ALL AGES TONIGHT!

BURST COMMAND TIL WYRD WAR!

WYRD WAR RECORD RELEASE MASSACRE!

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

WYRD WAR proudly presents MIDNIGHT (exclusive West Coast appearance), VIOLATION WOUND (featuring Chris Reifert of Autopsy and members of Fog of War), LEBENDEN TOTEN and THRONES live in concert! Advance tickets are available here. THIS SATURDAY! 

GROSS ANATOMY (part 19)

Occasionally, when I'm not busy burying my enemies in shallow graves of dog's blood and bile, I slither into my basement and conjure demons with my trusty black magic ballpoints. Sometimes, if I'm generally pleased with the results, I share the creative process here as part of an ongoing series called Gross Anatomy. By now you may have heard about my guerrilla record label and action propaganda division, WYRD WAR, and the compilation LP I recently assembled titled Whispers Through the Black Veil. I asked twelve of my favorite muscians from various corners of the world to write a song based loosely on the esoteric roots of Halloween/Samhain/Día de Muertos and all came through in spades (pun intended). The record features the first recorded material from Lebenden Toten in 6 years and the first Thrones song since 2011. It also features the legendary haunted house music from Oregon's incomparable family-owned fantasy land Enchanted Forest, music never before heard beyond the wooded hills of its borders. Legendary soundtrack composer, sound FX designer and Academy Award winner Alan Howarth contributes a beautiful track titled Kill a Family that will have you looking over your shoulder, Midnight rips through a cover of The Sonics classic The Witch and my good friend Bobby Beausoleil delivers a very satisfying introspective blues-scale odyssey. I could go on, but suffice it to say, there are many treats waiting to be discovered. With a roster of such honorable participants, I knew I needed to do something very special for the cover. And that brings us to today's feature and the positive power of negative thinking. Come along if you dare...

A cryptic hieroglyph sets things in motion. Like most of my drawings, the initial idea comes in a flash of symmetry, shape and atmosphere, hastily scribbled on the nearest scrap of paper available like a premonition or a dream suddenly remembered.   

This rose design is something of an homage to Portland, among other things. In fact, my reference was an actual tombstone, but I don't feel like disclosing specifics at the moment. Perhaps you recognize it?

I wanted the central imagery to suggest a spade, such as might be used to dig a grave.

Like so. Now the pencil is more or less ready for ink...

And so it begins.

The freezing moon can obsess you, indeed.

After about 40 hours in complete solitude, the inking is complete.

Finally, we scan and desaturate the drawing and drop it into a frame that mostly accentuates the crookedness of my lines. Oh well. I gave it a cream colored background that brings together the autumnal colors I wanted to use to underscore this compilation's themes of harvest, decay and the transition toward the dark half of the year. I've put together some great records in my time, but this project already holds a very special place in my heart. You can pre-order it now at WYRD WAR.

 "When twilight falls on your life and fear stares into your soul, 

daylight simply slips away..."

TURN ON, TUNE IN, DROP DEAD!

Dear Friends, Enemies and Anonymous Trolls,

You are heareby commanded to tune your FM radio to 107.1 this Monday night (10/13) at precisely midnight (PST) for a terrifying edition of Vampirella in Iridescent Teal. The lovely Magnolia Bouvier has invited me to play records with her and I will be debuting songs from the upcoming WYRD WAR compilation Whispers Through the Black Veil. One lucky listener will win two (2) tickets to next Saturday's concert at Rotture featuring Midnight, Violation Wound, Lebenden Toten and Thrones. Visit www.xray.fm or turn your knobs to 107.1 fm in beautiful Portland, Oregon for your chance to die.  

XIII

Dread

THE SOUND OF FEAR: Vol. 4

My latest horror soundtrack mix tape is available now and ONLY at Mississippi Records. Featuring motion picture soundtrack music from the original Evil Dead (1981), Prince of Darkness, Night of the Living Dead, Inseminoid, Xtro, Screamers, Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals, Zombie Holocaust, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Edge of Hell (aka, Rock 'n' Roll Nightmare), Anthropophagus (aka, The Grim Reaper), Children of the Corn, The Mutilator and more...all lovingly recorded from crackling vintage vinyl. The sound quality is awful but it's about the price of a blank cassette tape, so quit your complainin'! While supplies and your sanity last.

WYRD WAR WEBSITE NOW ONLINE!

The WYRD WAR website has launched and we're now taking pre-orders for Whispers Through the Black Veil, my new LP compilation featuring a beautiful Alan Howarth composition you've never heard before. There are also photos of last week's SOLD OUT Wyrd War concert at the Hollywood Theatre! Check it out here.

TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!

"It's almost time, kids!"

RISE CHECKERED DEMON, RISE!

ACHTUNG, SAN FRANCISCO:

The brilliant S. Clay Wilson will be making a rare appearance this Saturday 9/20 at Mission: Comics & Art along with author/comix historian Patrick Rosenkranz! If you're lucky they might even sign your copy of PIRATES IN THE HEARTLAND (part 1 of Rosenkranz's incredible biographical trilogy). I can't make it myself, so do me a favor and show 'em some love!

TOTAL DEMON...TOTAL SUPPORT!

WYRD WAR

THE STARS ARE RIGHT! Today I unveil my guerrilla label and action propaganda division: WYRD WAR! Why does the world need yet another micro record label? To put it as simply as possible, I've been involved in a lot of great records over the years - and I'm proud of every single one - but until now I've never had the opportunity to create projects with absolutely no restraints and no compromises. WW will release only a few carefully selected records each year with an emphasis on the strange and the beautiful and the unsung. In other words, you will be gravely disappointed. And I will soon go down like Icarus in a blaze of commercially unsound decisions. In the meantime, I invite you to "follow" the WYRD WAR Facebook page, which is where I'll primarily be conducting business until I get around to creating a more viable platform. I don't do anything in half measure so you can bet your pretty ass I've got an arsenal of surprises up my sleeve. Strange days have found us indeed. FTW!

UP IN THE FIRE

To all our friends at East End, which was fucked by fire early Monday morning, here's hoping you're back in business very soon.

SAD CLOWN

I was planning on writing a little something today about how I hope the suicide of an immensely popular comedic millionaire might become the catalyst that finally compels society to meaningfully focus on our increasing mental health crisis and failing mental health system with personal anecdotes about the three homeless youth in Portland - all under 25 - who took their own lives this past year and were not the subject of retrospective blog posts or weepy memes but...did you know Kenton Station has Fearless Scottish Ale on tap for $2 during happy hour??? Don't worry. Be Happy.

 

R.I.P. MARILYN BURNS

Sally Hardesty will always have the last laugh.

R.I.P. JOHN FASANO

My heart aches for the Fasano Family. 

He was a great guy with a heart of gold.

FRANKENSTEIN AND THOR CONQUERED THE WORLD!

Goddamn! What a day in Portland! Thanks to Tim Goodyear and crew for putting together the Frankenstein Comic Book Swap. It turned out to be way more than a comic swap and I will definitely be at the next one! Special thanks to the Lauber Clan and Pork Army for making my day. Also, thanks to Greg Hamilton for bringing Thor and Rock'n'Roll Nightmare to town and the big screen! Fuckin' amazing.

FRANKENSTEIN'S COMIC BOOK SWAP THIS SATURDAY!

ACHTUNG, PORTLAND: I'll be signing copies of ENTARTETE KUNTS at this here comic book swap on Saturday July 19th from 3pm until 5pm at the East Portland Eagle Lodge located at 4904 SE Hawthorne. My main man Patrick Rosenkranz will also be on hand to sign copies of his new S. Clay Wilson retrospective, so arrive early. Fuck Amazon! Support your local underground artists! 

"And the moon did not shine, it was darker than ever before..."

BLACK DEATH'S FULL PORTLAND CONCERT CAPTURED BY NORTHERN FURY!

EAST END BLOCK PARTY 2014!

And THAT is how you do it, Portland! Photos swiped from various sources but mostly A.K. Wilson, Jaykenta Redwood and Jason Charles. Thanks to ALL the bands for deliverin' the goods, everyone at East End for busting their asses so we could take the streets by force, the underager ragers circle pitting outside the gates, the thrashers, the stagedivers, everyone who helped spread the word and everyone who came up and said hello while I was playing records. Fuck off to the pretenders who said it couldn't be done. I'm scratchin' peace symbols on your tombstones. UNTIL WE ROCK!