From the forthcoming record Yomi, out November 8th on Debemur Morti. I just stumbled across Ershetu via the Deber Morti Newsletters. Their first album, 2023's Xibalba, is a confounding puzzle of a record, one in a series of records meant to explore the concept of Death among different cultures. From the press release:
"Cinematic Black Metal project ERSHETU was formed in 2021 by conceptualist/lyricist Void and composer Sacr to explore formulations of Death within particular civilizations or religions. After tackling Mayan mythology via evocative 2023 debut "Xibalba", new album "Yomi" finds the band growing in confidence and stature, heading to deeper and darker climes as they immerse themselves in the death folklore of Japanese Shinto."
Blut Aus Nord's Vindsval is not only once again featured on bass and additional guitars for the new record, but also serves as Ershetu's vocalist on the new album.
US pre-order HERE
EU pre-order HERE.
I feel like there's a little bit of an homage to the original Marvel GIJOE: ARAH issue #60, but maybe that's just in my head. I dig the way Hama is basically casting echoes of the original series' Cobra Civil War with this new Battle for Springfield storyline. Lots of factions in Cobra in this series, and Mr. Hama is, as usual, handling them quite deftly.
As I've mentioned, I'm digging the Destro series, and even Scarlett issue 4 turned out pretty good, but the new car excitement has worn off a bit on this new take. I think we're all ready to collapse the Skybound Energon Universe GIJOE storyline down to one monthly comic for a while.
Hellblazer: Dead in America continues to be a wild ride with a ghostly John Constantine and his cohorts through the dark heart of America, and while that's certainly a storyline that's been done in Hellblazer before, this one shares a lot more with classic Vertigo books like Shade The Changing Man: The American Scream than those "New Vertigo" Hellblazer volumes. Nothing wrong with either, but Si Spurrier's ability to hit that classic Vertigo tone on the head rivals Tynion's, and that's saying something. Does that mean a book like this is simply serving a nostalgia purpose? No, I don't think so. John Constantine is one of those characters that got strip-mined by the end of the original Hellblazer series - and certainly since then with all the launches and relaunches, to say nothing of his appropriation into a more recognizable character inside the mainstream DCU - and this series feels like the first new Constantine story I've seen in well over ten years that I actually give a toss about. Maybe it was just luck of the draw for the book, but this book is proving to be very satisfying to this old-school Constantine fan at the moment.
Finally! The second issue of Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood. Issue #1 was a surprise - I wrote about it HERE - and I've looked forward to the second installment ever since. Also - another jaw-dropping cover!!!
NCBD:
Another Wednesday brings another glorious NCBD. What's in the box for me at Rick's Comic City today? Let's see...
Watch:
I watched Jennifer Kent's 2019 Colonial Australia Opus The Nightengale recently. This is one I was very much afraid of, knowing a bit about the storyline. One of my compatriots from The Horror Vision recently chose this as her pick for an upcoming episode of Elements of Horror, so I steeled myself and fired up Shudder, where Kent's film is currently streaming.
Not an easy watch in any respect. The Nightengale is film I would definitely say needs to be seen. The harsh indictment of Colonialism, as well as just the general disrespect human beings have for each other, is a reminder that, shamefully, we're really not all that far advanced from this yet.
Playlist:
Forhist - Eponymous
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Nell' ora blu
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats - Blood Lust
Ritual Howls - Scatter the Scars
Ritual Howls - Their Body
The Jesus Lizard - Rack
Type O Negative - October Rust
The Damned - Night of A Thousand Vampires
The High Confessions - Turning Lead Into Gold with the High Confessions
Neon Nightmare - Lost Silver (pre-release single)
Neon Nightmare - She's Drowning (pre-release single)
Seventh Void - Heaven Is Gone
Type O Negative - Life is Killing Me
Card:
Today's card for study is IV: The Emperor:
Rules that govern all life.
This begs the question, is the card a reminder to be mindful of those rules or to seek answers outside their boundaries? The card's visual imagery is overwhelmingly Martial and that can be read as playing by the rules of a situation with the intent of subverting its dogma.
