When I added Preoccupations back into my regular rotation a week or two ago, I had zero idea they had a new album coming out. I woke up this morning and saw Apple's push notification that Ill At Ease had been released, promptly made coffee and have been sitting outside listening to it in the post-storm morning since. Exceptional album! A surprise like this is so rare these days, and I am cherishing it!
You can purchase Ill At Ease from Born Losers Records HERE.
Watch:
I was super excited to see Sean Byrne's new flick, Dangerous Animals, is getting a wide theatrical push. I still say Devil's Candy would have been an absolute banger if it had played theatres, but, unfortunately, it came out before this new post-pandemic, Independent Horror friendly world we live in.,
While I'm not really one for mean-spirited torture films, I've come to know Byrne's work enough to know this will be something more than it seems when it opens on June 6th.
Playlist:
Gibby Haynes - Third Man Records Blue Series
The Black Belles - What Can I Do? (single)
The Raveonettes - PE'AH II
Pinky Tuscadero's Whiteknuckle Assfuck - Halfway to Honky Heaven
P.M. Dawn's 1991 album Of the Body, Of the Soul and the Cross: The Utopian Experience is now available on streamers!
I talked a lot about this one back in January of 2021 - basically, this is a song and now an album that, while I wasn't overtly into at the time of its release (I would have been fifteen), has become a huge nostalgia trigger for me. Very cool to finally listen to the entire record.
NCBD:
A solid week of books. Let's get into it:
Plague House's first issue sold me on two things: 1) I am all-in on Michael W. Conrad and Dave Chisholm's Haunted House book, and 2) Oni Press has already captured 2025 as their year, in my opinion.
James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe's Jersey Devil bio has had some pretty crazy moments in it so far, so although I'm kind of looking for books to cut at the moment, I'm definitely going to hang with this one until it ends with issue four. Piotr Kowalski's art, in particular, has really added an ominous sense of momentum to this story.
The cover alone sells the F_CK out of this book.
I completely forgot about this Black Metal-infused, supernatural Folk Horror revenge book by Brian Azzarello, Vanesa Del Rey and Hilary Jenkins. I dug the first two issues, so my forgetfulness is caused by this one's bi-monthly release schedule more than disinterest.
Watch:
The full trailer for Together dropped a few days ago, and while I'll leave it right here for posterity's sake, not watching this one.
Written and Directed by Michael Shanks and starring Dave Franco, Alison Brie, and one of my favorite actors, Damon Herriman, Together carries with it an unstated implication that this will be this year's big Body Horror movie. I find such an unquantifiable thrill in having this sub-genre on its way to becoming a household word. Blows me away.
Together is slated to hit theatres August 1st, and I will be there opening day!
Playlist:
Drab Majesty - Careless
Various - Learn to Relax: A Tribute to Jehu
The Birthday Party - Mutiny/The Bad Seed EP
Godflesh - Decline and Fall EP
Antibalas - Where The Gods Are In Peace
P.M. Dawn - Of the Heart, Of the Soul and the Cross: The Utopian Experience
Matt Cameron - Gory Scorch Cretins EP
Soundgarden - Super Unknown
Steve Moore - Christmas, Bloody Christmas OST
Zombi - Shape Shift
Walter Rizzati - House By the Cemetery OST
Zeal & Ardor - Eponymous
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
OLD - The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak
Zombi - Direct Inject
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Four of Swords
• Queen of Pentacles
• King of Cups
Stability in the Will as applied to Earthly matters is entangled with Emotion and thus, leads to conflict. Nearly a perfect summation of my last few days of work.
A new collaboration between HEALTH and Chelsea Wolfe dropped overnight, and it's probably my favorite thing Health has released in a while (although I've been slacking on them). I didn't see word that there was a full collaborative release on the way, but both of these artists like to do them, so smart money says that's a yes.
Watch:
New Fear Street coming at us at the end of the month. I've been meaning to rewatch the ones from a few years ago, so now's a perfect chance.
Fear Street: Prom Queen drops on May 23rd on Netflix.
I know there's a contingent of Horror fans who disliked the original Fear Street, primarily, I think, because they're based on teenagers' books. I get it; the whole "Goosebumps/Fear Street" thing happened after I was a kid. When I was an adolescent, my many trips to the Worth Library yielded books that would now be listed in Grady Hendrix and Will Errikson's Paperbacks From Hell. I've never read any of the R.L. Stine or Christopher Pike books, so I can only take the movies as separate entities. In doing so, I don't know, I really enjoyed them. Also, I thought the "1978" installment was pretty damn brutal for a Netflix movie. Both Pike's work and Stine's recent Horror Anthology, The Stuff of Nightmares, reflect two creators who are well aware the folks who read their stuff as kids have grown up and require something more adult.
Playlist:
Ghost - Impera
Ghost - Skeletä
Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power
The Bronx - The Bronx (II)
John Carpenter - Lost Themes
John Carpenter - Lost Themes II
Ghost - Infestissumam
Hangman's Chair - Saddiction
Blood Incantation - Absolute Elsewhere
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Page of Swords
• Queen of Pentacles
• Page of Wands
Fear can be grounded, tethered, and can be used as an "Earthly" tool.
The song is a bit polished for my taste, but this video put a great big smile on my face. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, with Effects by Greg Nicotero, this is a damn good time.
You can visit Mammoth's site HERE for merch and tour details.
Watch:
I am a HUGE fan of the Flesh and Blood season of the Horror anthology series Slasher. I tried the follow-up season and couldn't make it very far, and although I recently realized the original seasons are still on Netflix, I've yet to find the time to go back and finish the first Season - which I liked when it first hit streaming - and give two and three a chance.
Despite this herky-jerky relationship with Slasher, Flesh and Blood made enough of an impression that when I saw Bloody Disgusting post about this new upcoming anthology series by the same creators, I was intrigued. After watching the trailer, I am in!
Hell Motel starts up on Shudder June, 17th. If I remember correctly, Slasher's new episodes drop weekly, not altogether, so if that carries over to this, that's something to look forward to for sure!
I've made it a mission to fully engage with Blut Aus Nord's Disharmonuium series again. These guys are so out there sometimes - and I mean that in the best way possible - that I still don't feel like I have a grasp on some of their work. And Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses/Disharmonium: Nahab feature chief among those albums that confound the living hell out of me.
Back in 2018, while reviewing The Dillinger Escape Plan's final album, Disassociation, I mentioned that their music often feels like encountering an extra-dimensional being that I can only grasp in vague cross-sections. That doubles for Blut Aus Nord when they are at their most experimental. The confluence of Industrial and Black Metal on these albums is astoundingly obtuse - this is the kind of music Lovecraft's protagonists occasionally describe hearing in the presence of the Outer Gods. They set a precedent for that with 2011's The Work Which Transforms God - the album that originally drew me to them. The Disharmonium series, however, really pushes that sound into new places. Dark sonic plaguescapes of an almost ungraspable nature. This sounds dramatic, but it's not. Listening to these albums, it's hard to hold onto the music for very long at all; the drums form an omnipresent backdrop upon which the guitars and keyboards (?) bloom and evolve like blood droplets in hot water. Miasma is a word that springs to mind. I'm gearing up for a session where I smoke up and sit in the middle of my floor between my speakers, just concentrate to the best of my ability on the music and where it takes me.
But I haven't found that time yet.
Play:
New Metroidvania Moadra looks BAD ASS! Some of these graphics align nicely with what I discussed above regarding Blut Aus Nord, so I couldn't pass up following up with this.
This one is hitting multiple game platforms later this year, but, of course, as of now, I'm still only interested in the Switch, so I'm glad to see Nintendo included in the rollout here. You can read more about the game and the other consoles over on Bloody Disgusting HERE.
Watch:
A week or two ago, my good friend and Horror Vision Cohost Tori posted a trailer in our podcast group chat. The trailer was for a movie I had not heard of at the time, HIM. I started watching the trailer and had to wonder why she had posted a football-centric film that looked akin to Any Given Sunday.
Then, at about the 41-second mark, the trailer changes. What follows revealed what is now one of my most eagerly anticipated films of the year.
I hate football, but I love films that defy categorization and expectation. HIM appears to be a film that will do both. I've seen this trailer three times now, and where that would normally drive me fucking crazy, each time I just marvel at it, thinking, "What the absolute fuck is this about?"
I don't want an answer. I just want to see it.
Produced by Jordan Peele, this is Written by Zack Akers & Skip Bronkie and Directed by Justin Tipping - three people I am wholly unfamiliar with, making this even more of a mystery.
Playlist:
The Cops - Free Electricity
Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables
Melvins/Jello Biafra - Sieg Howdy
Black Sabbath - Sabotage
Bluekarma - The Communication
Blut Aus Nord - The Work Which Transforms God
McKinley James - Live!
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Six of Cups
• Four of Wands
• Eight of Cups
The joy of completion can lead to inactivity. Keep active.
Good advice for someone who just finished one book and is pretty hot on the next. Keep it going; don't rest on your laurels.
Dreams really do come true!
Haha, seriously, fantastic news yesterday afternoon when I saw Relapse Records announced the first studio album by Deadguy in 30 years. Pre-order Near Death Travel ServicesHERE.
NCBD:
Here's what's waiting for me in my box over at Rick's Comic City Clarksville:
I have been waiting for issue two of Tyler Boss and Adriano Turtulici's Giallo, You'll Do Bad Things, for what feels like forever! Really liked the first issue of this. So much so that Butcher (AKA Anthony) and I did a review over on The Horror Vision after it dropped. Check it out!
Void Rivals going strong. There's big shit coming up soon with the cosmic end of the Energon Universe books, and I, for one, cannot wait to see what Kirkman has in store. The words "Planet-sized" come to mind. I think there may be a race of Unicron-level characters about to be unlocked, but we'll see. Either way, I love how faith and pragmatic survivalism have come face to face in this book.
Final issue of this iteration of Eastman's Future TMNT story, so I'll definitely be going back and re-reading everything up to this point before undertaking this book.
SIKTC is back! Judging by the solicitation, we're still delving into Erica's past, which makes me think that when we finally return to the present, big things are going to happen quickly. We'll see. I loved the previous volume, "Road Stories," and how it filled in a lot of history. So, even though we all want to get back to the current timeline, I welcome more of this "what came before" story we have going on now.
Mark Spear's Monsters is still a bit of a head-scratcher for me, but that's okay. It's nice to have one of those every once in a while. The first three issues seem to set up a story that is huge in scope, so I'm not sure how long this one is planned to run or if we'll get there. Still, Mark Spears definitely has an original take on the Universal Monsters.
Watch:
Great pull today, but I won't be able to grab these until tomorrow night, as I'll have my arse safely ensconced in my local theatre for an advance screening of Lorcan Finnegan's new film The Surfer, which is to be followed by a live stream Q & A with the film's star, the one and only Nicholas Fucking Cage.
Here's the trailer, which I have not watched.
I literally no nothing about this one beyond Title/Director/Star, and that makes me SUPER fucking happy! Best way to see a movie!
Playlist:
Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautuja
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Undreamable Abysses
Blut Aus Nord - Disharmonium: Nahab
Mars Red Sky - Eponymous
David Bowie & NIN - Back in Anger 1995
Deadguy - Fixation On A Coworker
Preoccupations - Arrangements
Dum Dum Girls - Too True
McKinley James - Live!
Ghost - Impera
Ghost - Skeletá
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Hand of Doom Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Seven of Swords
• Six of Cups
• Ten of Cups
Futility - Pleasure - Satiety
No matter how hard you try, the joys of life will run out if you don't stop to recognize when you've had your fill.
Man, that's more a fortune cookie reading than I'm used to, but there it is. I'm off today, off with the cards, but my writing's on fire, so that's fine. In the meantime, I guess I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for when enough is enough.
I feel like I've been waiting for the new Perturbator album forever, and now we finally have the first single. I don't love the video, but the track is cool. As usual, though, I'll be holding out for the full album to hear it again. Need that context.
Watch:
Here's a new Irish Folk Horror flick I do not remember hearing about before this past weekend when it popped up on Shudder. You know I love me some Irish Folk Horror; this is well-timed, as Lorcan Finnegan has a new film out and in buying tickets for that tomorrow night, I've already got a hankering to rewatch Without Name, which is possibly my favorite of the Irish Folk Horror genre.
This is Writer/Director Aislinn Clarke's second feature-length film. Their first, The Devil's Doorway, is on a list I have somewhere and is currently streaming on AMC+ (But not their Horror subsidiary Shudder, fuckyouverymuch AMC+), so I'm adding both of these films to my watch list with hopes to have a nice, spooky double or triple feature soon.
