New Music from Chat Pile!!!

Thanks to a big tip-off from Mr. Brown, I realized that Oklahoma City's Chat Pile dropped a new album this past Friday. I was really hot on their first album, God's Country, back in 2022, then the band kind of fell off my radar. This new one puts them back on in a BIG way; I'd have to say, this is the band I'd vote most likely to take up the mantle currently occupied by Godflesh in my life. With the penultimate Godflesh record arriving in just a few weeks, and the final one coming next year, I have a feeling Chat Pile is more than likely going to enter my regular rotation and stay there.

You can order the new Chat Pile record, Who Loves the Sun, HERE.

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NCBD:

A nice mix of the IP stuff and original series this week. 

This is homework from my DwC cohost Shin. Apparently this fascimile is the book where the Joker went from being the Cesar Romero version to a more psychopathic, modern version. 

The grand finale of the Event Horizon sequel! I've really enjoyed this book, considerably more than the prequel, but it will be cool in a few months to have the final series in this triptych begin and pave the way for an eventual full read-through centered around the film

Underwater action is always appreciated in the GIJOE universe, and this cover has me excited for it!

Odin took a little hiatus but is back. There's so much I love about this book, and dead nazis is only the start! Whatever nether realm these characters have found themselves in is creepy as hell, and this issue's cover is freaking me out just looking at it!

I've been waiting for this penultimate issue of Chris Condon, Andrew Enrich and Charlie Adlard's Of the Earth of a month and hot damn I cannot wait to dig in!

Thundercracker as part of Superion. Robert Kirkman continues to do all kinds of awesome new stuff with these characters. 

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Watch:

I saw Fall 2: Deadpoint this past Monday. This is the sequel to 2024's Fall, which I did not see. Honestly, I initially assumed I would skip this, too, until I saw the trailer on last month's Dread  Broadcast (watch our reaction HERE) and realized, my lack of gusto for this might be a defense mechanism. I mean, supernatural Horror is essentially comfort food at this point, but this? Absolutely terrifying.

The film on the big screen, at least, is just as terrifying and tense as I'd thought it might be. This is going to open a new line of thinking for me: rethink the Horror I dismiss. Next up will be October's adaptation of Daniel Kraus' Whale Fall, which also was an initial dismissal, but subsequently makes me feel really uncomfortable.

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Playlist:

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God Chapter 2

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Chat Pile - Who Loves the Sun

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST

Roughly Enforcing Nostalgia - Front Door Doxologies

Fear - Live... For the Record

Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine - Enhanced Methods of Questioning

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Knight of Cups

• Ace of Wands

• Knight of Pentacles

Follow the heart, as it will lead to breakthroughs that. Just don't be afraid to work for it (or through it, if there's pain involved).

I'm not really sure what this is trying to say, but I have an idea it might not be for me at all. 

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist - Witch Doctor

Take about stumbling across something you never expected. Skulking around on Bandcamp last Friday, I found this track from Erykah Badu & The Alchemist's album Before the World Blows Up. I was instantly hooked. I backed off a bit after an initial full listen to the overall album - I'm sorry, but it's pretty hard to take anyone seriously when they're still dropping N-bombs, especially on a modern soul record. There are a few other unfortunate instances of hip hop tropes that gum up the album's flow for me, but overall, this is pretty freakin' solid. 

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Watch:

By sheer chance, I read about Glenn McQuaid's new film, The Restoration at Grayson Manor in one of the most recent issues of Fangoria magazine shortly before ordering McQuaid's 2008 film I Sell the Dead during a recent Vinegar Syndrome sale, not realizing the latter was by the same filmmaker at all. I'd seen I Sell the Dead back when it first came out on video in the through-the-mail Netflix days, had thought about it now and again, and was excited to see it get a new transfer and release via VS's Glass Eye Pix/IFC partner labels. 

The Fangoria article definitely put Grayson Manor on my radar, and now I'm happy to see the possibility of a wide theatrical release. Full disclosure - I only watched about twenty-five seconds of the trailer but that's all I needed. There's something about the overall style here, combined with McQuaid's humor and the idea of "hand horror" in an Irish country manor that all combines to make me think this is going to be a great one.

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Playlist:

Young Widows - Decayed: Ten Years of Cities, Wounds, Lightness and Pain

Godflesh - In All Languages

Matthew Pusti - Onslaught OST

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist - Before TheWorld Blows 

Godflesh - New Flesh In Dub Vol. 1

Godflesh - Post Self

Chat Pile - Who Loves The Sun

The Cramps - Gravest Gravy

Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

The Cramps - RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX 

Isaac Hayes - The Isaac Hayes Movement

Miles Davis - Ascender pour l'échafaud

Chat Pile - God's Country

Lustmord & Dave Lombardo - Paleomagnetic Resonance (pre-release single)

Purest Form - Resistance EP

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

Dance with the Dead - Malombra

Ghost - Skeleta

The Jesus Lizard - Down

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Pino Donaggio - Her Private Hell OST

Black Pyramid - The Paths of Time are Vast

Iggy and The Stooges - Raw Power (1973 David Bowie Mix)

Chelsea Wolfe- She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming

Orville Peck - Bronco

Steely Dan - Aja

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Card:

Back to my trusty old Thoth deck this morning:

• 7 of Disks - Failure

• Ace of Cups

• 3 of Cups: Abundance

I need to change something proven. It will cause an upset that will feel like a failure at first, but will eventually lead to a breakthrough that will make my heart soar.

It's never a great thing to see a card like the 7 of Disks at first, but context always softens it. In The Book of Thoth, Crowley briefly breaks this card down as a warning as to what happens when all work stops. Dreams can die here. Thus, it takes emotion and will to keep the thread going and make something out of the nothing that sloth offers as a reprieve to working.

I love the obvious writing ones, that come directly after a session I can relate them back to. 

If This and Yes, Onslaught

From My Bloody Valentine's 2013 album, m b v, which I cracked out yesterday and realized isn't quite as pointless as I'd considered it for the last 13 years or so. 

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Watch:

Adam Wingard earned a place on my watchlist with You're Next. Since, I've not liked or seen most of what he's done, but he's still on that list. That's how much I dig You're Next. His new flick Onslaught hit theaters last night and K and I hit our local Regal for the mayhem.

Fantastic flick. Doesn't reinvent the wheel, but it's got a gnarly score that runs a gamut from 80s Carpenter vibes to Industrial, with a soundtrack that backs that up (Godflesh!). Co-written with Wingard's regular writing partner Simon Barrett, and as with their other flicks, aka The Guest, You're Next, etc, Onslaught makes some very interesting choices insofar as the way it tells its story, and I very much appreciated the fresh beats in a scenario we've definitely seen before. 

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Read:

Prompted by reading the first issue of Sean Murphy's new series, The Last Driver, which is laid out in landscape orientation instead of the typical comic book portrait, I dug out the two issues of JH Williams III and W. Haden Blackman's Echolands that I picked up back in 2021 shortly before I left LA. 

Probably because of the move, I never picked up issues 3-6 of Echolands and just kind of forgot about the series altogether. It's very easy to lose two issues of a comic in all the short boxes I have. Find them I did, however, and very quickly sought out the remaining issues on eBay. They arrived this week, and I had a chance to sit down and read the series to date (there's more coming!) over the course of Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I could not be more pleased I finally hunted these down!

Williams art is, as always, beyond belief. This rivals even Promethea, which still ranks as possibly the greatest visual storytelling I've ever seen. This? If for no other reason than how Williams incorporates the landscape format, might take the crown. The page directly above is an example of an issue where he tells two parallel stories simultaneously. It's just unreal. 

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Playlist:

The Besnard Lakes - Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO 

Joseph Bishara - Malignant OST

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies - Cathedral

Carlos Rafael Rivera - They Will Kill You OST

My Bloody Valentine - m b v

Roughly Enforcing Nostalgia - Front Door Doxologies

Pigface - Fook

Holy Fawn - Dimensional Bleed

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ten of Wands

• Three of Cups

* Ace of Pentacles

Use a new idea to get around blockage and save some time and frustration. Total writing nod. Love it. 

Nothing is Real in the Bulk Brane

From Boards of Canada's 2013 opus Tomorrow's Harvest, which I could listen to for days on end. Over on The Horror Vision, we recently did an episode titled, "Liminal Horror is Not YouTube Horror," wherein we dissected the concepts and origins of "liminal" storytelling for the modern age. Boards of Canada came up as a major sonic influence, and I'd say there may be no greater example of the liminal space the group creates in my own head than this particular song, which is both nostalgic and futuristic, tender and apocalyptic at the same time.

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NCBD:

Short list this week. Say thank'ee:

Jeff Lemire's wonderfully mysterious Minor Arcana continues and we're deep in an otherworldly hotel in an abandoned seaside town. Add in all the Tarot, and this is literally, right up my alley.

Yeah, my words last month for MASK #3 were something to the effect of, "unless something huge happens, this will be my last issue of MASK." Then I read issue three, reached the end and saw Baron Karza from Micronauts and, yeah, I'm sticking around for that. 

Batman 13 - hoping this issue pushes the Vandal Savage stuff out into that Bad Seeds mini-series book spinning out of this and we can focus on other plot points for a while.

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Watch:

My good friend Dan surprised the hell out of me yesterday by sending me a copy of Ben Wheatley's latest film (well, being the prolific dynamo he is, Wheatley directed two films so far this year, the Bob Odenkirk action hit Normal and...) Bulk. This played at Beyond Fest Chicago back in April, and while Dan, his girlfriend Heidi and I made it to Normal (not realizing Wheatley directed it until the credits rolled), we did not score tickets to Bulk. 

Dan ordered this beautiful BR/4K combo from Wheatley's Rook Films, and upon holding it in my hands, my excitement skyrocketed. I thought I'd posted a trailer for this months ago, but maybe not. Regardless, going in, I only knew two things: that Bulk was shot in B&W and that dealt with Brane Theory in some capacity.

I LOVE that Rook Films used a computer program to construct a trailer out of random images from the film. This ensures you see enough to get the juices flowing, but not enough to give anything away. All I'll say other than I wholeheartedly recommend this film (especially for fans of the Director's other work), is that this pays more than a little homage to the classic British television SciFi of Nigel Kneale, and I absolutely adored it.

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Christmas Bloody Christmas

John Harrison - Day of the Dead OST

Joseph Bishara - Malignant OST

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath

Roughly Enforcing Nostalgia - Front Door Doxologies

Quicksand - Bring on the Psychicx

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Eldritch Lace Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Nine of Cups

• 17: The Star

• Seven of Wands

Everything's coming up Milhouse. 

Casper Kelly's Buddy

From 2006's "3" double disc. Love this so much. I've really been getting back into a lot of the darker ambient stuff I've amassed over the years, and Final's third album released after their seven year hiatus is one of my favorites. This track, the closer on the second disc, is probably my favorite. This takes me places, man. Hahaha.

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Watch:

I'll admit, when I first head mention of Buddy and saw the teaser image of what appeared to be a man in a unicorn suit holding an axe, I immediately dismissed it as another Five Nights at whatever knock off and forgot about it. Then, Anthony from The Horror Vision happened into it at last week's Scream Unseen and relayed his approval to the rest of us on the show, so I grabbed tickets for Friday night. I'm oh so glad I did, because folks, this movie is INSANE!

Here's what I did not know: Buddy is the brainchild of Writer/Diretor Casper Kelly, who did Adult Swim's Yule Log - also completely insane - and the "Cheddar Goblin" segment in Panos Cosmatos' Mandy. And that's really all you need to know, other than you will be hit with a succession of WTF moments unlike anything else out there in cinema at the moment. This may well be the return of the Freaked/Dark Backward mission statement, and I for one welcome it! Casper Kelly - you have a fan for life from this moment forward, sir!!!

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Playlist:

Jim Williams - Possessor OST

Metallica - Ride the Lightning

Dreamkid - Daggers

The Afghan Whigs - Soft Control

Windhand - Soma

Blut Aus Nord - 777: Cosmosophy

Portishead - Dummy

Low Cut Connie - Livin' In the USA

Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun

Russian Circles - Nine

Ash Borer - Cold of Ages

The Fixx - Reach the Beach

Arab Strap - The Red Thread

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• V: The Hierophant

• Knight of Pentacles

• XIV: Temperance

Taking this as a nod that I am back on the right path with saving money. Plan is to increase double-down on mortgage payments starting next check.

RIP Peter Cullen

 

I had something completely different set for today, but for obvious reasons, this won out. Damn. What a fucking week. The really eerie thing was, I received the news of Cullen's death about an hour after I finally bought tickets for the 40th anniversary screening of Transformers: The Movie on September 17th. Something tells me that screening is going to take on a whole new meaning after this news. 

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Watch:

I FINALLY got to see Jane Schoenbrun's new film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma! This was a long, hard road folks.

After waiting weeks to see if any theaters around me would get this, my Clarksville Regal picked it up last Thursday. I grabbed a ticket and sat my ass in the seat at 9:20 PM, only to have a sudden, horrible realization as the trailers played and I found I could not understand nor barely hear the dialogue.

Do you remember me talking about the crappy sound on that 20th Anniversary remaster release of Neil Marshall's The Descent two weeks ago? Well, it wasn't the film. Both of that and my first attempt a seeing Miasma were on screen 10 at my Regal. When I walked out to talk to an employee about this, I was told this was a "known issue."

A known issue, and they kept using that theatre for screenings? Total bullshit. 

I ended up walking out without seeing the film. I filed a complaint with Regal, and perhaps because of that, Tuesday night I noticed they had moved the film to a different screen for one time slot on one night - 10:45 PM last night. So, despite the fact that I've been asleep by 11:00 a couple times already this week, I trudged out at 10:35 PM last night, drove ten minutes to my theatre and put my arse in yet another seat.

Speechless. I would not have guessed in a million years that the fact that the fictitious slasher's name "Little Death" is actually a reference to one of the underlying concepts of the Illuminates of Thanateros; "Little Death" or "La Petite Mort" as a euphemism for the orgasm, which is kind of the hub of the entire film.

I'd have to say I still like I Saw the TV Glow the best of Schoenbrun's work, but goddamn are they on a roll. I am onboard for anything they do. Which includes their first novel, which I pre-ordered earlier today.

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Read:

After just discussing it on Drinking with Comics this week, I received my copy of Humanoids Press' English language translation for the classic Metal Hurlant. 

This is volume 5 - I only just became aware of this. 

I have been wanting to read this magazine for years! There was a time when I would just google the covers and artwork and state at it. So many of the Sci Fi flicks I grew up with were inspired by this - chief among them Blade Runner and Alien - so I think it's great Humanoids is translating and re-releasing these. 

Hurlant was a magazine back in the 70s/80s, but here they're collecting them in pretty nice soft or hardcover editions that must compile stories from multiple issues, though I'm not sure yet what the grouping strategy is. Apparently there are new stories mixed in as well, but for someone reading these the first time through, I can't tell what's what (or at least not yet).

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Playlist:

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

The Ocean - Fluxion

Final - 3

The Ocean - Aeolian

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Spotlights - Love & Decay

Mountain Realm - Beastbane

Chelsea Wolfe - The Dark

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight (pre-release singles)

Judas Priest - Firepower

Judas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance 

The Afghan Whigs - Soft Control

The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

Chris Isaac - Forever Blue

The Damned - Darkedelic

Canadian Rifle - Peaceful Death

Russian Circles - Gnosis

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Eight of Pentacles

• Nine of Swords

• King of Pentacles

• Two of Swords

I had it in my head to try a new layout. Not sure if there is a pre-existing name for this one or not, it just presented itself to me. Let's dig into it!

The work I'm putting into 'work' has gotten a bit uneven. It follows me into my weekends and off hours, and I need to back the fuck up or I'm going to end up stuck in a creative stalemate. The Two of Swords as the final card indicates resolution is on its way, but the King of Pentacles suggests it may take a while...

RIP Dolly

Wow. Dolly Parton. I can't claim to be the biggest fan of Dolly's music, not because I don't like it; I'm just not familiar, but as a human being? Among the greatest of our era. RIP.

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NCBD:

Lots of stuff I am looking forward to this week, including some new titles. 

We begin with a new Stuff of Nightmares one-shot! I have loved every issue published under the Stuff of Nightmares banner, and I expect nothing different from this.

A new Rick Remender book! I've picked up a few first issues from some of his other recent series and nothing really moved me - still quality work, just not my thing. Hammerfist looks like it might change that. Gorgeous Steve Epting art to boot. Very excited for this one!

The final issue of Fall of the House of Slaughter should pave the way for whatever shake-up is about to happen in SIKTC issue 50, out October 7th.

This book looks and sounds very old-school Vertigo. That's calculated, of course, but I'm here to give it a shot. Here's the solicitation blurb from League of Comic Book Geeks:

"OCCULT WARFARE IS A FANTASY... OR IS THAT WHAT THEY WANT YOU TO THINK? Twenty-three-year-old Darren Burroughs out of Audubon, PA, is a gifted rookie sent under the guise of a diplomatic aide to train with Division Nine — an obscure, outdated, and easily dismissed arm of British intelligence that specializes in dealing with paranormal incidents. In the right sort of spy circles, they're known by a different, more feared name... Black Tower. 

It's 2026, and in the age of cyber warfare and drone strikes, someone is plotting to steal the head of a giant-king to break a centuries-old ward that has kept invading forces out of Britain. Magic and espionage collide as the Black Tower's band of misfits, led by the enigmatic Alistair Romeo, delves into a maelstrom of spells and silencers, working against time and in the shadows to fight the esoteric battles bubbling under the surface of our visible wars."

Finally, ROM arrives in the Energon Universe in a proper way this month with these two books:

With ROM and now Micornauts, you have to ask yourself what's next. 

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Watch:

I first caught wind of Emily Bennett & Justin Brooks' Blood Shine last month when the most recent issue of Fangoria landed at my door. There's a great article about the film that immediately put it on my radar. Now we get our first trailer:

Dark Sky Films has become a force for good in the Horror genre, and when you add in Larry Fessenden as the cult leader, oh boy! I cannot wait. This is currently a $6.99 rental on Prime, so odds are we'll be watching this one over the weekend. 

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Roughly Enforcing Nostalgia - Front Door Doxologies

Metallica - Garage Days Re-Revisited

The Ocean - Aeolian

The Ocean - Solaris (pre-release singles)

The Ocean - Holocene

Cliff Martinez - Only God Forgives OST

The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - Data Doom

The Besnard Lakes - Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO

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Card:

From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.

• Ace of Swords

• Six of Cups

• Eight of Swords

Revitalized by recent developments, I definitely have a clearer perspective on things. Still haven't passed the stone - or at least I'm pretty sure of that - but I feel better these last few days, and I think a lot of that comes from, as the cards say, information. 

UPDATE: Thinking about the cards again. As is my custom, I left the spread on my desk all day so I could contemplate it off and on. That usually doesn't really amount to much - the day's tasks and responsibilities accumulate and I just kind of stop seeing the cards, let alone end up with any time to think or read about interpreting them further. Today, though, I'm thinking about the Ace of Swords, a card I habitually associate with "Breakthrough" when looking at the Thoth version. 

This card represents the bridge to the unconscious mind. It also has to do with perception, i.e. awakened perception. Seeing what was missed. In this case, the Eight of Swords suggests an inner problem. I'm having a hard time tying the Six of Cups in here, but I think it goes without saying there's something I'm struggling with that will soon crack wide open in a way that I will gain a new understanding. One that, hopefully, will alleviate the issue. This may very well still tie into my health, but now I'm thinking there's something more.