Thursday, August 30, 2012

WORLD THEATRICAL PREMIERE OF WATAIN DOCUMENTARY: OPUS DIABOLI!


"Higher! Higher! Come on you sons of fire, daughters of the black moon, practitioners of arts most dire..."

In my eternal quest to impose unprofitable and thankless rituals upon a largely apathetic and whimpering world, I am pleased to announce the theatrical premiere of WATAIN's transcendent and beautiful self-portrait OPUS DIABOLI at Portland, Oregon's independently-owned CINEMA 21! Director Johan Bååth and the Watain horde cooperated to procure a high-resolution cinema quality version of their 90 minute documentary that will look and sound stunning on a 40' screen with surround sound speakers! OPUS DIABOLI features concert footage from Watain's thirteenth anniversary performance in Stockholm, Sweden- filmed shortly after the band won the 2011 Swedish Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock act- interspersed with interviews, historical footage, and a barrage of incendiary images that illuminate the many symbols and ideas connected to this controversial band's legacy. The movie will be screened only once at precisely midnight on the autumnal equinox so don't sit around updating your Facebook status or you'll miss it. Forever.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22, 2012
616 Northwest 21st Avenue 
 Portland, Oregon
Midnight



Sunday, August 26, 2012

Long Way Home


Lest we forget...
FREE BOBBY NOW!

Saturday, August 18, 2012

The Second Coming of...XINR!


All right, you sinners...SWING! If you read this blog with any regularity you should already know that I operate a modest little vinyl-only record label called Unseen Forces. Well, today I'm extremely pleased to announce the fifth release in our catalog...and what a fuckin' release it is!  XINR (pronounced "ex-sinner") was a very unique heavy metal band hailing from Portland, Oregon circa 1984.  The band's history is an epic tale full of tragedy and triumph, regret and reconciliation and the final chapter is as yet unwritten.  All you need to know for today's purposes is that this LP is a true headbangin' classic!  I realize a lot of message board lurkers toss around adjectives like "long lost", "obscure", "classic" and "cult" but I expect YOU to recognize the real deal when you hear it, brothers and sisters. Prepare to be beaten into submission by the absolutely unforgettable power of soon-to-be-favorites like Fight the Dragon, The Hills Have Eyes, The Ghostly Galleon, Fall to the Prey and Ever Present Angel! Shameless self-promotion? You bet your ass. Buy it now!

 

Here's me and drummer Paul Dreyer proudly displaying his original 'Trust Xinr' silkscreen and one of the few remaining shirts printed from that screen in 1985! It's humbling to have had some small role in exalting this  powerful music to vinyl.

 

The band sees their record for the first time!


Roger DeCarlo, me and Paul Dreyer hug it out.



I like to think that if vocalist Tony Saiz was still with us he would be feeling like this right about now. Depending on who you ask, he just might be smiling over the proceedings from the misty hereafter.  In any case, come out to the official record release party on Saturday September 15th at Portland's East End and meet surviving members Roger DeCarlo, Paul Dreyer and Kenny Stocks. The guys will talk about the band's history and the roots of heavy metal in Portland before we blast through the entire record. Afterwards DANAVA will rip a goddamn strip in honor of XINR!


Bangers take your stand!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

The Importance of Being THE DEADLY SPAWN!


"The worst sin for an exploitation film is for it to be boring.  It can insult our intelligence, batter our senses, and fail to make any sense; but it can never be boring." - Chas. Balun

Let's dispense with plot right off the bat.  A meteorite that is more like a space-placenta lands in a bucolic New Jersey suburb, hatches awesome looking extraterrestrial tadpoles that grow extremely fast and soon get busy devouring life.  Thirteen year old Charles is the quintessential monster movie fan who, like Corey Feldman in Friday the 13th: The Final (ha!) Chapter,  quickly assesses the situation and uses his wits and otherwise totally useless movie trivia to make a stand against the gnashing teeth of doom and save humanity from total oblivion.  Not exactly the stuff of doctorate theses, and it shouldn't be.  The storyline and drizzling backdrops are merely a set-up for some really cool practical special effects and character development that is surprisingly understated and believable for a flick about...well...we've already dispensed with plot haven't we?  Let's make another thing perfectly clear: you will laugh out loud at the screen.  And not always when the creators intended.  The unstoppable "eating machine" from another galaxy sorta resembles a crossbreed between Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors and that thing on the cover of Autopsy's Mental Funeral and, let's face it, it's very amusing (that's still no excuse to shout at the screen like a fuckin' idiot...so don't!).  This is a low budget flick.  Like, a really low budget flick.  Like, an estimated total budget of $40,000 low budget flick (IMDB and Nightmare USA claim the estimated budget was $25,000 but back in 1986 splatter champion Chas. Balun claimed that the producers confided to him that the total budget was $40,000 and I'm sticking with Balun).  To put that in cinematic perspective,  John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) cost about $320,000. Friday the 13th part III which was released the same year cost an estimated $2,500,000 and C.H.U.D., another highly enjoyable monster flick that came along a few years later, had a budget of $1,250,000.  Which brings me around to the premise of today's rant.  Enjoy The Deadly Spawn for exactly what it is...an extremely satisfying labor of love created by some very creative dudes who loved monsters and horror flicks and pooled their resources to make a fiercely independent movie on their own goddamn terms despite the industry's daunting odds and political ass-kissery.  This is an outrageously fun testament to what can be accomplished when unwavering passion collides with ingenuity...on weekends only, of course, because the crew all had regular day jobs.  Consider this: director of special effects John Dods met producer Tim Hildebrandt at a sci-fi fan convention, not some bullshit Hollywood executive suite and you can bet your ass they were high-fivin' about how much Karo Syrup they'd need, not foreign distribution deals or "units" sold.  They didn't even have a complete working script when they began filming.  If you haven't already surmised, producer Tim Hildebrandt was he of the Brothers Hildebrandt, the immensely talented twins who carved a name for themselves back in the 80's with their fantastic artwork for Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, The Secret of Nimh, etc.  In fact, it was Tim Hildebrandt who painted the great original promotional poster for The Deadly Spawn which can be glimpsed around town this month in preparation of Grindhouse Theater's upcoming 35mm screening.  Hildebrandt not only lent his money and artistic abilities to the film, he also cast his son in the starring role (more accurately the co-starring role when you consider the awesome monsters) and provided his own home for the primary set location.  So while Poltergeist (1982) was dropping 10 million dollars on highfalutin spooks, director Douglas McKeown was sticking his arm up a glorified Muppet's ass and fightin' the good fight for artistic autonomy.  This was a regular family affair and it endures today as the essence of passion over fashion.  In other words, poverty is the true mother of invention.  Incidentally, speaking of Autopsy (and I often am), Wes Benscotter was commissioned to paint the special reissue artwork for The Deadly Spawn a few years ago and his rendition is very cool too.  Anyway, don't miss this! 

THE DEADLY SPAWN 
August 28, 2012 
7:30pm 
Portland, Oregon

Thursday, August 09, 2012

I AM THE SKULL


I'm playing records at this upcoming DANAVA gig at Portland's Plan B
 See you there!

Thursday, August 02, 2012

DAGGER MOON


Did you pick up the new Dead Moon 7" yet?

 What the hell are you waiting for?