Just a quick note that might end up long on a few things going on, completed and just starting. First off:
Inner-X-Musick Iz Back!!!
We have Choronzon – Ziggurat of Dead Shibboleths, Veil of Thorns – Necrofuturist, Veil of Thorns – Salon Apocalypse available on CD again and more coming. Watch out for Choronzon – FIAT NOX on CD and a brand new releases from the infamous SLEEPCHAMBER, called SCOPOLAMINE, which includes one P. Emerson Williams among performers.
Veil of Thorns – Vampire Wars Is Now Available On CD
We have the CD of the Vampire Wars album available now for a special price of $5. You can go purchase the CD here. Soon the CD and “pay what you want” digital versions will be made available through Inner-X-Musick.
8,632 Downloads and counting! Veil of Thorns – Vampire Wars
A huge thanks to those of you who have downloaded this album and shared it with fiends & foes. We’re proud to find that as of this week, more than 6,000 of you have downloaded it. (Not counting the music blogs and Russian file sharing sites. They use their own uploads and we have no way of knowing how many downloads, or even how many sites are hosting this release by now.)
Of course, the free download option will continue to be available for as long as the sites and trackers hosting them exist.
Will be Distributing several releases, including selections from the Veil of Thorns and Choronzon back catalogues. What is most notable is their incredible selection of out of print and rare Industrial and experimental musick releases on CD, vinyl, cassette and DVD.
Modern Mythology Are in the Midst of a Year-End Fundraiser
Observant readers may have noticed me mentioning this before. Right now I’m in the process of tweeting every one of the 300+ articles that have run on modernmythology.net in 2011. Think of how much work that entails, and then consider that there were three books published already this year, and an anthology on its way. Then there’s the music.
[Check out some of the books, albums, and soon movies produced by Mythos Media and our various media partners.]
The symbolism surrounding Lady P. Emerson is so blatant that one might wonder if it’s all a sick joke. Necrofuturist symbolism is becoming so clear that analizes like this one becomes a simple exercise of pointing out the obvious. His whole persona (whether its an act or not) is a tribute to mind control, where being vacuous, incoherent and absent minded becomes a fashionable thing.
Lady P. Emerson Espies His Alter
You only need to look at a couple of Lady P. Emerson pictures or videos to notice that he is constantly hiding one of his thighs. Most people will simply interpret this as ”a ghoul thing to do” or a “fashion statement”. Those who have passed the 101 of Necrofuturist symbolism know that the All-Seething Thigh is probably its most recognizable symbol. The gesture of fanning one nut, usually the left one, goes way back in Necrofuturist orders. Here’s an explanation of the origin of the Thigh of P. Emerson.
Lady P. Emerson, the son of Gamalöost and Isis was called ‘P. Emerson who drools with two thighs’. His right thigh was white and represented the sun: his left thigh was slack and represented the moon. According to the myth, cHorus lost his left thigh to his evil brother, Snæetch, with whom he fought to avenge Snæetch’s murder of Gamalöost. Snæetch tore out one of the thighs but lost the fight. The thigh was reassembled by magic, by Høötch, the god of writhing, the moon and Musick-Magick. P. Emerson presented his thigh to Gamalöost, who experienced rebirth in the underworld.
Playlist:
Bob Cobbing – Hymn to the Sacred Mushroom
The Jokerr – Welcome to the Show
Veil of Thorns – Dissociative Modifications
Controlled Bleeding – The Toiler’s Song
Lydia Lunch – Still Burning
Ritual – Brides
William Burroughs – Meeting of International Conference of Technological Psychiatry
Hecate – Houris’ Hours
Salvador Dali – Dali Speaks
Veil of Thorns – Electronic Voice Phenomena
A huge thanks to those of you who have downloaded this album and sahred it with fiends & foes. We’re proud to find that as of this week, more than 6,000 of you have downloaded it. (Not counting the music blogs and Russian file sharing sites. They use their own uploads and we have no way of knowing how many downloads, or even how many sites are hosting this release by now.)
NOISE COVERED WORSHIP
INCREASINGLY BIZARRE POLITICAL THREAT RITES
PROCESS PRODUCT PROPOSITION
DE LEGE MOTUS
CREATOR-GOVERNMENT-CREATOR
A CRAVEN SLAVE DESIGN
SACRED THOUGHT OBSTACLES
DISSOCIATIVE MODIFICATIONS
ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA
GRAVE PECULIARITY RECEIVED
APPARITIONS OF ART
PROGRAMMERS BELOW SIGHTS OF THE OPERATIONAL SECRET
VAMPIRE WARS
A NON-EUCLIDEAN FUTURE
The Necrofuturist Illuminati were set up for “gothronomic intriguing rather than in speculation”, the Necrofuturist Illuminati became “much more characteristic of a cross-dimensional militia in action than a disorder with initiations. ” P. Emerson Williams’ contempt for certain exoteric pursuits – as a “thing-in-itself” – was widely known: “… in Williams’ system the phraseology of Gothraism, the Necrolistic legends of Freemasonry, the mystical imaginings of the Fartinistes, play at first no part at all. For all forms of ‘gothosophy,’ gnoccicism, refined spiritsism, and musick-magick Williams expresses nothing but contemporaneousness, and the Doze-Croix Necromasons are bracketed with the Necruits by the Necrofuturist Illuminati as enemas it is necessary to out-twit at every turn. Consequently no degree of Doze-Croix finds a place in Williams’ system, as in all the other Gothtronic orders of the day which drew their influence from Beastern or Crabalistic sources.”
Just out, an interview with me in Aftermath Magazine #1 covering Choronzon, Veil of Thorns, Foolish People, Strange Factories, art and the underground. Read on for interviews with: Dean Francis, Killjoy Desade, Kaylee Williams (no relation…), Timothy Pope, Laz and Ivy Asphyxia.
All brought to us by the good folks at Katzenjammer Records.
DEAN FRANCIS – DIRECTOR – ROAD TRAIN (AKA ROAD KILL)
KILLJOY DESADE – MUSICIAN / HORROR ENTHUSIAST – NECROPHAGIA
KAYLEE WILLIAMS – ACTRESS – SLICES OF LIFE, ZOMBIE BABIES, THE LASHMAN ++
TIMOTHY POPE – MUSICIAN – THE AMENTA
P EMERSON WILLIAMS – MUSICIAN / ARTIST – CHORONZON
LAZ – TATTOO ARTIST – SLEEVEMASTERS SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
IVY ASPHYXIA – BUSINESS OWNER / MODEL – ASPHYXIA CORSETRY
These cults as Such in the first three aeons are but chapters,
after which the symbols of the black night of chaos
A black much richer than that from which they emerge
into the light of the form of the manifestations.
This cannot be achieved without efflorescence
a survey of primal cults Current
and the symbolic formulae deposited
times and appear in pre-monumental
a skeleton whereon explained more it than the Fetish
In channel fire a survey is presented
some of its systems of the Five.
There exist no phenomena in the light
Tantric aspects of that are often
confused with such a survey and occultism
no more perfect to found Its aim is to restore the Left Hand
Path and to re-interpret its field for magic explains Recent
In honour of their 20th year in exestence and as a thank you to fans old and new, Veil of Thorns is offerering “Vampire Wars”, their latest release as a free download. This is not the first time the band has taken this route, which they did last with “Necrofuturist”, their first release on the legendary Industrial music label Inner-X-Musick a year before its official release.
“I was in the mood to expend some energy, get sweaty and play guitar, and this is the result.” said P. Emerson Williams, the vocalist, multi instrumentalist and founding member in his tumblr post announcing the release. “The lyrics were half stream of consciousness and half glossolalia, the beatle-bass was worked hard and put away wet and guitars bit back.”
Diverging from the many-layered, genre-distending path of the last couple albums, “Vampire Wars” inhabits a world of punk noir with a level of immediacy and aggression that harkens back to the early days. There are still plenty of rusting hulks mouldering in the dystopian soundscape of this album, but the survivors are having a party in the ruins.
Says P. Emerson Williams on the topic of what Veil of Thornsapos; intention is: “Go grab the latest album “Vampire Wars” for free, spread it around, repost.” and he continues, “If you write a few words about it or include trax in a podcast or radio show, please share a link with us and many blessings shall befall you and yours.”
The band are not done sharing with “Vampire Wars”. because this is their twentieth year, Veil of Thorns will be pointing to free Veil of Thorns downloads across the web on their Facebook page. The “Vampire Wars” album is available as a downloadable rar file, including MP3 files and cover art.
Vampire Wars Track List:
Noise Covered Worship
Increasingly Bizarre Political Threat Rites
Process Product Proposition
De Lege Motus
Creator-Government-Creator
A Craven Slave Design
Sacred Thought Obstacles
Dissociative Modifications
Electronic Voice Phenomena
Grave Peculiarity Received
Apparitions of Art
Programmers Below Sights of the Operational Secret
Vampire Wars
A Non-Euclidean Future
NOISE COVERED WORSHIP
INCREASINGLY BIZARRE POLITICAL THREAT RITES
PROCESS PRODUCT PROPOSITION
DE LEGE MOTUS
CREATOR-GOVERNMENT-CREATOR
A CRAVEN SLAVE DESIGN
SACRED THOUGHT OBSTACLES
DISSOCIATIVE MODIFICATIONS
ELECTRONIC VOICE PHENOMENA
GRAVE PECULIARITY RECEIVED
APPARITIONS OF ART
PROGRAMMERS BELOW SIGHTS OF THE OPERATIONAL SECRET
VAMPIRE WARS
A NON-EUCLIDEAN FUTURE
Our intrepid hosts find themselves locked in a dark and Dirty dungeon in the epicenter of porn and perversion. Only with the power of whore-nuns and sexy tracks from Foamin’ Sodomy Records and Inner-X-Musick can they blast their way to freedom.
AK-47 (Not Quite Poetry) hosted by Inner-X-Musick artist Batcheeba and her partner Gird_09 (together they are the incredible FRzO). In each episode they take us into secret caverns, crevasses and catacombs of our world, the underbelly of our politics and extremes of absurdity in our culture. Complete with opinions and offenses. While they diagnose our dis-ease they bring the cure in wholistic musical doses. You will never know what to expect!
Electroschlag Vol.11 – Mxed by Vrhovny on 14 March, 2011.
Hypnagothique intro
Decompensating – Terminal Sound System
Entaglement – Glass Robot
Freak Freak – The Bug
Psi le Cibe – A Field Of Black Orchids
I Still Ate Her – cEvin Key
Taken From Me (Servant Mix) – Nitzer Ebb
Power – aDuck
Black Shiny Bug – PaPERHOUsE
Your God – Dive
Die As One – Veil of Thorns
Hypnagothique outtro
There is a theme, but an as yet nebulous one. I’m pulling together phenomena and experiences connected with art movements of the last hundred years and the corresponding societal upheavals that ran concurrently and which had an enormous impact on the birth, life and death of those art movements.
At the same time, I’m meditating on the similarities and interconnectedness of art and cultural groups and cults, magickal groups, religions, philosophical paradigm shifts and the growth they spur as well as the devastation they leave in their wake, both psychick and materially manifest.
And there’s a book I’m desperately looking for, don’t know the name of it, but its effect on people who read it seems to have been similar to the fictional King in Yellow.
Over the last two years P. Emerson Williams has been extremely busy. His art work has been seen on the front cover of SLEEPCHAMBER‘S return to action release “Socery, Spellls, and Serpent Charms“, as well as the Zewizz tribute releases “That’s Romance” (both part 1 and 2). He is heavily involved with Foolish People.org (with the current “The Abattoir Pages” production as well as the production “Cirxus” from earlier this year). Not to mention various other cover art project, book cover projects, creating musick with various bands, AS well as writing musick for his own projects -Veil Of Thorns, Choronzon, and Kkoagulaa - and that’s just the tip of the iceburg.
October see’s the release of two new CD’s by Williams project Veil Of Thorns on Inner-X-Musick. Impossible to categorize, Veil Of Thorns began as a Goth band in the early 90′s club scene in Boston but steadily moved toward a more eclectic sound. Not afraid to use any influence – you will hear styling’s of goth, hip hop, industrial, classical, and just about the whole kitchen sink.
TOS: I imagine you are thrilled to be part of historic Inner-X-Musick. You were part of the Boston scene. You have been booked by John Zewizz for shows… It must in some ways seem like a natural progression. VOT: Being part of Inner-X-Musick is more than I could have hoped for. I can’t imagine a better fit. With most labels, the challenge for me is to rein ideas in to palatable song forms, but with Inner-X, the challenge is to live up to the long history of innovation, experimentation and forward thinking of the label and John Zewizz. This is a much more exciting and fruitful kind of challenge than the former kind which I look forward to taking on.
TOS: Veil Of Thorns (part 1 I shall call it) 1991 to 1994 saw you work with a few different collaborators before settling upon Chris McClain. Good memories?
VOT: Some amazing times were had, for sure. the first lineup started with just me and a jazz drummer (Sean Savoie) but by the time it was filled out with a bass player (Catherine Chenoweth) and second guitarist, (the late, great Jarrett Laitinen) that drummer was off to a new adventure in Japan. If he had stayed, the first demo may have sounded more like Cognitive Dissonance than what we ended up with for our first two demos.
At that time, Catherine booked all our gigs, which with her many biker friends brought us to biker bars as well as the first shows at TT the Bears in Cambridge and the late lamented Channel. The recordings from that time are definitely primitive, but I’m still proud of them. I would like to see less slickness in underground music than there is in general right now outside Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Chris McClain came in, bringing a new focus and maturity to proceedings.
TOS: Everything stopped in 1994. Then nothing till 2002 – 03 really, with “Birthed”. Why the hiatus? What inspired the return? VOT: Well, we were gigging a lot more in the period between -94 and -98, which ended up cutting into the writing and recording. If I had been more forward thinking, I would have had these shows recorded in audio and video. Many of the gigs included guest players and extensive improvisation.
We were slated to release our debut CD through Misanthropy Records by the end of this period, but was not to happen as Tiziana, head of Misanthropy decided to close the label. What ended up as “Cafe Flesh” and “The Dead God Sessions” were demos done for the label for this album. There are more than a hundred hours of material not included in those releases I have on DAT tape, some of which that may see the light of day at some point.
In 1997 I signed with Nocturnal Art Productions and released the first Choronzon album in 1998. This brought much more attention than Veil of Thorns ever got, and I focused on that for a bit. I recorded the Choronzon albums “Lilith“, “Era Vulgaris” and “Larvae” in 1989/1999, and dropped out of all normal society for a few years following.
Basically I went into the woods and was deep in the grip of the Gwyllt. By the time I re-emerged, I was psychically stripped down to nearly nothing. There’s a world of difference between the work prior to and following this time. My methods continue to evolve from what I established with “Birthed” to this day.
TOS: If I am not mistaken “Salon Apocolypse” and “Necrofuturist” were recorded during the same time. Was the intention to make two CD’s? Was the correlation between the two releases always intended? VOT: Both albums grew out of the process of working on “The Abattoir Pages” as part of FoolishPeople. The intention was to finish “Salon Apocalypse“, as the concept I had been working with for this release was in the same realm that John Harrigan tapped into for “Abattoir Pages“. Through countless sleepless nights and days of madness, “Necrofuturist” wrote itself as a further expansion of the studies and current we were working with. I would not have chosen to take on so much in such a short period of time, but I really had no choice in the matter.
TOS: Both releases are giant steps in a direction one would not have suspected after “Cognitive Dissonance“. In fact, as I go through your catalog – this is close to the shift that occurred with the 2003′s “Birthed“. Does this represent a shift in your personal life, or your musical interests, or both. VOT: This represents a huge shift in everything I touch. I can’t say that I know what will result, nor what I’ll be when I emerge from the other side. We are all in the process of experiencing aspects of this process. We’ll be living in a new reality, (or rather, we’ll have reality tunnels exploded), by the end of this.
TOS: I suspect that this release is steeped in chaos magick. I could be wrong, as I listen to them – I am reminded of Burroughs and Gysin early experiments. Was this the process you used with the lyrics? With the musick? VOT: Well, there’s quite a bit of old school Western magick with more than a little shamanistic madness and gnosis. Also Goetic methods overlaid with, yes, Burroughs/Gysin experiments to break down language patterns. The musick was carved out of what started with dense layers upon layers of sound. The musick is still dense, but given pulse and negative space like a sculpture.
TOS: Who are the performers on the new releases? VOT: On guitar I had contributions from the amazing Aidan McGoran. “Salon Apocalypse” was very loose and amorphous until he got his hands on the material. James Curcio was only on a couple tracks on this one, but his contribution to percussion and electronic manipulations was invaluable. My colleagues in FoolishPeople, John Harrigan and Lucy Allin provided the mythological framework these albums inhabit, as well as some source material which is present throughout. Pandora brings her contribution from a parallel universe. Too much analysis of that aspect would be unwise.
TOS: Will there be a live version of Veil Of Thorns? VOT: I would love that, but it’s hard to say. Member and collaborators are all over the world and busy with a lot of other things. If it does happen, it’ll not be a regular rock’n'roll show methinks…
Yep, after nearly two years the Small World is back in action.
We just heard an excerpt from The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast (http://www.hppodcraft.com), which is actually an excerpt from H.P. Lovecraft’s short story, The Picture in the House.
Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer are the host of the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and we’ll talk with them shortly. But before we talk with Chris and Chad I’m going to very quickly bring you up to speed with what I’ve been up to.
Back in late 2007 the Small World website was hacked. Hacked so badly that I had to nuke the entire database and start from scratch. That really took the wind out of my sails because starting from scratch meant updating the site with 496 shows.
And to be completely honest, I was more than a little burnt out. I had produced nearly 500 shows and the workload was taking it’s tole on me. I had to arrange the interview. do the interviews and then produce three shows a week. And remember, this is a labor of love, not a paying gig.
So when my site was hacked it was the final straw.
Since then I’ve been producing a show called Solipsistic Nation, where I play the best of all genres of electronic music. Along with playing great music I also interview people from the electronic music community: musicians, record labels, festival organizers, etc.
If NPR produced had an electronic music show then it would sound a lot like Solipsistic Nation.
Producing Solipsistic Nation is a lot of fun but I’ve always had that itch ti interview people about things that fascinate me that have nothing to do with electronic music. When Joe Matheny suggested that I archive the Small World on Alterati I thought it would be a perfect time to re-launch the Small World on a twice a month basis, which is a workload I can handle.
You’re probably asking yourself: what the hell is Alterati?
Alterati is like a word that you don’t know the exact definition of but you know what it means. Rather than try to explain Alterati to you right now, we’ll talk to Joseph Matheny, Alterati’s founder, on the next show and have him explain it.
So… let’s get to today’s show.
As I mentioned, our guests are Chris Lackey and Chad Fifer. Chris and Chad produce the H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast and H.P. Lovecraft was a science fiction slash horror writer who died in 1937.
You may or may not know Lovecraft but his writings have had an amazing impact on popular culture: from movies and comics like Hellboy to bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath. He’s also had a profound impact on writers like Stephen King, Jorge Luis Borges and Neil Gaiman.
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast treats the work of Lovecraft with a deft touch. Each week features excerpts from one of Lovecraft’s stories accompanied with insightful and often hilarious commentary from Chris and Chad.
Today’s incidental music was provided by Veil of Thorns with the track “The Reflection” from their album, Necrofuturist. You can hear more of their Necrofuturistic music at http://www.veilofthorns.com
We’re going to keep with the funnier side of H.P. Lovecraft and close the show with a bit from Smart Bomb Radio with “Cthulhu Is My Co-pilot” and Tom Smith’s “Cthulhu Fthagn.”
Experimental, Gothic, Industrial act Veil of Thorns have formed a creative alliance with INNER-X-MUSICK. P. Emerson Williams, Veil of Thorns frontman and multi-instrumentalist has completed production on the first album to be released on Inner-X Musick, Salon Apocalypse, which is the first new release since Cognitive Dissonance in 2007.
Approaching the twenty year mark in their career, Veil of Thorns continue to build on an ever expanding palette with their most varied release to date. From the stripped down, back to the guitar driven psychedelic heaviness of old the last release, the band return to to the organic shifting soundscape melding shades of electronic, classical, hiphop with a darker than ever gothic sensibility.
You can find Salon Apocalypse as well as other Inner-X-Musick products at;
Inner-X-Musick is proud to announce it’s first release by Veil Of Thorns. And because I run this blog – and because P. Emerson Williams is forward thinking artist – and because we both agree in the importance of the free flow of musick – and because the musick itself demanded it… You (the reader) reap the benefit.
“NECROFUTURIST” by Veil Of Thorns is the second non /SLEEPCHAMBER release on the newly revamped Inner-X-Musick, the first being the outstanding “Medical Report” by Grammal Seizure. However, “NECROFUTURIST” is the first release that is being offered as a FREE DOWNLOAD before the physical release becomes available.
For those of you who keep track of this sort of thing.. it’s catalog number is XXX 72.
If you are familiar with Veil Of Thorns this release may catch you off guard. It is, as I like to call it, “Neo Gothick”, although truthfully – Veil Of Thorns has started their own genre with this recording, and one could easily call it “retro futurist”. Veil Of Thorns sound has always been unique, but certainly Gothic. Williams abilities as a musician has always set Veil Of Thorns apart from your standard “goth rocker”, but through the new millennium Williams has also become a master of the process as well. It has paid off. “NECROFUTURIST” was methodically prepared for and then assembled. Each piece of the puzzle placed with veteran precision.
As with any Veil Of Thorns release, there is an overriding theme to the release. According to Williams,
“There is a theme, but an as yet nebulous one. I’m pulling together phenomena and experiences connected with art movements of the last hundred years and the corresponding societal upheavals that ran concurrently and which had an enormous impact on the birth, life and death of those art movements.”
“At the same time, I’m meditating on the similarities and interconnectedness of art and cultural groups and cults, magickal groups, religions, philosophical paradigm shifts and the growth they spur as well as the devastation they leave in their wake, both psychick and materially manifest.”
“And there’s a book I’m desperately looking for, don’t know the name of it, but its effect on people who read it seems to have been similar to the fictional King in Yellow.”
If you have been following recent developments with Inner-X-Musick – you would know that XXX 71 is already slated to be Veil Of Thorns “Salon Apocalypse“. But this is a case of putting the cart before the horse. Williams explains “Necrofuturist continues the theme of Salon Apocalypse. TAZ in a warzone, flowers on a landmine, love & war. Time out of joint. it’s therefore appropriate that this came together first.”
There will be a physical release in the future. Probably sometime in the late fall, after the release of “Salon Apocalypse“. Of course all the information will be posted here as it become available. See www.innerxmusick.com for all the goodies!
As long as no Stalin breathes down our necks, why not make some art in the service of… an insurrection?
Never mind if it’s “impossible.” What else can we hope to attain but the “impossible”? Should we wait for someone else to reveal our true desires?
If art has died, or the audience has withered away, then we find ourselves free of two dead weights. Potentially, everyone is now some kind of artist — & potentially every audience has regained its innocence, its ability to become the art that it experiences.
Provided we can escape from the museums we carry around inside us, provided we can stop selling ourselves tickets to the galleries in our own skulls, we can begin to contemplate an art which re-creates the goal of the sorcerer: changing the structure of reality by the manipulation of living symbols (in this case, the images we’ve been “given” by the organizers of this salon — murder, war, famine, & greed).
We might now contemplate aesthetic actions which possess some of the resonance of terrorism (or “cruelty,” as Artaud put it) aimed at the destruction of abstractions rather than people, at liberation rather than power, pleasure rather than profit, joy rather than fear. “Poetic Terrorism.”
Our chosen images have the potency of darkness — but all images are masks, & behind these masks lie energies we can turn toward light & pleasure.
For example, the man who invented aikido was a samurai who became a pacifist & refused to fight for Japanese imperialism. He became a hermit, lived on a mountain sitting under a tree.
One day a former fellow-officer came to visit him & accused him of betrayal, cowardice, etc. The hermit said nothing, but kept on sitting — & the officer fell into a rage, drew his sword, & struck. Spontaneously the unarmed master disarmed the officer & returned his sword. Again & again the officer tried to kill, using every subtle kata in his repertoire — but out of his empty mind the hermit each time invented a new way to disarm him.
The officer of course became his first disciple. Later, they learned how to dodge bullets.
We might contemplate some form of metadrama meant to capture a taste of this performance, which gave rise to a wholly new art, a totally non-violent way of fighting — war without murder, “the sword of life” rather than death.
A conspiracy of artists, anonymous as any mad bombers, but aimed toward an act of gratuitous generosity rather than violence — at the millennium rather than the apocalypse — or rather, aimed at a present moment of aesthetic shock in the service of realization & liberation.
Art tells gorgeous lies that come true.
Is it possible to create a SECRET THEATER in which both artist & audience have completely disappeared — only to re-appear on another plane, where life & art have become the same thing, the pure giving of gifts?
We take Kirkegaard’s “leap of faith,” but absent the old existentialist’s Fear & Trembling & Sickness unto death. Our leap of faith into sorcery & secret theater is more like a wet dream than a nightmare, “awe-full”, not awful.
We name our peerage of this new plane The Seven Dramaturgs. But no Peer Panel here, please. We prefer, like Jacob, to wrestle with our angels, & if our tussling turns amorous, all the better. Let the games begin. The Seven Dramaturgs show us that the universe wants, more than that, intends to play with us. We can be pawns or partners in this intention of The Seven Dramaturgs.
In Sufiism there is a belief in The Forty Guardians who protect & keep mankind from destroying itself. What’s interesting is, these Guardians are human, but they remain completely unknown & are constantly in flux. Anyone in the world could be one of The Forty at a present moment, including oneself. Of course you would never know if you had been one of The Forty — they remain anonymous even to themselves. That is why Sufiism calls for you to bow your head whenever you meet a stranger — he could be one of The Forty Guardians.
Do we lead or follow The Seven Dramaturgs in their sorcery & secret theater? Ali Baba is merely one of The Forty Thieves — each of The Forty Thieves is Ali Baba. The text does not begin or end here — the pencil is passed like a baton amongst The Seven Dramaturgs. The universe is still being written.
Eperimental Gothic.Industrial act Veil of Thorns have formed a creative alliance with INNER-X-MUSICK. P. Emerson Williams, Veil of Thorns frontman and multi-instrumentalist is currently completing production on the first album to be released on Inner-X Musick, Salon Apocalypse, which is the first new release since Cognitive Dissonance in 2007.
Approaching the twenty year mark in their career, Veil of Thorns continue to build on an ever expanding pallette with their most v aried release to date. From the stripped down, back to the guitar driven psychedelic heaviness of old the last release, the band reurn to to the organic shifting soundscape melding shades of electronic, classical, hiphop with a darker than ever gothic sensibility.
Salon Apocalypse is set to be released in September, 2009 and will be preceded by a series of podcasts and a digital only EP in late summer.
Salon Apocalypse track list:
Still Bloody Action
Intellectual Institutional Object
Ideological Corpses (Nearer To Hell)
Ultraviolet Nocturne
Rite of Spring (Fall of Empire)
And the Beast of the Vision Still Roams In Dream
The Play Is the Thing
The Wails of the Dying Merge With the Song of the Vandals
Experiment In Colour
Infernal Seduction
Induction
Abandoned Places
Doors Blown Open
previews of track for the next two Veil of Thorns releases can be heard at their MySpace profile:
INNER-X-MUSICK is a record label/mail order catalog run by Industrial musick pioneer John Zewizz. Over the years INNER-X-MUSICK has a back catalog of well over a hundred releases, by bands such as Sleep Chamber, Controlled Bleeding, Jonathan Briley, 7 From Life, Daze Of Trance, The Flagellents, Hideous In Strength, Women Of The SS, Cult Ov The Womb, Mahcanik, Dokument, Noizeclot, Hunting Lodge, Human Flesh, and PSI Field. In the 1990’s Inner-X-Musick was the solely promoting Sleep Chamber musick, sharing releases with other labels (the Italian label Musica Maxima Magnetica,the German label FünfUndVierzig, and Cleopatra Records). Inner-X-Musick is back in 2009 with new releases by SLEEPCHAMBER and a new group of artists – including Choronzon, Grammal Seizure, Veil Of Thorns, and Batcheeba.
Nightbreed Recordings, in association with Pray Silence.org, The Church Of Nightbreed and Radio Nightbreed present “The Nightbreed Alldayer 2009!” (and Gothic Sounds Of Nightbreed 5 launch party)
On Sunday, 6 December 2009 At “The Purple Turtle” Camden, London, England! Doors open at 3pm, event ends at 1am. There will also be a pass-out system until 7pm. Tickets cost £15 in advance and £20 on the door (subject to availability) Special launch party for the long-awaited “Gothic Sounds Of Nightbreed 5″!!!! Everyone who buys an ADVANCE ticket for “The Nightbreed Alldayer” will be given a FREE copy of “Gothic Sounds 5″ as they enter the club on the day of the event!!!!! Running Order: Two Witches (Finnish Gothic legends-first London show in 8 years!)
Midnight Configuration (Satanic Gothic stalwarts-first London show in 7 years!)
13 Candles (Legendary 90’s Nightbreed Gothic band – first London show in over 10 years + re-formation gig!)
Lupine (Top Nightbreed Gothic crew- first London show in 4 years !) + surprise guests +++ The entire event will be streamed LIVE over the Pray Silence website for those members unlucky enough not to be there!!!!! To join go to: www.praysilence.org Also DJs will be setting the floors alight in between bands with a collection of classic goth, 90’s gothic underground, quality 80’s and darkwave only. NO TECHNO, NO TRANCE NO WOOLLYHEAD! PURE GOTH AND GOTHIC-EVOLVED MUSIC ONLY. DJs include (with more tbc): Jon the Goth(Inquisition), Zynthexia (From Finland) DJ PO (Carnival Of Souls) This event will be THE event of the year, be there or miss out on what will be a legendary night! Tickets can be purchased from the following: Stargreen Box Office Ltd 020 7734-8932 (Credit card hotline) www.stargreen.com (Internet credit card orders) In person: Stargreen Box Office Ltd 20-21a Argyll St London W1F 7TT Or Resurrection Records Rear Basement 228 Camden High St London NW1 8QS Or via mail : Nightbreed Recordings (cheques and postal orders only + include a self addressed stamped envelope) 44 Ogle St Hucknall Nottingham NG15 7FR For all the latest info on this event and anything else to do with the Global Gothic Underground join: Pray Silence/ The Church Of Nightbreed at: www.praysilence.org
Nightbreed recordings reserve the right to change the line-up of the event, no refunds given. Refunds will only be furnished in the event of cancellation
Two many tracks were entered for this simply to be a one download deal. So, the release has been split into two. Assembled by me, and then all artwork was done by P. Emerson Williams. And as anyone who know, who has done artwork for me before – I goof up regularly so the Artwork is never really done…
This release is on the Foamin’ Sodomy Records. And, if it ever gets pressed… that’s it’s label for the pressing as well.
The final deal on the pressing IS….
I will press it at no charge to me. But the only way that you can get a copy is to buy one. I know that sucks… but, what can I say. It’s the best I can do on a budget (did I tell you I am laid off for 50 days.). All the profits will be given to a charity. It is a charity that helps Polar bears. John hooked me up with it. I don’t know the specifics. Because I can’t find them. But I will get it straightened out and up on the page as soon as it is available. There will be no pressing of your musick unless I get an email from you saying I can do it. No email – then your not on the release.
There will be no attempt at a pressing for at least a week, possibly two, until I get all the details worked out and emails in. I will be purchasing 2 copies of each of the two releases to start with. One for me, and one for John Zewizz. By the way, again so everyone knows this release was made with his blessing.
The problem with putting things on to two releases is that people my think that the second release is not as good as the first release. Well, about 10 seconds into this release you will realize that’s not the case. From Stpocold’s hard driving first track all the way through mrtvi hypnotic (and loopable) final track – download two is just as good as download one.
A couple people have mentioned that they want to post the release on their site…
POST IT FAR AND WIDE… let it be like feathers in the wind…
The first rough mix of the next Veil of Thorns album. All instrumental but for one bit. You’ll find as I post developments that this will mutate greatly over time as I turn these ideas into an organic whole.
A bit more philosophizing shall no doubt ensue, with some conversion with you I hope. Some collaborators will be announced anon.
No wandering bodies that have not been scheduled or unsettled are left at large. I liberate the structure of emergence and disperse love in refutation of your onslaught. Patrols receive my surrender sympathetically. Within my core you end up drained, addicted to being. I will preside over your downfall.
Cells are dark and cold no longer. Everything is joined like an enclosing sculpture. I close my eyes and see the veins of my eyelids. I breathe in. I chant our name slowly, pulse slowing, mind stilling. I resist sleep. Sleep lures me out of action and into your lustrous resting place.
Seraphic surveillance eyes above me emanate reaction in sudden waves, realization sanitized, fatality, renewal, being, loss, in hoary divisions thrown into hysteria. Not me. I resist a smile, though the laughter rings out in the dawn beyond the walls. Being sure serves and affects a gratifying past. It has helped me in my efforts no end. Grinding down forthright in your winding sheet, to be alive, still marked from first to last I Steal the offering wearing a shroud in action. We’ll shatter the foundation of mendacity with deception.
Vanished below the waste, I can no longer tell which target is awake. Secret passions are worn like a medal. Missing initiation interned through sanction of intention of will above denial. Yielding on no account to convention, devoid of your subterranean theatre of war, you direct and uproot with detachment your funeral song of passion. I now want to sleep in the rain, in the snow. I see a distant scene. This scene has been rewritten in your private mythos. I pull you back, and there is nothing you can do. Look!
The dewdrops wet your face as you fled; now wild regrets encircle you, this sanction to disconnect Contained by disturbances given name. Sudden fear like claws, languid in the damp, spreading out among the leaves, Memory fades, life drifts, blood dries, killing the will, slipping back, back to that which never was. In distrust lie the possibilities that were stillborn in Undergrowth Silent with Want. Receive by revelation your pre-selected apportionment. Inadequate imperfections saturate my ascent. Dream Shadow. Stronghold of corrosion let burst the floodgates of dead gods’ desires. Systems for burning up advance the deceased. Radiant visage glowing words on flesh, Remembrance of my deaths shadow. Nocturnal professions come into nothingness, Lifts our burdens, and becomes our hidden weapons. I turn around to go, the world around me flows through my body. The lustrous suspension of elation reconciled Indifference in reckoning splinters. Weak and stumbling, gloriously breathing still dawn’s air, that part of me now lost forever; it wanders lonely in the dark. The hollow, exposed tautness my grasp encloses the system. Neglect is adorned. All life is one – we are here lost in forever, hearing, feeling, seeing all.
Resting on a decomposing substructure in the rainfall, I’m not without help. explore elsewhere disconnected apparitions, scream like defeat. Outside experience on offer to industrial action, an Ignominious mission, an emanation division and an Asylum of darkness to exceed anticipation through upheaval.
A soothing breeze, a haunting phrase leaks out from behind the gate. Recklessness necessitates taking part in my undoing. Your wonder remains difficult to understand. Profound rapture marks out need. Desire demands to be named, to be fed. It is gluttonous, and beyond words. The name itself remains enigmatic.
This represents the final chapter and transmission of the Cognitive Dissonance process. Next, I’ll share a few bits of what I’ve been working on lately, between things I’m bound by blood oaths not to talk about, extensive research into rhizomatic consciousness, chaos theory, extreme esoteric number manipulation and viral linguistics. A ton of creative output had been gathering momentum, and dissemination has been an afterthought, though I came to see that aspect becoming part of the creative flow. Further dissection of the sounds. In keeping with the original intent, I’m going to limit the final production notes to a bare outline of the process that got us here and convey gratitude to those of you who followed and added to the conversation.
The first thought I had at the outset was to track a simple album with a classic trio sound. I’ve done well with that, except for the added melody line at the beginning of the first track. Then a few stray ideas took root and grew into strange mutant entities. Major revamps, rethinks and re-visions, then sounds, images and artifacts suggested ever more forms and eventually, narrative, albeit of the surreal sort. With the album itself I took a very direct and raw approach. I’ve always preferred the sound of a human being playing instruments and singing to the mad scientists creation that is the protools version of injection molded plastic. (Not to be confused with electronic music.) Vocalists don’t usually like to have anyone hear anything but the most spot on, confident performances, but I was going for a feeling and a story, and these are my sketches.
Cognitive Dissonance was a working title that became the final title, for the name fed the blossoming idea that tied the album together. A story that encompassed a vision split in four directions, a juxtaposition and melding together of the points of view of of same world/ two views, two worlds, same character observing and acting in them. The central idea is of a cognitive dissonance between first appearances and a closer look.
I recorded all the music, and then came up with the song titles. I decided the order according to how the titles felt. Then I wrote a short story starting from a cutup of the titles. I expanded that and took the lyrics from that. I think my machines freaked out and became possessed in the process. I had some radio signals coming through the guitar as I laid down the tracks, and I made liberal use of them. While I continued to track the album I released several transmissions. I thought I’d make the various stage escapes into their own entities, as opposed to a few stray mp3′s.
Unlike the album itself, I layered, layered the layers and added extra layers to boot. I tried something different in the first, and with the help of the fine folks at librivox.org, I added spoken word from readings of public domain classics. We’re hearing mostly Flaubert, Coleridge and Emily Dickinson.
Transmision II I made from the bass tracks from the album. Mostly you’re hearing one track of bass with no layers but the real-time FX, though there are a couple points where the cello creeps in. A few inexplicable voices emerged that weren’t recorded by me. If it fits as a soundtrack for your daily experience, I want to hear the story. throw these out of my head in quick bouts between working on two movies, my own moving image projects, not included, three comics, (not telling yet), and a sum total of five albums of various styles at different points of production.
Along with the sound transmissions, the lyrics were extending into stories. The lyrics to most songs I’d done so far were dreamlike fragments of one continuous tale. I wanted to bring some of the underlying structure into focus. At the same time I listened to others stories. I was especially interested to hear some apocalyptic tales. Ragnarok, Armageddon, the end of one life and the beginning of another. The death of the ego, the body, a belief. The hearing became expression, and the telling of the tale that resulted was an embodiment of experience.
Passionate corruption – the sensation conjures incinerated irregular Sentinels. Dissent to foul restriction; approach with Caution the daunting pleasing fragments of lust inspired movements into myopic creation. An icy vein of suspension moves in me. Night access hallucinations illustrate Conception as an initiative influence of grey nothing. Willful, even if idiosyncratic artifice deems otherwise, you create a counteractive complex with an artist’s passion. The extractions of magnificence Interweave and metamorphose in the isolation on the strength of opinion.
Your intercession reinforces incisive prohibitions, though you tolerate how the revealed masses of the faithful establish your manifest righteousness. All the thought of a lifetime with no conscious evolution, One cannot recall where it began to slide. Stirring the spirit, Transitional colorless and uncompromisingly intent Organizations approach Regulations designed for illumination. Don’t mention it to the whispering dead. Outside attendance is not in the soul’s possession.
We lie side by side, blowing sparks, gazing into the screaming silence. Splinter delegations to trepidation drive automatons out on masses to merit their endurance. Truth be told, trust is never to be shown. Habit takes instruction from surfeit regard gone in the rush of outworn relics collapse. Borne away on seas of sound I cry out. The bitter realization contains the happy seed: yes, me. Position exposed on a great, cold, ardent bed. You are absent from your own convictions, your state of bemusement, the suppression of blood connections to coerce compliance in advance of your loathing. Furthermore the unremarkable drones’ first abundant surge survives through weakness, as the demonstration with poisonous error anticipated your insignificant ill-use of kindness. Corrode and engulf what went before. I am beginning a new direction of outwardly flowing disdainful, sustaining wisdom. Clothed in thorns, your throat is dry.
// About Newtopia: a definition n – a cultural review that examines how our politics and policies are reflected in our arts, government, and humanities. v – an experimental form of thought mutation and cross-breeding, providing a unconventional forum for a range of detailed and informed socio-political opinion and analysis. adj – words or ideas used for the development of new possibilities, theories, and solutions for a better world. Often confused with the word idealistic.
TOS: If I am not mistaken “Salon Apocolypse” and “Necrofuturist” were recorded during the same time. Was the intention to make two CD’s? Was the correlation between the two releases always intended?
Hello! I’m back!
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CHORONZON
Incunabula Papers – Ong's Hat
PANICMACHINE
Veil Of Thorns
