Godflesh - Living/Ending

From the just-released penulimate Godflesh record, Decay, which you can order from Relapse Records HERE. This went directly to the top of my list for favorite albums so far this year, and I doubt anything still to come will unseat it. This track in particular, with its heavy breathing at the onset, really speaks to where JKB is at this point. Or so it would seem from an outsider's perspective. 

Kudos on the packaging for this, as well. The record came with a slip mat, sticker and poster. All the bells and whistles, as my grandmother might have said (had she been into Godflesh, which she was not).

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NCBD:

A nice, easy week, but thrilling nonetheless:

The Amazing Spider-Man issue 1000. Wow. I think the first issue of this book I ever bought was #289, so that gives you some perspective. I have zero idea what is going on, continuity-wise, in this book. Doesn't matter. As always, I'm taping in and will tap back out after. But I couldn't miss this one.

I LOVED the first issue of Rick Remender and Steve Epting's Hammerfist SO MUCH that I've been thinking about it all month. 

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Read:

I'm all but tuned out on Shudder of late, and all my issues (see HERE) are only exacerbated by the fact that it's been obvious to me they've slowed down on funding good, new films. There was a time a few years ago where Shudder originals landed constantly, like one a month. And most were excellent, even if they weren't all to my taste. I'm not sure that's true anymore. This, however, looks worth waiting for.

first, there's praise from Stephen King on this one currently circulating where he compares the film to "The Thing meets Silence of the Lambs."

Second, it's co-written and directed by Jordan Downey, whose Headhunter I bought when it came out after we covered it on what I'm realizing now is a very early episode of The Horror Vision. That's enough for me. 

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies - Cathedral

John Corigliano - Altered States OST

Glenn Danzig - Black Aria

Danzig - Danzig III

Godflesh - Decay

Fear - Live... For the Record

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Card:

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

• 04: The Emperor

• Ten of Pentacles

• Page of Wands

Imposing structure only goes so far - I'm lacking a flash of inspiration in my writing this new and unexpected section of Shadow Play Book 2. Hoping that comes on soon.

New Music from Godflesh!!!

 

The new album Decay is out next Friday!!! Pre-order your copy HERE.

 

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Watch:

First trailer for one of my most anticipated films of the year - Takashi Miike's Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo. 

Probably about a year out of high school I saw the first, Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutenant for the first time and was enamored with it the same way I was enamored with a lot of that 80s/early 90s crime cinema. Except, Bad Lieutenant had a considerably more "What the actual fuck?" factor I never could pin down until a rewatch about twenty years ago: there's no plot. I mean, I guess you can say the Nun or Keitel's gambling debt serves as something of a plot, but really those are background threads. The main film is just a diary of debauchery and I love it.

When I saw Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Ports of Call, I was once again blown away. This is back in the 00s when probably 70% of what Nick Cage did constituted hard passes for me, but Herzog drew me in and he did not disappoint. Neither did Cage, whose performance is frenetic, funny, and at times, heartfelt. "That was my favorite crack pipe." Need I say more?

I'm not a huge Takashi Miike fan; frankly, I'm afraid of many of his films. But what I've seen I've dug and this just seems like the best idea. Or, at least as good an idea as NWR doing Maniac Cop. 

What a glorious age of cinema we live in, even as the proprietors of the business perpetually attempt to destroy it.

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Playlist:

Windhand - Eternal Return

Black Sabbath - Sabotage

Black Sabbath - Vol. 4

Chat Pile - Who Loves the Sun

Hangman's Chair - Saddiction

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicenter

High on Fire - Cometh the Storm

Blut Aus Nord - The Mystical Beast of Rebellion

The Afghan Whigs - Soft Control

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Card:

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

• Ace of Cups

• King of Swords

• XVI: The Tower

A breakthrough of intellect will topple outdated ideas I have about something close to me and open a new path. 

I'm doing a pretty deep rethink on a certain aspect of the Shadow Play sequel, and I believe this is a direct reference to making more progress with that.

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. 

New Music from Godflesh!!!

From the forthcoming record Decay, out September 25 on Relapse Records. Pre-order HERE. 

Going back to that health update from Justin K. Broadrick back in early March, this is the penultimate Goflesh record. That gives me chills.

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R.I.P.:

We had an erroneous sneak peek at this post on Wednesday when I pasted in the wrong code, but here's my tribute to Reggie Fucking Banister. R.I.P. 

Back in 2016, I got to briefly say hello to Reggie (from a distance - lots of people and I was extremely concerned with adding to the swarm) on the sidewalk outside L.A.'s Egyptian Theatre. Beyondfest premiered Phantasm: Ravager as part of a double feature with the then-newly restored original Phantasm. I remember reading shortly thereafter that he'd had some health concerns, so maybe ten years on, this was for the best. Either way, sucks to lose such a legend. I always wished we might get a Reggie/Ash crossover at some point when Don Coscarelli began talking about doubling down on Phantasm again in the early 00s. Nothing really came of that, but maybe someday we'll see a comic or something. Either way, I bring it up because Reggie is up there with Campbell for me, as far as 80s Horror Hero Icons.

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Watch:

Last night K and I went to see the 20th-anniversary 4K restoration of Neil Marshall's 2005 film The Descent. Here's the trailer released in anticipation of this new theatrical run:

As a diehard Dog Soldiers fan from shortly after it hit video in 2002, I'd been waiting for a new Marshall film and was overjoyed that his sophomore film received the huge theatrical rollout his first film should have. I don't necessarily have to agree with the consensus that seems to consider this his best film - I dig it, especially after seeing it again on the big screen 20 years later - but it's no Dog Soldiers. It's always bothered me that I've pretty much never cared for any of Mr. Marshall's subsequent films, but he is a definite craftsman and I always (almost) give them a chance.

Watching this for the second time on the big screen, twenty years later, a couple of things occurred to me:

    A) I don't think I've seen this since its theatrical release in 2006, and considering the impact it had on me then via what I've carried with me since, I think I missed A LOT of subtext and nuance that first time around. 

    B) Much like Open Water, The Descent affects me. I have a thing about tight, underground spaces (never been in one, not wanted to be in one) the same way I have a thing about large bodies of water. The film exploits that - to great effect, and the result is a genuinely visceral experience. Everything from the point in the film where Holly takes point, all those claustrophobic shots of the girls wiggling into and through some of the most insanely tight holes - not gonna use the word passages for anything that small - is tantamount to any fear I reserve from a viewing of Friedkin's The Exorcist. But it's a different kind of fear, one that I feel less in my mind's eye and more in my body. This serves the film well, so that when bones start a'breakin' and blood lettin', I'm already there.

One final note - for a 4K restoration, the film looks fantastic, but the sound is abysmal. Maybe the worst sound I've ever heard in the theatre. The dialogue through the first act of the film - i.e., pre-cave - is buried so deep in the mix of the score I gave up trying. The mix gets a bit better once we're inside the cave, but even then, everything feels like it has a thin layer of sonic gauze over it. Shame, because this is otherwise a five-star film. Not sure if that's a problem with the source that couldn't be fixed or if my theatre somehow dropped the ball with their equipment. Either way, it definitely detracted from the overall experience.

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy and Stiggs OST

Carlos Rafael Rivera - They Will Kill You OST

Godflesh - Selfless

The Cramps - RockinnReelinInAucklandNewZealandXXX

The Cramps - A Date with Elvis

Godflesh - Purge

The Cramps - Flamejob

Man Or Astroman? - Intravenous Television Continuum

Godflesh - Living/Ending (single)

The Ocean - Fogdiver

Godflesh - Eponymous

Mastodon - Live at the Aragon

Justin Hamline - This Machine Kills Music

L7 - Hungry for Stink

Sewer Mutant Podcast - Sam Keith Tribute

Jarvis Cocker - Further Complications

Blackbraid - Arte Concert Summer Breeze Live Stream

 Spotlights - Seance E.P.

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Card:

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

• Nine of Cups

• Seven of Swords

• Nine of Swords

Be careful what you wish for? The strategic victory you spent so much time finagling may make things worse.

Definitely a work pull. 

The End of Godflesh

 

A lot of Godflesh this past weekend after seeing the following post on Justin K. Broadrick's IG. I find it sadly indicative of the age we live in that a man with a serious health condition needs to hesitate to inform his fans of a situation such as this with the expectation of retaliatory comments. I, for one, will be crushed to see Godflesh go; however, Broadrick has many other projects and I would rather he err on the side of his continued health than risk disaster continuing. Also, if you listen to the opening vocals of this lead-in track from 2017's Post Self, you can hear the strain this man still puts on his body while recording vocals. It's awesome to behold, but also no real surprise that as he ages, this kind of exertion would become a health concern.  

 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Justin K Broadrick (@justinkbroadrick)

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Watch:

This past Thursday night, I did another double feature at the local cinema. First up was Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Bride. This was a treat; I can't tell you how many times I sat through the trailers for this film in the theatre, but the film turns out to be a lot more than either version of the preview intimates. Maggie is destined for the marketing tag, "... visionary Director..." and it fits. I knew within the first five minutes that A) there was A LOT about this film I had not anticipated and B) as a filmmaker, MG's style is singular and strong. 

Afterward, I drove K home, recorded a spoiler-free review with Missi for The Horror Vision, and then drove back to the theatre for a 10:55 PM showing of Rod Blackhurst's Dolly. Turns out, 11:00 PM was the perfect time to view this one in a mostly empty theatre. Creepy A.F. doesn't even begin to describe this film!

Ostensibly a new take on the classic Slasher formula, the thing I really loved about this one was how much the sequences inside the killer's home felt like a Puppet Combo game, specifically, Don't Go in the House and Nun Massacre. Two of my favorites. 

Blackhurst has to be a Puppet Combo fan - there are first-person shots from hiding beneath a bed and a sequence where the final girl - Fabianne Therese - searches through dresser drawers and the like. It was just spot on! Fantastic performances all around, and also, one of the gnarliest jaw-related practical FX I've seen. 

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Playlist:

Deftones - B-Sides and Rarities

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - B-Sides & Rarities Volume 1

Godflesh - Purge

sunn O))) - Eponymous (pre-release singles)

Deliverance - Neon Chaos in a Junk-Sick Dawn

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Dub

Godflesh - Post Self

Godflesh - Songs of Love and Hate

Psychedelic P*rn Crumpets - Pogo Rodeo

Melvins - Houdini

Christopher Young & Lustmord - The Empty Man OST

Converge & Chelsea Wolfe - Bloodmoon: I

Deftones - private music

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Card:

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

• Six of Cups

• Five of Pentacles

• Three of Wands

Tap into your inner fears and transmute them into something strong. 

Interesting. The idea here is taking something from the real world that frightens me - let's face it, only the real world frightens me - and use my Will to turn it into something strong. Something known. 

Also, not sure I've drawn the Three of Wands on this deck before. Gorgeous fucking card (like every other card in this deck!)

Godflesh's Streetcleaner turned 35!

 

This past Wednesday, Godflesh's seminal album Streetcleaner turned 35! That's three-and-a-half decades since this blistering slab was released upon an unsuspecting world. 

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Watch:

Last night, I showed K Fabrice Du Welz's 2008 film Vinyan. Homework for an upcoming episode of The Horror Vision Presents: Elements of Horror.

This is a favorite from the 00s, a film I own on DVD but haven't watched in quite some time. I think I originally saw this via Netflix back in the USPS days, immediately purchased a copy, rewatched, then did not watch again until a viewing in 2021 that I have no memory of (but posted about HERE. THIS is why I maintain this site!). Regardless, the film has stayed with me quite clearly ever since; it's a haunting journey into loss and madness, and Rupert Sewell and Emmanuelle Béart give powerful performances that really drive home the horror of their situation - which keeps getting worse. Basic synopsis from IMDB

"A couple are looking for their child who was lost in the tsunami - their search takes them to the dangerous Thai-Burmese waters, and then into the jungle, where they face unknown but horrifying dangers."

Even without children, the setup strikes me as particularly horrific, but when you add in the 'we're in over our heads and probably in terrible danger" of the approach the characters take, contracting local gangsters to take them into Burma, the tension continually increases. 

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Playlist:

The Cure - Songs Of a Lost World

Neon Nightmare - Faded Dream

Godflesh - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Feel the Knife - So Raw... So Nasty... So Hideous

Dreamkid - All Thriller, No Filler

Dreamkid - Daggers

Frankie & The Witch Fingers - Data Doom

Godflesh - Streetcleaner

Melvins - (A) Senile Animal

The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold with the High Confessions

USSA - The Spoils

Self - Breakfast with Girls

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Vol. 1

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Card:

Today's card is the Ten of Wands, affectionately dubbed "Oppression" by Mr. Crowley.

First, I finally made a list to keep track of what cards I'm using for the study. As I suspected, looking back at the entries since I began this at the beginning of August, I've retread several cards multiple times. My next post will examine what that might be trying to instill in me, for today, we'll just continue on the current course.

The Ten of Wands is an easy card in my head - Tens are the association of Malkuth, the Earthly plane. So we are oppressed by the physical realm, whether that means the limitations of our bodies, our money or lack thereof, whatever. 

Let's take it a bit deeper, though. 

In The Book of Thoth, Crowley goes on about all kinds of things I don't give a toss about feeding into my interpretation. One thing that hits home, though, is this:

"It is a Will which has not understood anything beyond its dull purpose, its "lust of result," and will devour itself in the conflagrations it has evoked."

Maybe we didn't need that entire quote because the idea I want to hone in on is the "lust of result." Anyone who has studied Chaos Magick knows this as the enemy. Whatever you want to achieve, your lust of result will get in the way. This to me, fits in perfectly with the idea I set out above, the kind of 'shackled by Malkuth," because what is that lust of result if not Malkuth exerting itself upon us?

Godflesh - For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

 

I had no idea this existed. Reposted from BlackSunHorizon's YouTube channel, which is full of sludgy goodness. Check it out HERE.

The song itself is taken from the Covered in Black album, an Industrial tribute to AC/DC. If I knew about this back when it came out in 2000 on Cleopatra Records, I had long since forgotten it until stumbling across this track on Apple Music this morning.
 

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NCBD:

Here's what I'm bringing home from the comic shop tonight:

Again, I have to say that this series is really just a corridor for me on the way to the rest of the Energon Universe. I don't hate it, but the fervor I had for the Duke and Cobra Commander mini-series is gone.

Very excited for a new book from Jeff Lemire. Especially one he is 

Penultimate issue! Shit is about to get real and hopefully coalesce into a satisfying conclusion. Tony Fleecs has laid all the pieces out in a very pleasing story of past/present/future - something that isn't easy to do in 2024, where time travel is even more overdone than meta. Every once in a while, though, someone takes the concept and really makes it work. Maybe here it's because Army of Darkness did it long before a lot of other cinematic franchises, or maybe it's just great to have multiple versions of Ash running around. Either way, buckle up.

Get Fury has been another sleeper hit of my 2024. Ennis and Burrows really bring their ultra-violent storytelling to the Marvel Universe with two of the best possible choices for telling this story - Frank Castle and Nicolas Fury! Love it.

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Watch:

I'm posting this here, but I'm not going to watch it, as I'm assuming I'll have to get pretty creative not to see this a million times before it hits theatres on October 18th.

After initially dismissing it, I loved the first Smile and ended up seeing it three times in theaters, so I have high hopes for this one.

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Playlist:

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!

Perterbator - Bloodlust (single)

Braindamage - The Downfall

Tim Hecker - Infinity Pool OST

The Ocean - Heliocentric

Pepper Adams - Encounter!

Godflesh - Pure

Godflesh - In All Languages

Behemoth - Cursed Angel of Doom Live (pre-release single)

JK Flesh - Posthuman

Godflesh - Hymns

Grimes - Art Angels

Grimes - Miss Anthropocene

Zeal & Ardor - GREIF

Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Smile OST

The Fixx - Reach the Beach

Perturbator - Dangerous Days

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Card:

Today's card is The Knight of Cups:

The Firey aspect of Water or the Will as applied to the Emotions. Don't be overwhelmed by emotion. The deluge is not without its rewards. 

Act fast!

Godflesh @ Cold Waves 2023!!!

 

This past Sunday, Mr. Brown, Missi Raven and I attended the 2023 Chicago Metro edition of Cold Waves. As with last year - the first one of these I'd managed to make it out to after almost a decade of wanting to - the event was fantastic. We arrived late, so missed several bands, which sucks, but I've been a bit worn down, so it is what it is. We did manage to see Sierra, who was fantastic, Paul Barker's Lead Into Gold, also fantastic and closer Godflesh.

Godflesh closed with"Spite," the opening track from their 31-year-old masterpiece Pure, arguably my favorite Godflesh album (depending on the day, I suppose, but it's up there). 

Here's a recent setlist from Montreal; Chicago's set was identical, except for the two encore tracks, which they didn't have time to play. No complaints - a fantastic sampling of their illustriously pummeling career.

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Holy smokes. I did not know this was on the way:  

I've cooled on pretty much everything Mr. Cave has put out since Push the Sky Away. However, I still think he's a genius. And that genius began in a completely raw, primordial form with The Birthday Party, easily one of my all-time favorite bands. Seeing there's a documentary on the immediate horizon makes me insanely happy, even though it plays at my local arthouse theatre in Nashville, The Belcourt, from October 4th through the 8th, and I return from my trip on the 9th. 

Agghh!!!

More information - including all upcoming screenings - is on the movie's website HERE.

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Playlist:

Boards of Canada - Geogaddi

Boards of Canada - A Beautiful Place Out in the Country EP

Canyon - Empty Rooms

Nabihah Iqbal - Dreamer

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

The Damned - Evil Spirits

Damone - From The Attic

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Card:

I'm on the road, so all my Pulls will be from my mini Thoth deck for the next two weeks. Not a bad thing, but wanted to put up a reminder that Grimm's new Tarot Deck, The Hand of Doom Tarot, is both gorgeous and live on Kickstarter until Tuesday, October 3rd. Here's the LINK.

• Eight of Disks - Prudence

• Ten of Cups - Satiety

• Three of Cups - Abundance

Seriously sleep deprived out here for my first full day in LaLaLand, I'll take this as a reminder to know when enough is enough. Prudence + Satiety = Plenty; have the sense to know when you're done and retire with that. I'd say that's letting me know that I should not work past my 8 hours today but rather return promptly to my hotel and catch a nap, as I'll be attending a 10:00 PM screening of Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's new film Kill tonight at Beyondfest!!!

Godflesh - Army of Non

 

The mighty Godflesh has returned at last! I have a friend visiting from LalLaLand and as such, completely forgot that the new album Purge was released this week. Friday night as we left one of the three breweries we take all our visitors to, this popped up in my Apple feed and, after waiting for the conversation at hand to run its course while sitting in the parking lot, I warned everyone they were about to experience the new record at a rather loud volume while driving home. Wonderful; that's the only word here. We made it through about half, and with further conversating and what not once home, I refrained from playing the rest until I could do a nice, immersive listen on headphones, so that will be later today, and the vinyl I pre-ordered months ago doesn't ship until early July, so until all that happens, "Army of Non" is my current favorite track on the record.

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Watch:

Holy F*&K! Ted Geoghegan's new film Brooklyn 45 is fantastic! This one defied all my expectations

            

I don't want to say too much about this one; it's not as though there's a twist or anything, however, Brooklyn 45 really impressed me with the ambitious, and frankly unexpected dramatics that make up the meat of the film. Sure, there's a lot of Horror Fun to be had, but this one is more akin to Guillermo del Toro's film Pan's Labyrinth than it is Evil Dead (although there are moments...). This one dropped on Shudder last week and is WELL worth Your time, especially if you liked Geoghegan's 2015 film We Are Still Here as much as I did. Companion pieces in a way.
           

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Playlist:

Weird Studies - On Clive Barker's "Hellraiser" and "Hellbound Heart"

Colton Wall - Imaginary Appalachia

David Bowie - The Next Day

Ganser - Odd Talk

Iggy Pop - The Idiot

Blackbraid - Blackbraid I

Stormkeep - Tales of Othertime

Calderum - Mystical Fortress of Iberian Lands

CCR - Eponymous

Godflesh - Purge

Angelo Badalamenti - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST

Pastor T.L. Barrett & the Youth for Christ Choir - Like a Ship (Without a Sail)

The Flamingos - The Best of the Flamingos

Jenny Lewis - Joy'All

 

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Card:

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

 

• Four of Pentacles - completion of a job: I have set a goal for the first draft of the novel I'm currently writing, and it is next Tuesday.

• Ace of Swords - Breakthrough: Not sure if this is confirming success or a nod that setting this goal was the 'breakthrough.'

• Five of Wands - Marshall the forces of Will, 'cuz it's going to be a struggle. A worthy struggle, though.
 

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New Godflesh Single!

 

The first single from Godflesh's forthcoming album Purge. LOOOOOVE that sample from Gang Star's "Brainstorm"! I pre-ordered this about a month ago when I first saw the announcement, you can follow suit if you go HERE.

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Good news! Holy Spider is coming to Netflix (of all places) tomorrow, April 7th! 

 

I've wanted to see this since last year's Beyondfest, and after missing it there, my friend and colleague-in-casting Professor John Trafton has spoken about it at length, so I'm pretty excited to finally catch this one. 

 

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Read:

Speaking of John Trafton, his new book is up for pre-order from Wayne State University Press:

If you've read any of the essays John has up on his website JohnTrafton.com, you'll understand why I'm pretty excited to read this. Although I left LaLaLand behind, the mystique of that early Twentieth Century City of the Stars remains. Movie-made Los Angeles will no doubt explore and expound on that era in ways I've yet to ascertain.           

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Playlist:

Massive Attack - Mezzanine

Shrinebuilder - Eponymous

Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity

Massive Attack - 100th Window

Spotlights - Seance EP

Godflesh - Hymns 

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

INXS - Kick        

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Card:

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

Transformation from collaboration leads to an increase Earthly assets.

 

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Iress - Ricochet

 

New music from Iress! I just broke out 2019's Prey a week or so ago, so they've been on my mind and were actually one of the bands I checked to see if they had a show while I'll be in LaLaLand for the next two weeks. No dice, but at least we have this song. These guys continue to level up. You can purchase Ricochet on Iress's Bandcamp HERE.

 

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Watch:

I watched Andrew Davis's The Final Terror earlier tonight (I'm writing this at 12:53 Saturday, 3/04/23). 

 

A Full Five Fucking Stars! The movie ended two hours ago and I still just cannot stop thinking about it. The absolute pinnacle of the Backwoods Slasher subgenre, in my opinion (and I never thought anything would dethrone Just Before Dawn).

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Pre-Order Music:

New Godflesh this June!

PURGE! No new tracks posted yet, but I saw the announcement and pre-ordered the Silver vinyl from Plastic Head Megastore, evidently the only place you can grab this at the current moment. Here's the LINK, and a random, awesome photo of JKB I found searching for that album cover above, courtesy of Brave Worlds:

I Love this damn band and I have none of their stuff - no JKB stuff at all on vinyl. Some bands are just CD bands for me. Some of my favorites, too. But this, well, even with the UK shipping charge - which was much more reasonable than I've ever encountered before - I just couldn't pass this up.

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Playlist:

The Jeff Healey Band - Full Circle: The Live Anthology (Live Montreal Jazz Fest 1989)

Frank Black - Teenager of the Year

Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Viscerals

Sleaford Mods - Spare Ribs

Church of the Cosmic Skull - There Is No Time

Metallica - Hardwired

Karl Casey - White Bat XVIII EP

Odonis Odonis - Post Plague

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Iress - Ricochet (single)
 

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Card:

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

New ideas will lead to the completion of a process, but only if they are weighed carefully for merit and applied in the correct fashion. 100% this references a breakthrough I've had over the last two days' writing sessions on Shadow Play Book 2. Major changes but not in a way that requires a major overhaul. Lots of historical research, though, which is what the cards are confirming as the appropriate avenue. Time consuming but worth it.

Tasting the Flesh of God

 

Thanks to Mr. Brown for turning me into the fact that Hellfest 2022 is streaming all the bands' sets. Of course, I'm most interested in Godflesh, a band I still hold out the hope we'll be getting another new album from sooner rather than later. Justin K. Broadrick is a very prolific, very busy man, but how do you turn your back on your baby when your baby is Godflesh?

 

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NCBD:

Still out of town, but I'll probably pick these up anyway and just let my shop know not to pull.

Is this the end of the first arc for What's The Furthest Place From Here? or the start of a new one? 

Jesus, it's only been two weeks since the previous X-Men Red. Based on the events of that book, I'm REALLY looking forward to this one. 

Love this book, and the fact that I have no compass for how long this series is ultimately shaping up to be. Feels very open-ended, and like there could be a much bigger story here for Sonny and Xavier than I first suspected. Rick Remender - I love you!

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Watch:

I can remember seeing the opening to Lewis Teague's Alligator so long ago; the scene of the father flushing his little girl's pet baby alligator down the toilet has stayed with me for most of my life. Thanks to Shudder, I've finally seen the entire movie.

I LOVED this flick! First, I had no idea Robert Fucking Forster was the lead! Also, hell, what a great Alligator!

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Playlist:

Perturbator, Johannes Persson and Final Light - Final Light

Burning Witch - Crippled Lucifer

Black Sabbath - Eponymous

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Card:

Confusing influences speak to the idea that we may have a lot of questions at our inspection tomorrow. There's a lot of 'Authority' at play, and juxtaposed with Will and the expediency I always associate with the Knight of Swords, the mental stamina that card tends to radiate, I think we may need to make some decisions that will be completely ours, i.e. not the kind of thing we can refer to our Realtor, the inspector, or the unbelievably valuable advice my parents have given to us in all this.

Bandcamp Sunday: JK Flesh

There's a great interview with Broadrick on daily Bandcamp HERE.

Godflesh

One of the creepiest songs Godflesh did, and that's saying something.

I've fallen in love with Love and Hate in Dub all over again. This one is never far from my speakers, but many times, my listens are not album-length, as they're confined to the car, or at work where a longer album can be interrupted fairly easy. Lately however, I've been sequestered in the back-half of this one, and the final song, this "remix" of 'Gift from Heaven', off 1996's equally brilliant album Songs of Love and Hate. There's always been something so dark and mysterious about Godflesh, and although I love pretty much everything JKB has done in his career - especially under the Godflesh moniker - possibly the stuff that stays with me the most is the creepy, atmospheric, 'a boiler room in hell' stuff.

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One episode into the new Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix and goddamn, I don't care how camp or teenage this show goes at time, the sets, costumes, and overall tone is fantastic, and again, the blasphemy is joy-inducing.



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Playlist:

Godflesh - Love and Hate in Dub
Mol - Jord
Bohren and Der Club of Gore - Patchouli Blue
Zonal - Wrecked
David Lynch and Marek Zebrowski - Polish Night Music
Kevin Morby - Oh My God

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Card:

A new journey? That's always the initial interpretation that springs to mind with this one, however I'm inclined at the moment, while reflecting on a fairly successful week of writing sessions, to err on the side of a completely different outlook. One of "new," i.e. a new direction that's becoming apparent within the major arc of the second and third books. It's not radically different than what I originally had planned, but it's more nuanced for sure. In fact, the entire epic is really coming to life in a far more robust way than I'd anticipated. Well, that's not entirely true; I've always known this would be huge, but I guess you can't see it until you're in it, so to speak. And brother, I am IN it now.

2019: May 15th Godflesh - Regal

To continue the 'unsung' string I began the other day by posting FNM's Ugly in the Morning, I thought I'd start today with a track from Godflesh's 2001 final album (at the time) Hymns. I love this entire album; some purists disregard later Godflesh for the way Justin K. Broadrick begins to segue into the more ambient, pastoral sound of Jesu. For me, my love of Godflesh isn't about one album or another, but the overall arc. Which, by the way, continues to this day in fine form. Anyway, a great track from an outstanding album.

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NCBD is a light one. Good deal; saves me some money and drops the latest issue of one of my favorite books in my hands. Win win.

Man, look at that cover! Gorgeous!

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Playlist from Tuesday, 5/14:

Godflesh - Hymns
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Vol. 1
Blut Aus Nord - Odinist: The Destruction of Reason By Illumination
Blut Aus Nord - MoRT
Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)
Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification
Fenn - Dustwalker
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
Jed Kurzel - The Babadook OST

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Card of the day:

Okay, full disclosure: if you go back a few months, I pulled this card. I'd left it in the deck on purpose, thinking I may find a way to interpret it into my overall, personal theory of reading this deck as a singular quanta of information, instead of as a collection of individual cards. Does that make sense? Maybe not. This is kind of free-form, impromptu logic, but isn't that what Tarot and Divination supposed to be at least partially about? What good is it to memorize 'readings' and definitions for objects that are supposed to represent aspects of our collective and individual unconscious? Anyway, after the first time I pulled this card and logged it here, I didn't draw it again until recently. But now, I've pulled it three times in the last two weeks, and although I'd kind of reversed on logging it here until now, with this new draw, I feel I have to look deeper (I say that sometimes and then don't have time to do it). To begin with, I pulled two more cards after, to try and clarify:

Okay, so it's going to take all - or at least a lot - of my Will to discover something that has been occulted to me. After some digging, it looks as though I will be beginning HERE and, perhaps more interestingly, HERE.

2018: September 17th

New Soft Moon remix by Imperial Black very much fits my mood today. I woke up with a taste for Industrial music, catalyzed by watching Julian Richards's Darklands. A document of its time, Darklands is sort of a 90s update on The Wicker Man, and is populated with some fantastic industrial imagery, reminiscent of the kind of thing Justin K. Broadrick uses for Godflesh records.

Screen cap from Darklands

Good flick, although much of the aesthetic of the 90s still seems overall cringe-worthy to me. But this definitely transcended those feelings. Darklands is available to stream on Shudder.

Finished John Palisano's excellent Night of 1,000 Beasts and before I jump into my next novel - Neil Gaimen's The Graveyard Book - I'm re-reading some Laird Barron as a pallet cleanser. Procession of the Black Sloth is one of those stories by Mr. Barron that I have read probably three or four times now, and I never grow tired of it. The tone borders on what I call Two A.M., flush with dim night-lighting and drunken reveries. It's a calm descent into terror and that's what I love about it and Barron's work in general.

Procession of the Black Sloth is available in Laird Barron's first collection, The Imago Sequence, which I cannot recommend highly enough.

Playlist from the last two days:

White Lung - Eponymous
Disasterpeace - It Follow OST
Canyons - Barrie single
Canyons - Michigan single
Canyons - Tal Uno single
Yob - Our Raw Heart
Legs Occult - Dark Rituals

Card of the day:

This I'm taking as a confirmation that I should follow my instinct and outline a new story bubbling around in my head. Oh yeah, that said, after putting it 'in the drawer' for a month, I came back to Please Believe Me and finished it the other night. Will be submitting it to a major Sci Fi magazine today or tomorrow, so keep those fingers crossed for me.