When All Reason Departs, We're Left with an Onslaught

I was stopped cold when I realized the robotic vocal samples in this are direct quotations from Aleister Crowley's Magick: Liber ABA. 

There's a wonderfully dark throughline of spirituality gone awry on this record, and while I feel like I've only just started to scratch the surface, it's proving to have quite a hold on me. I listened to Inferno multiple times in a row yesterday, and each go 'round felt different.

 

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NCBD:

A light week and a welcome respite after last week's financial apocalypse at the store. I never got around to posting a "NCBD Addendum," but let's just say my wallet got hit upside the head. 

Is this new Event Horizon series bi-monthly? I had forgotten all about it. 

Finally caught up on issue 2 last weekend, so I'm primed for a new chapter in Andry, Daniel and House's Seaside Horror tale, Estuary!

DC is relaunching Deadman under the penmanship of Ice Cream Man's W. Maxwell Prince. I have the complete Kelley Jones Deadman on my shelf because it's Kelley Jones, so I'm not necessarily attached to the character. Still, I'm curious.

Love the cover, love the book. Fraction and Jimenez are tearing shit up in their Batman book, and I'm here for it.

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Watch:

I caught the trailer for Adam Wingard's new film, Onslaught, this past Saturday ahead of Backrooms. Looking forward to this one:

Serious (and obvious) Terminator vibes, and I'm okay with that. Wingard is a curious Director; I'm a huge fan of some of his work, other stuff... not so much. This looks like it will be a blast, and I'm not expecting anything other than unmitigated violence.

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Playlist:

Adam Egypt Mortimer - The Obelisk

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Ian Lynch - All You Need is Death OST

High on Fire - Death is this Communion

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Revocation - New Gods, New Masters

Revocation - Netherheaven

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Card:

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

• Six of Wands

• 06: The Lovers

• Nine of Pentacles

Victory comes from a connection, collaboration, but not at the cost of independence. 

The World Becomes Flesh Here in the Backrooms

Friday, Inferno, the first Boards of Canada album in 13 years, came out. I drove to the theatre to see Repo! The Genetic Opera listening to it.

Saturday, I woke up and had a 1:30 PM screening of Kane Parson's Backrooms. I drove to the theatre listening to something else, planning to make my next engagement with Inferno more than just a thirteen-minute dalliance within which I could not fully grasp the entire eighteen-track sequence. Since first being introduced to The Backrooms by good friends circa January 2024, I'd struggled to pinpoint what, exactly, the show reminded me of. While rewatching it last weekend, I realized The Backrooms reminds me of a visual translation of Boards of Canada's music. There's the glitchy, fuzzy, analog technology represented in both, as well as that haunting liminal space, of transition, of between.

When my screening of Backrooms ended, I was shocked to hear "The World Becomes Flesh" from Inferno as the score for the film's end-credit crawl. Not only did that cement my anecdotal theory that Parson (née Pixels) was influenced by BoC's music, but the group held the release date of their first album in thirteen years to coincide with the release of the film.

Wow. Analog ghost worlds, baby. Analog ghost worlds...

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Watch:

Most everything I have to say about this is above. Well, except of course that I really dug the adaptation to the big screen.

Previous YouTuber-to-Director endeavors like Iron Lung and Skinamarink made me a bit nervous, but holy cow, Parsons delivered something that the others, in my opinion, did not.

He turned what is essentially a tone-piece into a cinematic motion picture. One of the best examples of what I'm talking about is character development. I think this was what I was most worried about, but he nailed it. Clarke and Mary are both fantastic characters, and it made Backrooms a much better film than I think anyone expected. This is an unparalleled success, and I can't wait to see where Parsons goes from here. 

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Playlist:

Boy Harsher - Careful

Napalm Death - Resentment Is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes)

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Silent -Modern Hate

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Mother's Milk

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP

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Card:

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

• King of Pentacles

• Ace of Swords

• Three of Wands

Earthly matters may dictate much of my life and keep my brain running in the circles of coping with the world, but it only takes a moment of perfect mental clarity (read: vacuity) to kickstart a new adventure free from the confines of the daily 'grind.'

Lost Music from The Cramps!!!

From the upcoming historical anomaly Gravest Gravy, out on Midhaven Records. Pre-order HERE.

This is fascinating for multiple reasons. First, apparently, Henry Rollins and Ian MacKaye worked on this, "tape restoration, editing, mixing, mastering and lacquer cutting duties (in partnership with Inner Ear Studios and Infrasonic Sound).

Here's part of the solicitation blurb from Midhaven's website:

“In October 1977, the Cramps ventured into Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee with producer and Cramps translator extraordinaire, Alex Chilton. The band had planned on recording their song ‘TV Set,’ as an A side, along with another track or tracks. Mr. Chilton told them the way he liked to work was to have a band record a lot of songs and from that they would pick the best of the bunch.[...] “What happened to the rest of the tracks from those auspicious days in October 1977? In 2026, Larry Hardy, owner and operator of In The Red Records, rappelled down, deep into the vast, sunless vault of the Cramps tape collection, and resurfaced hours later, disoriented and out of breath, but overjoyed with what he’d returned to topside with: six ¼” reels of tracks, mixed by Lux [Interior] and [Poison] Ivy..."

Wow. Just wow. I can't wait to get my hands on this one. Talk about a chunk of history.

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Watch:

Heading to see this in theatres tonight and I could not be more excited!

I don't remember when I first saw Darren Lynn Bousman's 2008 Repo! The Genetic Opera. Sometime around when it first hit video. I bought it pretty much instantly, and have watched it countless times since, although not for more than a couple years now. Last viewing was probably in a cemetery in Long Beach with a shadow cast a la Rocky Horror. It was awesome, but now it's time to see it in a theatre on the big screen for the first time!

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Playlist:

Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

Boy Harsher - Careful

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone OST

Burzum - Filosofem

Dark Providence Episode 1

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Card:

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

• Page of Pentacles

• Six of Cups

• The Hanged Man

Seven Days of The Reverend Horton Heat - Day 1: Is It Just Me?

Man, I pulled out a handful of old Reverend Horton Heat records the other day, and I was shocked at how something I love so much could have fallen so far out of my everyday world. It's Martini Time, Liquor in the Front, and Full Custom Gospel Sounds were a large part of my world back in the late 90s, and revisiting them made me realize I have to bring them back into my life on a regular basis. 

To start, I think I'm kicking off Seven Days of The Rev here on this page. First up: A Sabbath-inspired dirge from the 1996 masterpiece, It's Martini Time. Fuck - I was 20 when this came out. THIRTY YEARS AGO.

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NCBD:

Ying and yang on full display here lately. Not too long ago, I voiced forlorn sentiments about everything I read being IPs from my childhood, repackaged for adults. Nothing against that stuff, 'cuz, ya know, I love it, but I missed having a Preacher, The Walking Dead, Transmetropolitan, Vertigo series, etc. 

Now look at this.

As I mentioned last month, the first issue of a book taking the moniker Pretty Hate Machine has a lot to prove. I'm not sure we got quite that far, but the setup in issue one has me back for more. We reviewed this on Drinking with Comics HERE.

Now, the first issue of Red Roots? Best comic I've read all year, so I am definitely in on this one. Mike Shin and I reviewed this on Drinking with Comics HERE.

I still have to read the first issue of the 'long lost' Veitch/Mandrake Swamp Thing story from the 80s. I bought it, but somehow... misplaced it? Perfect excuse to read both of these back to back this weekend.

The "Quintesson War" ends, and we'll see if it's with a whimper or a bang. We talked about on DwC HERE, our disappointments juxtaposed with expectations.

 

A Condon/Phillips Noir - what more can you ask for?

One Energon Universe title and the rest, well, while I'm not ready to put any of these on par with Preacher or Walking Dead, you get the point. All nonexistent IPs prior to these books. Joy rainth down upon mine life like money from a One Wish Willow.

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Watch:

I rewatched Ben Wheatley's Kill List last night. One of my favorite films. Period. I love the characters in this film SO much. It's not just because I'm a huge Michael Smiley fan - Gal, Shel and Jay all really connect for me. They're the vital heart at the center of a vile black malestrom.

I enjoy listening to Mr. Wheatley talk about his films almost as much as I enjoy watching them. Case in point.

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Playlist:

The Sword - Age of Winters

Witchfinder - Forgotten Mansion

The Ocean - Anthropocentric

The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Palaeozoic

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Atrium Carceri - Kapnobatai

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Cure - Pornography

NIN - With Teeth

How To Destroy Angels - Eponymous EP

High on Fire - Cometh The Storm

Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March

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Card:

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

• 14: Temperance

• Page of Cups

• Five of Cups

Normally I'd try and go a little more in-depth on my pull, but it's way late and I'm tired. Art and Emotion. That's all I've got at the moment (but it's probably the two fundamental building blocks of "me," so that works). 

I Am the Tiger

I rewatched Bryan Fuller's Dust Bunny last night, and I'll be damned - I actually liked it even more upon this second watch! This is one of the most beautiful films I've seen in a while, and it's allll Bryan Fuller. Very much reminds me of Pushing Daisies from back in the day (at some point, I would really like to rewatch and finish the paltry two seasons of that show, which I absolutely underestimated upon first watch but slowly grew to love back when those first DVD collections were released circa 2006/2007).

Anyway, I'm not one for ABBA. In fact, back in the early 00s, before I left Chicago, I used to hang out at a bar called The Roadhouse (no, Jeff Healy did not have a residency there) on Monday nights, and a joke that went around the place was, if someone would put "Dancing Queen" on the jukebox, I would finish my beer and leave. That said, ABBA's "I Am the Tiger" plays over the final credits to Dust Bunny, and it's perfect! 

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Watch:

A trailer dropped for Victorian Psycho, the film adaptation of Virginia Feito's novel of the same name that has been on my radar since it came out only last year. 

As one of the comments on the video's page points out, this is a proper 'teaser,' as it doesn't really show any coherent details about the story, which is always a plus. Add in Maika Monroe, and I'm hoping this sees a theatrical release. 

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Playlist:

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

The Sword - Age of Winters

Mascara - Hla-11Tf EP

Massive Attack and Tom Waits - Boots on the Ground (single)

Massive Attack - 100th Window

Deftones - Koi No Yokan

Anthrax - Spreading the Disease

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

Landroid - Imperial Dunes

The Reverend Horton Heat - It's Martini Time

The Reverend Horton Heat - Liquor in the Front

Foxy Shazam - Dark Blue Night

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

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Card:

Drawing from the Thoth again today.

Direct reference to something creative I should have done today and did not. I'll pick up that slack tomorrow. 

New Music from The Veils!

Another fabulous new track from The Veils. I still haven't seen an announcement pertaining to a new album, but my eyes are open. 

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Watch:

Eli Roth is really hit-or-miss with me. When I first heard about his new film, Ice Cream Man, the person who told me about it described it as an adaptation of W. Maxwell Prince's Horror Anthology comic of the same name, published by Image Comics. Turns out that's not the case; this is a new, original film from Roth. And where, a few years ago, I would have approached a new Roth movie with more trepidation. After Thanksgiving, though, I'm willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. I can't say I've cared for anything else he's done movie-wise, but I love to listen to Roth talk, and his short-lived Las Vegas Goreatorium was one of my favorite things when I experienced it circa 2012.

This trailer does a good job of not oversharing or selling, but one thing really got me here - the blood snow angel. So yeah, I'll take two scoops of f*cked up sh*t on a waffle cone, please.  I just hope it tastes as good as that turkey from a few years ago.

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Playlist:

Jóhann Jóhannsson - Mandy OST

sunn O))) - Loser

Flying Lotus - You're Dead

Boy Harsher - Careful

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Metallica - Kill 'Em All

Iggy Pop - Lust for Life

The Veils - Little White Bird (Fragile World) Single

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Card:

One card from my trusty Thoth deck for tonight, 'cuz I'm tired. 

Read between the lines.

Taratoa Stappard's Mārama.

 

Napalm Death covering Slab. With backup singers! This shit is nuts. A big, thick slab of sonic knuckle in your face to kick off Wednesday. From 2022's Reesentment is Always Seismic (A Final Throw of Throes). I don't know how it's taken me until age 50 to get into Napalm Death, but it happened.

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NCBD:

A couple of "Maybes" I'm including today for various reasons. I'll explain as I go. Big week if I bring all this home.

So, apparently, I'd been buying this off the shelf, neglecting to sub, so I never ended up with issue 3. I dig it, but the books are starting to add up, so I'm tempted to let Thundarr go. We'll see. 

The end of the series. I can't say I've completely followed everything that's happened in Liam Sharpe's Spawn: The Dark Ages, but it's been profound to say the least. The homage to Wrightson's Frankenstein really helped win me over, but really, this man just makes beautiful, challenging art. Who would have ever thought you'd find that in a Spawn book? 

Condon and Adlard? Take my money.

Misommar meets Green Room? Really? That sounds insane. Add to it that Tynion is writing it and I'm in. 

Okay, I've seen this "Dire Wraith" technology or whatever it is (The Hallucinatory green stuff on the cover there) in the solicitations for some of the recent figures - all passes for me - and I'm curious to see how this goes down in the pages of GIJOE. I'm also loving the idea that Crystal Ball will be yet another independent faction in this total melee of factions. That's this book's strong point. It's not just Joe and Cobra. It's at least half a dozen agendas if not more by now (Arashikage, Dreadnoks, Raptor, Blud, etc). 

One of the funest books of the year, and one that has such a 'Summer vibe." Why? I don't know - maybe because when I was a kid in the 80s, summer sometimes meant hanging out at an arcade with friends, playing Double Dragon, and if there's one major pop culture entry in Death Fight Forever's DNA, it's Double Dragon. Jeez - just saying Double Dragon brings on a super strong nostalgia. No wonder I love this book. Which, incidentally, is SO much more insane than DD could ever hope to be. 

Writer Pornsak Pichetshote's graphic novel Infidel from a few years back was one of the genuinely frightening comics I'd read in years, so to see his name attached to the Absolute Green Arrow series being described as "A Horror book" really piqued my interest. 

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Read:

Last night I drove up to the Belcourt in Nashville to see Taratoa Stappard's Mārama.

I knew zero about this going in. Mārama takes place in 1859, North Yorkshire, where Mārama has traveled from her native New Zealand, the home of her Maori ancestors, to meet a man who claims to know her origins. Mārama is an orphan who never knew her parents, so the pull is strong. 

I have seen this described online as a Maori Gothic Horror, and that pretty much hits the nail on the head. This is a gorgeous film, but it is also infuriating. Colonialism is ripe for remembering, with so many in our modern age eager to either celebrate the worst history has to offer or ignore it. Ariāna Osborne is magical and intense as the lead; her unshakeable identity and fury are a balm for her would-be oppressors. 

Definitely support this on the big screen if you can - the costumes, sets and camera will work pay off dividends if you do. 

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Playlist:

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone 2 OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
King Woman - Celestial Blues

The Sword - Age of Winters

The Doors - L.A. Woman

The Bangles - All Over the Place

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven 

Palesketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed

Jesu - Lifeline EP

Jesu - Silver EP

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Blackbraid - Celestial Womb EP

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Burial - Untrue

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Card:

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

• 20: Judgment

• Nine of Cups

• 17: The Star

Renewal and fulfillment. I feel this after last. Genuinely - driving up to Nashville later at night is a pleasant drive, and sitting in a theatre I love watching a film I knew nothing about really helped put me back in my preferred perspective. Top that off with a short but powerful writing session beforehand, and yes, today I feel renewed.