Zetra - From Within

 

Heaven is an Incubator recently posted about the upcoming From Without EP that drops in January (pre-order HERE). I'd never heard of the band, and when I clicked over and heard the 1-2 of Life Melts Away that opens From Within, well, I was totally sold. 

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Watch:

So I made it through Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass. Not an easy task until the last three episodes, which ended up really coming through and making the rest of the show worthwhile. Not that it's terrible, but a lot of the 'aging' make-up used is pretty bad, and the lead character is just pointless and annoying. I mean, really. He ultimately serves no purpose that could not have been collapsed into another character. Ah well, in the end, I really dug the juxtaposition of religion and the supernatural, so it's a recommendation, although I can pretty safely say I'll never watch this one again.

Next? Castle Rock! I've been meaning to watch this for, well, years now, and I'm finally doing it. Three episodes into Season One and I'm digging it. Fantastic cast. Here's the trailer:

I've read a pretty fair amount of Stephen King, but not enough to deftly spot every reference in this one, so I'm gingerly taking mental notes and will look up all the references afterward. The obvious one here is Shawshank Prison, which I didn't realize played such a big part in this first season's story. Very cool. 

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Playlist:

Anthrax - Among the Living

Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments

Bnny - Everything

Hotel Decor - Could It Take Me Any Longer EP

The Fixx - Reach the Beach

Slayer - Decade of Aggression

Boz Scaggs - Silk Degrees

Zetra - From Within

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Card:

A reminder that methodical approaches to projects and problems are the way to go. Timely, as I have one big, open-loop issue in my life right now - the eventual move - and on any given day, it feels over-fucking-whelming.

Blood Red Shoes - Mexican Dress

Blood Red Shoes' 2019 album Get Tragic is one of those albums that just missed being on my Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2019 list. And I mean, just missed it. A solid album that scratches the itch left by The Kills, whose last album I didn't particularly care for.

That list is coming soon, I swear. In the meantime, Heaven is an Incubator posted his Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2019 HERE. Great stuff, and a lot of it that's new to me. Of particular note is Zetra, whose Bandcamp you can check out HERE.

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I recently became completely obsessed with HBO's Watchmen show. I've always been hesitant with any addition to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's seminal graphic masterpiece, completely ignoring After Watchmen and Doomsday Clock and Doctor Manhattan's Super Happy Funtime Show, or whatever other ridiculous way DC is currently involved in trying to fleece the source material for, so I didn't fall in line with HBO's offering until I learned a few things recently that changed my mind.

1) HBO's show is not a sequel to the Movie Adaptation. It is a sequel to the original comic. That means no Dr. Manhattan blamed for Nuclear Strike, but massive phony squid alien destroys New York, brings humanity together, and diverts Nuclear Holocaust. Three episodes in, I'm floored by the quality of the show. I mean, it's HBO, so the production value is always going to be top of the line. But I'm getting some aesthetic vibes reminiscent of True Detective Season One. Also, the story plays with so many peripheral elements of the world created by Watchmen that it's just not the story I would have ever imagined anyone doing. If that's not awesome enough, the way the show introduces people/events and then doles out information made the first episode basically one big gottasee, so I am hooked.

Oh yeah, and 2) Mr. Brown sent me THIS.

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Shudder recently added Brian Yuzna's Bride of Reanimator. I'd never seen this one before, despite loving the first Reanimator, and I was shocked to find that I think I actually like Bride better! It's funnier, gorier, and really just completely insane.




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Playlist:

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Watchmen OST, Vol. 1
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Watchmen OST, Vol. 2
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross - Social Network
NIN - With Teeth
NIN - The Slip
Talking Heads - Remain in Light
Godflesh - Pure
Godflesh - A World Lit Only By Fire
NIN - Not the actual Events
Duende and David J - Oracle of the Horisontal
Blood Red Shoes - Get Tragic
Carpenter Brut - Leather Teeth
Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell
Carpenter Brut - Trilogy