Lustmord Lombardo

When From the recently released The Pulse of Atoms, out last Friday on Ipecac Recordings. Order a copy HERE. 

The idea of these two juggernauts teaming up blew my mind when I first caught wind of this as an upcoming release earlier in the year, and the end result does not disappoint.

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31 Days of Halloween:

When I first saw the trailer for Beware Boiúna at the theatre last month, I was torn. Creature features are not always my jam, and with the unavoidable surface-level comparison to Anaconda - a film I've still never seen and have no intention of seeing - I wasn't very jazzed. That said, there was something about this trailer that felt a bit like Thai/Indonesian Horror. Specifically, David Sodergren's Death Spell. That may be way off, but it flashed through my brain and kept me at least somewhat interested. Then I saw that Mike P. Nelson Directed this. His Silent Night Deadly Night reimagining last year was one of my favorite films (I LOVE seeing nazis die, and that movie had a lot of that!). So last night, I caught a late-ish screening.

The jungle. That's what gives me those creepy, Indo-Thai vibes. The two regions share the geography of hell - i.e. jungle so thick and hot and wet and filled with alien species it would break a westerner like me in probably minutes. And Nelson's film perfectly telegraphs that. Also, it's not just a creature feature; there's some pretty smart human drama going on in the spine of this thing. And gore! This may be the most visceral theatrical viewing since Primate earlier in the year.

Overall, I very much enjoyed it am definitely glad I caught it on the big screen. I'd love to see a making of featurette on this one, just to see/hear what filming was like and how they did some of it. 

1) George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

2) V/H/S/ playlist (Amateur Night; Safe Haven; Slumber Party Alien Abduction; Bone Storm; Dreamkill)

3) The Warriors

4) Big Trouble in Little China

5) Dreamscape

6) Infirmary

7) Beware Boiúna

8) Milk & Serial

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So here's something I did not expect. I ended up grabbing copies of Marvel's three new "Midnight" series debuts this past Wednesday. The X-Men and Spider-Man aren't really worth talking about, but holy cow did I dig this one:

So let me clarify. It's not like the X-Men: Midnight and Spider-Man: Midnight were bad; they were fine. But FF really grabbed me. Imagine Reed as a pill-poppin' scientist obsessed with opening a rift between worlds and willing to do anything - including sacrifice his assistant Victor - to do so. Now imagine Sue Storm as the head of a dangerous corporation who also want that door between dimensions open, plucking Richards from the maw of the law and putting him to work on this dangerous project, probably for nefarious ends.

Yeah, this one I'll be reading.

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Playlist:

Lustmord & Dave Lombardo - The Pulse of Atoms

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight

Swallowed - Lunaterial

Joy Division - Closer

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

The Sword - Age of Winters

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Testament - Para Bellum

The Cramps - Gravest Gravy

Ritual Howls - Ruin

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Card:

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

• 16: The Tower

* Five of Swords

• Five of Cups

Change sometimes begins as a disappointing defeat, but to use that as the beginning of something new...

A definite reference to an endeavor I've had a hand in over the last year coming to an end. Or is it?

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - I'll Cut You Down

 

The opening track from their 2012 masterpiece Blood Lust. This track marches like old school Sabbath, man. Seriously...

Seeing this band live again really helped solidify the fact that, in my eyes, Blood Lust is their best album. That said, every one of this band's albums is pretty stellar from start to finish. The only one I've had a bit of a tough time cracking is the 2013 follow-up Mind Control, but hearing them open with Mt. Abraxas seems to have opened the album for me. 

Also, I never really thought about it before, but Kevin Stars' vocals are kind of like if Chris Latta-era Cobra Commander or Starscream had a metal band.

Full set list, or as full as I can remember with a little help from the googles:

• Mt. Abraxas (Mind Control) 

• Waiting for Blood (The Night Creeper)

• Death's Door (Blood Lust)

• Ritual Knife (Blood Lust)

• House by the Grave (no keyboard solo ending, though; Shapes of Midnight)

• Bedouin (Wasteland)

• Don't Let It Control You (Shapes of Midnight)

• Pusher Man (The Night Creeper)

• Melody Lane (The Night Creeper)

• Withered Hand of Evil (Blood Lust)

• Only Death Is Your Handcuff, i.e. Solo la morte ti ammanetta (Nell' ora blu)

• Shapes of Midnight (Shapes of Midnight)

• No Return (Wasteland)

A really nice curation of tracks from all their records except the debut, Vol. 1. I don't think I could have asked for anything else that we didn't get. 

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31 Days of Halloween:

Last night I watched Infirmary, a brand new found footage flick on Shudder. Here's the trailer, which I have not watched, so proceed with caution:

Written by Katy Krauland and Nicholas Pineda and Directed by Pineda, this is a pretty good found footage flick. FF's not really my genre, but I can recognize it when it's used effectively, and this does. I didn't love the characters; I could have actually just watched the camera pan around the abandoned hospital with the awesome score by Stephan Bolch, who I am unfamiliar with (but not for long) and also known as Theatre of Delays. All in all, though, a solid watch.

1) George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead

2) V/H/S/ playlist (Amateur Night; Safe Haven; Slumber Party Alien Abduction; Bone Storm; Dreamkill)

3) The Warriors

4) Big Trouble in Little China

5) Dreamscape

6) Infirmary

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NCBD:

Big week, and a lot of books that fit the season. Let's go!

A facsimile of Swamp Thing's very first issue? No way I would pass this up. 

Issue 50! 'Nuff said.

Of the Earth's final issue and I am excited A.F. I want more, but I'm also insanely happy with what we have. Can't wait to see how this all shakes out.

I recently acquired the Hardcover volume of Minor Arcana 1-15. It's so beautiful I cancelled my pull for the monthlies and decided to just wait. After rereading the whole series to date, though, I'm not sure I can wait. We'll see. I hate to double dip.

Still only here because of Micronauts, but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

A new Jonah Hex series written by Michael Walsh? Yes please!!!

Yet another facsimile; you'd think with so many of these of late, I'd finally be able to spell the word "Facsimile" without the aid of grammarly. Nope.

I remember this cover from as far back as I go with comics. No idea what's actually inside, but it seemed like something I'd like to finally read. 

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Playlist:

Faith No More - The Real Thing

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes of Midnight

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services

Odonis Odonis - Eponymous

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Mind Control

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Wasteland

Type O Negative - Bloody Kisses (Suspended in Dusk vinyl release)

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Goatsnake - Black Age Blues

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Card:

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

• Ace of Swords

• Three of Wands

• Four of Swords

Two Swords and a Wands? Sounds like the pen is mightier than the sword, or the brain is a better resource for an upcoming skirmish than the fists.

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.

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil

 

From their 2023 album Disharmonium: Nahab, which I'm really still trying to make sense of three years after release.

Both Disharmonium albums function a bit like hallucinogenic substances to me; I put them on when I need to shake up my Euclidean-trained brain chemistry and see around the corners I've outlined my life with. With the recent announcement of a new BAN release coming this winter, I was hoping for the third part in this series. Not sure that's what we're getting, but regardless, the news sent me back to these for a while. 
 

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Watch:

Friday night, I hit the Regal for Zach Cregger's Resident Evil. Saturday night I went back with K for a second viewing (preceded by a second viewing of Hope, which has moved into my #2 spot for the year). 

After two viewings of Resident Evil, I'll start by stating this up front - I have zero interest in this as a R.E. movie; my excitement is entirely for a new Cregger film. So how was it?

Zach Cregger has such a unique, consistent style. There must be so much of his personality in his films, because those definitely serve as a through line. 

Zach Cregger has such a unique, consistent style. There must be so much of his personality in his films, because those definitely serve as a through line. I read recently that he removed all the jokes he originally had in the script for this, however, there are still so many "exhale" moments. A lot of it is a relatability that  Austin Abrams brings to the film. The entire ordeal flows a bit like a video game; there is an escalating series of "problem solving" situations Abrams' character must overcome as he treks deeper into the countryside surrounding the ground zero of Raccoon City, and he does it swearing and mumbling and flinching all the way. His Bryan is a slacker with an important decision in the background of this one terrible night, and although that B-story is waaaay in the background, it helps guide him through one terrifying event after the other, until he reaches the "final level" and shit really gets F'ked up.

As always, my suggestions is to see this one in the theatre. I'll definitely be having a second viewing before the week is out.

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Playlist:

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses

Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Nahab

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Shapes at Midnight

Anthrax - Curium Perficio

Blut Aus Nord - Triunity

Blut Aus Nord - What Once Was... Liber I

Sleep - Hemispheres

Ministry - Singularity (single)

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Final Light - Eponymous

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Card:

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

• Ace of Wands

• Nine of Swords

• Eight of Cups

A breakthrough of Will short-circuited (or perhaps jumpstarted by?) a disaster of intellect. A misunderstanding that will emotionally transform a scene from average (or less than) to something powerful.

A direct reference to the section of Shadow Play Book 2 that I'm currently working on. I've taken a divergent path with two of the characters, completely inspired by Stephen Kings' Dark Tower books, and it's been a difficult road. A lot of it is not quite working yet, so this just tells me I'll have to fail big to get the breakthrough I'm looking for. 

There is Hope! New Music from Arab Strap!!!

 

My favorite track (so far) from Arab Strap's just-released ninth studio album Half-Told Tales. This one snuck up on me, so I haven't really had a chance to give it a proper listen, but this first time through? God DAMN! This could be a contender. 

You can order this from Arab Strap HERE.

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Watch:

Last night I sat down in my local big box theatre and was treated to one of the best theatrical experiences of the year. I'm talking about Na Hong-jin's new film Hope. I'm posting a trailer here, but I'd advise you just forego this and go see Hope on the big screen it is a BANGER!

When I posted about this previously, I mentioned that the "Quiet Place" vibes the trailer gave me were probably specifically achieved for the trailer, i.e. what better way to roll out a Korean monster movie in the theatre than by alluding to something that did well and could be somewhat comparable. I dig the two A Quiet Place films I've seen quite a bit, but this is definitely not that. Hope is its own thing, and I absolutely  loved it. So much fun!  

This entire film is about momentum; once it starts, it really goes hard, with only a few "lulls" in the fast-paced action. There's next to no exposition thrown at you, and the ending comes out of nowhere. This has already made it into my top five of the year, and I'm hoping I can go back and see it one more time before it leaves the big screen.

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Watch:

A double watch today, before I get too far away from last weekend's viewing experiment to properly mention it.

A few months back, I wrote about how many Warner Brothers DVDs from 2008-2010 were manufactured substandard materials and had all largely gone bad. I also wrote about how I'd discovered via online discussion threads about this travesty that there exists and email whereby you can contact the company and they will replace your discs.

That turned out to be bullshit. 

I'm rather attached to the packaging for the Blade Runner five-disc box set that Mr. Brown gave me circa 2011, so I ended up tracking down the set on Blu-Ray from eBay and swapping the BR discs into the DVD packaging. Next up, had to take a test toast, and I figured what better excuse to finally sit down over the course of a couple of days and watch all major versions of the film for comparison's sake. 

I was extremely surprised by the results.

First, the Theatrical Cut: This ended up being an aborted attempt at watching the film the way I saw it first, way back as a little kid. Even back in the 90s when new versions sans voice over were surfacing, I defended (not preferred) this original cut simply out of nostalgia and, in hindsight, because the narration was probably the first time I was introduced to that particular Noir trope which does work well on occasion (of all the dames in all the offices, she walks into mine). 

Watching this now - or perhaps more accurately attempting to watch this - I just couldn’t do it. There are a bunch of hinky moments in Ford’s performance I see now that I was either previously blind to or just didn’t want to admit - this film’s iconic footprint allows it to hold itself up by the bootstraps in A LOT of respects - and the narration, which at times feels forced, tired, half-arsed and downright goofy, only accentuates that. So I turned this off, waited a day and starter back in on the Director’s Cut. Something about this viewing or the Director’s Cut felt off. Part of it was I started it after waking up in the middle of the night, made it to JF’s intro and fell back asleep. Finished later that day, and it felt unfamiliar and a little hokey. Especially some of Ford’s mannerisms. Interruptions are never good for watching film, but the answer would reveal itself upon my subsequent viewing of the Final Cut, which is definitely my preferred version.

Director's Cut: This viewing or the Director’s Cut felt off. Part of it was due to the fact that I started the viewing after waking up in the middle of the night. I made it to about where William Sanderson's JF shows up and welcomes Darryl Hannah's Pris into his apartment* and then fell back asleep. I finished the viewing later that day, but something about staring it in the middle made it feel overall unfamiliar and a little hokey. Especially some of Ford’s mannerisms. Interruptions are never good for watching film, but the answer would reveal itself upon my subsequent viewing of the Final Cut, which is definitely my preferred version. (* Where's his other brother Darryl?).

Final Cut: This has been the version of the film I've watched in the last twenty-five years or so, so maybe it's just deep-rooted familiarity, but THIS feels right. I mean, compared to some folks' fandom with this film, I've probably only seen it six or seven times in my life, and probably four of five of those were either Theatrical or Director's cuts, but this Final Cut feels so cohesive, and one of the big factors I landed on for that in thinking about it is the color grading. It's perfect!

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Playlist:

John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter & Daniel Davies - Cathedral

Sumerlands - Dreamkiller

Windhand - Eternal Return

Boards of Canada - Inferno

Yerusalem - The Sublime

Fear - Live... For the Record

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Sect(s)

Blut Aus Nord - 777 The Desanctification

Blut Aus Nord - 777 Cosmosphy

Arab Strap - Half-Told Tales

The Jesus Lizard - Liar

The Damage Manual - Special Edition

Dance with the Dead - Malombra

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Card:

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

• Page of Wands

• Seven of Pentacles

• Page of Pentacles

Baggage. Frugal.

I have a ghost, or a demon, or a virus. I don't feel like I spend an exorbitant amount of my money on the amazing but admittedly frivolous things that I populate my space with - music, movies, books, comics, plastic, etc. I spend more than I probably should from time to time, but I've looked at the numbers and it just doesn't add up, the fact that I have such a hard time saving money. So, for this pull, I did something I almost never do. I held an exact question in my mind when I shuffled and chose. And I'd say the result is pretty on the nose. In the grimoire, I actually have "A difficult period in material life" as the entry for the Seven of Pentacles. I have "Baggage" among the qualifiers for the Page of Wands, and I have "Frugal" for the Page of Pentacles. Plus, two of the three cards are Pentacles, i.e. disks, i.e. material concerns. 

So what does this tell me, other than this is an uphill climb? 

New Music from Chat Pile!!!

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

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

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NCBD:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Watch:

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

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

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Playlist:

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming

Marilyn Manson - One Assassination Under God Chapter 2

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Chat Pile - Who Loves the Sun

Steve Moore - Jimmy & Stiggs OST

Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST

Roughly Enforcing Nostalgia - Front Door Doxologies

Fear - Live... For the Record

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

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Card:

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

• Knight of Cups

• Ace of Wands

• Knight of Pentacles

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

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

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist - Witch Doctor

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

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Watch:

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

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

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Playlist:

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

Godflesh - In All Languages

Matthew Pusti - Onslaught OST

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist - Before TheWorld Blows 

Godflesh - New Flesh In Dub Vol. 1

Godflesh - Post Self

Chat Pile - Who Loves The Sun

The Cramps - Gravest Gravy

Gnarls Barkley - Atlanta

The Cramps - RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX 

Isaac Hayes - The Isaac Hayes Movement

Miles Davis - Ascender pour l'échafaud

Chat Pile - God's Country

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

Purest Form - Resistance EP

Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire

Dance with the Dead - Malombra

Ghost - Skeleta

The Jesus Lizard - Down

Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple

Pino Donaggio - Her Private Hell OST

Black Pyramid - The Paths of Time are Vast

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

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

Alabama Shakes - I Must Be Dreaming

Orville Peck - Bronco

Steely Dan - Aja

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Card:

Back to my trusty old Thoth deck this morning:

• 7 of Disks - Failure

• Ace of Cups

• 3 of Cups: Abundance

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

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

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

Soundgarden - Holy Water

The penultimate track on Soundgarden's 1991 masterpiece, Badmotorfinger, "Holy Water" always ushers in a bittersweet feeling for me. I love the track, but it signals the outro of the record, with "New Damage" following to wrap up what has been one of the most satisfying listens in my lifetime.

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Watch:

Penny Lane is Dead has been on my radar via word-of-mouth from my friend and Horror Vision cohost Anthony (That's King Butcher if you're on the IG), and without knowing anything specific, I've been wondering when it will reach us (and if it will receive a theatrical release). Here's the trailer that just dropped:

 

Honestly, I shut this trailer down by the time the Shudder logo popped up. I don't need to see anything beyond those initial, frenzied flashings - I'm in.

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Playlist:

The Caretaker - Theoretically pure anterograde amnesia

Uniform & The Body - Everything That Dies Someday Comes Back Again

Drain - ... Is Your Friend

Judas Priest - Greatest Hits

The Body - I Have Fought Against It, But I Can't Any Longer

Ministry - The Last Sucker

Ween - Bring Out the Foos: Live 1996

Róisín Murphy - Overpowered

Revocation - New Gods, New Masters

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

Blut Aus Nord - Ethereal Horizons

Soundgarden - Badmotorfinger

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Card:

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

• Three of Swords

• Nine of Wands

• Nine of Swords

Pain and closure. 

RIP Jennier Finch

 

RIP. I don't give these ladies nearly the spin time they deserve. I'll never forget the first time I heard "Shit List"-a friend's car one afternoon, senior year. Everything about it blew me away. Everything about these ladies always blew me away, from their good nature at being referred to as "the wives of Metallica" back in the 90s while on tour, to their heavy fucking riffs and take-no-shit attitude. 

Finch's bass really made L7's sound. That low end, and how she positioned it so perfectly between Donita Sparks' and Suzi Gardner's guitars and Demetra Plakas' drums, just made them stand out. You can make sonic comparisons to Mudhoney and Melvins, but that's more era than anything else. 

I went back to their second record for this post because Jennifer takes lead vox, it kicks, and I love the good-natured (?) shade she throws at some of their, uh, contemporaries. Hahaha.

 

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Watch:

Ti West's next film is a version of A Christmas Carol? Really? Well, I'm there. And look - Johnny Depp!

I'd love Depp to make a comeback, and can think of no better Director for him to do it with than West. I'll definitely have my arse in a seat for Ebenezer come November 11th. This will also fit in nicely with the newfound proclivity I've exhibited the last few years for British Ghost Stories around Yule.

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Read:

After finishing Wizard and Glass last weekend, I took a short detour from the Dark Tower books to read some Giallo! First up, P.J. Thorndyke's Five Kisses From A Blasphemous Nun - best. Title. EVER!!!

This novel NAILS Giallo! A fantastic mystery that revolves around a series of grisly murders, a possibly reincarnated or possession-happy nun accused of heresy, and the Italian Fotoromanzi business. I really dug this one for its attention to detail, which in turn made it a breezy read (2 days) and completely immersive. 

Next, after reading David Sodergren's Death Spell last year, I'd been wanting to pick up another of his books, and Dead Girl Blues fit perfectly with the theme, although the author admits that while the novel began as a Giallo, it morphed as he wrote. Sodergren ends up coining the term Slasher Noir for it, and I think that's perfect. 

This one is mesmerizing in its violence and depravity. Again, two days to blow through it (both work days). Not for the squeamish, but worth the work. I'm shifting back to the Dark Tower books soon, but there's definitely more Sodergren in my future!

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Playlist:

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Night Creeper

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

Ozzy Osbourne - The Ultimate Sin

Crystal Spiders - Metanoia

Holy Fawn - Death Spells

Obsession - Methods of Madness

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Ozzy Osbourne - Diary of a Madman

L7 - Smell the Magic

L7 - Bricks Are Heavy

L7 - Scatter the Rats

Mastodon - Emperor of Sand

Pat Benatar - Little Too Late (single)

Journey - I'll Be Alright Without You (single)

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Card:

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

• Knight of Wands

• Nine of Cups

• Queen of Wands

Ambition, wishful thinking and creativity. Hmm...

Taratoa Stappard's Mārama.

 

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

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NCBD:

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

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

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

Condon and Adlard? Take my money.

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

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

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

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

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Read:

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

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

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

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

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Playlist:

Émilie Leviensaise-Farrouch - Censor OST

Atticus Derrickson - The Black Phone 2 OST

Tangerine Dream - Sorcerer OST
King Woman - Celestial Blues

The Sword - Age of Winters

The Doors - L.A. Woman

The Bangles - All Over the Place

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

Palesketcher - Jesu: Pale Sketches Demixed

Jesu - Lifeline EP

Jesu - Silver EP

M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

Blackbraid - Celestial Womb EP

Deafheaven - Ordinary Corrupt Human Love

Burial - Untrue

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Card:

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

• 20: Judgment

• Nine of Cups

• 17: The Star

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

New Music From Loathe

I'm on the fence on this one. While I love Loathe's 2020, I Let It in, and It Took Everything, the album cuts its Nü Metal elements with enough atmospherics and melody that I don't really notice them. This on the other hand, while being insanely heavy, feels a little more outside my Nü tolerance. 

We'll see. As usual, it's never a good idea to make a decision about a single without the context of the full album informing that decision.

That said, I just realized that this is actually the second track released from the upcoming album, A Stranger to You, out July 17th. You can pre-order the album HERE, and the previously released track, "Gifted Every Strength," is actually a lot more promising in my opinion. So the verdict is still out. 

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Watch:

You know, there are more and more shark movies every year, and although they terrify me, I guess I'm the guy who just has trouble taking any shark movie seriously other than Jaws. That's not entirely true, but it's not entirely untrue either. Giant squid, though? 

Holy f*cking nightmare fuel!!!

I really hope this hits a theatre near me. I think seeing this great big honkin' Kraken (CG, yes, but that's fine in this case, as I'd hate to think of the animal wranglers or, for that matter, actors having to deal with an actual giant squid.

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Playlist:

Mountain Realm - Stoneharrow

Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me

Type O Negative - Dead Again

Low Cut Connie - Tough Cookies: Best of the Quarantine Broadcasts

Low Cut Connie - Livin in the USA (pre-release singles)

Primus - Tales from the Punchbowl

Various - The New (playlist from Jacob)

Nun Gun - Mondo Decay

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯ A♯ ∞ 

Bryce Miller - City Depths

Living Nudes - My World Exploded

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Wasteland

Drug Church - Prude

Amigo the Devil - Born Against

Them Are Us Too - Part Time Punks Session

MadLove - White With Foam

Boards of Canada - Tomorrow's Harvest

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Card:

One card from my Thoth deck:

A reminder that the only good reason to do most things has a root cause analysis of Love. 

HOKUM

I realized recently that I never posted anything from Gylt's latest album, In 1000 Agonies I Exist. You can grab this over on the band's Bandcamp page. Both this and 2024's I Will Commit A Holy Crime: Tandem are fantastic records that infiltrated my regular rotation last year after my trip back home to L.A., when friends first played these guys for me. I would very much like to see Gylt live at some point. 

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Watch:

I caught the late show for Damian McCarthy's Hokum last Thursday night. I've been all but salivating for this one. Here's the 'final' trailer, released last week. 

So how was it? Did I get what I wanted? Oh my god, yes!

Hokum is an excellent ghost story, and it's about haunted people as much as it is about a haunted place. The locations, as with all McCarthy's films, are gorgeous beyond compare. There are some legitimately frightening sequences here. One in particular, involving a circle around a four-poster bed, was the first example of a filmmaker creating a sustained sequence of fear in years. 

That's my favorite, and it is rare. It's just really difficult to scare an adult with a ghost or monster movie when just living in this world means we operate with a low-grade level of sustained fear 24/7. But McCarthy pulls it off beautifully.

There are also some really great jump scares here. One in particular really got me. 

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Playlist:

John Cale - Fear

John Cale - Slow Dazzle

The Dream Syndicate - The Days of Wine and Roses

Portishead - Third

The Atlas Moth - Coma Noir

The Soft Moon - Criminal

The Misfits - Walk Among Us

Electric Youth and Pilot Priest - Come True OST

Corrosion of Conformity - Good God/Baad Man

Frank Black and the Catholics - One More Road for the Hit

Metallica - Ride the Lightning

Beach House - Bloom

Ghost - Ceremony and Devotion

NIN - The Slip

Gylt - I Will Commit a Holy Crime: Tandem

Slow Crush - Thirst

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Card:

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

• XV: The Devil

• Eight of Cups

• King of Wands

Adhering to your own dogma will drain your vitality, so have the presence of mind to recognize your own bullshit and subvert it. 

Direct reference to a new project I've dubbed Film50.

Julia Ducournea's Alpha!!!

Writing this Tuesday at 11L12 AM CST. Starting my first morning on the Southside with Black Sabbath's Paranoid. This is a regular ritual when I return to the soil from whence I came - Sabbath helps me reconnect to this area; I literally feel the harmonization singing in my blood. 

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Watch:

Yesterday, my Horror Vision cohost Missi and I hit a local big-box to see Julia Ducournau's new film, Alpha. I walked in knowing NOTHING and, as usual, that was the best way to go in.

Alpha is an arduous journey that had me squirming and contorting in my seat for its entire run time. The subject matter was a surprise to me, as was the unrelenting twist of the mundane into horrific body horror beyond almost what I could stand. It's not a gory film or a disturbing film in any capacity I could have expected. My elevator pitch would be, "Requiem for a Dream done by David Cronenberg if he were French." That's a bit of a cop out, but most elevator pitches are. Suffice it to say, this will easily be one of the 'best' films I see this year. 

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NCBD:

I am out of town, and so I won't be bringing any of my books home to read this week. I will be swinging into Amazing Fanasy sometime this week, so there may be an addendum post, but here's all the great stuff I will have waiting for me upon my return to Clarksville:

I said this on a recent episode of Drinking with Comics, but it kind of blows my mind that for as long as I've been a devoted, weekly comic reader (since July of 1986), forty years on, most of my pull list are titles based on 80s childhood IPs that I love.  There have certainly been titles for all of these characters running most of those forty years, but it wasn't until Robert Kirkman (of course) acquired them that I actually started reading them. 

Continuing the longest-running continuity the Turtles have ever had! I know they zeroed out the count back in 2024, but I still look at this by the 'Legacy' number, which would be issue 177. And while there's definitely a modicum of status quo creeping back in (Splinter's alive (I think), the four brothers are back together as a team (I think!), all the Jenika and mutanttown characters have been moved to their own books (which I don't read), I'm still pretty pleased with how this is going.

On our way to issue 50! No lie - I'm going to have to reread a lot of these "history" issues, but that's fine. SIKTC remains a modern, non-childhood favorite. In fact, my childhood might not have made it out of this book's world alive!

Tim Seely, Ryan O'Nan, Paolo Armitano and crew's Pretty Hate Machine will be my first comic from Mad Cave Studios, and how could I not buy this? Look at that cover - gnarly! And then, what was the other eye catcher... oh yeah. The title! Naming comics of movies/novels off of popular music titles is a tricky gambit, but I will give this one a fair shake because... finger knives!

Speaking of needing a reread to reorient myself, year. That's this one, too. Regardless, can't wait to jump back in and reexperience all the steeping paranoia and terror that is The House At... series.

Last week's Baroness one-shot that kicked off the month-long Silent Missions "Event" exceeded my expectations by a mile. I've always loved the Crimson Guards - especially Larry Hama's CGs with their plastic surgery, swappable domestic identities - so I'm fully expecting this to be on par.

And we close this week with the latest issue of Larry Hama's long-running ARAH. Last issue was probably my favorite Joe comic in a long time, and that makes sense. I dig the more fantastical elements of the Energon Universe Joe book, but nothing beats that time-tested Hama realism. While I haven't read this book since circa 1991, coming back to it with issue 300 showed me that some more SciFi elements had snuck in here, too, and it's always great to get something that reminds me of why I loved this book as a kid.

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Playlist:

Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy

Blood Mother - The Night Fires (single)

Gylt - I Will Commit A Holy Crime: Tandem

Young Widows - Power Sucker

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Tender Prey

Jozef Van Wissem - Praise Shall Sound From Shore To Shore... (single)

Afghan Whigs - House of I (single)

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Card:

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

• VII: The Chariot

• Pince of Wands

• Princess of Wands

Fast action results in swift and positive results.