Human Impact - Lost All Trust

 

The final song on Human Impact's new album Gone Dark, which dropped this past Friday, October 4th. Fantastic record and the final two tracks really seal the deal. I knew this was former Unsane guitarist/vocalist Chris Spencer's band. However, I did not realize that the other members hail from equally awesome groups, with Cop Shoot Cop's Jim Coleman on Electronics, Daughters' drummer Jon Syverson and Eric Cooper from Made Out of Babies. Syverson and Cooper replaced Drummer Phil Puleo and bassist Chris Pravdica, both of whom previously played with Swans.

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31 Days of Halloween:

Holy cow. What. A. Fucking. BANGER!

I don't know what to say other than what I always say: I went in 100% blind, you should too!!!

1) The Killing of a Sacred Deer

2) The Houses October Built (2011)/Texas Chainsaw Massacre (50th-anniversary theatrical screening)

3) Loop Track

4) It's What's Inside/LONGLEGS

5) The Babysitter/Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

6) The Hitcher/Lost Highway

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Read:

I pulled out some of my old issues of Craig Miller and John Thorne's Wrapped in Plastic to prep for a new episode of The Horror Vision Presents: Elements of Horror, where we're going to deep-dive David Lynch's Lost Highway. 

If you don't know, Wrapped in Plastic was a bi-monthly magazine published by Win-Mill Productions, which also published Spectrum magazine. WIP was published for 13 years, from 1992 - 2005. I came into it around issue 17 in 1995. This was pre-internet for me, and I no longer even remember how I became aware of the publication, although smart money is on Amazing Fantasy Books & Comics - still my Chicagoland shop of choice - as I remember them having it on their shelves, and '95 would have been about the time I began frequenting A-F every week. Issues 28 and 29 hit hot on the heels of Lost Highway's theatrical release, and I probably read these issues half a dozen times each. My idea in pulling them out was to supplement this next viewing with some outside analysis, and I have to say, it added a lot.

Incidentally, WIP went digital a few years ago, and you can now buy a digital bundle on their website HERE.

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Playlist:

Moon Wizard - Sirens 

Zeal & Ardor - Eponymous

The Mystery Lights - Purgatory

Human Impact - Gone Dark

Double Life - Indifferent Stars

Ministry - Hopium for the Masses

System Of A Down - Eponymous

The Mysterines - Afraid of Tomorrows

Various - Lost Highway OST

Wilco - A Ghost is Born

Iggy Pop & James Williamson - Kill City

Ministry - The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste

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Card:

My card today for exploration today is 7 of Cups - Debauch:

I think I've found a better way to do these research entries. I've been treating them like a Pull, in other words random. Here now, though, I think grouping them from here out might be better. I didn't pull this card from the deck today, I specifically chose it to follow the 7 of Swords.

From Crowly's Book of Thoth: "The Seven of Cups... its mode is poison, its goal madness. It represents the delusion of Delirium Tremems and drug addiction." False pleasure.

New Music from The Horrors!

 

From the forthcoming album Night Life, out March 21st. Pre-order HERE. Been a minute since I caught up with The Horrors. In that time, according to this video, the singer turned into Alice Cooper. Pretty cool, just like the song.

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31 Days of Halloween:

I woke up while it was still dark Wednesday morning. Couldn't fall back asleep, so I do what I always do in that situation - headed up into my office/nerd dungeon, flipped out the sofa bed and fired up Shudder TV. I can usually find something I've seen and then I just pass back out. At that time, , however, there wasn't really anything on Shudder TV, and I saw they'd added a metric shit-ton of flicks for October, so I chose The Houses October Built. Not the two made in 2014/2016. No, this is the original low-budget mockumentary-found footage film from 2011 that scored enough attention to get the filmmakers the dough to make those other flicks. I knew nothing about this franchise - I've never seen any of them. 

Man, I don't know if it was going in with low expectations or the middle-of-the-night thing, but this really stayed with me. There are those who will bemoan the ending, and yeah, there could have been more. However, I dug it. Reminded me of the end of the original Blair Witch Project, which is a film I like, so that's a good thing.

Also, got to see the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre on the big screen as part of the 50th Anniversary celebration. How awesome is that?

This flick is still, fifty years after its release and twenty-something years after my first viewing, completely unhinged, frightening, and, still feels dangerous. There are not many films that I'll watch that I can say that about. William Lustig's Maniac springs to mind. And honestly, that's one of the things I've grown to appreciate about Damien Leone's Terrifier series - the only modern films that don't cross my major lines but come close enough to remind me of that dangerous, transgressive feeling films like Maniac and TCM inspire in me (to this day).

Last night, I watched Loop Track on Shudder. This was one I saw added a few weeks back, but the name is off-putting, to say the least. Turns out, I really liked this one. 

I'd post the trailer, but after watching it just now, it gives away too much. I went in knowing fuck all, and I would suggest others do the same. Really tense psychological thriller that becomes something completely different in the third act and still manages to be fun. 

1) The Killing of a Sacred Deer

2) The Houses October Built (2011)/Texas Chainsaw Massacre (50th-anniversary theatrical screening)

3) Loop Track

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Playlist:

Beastmilk - Climax

Fields of the Nephilim - The Nephilim

Gwar - Scumdogs of the Universe

Ian Lynch - All You Need Is Death OST

Bauhaus - Gotham Live

Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor

Moon Wizard - Sirens

Hellbender - Side A

Misfits - Collection One

Miranda Sex Garden - Carnival of Souls

George Thoroughgood and the Destroyers - Greatest Hits

Deftones - B-Sides & Rarities

Type O Negative - Life Is Killing Me

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Card:

Today's card: 7 of Swords - Futility:

Sevens line up with Netzach on the Sephirotic Tree of Life, and thus, my initial reading always entails Victory. That said, one of my big take-aways from Crowley's The Book of Thoth is, "This card... suggests the policy of appeasement." In other words, compromise. So this is a Victory by compromise, which might not really feel like a Victory at all. 

New Music From A Place To Bury Strangers

 

From Synthesizer, out digitally this Friday, 10/04, with the vinyl to follow on 10/27. You can pre-order the standard album HERE or the insane edition that has a build-your-own synthesizer as the cover direct from Oliver Ackerman's Death By Audio HERE. They even have a test video demonstrating the synthesizer.

   

I'm probably not springing for this, but hot damn, I am tempted.

 

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NCBD:

Really cool pull this week. 

Issue three. This one is taking a bit to get rolling, but tension is beginning to build. 

My money's on an insane body count for the final issue of Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows' Get Fury. Look at that cover!

One more issue after this one. Better to leave us wanting more than to over stay your welcome, but man, it's going to suck seeing this one go.

Something new from Brian Azzarello and Vanesa R. Del Rey. I'm looking forward to giving this one a shot. From the solicitation by way of League of Comic Geeks:

"In nature there are gods older than the devil... Nothing can prepare you for what's coming in this violent, electrifying descent into this bloody, black metal-infused revenge saga. Val, an American metalhead attending a festival in Oslo, begins her penumbrous pilgrimage into the vast depths of vengeance. After her victimization at the hands of a charismatically vile local band, the Old Gods of Norse Mythology guide her along her path in the name of women everywhere."

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31 Days of Halloween:

Regal has partnered with A24 during the month of October for "Eerie Series," a weekly program of A24 films that pair nicely with the season. Last night, I caught Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of A Sacred Deer. This was my second time seeing the film, first time on a big screen. 

I haven't seen all this man's films, but I can pretty much guarantee this is always going to be my favorite. It has such a tense, unyielding eye. The camera moves almost all the time; shots start close and slowly zoom out or start afield and slowly crop in. There's such an ominous feeling of dread, and everyone acts slightly out of whack. It all adds up to an offputting, sometimes hysterical experience in trauma voyeurism, and I love it. 

1) The Killing of a Sacred Deer

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Playlist:

Alice in Chains - Jar of Flies EP

Dead Man's Bones - Eponymous

Misfits - Static Age

A Place to Bury Strangers - Exploding Head

Cristobal Tapia De Veer - Smile OST

Flipper - Album - Generic Flipper

Odonis Odonis - Post Plague

Beastmilk - Climax

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Card:

Today's card is the 5 of Disks - Worry in the Thoth deck:

Fives represent complications or imbalance; the perfection of the fours shivers with an added element - change is constant, nothing coasts for very long. This creates worry in some, however, this is down to how we look at change. Fives tell us to be ready, roll with the punches, adapt and thrive. Applied to Disks, the change we can expect is usually in terms of monetary or Earthly matters. 

The Cramps Live, 1986

 

The Cramps, live in 1986. One of my greatest musical regrets is not seeing these guys live. Goddamn.

Posted to YouTube by Travisbickle1963. Check out their channel HERE - LOTS of awesome stuff.

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Watch:

Robert Eggers' Nosferatu gets a trailer (that I'm not watching yet, as this will likely be inescapable in the theatres for the next three months):

Curiosity is driving me mad, but I'm going to attempt to stick to my guns here. I'm really looking forward to this one; I loved The Northman, The Lighthouse and The Witch, and what little imagery we've seen of this remake so far has done nothing to convince me I won't love this as well. 

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Playlist:

Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh

Ritual Howls - Turkish Leather

Various - Rocktober Blood OST

The Cramps - RockinnReelininAucklandNewZealandXXX (Live)

The Jesus Lizard - Rack

Ritual Howls - Rendered Armor

Ganser - Odd Talk

White Hex - Gold Nights

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Alice in Chains - Sweet Leap Live 1991

 

Discovered this randomly yesterday. Badass - to hear Layne do Ozzy's introductory, "All right now!" just puts a Horror-movie-sized SMILE on my face! It's not the full track, but it's enough. This video was posted by Nerojotun on their Youtube channel, which is filled with Alice in Chains stuff. Check them out HERE.

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Watch:

K and I rewatched Jordan Peele's NOPE Saturday night. Hot damn - this movie is absolutely my favorite of Peele's films, and that's saying something because I really dig all of them.

All the characters are so endearing and relatable, human and distinct. It doesn't 'give' the viewer anything - totally drops everything in front of you the entire time and just lets you either pick it up and piece it together or not. Peele's not concerned with convincing or converting anyone; he just wants to make killer cinema. And he does. 

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Play:

Cosmic Horror Metroidvania for Switch? Holy shit, sign me up:

Voidwrought hits Switch on 10/24. Thanks to Bloody Disgusting for posting about this one, as it was not on my radar at all. 

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Playlist:

Trust Obey - Fear and Bullets (1998 Edition)

Cold Cave - Cherish the Light Years

Crystal Castles - (II)

Fvnerals - Let the Earth be Silent

Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium Undreamable Abysses

Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium Nahab

Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh

Intronaut - Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones)

Alice in Chains - Dirt

The Replacements - Tim

Silent - Modern Hate

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Card:

Card for today:

"Structure, time and space. Laws of growth and decay. Completion." - That's from a book I have named Keywords for the Crowley Tarot. I like this because, to me, Fortune - The Wheel in traditional Tarot - is an example of the laws of space and time. Simply put, what goes around comes around. I don't believe in Karma, per se, but as a concept, I think it's close (I just don't like the word, probably because hippies adopted and ruined it). 

Alice in Chains Dirt - 32 Years Old Today

 

One of those records that changed my life. Happy Birthday, Dirt. Love You!!!

The Mystery Lights - Cerebral Crack

Another fantastic find courtesy of Mr. Brown. I love this record! It reminds me a bit of The Monks' Black Monk Time, a bit of The Black Lips, and a bit of a general "Nuggets" era garage band or bands I can't quite put my finger on. Order the new album Purgatory directly from the band's Bandcamp HERE, from Daptone's new Rock subsidiary Wick Records HERE.

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Watch:

Last night, K and I went to the theatre to see the new E.L. Katz/Simon Barrett film Azrael. Solid Post- Apocalyptic Survival flick. It's also part of what I've come to think of as the "Subtraction Apocalypse" subgenre - you take an apocalyptic event and then remove a sense from the survivors. Josh Malerman's Birdbox takes sight, A Quiet Place takes sound, Azrael has its own spin.

If you're even remotely interested in seeing Azrael in the theatre, do so soon - this one is definitely not going to last past next Thursday on the big box screens. That said, it's another Shudder/IFC collaboration, so it should be on Shudder in 2-3 months.

Also, Coralie Fargeat's Reality+ short film was the subject of a recent article on Bloody Disgusting (read the article HERE), and while I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, I wanted to leave it here as a placeholder. 

I haven't found a Director whose work has grabbed me like this in a very long time.

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Playlist:

Bauhaus - In the Flat Field

Ministry - The Mind Is A Terrible Thing to Taste

White Zombie - Astro Creep 2000

The Damned - A Night of A Thousand Vampires

Joy Division - Still

Type O Negative - Dead Again

The Mystery Lights - Purgatory

METZ - Up On Gravity Hill

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