From the forthcoming album ROCKMAKER. No pre-order information up yet, so I'm not sure when this is coming out, but I'll definitely have my eyes open for more. In the meantime, digging the new track.
Watch:
Thursday evening K and I went to the local theatre to see Bishal Dutta's debut feature film It Lives Inside. Here's a trailer:
I adored this flick. It doesn't reinvent the wheel; however, I'm all for seeing more culturally diverse Horror on the big screen, and this is where It Lives Inside offers a welcome new perspective for Horror fans. It also offers a really cool practical FX monster, one of my favorites in a while.
Read:
I was finally able to sit down and read Jeremy Haun & Jason A. Hurley's five-issue The Approach in one sitting yesterday. I'd been buying it monthly but had some trouble finding the last two issues. My good friends at Amazing Fantasy Books and Comics in Frankfort took care of that, though, and I started from the beginning and burned through this snowbound powder keg in less than an hour.
Fantastic series with art by J. Hervas, The Approach is a fantastic series that sets everything up in issue one, then just blows through to the end in an escalating storm of Terror and Violence, and I mean that in the BEST possible way.
The TPB recently went on sale, collecting all five issues - you can grab it directly from Jeremy's website HERE.
Playlist:
Angelo Badalamenti and David Lynch - Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me OST
Well, 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.
• 0: The Fool
• Princess of Cups
• Nine of Swords
A new journey begins; it will be difficult and emotional, but ultimately I remind myself any new journey is a good thing. Pattern Interrupt is a phrase I've been thinking of/talking about a lot lately. Fitting since I'll be on a plane to LaLaLand for two weeks, a few hours after this Post goes up.
My girlfriend's obsession with Nico Vega is really rubbing off on me. I don't know much about them other than they have since broken up, but both the albums K has introduced me to are outstanding! This track is from their self-titled 2009 album, the entirety of which is fantastic.
Watch:
This looks difficult to watch in the best possible way:
I have to say, I've been pretty impressed with Lachlan Watson's acting since being introduced to them via The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and this looks like an even more committed performance than we've seen previously. Also, Director Jeffery A. Brown impressed the hell out of me in 2019 with The Beach House, so I'm definitely game to follow him on a new journey.
Read:
I finished Iron Angel yesterday, the second book in Alan Campbell's Deepgate Codex. Since I'm going to be in LaLaLand for two weeks and don't feel the need to carry a hardcover book with me, I'm going to hold off on Book Three: God of Clocks until I return, opting instead to deep-dive a bunch of books on Elizabethian England for Shadow Play Book Two research. Waiting to read this one is going to be tough, as is waiting to crack into Jeremy Haun's Haunthology, which I received via my Kickstarter pledge a few days ago and did an unboxing video for over the weekend:
Seriously, this book is gorgeous; can't wait to read!
Playlist:
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
The Veils - ... And Out of the Void Came Love
The Jeff Healey Band - Full Circle: The Live Anthology
The Teardrop Explodes - Kilimanjaro
Mastodon - Once More 'Round the Sun
Metallica - Hardwired
Nico Vega - Eponymous
Nothing - Guilty of Everything
Dr. John - Ske Dat De Dat
Leviathan the Feeling Serpent - Corpse Eater: Satanic Misery Live for the Dead
Jammes Luckett - May OST
Dexys Midnight Runners - It Was Like This
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
Traveling today. Clarity and Will lead to the completion of an "Earthly" matter, i.e. something to do with our house, I'm pretty sure. A tornado nearly missed us this past Friday, and I've discovered some things that need fixing - not sure if these issues existed before the winds felt like they were going to pull my office from off the top of the garage, but they have to be taken care of. This is not my strong suit, but I'm trying to become someone who can handle issues without hiring out simple 'handyman' work. The skill is definitely in my blood - my Father can fix anything. I just have to double-down when I return from LaLaLand and focus.
My good friend Mr. Grez recently introduced me to Maldita Vecindad y Los Hijos del Quinto Patio, or from what I'm seeing, more commonly shortened simply to Maldita Vecindad. This band is fantastic; they kind of run all over the place, but for an elevator pitch I might simply go with - from the few songs I know so far - Los Amigos Invisibles meets the Blue Meanies. Check this song out, which in particular was the impetus for me pulling out the Meanies late last week.
Read:
It's been difficult to log anything in this particular segment of late because I've literally been drowning in the written word (a nice way to go, eh?). From the early 90s Fantaco Night of the Living Dead graphic novel adaptation series (thanks, Butcher!), to Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, to weekly issues of the monthly series I follow, to the last-minute Bernie Wrightson/Kelley Jones re-reads I flew through over the weekend as prep for Chris Saunders and I sitting down with Jones to discuss Wrightson on the newest episode of A Most Horrible Library, I've been in and out of so many continuities lately that my heads started to spin a bit.
But something I've casually commented on over the last month or so that's percolating into a full-on reread is the old Hellblazer series.
Although I was already in the middle of a slow crawl through Jamie Delano and John Ridgway's original arc collected in Original Sins, I went and reread perhaps Constantine's most iconic arc, the Garth Ennis and Will Simpson's Dangerous Habits. This was seasonal reading - the story I went to over a few pints of Guinness on St. Paddys last week. I finished it last night, and really felt a different aspect of the story resonate with me this time, and that's John's relationship with Matt.
This relationship is extremely poignant in the Constantine evolution because it's one of (if not the first) time in the series that we see John make a new friend, and how because of how he's let down or betrayed so many of his other, old school friends, we see what Matt's friendship means to him, how he comes down on himself in such a brutal fashion when he gets a new lease on life and realizes he may have forgotten about Matt. This B-story is honestly more emotionally fulfilling than the iconic (and still awesome) Constantine cheats the Devil one in the foreground, and it's something that I don't really think made as big an impact on me back in the day as it does now.
From here, I'm going to continue through Original Sins, however, a full-on Ennis/Dillon reread is imminent at this point, now that my appetite for Ennis' particular take on the character has been reawakened.
Watch:
Patreon is a slippery slope. I launched one for The Horror Vision recently, mostly because last year, I found out there is another guy out there using our podcast name. We've had the name (and the .com) since October 2018; he started his almost a full year later. He also very obviously realized there was already a podcast with the same name when he went to buy the website and saw ours (his website is a derivation). At any rate, I don't really bear this person any ill will, however, I find it a little perplexing and frustrating that he wouldn't just, you know, come up with another name. So, after discovering all this, I immediately went and branded everything I could think of with our name, Patreon being one of the big ones.
But do we, The Horror Vision, as a podcast, do anything that warrants someone paying to support us on this platform? At the moment, no. I'm slowly working on getting some things off the ground that will make me better about occupying this space - the Patreon exclusive Podcast Elements of Horror is coming SOON - but in the meantime, I just feel weird about even having it. I mean, I don't even totally understand Patreon. Or, at least I didn't until I subscribed to Jeremy Haun's.
Now, this is nothing against Jonathan Grimm, whose Patreon I subbed to some time ago. John's one of my favorite artists working today, a frequent collaborator, and one of my best friends, so it's different. But Jeremy is someone who I met as a fan, and, I think, hit it off with over the course of a podcast interview so that, while I don't know that we're 'friends' exactly yet, we're friendly. And Jeremy's mind, the narrative work he creates, it just has me. The Red Mother was a unique and completely enthralling experience to read; having the opportunity to pick Jeremy's brain about it (and a hundred other things) was a pleasure and one that made me think I would absolutely benefit from supporting him on the Patreon platform. Turns out, I was right.
Just the Haunthology stuff alone fills my heart with the jet-black glee I love so much. Jeremy's is a narrative with ongoing, far-reaching continuity, and that's my favorite thing. Literally. The video above should help demonstrate that. I guess this is probably coming off as a sales pitch for Jeremy's Patreon, and I guess to some degree it is, because I just spent a wonderful hour immersing myself in it and feel completely elated, the way I do when I sit down and read a full arc by David Lapham, or a Hellblazer trade, or watch a great movie. And those are always going to be the things I want to tell other people about on here, because I like to spread the word. Works for the creator, works for the consumer. Literally, win-win.
Playlist:
Drab Majesty - Modern Mirror
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Pailhead - Singles
Primitive Man - Immersion
Steve Moore - The Mind's Eye OST
Sunn O))) - Kanon
Steve Moore - VFW OST
Card:
I have always loved the colors in this card. The rocky, pixelated backdrop and the emerald symmetry of the image in the foreground work together so well to create this feeling of order over chaos, which of course, is the nature of a truce.
This is the truce within myself that I have to navigate in the midst of the, frankly, insane workload I've created in my life. It's a constant energy drain to dodge and weave between projects, but there's no other way I can do things at this point. I believe it's how I've stayed sane during this trying time.
New instrumental album from Depeche Mode's Martin Gore dropped last Friday on Mute. This is the first I'm hearing about it, but I am digging it! Order HERE.
INTERVIEW:
As I mentioned last week, Chris Saunders and I recently had the chance to sit down with comics scribe and artist Jeremy Haun on The Horror Vision's A Most Horrible Library podcast. Available on all streaming platforms, our site, and youtube, it turned out to be a really interesting discussion:
Watch:
I've been off work since Saturday afternoon. K and I took a "mental health week," which I for one needed very badly. We've watched a lot of stuff in that time, which is all logged on my letterboxd. Two of the highlights were:
Much thanks to Mr. Brown on that one. Such a delightful film.
Terminal is a bit of a mess story-wise (although not enough to take away from the experience), but is absolutely gorgeous to look at. That usually isn't enough to get me on a film's side, but Simon Pegg goes a long way, and the obvious Guy Ritchie love helps more than it hurts. Ms. Robbie is pretty great in this one, too (as she usually is).
Playlist:
Let's do something different. Let me take you back to last February when I wrote in these pages how I'd received a Golden Ticket from Relapse Records. This was a random win, based on my pre-ordering of Steve Moore's OST for the 2019 Joe Begos film Bliss. The contest was held to commemorate Relapse Records' 30th Anniversary, so needless to say, there's been a ton of Relapse bands in my playlist of late, as I slowly work my way through all this glorious vinyl.
Razor - Armed and Dangerous
Genghis Tron - Board Up the House
Portishead - Dummy
Valkeyrie - Fear
Zombi - 2020
Boris and Merzbow - 2R0I2P0
Bangles - Different Light
16 - Dream Squasher
Nothing - The Great Dismal
Helmet - Meantime
Human Impact - Eponymous
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Dream Division - The Devil Rides Out
Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image
The Blueflowers - Relapse EP
The Blueflowers - Circus on Fire
Raspberry Bulbs - Before the Age of Mirrors
Card:
Such an appropriate card, as I will be returning to work this morning after five days off and, as management, need to deal with two employees in a considerably more severe disciplinary fashion than I am used to. Enforcing common sense makes me salty, so I will have to keep my more... robust approach to the language in check.
Moments after finishing my first listen to Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou's entire new EP The Helm of Sorrow (I was holding out for my vinyl to arrive, but gave in), I log onto youtube and see the two Doom Goddess's have joined forces! Is Anhedonia a harbinger of a full-length to come?
I certainly hope so! In the meantime, I'll play the hell out of this track, because it rules.
A Most Horrible Library is the newest podcast under The Horror Vision umbrella, and my co-host Chris Saunders and I spent a good two hours last night on Zoom talking with comics writer/artist Jeremy Haun. Jeremy's recent book, The Red Mother, wrapped up with its twelfth issue, and I can tell you, it's fantastic. Especially if you're a Clive Barker or Dario Argento fan.
Jeremy is an extremely personable, and very interesting guy. He's a HUGE Horror fan - which endeared him to Chris and I immediately, and he has a bit of a mythology brewing that appears in a lot of what he writes. That mythology - the Four and Seven - also shows up in the short comic stories he publishes via his Patreon, which I subscribed to. Jeremy writes, draws, letters and inks these Haunthology books, and I'm super excited to read them because I'm a sucker for mythologies, and The Red Mother really made an impression on me.
Playlist:
Credence Clearwater Revival - Eponymous
Small Black - Best Blues
Tomahawk - Tonic Immobility (Pre-release single)
Tomahawk - Eponymous
Tomahawk - M.E.A.T. Single
The Jesus Lizard - Lash
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
The Soft Moon - Black Sabbath (Single)
The Soft Moon - Criminal
Dream Division - Beyond the Mirror's Image
Boy Harsher - Country Girl Uncut
Cocksure - K.K.E.P. EP
exhalants - Atonement
Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe
The Replacements - Tim
Small Black - Duplex (Single)
Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - The Helm of Sorrow
The Bangles - A Different Light
Drab Majesty - Careless
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Card:
I'm writing this Thursday night and it's raining in LaLaLand. As you've no doubt heard me say before, that's pretty rare. I'm on New Retro New Wave tonight, splitting the decades between the 80s and the previous, jumping from The Bangles to Drab Majesty, to Deth Crux, all on vinyl. It's glorious, and I stop to have K try and take a photo of me standing in the rain with my Israeli Military issue gas mask, really just as an excuse to stand out in the rain for a while. When I come in, I draw this card.
I'm burned out from several insanely close COVID scares at work and all the stress that goes with them and the stupid fucking humans responsible. Luckily, by the time most of you read this, I'll be well into my Friday. Then I'll have a quick and painless (I hope) four hours on Saturday, and I'm off until Thursday. Five year anniversary with K on Monday, and three days to be even more of a Hermit than I already am. It will be glorious.
While scrolling through instagram a few days ago, I stumbled upon the fact that there's a new album coming from Rob Zombie in March. I've posted my conflicted musings about Mr. Zombie in these pages before, and that more or less remains. Do I like this song? Well, here's the thing. This stuff is made to be played loud in a room with distractions. Other people at a party, or, since we can't do that at the moment, while you're cleaning. Just plugging in the headphones and focusing too much on Rob Zombie's songs make a lot of them disintegrate into the broad-stroke caricatures they are. Even this video feels lazy; notice there are no wide shots to place Zombie or his band on the stages or even in the same room that the brief, initial, establishing stage shots set up. Now, this is obviously due to COVID, so of course, I don't want to bag on them for being safe. It just could have used something else; most of RZ's vocals are delivered in Extreme Close Up shots with no context, and they're delivered with next to no energy. This robs the video, and subsequently the song, of the momentum the guitars and rhythm ride.
I'm really reading too much into this, aren't I?
Anyway, a new track drops in a few days, so we'll see how that is. I usually click into an RZ groove for a week or so every year or two, play the hell out of the White Zombie stuff I dig, then cycle through his solo albums (Or better yet, curated playlists of the standouts from those albums), and then move on.
Pre-order The Lunar Injection Kool Aid and Eclipse ConspiracyHERE from Nuclear Blast Records.
READ:
After burning through the entire 12-issue run of his The Red Mother comic from Boom! Studios, I sought out a copy of Jeremy Haun's 2007 graphic novel Narcoleptic Sunday:
About 70% through it, this one is great, too. A B&W Noir, Sunday kicks off with the "guy meets girl, guy sleeps with girl, guy wakes up and girl is dead" Noir trope and pretty much just steps on the gas from there. This is an especially interesting achievement in a story where the lead character has what appears to be a form of the titular sleep disorder, and as such falls asleep at random moments.
Playlist:
The Smashing Pumpkins - Gish
PM Dawn - Set Adrift on Memory Bliss (Single)
Small Black - Duplex (single)
The Cure - Disintegration
The Bangles - Different Light
The Jesus Lizard - Lady Shoes 45 single
The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic 45 single
Rob Zombie - The Triumph of King Freak (pre-release single)
Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe
Lard - Pure Chewing Satisfaction
Human Impact - Eponymous
Ministry - The Last Sucker
Card:
Back to my full-size Thoth this morning:
Uncompromising honesty; Balance. I can't help read something like this as advice to stock my personal arsenal with altruistic accouterments for the day.
