Irvin Kershner R.I.P.

Today the world lost Irvin Kershner, director of The Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again, and a personal favorite, Robocop 2. This followed yesterday's news that actor Leslie Nielsen passed away. This year has sucked. You'll both be missed.

Peaceville Volume 4 (Compilation)

Here is an old Peaceville compilation I stumbled upon that runs the gamut from doom, death, black, and electronic noise and features some great bands when they were at their peaks and some pure crap (i'm not overly fond of the noise tracks, I confess). I wanted to post this earlier, but Mediafire has been giving me hell for the past few days and only recently has let me upload anything.

Peaceville Volume 4

The Call Of Cthulhu

Here is an adaptation of one of H.P. Lovecraft's best, the classic The Call Of Cthulhu. It is word for word the original text of the story, just in comic book form! This is from John Coulthart's graphic adaptation of Lovecraft stories entitled "The Haunter Of The Dark And Other Grotesque Visions", which is available here. This is the only adaptation I have seen from it, but the pictures on his website make it look really awesome, so I might have to get a copy of it. Just check out the picture of R'lyeh above, which looks alot better than this scanned .pdf file I share with you.

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu Fhtagn

Obliveon - "Whimsical Uproar"

Here is an early demo by Canada's Obliveon, who seem to have went straight into obscurity before finally meeting their own oblivion. An obvious comparison upon first listen is to early Voivod, but there's something else lurking in these four songs. I always thought it sounded like Voivod and "Persecution Mania" era Sodom, but i'll leave that for you all to decide. I think this demo destroys. The musicianship is incredible, the riffs rule, it's fast and uncompromising, and one of the lyrics is "science should be used to help us screw"...how can you resist? And also, check out the neck snapping fastness at 1:10 in the first song. THAT is goddamn brutal. Unfortunately, this band didn't release too much else, their first LP is called "From This Day Forward" and it really sounds like they were trying to be more tech than thrash. It has some good songs, but this demo is really the best thing they did.

Obliveon - "Whimsical Uproar"

Thin Lizzy - "Black Rose"

Today is my birthday, but I have a present for you. Here is Thin Lizzy's "Black Rose", surely one of the greatest rock albums ever made. The guitar work on this one is amazing, and let it be known that Phil Lynott is the greatest rock lyricist ever. Get this, chill out, and let Thin Lizzy take over.

Got To Give It Up

Unseen Terror - "Human Error"

When I was first discovering punk rock and metal, there wasn't too many places around where I live that had that sort of music. We had a Record Bar at the mall, we had Dad's CD's (now sadly gone), and about a half hour away we had Back Door Records. It was at this store that you could find some obscure metal gems. The first things I remember ever getting from there was a tape copy of Slayer's "Reign In Blood", a cd version of Terrorizer's "World Downfall" (and how much those fucking albums destroy is surely documented elsewhere all over the 'net), and this, a tape by an unknown british band by the name of Unseen Terror. Back then I knew that Shane Embury was bassist in the mighty Napalm Death, so when I saw this tape and saw him listed as drummer I had to check it out. I bought it, took it home, and played it so much, well, it broke. Thank Cthulhu for the information age, where everything is digital, so I can listen to this album again and again. It is 20 songs of politically charged grind, when grind wasn't fucking stupid gurgle vocals and the like. Besides featuring Shane Embury of N.D., it also features Mitch Dickenson of Heresy on guitar and vocals, so if members of Napalm Death and Heresy doing fast, punkish grind is your thing then you have hit the jackpot! Did I mention they also have songs about Garfield?

Burned Beyond Recognition

Twin Peaks - O.S.T. by Angelo Badalamenti

"Who Killed Laura Palmer?"

That was the question on everybody's mind in 1990, when David Lynch and Mark Frost teamed up to bring us Twin Peaks, a show which only lasted two seasons but had enough ideas and talent for another three. For those who haven't seen it, it's about this small, sleepy little lumber town in the Pacific Northwest, populated by quirky, eccentric characters, and how this town is turned upside down by the death of a teenage girl named Laura Palmer. Who did indeed kill her? Well, I'm not going to give it away, just watch the show. One of the best shows ever on tv, and worth repeated viewings. It features great performances by Kyle MacLachlan, Ray Wise, Jack Nance (he of Eraserhead fame), and many others. I'll never forget watching this show with my mom when it was originally on, and the episode in season two where they reveal who Laura's killer is, and how it scared the piss out of me.

This score is by Angelo Badalamenti, and features three songs with lyrics by David Lynch and vocals by Julee Cruise. The music perfectly fits the show, but is good to listen to whenever, especially if theres pie and coffee, or a black lodge, in your future.

Fire Walk With Me

They Live

John Carpenter's They Live is one of the best paranoid sci-fi/action movies ever. If you have never seen it, stop reading this and go watch it NOW! Don't worry, I'll still be here when you get back.

Back? Now, wasn't that awesome? For those who don't wanna get away from their computers, check out the scene below, surely the greatest fight scene ever filmed.

Now that you've done that, may I suggest getting this fine score by John Carpenter and Alan Howarth?

"I'm giving you a choice. Either put on these glasses, or start eating that trash can!"

COMICS

These are just a small sampling of some of the older comics I own. The last 5 are the ones that are most sacred to me.

Voivod - "Killing Technology"

Why have I never extoled the virtues of Canada's Voivod before? It was an oversight which i will remedy now. This is their 3rd full length album from 1986, entitled "Killing Technology". It is what I like to think of as geek metal: excellent, headbanging riffs,blazing solos, bass and drums bashing along at punk tempos with very distinct timing changes, and lyrics about sci-fi themes. I like to think that I could sit in a basement in 1986, with a nice hesher haircut of some sort, finishing Neuromancer for the 4th time, then putting this record on and playing the old GURPS Cyberpunk rpg with some friends. Why don't you do that now?

We Are Connected

Sigh - "Ghastly Funeral Theatre"

Here is "Ghastly Funeral Theatre", an e.p. released by Japan's SIGH in 1997. This band pushes the boundaries of metal, always sounding to me like a metal band doing a lot of acid, watching a lot of 70's horror and listening to avant garde jazz/funk fusion/prog rock records. This e.p. is more squarely on the metal side of things, and is completely awesome, no filler tracks, just awesome metal. If you have never heard Sigh before, this is the place to start.

Also, what do you all think of the new banner up there?

Who Is Calling My Name?

Curse Of The Magi - 2005 Demo

Here is a demo from unheard local band Curse Of The Magi, which existed briefly during 04-05 and features members who were in bands like Ikkabod and Cheapskate, which is about what this sounds like. If you haven't heard either of those bands, I have posted them elsewhere on this blog. A very odd amalgamation of pop punk and Maiden-esque metal, which definitely sounded different from anything else going on around here at the time. Half of this band joined up with me and formed Deeds Of Midwinter, which also was short-lived but played a bit and do have some recordings which I might post up here someday.

Thunder Brings The Storm

Phantasm - O.S.T by Fred Myrow & Malcolm Seagrave

Here is the soundtrack to one of the most surreal, odd, and downright creepy little horror films you're likely to see, Don Coscarelli's "Phantasm". This was one of the movies that frightened the crap out of me when I first saw it, with its little hooded people and The Tall Man, chillingly portrayed by the excellent Angus Scrimm, walking through the halls of one of the creepiest mausoleums ever, and the damn spheres, going around, drilling for brains. It freaked me out when I was younger, and to this day my mom swears that it's the scariest movie she's ever seen. Don Coscarelli also directed "Beastmaster" and "Bubba-Hotep", and an excellent episode of "Masters Of Horror" called "Incident On And Off A Mountain Road", from a short story by Joe Lansdale, which also features Angus Scrimm (and drilling for brains!), which brings us back to the point, which is that this is the soundtrack to Phantasm, eerie, scary, and just for you.

Here, Boy!

UNFLINCHING EYE

I wanted to take a break from music posts and stuff to give a shout out to one of my favorite blogs out there, the amazing Unflinching Eye. The maker of this fine blog, one Aylmer, is a follower of Scummified and even if he wasn't, I would still follow his blog. It is a horror blog, about horror films, made by a dedicated horror fan. It is consistently well written, very informative, and just flat out awesome. Do yourself a favor and check it out. It is well worth your time if you are a horror hound like I am.

I'll be back with some more posts soon, including some more horror soundtracks that i didn't get a chance to post before Halloween, more punk and more metal and hopefully some more unheard regional music also. Stay Tuned!!