Loathe - Two Way Mirror

 

My god, these guys are like the Bloc Party of Post Metal. This is, of course, one of the albums I discovered directly after putting up my 'best of 2020' list last week. The way Loathe move between noise, atmosphere, super intense metal, and melodic vocals is seamless and an absolute joy to listen to, especially on headphones.

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Alex De La Iglesia is a filmmaker who I've known about for nearly 20 years now but never seen any of his movies. And there's a lot of them. To go back to the early 21st century, when I still lived in Chicago, my good friend and brain trust behind Darkness Brings the Cold Dennis is one of two friends who really stoked my love of Horror movies. Dennis had an enormous collection of DVDs and a wealth of knowledge for the genre at large, and one of the films he always touted as a favorite was one he couldn't update from his old VHS copy, for which he did not have a player. This was Iglesias's 1995 Day of the Beast. Without even knowing anything about this one, I was intrigued based on the name and cover image, which Dennis had on a badass shirt:

After a recent conversation with Dennis, I finally sought out some of Iglesias's films and added them to my Amazon Watch List. Just in time, because the other day the trailer for his new HBO series made its rounds in our Horror Vision text thread, and I was BLOWN AWAY. Whatever that is at 1:19 will be in my nightmares for years to come. It reminds me a bit of that thing at 21 seconds into the American Horror Story: Coven opening credits sequence. 

Either way, January 4th can NOT come fast enough. 

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NCBD:

Holy cow, there were A LOT of new comics for me yesterday. I divide this between the two shops, so I'm spreading my support around, but here's a combined total of what I picked up:

This series continues to be one of the funniest things I've read in a while. Super light, super creative, each issue reads like a chapter in a big-budget action film. 

A recommendation from my Drinking w/ Comics co-host Mike Wellman, this one takes place in Chicago and totally nails its look at feel. Hell, I've been to the Globe Pub, so that got me right away.

 

The previous issue of this new Locke and Key mini series nearly made me cry, so I'm looking forward to some closure before we do next year's crossover with Sandman.

Miskatonic #2, wherein we get a ton of new characters from all kinds of H.P. Lovecraft stories involved in what is shaping up to be a really complex, interesting blend of historical fact with Lovecraft's literary legacy. 

Eddie at the Bug recommended this very independent book to me, and the moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it. Artist Alex Ziritt - who made a huge impression on me with Space Raiders a few years back - offers some truly unique style when designing his visual worlds, and from the brief flip-through I did upon picking this one up, looks like Night Hunters is no different. 

I totally forgot the new Brubaker/Phillis HC was landing this week until I walked into the shop. Perfect timing, as I finally just read their previous one, Pulp, over the weekend. It won't take me nearly that long to dig into this one, that's for sure, as I loved Pulp, and it definitely put me in the mood for more from these guys.

Two issues left after this one, and once again, I have NO idea where this is going. Some definite surprises in this chapter, and more of that gorgeous art and deep character development the Opena/ Remender team seems able to deliver flawlessly.

'

This final one, We Live #3 from Aftershock Comics, just turned this series from an on-the-fence read to something I Love. Definite shades of Day of the Dead and Girl with All the Gifts, this issue supplants the first two chapters' more Fantasy approach with an equal measure of Horror. This book feels like something new, something that blends a lot of different influences and genres for a unique effect. We Live has also proved its ability to continuously surprise me, so from here out, I'll be waiting for each subsequent issue with the kind of excitement few books these days inspire in me. 

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Playlist:

Swans - The Seer

Howard Shore - Crash OST

Portishead - Third

Richard Einhorn - Shockwaves OST

Amesoeurs - Eponymous

Opeth - Deliverance

Anthrax - State of Euphoria

One Stroke Baron - 

Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything

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This is certainly how I feel at the moment, having spent nearly $70 on comics today. I'm kind of beating myself up over it. It's such a weird feeling, to balance in your head what you want and what you need. I'd imagine my peers with children have an easier time staying on focus as far as needs/wants. I'm not jealous, but I definitely think that, as I age and find myself pretty much able to buy whatever I want within my realms of interest - none of which is extravagant, mind you, but definitely adds up - I feel occasional pangs of guilt at, well, I guess at not spending the money one something more important? This, however, begs the question who decides what's important. 

Crash into Eternity

 

I was super happy to finally get a copy of Criterion's recently released Blu Ray for David Cronenberg's Crash. Not only has the film become my second favorite Cronenberg just in the two years since I first saw it at 2018's Beyondfest Cronenberg retrospective, but Howard Shore's score is probably my favorite of his music for Cronenberg's films. Here's the title theme, some of the sickest guitar I have ever heard. 

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I guess I won't be getting rid of my Disney + sub any time soon... Wow. Just wow. The mind reels at what we could get from a What If? series down the road. Some of my favorites from the comic series - which I didn't buy regularly but always picked up if one of the 'What If' scenarios spoke to my particular Marvel series proclivities:

We're not really in a position with the MCU to see this kind of stuff happen, but then again, who is to say that the What If? show will only stick to variations of what the MCU has done so far?

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In preparation of the upcoming final issue of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena's Seven to Eternity, I've just completed a re-read of the series to date. Next? The final issue of Gideon Falls lands this Wednesday, and as such, I have begun to work my way back through that series. 

Creepy AF, and featuring some of my favorite art EVER, I'm super psyched to be taking this trip again just in time for the end of the story.

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Playlist:

Joseph Deluca - Evil Dead 2

Deafheaven - New Bermuda

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Mrs. Piss - Self-Surgery

Radiohead - Kid A

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - May Our Chambers Be Full

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

Meg Myers - Sorry

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - Hollywood (pre-release single)

La Hell Gang - Thru Me Again

Howard Shore - Crash OST

Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free us

The Plimsouls - Everywhere at Once

Greg Puciato - Child Soldier: Creator of God

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Zeal and Ardor - Wake of a Nation EP

Allegaeon - Apoptosis

Loathe - I Let It in and It Took Everything

Deafheaven - 10 Years Gone

 

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8 of Wands - Swiftness. Eights always move on from the stoic, sturdy Netzach (7s) to a transient moment of swift action and/or decisiveness.

Time to switch gears again. My beta reader has finished Murder Virus, I have all her suggestions and edits logged and, mostly, completed. Now I need to pursue the cover art I want and get this fucker ready to publish by the end of January.

Top Albums I Discovered in 2020 Not Released in 2020

Here then is the list of my favorite records released before 2020 that I discovered this past year.

• Mol - Penumbra: 

Melodic, heavy, and mysterious. I love Mol's Penumbra record. 

• Iress - Prey

One of those great Bandcamp discoveries, Los Angeles's Iress have crafted a perfect balance between metal and 'grunge' with 2015's Prey. And in locating a picture of this one's album art, I realized Iress released a record this past September that's bound to be one of those that would have made this year's list had I heard it in time. This year, there's been quite a few of those, so I may do a 'booster' next week of those 2020 records that should have made the Top Ten but just barely missed out.

• The Plimsouls - Everywhere at Once

Thanks to Bret Easton Ellis, Valley Girl (OG), and Cameron on Halt and Catch Fire for all simultaneously introducing me to this fabulous 80s LA band.

• La Hell Gang - Thru Me Again:

A band I discovered through Henry Rollins's KCRW radioshow, La Hell Gang are kind of a more low-key Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. Great album though, one that drifts through sandy, sudsy rock n roll atmosphere.

• Mannequin Pussy - Patience:

What can I say about Mannequin Pussy? I came for the name, stayed for the unbelievable songs. Kind of like if Hole had a talented songwriter who I didn't find too obnoxious to even look at, there's the spirit of the 90s here, but it's tempered with the same kind of time and distance that bands like M83 and Cut Copy did for the 80s.

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Thus begins the section for my MVPs. My list of 2020's favs from last week can't even hold a candle for what these three records did for me this year:

• White Lung - Paradise:

Fucking perfect from start to finish and impossible to turn off after only three full-run throughs, White Lung have never recorded a song I don't love, but this record, from start to finish, is above and beyond even that. 

• Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

A late entry, Michael Kiwanuka's KIWANUKA is an album I have been unable to turn off for the past two weeks, and my rabid love of its 14 songs shows no sign of abating, much like my love of this year's Number One record:

• Low Cut Connie - Hi Honey:

Mr. Brown must have told me to check these guys out a thousand fucking times. I get caught up in my own little scene - especially when I'm knee-deep in writing something utilizing specific musical muses - but I always get around to stuff eventually. Usually, I happen upon these records when I need them most, and boy howdy, if that isn't true of Low Cut Connie's Hi Honey, then I don't know what is. I feel like it's only a slight embellishment to say this record more than any other saved me from 2020 - I put on The Royal Screw or Danny's Outta Money and I immediately feel great. Thus is the power of Soul. Destined to be one of my favorite records ever.

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou, Part Two!

And I thought I really liked the lead release off May Our Chambers Be Full! This is killer, and I can't wait for the EP, which can be pre-ordered from Sacred Bones Records HERE. 

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I'm really getting back into this Marvel thing: 

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Playlist:

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - Hollywood (pre-release single)

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Maxwell - Now

Les Discrets - Septembre et ses derniéres pensées

Loathe - I Let It In and It Took  Everything

Oh Baby - The Art of Sleeping Alone

David Bowie - The Next Day

David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust

Firewater - The Ponzi Scheme

Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

RIP Sean Malone

 

What the hell? Back in January, we lost former Cynic drummer Sean Reinert, now at the polar opposite end of the year, we lose bassist Sean Malone? Good lord. Here's the close-out track from Cynic's last full-length album, 2014's Kindly Bent to Free Us. It's fucking gorgeous. Rest in Peace Sean Malone. 

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All this awesome Spiderman news has me in the mood to, well, to finally watch the MCU Spiderman flicks, none of which I've seen! But it's also got me in the mood for some Marvel, and this show right here is numero uno on my, "I can't wait give it to me right damn now" list.

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Playlist:

Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free us

Curtis Harding - Face Your Fear

Jehnny Beth - To Love is to Live

David Bowie - Hunky Dory

David Bowie - Warsazawa (from Stage, disc 1)

Sir Neville Marriner and Academy of St. Martin in the Fields - Amadeus OST

David Bowie - Earthling

White Lung - Paradise

Loathe - I Let It In and It Took Everything

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher

Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou - Hollywood (pre-release single)

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Ah, my old friend, the Queen of Swords. 

I keep getting this when I veer back on track. From my October 10th post, where I drew this card:

"...clear insights and the fresh perspective of adopting the perspective of another and cutting your own head off long enough to truly experience that other perspective..."

A violent reaffirmation of rulership over your emotions and intellect. I associate 'violence' in this respect, as my turning back on the deep dive function for writing. I pulled a major three hours yesterday, and made fantastic progress. 

Jehnny Beth - I'm The Man

 

I have a very push/pull with this video. Two days ago my good friend Jacob sent me a link to Jehnny Beth's debut record, To Love is to Live. You may remember her from Savages, whose 2013 debut Silence Yourself still resounds as one of my favorite records of the previous decade. Savages' follow-up Adore Life came out in 2016 and just kind of left me flat. I go back to it every now and again, but the 'a-ha' moment has never come. Still, I hold out hope that one day it might. 

So too, my first couple of attempts at listening to To Love is to Live were completely unsuccessful. I put the record away, went about my business, and came back to it later for a fresh perspective. This time, I perused the track listing before jumping in from the beginning, as I am most often wont to do, and decided to start with the fifth track on the record, "A Place Above", simply because the listing said featuring Cillian Murphy, and I was curious what that would sound like. You can actually hear that track in the video above for track six, "I'm The Man", as it serves as something of a prologue to the song. I'm happy to report, from this track on, the album opened to me in a way that very much made me appreciate Ms. Beth in a way I don't think I have before. The video above, directed by Anthony Byrne, is gorgeously shot and lit, even if the theatrics themselves that comprise the narrative of the video's run time leave me a little harumphed. 

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If you've listened to any of the recent episodes of The Horror Vision - we've been weekly for a month or two now - you'll have heard me talk about Eibon Press's four-issue comics expansion/adaptation of Lucio Fulci's The Beyond. I loved the book, and immediately ordered the trade paperback collection The Gates of Hell, which does for Fulci's City of the Living Dead what the aforementioned comic did for The Beyond. There's a big picture here, and it excites the F*CK out of me. One of the things that converted me to such a huge fan of Fulci's Gates of Hell Trilogy is the mythos, the larger picture that can be glimpsed beneath the films. It reminds me of HP Lovecraft's mythos, and I think Eibon Press is breaking serious ground by going in and fleshing it out. 

After talking about this on our show, Eibon Press founder Sean Lewis hit me up online. There will be an interview coming up down the road, but before that, some more reviews, as he sent review copies of a lot of other Eibon books with my Gates of Hell trade. 

First up was House By the Cemetery, three issues that further my favorite Fulci film in ways that directly connect it to the other two movies in the series. Next, that Gates of Hell trade is calling my name, so first, K and I re-watched City of the Living Dead last night.

Easily the poorest of the three films in this cycle, the comic will only be able to improve the story, for which there is only the barest hint of in the film. Don't get me wrong, I still dig it, but even that clipped, nightmare logic that makes The Beyond work so well kind of fails here, as we move from scene to scene with a pretty transparent disregard for anything but the gore and atmosphere. 

Interestingly, while this is the weakest of the three Gates of Hell flicks as far as story is concerned, City contains the best FX in any of these: Bob's drill-through-the-head death scene doesn't suffer from the usual tail-end let down present in most of these movies, where you can see how the actor is replaced by a close-up of the model. Below, compare Bob's death with the infamous 'gut-spewing' scene from this same movie, where you can clearly see the actress replaced by a dummy (again, not badmouthing here, just saying).

I should add, these are some especially gross-out clips (okay, really just the second one), so press play at your own risk:

 

 

Anyway, as I said, Eibon press's Gates of Hell comic can only improve on this one, so I can't wait to dig in later today.

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Playlist:

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

Me and That Man - Songs of Love and Death

Queens of the Stone Age - ... Like Clockwork

Curtis Harding - Face Your Fear

Venue - One Without a Second

Deafheaven - 10 Years Gone

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Twos are often an indication of balance, I can't help feeling that is a spot-on assessment of the morning so far. 

Two's also indicate cycles, shorter cycles, and I feel a few loops closing in the near future. This is good, as I seem to constantly be opening more of them.

John Carpenter Lost Themes III

 

Out February 5th on Sacred Bones, with a variant that I pre-ordered from Waxwork, which I am now ridiculously excited for after hearing this track!

 

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NCBD:

You can set your freakin' watch by how on-time this book is every month.

Lonely Receiver's penultimate issue. I'm really enjoying this one, and things really crystalized last issue, so this is sure to be pretty F*ked up!

I'm unclear whether this "Zero" issue of the Locke and Key/Sandman crossover due out early next year is a full issue, or simply what amounts to an ashcan-sized promo. I'm also unsure why this is coming up as being out this week but has October 2020 across the front cover. 

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Playlist:

Ainoma - Necropolis

Airiel - Molten Young Lovers

Barrie - Canyons (single)

Barrie - Happy To Be Hear

The Blueflowers - Circus on Fire

The Blueflowers - Relapse EP

Mr. Bungle - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny

Sightless Pit - Grave of a Dog

Michael Kiwanuka - KIWANUKA

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Let go of your preconceived notions and prepare to shake things up a bit. Feels like I could really use this.