Yo, New Yawk! First things first. Laying roses on Joe "Maniac" Spinell's final resting place in the very same cemetery where Lucio Fulci filmed The Gates of Hell in 1980.
I packed a 50lb crate of vintage vinyl 3,000 miles across the country to DJ the Friday night after party. None of this lazy iPad Iron Maiden medley bullshit for me.
STREETWALKERS!!!!
Black Death Resurrected drove eight hours and hit the stage at 2am to deliver the goods to the Brooklyn congregations!
Eternal hails to He Wang, Henry Yuan, Michael "Tooth Log" Daniel Vieira and the rest of the Defenders Of The Old crew for making this incredible last stand a reality!
xoxo.
I had a blast spinning records at Saint Vitus Bar until the neighbors complained about the noise at 3am and shut us down a bit early. PLAY IT LOUD!!!!!
"LIVE FOR THE WHIP!"
Betsy Bitch handed me this signed set list as she strutted off stage.
"METAL KNIGHTS!!!!"
"WE RULE THE NIGHT!!!!"
Getting crazy with Joe Leonard of Frigid Bich and my brothers of the mighty Budos Band who served as their roadies.
I bought a sealed copy of the 1973 Coffy soundtrack for $10. Also, that's Cirith Ungol performing Black Machine in the background.
Witch Riot.
King Fowley still rules.
G.A.T.E.S.
THE RODS.
Ross the Boss jumped on stage and jammed Chuck Berry with The Rods on Sunday night! That is more New York metal history than I can explain in this tiny caption. Suffice to say, these hard men ARE heavy metal.
GO TIME again...
I realize it doesn't look like much, but you can see the old housing project building I lived in when I was very young from the Metro North train. Some feral antics went down in and around those unassuming walls.
My mom obviously has no idea where that hair has been.
Playing Ghostbusters at the New York Public Library with a man who can draw better than just about anyone alive.
Spent the Solstice with visionary American illustrator Jos. A. Smith, true uncredited creator of the original Bathory goat logo. At 80, he is far more "occult" than anyone wearing a spooky metal shirt. In fact, he is one of the classiest and most initiated men I have ever met. Here we are at the iconic Grand Central Station main concourse clock about to hit the streets of New York.
Maximum barbaric flyer for maximum barbaric metal!
On Friday July 7, 2017 Wyrd War proudly presents the FIRST EVER WEST COAST APPEARANCE of Cleveland Metal legends DESTRUCTOR with very special guests ANTICHRIST from Sweden (first Portland appearance) and DANAVA!!!! Once again, I shall be chained to the wheels of pain for maximum skull smashing destruction!!!! Tickets on sale now at Mississippi Studios.
I'm heading to Brooklyn this month with Black Death Resurrected to DJ the official Defenders of the Old Fest after party on Friday June 16th under the name "DJ Wyrd War" (naturally). We will get started at midnight immediately after Nasty Savage over at Saint Vitus Bar so come armed to the teeth and ready to DEFEND! Look forward to seeing some of you loud and proud NEW YORK MANIACS very soon!!!!
It is with a heavy heart that I announce today the passing of an unsung Cleveland heavy metal legend who has slipped away forever from those who knew and loved him. Don't worry, I understand that you don't recognize the man pictured here. His chosen place was offstage and out of the spotlight of so-called social media. What you need to know is that since 1979 brother "Squeaky" was the first member of the original Black Death inner circle, known collectively as The Wrecking Crew and celebrated as such on the 1984 Black Death 7" single. His name can be spotted on the back cover credits of the debut Auburn Records LP. Squeaky was a formidable guitar player himself and the man responsible for introducing Siki Spacek to Jimi Hendrix and Judas Priest, along with countless more obscure but no less influential bands and musicians, long before Black Death was conceived. In fact, it was Squeaky who first introduced Siki Spacek to guitarist Greg Hicks and drummer Phil Bullard on the exact same fateful day that Siki was expelled from high school in 1977. His introduction directly resulted in the forming of the band and the legacy of great American heavy metal that is carried on today by Black Death Resurrected and celebrated by so many TRUE headbangers around the world! Squeaky was known to avoid any personal attention, yet it was his friendship and support that encouraged Siki to overcome his early stage fright to become the incredible performer that he is to this day (if you have any doubt, join us at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn on June 16, 2017 for Defenders Of The Old festival and see for yourself). Now take another look at the unassuming dude smoking a cigarette on his porch above and go TURN YOUR MUSIC UP LOUD in memory of Squeaky! The "Four Dark Horsemen," as Siki lovingly refers to the classic Black Death lineup, have lost one of their own. Squeaky will not be forgotten. R.I.P.
My birthday is coming up and I've decided to make an old private tradition very public. Join me for this one-night-only screening of what I very earnestly believe to be one of the greatest cinematic triumphs of the late 20th century, Alejandro Jodorowsky's absolutely devastating masterpiece of psychological terror and heart-rending beauty, SANTA SANGRE (1989)!
Loosely based on the presumably true story of a convicted Mexican serial killer who is released from a mental hospital only to become entangled in the familial roots of his madness, acclaimed Chilean-Russian-French auteur Jodorowsky tosses every sacred cow and Freudian symbol into the meat grinder as he propels his audience on a violent mythological journey into the very darkest night of the soul. At turns hilarious, horrifying and utterly perplexing, SANTE SANGRE is ultimately more linear than his more infamous films EL TOPO (1970) and HOLY MOUNTAIN (1973), but is all the more impactful for its serrated clarity of vision. Filmed entirely on location in Mexico City (employing dozens of real prostitutes, circus freaks and riot police), and produced/co-written by Claudio Argento (SUSPIRIA, DEEP RED, DAWN OF THE DEAD, etc.), SANTA SANGRE is a master filmmaker's love poem to the rich history of horror cinema even as it spirals toward the most outer fringes of genre.
The newly restored digital transfer of the original uncut negative that we will be screening will be nothing less than a rite of passage for your eyeballs (and ears!) on the massive Hollywood Theatre screen. You have been warned. Tickets available NOW. Bring your mom.
That's screenwriter Randall Jahnson (The Mask of Zorro, Dudes, The Doors) receiving a tarot reading from our guest witches in the lobby before the film.
Thank you to all who joined us this year for a very special Walpurgisnacht at Hollywood Theatre! We stirred the cauldron and chaos reigned, so we apologize for the slightly wonky start time on this event. However, we trust that the absolutely beautiful 35mm print of Eyes of Fire more than made up for any confusion tossed in our collective paths. Special thanks to our witches, Odessa Godoy, Erin Aquarian and Ann Heideman. As always, thanks to everyone at the Hollywood Theatre, especially the staff who very eloquently fielded complaints from offended Christians. You can't please all the people all the time...and that is certainly never my personal goal. That said, 100 of you received a handmade traditional corn husk doll courtesy of Wyrd War, and all of you now receive my deepest gratitude for your ongoing support. May Day is a time to seize the full transformative potential of your being. Take the fire inside you! Witches are real. Witchcraft is alive. From the field to the film...
I am delighted to announce that I have been summoned to DJ The Overlook Film Festival afterparty on Friday April 28th at the breathtaking Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. This is the first ever fully interactive genre film festival to take place at the beautiful outdoor location of Stanley Kubrick's supernatural masterpiece The Shining, and you can bet I will deliver a black magic horror ritual of vintage vinyl madness to shake asses and bang heads. The days of boring film festivals have been...corrected.
Hail Horror Hail.
Since I launched Wyrd War three years ago I haven't had much time to draw, and that's been just fine with me because crawling out of the basement has allowed me the freedom to expand my reach into incredible cinematic events, concerts that have raised the bar for what can be expected of live music and the accomplishment of myriad projects that have been swirling around in my brain for many years. Nonetheless, when my good friend Chris Reifert calls to inform me that Autopsy needs a shirt design to commemorate their 30th anniversary, I can be coerced back into the dungeon. Time to call in sick, get scribbling and post a new installment of Gross Anatomy! This little disaster was torn from the womb in one night and shipped to Scotland quicker than you can sing My Corpse Shall Rise Again. Don't believe me? Take a look...
"In the cemetery now you have arrived / To finally see my flesh from which you stole the life / Though you never were discovered, you're still free / I've got a curse on you, I've haunted all your dreams..."
"You can't believe I'm gone / You must be sure, it must be real / Panic stricken, to the grave / The truth must be revealed..."
"With shaking hands and sickening thoughts / You find my resting place / With pounding heart and bloodshot eyes / The shovel desecrates / The time has come to face reality / And visit death / To see my corpse and stop the dreams..."
"At your feet, uncovered is the box / You're almost paralyzed with fear / Feel the bile creep up your throat / Lift the lid and know I'm here / I lie here rotting / Maggots burrowing / Feeding, swarming / You can't hold back the nausea / Help won't find you..."
"Stomach twisting, violent retching, defiled by vomit / Now my vengeful corpse begins to rise / I've been waiting here for you / Now it's time to see you die!!!!"
With my part of the conjuration now complete, Chris Reifert set his sights on designing the back of the shirt. I am proud to say, my latest Wyrd War release, Until We Rock: The Early Recordings of Black Death, was the inspired soundtrack for the night!
Next, the artwork is delivered to Adam Rooster Grim over at Nightgaunt Graphics, who laid it down in white without an underbase to give it the soft greyish hue of a moldering grave! And within mere hours...
Live pics courtesy of Ron Falcon.
Autopsy destroys Glasgow, Scotland at Lords of the Land festival, where the shirt is introduced to the world on Saturday April 1, 2017.
For me, the most rewarding moment of this whirlwind project is receiving this text message from the merch table in Scotland, and knowing that the rabid kilt-wearing Autopsy fans are duly pleased! Next up: Maryland Death Fest (Baltimore), Hellfest (France) and Party San (Germany). Grab one if you can because this is a limited edition design for this year's gigs only, and very soon it slithers back into its festering tomb forever...
I am fucking gutted today by the loss of Bernie Wrightson, one of the greatest horror illustrators the world will ever know. I only met him once very briefly back in 2007 when he received a lifetime achievement award at Portland's annual H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival, and, like the class act that he was, he used his five minutes of stage time to condemn what he considered "the real horror in the world": war. He was a gentle, kind, soft-spoken and ferociously talented and devoted artist. He will forever be missed. R.I.P.
April 30th isWalpurgisnacht - the portentous “Witches’ Night” of European folklore, when it is believed that nightside currents surge with sinister purpose - and Wyrd War summons YOU to Portland's historic Hollywood Theatre on Sunday April 30, 2017 for our second annual Walpurgis Night cinema celebration! Join us for a rare 35mm screening of Eyes of Fire (1983), one of the most beautiful, bewitching and psychedelic historical period horror films of the 80s that you’ve never seen! Long before The Witch (2015) rattled audiences with lurid satanic panic, obscure auteur Avery Crounse delivered his own transcendent meditation on blasphemy, witchcraft and place as active agent set in the uncertain American frontier of 1750. A fine art photographer by training, Crounse only directed three films before unceremoniously exiting the industry, and his only foray into the horror genre is an unexpected compositional wonder, meticulously attentive to detail and boldly meandering down its own path to perdition. Sadly, his masterwork was also destined for inglorious VHS purgatory, and still has not received an official domestic digital release. Eyes of Fire tells the tale of a dubious preacher who narrowly escapes execution for adultery, and ventures forth into terra incognita with a small band of loyal colonists, including an insane and psychically attuned young woman. Pursued downstream by Shawnee tribesmen, the exiles make their stand in a primeval wooded valley rife with dire omens and chthonic forces. By the third reel, all hell breaks loose...80s style! This absolutely must be experienced on the big screen to be believed. Do not miss this one-night-only screening on rare 35mm! You won’t guess the ending. I promise. Tickets on sale HERE.
Here I am being strangled by Danny Roebuck while wearing his original jacket from the film. And a vintage Iron Maiden Purgatory shirt just like Samson wears in the flick, naturally.
The beautiful and historic Hollywood Theatre.
Total support!
"You're dead, dude. Here have a beer."
Photo by Greg Hamilton.
Photo by Greg Hamilton
Photo by Tammy Roebuck.
Samson lives!
Our partner in crime for this event, Greg Hamilton wearing "the jacket" from River's Edge!
TFW you bein' directed by Danny Roebuck and screenwriter Randall Jahnson.
TFW you bein' killed by Randall Jahnson and Danny Roebuck.
TFW you pretend you sippin' Ouzo and Jack in Greece with screenwriter Randall Jahnson and Daniel Roebuck. Opa!
Killer night, eh Portland? My deepest gratitude to the more than 300 people who filled Hollywood Theatre last night to give actor Daniel Roebuck a proper Portland welcome. Special thanks to Greg Hamilton, Doug Whyte, Dan Halsted, Jamie Victorino, Connor Kirkwood, Matt Cunningham, Erin Eave, Virginia Durost, Alison Hallett, Kristy Conrad, and EVERYONE at the Hollywood Theatre whose names I don't know or can't remember at the moment. It was a truly special night, and your support means the world to me. Very special thanks to our new friends Daniel Roebuck and Tammy Roebuck for delivering the goods. "You do shit and then you die."
I am very proud to be delivering this amazing relic of heavy metal history to the world! Black Death is widely considered to be the first heavy metal band to feature all black musicians, and this digipack CD collects all of their earliest surviving material from 1983 (before their one and only release on Auburn Records in 1984)! I enlisted the genius of audio engineer Timothy Stollenwerk to digitally restore and remaster this material to sound as amazing as analog demo and live recordings from 1983 can possibly sound. In other words, expect raw unexpurgated noise! Headbangers are in for a real treat! Order NOW!
