Out June 7th, you can pre-order the new album Afraid of Tomorrow HERE.
NCBD:
Another fantastic Wednesday means comics! Comics! COMICS! Let's get into this week's pull:
The return of James Tynion IV's The Deviant. I feel like this one is going to be a sleeper this year; I just don't know anyone else reading it, which may just be my limited world-slice. Let it just be said if you're not reading and you count yourself a Tynion fan, you're missing out.
Apparently, this is simply a re-packaging of last Saturday's FCBD Energon Universe special, so I may have both sitting in my box at Rick's (I don't go anywhere near actual comic shops on FCBD anymore; haven't in years). I'm fine with having both, and I hear there are some juicy spoilers inside this one. The cover art alone gets us something we have not yet had in the line - Optimus vs. Megatron! Hell, the only time we've even seen ol' Megs is as Cobra Commander's prisoner/science experiment down in the murky depths of Cobra-La, so I'm betting this will explain how that happened and how Megatron lost both arms.
The penultimate issue of Laurence Campbell and Ram V's The One Hand. This and The Six Fingers have been the year's most delightful surprises so far; can't wait to see where these books end up.
LOVE this cover.
Just end already. Jeez.
Watch:
Over on Francis Ford Coppola's YouTube channel, the filmmaker released a "First Look" and official synopsis of his upcoming Megalopolis.
The clip reveals nothing story-wise. That said, the elements of composition at play on the screen are gorgeous. Also of note is the score, as credited to Osvaldo Golijov, who appears to be fairly new to a project of this size. What we hear sounds awesome!
We've been hearing about this for years; if you double-click the video above and read the summary in the description field on YouTube, this sounds like an 84-year-old master bestowing his most ambitious project on the world.
Playlist:
Alice in Chains - Facelift
Windhand - Eponymous
Turquoise Moon - The Sunset City
Calexico - Even Sure Things Fall Through
Trombone Shorty - For True
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Three of Cups
• Six of Wands
• V: The Hierophant
In a nutshell, Threes points to Growth and Sixes to Support. The Hierophant often implies "something more;" read that as the Divine if you like; I see it more as Occult, or hidden, influences, similar to XVIII: The Moon. I'm looking at everything right now as pertaining to a stressful situation with work, and in that regard, there's more of a balm here than I would have anticipated.
A YouTube rabbit hole last night led me to discover Black Pyramid's music. The new album Paths of Time are Vast drops this Friday; this one is a fantastic entry into the Stoner/Doom set. You can pre-order the gorgeous vinyl edition over at Totem Cat Records HERE. I got mine!
Watch:
Over the last three days, I've seen two flicks in the theatre. Both were fun as hell for totally different reasons. First up, The Fall Guy!
I grew up a big fan of the Lee Majors' tv show in the 80s, so I was interested right off the bat. Throw in Gosling and Blunt, and the fact that this was directed by Stunt Man David Leitch sealed the deal. Very fun flick! A little weird in the pacing, but I was never not entertained.
Next up, Boy Kills World.
This flick is NUTS! Reminded me a bit of the same energy in Guns Akimbo, so if you dug that one, definitely check this one out. The action sequences are all pretty insane, but the final battle is one of the best-choreographed fights I've ever laid eyes on.
Playlist:
Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST
As I reference below, my days have been filled with elemtns of Folklore of late, and one of the musical accompaniments for this is Dublin's band Lankum. One of the things about Paul Duane's All You Need Is Death that struck me during the screening at last year's Beyondfest was the score by composer Ian Lynch. Last week when Invada Records put the score up for pre-order (HERE), it led me to discover Lynch's band Lankum. I've been listening to their most recent album False Lankum ever since. A feast for the ears, you can listen to and purchase the record directly from the band over on their Bandcamp HERE. Really cool stuff, perfect for the thunderstorms we've had on an almost nightly basis of late.
Watch:
Over on The Horror Vision, we had the chance to interview Writer/Director Paul Duane last week. Mr. Duane's latest film, All You Need is Death was one of the highlights of 2023's Beyondfest, and after re-watching it now that it's available on VOD, we were all very excited to pick his brain about the film, Folk Horror, Documentaries, you name it.
Mr. Duane is a gracious man, and his film a marvel that will no doubt stand at or near the best of the year when I compile my list in December. Very much looking forward to seeing what else he does, as he teases a bit of what he's working on in the episode.
Read:
We recorded a new episode of The Horror Vision Presents: Sticks & Stones, our Folk Horror sub-show that had been dormant after two episodes Ray and I did in early 2022. Folk Horror is a huge topic, and had proved difficult for us to get a handle on after the veritable explosion of new films in the sub-genre back late 2021/2022. The purpose of this episode, then, was to use two films at the opposite ends of the Folk Horror spectrum to define what Folk Horror is to us and how we would cover it going forward. One of the two films we chose was Djordje Kadijevic's Leptirica, AKA The She-Butterfly.
After watching this film for what was my third time, I found myself interested in reading the story upon which it is based, Milovan Gilsic's After Ninety Years. There is a fairly recently published translated version by James Lyon available on Kindle for a pawltry $4.99, so I went ahead and ordered it.
Not sure when I'll get around to actually reading this, as the stack for the year just continues to grow. Still, it's nice to have it close at hand for when I do. This Serbo-Bosnian Vampire folklore is fascinating, especially when you consider it not only pre-dates Bram Stoker's Dracula, but also served to inform aspects of F.W. Murnau, which I won't elaborate on here, as Professor John Trafton delivers a bit of show-stopping information during the course of this upcoming Sticks & Stones episode, so keep an eye out of that.
Playlist:
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues
Black Sabbath - Eponymous
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Robot God - Portal Within
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Opeth - My Arms Your Hearse
Motörhead - 1916
Black Sky Giant - The Red Chariot
Mountain Realm - Frostfall
Lankum - False Lankum
Sunn O))) - Domkirke
Godflesh - Purge
John Carpenter - Lost Themes IV
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Knight of Swords
• Ten of Wands
• Ten of Cups
Earthly matter abound, distractions from more intellectual pursuits should be minimized until such time as I can clear some bandwidth for them.
Man, what a fabulous music video.
From This House is Made of Corners, available HERE.
Watch:
X-Men '97 has been the biggest shock of the year for me, and this week's episode RIPPED!
More and more, I'm seeing this cartoon as a very suitable replacement for the current X-Books. I might not have Krakoa, but I have a new continuity based on ones I previously know, with enough surprise story architecture to really keep me guessing. Also, this show has some teeth! Was not what I was expecting from a cartoon on Disney + but then again, as I'll talk about in a moment, maybe Disney has come around on embracing more mature content again (remember The Black Hole?).
NCBD Addendum:
Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows on Get Fury?
Get Fury is a sequel of sorts to Ennis' Fury series as well as his Punisher: Born, Punisher: The Platoon. It opens in 1971 during the Vietnam War. Colonel Nick Fury has been captured by the North Vietnamese. The U.S. Army's solution to making sure he isn't successfully interrogated? Send Captain Frank Castle on a Black Op to assassinate Fury. Sounds right in Garth Ennis's wheelhouse, no?
I honestly didn't think we'd ever get another Garth Ennis Fury series like the MAX one from the turn of the century. I'd heard a story from someone inside the industry that basically puts the reason George Clooney turned down an early role as Fury as his reading that Max series. With the recently announced "Red Band" Werewolf by Night series coming in August, are we back to Marvel embracing a similar approach as they did with Max? Certainly, Disney has seemed to relinquish all concerns about cross-pollinating R-Rated material with their family-friendly aesthetic - when I sign in to Disney + now, I see everything on Hulu right alongside all the Disney stuff. So obviously, they've made the decision we all knew they would and embraced Marketing over brand optics.
As Hunter would say, "Works for me."
Get Fury is a 3-issue mini-series; the first issue hit shelves yesterday.
Playlist:
Ian Lynch - All You Need Is Death OST
Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST
High on Fire - De Vermis Mysteriis
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Wach - Quae Infra Volo Videre (pre-release single)
Oranssi Pazuzu - Live at Roadburn 2017
Card:
Checking in with Missi's Raven Deck for the first time in a while this morning. Just looking for one card to summarize the day:
I'm choosing to interpret this as straight beauty and good vibes. A bit hippy-dippy, but I'm in a "broad strokes" mood.
I've spent a bunch of time tightening up my Pull list for the coming months, and I'm happy to say I'm all right jumping off so many titles. The books that really move me these days are Kirkman's Energon Universe titles, anything Brubaker and Phillips or Lemire and Sorrentino do, and a few titles beyond. There's always the chance I'll find something interesting on the wall at the shop, or that my erstwhile AMHL cohost Chris might shoot me a message about something I'd missed altogether, but for the most part, I'm feeling a distance from monthly comics again, and that's fine. Here's this week's Pull, complete with two FCBD editions that won't be available until Saturday.
The FCBD special for the aforementioned Energon Universe, and I can say I am excited as all hell to see Megatron on the cover. The idea that such a massive character has only been glimpsed once so far—and not even in his normal book—blows me away. Kirkman and crew have plotted these titles meticulously and, in doing so, raised expectations to a crescendo. Is now the time when those expectations pay off? I doubt it, but we'll see.
Possibly the last regular-continuity TMNT title I'll be reading for some time, if that's indeed what this book is. I know there's some occurrence of a character called The Night Watcher somewhere in the past continuity, but I am unfamiliar with or forgetful. Maybe the late 90s iteration that was written by Gary Carlson?
WTFPFH? returns! Glad to have this one back, as the snarky approach to mystery, mayhem and the apocalypse is exactly the kind of thing I'm in the mood for at the moment. Something about Spring puts me in the mood for Indie comics.
One more after this. As I said last week, and probably the week before, I'm really just counting the days to see this era through to the end, especially after seeing THIS. Good lord - all this wonderful potential, thrown away for a return to the status quo the X-Books drove into the ground for the better part of five decades. Ugh. They're even going with a design that harkens back to that horrible cover layout from the mid-to-late 90s.
Watch:
Paul Duane's All You Need Is Death just hit VOD and, of course, I rented it and watched it twice over the last few days.
After the screening at last year's Beyondfest - hosted at the Los Feliz 3 theatre - this film left a deep impression on me and I'd harbored an itch to return to it again ever since. I can tell you the film is even more gratifying in its ambiguity; there's so much here, such a deep dive into a subculture that both does and doesn't really exist, that I kind of feel like I'm uncovering something that shouldn't be seen while watching this one. Also, Ian Lynch's score is OUTSTANDING.
Playlist:
Black Sabbath - Eponymous
Robot God - Portal Within
Gary Moore - Still Got the Blues
The Damned - Night of the Living Damned
White Zombie - Astro-Creep 2000
Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST
Alice in Chains - Eponymous
Lankum - False Lankum
Ian Lynch - All You Need Is Death OST
Card:
For this first day of May, I felt a pull back to an older deck, and picked up my beloved Thoth for the first time in a while (this one gets more difficult to satisfactorily photograph every day, as the cards are worn and bent with use and love):
• Ace of Cups
• Three of Disks: Work
• Nine of Cups: Happiness
I also felt the urge to break out Crowley's definitive text on the deck, The Book of the Thoth and do some actual reading for today's interpretation.
One of the interpretations of the Minor Arcana or "pip" cards I've strayed from in recent years is how they relate to the Sephirotic Tree of Life. The sephiroth are something I consider when I really dig in, but I'm realizing I've strayed in keeping them as part of the mental mechanisms I utilize to "Divine on the Go," a terrible turn of phrase, but an accurate one, as I'm usually busy and in a time-crunch when it comes to these daily pulls. Thumbing through The Book of Thoth and landing on the Three of Disks first, I'm immediately reminded of Binah's association with the 'Threes." Binah, the great mother, strengthened here by Mars, we see the transmutation of water to a solid strong enough to support a three-sided structure.
Take that with the Ace of Cups, which is instantly an "Emotional Breakthrough" signifier for me, always has been, almost to a fault. Going deeper with the book, however, I'm reminded this Cup is the counterpart to the Ace of Wands: the first represents the feminine aspect of the sexes, the second the male. The Ace of Cups also relates strongly to the Moon, and the idea of hidden energies formulating new realities.
Round all that out with the Nine of Cups, which would be the Yesod of the Sephiroth. Nine is also the number of the Moon, so we have a lot of Moon here. Checking my Moon tracker, I see we are in the Third Corner of Waning; this moon is 23 days old. I'm stepping off on a huge tangent, but I find that funny, that my inclination to pick up not just Crowley's deck but his treatise on it, as 23 is possibly the most famous number ascribed to the mid-twentieth century Magician-cum-Charlatan.
The Nine of Cups also forecasts culmination and success—Crowley uses the word "perfection," but I will not—so my interpretation centers around the idea that this spread is a way of assuring me that inner tensions that begin at the office and meander through my household are on their way to a more stable status quo. That's kind of a little from a lot, but distilling this stuff down is the job.
When I posted that Ships in the Night track last week, I fell down a rabbit hole that led me to the band Saigon Blue Rain. Instant infatuation. Their 2023 album Oko would have been on my top ten of the year list if I had heard it in 2023. Regardless, I'm really digging the music this two-piece makes. You can check out and support Saigon Blue Rain on their Bandcamp HERE.
Watch:
Last Friday, K and I got to see Ridley Scott's original Alien on the big screen for the first time. It was magnificent.
I've seen James Cameron's Aliens considerably more times than I have Scott's Alien; both are fantastic films, but Aliens was the first of the series I remember seeing, and that initial viewing - somewhere around the time it came out on VHS circa... 1987? - blew me away. I'll never forget sitting in our living room watching it on a Saturday afternoon with my Dad, both of us held taut by the absolute non-stop thrill of the film. Alien is, of course, not the same kind of movie. Alien is quiet, slow-burning and eerie. As a special introduction to this 45th-anniversary theatrical run, the film began with a sit-down conversation between Fede Alvarez and Ridley Scott. During their conversation, Scott mentions how he'd never been interested in Science Fiction until he saw Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey several years before and how that film was such an influence on Alien. I never really thought about that before, but watching the film with that in mind last Friday, I'd say the entire First Act is Scott's version of 2001. It was all about creating the illusion of Space Habitation and Travel, and the technology that goes with that.
Read:
Sunday I finished Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless. FANtastic book! I've said it here before, Ms. Tholen's prose is so inherently readable, her books almost read effortlessly.
Next up: just like last year, I'm jumping directly from Ivy Tholen to Stephen Graham Jones. I'm raring to dig into the third and final Indian Lake book, The Angel of Indian Lake; however, first, I'm going to re-read last year's Don't Fear the Reaper to really set the stage for the finale to Jade/Jennifer Daniels' story.
Sixty pages in, and this one just fits like a glove. Another effortless read, SGJ's books have become part of a well-spring of Horror fiction for me. His work, along with Laird Barron's and Nathan Ballingrud help balance me as a writer. These guys are masters of their craft, and their work explores the intersection of the Horrifying and the Weird that has obsessed me for most of my life.
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Nine of Wands
• VI: The Lovers
• Six of Swords
A lot of climax and support, with VI there to indicate a harmonization of opposites - or perceived opposites. This feels like more heartening news concerning my recent anxieties, which remain vague due to the public nature of this forum and the... watchful eyes that abound out in the world today.
Wow. I hadn't heard The Beta Band in ages, let alone their big single "Dry the Rain." Then, sitting in my coffee shop writing last night, a brief interval of silence between songs on my headphones had me stop and say, "Wait, I remember this..."
Watch:
I took yesterday off and had that rare combination of energy and perseverance well into the wee hours of the morning, so I was able to watch a handful of films.
Listed as Lockdown Tower on Shudder but also known as simply The Tower, Guillaume Nicloux's claustrophobic nightmare is Lord of the Flies meets Dawn of the Dead without the children or zombies. The inhabitants of a highrise tenement discover their building is surrounded by a black void that consumes anyone who steps across the thresholds of every egress from the building. Doors, windows - there is no way to leave. We start from the moment the phenomenon begins and travel forward through time with these people, seeing how the building's ecosystem evolves. Or, more accurately, devolves because, as Nick Cave sang, "People just ain't no good."
Next up, Jenn Wexler's The Sacrifice Game.
I loved this one. Between The Sacrifice Game and 2018's The Ranger, Jenn Wexler has become one of my favorite modern directors. Looking at her credits on Letterboxd, she's had a hand in a lot of films I've adored over the previous ten years; from Robert Mockler's Like Me, to Ana Asensio's Most Beautiful Island, to Larry Fessenden's Depraved, Ms. Wexler has left an imprint on the current state of Independent Horror that cannot be denied, and with the polish we see on The Sacrifice Game, I think she's poised to eventually make a breakthrough similar to what Ti West has done with his X trilogy. That makes me super happy and excited to see what may come of such an opportunity.
I have no idea what led me to re-watch Metallica's Some Kind of Monster the other night, but I turned it on and found I could not turn it off, despite the fact that it made me feel super gross about having a goatee in the 00s.
This is such an illustration of a band so far out of touch with themselves, their music, their fans, and just the actual reason people make music that it's super hard to watch. Especially considering that, while I still love their old stuff and refuse to acknowledge everything after their self-titled (which in itself I have a conflicted relationship with), I genuinely like their two most recent records. I think one thing this documentary showcases, besides how up their own asses this band was in the 00s, is that Bob Rock was the worst choice for a producer they ever made. This guy... wow. Not that hooking up with Rick Rubin helped do much besides draw a caricature of their sound for a while, but it seems like once Rubin's Engineer Greg Fidelman took over as the band's producer, things changed for the better.
The highlight of the film is when Robert Trujillo comes on board. The guy is just seems so down-to-earth, and he is an absolutely outstanding bass player, which you can see clear as day in this film.
Read:
TMNT 150 ended up being a huge disappointment to me. It sucks to say that, but it's true. I could draw so many similarities to the mess Kieron Gillon is making of the X-Books at the moment, but it would sadden me further to do so. I half-read 150, bagged it, and am happily jumping off for what comes next. We'll always have this mammoth run of (roughly) 12 years of a vast, intricate, and emotionally charged TMNT run.
Sophie Campbell has been co-writing with Kevin Eastman since Tom Waltz left after the series hit issue #100; she's taken it to some great heights - as have all the writers and artists on the title since it started in 2012 - and the thing I've loved so much about this series is the expansion. This is by far the longest, deepest look into a Turtles continuity we've ever received, and I've loved it. Time to let it rest, before it overstays its welcome like so many long-running comic continuity's do. Yeah, I know I was hoping for Jason Aaron's upcoming run to continue in the current world, and I'm still glad it will, but this milestone issue and all its time-travel/QNA deus ex machina convinced me it's time for me to go.
Playlist:
CCR - Cosmo's Factory
Windhand - Eternal Return
The Veils - ... And Out of the Void Came Love
Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves
Windhand - Eternal Return
Moon Wizard - Sirens
Metallica - 72 Seasons
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• XV: The Devil
• Five of Swords
• Five of Pentacles
The Devil again, and this time, I'm inclined to think it's because I completely missed the point of the previous Pull. I now believe I am the source of the misinformation, because I'm not approaching anything rationally. The two Fives bear that out, as Five is often conflict, and here it would be conflict of Intellect (Swords) and Earthly concerns (Pentacles).
How about a little Creedence Clearwater Revival to start our day? Woke up insanely early - haven't managed more than five hours of sleep a night in a while - and sat on the back porch with coffee, Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless (it's awesome!) and CCR's Cosmo's Factory, which is every bit as awesome an album as the cover photo is awful. But hey, it was 1970!
Watch:
Osgood Perkin's upcoming film Long Legs is one of two flicks coming this summer that I've now seen the teasers for a few times and I can honestly say know how to do a 'teaser' right (Fede Alvarez's Alien: Romulus is the other). Check it out:
These teasers tell you absolutely NOTHING about the film, but 100% get me charged up to see it. I wasn't a fan of Mr. Perkins' previous two films (I tried with TheBlackcoat's Daughter multiple times; it cheats!), but they are well-made films and that's on me. I'm hoping Long Legs blows me right the F away. Certainly seems like it will.
Read:
As I mentioned above, I'm trucking along on Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless and it is fantastic!
This one starts out like a typical Slasher sequel and then abruptly takes a left-hand turn. It's not what I thought it was going to be at all. You can order a copy HERE, and it's free on Kindle Unlimited at the moment.
Playlist:
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Moon Wizard - Sirens
Telekinetic Yeti - Primordial
Windhand - Eternal Return
Witch Skull - The Serpent Tide
Jim Williams - Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched OST
Bryce Miller - City Depths
Saigon Blue Rain - Oko
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Ten of Swords
• XV: The Devil
• 0: The Fool
Not exactly the cards I wanted to see with what's on my mind. Ruin, lies/misperception/bad optics/a new journey.
I had no pre-existing idea of Ships in the Night when this popped up in my youtube feed, but upon hitting play, I was definitely hooked. It's definitely nothing new - we've been recycling the 80s for longer than that era's aesthetics lasted the first time, but it continues to provide something some of us seem to need. Making peace with the past, perhaps? Either way, I'll be checking out more of Alethea Leventhal's music on the Bandcamp right over HERE.
NCBD:
The final issue of Duke before we switch over to follow the story in next month's Destro mini-series. I'll never be able to score this cover, but I'd like to.
Just f*cking end already. Goddamn me for my completionist leanings.
Thank god you've returned, SIKTC. Help me wash the taste of Fall of X from my mouth.
Me thinks this issue of The Six Fingers is going to be a bit gnarly.
It's over. TMNT 150. Wow. I started reading this book in 2012 when they were three issues in and I haven't stopped. What a ride - still the best reboot of a preexisting property I've ever seen.
Again, this last little bit of the Krakoan era is just killing me.
Watch:
I've been in the mood for Folk Horror again lately - seems to be a recurring taste this time of year - so I consulted my Severin Films' All the Haunts Be Ours and pulled out one of the few films in it I had not watched yet, Brunello Rondi's Il Demonio from 1963:
I feel like the B&W photography in this film is second only to that in The Third Man. A revolting, frustrating tale of a woman persecuted and exploited by her community, this one will piss you off even as it leaves you swooning over the imagery on the screen.
Playlist:
Zeal & Ardor - Eponymous
Zeal & Ardor - Devil Is Fine
Zeal & Ardor - Stranger Fruit
Melvins - Tarantula Heart
Moon Wizard - Sirens
Moon Wizard - Ukiyo (single)
The Veils - ...And Out of the Void Came Love
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Page of Swords
• Eight of Wands
• XVI: The Tower
Page or Princess of Swords is fitting: Just. Breathe. Things are a mess. Impetuousness. Overcome by the rapid communication suggested by the Eight of Wands. This leads to a paradigm shift.
New full-length GREIF is out August 23rd. No pre-order yet, but I'll be watching like the proverbial hawk.
Watch:
This past Sunday, K and I met my parents at the local theatre to see Guy Ritchie's newest film, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Here's the standard trailer; it doesn't show too much:
Another super solid, big-budget action flick by Mr. Ritchie. This type of flick isn't usually my bag, however, I've maintained since the advent of the Pirates of the Caribbean films that there's room in my life for the occasional big-budget, studio action film if they sate certain personal affectations of mine. I couldn't specifically explain that other than to say, "I know it when I see it." Guy Ritchie almost always fits like a glove. I suspect that has A LOT to do with my love of his seminal film Snatch - one of my all-time favorite flicks, and I'm fine with that bias.
I'm not going to say where I unexpectedly heard this song married to Horrific imagery recently, but man was it effective! Danzig's first four albums stand apart from everything else he's done; as much as I like some of the records that came after Chuck Biscuits, Eerie Von and John Christ left the band and Rick Rubin stopped co-producing, there's just something so perfect about the heavy blues influence on those first four. Of those, Danzig II: Lucifuge will always be my favorite. I'll never forget the first time I saw a friend's older brother wearing a Lucifuge shirt - I didn't know what it was and it kind of scared me in that 80s/early 90s way of, "What the hell is this guy into?"
That's probably around the time the album came out in 1990 and I would have been sixteen. Before the internet, and not so far removed from all the weird fears being a small child during the Satanic Panic instilled in me for a short time. There was a certain... haunted feeling to that era. Everything from the tv news to paperback books to Inside Edition (remember that pile of sh*t?) told you there were secret societies of Satan Worshippers in every neighborhood, just waiting to sacrifice any unlucky folks they happened to target to their dark lord. I actually pine for that feeling now, but not in the way so many do by rejecting everything known in favor of their opinions, fears and fantasies, and empirical data doesn't mean anything to our society as a whole anymore.
Anyway, I cracked Lucifuge out and listened to it over the weekend and it doesn't disappoint.
Watch:
This trailer for the new film Pandemonium popped up in my youtube feed two days ago. I have no pre-existing knowledge of this one, or anyone involved in making it, but I'm definitely intrigued. Here's the trailer I half-watched:
Also, wanted to point out that, thanks to Warren Ellis's newsletter Orbital Operations, I've found the first watchable version of Andrej Żuławski's On the Silver Globe on youtube I've encountered.
I've seen mention for a few years about this popping up for years, but whenever I go looking for it - an irregular occurrence for sure, but one I do periodically undertake, I find ones with awful pictures. Not this, which you can see HERE. I haven't sit down to watch this yet, but it's in the cards for the next few days.
Thanks to Heavenisanincubator for putting this one on my radar to begin with.
Read:
I am about a third of the way through Ivy Tholen's Tastes Like Candy 2: Sugarless and I am here to tell you, it's fantastic!
Full disclosure: We recently invited Ms. Tholen to be a guest on The Horror Vision to discuss her novels, and she not only accepted but also sent us digital advance reader copies. That's a moot point, though, because I'd been waiting for this one regardless. If you read the first, this is a great continuation. If you haven't read the first and you love Slasher Flicks, THIS is for you.
Playlist:
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
Moon Wizard - Sires
The Veils - ...And Out of the Void Came Love
The Damned - Night of the Living Damned (Thank You, Mr. Brown!)
High on Fire - Cometh the Storm
Melvins - Tarantula Heart
Ike Reilly - Poison the Hit Parade
Mike Doughty - Live From Ken's House
Danzig - Danzig II: Lucifuge
Nikki Lane - All or Nothin'
Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses
Witchfinder - Hazy Rites
Man Man - On Oni Pond
Ozzy Osbourne - Blizzard of Oz
Led Zeppelin - In Through the Out Door
Jimmy Buffet - Good Luck
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Ace of Cups
• X: Wheel of Fortune
• III: The Empress
A bird' s-eye view of this (all I have time for at the moment) is quite soothing to a massive stress bomb that has gone off in my life. Ace of Cups is the card that anchors this to a positive interpretation, something I really needed at the moment. Emotional Breakthrough, "Karma" and Fertility, in an abbreviated three-card reading.
Yesterday, I began my day with some TV on the Radio. Man, I miss these guys. Technically, I don't think they ever actually broke up; however, their most recent record, Seeds, came out a decade ago now, and their hiatus has lasted just about as long.
Mr. Brown recently pointed out that the new Chelsea Wolfe album I've been spinning so much was produced by TVOTR's Dave Sitek, so maybe that's why I've been thinking of them lately.
Interestingly enough, Sitek also produced Scarlett Johansson's 2008 album of Tom Waits' covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head. I remember having an advance copy of that back when it came out, but I don't remember a single thing about what the record actually sounds like.
Watch:
Kimo Stamboel's new film Dancing Village: The Curse Begins recently received a trailer. The only film I know by Stamboel is 2019's The Queen of Black Magic, but it's a f**king DOOZY to say the least.
I watched about half of this trailer and am totally in. There's something so visceral about Stamboel's work. Some of it's the setting—the way he uses the jungle—I can almost feel the humidity and discomfort, the dirt and insects. But there's also an almost Body Horror element to some of his kills. They really leave an impression.
The idea that this will be in selected theatres - I'd imagine I have almost no hope of seeing this in Clarksville, but then again, I've been surprised a lot lately by what's come through my town. So we'll see.
Playlist:
TVOTR - Nine Types of Light
TVOTR - Dead Science
TVOTR - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Moon Wizard - Sirens
Deftones - Gore
Ministry - Hopiumforthemasses
Adam Kesher - Eponymous
Justin Hamline - The House With Dead Leaves
Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Lick My Decals Off, Baby
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Three of Swords
• Six of Cups
• Queen of Pentacles
Turbulence, Pleasure and Fertility, which sounds like another way of saying from Chaos comes opportunity.
Another advance single from Barry Adamson's upcoming Cut to Black album dropped on Monday and it is fantastic! You can pre-order the new album HERE.
NCBD:
Light week, as I'm trimming a few titles from the Pull:
Ash Williams, you rogue! Only three issues left after this one (I think). Loving it!
At this point, this is easily my most anticipated book each month. The depth of character research and building that's going on here is awesome, and I'm actually excited to see more of the Cobra-La folks.
Nice revisiting J.C. again. I dug the previous issue quite a bit; such old-school Vertigo flavor.
Just riding this out. My malaise with the current X-Books doesn't have anything to do with this title, but they're all suffering from this rapid decline. Only one issue left of this series after this.
Watch:
I only watched the first 20 seconds of this trailer for Byte, a film I had not previously heard of, but those 20 seconds sold me!
Low-budget werewolf movies don't always work, but I'm hoping this one will.
Chelsea Wolfe - She Reaches Out to She Reaches Out to She
The Jesus Lizard - Mouth Breather 45 single (Sunday You Need Love cover B-Side)
The Jesus Lizard - Puss 45 single (No B-Side)
The Jesus Lizard - Wheelchair Epidemic 45 single (Dancing Naked Ladies B-Side)
Gogol Bordello - Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike
Melvins/Lustmord - Pigs of the Roman Empire
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• XI: Justice
• Knight of Swords
• XV: The Devil
Justice or Lust in the Crowley/Harris deck again! Funny, because this card was in the #3 position two posts ago, and yesterday had VII The Chariot in the #2 position. Funny because I relate these cards, and they seem to be showing a process that is reversing itself. I'm just not quite sure what that process is. Also, maybe that feels like a bit of a reach, but my edict is to prevent myself from overthinking these when I do them, and that was definitely the first thing I 'saw' in the cards.
So what else do we have there then? Knight of Swords, or the Firey aspect of Air. This suggests force of Will tempered by Intellect so as to avoid conflict. The Devil has so many attributions, many of them quite fanciful. One I always keep in mind right off the bat is materialism over spiritualism.
So Primordial forces (which we will pragmatically interpret here as uncontrollable mental or physical attributes - anger, fear, perhaps even logic - that need to be tempered by tempered by Will and a sharp eye on motivations.
I'm not entirely sure this works for me - that's a lie, it does - but I want to keep it close and think about it. Might be telling me some things I don't want to hear at the moment concerning work.
I know it's summer now, as one of the rituals that eased in last year during my first full summer in Tennessee was Black Sabbath's Eponymous debut becoming my 'first thing in the morning' listen. This is no doubt because, for as long as I've loved this record, it will always remind me of two very particular summers—one when I was a Junior in High School and one when I was a year or two out of High School. I listen to this year-round, but since moving back to the middle of the country and the climate I grew up with Sabbath's debut has come back to an association of hanging outdoors in the green environment of the midwest's humid, sub-tropical environment.
Watch:
Holy cow! I completely missed that Larry Fessenden's Blackout hit VOD this past Friday! I remedied that right quick, let me tell you!
I really dug this one, but at this point, that's no surprise. I wouldn't say this is anywhere near my favorite film by Mr. Fessenden, but its ability to mix an almost regional approach with a fairly stacked cast reminded me of Harmony Korine's Gummo - although the subject matter and tone are nothing like that film. This environmentally conscious, small-town set film does some pretty interesting things with the concept of lycanthropy, in a tone that will feel familiar to those viewers who have been with Mr. Fessenden for a long time. Reminded me quite a bit of his 1991 film No Telling, a favorite of mine from the Director's oeuvre.
Playlist:
Black Sabbath - Eponymous
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
Barry Adamson - Cut to Black (pre-release singles)
Zen Guerilla - Positronic Raygun
Adam Egpy Mortimer - The Obelisk
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• II High Priestess
• VII The Chariot
• Page of Cups
Of particular interest to me this morning is the High Priestess in the starting position. This is the middle pillar of the sephirothic Tree of Life, and thus concerns concerns the descent of the Supernal into the lower, knowable realms and the ascent of the aspirant to higher plateaus. Taken with The Chariot - the origin of ideas - and the Page (Princess of Cups), which can indicate "Dreams become Reality," I would say this is a nice nod toward a path that might provide the possibility for my work to emerge into a higher (more successful) realm.
Still has the power to bring tears to my eyes, even after all this time, even after I've pretty much disengaged from everything Gonzalez has done since (except the Knife + Heart OST). Hearing this reminds me of the smoldering possibilities that still seemed to exist in 2011. Those are all but gone now, as we accept the shitty future the Corporations have made for us. Backed into a corner, hindsight isn't just nostalgic, it's paralyzing.
What a lead-in to our next topic of discussion...
Watch:
Heed my warning: much as I expected, if you live in the US, Civil War might F**K you up.
Another five-star nightmare from Alex Garland. I'm telling you, I've read all his books and seen all his movies - he never fails. This latest is possibly the most nerve-racking, terrifying film I've seen in years. K has had considerable PTSD from the flick, and I get it. I was literally terrified for the characters (one in particular) for pretty much the entirety of the film. Also, super cool that Garland still uses Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury for every score, and on top of that, there are not one but TWO Suicide tracks in the film. I love how, in the past year, I've now heard Suicide in a major theatrical release and Throbbing Gristle's "Hamburger Lady" in two (Love Lies Bleeding and V/H/S/85; I guess the latter isn't a major theatrical release, but I saw it in a theatre, so it felt like one at the time).
Read:
I had an insanely relaxing weekend—well, other than the anxiety from Civil War—reading comics. First, when my Drinking with Comics cohost Mike Shinabargar and his wife came down to visit us last weekend, he brought my Chicago Comics Pull down. This meant I could finally read the entirety of Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows' The Ribbon Queen from start to finish.
This is easily my favorite Garth Ennis comic since Preacher. There - I said it. Man, this was just... perfect. A story of revenge set amidst a backdrop of the Me-Too and BLM movements in 2020, the characters are fantastically conceived, established and developed, and the situations are tense and beautifully woven together with one of the most horrific 'monsters' I've seen in quite some time. Ennis is one of the few writers in comics who can so effortlessly blend the social dramas of our time with pure nightmare fuel.
After watching the above episode of Cartoonist Kayfabe, I felt compelled to dig in the box of old Punisher comics I pulled from my parents' house last year right before they moved and see if I did indeed own any Punisher War Zone. As I thought, I had issue one, but I also had 2-4, so I did a re-read Sunday.
I really love how the CK boys add a level of artistic context I would normally never possess for books like this, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I have A LOT of old Punisher comics - the ones that have always traveled with me wherever I move are the original 80s mini-series, about the first 17 or so of the original ongoing 80s series, and the first 8 issues of Punisher War Journal (also 80s). My actual Frank Castle collection is at least 3x that size, though, and includes a lot of issues I bought as they came out, but which I'm not so sure about. The Punisher was one of those characters whose popularity in the 80s mandated he be strip-mined well into the mid-90s and the books and character suffered for it. I think War Zone was about where I checked out, hence why I only have those first four issues, which sucks because I didn't finish out what I'm now remembering is a pretty damn good story about Frank infiltrating the Carbone crime family. That means I'll be checking some back issue bins at Rick's Comic City and online this week, looking to find the rest of that storyline (seems to be up through issue 11).
Playlist:
Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will
M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
!!! - Myth Takes
Dödsrit - Nocturnal Will
King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Anthrax - Persistence of Time
High on Fire - Cometh the Storm (pre-release singles)
Suicide - Eponymous
Jimmy Buffet - Living and Dying in 3/4 Time
Turnstile - Glow On
Idles - Tangk
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Page (Princess ) of Cups
• Queen of Cups
• XI: Justice
I progression, I think, from my previous spread. Emotions are still high, but I'm keeping myself in check. I have a feeling this is a recurring cycle to the point that I could probably graph it, so I'm going to add a piece of metadata to this and my previous post, maybe even work back using the search function for keywords like "irritation" and "tolerate" so I can possibly get an even more accurate idea of how often and in what 'pattern' this occurs.
The XI, which is Lust in the Crowley/Harris deck, is a nod toward the primordial power of Anger, however, it can also occasionally indicate a possible Lunar influence. That should be easy enough to map. I used to keep a moon phase widget this site, however, those always break. Might look for another one and begin adding that data to this section of the page, as I would be interested how this might line up with lunar cycles.
