Bill & Phil – Songs of Darkness and Despair


If you find yourself seeking a soundtrack to a belligerent, drug fuelled weekend look no further than Songs of Darkness and Despair (Housecore Records), the new collaboration between the iconic Phil Anselmo and horror movie mainstay Bill Moseley.Continue reading


Philip Anselmo Issues Statement On Housecore Horror Film Festival Co-Founder’s Passing


Philip H. Anselmo issued a statement in regards to the sudden passing of his Housecore Horror Film Festival co-founder and best selling true crime author, Corey Mitchell, who suffered a deadly heart attack early Monday morning (October 27, 2014) at Emo’s in Austin, Texas, the venue home of the event. This follows the second edition of the fest’s successful weekend of metal and horror.

Said partner/Housecore Records head, Philip H. Anselmo, in an official statement:

“This is stunning. After a weekend of incredible bands, awesome horror films and masses of fantastic people, tragically, unexpectedly, and with heart-crushing reality, co-founder of The Housecore Horror Film Festival, Corey Mitchell, passed away Monday, October 27th 2014, after the event ended. This is devastating on so many levels, I can’t and won’t go into how tremendous a loss Corey’s untimely death truly is. I was introduced to Corey first and foremost as a best-selling crime author, and shortly after that meeting I agreed to have him as my co-writer of an unfinished novel I’d been working on. It was his idea to create a horror and film festival that would became The Housecore Horror Festival. He had a vision, and no one worked harder than him to see the event through. But forget festivals. Forget books. We lost a great friend. From all of us here at Housecore Records, we extend our utmost condolences to his wife, Audra, and his two beautiful young daughters. This is devastating on countless personal levels, and I’m finding it difficult to type these lines. We lost a brother. We lost a great man with a passion for everything that we love. He will be unfathomably missed… RIP Corey. His legacy will never be forgotten, nor will his friendship. With supremely heavy hearts, we mourn. Sincerely – Philip H. Anselmo”

Phillip Anselmo Corey Mitchell

Mitchell was a Los Angeles Times and Borders International Group bestselling author of several true crime books including Hollywood Death Scenes, Dead And Buried, Murdered Innocents, Evil Eyes, Strangler, Pure Murder, and Savage Son. He was also the founder of the #1 true crime blog, In Cold Blog; a former blogger for the Discovery Channel’s Hollywood on Crime blog; contributor to Metalsucks; and the horror film festival blogger for Bloody Disgusting. His forthcoming eighth true crime book, Teach Me To Kill (about the murder of Diane Tilly), out in the coming weeks. Details on a fund to assist his wife Audra and his two daughters will be announced soon.

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Corey Mitchell’s Books on Amazon

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Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin To Perform Live Score Of Cult Horror Classics At Roadburn15


 

 

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Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin to perform live Score of Cult Horror classics Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria at Roadburn 2015. The enterprise of the band playing the accompanying score live while the moves play has been a sensation wherever they have played.

 

 

Roadburn has also announced the addition of the following bands for the 20th edition of the festival:

 

Zombi, Steve Moore, Majeure, Profetus, Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Salem’s Lot, Sammal & Oozing Wound.

 

 

From The Official Press Release:


We’re extremely excited to announce that Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin will return to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, to perform their much acclaimed movie soundtracks for the well-known cult-classic horror movies Dawn Of The Dead and Suspiria.

Led by Brazilian-born composer Claudio Simonetti, the band will perform the live scores in real time while screening both movies from start to finish, offering our beloved attendees the chance to experience these classic soundtracks and films in an entire new dimension.

This will be the first time that these soundtracks will be performed in The Netherlands and at Roadburn, following the band’s critically acclaimed performance at last year’s festival, when Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin were invited by curator Mikael Åkerfeldt.

Goblin’s scores for George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Dario Argento’s Suspiria (1977) rank among the best and most famous soundtracks composed and produced by these Italian progressive rock legends.

The much-anticipated performances will take place on the main stage at the 013 venue on Saturday, April 11 (Dawn of the Dead) and Sunday, April 12 (Suspiria).

We’re equally excited to announce that legendary kosmische Giallo synth duo Zombi will be playing an exclusive set at Roadburn 2015, appearing for the first time in Europe since a handful of festival appearances back in 2011.

Since first hitting the general consciousness with their Relapse 2004 debut album Cosmos, following a pair of EPs, and wowing fans and critics alike with 2011’s Escape Velocity, it could be argued that Zombi were the spearhead for the whole resurgence of interest in obscure film soundtracks and the music of artists such as Goblin, John Carpenter and Fabio Frizzi.

Zombi, AKA Messrs. Moore and Paterra will be opening up the stargate and heralding the zombie dawn on the main stage of the 013 venue on Saturday April 11as a part of the 2015 20th edition of Roadburn and we couldn’t be more psyched to have them.

That, however, is not all we have in store for you, as we also have exclusive solo performances from Zombi braintrust Steve Moore and A E Paterra – performing under his Majeure identity – both of whom will be playing on the day before, Friday April 10 at Het Patronaat.

In related news: At long last, Profetus will be conjuring their classic Finnish funeral doom, worthy of comparision to Thergothon, Skepticism and Tyranny (with whom Profetus share members), when they play on Friday, April 10 at Het Patronaat, too!

In collaboration with Finland’s Blow Up That Gramophone, we can’t wait for Profetus, who rarely perform live, to slowly break down Het Patronaat by the full crashing weight and momentum of monolithic riffs, slow building drums, guttural vocals and sadly beautiful, but also penetrating church-organ-like synths.

Germany’s Der Weg Einer Freiheit offers a master class in dark, furious and epic black metal as they effortlessly mix blackened grandeur with post-rock sensibilities and classically influenced melodies to create their signature sound. Impatiently waiting for the follow up to 2012’s Unstille, we’ll be anticipating Der Weg Einer Freiheit’s Roadburn performance on Friday, April 10 at Het Patronaat just as much.

Firmly rooted in the red-eyed rituals of the heady ‘60s and dead ‘70s, and shabby, feverish catacomb 8mm smut by the likes of Jess Franco, Sweedens’ Salem’s Pot are clearly on the rise, channeling ultra-fuzzed acid-blues into psychotropic lo-fi doom.

These guys aren’t just some bogus, bong-worshipping, basement dwellers. Salem’s Pot accentuate these creepy vibes by smashing B-movie debauchery and vintage hedonism into a lysergic stomp through spooky reverberations and underground grime. You know what to do when Salem’s Pot will hit Roadburn 2015 on Thursday, April 9 at the 013 venue.

Founded in 2004 by guitarist Jura Salmi and vocalist Jan-Erik Kiviniemi, Sammal manages to capture a sense of golden moments in Finnish music. Touching on their culture and heart, and with lyrics sung entirely in Finnish, Sammal shows a masterful, natural command of classic rock with nods to Caravan, Thin Lizzy, Camel, Birth Control, Budgie and the epic guitar journeys of the Allman Brothers.

Though Sammal have existed for 10 years, they seldom play live gigs (let alone abroad) and in collaboration with Finland’s Blow Up That Gramophone, we are immensely excited to have them at the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival onSaturday, April 11 at the 013 venue.

Buckle up! Are you ready for some of the filthiest, snottiest, relentless and downright loud crossover thrash this side of early 80s Metallica, Slayer and Suicidal Tendencies? Then look no further, as Chi-town’s Oozing Wound are here to supercharge the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival on Saturday, April 11 at the 013 venue.

In related news: British gothic rock innovators Fields Of The Nephilim will be gracing the stage twice at the 20th edition of the Roadburn Festival. In addition to serving as the Saturday headliner on April 11, the band will perform a different set as special guests at Houses Of The Holistic on Friday, the special Roadburn event curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, which will be held on Friday, April 10.

Once again, we captured the sounds of Roadburn Festival. While you were worming your way through a Green Room doorway jam, we were recording the jams inside. Now it’s time to kick back and relax and just listen. The VPRO’s 3voor12, which is the best cultural media network in the Netherlands, is making it possible to share these 2014 Roadburn streams with you here.

Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including The Heads as Artist In Residence, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin, Zombi and Fields of the Nephilim among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.

 

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Enabler – La Fin Absolue Du Monde


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Milwaukee’s own, Enabler, are back and ready to break your face (or maybe just your ears) in their newest release, La Fin Absolue Du Monde (The Compound/Creator Destructor ). Now I will come out and say that I am not really the biggest fan of hardcore punk and normally do not end up at said shows. However, Enabler has done a great service in recruiting me as a fan of what they have to offer. The sheer energy that the Wisconsin threesome create in this newest release is what hardcore bands of today should be modeling themselves after. Enabler is able to create speedy, short songs and give a crossover thrash and d-beat feel but keep their hardcore roots in as well. Lastly, well-timed breakdowns are extremely important and should not be the center of the song. So out of the 14 neck-breaking tracks, I was able to pick out a few of my favorites, although just about every song was enjoyable.

‘Neglect’ has one of my favorite riffs/tones on the album as Enabler keeps it really crusty which is one of the big selling points for a hardcore band for me. I love the pace of the song as well as it starts off quick then just runs into a breakdown and stays in that tempo to finish off the song. My favorite lyrics come from the end of the very next track, ‘I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This’ and no, this is not a cover of Taking Back Sunday. The listener is once again greeted to a high-speed tempo attack to start of this track. Just when your neck starts to hurt, the tempo slows down but the aggression picks up. At the end of this track, the lyrics, “No future, no fate, there’s nothing but the lives we make” is repeated a few times. Not only do I completely agree with these lyrics, but the delivery of the message wrapped in the Enabler energy got my goose bumps to grow goose bumps. One last song I wanted to point out, which happens to be the longest song on the album at 5:46 in length, is ‘Felony.’ The intro riff to this song almost sounds like some sort of alarm you would hear out of a Silent Hill knock-off as it gives off vibes of something big coming. The song hits a crescendo that kicks into the high-speed tempo I’ve come to highly enjoy throughout the album until we hit what sounds like a build up for a breakdown. What we get instead is a breakdown that has the most epic feel to it that literally brings the song down back to just a crusty guitar riff until that too fades away.

Overall, it only took me a few spins of this album to get hooked on it. This band has indeed earned at least one more fan today in me and I will be searching for more at this point without a doubt. Looking back on La Fin Absolue Du Monde and the sound that Enabler is pulling for, I can only wish that I am able to review their next tour when it comes through my way. And maybe, just maybe, Cancer Bats can be included on said tour as well. Wink wink. Nudge nudge.

 

8/10

Enabler on Facebook

 

TIM LEDIN


TJ Fowler Interviews Grave Digger for Skullbanger Media


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Ghost Cult’s correspondent for Finland and Scandinavia, TJ Fowler also does interviews and covers metal for his own website, Skullbanger Media. TJ spent last week At the Metalfest Loreley, Germany covering the festival and interviewing bands. Interviewing Grave Digger’s Chris Boltendahl, TJ and Chris talked about the bands upcoming album due next month, Return of the Reaper (Napalm Records). Being that the festival was their first show of what stands to be a long touring cycle, they discussed creating the set list, the new album, the history of the band, creativity with album artwork, Star Wars, and their past fascination with concept albums. Special thanks to TJ for letting us share this interview.

 

 

 

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