Ready or Not, Rip The God

 

Last week, another song from the Melvins/Napalm Death collaboration album, Savage Imperial Death March, dropped and it's another doozy. There's still time to order the album, which is out April 10th on Ipecac Records, HERE. Technically, this is a reissue, as this one was originally released last year on Amphetamine Reptile and sold out in seconds. But those AMREP releases don't get digital distro, so, if like me, you weren't one of the lucky ones who acquired a copy in those few moments before the record sold out, this is the first chance we've had to hear this stuff and it's awesome!

Can't wait for this full album!

---

---

---

Watch:

Last night, K and I hit the local theatre for Radio Silence's Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come. I have to say, as usual with RS, I was subjected to this trailer ad nauseam leading up to this film's release; however, it did not ruin anything about the film. This has been true of pretty much every RS film, so that's a rare bird, indeed. Here's one of those trailers.

I will say, at first, the idea that Samantha Weaving's character survives the first film only to go directly back into the exact same scenario seemed like a bit of a, "Dad, your hands in the toaster! Dad - You're hands in the toaster again!" idea, but as usual, the trailer tells you only a fraction of what you think it does. Also, HUGE props for putting Kathryn Newton in the mix as Faith's sister is a much-welcome move and their chemistry - it just works SO WELL!

We did a Horror Vision episode on the flick right after the viewing, and one thing Ray brought up that I hadn't thought of - it's been a minute since we had that Samara Weaving savage scream in a flick. The last Horror film she did was 2024's Azrael, and she didn't speak in that. Impressive, for sure, for an actress with such a fantastic grasp of dialogue (The Babysitter, anyone?). But it was great to hear that soul-searing Samara scream again tonight. 

Is Ready or Not 2 as good as the original film? Maybe not, but it's close, and this one has a third act that goes bigger in the best possible way. Do yourself a favor and see this on the big screen. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

The Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop OST

Drug Church - Prude

Motörhead - 1916

Carpenter Brut - Blood Machines

High on Fire - Electric Messiah

Atticus Derrikson - Black Phone 2 OST

Dreamkid - Daggers

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta
Sinoa Caves - Beyond the Black Rainbow OST

High on Fire - Luminiferous

High on Fire - The Art of Self Defense

High on Fire - Surrounded By Thieves

---

---

---

Card:

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

• Prince of Swords

• Prince of Cups

• 8 of Swords: Interference

Lots of big ideas, but something's getting in the way.

Tossing Coins Into The Fountain Of F*ck!

I'm late on the game with this one, but I got the tip-off last week when Heaven is an Incubator posted about the new edition of last year's Melvins/Napalm Death collaboration, Savage Imperial Death March, originally released on Amphetamine Reptile. First track off this full-length aural beating has an amazing title and a bludgeoning sound, so I am in! Pre-order from Ipecac Records for an April 10th release HERE.

---

---

---

Watch:

Last night, I went to a double feature of two movies I knew absolutely nothing about. First up, This is Not a Test:

I was stoked to see Adam MacDonald's name come up as Writer/Director/Producer on this one! Takes place in 1998, doesn't reinvent the wheel, but has solid performances and is deeply unsettling. 

This is Not a Test is built around Olivia Holt's performance as Sloan, and she anchors the film. Cinematographer Christian Bielz - who previously worked with MacDonald on the film Backcountry - employs a handheld, shaky-cam technique that gives the film a gorilla feel, which definitely makes it feel more real. This realistic approach augments the chaos we get hit with from the opening scenes, which establish Sloane's relationship with abusive father. Because of this, we never get an established 'normal' for Sloane or the film's world through her. 

Also, composer Lee Malia (Pyewacket and Out Come the Wolves) hits a sweet spot with drone, itch-you-can't-scratch background, and a little bit of what I'd call a Steve Moore flourish. This also adds to the film's overall unnerving feeling.

Next, Psycho Killer:

Having seen Cold Storge last week, then watched Barbarian again over the weekend, I LOVE that Georgina Campbell is having a moment this year with two back-to-back films. And this... wow. Talk about go big or go home - a saying I don't particularly care for, but it's appropriate. I just couldn't believe how big this one swings and lands. There's a harty comparison here to films like Random Acts of Violence and Son, but Psycho Killer has a grand design that you just won't believe until you see it. 

---

---

---

Read:

In researching the middle section of Shadow Play Book 2, I realized I knew very little about the canonical five victims of Jack the Ripper.

One thing I wanted to be certain about was the Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elisabeth Stride, Kate Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly's lives, as they've become something of minor characters in the second act of the book. All five women are generally dismissed as prostitutes; however, that is not a proven fact, but rather an assumption very much in keeping with the misogynistic paradigm of Victorian society. Hallie Rubenhold's book is a mesmerizing and in-depth look at all five women, from birth through to their murders. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Wintersun - Beyond the Dark Sun (single)

The Mountain Goats - Bleed Out

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Me and That Man - New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 1 

Faster Pussycat - Wake Me When It's Over

Gogol Bordello - We Mean It, Man!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Chris Connelly - Largo 22

Psychetect - Extremism

Silversun Pickups - Tenterhooks

sunn O))) - Metta, Benelvolence BBC6 LIVE: At the Invitation of Mary Anne Hobbs

3TEETH - EndEx

---

---

---

Card:

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

• Queen of Pentacles

• Two of Swords

• XX: Judgement

Fostering a partnership or collaboration can lead to solidified power.

Very interesting. This is extremely timely and has prompted me to do some research. I'll try and explain a bit more later on. 

7 Days of Sabbath! Day 5: Into the Void Live 1971 (w/Alternate lyrics)

 HUGE props to blacksabfan for posting this. Head over to their YouTube page and check 'em out! Lots of great live and rare Sabbath videos (lots of Thin Lizzy, too!).

There are a number of Sabbath songs that started out with different lyrics than what Ozzy ended up recording. This is one I don't think I was aware of. 

There was a record store in Orland Park, IL when I was in High School. Red Tower. Located in the outer circumference of the Orland Mall's parkway, this standalone building carried with it for its south suburban location, the kind of cultural cache places like The Alley and Reckless Records did in the city (I'm aware The Alley wasn't a record store, but it was the most record store-like clothing/accessory store I've ever seen). Anyway, I already knew We Sold Our Souls For Rock 'n' Roll, the post-Sabotage Greatest Hits collection you could literally buy at gas stations in the late 80s/early 90s. While that introduced me to the first phase of Sabbath's music, it didn't prepare me for the second phase, those quasi-cinematic, philosophical Science Fiction-tinged tracks like Into the Void, the closer from 1971's Master of Reality. This song introduced a thread that, while "Supernaut" tugged on it again for Vol. 4, wasn't fully realized (IMO) until 1975's Sabotage, my favorite of the group's records and criminally underrated (and underrepresented on WSOSFR'n'R - I mean, how did they only add "Am I Going Insane?"). It was in Red Tower that I first heard Into the Void, and it literally made me stop, go up and ask the guy behind the counter what was playing. The song sounds like the soundtrack to a comic book or Science Fiction film, from the lyrics to the larger-than-life riffs. Instant favorite and the first inclination that I needed to move beyond the gas station greatest hits with this band. 

For the record, the alternate lyrics are not good. I mean, the actual lyrics to this track are amazing, and I'd be curious to read how the boys from Birmingham got to the finished product. It's still cool to hear this little slice of Sabbath history, though, and for some fantastic alternate lyrics to this song, there's always Soundgarden's cover from SOMMS.

---

---

---

As we're getting close to the end of our celebration of Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath (my daily, personal one has been with me since I was a teenager and will carry on until I too, reside After Forever), I wanted to throw in a little something extra for today's post. Melvins and Sleep's Al Cisneros covering Sabbath Bloody Sabbath!

Man, they made it slower! I guess if there was going to be one way to make this song heavier than when it was born, this would be the only way to approximate that. 

---

---

---

Melvins 1983 - King of Rome

 

Holy F**K! I knew songs from this record had already dropped, but I kept missing it. Until now (Thanks, Mr. Brown!). I love this opening track and can only imagine it bodes well for the rest of the album. A little weird missing Dale, but after just (finally) watching the Colossus of Destiny: A Melvins Tale, I'm picking up what Buzz and original drummer Mike Dillard are putting down.

Out April 18th, you can pre-order Thunderball directly from Ipecac Recordings HERE.

---

---

---

Watch:

A trailer for Michael Shanks' debut feature Together dropped the other day. I have not watched it; I've heard a few small things about this. Only vagueries, really, but enough to make me curious as all hell. And when I'm curious, I try to remember one simple fact: Trailers spoil movies. 

Still, I always post here for posterity's sake. So watch at your own risk.

I'm pretty sure I said it here before, but I love that Body Horror has become viable enough to be getting wide theatrical releases. Let's all go see this and make sure that remains a thing, shall we?

---

---

---

Playlist:

Angus MacLise - New York Electronic, 1965

Sqürl - Third Man Records Session

Pink Floyd - Ummagumma (thanks, Josh!)

Dinosaur Jr.  - Sweep It Into Space

Melvins - Hold It In

Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions

Flying Lotus - Yasuke

Melvins - Thunderball (pre-release singles)

Zonal - Eponymous (single)

---

---

---

Card:

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

• IV: The Emperor

• Eight of Pentacles

• XI: Justice

Concentrate on the rules we've made, which are faltering, and you can move past them into the underlying, seemingly unconnected processes. It is here you will find the architecture that governs this existence.

Not sure what I'm going to do with that, but it just kind of came to me while thinking about each individual card and how they fit together. I really don't "read" tarot that way, but maybe a little woo-woo is needed to even out my constant overthinking and page-turning.

Drinking with Comics Volume 4, Episode 50!!! Plus - Melvins!!!

Melvins 1983 (Buzz and original drummer Mike Dillard at it again. Pre-order the upcoming album Thunderball from Ipecac Recordings HERE.

---

---

---

NCBD:

Short pull this week, and I only just realized today is Thursday, not Wednesday, so I guess I won't be grabbing these until probably next week:

Good lord, that cover! Already 8 strong issues in, and Epitaphs from the Abyss is everything I want in a Horror Anthology comic. 

Love the cover, but still not really feeling this book. Fan inertia, take me away...

Due to the Diamond bankruptcy and subsequent fiasco, I still haven't acquired issue two of the McKendry's Barstow, so I'm hoping this is in my box today but honestly won't be surprised if it's not. 

---

---

---

Watch:

Speaking of comics, I've fallen out of the habit of posting Drinking with Comics here since I brought it back a little over two years ago, but Volume Four, episode 50 is a doozy! Mike Wellman returns to talk about his new comic strip, A Shadow Called Danger. He brings artist/director Bradley Rader along and Mike Shinabargar and I have a great time talking politics, the comics industry and Mike's sobriety! 

It was really good to have Mike back on, and the "Meeting of the Mikes" felt epic to this man who loves them both dearly!

---

---

---

Playlist:

Van Halen - 1984

Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

Metallica - Master of Puppets

Led Zeppelin - Presence

Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath

Them Are Us Too - Remain

Dead Milkmen - Quaker City Quiet Pills

Yerusalem - The Sublime

Nothing - Guilty of Everything

GoGo's - Vacation

Dream Theater - Parasomina

---

---

---

Card:

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

Loud and clear.

The first or middle card here jumped out of the deck during the shuffle. I'm a touch hungover this morning, so everything feels slightly pained. I drank five or six beers last night and was thinking, "I should stop drinking five or six beers every night," and then the Nine of Cups. Here's a case where the image on the card - which is specific to this deck - spoke directly to me. The other two cards were pulled as clarification cards. 

Four of Cups (from the grimoire): "An emotional idea or institution that has grown beyond the original balance/harmony of its conception."

Page of Wands (from the grimoire): "Baggage."

Well, that's my drinking in a nutshell. Might be time to dial it back. Five or six beers a night every night is, me thinks, too much. 

Amigo the Devil - My Body is a Dive Bar (Tour Bus edition)

 

Still riding near the top of my favorite albums of 2024 list is Amigo the Devil's Yours Until the War is Over, and what's that? This unstoppable force of storytelling goes and drops another new song at a live show last week. Mr. Brown sent that footage to me, and I'd planned to make it today's musical post; however, this 'Tour Bus Edition" popped up in my feed yesterday, and the choice was clear.

 Head over to Liars Club Records to order the album OR the nifty new "My Body is a Dive Bar" T-shirt. I scooped that one up the moment I saw it. 

---

---

---

NCBD :

Oh man, a fantastic-looking pull today. Let's not waste any time:

To say I have been waiting for Dan Watters' Destro book is an understatement of the highest order. I cannot wait to see where this takes us in the formation of Cobra, and what kind of relationship develops between the silver-visaged Scottish Laird and our dear, sweet Commander.

As I mentioned previously, I've really been enjoying hanging out with John Constantine again. I'm not sure if Dead in America is coming to its inevitable conclusion, but League of Comic Book Geeks has the series ending at issue 9, which is a weird number of issues for a series. Is it possible this may play out like Tynion's Nightmare Country and come back in a few months? We will see. 

Okay, this second issue of Last Ronin II is starting to remind me of Jason Mrowski's older brother in his IROC. You know the type - he offers you a ride, then keeps pulling up just out of reach so you can't actually get into the car? Yeah. How many times have I posted this issue on a Wednesday? 

And we come to the end of The One Hand, which really is only half the end of the story, because the final issue of The Six Fingers drops July 24th. I've really enjoyed this Neo Noir by Ram V and the aforementioned Dan Watters, and I'm hoping the books did well enough to warrant more stories set inside Neo Novena's seedy walls.

I caught up on this one over the weekend and am still really digging it. I love the commitment the modern TMNT universe takes to exploring new characters and not just using and reusing the old mainstays. Case in point: Shredder has been out of the picture since issue... what? 100? That's several years they've let Oroku Karai lead the foot and develop into a really cool character that stands on her own. Sure, she doesn't have the gnarly army her Grandfather Oroku Saki had, but like so many of the characters, her look as evolved and is still super sleek. The introduction of a secret sect of the Foot that has survived until now could have been exhausting, but this series is playing it smart and I am intrigued to see where this will go.

---

---

---

Watch:

This just made me incredibly happy:

Way jealous of the "Ceiling of Toys." Talk about living in a surreal environment.

---

---

---

Playlist:

Alice in Chains - Dirt

Mastodon - Once More Round the Sun

Amigo the Devil - Born Against

Amigo the Devil - Yours Until the War is Over

Man Man - Carrot on Stings

Chelsea Wolfe - Hiss Spun

---

---

---

Card:

One card from Missi's Raven Deck for today:

From the Grimoire: "Literally, "What comes next." To me in this moment, this denotes finalizing something I've been flighty on and moving onto the next project. 

New Melvins!!!

 

From the upcoming Tarantula Heart, available April 19th from Ipecac Records. Pre-order HERE.

LOVE this track! I'm a Melvins fan, but the group has always proved too prolific (I know, no such thing) for me to keep up with everything they do. This one caught me on exactly the right day at the right time, and I instantly fell for lead "single" "Working the Ditch." Didn't hurt that I was able to snag the limited edition, Puke Green vinyl.

The line-up for this album is a throwback to Melvins' two-drummer paradigm; current Ministry drummer Ray Mayorga plays alongside mainstay Dale Crover and just from this track, I feel like we're hearing some really interesting rhythmic ideas. Aside from Houdini, the two drummer years are my favorite of the band, and this already reminds me of (A) Senile Animal, probably my second favorite of the group's albums.

---

---

---

Watch:

I've held off on learning too much about upcoming Horror/Thriller Long Legs because this one is generating a lot of hype, and as well we know, that is a surefire way to kill a film before it is even released (looking at the marketing team for Evil Dead Rise). That said, I'm leaving this teaser here unwatched, with my fingers crossed:

I've seen two of Oz Perkins' previous films, and didn't care for either. The Blackcoat's Daughter straight-up cheats with its casting as a way to deliver its twist, and Gretel & Hansel, while pretty, bored me to tears. Regardless, I'm very much hoping Long Legs will rule and, thus, maybe inspire me to rewatch one or both of those (although I've rewatched The Blackcoat's Daughter three times and each viewing just leaves me scratching my head at why the film is held in such high regard. It is entirely possible that I'm missing something, but I don't think so).

---

---

---

Playlist:

Turnstile - Glow On

Witchfinder - Hazy Rites

Genghis Tron - Board Up the House

Zombi - Shape Shift

Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

FACS - Still Life in Decay

Daemien Frost - Spirito di daemo

Daemien Frost - Corpus Daemo

---

---

---

Gory Scorch Cretins

Many thanks to Mr. Brown, who clued me in on the existence of Matt Cameron's Gory Scorch Cretins, a solo album with Melvins as his backing band! Apparently, this came about after a Soundgarden tribute where Buzz and the boys did "Spoonman." All of this is news to me, and I've gotta say I was a little confused when I first saw the cover and title; was this a Melvins tribute? Nope. All original stuff, and they're all great. Furthermore, Cameron - long one of my favorite drummers - makes a fantastic singer! Every track on this is great; I chose this one because it reminds me a bit of Urge Overkill, and for some reason, when I played this for the first time yesterday, that really hit the spot as a final track on the album. 

---

---

---

Watch:

After picking at it since September - primarily because the show disappeared from the platform I was watching it on and then reappeared on another  - I finally finished the second season of Bryan Fuller's Hannibal yesterday.

I watched the last six or so episodes in a fairly tight burst, and this one is really masterfully done. This isn't something most of the world doesn't already know; I'm ten years late to the game on this one, but man, it burns knowing there won't ever be a season four. 

One of the charms of the show is, of course, watching Hannibal in the kitchen, so I jumped at the chance to post the video above; special thanks to Moonshine Omega - their YouTube channel is an interesting collection of Food and Bevy-related videos from shows we love (there's a cool one of all drinks and food in Jessica Jones Season One!)

---

---

---

Play:

Having just finished Torture Star/Puppet Combo's Night at the Gates of Hell, I am SUPER happy to get wind of a new game coming our way from them:

As usual, the 80s VHS/Video Nasties influence is a large part of the draw, however, I've really come to prefer Torture Star's games, so I am psyched to be getting another for Switch.

---

---

---

Playlist:

Disappears - Pre Language

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Fear - Live for the Record

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Baroness - Stone

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins

---

---

---

Card:

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

• Six of Swords

• XVIII: The Moon

• Six of Cups

The intellectual benefits of balancing the mental and moral components of a conflict lead to emotional revelation. 

No idea what the hell this means at the moment, but as with most of my pulls on this trip (yes, I'm still in L.A.), I'm really just recording all this as data archives for later analyzation. 

Melvins & Lustmord

 

It was not until just last week that I realized Melvins had collaborated with Lustmord on an album. THIS is mind-blowing stuff.

---

---

---

NCBD:

We start this week's NCBD with the final issue of Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood. 

I Love this series. When they first announced they were doing one of these BW&B for Moon Knight, I was surprised. I'm hoping they do some other left-of-center characters, and that it wasn't just the Moon Knight Disney+ series that spurred this particular title. I'd love to see a Taskmaster or even, hell, a Wilson Fisk, Kingpin BW&B. Come on Marvel, let's see what you got!

One of my most anticipated series since the previous issue. This one is such a great heir to the Neil Gaiman/Vertigo legacy. 

Being that issue 3 just came out last week, I'm not entirely sure this will land today. We'll see. Either way, this series is worth the wait.

I feel like it's been quite some time since the previous installment of West of Sundown. That's not really true, I think I've just, you know, moved across country and completely restarted my life since issue 4. Can't wait to read this next chapter.

Probably my favorite cover with Scott Summers on it EVER. 

---

---

---

Read:

There was a time when I bought every novel Irvine Welsh released the day they came out. That stopped after his 2012 Skag Boys. Not because I don't love Welsh's work. On the contrary, his prose is a HUGE influence on my own, and being that I had shifted to working on a genre series, I was afraid that influence would hinder my completion of the first Shadow Play novel. Shadow Play ultimately took another seven years to finish, starting and re-starting it. In between, I cranked out a lot more genre work, always keeping Welsh at bay.

Last Sunday, the damn burst.

I'm a saver - if I discover an author who already has a few novels on the shelf, I'll always save one. So was the case with Welsh's 1995 novel Marabou Stork Nightmares. Well, after learning Welsh had just released a follow-up Ray Lennox novel to Crime with The Long Knives. I realized I've now missed five Welsjh novels including this one. To quote Lebowski, "this will not stand!"

So I cracked open Marabou and cannot put it down.

It's crazy to think this was Welsh's second published novel. The narrative is written in the same kind of experimental fashion that Filth is - I don't want to try and explain it here, but needless to say, Welsh finds a pretty insane way to move between main character Roy Strang's coma-narrative and his real life and what he hears while he's inside the coma, bubbling up just below the surface of waking. Which Roy does not want to do. I love Welsh's work so very much, I can't believe I've been away from it this long.

---

---

---

Playlist:

Pink Mountaintops - Peacock Pools

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head 

Megadeth - Rush in Peace

Melvins & Lustmord - Pigs of the Roman Empire

Anthrax - Attack of the Killer Bs

Patty Smythe - The Warrior (single)

The Ocean - Phanerozoic I: Paleozoic

Scott H. Biram - Nothing But Blood

Amigo The Devil - Born Against

The Mysterines - Reeling

Young Widows - Settle Down City

Breather Resist - Charmer

---

---

---

Card:

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

The way that I will choose to accomplish something will usher in notable change, part of which will be condemnation by someone I respect. 

I've got a BIG new project in the works, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people - not necessarily people I know - will give it a big eye roll just for what it is. Unfortunate. "The work that transforms the medium." 

I hope.

P.G. X3

After a recent text conversation with Mr. Brown, I fell down a Melvins rabbit hole yesterday. I hadn't heard 2010's The Bride Screamed Murder since back around the time when it came out, and even then it wasn't an album that impacted me at the time (a lot of times, if I'm not in a "Melvins Mood," their shit goes right past my head, then I hear it again at some point and love it immediately). Bride is a fantastic record, one of my favorites of theirs from the last ten years, but the album closer "P.G. X3" might be my favorite track by the band since "A History of Bad Men", on 2006's (A) Senile Animal. 

---

---

---

Watch:

My excitement for this is building!

While I wasn't blown away by Season Four at its start, by the end they had me again. The announcement that Mike Barnes returns in Season Five has me think this is definitely an "All the soldiers in a row" moment for the show. 

---

---

---

Playlist:

Various - Every Day (Is Halloween):  Playlist

Melvins/Dumb Numbers - Broken Pipe EP

Melvins - Five Legged Dog

Melvins - Bride Screamed Murder

Melvins - (A) Senile Animal

Melvins & Jello Biafra - Sieg Howdy!

Melvins - The Crybaby

Various - That Texas Blood Issue #1 Playlist: The Casserole Dish

Various - Ben Wheatley "A Field In England" Non Offical Invada Playlist

Sinoia Caves - The Enchanter Persuaded

Majeure - Mass Flashback

Tanya Tucker - Delta Dawn (single)

Brainiac - Bonsai Superstar

Zeal and Ardor - Eponymous

Corrosion of Conformity - Deliverance

Palms - Eponymous

Stevie Wonder - Greatest Hit Vol. 2

Sharon Jones and the Dap Tones - Give the People What They Want

---

---

---

Card:

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

Here's a direct commentary on something I've known for some time. As I've gotten back into reading and thinking about the practice of Magick, the major impediment to me actually doing very much with it, is drinking. Which, averaging four beers a night right now, is something I probably do too much of. 

Hot Fish, Baby

I've gotta say, 2020's Melvins album Working With God is easily my favorite of the group's since 2006's (A) Senile Animal. My go-to favorite track has pretty consistently been the album opener, a modified cover of the Beach Boys I Get Around appropriately renamed I Fuck Around. But Hot Fish is a very close second, and one I played more than once today in order to get through some monotonous paperwork.

---

---

---

Read:

I've always dug the Marvel character Dane Whitman, AKA The Black Knight, so I picked up the one-shot King in Black: The Black Knight last week. Not a great story - it starts great and then quickly begins to feel editorially driven. Plus, I'm not going anywhere near a crossover of this size, so it was largely lost on me. Still, I dug enough about it that it inspired me to dig out another Marvel title that plays off the old school, pulp Weird Barbarian stuff, Jason Aaron and Mike Del Mundo's Weirdworld, from circa 2015. 

I love this book for so many reasons, however, chief among them would be the use of Crystar the Crystal Warrior and some of his supporting cast (now that's a fucking PULL), and the concept of an entire forest made of Man Things.

I only have the original, post-Secret Wars five-issue run, and I know there's a second volume that followed, so I'm going to need to track that down.

---

---

---

Playlist:

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Thievery Corporation - The Mirror Conspiracy

Kate Bush - The Dreaming

The Replacements - Tim

Deftones - Covers

Selim Lemouchi and His Enemies - Earth Air Spirit Water Fire

Zeal & Ardor - Wake of a Nation EP

Suburban Living - Always Eyes

Gun N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

Skid Row - Slave to the Grind

Bjork - Post

Tomahawk - Toxic Immobility

Fantômas - Suspended Animation

Run the Jewels - RTJ4

Flogging Molly - Float

Genghis Tron - Dream Weapon

 

---

---

---

Card:

 Change continues unabated: I type this entry on my brain new, M1 Macbook. The old one - which I've had since August of 2012 - isn't going anywhere, but it's slowing down and suffering from an erratic track pad, so this was a necessary change. 

New Melvins!

 

New Melvins? Yes, please!

Pre-order the new album HERE, out February 26 on Ipecac Records!

---

---

---

Watch:

Friday morning I woke up and rented Bryan Bertino's new film The Dark and The Wicked on Prime. Great flick. I didn't 100% connect with it the way I had hoped, however, I probably had some pretty unrealistic expectations. That said, it's a very well made film, even if I did kind of think all the atmosphere and tension didn't quite "pop" the way it tried to. Definitely worth supporting, though, and Bertino is one of the best modern filmmakers working in Horror, in my opinion. 

I also finally made it around to Benson and Moorhead's episode of this year's season of The Twilight Zone. "8" is great. I still don't dig the overall feel of the series, and as much as I dig Jordan Peele, he just doesn't have the same wry manner needed to fill Rod Serling's shoes, but I did like seeing an Octopus kill off a team of Arctic research scientists. 

Despite my misgivings on the series, I'm glad someone's doing it, because anthology shows like this help employ a lot of filmmakers, and whether I watch them or not, it makes me happy they exist.

---

---

---

Playlist:

Opeth - Watershed 

Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wraith of the Easter Bunny 

Barry Adamson - As Above So Below 

Swans - My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope To the Sky 

Miserable - Uncontrollable 

Anna Von Hausswolff - All Thoughts Fly

Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery

Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower

Fen - The Dead Light

Hoseback - The Invisible Mountain

Blut Aus Nord - Hallucinogen

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse

---

---

---

Card:

What I've been doing to myself again with writing. I did nail some important backstory in a scene yesterday, but I could have got a lot more done had I not kept flitting around, being distracted by menial tasks that totally could have waited. 

Freaked! at the Egyptian 1-17-20

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing the 1993 movie Freaked at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Freaked is a film I don't think I had ever even heard of before a few weeks ago, when I caught sight of the screening via Beyondfest's Twitter. Even though I didn't know the film, I saw them tweet that Paul Leary would be present "with his guitar" and bought two tickets immediately.

Turns out, that was a very good thing...

Written by Alex Winter, Tim Burns, and Tom Stern, and directed by Winter and Stern, Freaked is an absolute marvel of practical FX, courtesy of Screaming Mad George, Alterian FX and XFX. The movie is an testament to a Hollywood that no longer exists. Costing Thirteen Million and boasting a cast that includes but is not limited to Winter, Brooke Shields, William Sadler, Gibby Haynes (yes, that Gibby Haynes), John Hawkes, Randy Quaid, an uncredited Keanu Reeves, and so many more, Freaked is absolute madness. And since this was a Beyondfest event, there was, of course, special guests.

The evening began in Peter Seychelle's comfortable study...

No, wait.

The evening began with Burns, Stern, and Winter explaining how Freaked grew out of their MTV show Idiot Box. From there, they played a first pass at a conceptual Rock n Roll Horror Movie they had attempted to spin out of the show, a feature-length film that, well, in their words, "Was basically The Texas Chainsaw Massacre with the Butthole Surfers as the cannibal hillbilly family."

The footage was, of course, as insane as that might lead you to believe. They began with this clip from Idiot Box, to clear up a joke at the beginning of the film:



Then moved to the aforementioned Rock n Roll Horror Film, Entering Texas:



From there Freaked played, with a stop motion "Holo Rollins" Henry Rollins discount "hologram" set in time to sing with Freaked, the Rollins/Blind Idiot God title song that plays over David Daniels' brilliant hand-animated title sequence title sequence. During the film, Paul Leary did indeed take the stage several times to play live guitar over key "freak out" sequences.

By this time, I considered my investment to have already paid off ten-fold.

After the film the special guests took the stage and Burns, Stern, and Winter were joined by Catherine Hardwicke, John Hawkes, composer Kevin Kiner, the real Henry Rollins, Lee Arenberg, Megan Ward, and FX maestros Bill Corso, Tony Gardner, and I think Jim Eustermann, although by the time we got to the three FX gurus, things were a bit of a blur.

Every time I get frustrated with living in LaLa Land, something like this happens and I am reminded why I absolutely love living in this city. Special thanks to Beyondfest, Mondo/DeathWaltz, and @troniks on Twitter, who provided the beautiful 35mm print of the film. A wonderful night all around. Oh, and all that wonderful Idiot Box and early Winter/Burns/Stern footage comes from turdburglar27's wonderful youtube channel where you too, can watch Entering Texas.

Song:

While I was at the Egyptian last night witnessing early 90s Cinematic Magic, the Melvins played a pop up LaLa Land Gallery. Here's Inky Psyops and Printed Schemes, a song I am not familiar with at all, courtesy of Baby Gorilla, whose channel is always chock full o' great live music.




**

Playlist:

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
Steve Moore - Bliss OST
93MillionMilesFromTheSun - Towards the Light
Mol - Jord
Godflesh - Hymns
Zonal - Wrecked
Butthole Surfers - Psychic... Powerless... Another Man's Sac

Card:

The Air of Water, a reminder to temper emotion with intellect, not always an easy thing to do.

2019: April 10th - Night Goat

It was only a matter of time until I sunk into my favorite Melvins album while walking around Spokane. There's an insane aural/visual connection I make exploring the various textures of this city - a lot of brick, stone and Earth - with heavy slabs grinding in my ears. It just works. I'm probably waiting until the last day to take pictures - the streets are a bit sketch in a lot of parts, overrun with homeless, many of whom I've seen bother random folks walking around on the street. This makes a lot of people nervous, I know, but I do my best to avoid standing out, and part of that is not pulling out my iPhone every few minutes and snapping pictures. Also, with my worn combat boots, fingerless glove, dark clothing, and fully engaged hoodie, I blend in with the homeless. Which works well for me.

Last night I took a deviation from Ciazarn and followed inspiration for a new short story. The inspiration came from a simple, everyday office scenario that my mind twisted into what is becoming a really fun direction. I wrote for hours yesterday, causally pecking away at an online that, at some point shifted to a full-on narrative. No working title, no nothing yet. Just 15K words and an escalating desire to see where this one goes.

**

Later, back in my hotel room, I watched GhostWatch, currently on Shudder's "Last Chance" list. I'd heard the Shockwaves crew speak on this one a few weeks back, and earmarked it based on whatever that discussion entailed. I have to tell you, it had me all the way through. And genuinely scary, which you all know I consider rare. What's crazy is apparently, many of the British BBC ONE news folks in the movie are indeed real television news folks, and GhostWatch originally aired in Britain on Halloween, 1992 under the auspices of being an actual news program, Orson Welles style. Man! I wish I could have seen it in that capacity. Still, really cool flick. Here's a video that explains the occurrence in more detail than I can:



**

Playlist from 4/09:

Young Widows - Old Wounds
Helms Alee - Night Terror
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland
Melvins - Houdini

Card of the day:

This resonates. My writing yesterday feels like it's put my power levels through the freakin' roof. More today.

2018: September 11th - Melvins Cover Sabbath

With Al Cisneros from Shrinebuilder/Sleep!

I talked a bit previously about my friend John being in town. This is John of Jonathan Grimm Art. His work is amazing, and he's also the artist and co-creator of The Legend of Parish Fen, the swamp monster comic we hope to have the first volume out of mid next year. We spent the day yesterday working out the entire 2nd issue and it is grand, much better than what we had when we originally beated out this 3 issue arc about a year ago. We also came up with something else, something that's not quite a comic and not quite prose, and should prove considerably easier to release in a more expedient fashion. More on that later, but for now I'll leave you with the title.

CIAZARN

There was no playlist yesterday, as we chose to work on Fen without music. Weird - a day with no music. I'll make up for it today.

Tonight - the Los Angeles premiere of Mandy! I can NOT wait! Here's the recently released Japanese trailer - I'm not watching it, but I'm on trailer ban.



Card of the day:

Always good to see you pop up, especially after a week off working on my current project. I'll be back to that tomorrow, until then, TO VICTORY!!!

2018: February 22nd,

Woke up with Coast to Coast, the second track on Tune-Yards new album, I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life in my head. I can't find a good version of it to embed here so instead here's the Melvins covering The Butthole Surfers in honor of the fact that the new Melvins album is out soon and features Jeff Pinkus on second bass for the entire album:



So good...


Playlist from 2/21:

Iron Maiden - Live After Death
Tune-Yards - I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Brookville - Life in the Shade
Somnium Nox - Apocrypha
Windhand - Grief's Infernal Flower
Windhand - Soma
House of Waxwork Vol. #2 OST
Sinoia Caves - Beyond the Black Rainbow OST

New installment of Drinking, Fighting, F*&king, and Crying is HERE.

Card of the day:

From the Grimoire:

Indicates greater objectivity/clarity
Healthy balance of emotions and intellect
Good time to make decisions
I can see clearly now the rain has gone

Hmm... Well, the convolutions thicken with the prospective move; the place we had settled on is out, a potentially better place has popped up and I suppose this is telling me to balance my approach inspire of exhaustion (which I haven't so much as half the right to claim as K does).

Oh! Check this out - Metallica Garage Days Re-Revisitied reissue; the CD comes in a limited edition long box like CDs used to come in back in the day. $10 bucks for the second of the only two albums by this band you need to own? Check!

Melvins Do Black Betty from Forthcoming Covers Record

The first song we've heard off of April 30th Melvins (and friends) cover album Everybody Loves Sausages. Thanks be to Mr. Brown for the heads up.

What is not addressed in the article is why JSBX - or what is commonly an abbreviation for Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, is on the graphic. Are they somehow involved in with the track? There was no mention anywhere that I looked.