CROWGRRL’S PERCH 01-08-06

Special Spotlight Double Feature: Mortiis and Opeth

CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT: Mortiis!

* Mortiis has as many shining creative facets as the most sparkling black diamond. The current facet catching the bright moonlight is displayed on The Grudge, EBM/Darkwave with a heavier edge, dripping with anger. Listeners can’t help being moved by it both emotionally and physically (you can’t sit still while listening, trust me!)

Mortiis the current entity is now a band, fronted by Mortiis the man, handling vocals, synths, programming, sound design, and of course, songwriting. Joining him now are guitarists Levi Gawron and Asmund Sveinunggard and drummer Leo Troy.

Mortiis landed a coveted slot on Danzig’s Blackest of the Black tour, right before the release of the new Mortiis DVD, Soul In A Hole. And the Crowgrrl was lucky enough to catch up with Mortiis by phone while this stellar tour was underway – October 18^th to be precise.

Since The Crowgrrl had a chance to talk to Mortiis, even more changes are underway in the Mortiis camp. Changes in management and booking structures (although the official website doesn’t go into too much detail) have unfortunately forced the cancellation of the March/April tour of the UK and Europe. On the lighter side, he did a remix for a song, "Blitzkrieg (Driven On Mix)" on the new Deathstars album (Termination Bliss on Nuclear Blast).

Thank you! Yeah, it’s pretty good. I wish we could play longer, but you can’t have everything, but it’s good.

It’s fine! We get to play in front of a lot of people every night, and the response is more or less very good. I think there was only one show where the crowd was like, "Whatever".

Yeah, pretty much. We only get like 20 minutes every night. I was hoping for more, but they told us only 20 minutes. So we do mostly Grudge material. We do the B side from a single, Underdog; it works really well live. I guess nobody knows Underdog over here but it’s kind-of cool to play the song anyway. It’s such a good live song that we don’t really care.

It’s too early to say, but I would love to do that. If something comes up I’m not going to go and say, "Hey, I don’t want to do it." I want to do it! I hope to do it.

I know. But there was no label support. When we finally dropped our label, we got on the tour. How about that?! They’re fuckers.

Yeah, Soul In A Hole. Somehow they managed to delay it. That’s the last thing we’re doing on Earache Records. Over here it was supposed to be out on November 1; and I was told yesterday that they pushed it back to November 15. These guys fuck everything up. Over in Europe, it’s been out since late September, and as far as I know, it’s doing quite well.

It was filmed last year on that big tour that we did. The whole thing was a crock. It was a cluster fuck. Everybody that we hired fucked up big time. At the end, I just said, "You know what? Give everything to my friend Adam Mason (who directed the Decadent and Desperate video); I know he can do fine in my opinion. And he put the whole thing together within 10 days – what everybody else couldn’t do in 10 months. It came out really good in the end. It’s pretty much all that occurred. The band did a great job, but everyone around us fucked up big time. But in the end, it’s a great DVD.

That’s what it’s all about! Not about the label getting their fucking shit together; they never can. But I told them the DVD isn’t coming out unless they give it to this guy. They begrudgingly did it, and I think in hindsight we made the right call.

We’re in-between. We’re talking to some people, and we’re kind-of just out there.

I’m in no great rush to sign, really. My experience with Earache was horrible to say the least. So, I’m not going to sign the first thing that comes along. I’ve rejected like 1 or 2 deals already. I’m too old for the bullshit.

Well, not on the road, but I’ve got some stuff back home. That’s one of the things on the agenda when I get back – we’ll start looking at that and see what happens with it. I am thinking about a new album at this point. We’ll start soon.

Yeah. I’ve done several remixes for more bands. Technophobia was one of the bands I remixed. Have you heard it yet?

It’s pretty Out-There. I didn’t keep a lot from the original song. I kept a couple of the guitars and a few seconds of vocal stuff to make it sound a little weird. But it’s a great song, the remix. I’m really happy with it. It came out really danceable, I would say. If you’re into that kind of stuff, you’d just might like it.

It’s still hibernating. That’s really as far as that goes. I mean, I’ve been thinking about maybe – I’ve been saying this for like a year; I’ve been playing around with that thing, about getting one of a batch out, maybe do something. But I’m a lot more concerned with making a new Mortiis album, let’s put it that way.

Yeah. I figure some of our stuff is kind-of club-friendly. It’s not totally Techno or anything, but some of it could kind-of work in. I figure why not put it up there so they can download it, and get some more promotion that way.

Yeah, I think it’s working out really well. It’s not like we get 100 downloads a day from DJ’s. I’m usually on top of everything that happens on the site. Anything they do on the site, I’m usually aware of it. So, it’s working out.

Well, I haven’t done that yet. Sometimes our webmaster can be not that quick. It was his idea, and I said, "You know what? If you want to go for it, go for it!" He’d better fucking get a move on it. That’s pretty fucked up. I’ll kick his ass about that, actually.

We had the release party, but Earache never actually managed to show up with DVD’s for it. Can you believe that?!

That ended up being kind-of embarrassing. This happened in Europe, too. These guys are unbelievable! They’re fucking unbelievable!

Fucking yeah! The day I fucking left the label, I got on this tour.

Yeah! I can fucking do better myself!

Yeah! It’s fucking crazy!

I don’t know. Thanks for sticking around, I guess. It’s been a long time, and it seems like a lot of kids are still around. I’m very glad to see that! And I tell kids every day you won’t have to wait six years before we come back; that’s not going to happen. I’m hoping to get back here in 2006.

Well, you know, maybe another support or a bigger slot or whatever. I just want to get back here and do something.

Now for the second interview for the Spotlight Double Feature – Opeth!

* Sweden’s Opeth are back with the stellar cd, Ghost Reveries. Full of multi-textured suites that mark the unique and epic Opeth sound, Ghost Reveries is a dark, otherworldly journey. Highlights include the songs Grand Conjuration and The Baying Of The Hounds. (Full review coming soon). Fronted by vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt , Opeth also includes guitarist Peter Lindgren, drummer Martin Lopez, bassist Martin Mendez, and keyboardist Per Wiberg. The Crowgrrl caught up with Per on October 15, in the early part of last Fall’s tour. Since then, they’ve announced another U.S. tour starting in February (dates are on the band’s official site, www.opeth.com ), and a dark, demented video for the song Grand Conjuration. Be sure to catch them live when they come to your area, readers! You won’t be disappointed!

So, you’re officially a full member of Opeth now?

I guess so, yeah. I’ve been playing with the band for quite some time, since 2003. I’ve played on all the tours. Then they asked me if I would join the band as a member. I had been a session guy. It wasn’t like a big decision for any of us because I think they’ve grown used to me, and I’ve grown used to them as well. Besides, I knew them from before. It’s not like new people to me.

Yeah. I think it’s been well documented that this band never rehearsed before going in to record the album. But this time we really took the time out to rehearse and had 3 or 4 meetings before we went into the studio in the rehearsal room. I think this gives everybody in the band a little more input. You get used to the new songs and you come up with ideas, I guess. You just go along and try stuff out. I would say that it’s probably a little more collaborative that way.

I think Mikael started out to make a concept, but when he started to write……I think he’s the kind of guy who just starts writing then goes off. He has a lot of great inspirations that come along. It didn’t end up as a concept album; but maybe lyrically that ties a couple of the songs together. The general vibe of the lyrics also tie the songs together.

Thank you! Yeah, it’s very fun to play that song live as well. It seems to go down well, and we enjoy playing it as well.

We’ve only been doing Grand Conjuration and The Baying Of The Hounds. The songs are quite long. We want to play songs from each album as well. Even if we tried to play almost 2 hours every night, it’s only 9 songs or whatever. We definitely wouldn’t be able to trade songs from the other albums as well.

Yeah. The shows have been good, but it was a little rough getting the band outside because we had trouble with getting our visas for a couple of the stops where we had to be. We had been flying in and out, all over the place, but we couldn’t get into those places whatsoever.

But we’re in Seattle now and we’re going to fly to L.A. tomorrow, and then from there to Salt Lake City. Salt Lake City is a little bit unusual – we’ll spend the day goofing off. We don’t have to worry about wake up calls or anything. We can get some sleep.

Yes. Right now we have Fireball Ministry and a band called Pelican opening up for us. The tour is sort-of split in two for the support bands. Nevermore is going to come along in late October. There’s also going to be another support band called Into Eternity.

I hear you guys had a great time on the Sounds Of The Underground Tour?

Yeah, a lot better than we expected I would say.

Opeth was the only Black Metal or Experimental Band on there, weren’t you?

Yeah. I think for us the tour was more a case of getting together and playing live together again. It was the first show in more than a year for the band. We just thought it would be good to get to know each other musically again in a live situation.

But there were a couple bands on that tour we knew from before; they’re really nice guys to hang out with. I think we ended up getting along great with everybody on that tour. Everybody was really cool; everybody seemed to get along with everybody else. So, it was just a blast every day!

Yes, there’s going to be like a 5 week tour of Europe when we come back from this. Then we’re going to have January off; then we’re probably coming back over here again in February or March.

That’s not been confirmed, but I think we’re going over there in April.

Not really; not yet. There’s been some loose talk about doing another video, but there hasn’t been anything confirmed yet, and there hasn’t been really talk about which song, either. I wouldn’t be surprised if we did one, but it’s a little bit up in the air, at least for now.

I like Grand Conjuration. I like to play it live. It’s a good song to play live because of the dynamics. I think that a lot of people really like that song as well.

I like the album a lot! It usually changes from time to time or day to day what songs are your favorites. Being on tour, I think I would say Grand Conjuration is probably my favorite song right now.

No guest appearances on this one. Steven has co-produced the latest 3 albums. I know Mikael asked him to be on this one as well, but that wasn’t so because Steven was on the road with Porcupine Tree. We knew about that way before we were going into the studio, so I think everybody got used to the idea of doing this album without Steven anyway. But maybe next time; who knows?!

Yeah!

We’re a pretty diverse band. We listen to all sorts of things. But I guess when the band started out way before I was in the band, they started out with the Eighties Death Metal stuff and Old School Metal I think from the Seventies up. I think more or less what this what is representative of the band is everything goes, especially nowadays. There is a wide range of musical styles to choose from, everything from Green Day to Queen to country and folk stuff.

It’s fun being over here again in the ‘States. The last time, as fun as it was, we didn’t get to play long or have control over the show. It’s really cool to come back here with a new album and play a full show. That’s as fun as it gets, I think. That’s why we’re here. Thanks to all the people who come to the shows! It means a lot, really.

* There were tons of great albums released in 2005! What a great year for music! The difficult part was picking the 10 best; the 10 that find their way most frequently into the Crowgrrl’s cd player.

HONORABLE MENTIONS go to: NOX ARCANA’s "Winter’s Night", THE BRAVERY’s "The Bravery", AVENGED SEVENFOLD’s "City of Evil", LORD BELIAL’s "The Seal of Belial", BOYS NIGHT OUT’s "Trainwreck", NICODEMUS’s "Vanity Is A Virtue", TRISTANIA’s "Ashes", VNV NATION’s "Matter and Form", SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s "Mesmerize" and "Hypnotize", SLOUGH FEG’s "Atavism", GREEN DAY’s "American Idiot", SHADOW REICHENSTEIN’s "Werewolf Order", DEMONS & WIZARDS’ "Touched By The Crimson King", THE DREAMSIDE’s "Spin Moon Magic", KULT OV AZAZEL’s "The World, The Flesh, & The Devil", OPETH’s "Ghost Reveries", and "The Intercessor Soundtrack".

There were also a few released in 2004 that The Crowgrrl didn’t hear until 2005 and should’ve been somewhere on one of my lists, like Danzig’s "Circle of Snakes", Hecate Enthroned’s "Redimus", and Lucan Wolf’s "Vampire Nights".

* Now for the Crowgrrl’s picks of Best Movies – both big screen and DVD.

HONORABLE MENTION: Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, March of the Penguins, Fantastic Four, Hostage, Bewitched, The Intercessor, Murder At The Presidio, The Brothers Grimm, Bionicle 3, Web Of Shadows, Hellraiser: Hellbound.

Granted, The Crowgrrl didn’t get a chance to see ALL the movies that looked interesting in 2005 – like Elizabethtown (hey, it stars Orlando Bloom – gotta be good!) or King Kong or Cry Wolf or The Ring 2 or War of the Worlds or a few others. But hopefully that’ll be corrected when they appear on DVD in 2006, and might just make it onto that list. Maybe.

* The Crowgrrl and Family have our favorites for the Best on TV, both Broadcast and cable/satellite:

HONORABLE MENTION: Numb3rs, Headbanger’s Ball, Uranium, Metal Asylum, CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, Las Vegas, Inked, Dog the Bounty Hunter, Mythbusters, Monster House, Two and a Half Men, Law & Order SVU, Miami Ink and a personal favorite much needed in the Crowgrrl’s nest, HGTV’s Mission Organization.

* Omigods – is January a great month for movies or what?! DVD’s not included, we have Bloodrayne opening in theatres on Jan. 6, Tristan & Isolde on Jan. 13, and Underworld: Evolution on January 20th!

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* The Crowgrrl has picks of some of the Best Books I’ve read in 2005 as well.

Of course, I’ve not gotten to all the books in my reading stack yet, so can’t yet include ones that aren’t finished, such as new additions such as Douglas Preston’s "Tyrannosaur Canyon", Hideyuki Kikuchi’s "Vampire Hunter D" and "Vampire Hunter D: Raiser of Gales" (both of which are illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano), Marjorie M. Liu’s "Shadow Touch", and Nicci French’s "Catch Me When I Fall". Reviews of all of those are coming soon, along with reviews of Graham Masterton’s "Manitou Blood" and Kala Trobe’s "Magick In The West End".

* David "Avocado" Wolfe (author, foremost authority on raw food nutrition, and one of the Alts on the Sci Fi Channel’s Mad Mad House) has a special message to Perch readers. "Are you tired of eating food that’s sprayed with chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, larvacides; genetically modified ingredients, hormonally altered additives, preservatives, red dye #3, yellow dye #4, blue dye #5?"

* Chapter One of my own book, Under Her Black Wings (yes, the title is with Glenn Danzig’s permission - I never would have used that title otherwise) is available to all my readers in the "Print" section of this site.

The chapter list (the actual titles of the chapters may be renamed, but the subject matter’s the same) includes:

All chapters are in progress, and as I research and as people share their stories, they’re included in the appropriate chapter. These should be available soon (to Crowgrrl's Flock Members only) to watch the work in progress.
Sign up here!

* Gothic Beauty Issue #18 Will soon be out! Be sure to grab a copy! Ad space is available for future Gothic Beauty issues. For specifics, go to www.gothicbeauty.com/ads and be sure to mention that Athena sent you.

Gothic Beauty Magazine has revamped its website, and it’s fantastic! Go to www.gothicbeauty.com and check it out. (Be sure to check the message boards there, too!)

* The Crowgrrl’s current reading stack includes: "Manitou Blood" by Graham Masterton; "Magick In The West End" by Kala Trobe, "Mind of the Raven: Investigations & Adventures With Wolf-Birds" by Bernd Heinrich,
"How To Buy, Sell, & Profit on eBay" by Adam Ginsberg,
"Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart,
"Norwegian In 10 Minutes A Day’, "Norwegian Verbs & Essentials of Grammar" by Louis Janus,
and two workbooks for helping kids and teens with anger management:
"How To Take the Grrrrr Out of Anger" by Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisovskis
and "A Volcano In My Tummy" by Eliane Whitehouse and Warwick Pudney, to be added to my son’s home-school curriculum.

OTHER NEWS:

* One of The Crowgrrl’s friends was displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Those of you who have visited New Orleans may know of Bloody Mary Millan, a Voudoun Priestess who also has an occult shop, and guided tours of Haunted New Orleans. Maybe some of you who haven’t been there but have watched Haunted History type programming on The Travel Channel or The History Channel have seen her interviewed on there.

Bloody Mary is still doing Voodoo phone consultations and other Voudoun related services such as gris-gris bags or dolls via phone and e-mail as her city rebuilds. You can contact her at: BloodyMary@bloodymarystours.com

* Hey, Readers, you’ve gotta check out a product called Body Balance by Lifeforce. My family takes Body Balance every day! It’s much better than a daily multi-vitamin, that’s for sure! And another "plus", if we feel down or over-tired, a little more Body Balance does the trick to pick us up.

It’s a liquid, ionic, phytonutrient dietary supplement made from whole foods, and it contains a mix of over 120 vitamins, minerals, and phytronutrients that your body needs on a daily basis to keep healthy.

Why am I telling you about this because an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. I felt I had to share this as one thing most of my readers may not know, in July of 2003, The Crowgrrl was diagnosed with breast cancer. This is something I don't want anyone to have to go through what I did. I’ve refused the "conventional" paths of chemo/radiation/surgery, and have taken a holistic naturopathy approach instead (which I’ll go into in more detail in future Perch editions, or readers can e-mail me). I’m supposed to stay on a specific holistic protocol for two years. Withing 14 months the tumor was supposed to shrunk to half of its original size. Much to our surprise as of December, 2003, the lump (tumor) is gone! I’m fine! I firmly believe the Body Balance helped accelerate the healing.

Another Lifeforce International product in the online store, The Crowgrrl and family regularly use is Colloidal Silver. Silver is a natural antibacterial element that can be used both topically and/or internally.

My son tried to take care of an in-grown toenail last year without telling anyone, which subsequently became infected. After a trip to the podiatrist and some toe surgery, our podiatrist told us to keep Neosporin on the toe until it healed. We didn’t – we used Colloidal Silver instead. When the podiatrist checked the healing process a couple weeks later, not only was the Colloidal Silver working, but the healing process was happening a bit faster than normal/expected!

* For those of my readers who experience annoying computer (pc/mac/linux) problems (or those of you techies who are annoyed at friends and relatives expecting you to be their personal tech-support 24/7), go to einnovations.juvio.com for around-the-clock help. I’ve personally done so, and my computer’s working like a dream since getting help from there.

* Anyone who hasn’t already done so, check out the Gallery section here on the Crowgrrl’s site. Prints and some originals are still available. So, buy ‘em already!