it was my intention to in the first place). Along the way, there have been errors made, and even tragedy.

R.I.P. Manda Pendleton

Prior to building this site, I was in a really bad place. My health and social life were in the toilet, and I wasn’t sure if I would pull through. One day, I stumbled upon the Facebook profile of Amanda Pendleton, who was affectionately known as Manda, Queen of Brutality. Her genuine love and support of Heavy Metal and her awesome personality helped pull me out of the doldrums. It was she who inspired me to build this site, and for a very brief moment she was my administrator and “partner in crime”. Manda is responsible for many of you being members here now. Unfortunately, she died at the tender age of 34. If you want, you can visit her page here on this site, or her Facebook memorial page. The day I received news of her demise, I created a memorial video and posted a dedication here in her honor.

Since then, it has been an immense undertaking to manage Kingdomz X by myself, I’ve had to handle all duties which include technical work, member engagement, content management, and more. I’ve made some mistakes, and have learned from them. There were times I wanted to give up, but my undying love for Metal would not let me. I believe in this site, and know that we can provide you all with a better experience than either Myspace or Facebook. When members join, I leave a comment saying “we built the kingdom, but our members are its rulers”, and it’s true. Justin Timberlake owns Myspace, Mark Zuckerberg’s favorite artists are Taylor Swift and Jay Z, they don’t care or have an appreciation for our music. So who would you rather roll with?

Our second logo

Two months ago, I decided to change the tagline of the site from “extreme arts & entertainment” to “heavy metal entertainment”. This was done for two reasons:

1) It was too ambiguous, and didn’t say much about who we were. I grew up on Rock & Roll, before there was Punk, Metal, Thrash, Industrial or any of it’s other offspring. So it was natural that I created a social online community that embraced all of it. The tagline is the only thing that’s changed. Metal to me is a philosophy and an attitude, so I respect all forms of Rock and Metal. It doesn’t mean I like all of it (I don’t), but I will always respect the right of others to like what they like.

2) Our former tagline was making it impossible for us to get up there in search engines, so the tagline change was essential (when I realized my error, I was embarrassed because I’m supposed to be an SEO specialist).

Metal Master Kingdom

For those of you who joined after my broadcast the other day, you should know that we have recently formed an alliance with Metal Master Kingdom, courtesy of owner/founder Ingrid Newton. We’re still keeping things hush until further notice, but suffice it to say, things will get real interesting real soon around here.

To celebrate our first year, we’re having a contest. The first one we had here in 2011 received no response, though the two subsequent contests we’ve had at Facebook were (go figure). Check out our announcement in the events section for details. It may not be much, but I’m being cautious after last years failed attempt (we were giving away cash, still can’t believe we had no takers).

Those bands who have yet to submit content for our band promotional video, please read our guidelines here, and remit your clips and images as soon as possible.

One last thing I want to mention is this: We call ourselves a “kingdom”, but the fact is we’re secretly an empire. What this means you will soon find out. Those of you who have signed up here during our first year of existence are the First Family. You are the vanguard who will usher in a New Aeon of Heavy Metal.

Enough of me talking your ear off! You’ve got lives to live.

Horns high!
~Thunderbreath