Crowgrrrl's Perch 06-24-07

CROWGRRL’S PERCH 06-24-07

By Athena Schaffer aka The Crowgrrl

THE GOTHIC OCCULT EMPORIUM IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS! SCROLL DOWN TO OTHER NEWS FOR DETAILS!

Spotlight: DUBLIN DEATH PATROL, TYR, ONE MAN ARMY & THE UNDEAD QUARTET!

CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT - DUBLIN DEATH PATROL!

* CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT - DUBLIN DEATH PATROL!

* There must be something in the environment of the town of Dublin, California - there is a Hell of a lot of Metal talent hailing from there. And many of them (even those involved in other projects, like Testament’s Chuck Billy or Exodus’s Steve "Zetro" Souza, for instance) have come together for a powerhouse of a Metal project: Dublin Death Patrol!

The ever-evolving and growing line-up includes the aforementioned Chuck and Zetro sharing vocals, bassist Willy Lange, guitarists Andy Billy (Sacred Dog/ Rampage/ Guilt), Steve Robello (Out Of Control), Greg Bustamante (Rampage), and John Hartsinck, and drummer Danny Cunningham. (Their ranks have grown even more since the release of their debut album, DDP 4 Life, which is currently only available on their website - be sure to click on the link in the first paragraph to check it out!) Plus drummer Troy Iuccketta, and bassists John Souza and Eddie Billy.

The Crowgrrl recently caught up with Chuck Billy by phone to find out more about this stellar project, as well as some Testament news.

Let’s talk a little bit about the new Dublin Death Patrol album. (Excellent album, by the way!)

Thank you. It’s basically an idea a few of us friends had . It started because we had a high school class reunion - there were like 5 class reunions all at one big reunion. So, Steve Souza was there, our drummer Danny, Larry the bass player - everybody was there. We were just kicking around the idea, "Hey, why don’t we get together and jam some old songs that we wrote 25 years ago? And play a couple cover songs".

It started out like that, then at some point we said, "Let’s write a couple songs from scratch!" When those songs came out - like Pigs In The Hollow and Mentally Unstable and stuff, songs like that - they turned out a lot better than we thought. At that point we said, "You know what? Let’s take this a little further and let’s do a record and put this out. We’ve got some good stuff!"

At that point, we decided we’re going to go all the way with this. Anybody who grew up in the town of Dublin where we all grew up, anybody who wanted to join in the project was welcome.

Yeah, there are a lot of band members!

Yeah, I think 13 people played on the record. It started growing into this thing where all the Dublin musicians - those who had success and those who didn’t have success, like two of my younger brothers were on the record, and they’ve never toured nor did an album or anything like that. It was cool hearing now 25 years later songs they wrote a long time ago.

We’ve actually got some shows lined up in Europe and some shows here in California. It’s kind-of exciting to share what I’ve gotten to do for 20-some years with some friends of mine, close friends and family, that get to go experience the same thing. We’ve got a couple of festivals in Europe lined up for them. It’s kind-of exciting. It’s fun!

The London show doesn’t look like it’s a festival.

No, the festivals are in Holland. The shows in England are just headlining shows.

Are you going to be booking more dates over there?

Yeah. This is just the first run. We’re doing a week over there. Being a "new band" kind-of again, you start from scratch. You’re not making a lot of money. So, a week over there is enough for us for now to just kind-of get our foot in the door over there.

There are a lot of festivals. They run all the way through September. After this run, if something else comes up, we might do that as well.

You have some California dates coming up as well?

Yeah, the beginning of June down in L.A., then the second week in June up in the Bay area. The third week we’re off to Europe.

Are you going to be doing a full scale U.S. tour at some point?

Not a full scale one. Maybe just some major cities. If we get on a package with somebody, that might change things.

Most of this is just a fine idea that grew into a little bit more, and it ended up turning into being a pretty cool, fun record. We basically self-financed it, hired all the marketing for it, did all the manufacturing ourselves. We went as far as stuffing envelopes with CD’s. We’re doing the whole thing ourselves. It’s only available out there on dublindeathpatrol.com for now until maybe a label will come approach us.

We’re not really reaching out there yet. We’re just selling them ourselves and having fun with it. But if something comes along it might get into stores but now it’s only available through our website.

Is everybody on the album going to be included in the live shows?

Most of them. There’s going to be 8 of us in the live performance. There will be 3 guitar players for sure, maybe 4 onstage at one time. We’ll have one bass player, two drummers - the second one there to play a couple other songs, and two singers.

OK. Do you know what your live show’s going to be like yet? What we can expect?

We’ve only got 50 minutes worth of material on the record. We’re going to maybe play like an Exodus song, a Testament song - we’ll probably put a couple of those songs in the set as well. That will be like the fun part of it. But for the most part it’s just going to be the record from start to finish.

The covers on there like Iron Fist and Cold Sweat…you guys have so much talent anyway! Why did you do a cover?

Well, originally when we first got together , that was the idea. "Let’s just play some of our old songs that we wrote 25 years ago and let’s pick some cover songs: some of our favorite stuff that kind-of made us who we are today." I’m a big Thin Lizzy fan! Everybody is! We did 2 Thin Lizzy songs. There are 4 B-side songs, and one of them is a Thin Lizzy song which is probably going to be out eventually here.

Which one?

Thunder & Lightning. That’s a really killer song! You know what? Those other 4 songs will be added into the set as well.

We do a Kiss cover, we do Parasite. We do AC/DC’s Let There Be Rock. It’s just some of the stuff that’s fun. People who do covers, it’s not exciting but I think with me and Zetro trading off the vocals on it makes it a little different. We put our little Metal twist on it. It’s just fun. That’s the whole thing. It’s not like we’re a serious band ready to take over the world or something like that. It’s just a bunch of guys that had a good time doing it. Hopefully everyone else enjoys what we did.

So how exactly did the songwriting process work for this project? Did the music come first? Did the lyrics come first?

A little together. We sat there, and the guitar player pretty much had song arrangements down, and me and Zet just jumped in. They kind-of just fell together really fast. A couple of songs, we had melodies really quick. One day me and Zet wrote the lyrics for three of the songs. We were just on a roll! It just really fell into place.

Me and Zet, of course, the history - Zet’s job when he quit Testament was to join Exodus. So my first record I did with Testament was basically Zetro’s lyrics and vocal patterns and everything. So, I’ve grown accustomed to his stuff, and he knows where I’m at. So, we’re kind-of pretty quick together and came up with a lot of the melodies and arrangements really quick.

In that aspect, we knocked it out pretty quick. He motivated me and I motivated him. We got it done! It’s different in Testament - it doesn’t come out that fast.

The process was a little more inspiring having another vocalist there. I kind-of bounce off of him, and he bounces off what I’m thinking.

Devil In Disguise takes a different direction from the other songs on the album. I think it’s the most complex song on there.

Yeah. It’s one of the songs a lot of the rest of the guys really didn’t want to put on there. The rest of the guys were like, "We’ve gotta play hard, heavy, and fast. We can’t have that kind of song to represent us."

I said, "You guys! It’s a great song, first of all. And there’s nothing wrong with having a little dynamic change in the record."

After we recorded the song and laid it down, everybody was like, "Man! That’s my favorite song!." I was like, "See? I told you! You guys didn’t want to put it on the record. Now look at all you guys."

It’s a really good song! It has a really good feeling, the guitars are great on it. It’s a song where I really didn’t want to write a lot of vocals. I wanted it to be really subtle and simple, kind-of repetitive. It turned out that way, and like I said, the rest of the guys were like, "Man! This is one of my favorites!"

The next step was, "Wow, we’re not going to play that live, are we?" I was like, "Of course! Why not?! It’s going to add a little different flavor to the set." My next thing is, once we play a couple live shows I’m sure they’re going to go, "Man! It’s my favorite song in the set!"

It’s a weird, unusual song that everybody originally wanted to stay away from, and it turned out to be one of the strongest.

It was very cool of you guys to include the Central Pomo Indian songs on there!

My cousin Brian - he and I are Pomo Indians. When we came up with the song Corruption, we thought about inviting the Indians down and have them sing some Pomo tribal songs. We laid it down and it came out so cool, we said, "Man! Instead of just putting it in Corruption, we should take all the songs we recorded and just slip them in at the end of the record.

We titled them, but it’s not really labeled as a track. You’ve gotta kind-of listen to the record for through an extra 15 or 20 seconds of blank music to hear all the songs.

And it’s well worth it!

Yeah, it’s fun! It’s cool! My brothers (especially my older brothers) are really into their Native heritage. They really dug it!

About 5 years ago I actually did the first Native American Music Awards. There is a lot of talent in the Native American community, but sometimes the music only gets played on Reservations.

I’m always getting offers from Reservations to go play them. So, maybe I can get Dublin Death Patrol out there. So let’s put some really Native stuff that other Natives can really relate to and maybe dig - hear some of our culture songs. I think it’s cool to put it on there. The rest of the guys weren’t sure, but once again when it was on there, they were like, "Man, I’m glad we did that!"

Are you going to do any of those songs live?

Yeah. We’re going to bring my cousin out probably at a few shows, and he’s going to perform them with me and a couple of drummers.

The title track is the only one where you have lyrics printed in the booklet that comes with the album. Why is that?

There wasn’t really much room for the whole package to have all the lyrics. So we decided at least let’s take the title track that basically describes Dublin and how we grew up and what we’ve done. I thought it was more appropriate to have just that song. And I think it’s probably one of the most catchier songs as far as being like radio-friendly or something, you know?

Yeah, it’s very anthemic!

It’s really got a good hook to it and a good groove. Everybody I’ve played it to, whether they’re young or older than me, have really dug that song. That’s the one that really stood out to everybody.

Any video plans for any of the songs?

Yeah, actually! I think we might video Pigs In The Hollow and DDP for Life. We were actually just discussing that yesterday about doing 2 videos for those songs. Especially because MTV is definitely such a great outlet for promotion.

With Testament we haven’t done a video in 15 years. We’re going to do one probably this year as well with our new record.

OK. Any personal favorite songs on the new album?

A lot of them, ‘cause there’s really a lot of love in this record. We really did put our all into it. But for me I would probably say Sid Vicious is the one that really stands out. That’s a song that was written 25 years ago that still gets me now today with that song.

Right! Now, the Testament reunion - tell me a little bit about the album coming out for that?

Well, we’ve got 8 or 9 songs right now pretty close to being finished. We’re shooting to get it out definitely by the end of the year. The songs we’re really excited about because they are coming out very good. We wrote a bunch of songs a couple of years ago that really didn’t hold up to what we did with The Gathering record. So we kind-of put those to the side and said, "Well, the vibe’s not happening yet."

So we started writing this year, and we got Nick on board, the songs really came to life - some of the new stuff. They’re really, really heavy but really melodic vocally. The lyrics are a continuation - the music’s really heavy and the vocals are melodic but catchy. It’s different. I think everybody who came by and checked out some of the new stuff has really gone, "Man, this is cool good stuff!"

We’re excited and I think the fans are going to be as well because it’s a long-awaited record. I think it’s definitely going to be worth the wait. The timing is right for us. We didn’t get the record out years ago I think if the vibe wasn’t right. Right now I think the songs are there. We just got released off our record label, we got freed from the contract. We’re free agents. We’ve got a bunch of record companies coming and making offers. We’ve got the original band back together.

A lot of things are just positives right now for us. It’s going to be a good year for us.

Yeah! You’ve got a lot of live shows coming up, too, don’t you?

Yeah. We’ve done a lot so far, and we’ve got a lot on the plate still out there.

You just got back from South America?

Yeah, we just got back from South America last Tuesday. That was awesome! We haven’t been there since ’95, something like that. The crowds were amazing! It was a great reception. They are so energetic and sing every song, every lead, every melody; they’re just singing! They really get you fired up!

They were just amazing memorable shows. I can’t wait to go back! It was such a good response!

Very cool! You postponed the Russian tour, though?

Yeah. It got moved now to the end of July. The first promoter never signed our contracts, never deposited the shows. I didn’t think we were going to try to finance our own way to Russia then not get paid. So we got rid of that guy, and another promoter stepped into the picture now. He’s making a new bid on it and wants to move it to the end of July. So it looks like we are going to go. That’s a first.

We’ve also got an offer to go play 2 shows in Korea. That’s going to be at the end of July. That will be a first for us as well.

I didn’t know they did Metal shows in Korea!

Yeah, there are these two big festivals with about 30,000 people. Alex, our guitar player, is actually over there now with Jeckyl & Hyde - it’s a Broadway show. He’s over there for 2 weeks. He e-mailed us saying the fans were asking when we were going to get there. So, we’re going.

Very cool! Is there anything I didn’t ask either about Dublin Death Patrol or Testament that you want to tell Perch readers?

I think you’ve got everything. We’ve covered the new record, Dublin Death Patrol that’s only available on our website until we get a deal out there with stores.

SECOND SPOTLIGHT - TYR!

* TYR takes us on a journey straight into Scandinavian mythology, transcending time and space yet setting it against the backdrop of fierce, precision Viking Metal musicianship. Only this time, the tale seems to be told through the eyes of the trickster god, Loki, who set the wheels leading up to the epic Battle of the Gods in motion in the first place. The new album is Ragnarok, (Napalm Records) and is every bit as fierce as the epic battle that shook Asgard itself.

Hailing from the Faroe Islands, TYR - named after the warrior god of justice who sacrificed his hand in order to capture the mythic wolf Fenrir - are: vocalist/guitarist Heri Joensen. Guitarist Terji Skibenaes, bassist Gunnar H. Thomsen, and drummer Kari Streymoy. Their unique music blends ancient storylines and melodies with warhammer modern heaviness, making them a musical force to be reckoned with.

The Crowgrrl recently caught up with Heri to talk about their distinct music, particularly on the new album, and other news from the Tyr camp.

Although I'm familiar with Scandinavian mythology, some of my readers may not be. Could you tell them who Tyr was and how he lost his hand?

HJ: Týr was the god of justice, strategy and diplomacy. Before Odin became the prime deity Týr was number 1. His name means 'god' and he is the same as Tiwaz, prime god of the German tribe, the ancestors of the vikings. He had the unfortunate property that the agreements he arranged seldom lasted, probably a hint at the tricky diplomacy of the viking age (and the present for that matter). He was the bravest of the gods and when they were going to chain Fenrir the wolf Týr was the only one who dared approach the wolf. The wolf rightly suspected foul play and demanded that one of the gods put his hand in his mouth as guarantee that they would set him free again if he could not break the chain that they put around his neck, as the gods claimed he could easily do. Týr stepped forward and did what no one else dared; put his right hand in the wolfs mouth, thus earning the title 'The Braves Of The Gods'. The wolf could not break the chain and the gods would not set him free, so he bit of Týr's right hand.

Your music is inspired by Viking folk music? The original folk music is preserved in your native Faroe Islands?

HJ: We have preserved some really archaic musical traits. How many of them go all the way back to the vikings is hard, if not impossible, to say, but a fair share of them most likely do. The stories told in these ballads concern the vikings themselves, even older stories from central Europe, Charlemagne, Sigfried and Attilla, that the vikings themselves looked up to, and the Aesir, the gods of the vikings. In the traditional way the ballads are performed while dancing in a chain, that is everybody holds hands in a specific way and steps two steps to the left and one to the right in a certain fashion, and singing the ballads often 200 verses long or more. The longest I've heard of is some 500 verses. It takes one hour to sing. The dance comes from the early medieval French court, but the melodies and texts are in some cases much older as said above.

What is the overall Metal scene like in the Faroe Islands?

HJ: Forget it, there is no metal scene, but there is a music scene that incorporates some metal. We have some good festivals in the summer with big international names and a lot of local bands as well.

Who does most of the songwriting for the band?

HJ: Most songs are made by me. In case of traditionals, where I have melody and lyrics in advance, I arrange them into heavy metal songs.

Do the lyrics come first? Does the music come first? What is the songwriting process like for you guys?

HJ: Lyrics come last, but I'm trying to change that because it always causes me some stress come studio time. I keep the lyrics and the subject of the song in mind though throughout the songwriting process, so that when I start on the lyrics I am not completely lost.

The overall storyline of "Ragnarok" feels like it's being told from Loki's point of view?

HJ: Yes, some of it is told from Loki's, other parts from Óðin's point of view and some by the overall storytellers point of view.

There are a lot of instrumental songs on "Ragnarok"; why?

HJ: They are part of the following song. It is made to shorten the essential songs for the inpatient listener, but if you just let it run you get the 'long version'. Each chapter, noted by roman numbers on the album, can be regarded as one song.

What's your personal favorite song on the new album?

HJ: Very hard to say, The Hammer Of Thor, Brother's Bane, Wings Of Time or Lord Of Lies; I can't choose.

Who did the cover art?

HJ: Jan Yrlund from Darkgrove in Finland.

Is this the same artist who designed your cool "Tyr v/s Fenrir" t-shirts?

HJ: No, the "Týr v/s Fenrir" T-shirt was done by Ingo Römling from Monozelle in Germany.

Tour plans?

HJ: Lots and lots. We have a lot of festivals this summer, including Wacken and Sweden Rock Festival. A headliner tour, Viking Warrior Raid supported by Black Messiah and Odroerir, in the fall and a lot more to come.

What is your live show like?

HJ: We are usually given good credit for our live performance, our choir sounds like on album and we make a big point of playing well live.

Does your live set list contain mostly songs from "Ragnarok", or your previous albums?

HJ: I think we play around 4 songs from the new album. The big difference between Ragnarok and Eric The Red is that the songs on Eric The Red are much better suited for live situations, whereas the Ragnarok songs don't get the same reaction from the audience.

Any video plans for any songs?

HJ: Not at this moment, no.

Any long-form DVD plans?

HJ: Neither.

Is there anything that I didn't ask that you want to tell Crowgrrl's Perch readers?

HJ: We hope to play in the US as soon as possible, next year maybe.

UNITE HUMANITY IN METAL!

THIRD SPOTLIGHT - ONE MAN ARMY & THE UNDEAD QUARTET!

* Error in Evolution (Nuclear Blast) is the sophomore full-length release from Sweden’s One Man Army and the Undead Quartet, and is a merciless yet stellar melodic Death Metal thrashing, with roots firmly embedded in the Gothenburg sound, flavored with catchy hooks, some ear-catching surprises, and lyrics ranging from the anthemic to the profound.

One Man Army and the Undead Quartet are: vocalist Johan Lindstrand (formerly of Crown), bassist Robert Axelsson, lead guitarist Mikael Lagerblad, rhythm guitarist Pekka Kiviaho, and drummer Marek Dobrowolski. The Crowgrrl recently caught up with frontman Johan to find out more - including the 411 on the "Name The Beast" contest that was underway at the time.

Excellent new album! Who did most of the songwriting on it?

I did like 2 songs on my own, and the rest was made by the other two guitarists. I did all the lyrics, and the two songs, I wrote the whole things. But most of the remaining songs were made by the other two guitarists except those two songs I mentioned.

Which songs were those?

Such A Sick Boy and Nightmare In Ashes & Blood. We’ve been together now as a band for like two years. On the first album I did all of the songwriting. But now that we’re together as a unit and we do the music as a unit as well. It’s really great!

So the songwriting process was different this time around than on your previous album?

Yeah. When you start to know each other more like we have done now, we can rely on each other more. We’re used to each other. Now everybody in the band is more comfortable with writing a good song, and know that the other guys might improve it. That’s basically it - how we wrote the album. We know what each other likes as far as music, so we can fit everything together more than before when I wrote everything.

In that way, it feels more like a whole other song structure than it did on the first album. I think it came out pretty good.

Such A Sick Boy was almost prophetic - it sounded like it was right out of the news!

Yeah! I mean, there’s been a lot of shit going on in the world, for example in your country all the school massacres and all that kind of shit. That kind-of influenced me to write these lyrics. A lot of young people in the world are getting more and more violent - younger and younger people.

Is Knights In Satan’s Service a shout-out to KISS?

Yeah! KISS is my favorite band of all time. I was 4 years old when I first listened to KISS. My brother brought me into that genre. The title is the only thing that refers to KISS, but it’s a cool way to celebrate one of my favorite bands.

That song is about all the bands in that genre from the ‘70’s and ‘80’s: Free, Van Halen, all those people playing that kind of music as opposed to those who came later and played in jeans and flannel shirts (that was bullshit). I think it speaks against the crap that came out in the Nineties as far as the lyrics are concerned. It’s about achieving goals and being total fanatics about the music. It has nothing to do about KISS.

OK. You did a cover of Alice Cooper’s The Man Behind The Mask?

Yes. I wanted to do this song for a long, long time, even back in the days when I was with Crown, but none of the other band members wanted to do that. Now that I have my own band, the other guys were willing to do it.

The main reason we did it was because of the movie: Friday The 13^{th
Part VI: Jason Lives}. Ever since I first saw that movie the song’s been stuck in my head. I saw the movie on the black market because we have a bad censorship problem. It is very hard to watch horror movies with bad quality and everything from the black market.

I’m not a big Alice Cooper fan but this song really stuck in my head. Also that song completes the album very much; we put our own treatment on it. It really fits in on the album.

Yeah, you guys put your own stamp on it, definitely!

Yeah! And not many bands have covered that song as far as I know. A lot of bands choose to cover a song that other bands have covered before. But this was more like a challenge for us to do it and make it something special.

Do you have any personal favorite songs on the album?

Yeah, a couple but they change all the time. Mine For The Taking is pretty good. Nightmare In Ashes & Blood is also a good song. They’re kick-ass songs, every one of them! Every song is more straight-forward if you compare them to the last one. This one is much more fast-paced.

Very cool! Any video plans for any of the songs?

I don’t think we’re going to do a video. It’s a pretty tough time out there. We really wanted to do a video, but the record company didn’t feel we should do one at the moment.

How many of the new songs have you included in your live set now?

We’re doing like 6 or 7 songs from Error. When we are doing headlining shows, we can play 13 or 14 songs, then we’ll play 7 songs from it. We play a lot of songs from the previous album as well, so you get the best out of the two albums.

I know you have some festivals coming up, but any long-scale tour plans?

We have a tour coming up but it all hasn’t been confirmed yet. It hasn’t gone out to the media yet, so I can’t tell you more about it. It’s like a 3-week tour in Europe. We might have another European tour in January. This first tour will be in October/November I think. So far no American dates but we would love an opportunity to come over there to the United States. We have a good album to promote so it would have been really good to come over there. The album was just released there and it’s gotten good reviews so far, so let’s just hope for the best.

Yeah! I’ll keep my fingers crossed. What’s this "Name The Beast" contest you have going on?

It’s completed now. We have a cool name for him but we haven’t put the announcement up on the website yet. First of all we have this Beast in the artwork on both of the albums. He looks like a beast that would go on in the future as well. Iron Maiden has Eddie as a mascot, so why not? Why not make a One Man Army mascot?! It’s a bit cliché and a bit cool at the same time. We just didn’t have a name for him. That’s why we asked our fans to come up with one. We’ll announce it next week. It’s a really cool name!

How popular was the contest? Did you get a lot of entries?

Yeah! Over 400 - I forget the exact amount. But if we go back over the list, it documents very, very much names. It took some time to decide which one, but the one we picked is a hard and heavy name.

I can’t wait to find out what it is! {* Crowgrrl’s Note: the winner was announced a week after this interview took place. For those of you wondering, the mascot’s name is General Grim} Speaking of your website, how hands-on are you guys with it?

We do almost everything except for the overall design, for which we have some really cool people who are good at their job. But as far as the updates and everything, we’re doing everything ourselves.

I have also a section called Confessions Of John J. I’m writing that regularly like once a week. I’m doing my own personal blogs and everything, so I’m writing about everything in my life. It’s pretty cool for the fans coming to that section and finding out all the inside stuff. It’s also very fortunate for me to have regular contact with the fans. They are the ones who go buy the albums. They’re also very interested in your life and who you are as a person. It doesn’t bother me at all. I like to share what I do with our fans. They are what makes it happen.

Very cool! What do you guys do on the road in your "down time"? Do you take videogames with you or anything?

Yeah, we play a lot of videogames when we’re on a bus tour. We play a lot of soccer games. On tour, that’s like being at a party when we’re on the stage. But in our spare time - which we don’t have too much of - we’re always running around and doing things. We pretty much keep ourselves occupied like regular people.

What have I not asked that you want to tell Perch readers?

Buy the album!

MUSIC

* The Crowgrrl can't rave enough about Filii Nigrantium Infernalium who have left a bloody eviscerated offering on a Satanic altar with their new Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator. Hailing from Portugal, this band

describes their music as "SatanicAnarco Black Metal" - their phenomenal sound is

really a fresh, invigorating mix of Black, Thrash, and Old School Metal. The

musicianship is awesome throughout, with agonized vox and stellar fretwork over

rock-solid foundations.

Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator was the # 1 cd in the Crowgrrl’s Best Of

2006, the video for the song Calypso

was the # 1 Best Video for 2006, and the raw and real Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator: Live At Barroselas Live grabbed the # 2 Long Form DVD slot (being nudged out of the top slot by Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey). This is definitely a band

to watch - The Crowgrrl sees great things in their future!

Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator IS NOW AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. EXCLUSIVELY in the Gothic Occult Emporium! Grab a copy Here!

* Testament are currently working on a new album - but are also conquering the world with their live assault! Fresh off the heels of a tour of Mexico, Puerto Rico, and South America, they’ve now got Europe, Asia, and a few lucky East Coast U.S. dates in their sights. Tour dates include:
July 06, 2007 - Mortegliano, Italy; Fest in Tenda
July 07, 2007 - Leeuwarden, Netherlands; Waldrock Festival
July 13, 2007 - Poughkeepsie, NY; The Chance
July 14, 2007 - Sayreville, NY; Starland Ballroom (Sounds of the Underground)
July 15, 2006 - Springfield, VA; Jaxx
July 16, 2006 - Southbridge, MA; ADC Performance Center
July 19, 2007 - Rieden, Germany; Earthshaker Festival
July 27, 2007 - Taipei, Taiwan; Formoz Fest
July 28, 2007 - Incheon City, Korea; Pentaport Rock Fest
Aug. 17, 2007 - Oulu, Finland; Club Teatria
Aug. 18, 2007 - Notodden, Norway, Tapperiet (Metal Heart Festival)
Aug. 19, 2007 - Gotenborg, Sweden; TBC
Aug. 21, 2007 - Kolding, Denmark; Godset
Aug. 22, 2007 - Antwerpen, Belgium - Hof Ter Lo
Aug. 23, 2007 - Deventer, Holland; Burgerweeshuis
Aug. 24, 2007 - Bergen, Norway; Hole In The Sky Bergen Metal Fest
Aug. 25, 2007 - Gemunden, Germany; Up From The Ground Open Air Festival
Aug. 31, 2007 - Rimini, Italy; Velvet
Sep. 01, 2007 - Palmaggio-Casserta, Italy; Route to Hell Festival

* Progressive Metal icons Threshold have been snatched up by Nuclear Blast records, who have just unleashed the band’s debut for the label, 8th studio album of their career - Dead Reckoning. Aptly named, the band once again crosses a musical Threshold to explore new territory, taking new chances, and ushering in a superb new realm of sound.

Take the song behind the first video for example - Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams, which launches into a soaring journey that takes all kinds of surprising twists over a myriad of landscapes.

England’s Threshold are: frontman Mac, guitarist Karl Groom, keyboardist Richard West, bassist Steve Anderson, and drummer Johanne James.

Besides the aforementioned Pilot, we become lost in the Slipstream, the search for daylight is helped along by some blazing fretwork. This is followed by the fist-pumping anthemic This Is Your Life.

Elusive is just that, daring anybody to pin it down; this eclectic piece dares you to "let go of yesterday" (the recorded phone message "the number you have reached is not in service….." made for an interesting outro). Hollow is anything But! It’s filled with complexities! Fighting For Breath desperately tries to break free of a figurative chokehold (I love the dangerous edge to the guitars!)

Disappear is VERY catchy, especially the fretwork and keys! Safe To Fly is dark and foreboding, complexly emotional; I love the meaty guitars counterbalanced with the soaring keys. One Degree Down pulls out all the stops!

The digipak edition includes a cover of Muse’s Supermassive Black Hole.

* Baptized By Fire - Jesse Blaze Snider (vocals), Benjamin Clapp (drums), Danny Wacker (guitar), and Dan Carlysle (bass) - will be burning up the highways (and melting eardrums) soon! If you’re anywhere close to any of these gigs, BE THERE and witness some righteous ass-kicking! The Crowgrrl highly recommends this band. Tour dates include:
July 26, 2007 - Farmingdale, NY; The Crazy Donkey
July 27, 2007 - Clifton, NJ; Dingbatz
Aug. 03, 2007 - Bladewood, NJ; The Cherrywood
Aug. 17, 2007 - Trenton, NJ; 449 Room
Sept. 13, 2007 - Philadelphia, PA; Sweeney’s Saloon
Sept. 14, 2007 - Ronkonkoma, NY; Traxx All Aboard Rocks
Sept. 29, 2007 - Baltimore, MD; The Black Hole RockClub
Oct. 05, 2007 - Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY; The Trash Bar

* Behemoth’s Apostasy (Century Media) is a Metal Masterpiece - while still delivering the extreme brutality that we all know and love Behemoth for, it transcends to yet other levels as well. Inspired by exotic locales they visited on their Demigod world tour as well as personal views of the world around them, the album is both very Real and very multi-dimensional.

Behemoth are: vocalist/guitarist Nergal, percussionist Inferno, and bassist Orion. (They’re also joined this time around by session guitarist Seth). One of the hardest working bands on the planet, this unholy trinity have been previewing songs from The Apostasy before the album was even out to well-deserved enthusiastic response from live audiences.

The exotic influences are felt from the very first strains coming from the speakers as the album starts spinning - the mostly instrumental Rome 64 C.E. that starts with Middle Eastern-style female chanting that gives way to ominous militaristic riffs. The brutal Slaying The Prophets Of Isa has almost religious undertones that are obliterated by merciless strength. Prometherion is absolutely fiery, with as many twists as tongues of flickering flames.

At The Left Hand of God is fiercely rebellious. I love the riffs in the pulverizing Kriegphilosophie. Be Without Fear is indeed very empowering. One of my personal favorite tracks, Arcane Hereticae, conjures some pretty formidable Infernal forces!

Liberthene is as free and strong as gale force storm winds. Inner Sanctum is absolutely excellent! The tranquil piano intro lulls the listener into a false sense of security as it explodes musically, exploring a myriad of moods and melodies, and some spoken vox and clean singing voice along with the demonic vocals. Pazuzu is delightfully dangerous, with extremely impressive fretwork. Christgrinding Avenue is chaotic, pummeling, followed by a solemn procession and more female Middle Eastern chanting, making this the perfect ending bookend tied to the intro.

* Candlelight Records has posted new songs from Entombed and Birdflesh to its official MySpace page. The songs are from upcoming albums due this summer.

"Serpent Saints" is the title track from Entombed's new album set to hit stores July 31. The album closes a near four year gap; it following the special 2-cd reissue of the band’s highly regarded Inferno album. The album presents the band continuing to expand their signature sound as they embrace ten brand new songs. With European dates already booked the band look to return to the US for the first time since 2004 in late fall/early winter 2008. Since their formation, giving rise to the classic "Swedish death metal" sound, the recently inducted Decibel Magazine’s "Hall of Fame" band have consistently up’ed the ante on each and every album, often adding unexpected curves along the way.

"Arabian Jesus" is the fifth track from Mondo Musicale, the third album from grindcore favorites Birdflesh. A recent headliner at the fifth annual Maryland Death Festival, the song showcases equal parts brutality and speed (with the band's characteristic heavy dose of unbridled humor), Birdflesh are a perfect fit for fans of Municipal Waste, Macabre, Rotten Sound and more. Mondo Musicale hits US stores on July 17.

* Mortiis has announced that the limited edition double vinyl edition of the remix album Some Kind of Heroin features bonus tracks not found on the CD version. The double vinyl comes with the following list of mixes, including two exclusive mixes and an additional three tracks not on the CD, as follows:
Underdog (ZOMBIE GIRL REMIX)
The Grudge (GOTHMINISTER MIX)
Twist the Knife (The Gibbering Mix by IMPLANT)
Broken Skin feat. Stephan Groth (Septic Wound Mix by XP8)
The Grudge (MENTAL SIEGE MIX)
Gibber (PIG Remix)
Way Too Wicked (Psycoholic Comatose Mix) by THE KOVENANT
Gibber (Lysergic Club Mix by VELVET ACID CHRIST)
The Worst in Me (GIRLS UNDER GLASS MIX)
The Grudge (DAVID WALLACE MIX)
The Grudge (The Forgotten Dream by KUBRICK MIX)**
Broken Skin feat. Stephan Groth (FUNKER VOGT MIX)
The Grudge (Emotional Heresy by KUBRICK MIX)
Way Too Wicked (FLESHFIELD MIX)**
Decadent & Desperate (Therafuck Remix by DOPE STARS)
The Worst in Me (Extraction Mix by IN THE NURSERY)
Decadent & Desperate (Flickin The Bitch Switch Mix)*
The Grudge (Despectus)*
Underdog*
Gibber (Gibbering Idiot)
Way Too Wicked (Absinthium Mix)

(** exclusive bonus mixes, * exclusive vinyl only bonus tracks)

Says Mortiis about the exclusive material: "I grew up on vinyl records. When CD came along and vinyl was dying away I was gutted. CD still can’t stand up to the pure artistic space that is open to you on an LP. The creativity that was explored with the vinyl format (especially in the ‘70s) was pure magic and that died when CD came along. I think

to some extent you can be creative with a CD too but it’s nowhereclose. I try to get vinyl versions of everything we do, although sometimes that just doesn’t happen. We’re doing it now, and it is something I will be fighting for with every release we do in

the future.

"As well, to be as creative as possible in an environment that reflects that, vinyl records are a great medium to showcase cool ideas."

Some Kind of Heroin was released on April 16 in Europe.

* Droid’s eponymous debut album (Emotional Syphon Records) proves that they’re a force to be reckoned with. This Hardcore band - guitarists Jamie Teissere and Bruce Childress, vocalist James "Buddy" Eason, bassist Duke, and drummer Nick McWells - are determined to kick serious ass while taking no prisoners!

The Resurrection conjures a berserk Soul Collector. Fueled By Hate is indeed pure rage (I love the percussion in that one)! God of Anger is a bloody offering to appease the very deity they’re invoking. Built to Last has an ominous edge.

I love the musicianship in the excellently defiant No Gods, No Masters. Withdrawals of Me is tortured and complex. Vengeance Is Mine is unforgiving (and features guest vocals from The Deftones’ Chino Moreno). For The Following is delightfully demonic!

Bone-crunching fretwork punctuates the desperate Behind Dead Eyes. The audacious Salt The Graves confronts lies. The brutal Together We Die is like being caught in the spray of uzi fire! The album’s rounded out by the solemn My Oath.

* Godless Rising vocalist Jeff Gruslin announced on June 15, 2007 that the Rhode Island Death Metal band is urgently seeking a drummer and second guitarist for touring purposes. Rounded out by bassist Justin Flynn and guitarist Paul Flynn - who, along with Gruslin, were the songwriting core of the original Vital Remains lineup - Godless Rising are preparing to release their Moribund debut (and second album overall) Battle Lords on July 17th.

Godless Rising are the latest addition to Moribund's unmatched cabal of dark, evil death metal. Following last year’s well-received Rising Hatred debut (released by Pathos Productions), Godless Rising throw down their weightiest, most wrath-laden gauntlet yet with Battle Lords. Modern black/death muscle meets ancient, old-school filth and blasphemy, a dynamic maelstrom of ageless evil and dread powers - Battle Lords wastes little time in wasting the competition.

If any Perch readers are interested, contact The Crowgrrl and I will forward your e-mails to the label and band.

* Debemur Morti Productions have just unleashed the 4-song demo from Portugal’s Ars Diavoli (actually the brainchild of 1 man: Vilkacis): The Absence of Light. This tormented Black Metal offering plunges the listener directly into the abyss!

Essencia Corrompida delivers pure anguished perversion. Penuria thrusts us into depressing hopeless destitution. The brutal Human Mass Suicide drags us down to be surrounded by melancholic torture. This is all in stark contrast to the beautiful yet bleak & cold instrumental Horizontes Perdidos (Lost Horizons).

* Starting June 16th, 2007, Rudy Sarzo joined Blue Öyster Cult as bassist for the balance of 2007. Former bassist with Quiet Riot, Ozzy, Whitesnake and long time friend of the band, Rudy will play until Ronnie Dio returns from touring with Heaven and Hell. (Rudy is the current bassist in Dio).

Rudy and Eric Bloom have been friends since meeting up at "Hear 'N Aid" in 1985. Eric adds that "Buck (Dharma) and I are really happy to have Rudy playing bass with us. He's a great fit and a great guy."

Richie Castellano will continue handling the left side of the stage on keyboards, guitar and vocals.

Blue Öyster Cult tourdates include:
Jun. 29, 2007 - Milwaukee, WI; Summerfest
Jun. 30, 2007 - Mt. Clemen, MI; Stars and Stripes Festival
Jul. 01, 2007 - Naperville, IL; Ribfest
Jul. 02, 2007 - Chandler, AZ; Gila River Casino (with Steppenwolf)
Jul. 03, 2007 - Atlantic City, NJ; House of Blues (with The Smithereens)
Jul. 04, 2007 - Frederick, MD; Baker Park
Jul. 05, 2007 - Virginia Beach, VA; Neptune's Park
Jul. 07, 2007 - Park City, UT; Forum at the Canyons (with Foghat)
Jul. 13, 2007 - Beloit, WI; Riverfest (with Cheap Trick)
Jul. 14, 2007 - Chippewa Falls, WI; North Wisconsin State Fair
Jul. 27, 2007 - Superior, WI; Head of the Lakes Fair
Jul. 28, 2007 - Morgantown, WV; Mountainfest Motorcycle Rally
Jul. 31, 2007 - Boston, MA; Bank of America Pavilion (with Deep Purple)
Aug. 02, 2007 - Wallingford, CT; Chevrolet Theatre (with Deep Purple)
Aug. 03, 2007 - Kalamazoo, MI; Ribfest
Aug. 04, 2007 - LaJunta, CO; Music at the Junction Festival
Aug. 09, 2007 - Sturgis, SD; Boneyard Saloon Amphitheatre
Aug. 10, 2007 - Des Moines, IA; Iowa State Fair (with Alice Cooper)
Aug. 11, 2007 - Sedalia, MO; Missouri State Fair
Aug. 12, 2007 - Costa Mesa, CA; Pacific Amphitheatre (with Deep Purple)
Aug. 16, 2007 - Englewood, NJ; Bergen Performing Arts Ctr. (with Foghat)
Aug. 18, 2007 - El Paso, TX; Custom Car & Chopper Festival
Aug. 24, 2007 - Houston, TX; Scout Bar
Aug. 25, 2007 - San Antonio, TX; Sunken Gardens Amphitheatre
Aug. 26, 2007 - Dallas, TX; Palladium Ballroom
Aug. 31, 2007 - Syracuse, NY; New York State Fair
Sep. 01, 2007 - Essex Junction, VT; Champlain Valley Expo (with Joan Jett, Foghat)
Sep. 02, 2007 - Newburgh, NY; International Waterfront Festival
Sep. 17, 2007 - Albuquerque, NM; New Mexico State Fair

* Ireland’s Slidhr have emerged from the shadows via a 3-song demo available from Debemur Morti Productions - and can be summed up in two words: Pure Chaos! (All Hail Discordia!)

The Serpent’s Hold starts this brutal offering, which does indeed wrap around the listener and start to lethally constrict like a python! Horn of Ruin is a dangerous cornucopia of destruction. Scorn of the Old Ghost is scathingly scary.

* Megaforce Records and

metal/hardcore pioneers S.O.D. will release Rise Of The Infidels, on August 21, 2007. It is an extended EP (perhaps the longest in the music biz) with four unreleased S.O.D. songs, plus a live concert from Seattle is included.

One of the crucial bands in the musical chain linking hardcore punk with metal, the Stormtroopers of Death - known as S.O.D. - were actually intended to be a one-off side project, done as a lark.

S.O.D. began in the mid-1980's during a break in the recording of Anthrax's Spreading The Disease. What started out as a quick, satirical

release for Scott Ian, Charlie Benante, Dan Lilker, and the infamous Billy Milano, S.O.D. has turned into a seminal band influencing countless hardcore, metalcore, and post-hardcore bands. Their first album, Speak English Or Die, has sold over 400,000 and remains an underground classic. S.O.D. was always about brutal satire, but done with complete honesty. Anyone who has witnessed their severe, yet astonishing live show, knows that S.O.D. is like no other band on the planet.

Track Listing:
1. Stand Up And Fight
2. Java Amigo
3. United And Strong
4. Ready To Fight

Live At The Fenix:

5. Ballad Of Nirvana/March Of The S.O.D.
6. Sgt D And The S.O.D.
7. Kill Yourself
8. Milano Mosh
9. Speak English Or Die
10. Fuck the Middle East
11. Douche Crew
12. Ballad Of Jimi Hendrix
13. Ballad Of Jim Morrison
14. Ballad Of INXS
15. Ballad Of Frank Sinatra
16. Ballad Of Nirvana
17. Ballad Of Freddy Mercury
18. Cromatic Death
19. Fist Banging Mania
20. No Turning Back
21. Milk
22. Pussywhipped
23. Freddy Krueger
24. United Forces

* Rebirth of Nefast’s debut album Only Death (Debemur Morti Productions) may only contain 3 songs, but they clock in longer than most songs stretching the album to over a half hour, all said and done. And it surely is a phantasmagoric Black Metal treat!

Wrapped In The Earth (a whopping 14 minutes and 30 seconds long masterpiece!) is a surreal journey through a myriad of nightmarish dreamscapes. Flaming The Inner Sanctum is a fierce but solemn Black Mass conjuring infernal forces. That Deathly Aura is a dark necromantic treat.

* Sweden's Watain have just wrapped up their U.S., Mexico, and Brazil runs of their current tour, and they’ve set their sights on a few upcoming German gigs as well to bring the extreme new Sworn To The Dark (Season of Mist) to the masses.

They conquered Europe with Celtic Frost and Kreator, blazed a bloody path down the US East Coast with Angelcorpse and Nachtmystium, through Mexico with Infinitum Obscure and then gutted the rainforests of Brazil alongside Obituary and Sadus. Most fans of even the most extreme live shows have left every show so far in awe, as Watain are "the real deal" kind of Black Metal, no shit.

Several forms of evidence from their show at BB King's in Time's Square, NYC are below... you might not actually feel the temperature drop as their candles were lit, you might not smell the animal carcasses and foul bloodstench from the stage, but surely still a testament to the band's superior blackened war tactics.

Live pics/footage from BB King's, NYC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_9EPL8luqU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njkiAOKw9XA

http://sadnessisdelicious.blogspot.com/2007/05/unholy-concert-ends-at-unholy-hour.html

Tour dates include:
July 06, 2007 - Hamburg, Germany; Logo
July 07, 2007 - Berlin, Germany; Under The Black Sun Festival
July 13, 2007 - Annaberg, Germany; Thunders Over Miriquidi Festival

* Readers, check out Thor’s new Devastation of Musculation, which shakes the very halls of Valhalla itself! It’s as strong as Viking hordes intent on pillage and plunder. Some highlights: Lords of Steel (also the first video from the album) includes tolling bells calling the faithful to the temple of Metal. Cold White Ghost is like silvery moonlight as it spins a haunted tale. Queen Akasha and Lestat are resurrected with the homage to the movie Queen of the Damned. The first part of Tale of the Wolf/Warriors of the Universe is a Shamanic honor and emulation of a noble beast, then gives way to a rallying war cry.

* Lucan Wolf has taken a brief break from his distinct Vampire Rawk sound - which can be heard on his cd’s Night World, Vampire Nights, and Nocturnal. - and has embraced a more Country-Rock style on his new cd Outlaw, which is slated to hit the streets in June. In the meantime, check out some songs from it on his Myspace page.

SCREENS (Large & Small):

* The Crowgrrl has always loved when the pages of comic books jump to life on the Big Screen (or small. You catch my drift). Biggest case in point is, of course, The Crow. So you can bet I wasted no time getting Ghost Rider into the DVD player! What a high-octane, adrenaline-charged flick it was!

Based on the Marvel Comics, the story begins with teenage stunt biker Johnny Blaze performed in carnivals along with his father. But finding out his father was battling cancer, young Johnny made a deal with the Devil. His father’s cancer was miraculously cured, but died in a horrific accident anyway.

Segue to Johnny (Nicolas Cage) as an adult - a world famous daredevil superstar with an amazing amount of luck (or is it?!) on his side. However, Mephistopheles (Peter Fonda) needs to call up Johnny’s end of that bargain, and transforms Johnny into a Ghost Rider.

Every generation has one of these beings - known as the Devil’s Bounty Hunter. The one prior to Johnny was originally a sheriff from the Old West, who was tasked with bringing the souls of 1,000 damned souls from one corrupt town to Hell. But he refused - and hid the pact containing these 1,000 names.

Mephistopheles’ own son, Blackheart, (Wes Bentley) wants that pact - he intends to use the force of these souls to overthrow his father AND to create Hell on Earth. The Ghost Rider is the only one who can stop this nefarious scheme. But can he? Blackheart also has 3 demonic henchmen - each of the four are able to harness one of the powers of the four elements.

Now, along the way, Johnny meets back up with his long lost love Roxanne (Eva Mendes), and believes this is a sign that he can win his soul back from Mephistopheles, and have a second chance at finding happiness.

Of course, me being Me, I did catch some similarities with The Crow - both being avengers, both having the power to give all the victims’ pain back to the bad guys.

The single-disc edition contains bonus features such as an extended version with never before seen footage and commentaries from director/writer Mark Steven Johnson, VFX supervisor Kevin Mack, and producer Gary Foster. The two-disc version has 2 hours worth of bonuses, including never before seen footage, The Making Of, commentaries, and the history of the Ghost Rider comics.

* Readers, you’ve GOTTA check out this week’s edition of Count Gore de Vol’s Creature Feature on his website!

This week he tries to prove that I'm a mental case....or is that a mentalist? Either way you will be amazed and get to watch Bela Lugosi in the sequel to Chandu The Magician...."Chandu and the Magic Island" in The Lab!

We revisit Earl Newton's "Sins of the Mother" as part of the New Blood Showcase! Yours Truly reviews THREE CDs by Mercenary in The Chamber and interview band member Jakob Mølbjerg down by The Moat! Learn how to build a Cyclops in the CreatureScape Kit Pit

The TombKeeper reviews "28 Days Later: Aftermath" and "The Hills Have Eyes: The Beginning" in The Tomb! Mark Gross, Your SciFi guy, interviews R2D2 himself, Kenny Baker, in The Atrium! Renfield does double duty keeping us abreast of Hollywood news in The Power Room and then reviewing the limited release film "Fido" in The Crypt! Prof. Griffin marks the end of an era in Cleveland TV as he looks back on the careers of Big Chuck and Lil John in The Auditorium!

Matt Lake, who brought us the book, "Weird Maryland" is Count Gore’s guest. He has a lot to say...On The Rack! All that and MORE! Check it out!

* New releases in theaters that look interesting: Spiderman 3, , Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Hostel: Part 2, , Shrek the 3rd, 1408, Disturbia,

* The tagline to Crank reads: "There are a thousand ways to raise your adrenaline. Today, Chev Chelios will need every single one." And they not only seemingly try to find all those ways, but it also elevates the viewer’s adrenaline levels to the extreme as well. We’re talking pure heart-pounding, palm-sweating action!

Hit man Chev Chelios (Jason Statham) is having one Hell of a bad day. After what should’ve been a routine hit went awry and he missed his target, he awakens unable to move. His rival, a thug named Ricky Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo) is hovering over him informing him that he was poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live.

Chev calls a doctor friend of his, Doc Miles (Dwight Yoakam) who figures out from the symptoms what he was poisoned with, and there is only one way to fend off its deadly affects - Adrenaline. And that’s only temporary.

So, Chev starts pumping up the adrenaline any way he can, while trying to find an antidote. He’s also hell-bent on vengeance and goes after Verona (with henchmen getting in his way at every turn trying to finish the job the poison currently isn’t). Of course, this puts his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart) in danger as well.

Of course, all of this triggers a crime spree and drags in most of the West Coast underworld players - who are less-than-pleased about being put in the spotlight of news coverage. Chev is being hunted by crime lords and law enforcement alike. (One of The Crowgrrl’s favorite scenes was when a car went sideways up a shopping mall escalator. Unbelievable!) This movie was action-packed until the very last frame! Granted, there was plenty of blood spilt - enough that it could’ve fulfilled the goals of a few Red Cross blood drives!

Instead of a menu to get to special features, this ambitious DVD’s gimmick is an animated pop-up video interface that guides viewers through them without actually leaving the movie. These features include exclusive interviews, never-before-seen footage, alternate camera angles and so on. There’s even a "family friendly" option that eliminates all the expletives. (But with all the blood and gore, sex, and drug usage, why bother removing the language?! This is definitely not a movie for the kiddies!)

* New on DVD - Bridge to Teribithia, The Abandoned, Animaniacs Vols. 1 - 3, Bloodhound Vampire Gigolo Vol. 2, Bloodmoon, Exorcist Chronicles, Fire Serpent, The Mysterious Origins of Man: UFO TV, Old Hag, Ocean’s Deadliest, Pinky & The Brain Vols. 1 - 3, Prison of the Psychotic Damned, To Kill A Killer, H.P. Lovecraft’s The Tomb, Peaceful Warrior, Dead Silence, Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon, Demon Prince Enma Vol. 2, Famous Swordsman, Haunted Forest, Inuyasha: Vol. 55, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection 11, Naruto Vol. 13: Super Mario 3 The Complete Series, Twisted Sister: The Video Years, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie: Season 1, Visions Of Horror.

* Director and horror visionary Frazer Lee has made it onto the short-list of Top 12 Directors in the Myspace MyMovieMashUp contest with his excellent short film On Edge! The Crowgrrl urges readers to go there and vote for it! (You can find details in Frazer’s Myspace blog.

There are no scarier "monsters" than the human ones - the seemingly "normal" people you wouldn’t suspect of having the blackest of hearts, ones who look just like everyone else and (even worse) may be in positions of trust. Frazer explores just that in the chilling On Edge, starring Doug Bradley (best known as "Pinhead" from Hellraiser).

A trip to the dentist’s office is always scary, but never more so than after seeing On Edge! An impatient car salesman Peter Thurlow (Charlie Boorman) is in pain, and demands to see a dentist. Dr. Matthews (Doug Bradley) appears to usher him back to an exam room. But the seemingly kind and professional Dr. Matthews is definitely not what he seems, and Thurlow’s visit turns into an absolute nightmare! On Edge won the Best Short, Halloween Filmfest in Germany, and deservedly so!!!

* Upcoming movies that look like they may be good: The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, Beowulf, AVP2, Hotel Transylvania, The Mummy 3, Babylon A.D., The Wolfman (Benicio Del Toro), The Dark is Rising, Rogue, The Other Boleyn Girl, In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, War (ROGUE) , The Walker, We Own The Night, Valkyrie, Magneto, The Spirit, Nowhereland, Bangkok Dangerous.

* Now for the captivating Disc 3 from the Robin of Sherwood Set 1 (Acorn Media), special 5-disc DVD - containing the episodes: The Children of Israel, Lord of the Trees, and The Enchantment. This excellent series mixes sword & sorcery with familiar legends and gritty realistic visuals. The breathtaking results are absolutely Spellbinding!

In The Children of Israel, the Sheriff wants to avoid paying a debt to Jewish merchant Joshua de Talmont, whom he borrowed money from. He orders Sir Guy and his men to dress down like villagers and cause a riot in the Jewish community, killing Talbot in the melee. However, Sir Guy has designs on Talbot’s daughter, so warns the family so they can escape. As the family flees through Sherwood Forest, Sir Guy attempts to kidnap Talbot’s daughter (who refused his marriage proposal).

Lord of the Trees is very seeped in Pagan mysteries! During the "Time of the Blessing" harvest festival, no blood is allowed to be shed. This is especially so for Robin and his men, since Robin is considered Herne’s Son (Herne the Hunter being the Celtic god worshipped at this festival). Of course, since Sir Guy is Norman and doesn’t believe in the indiginous Pagan religions, he seizes the opportunity to hunt Robin and his men, hiring a ruthless group of Flemish mercenaries to join in the hunt. Robin has to find a way to protect not only the villagers that the thugs are attacking as well, but save his men (and Marion) and himself - without drawing a drop of blood while up against bloodthirsty foes!

The Enchantment has Robin falling helplessly under the spell of evil sorceress Lilith, who wants to steal Herne’s sacred Silver Arrow that’s in Robin’s safekeeping. Robin totally turns his back on his men and even Marion, acting like a puppet on a string under Lilith’s spells. Lilith intends to use the arrow to resurrect the evil Baron Simon De Beleme (who we first met in Robin Hood & The Sorcerer), then intends to kill Robin! Can Marion and Robin’s men figure out the reason for his sudden strange behavior? And more important - is there any way they can break the spell before it’s too late?!

The cast for the series includes Michael Praed as Robin of Loxley, Judi Trott as Lady Marion, Peter Llewellyn Williams as Much, Clive Mantle as Little John, Ray Winstone as Will Scarlet, Phil Rose as Friar Tuck, Mark Ryan as Nasir, Nickolas Grace as Robert de Rainault (The Sheriff of Nottingham), Robert Addie as Sir Guy of Gisburne, and John Abineri as Herne the Hunter.

This is a spiritual and magickal retelling of a timeless legend, yet one chock-full of adventure as well.

* Good vs. Wiivil wins inaugural Nintendo Film Festival! New York filmmaker wins $10,000 Prize and festival screening at Top of the Rock at the Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center

A film depicting Wii(TM) at the center of a cosmic battle between benevolent and malevolent forces earned top honors at the inaugural Nintendo Short Cuts Showcase. The open-call competition invited aspiring filmmakers to flex their creative skills by creating a three-to-five-minute Nintendo-themed video or film. New York-based filmmaker Jack Paccione Jr. wowed festival judges with his short featuring a hapless ice cream shop worker whose actions are controlled by dueling Wii Remotes(TM).

The 10 finalists can be viewed here , where visitors continue to vote for their favorites. Each of the nearly 200 Nintendo Short Cuts entries from across the nation was judged on its originality, creativity and uniqueness. Filmmakers were required only to make their entries Nintendo-themed in some way. Clips included everything from mockumentaries and love stories to animated tributes and wild live-action parodies.

"The enthusiastic response to the Short Cuts Showcase proves that users' love for Nintendo characters and culture extends far beyond their game systems," says Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who served as a contest judge. "Fostering creativity has always been a huge part of the Nintendo experience. Nintendo fans are some of the most passionate and imaginative people on the planet, so it was no surprise to see such a wealth of inspired submissions."

Additional judges included David Kwok, senior program director for the

Tribeca Film Festival, and Lew Harris, editorial director of Movies.com.

"There was a great pool of finalists," Kwok says. "It's amazing to see people be so creative in such a short period of time. It shows in the work that the filmmakers had a fun time making them as well and I'm sure visitors to the Tribeca Drive-In Short Film Series at Top of the Rock will enjoy them as much as I did."

"I was impressed not just by the quality of the films but also by the different ways the participants chose to represent the games themselves, from film noir to Zelda re-created with humans," Harris said. "A tremendous amount of originality."

As the best of the bunch, Good vs. Wiivil will be screened along with the second- and third-place winners as part of the Tribeca Drive-In(TM) Short Film Series at Top of the Rock(TM), at the Observation Deck at Rockefeller Center.

Director Paccione also will receive a $10,000 cash prize toward his next film,

a Wii system, a Nintendo DS(TM) Lite and Nintendo games. Paccione also receives a "power lunch" with Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff. Runners-up in the competition included Second Prize winner Marc Duddleson of Monroe, N.C., whose animated Koopa Force short sets the stage for an epic Mario(TM)-based battle in the form of a movie trailer. Christopher Preksta of Pittsburgh took Third Prize for The Nintendo Office, incorporating a host of classic Nintendo characters into what life might be like at Nintendo HQ. Both Duddleson and Preksta will be awarded a Wii and a Wii game. Seven additional finalists will receive a Nintendo DS Lite and a DS game. They are:
-- The Blue Light Zone: Eye of the Mii-holder by Will D'Angelo of
Las Vegas
-- The Legend of Zelda: The Missing Link by Eric Esteb of Seattle
-- The Killing of a No Good Goomba by Cole Evans of Austin, Texas
-- Pretendo by Joshua Mills of Jamestown, N.C.
-- All My Systems by Lee Terwilliger of Lackawanna, N.Y.
-- Nintendo News Network by Adam Stackhouse of Williamsburg, Va.
-- The Last Wii by Sean Schleifer of Sterling, Va.

* New Game Releases that might be fun: Resident Evil 4, Transformers: The Game, Transformers: Autobots, Transformers: Decepticons, The Darkness, Grim Grimoire, Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix, Horsez, Marvel Trading Card Game, Nervous Brickdown, Pokemon Battle Revolution, Ratatouille.

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* Marjorie M. Liu’s Eye of Heaven (Leisure Paranormal Romance) is another enchanting installment of the Dirk & Steele paranormal detective agency storyline, but holds its own as a stand-alone even if you’re unfamiliar with the other books in this excellent series.

One of Dirk & Steele’s agents, Blue Perrineau, is being blackmailed by his detestable megalomaniac father to find his half brother Daniel. The brothers had never met, but both harbor the same hatred for their patriarch, and Daniel doesn’t want to be found. But the elder Perrineau has the goods on all the paranormal agents and threatens to expose their abilities publicly if Blue doesn’t cooperate.

Iris McGillis is a star circus performer with an uncanny close connection with her big cats. They’re more like Family than trainer and wild animals. There is a reason for that - she’s a shape-shifter - a were-leopard. She thinks she and her mother are the only two with this ability, and tries desperately to hide and control it.

Coincidentally, Blue’s brother Daniel is working as a performer in the same circus that Iris is. Blue ends up being quite smitten with her, and although there is initial animosity between him and his brother, he actually grows to like Daniel and tries to find another way to protect both the Agency and his brother as well.

Meanwhile, an obsessive fan keeps sending flowers to Iris, with love notes included that are written on human flesh. This psychopath turns out to be a very wealthy crime lord, who uses his thugs to kidnap Iris. Worse? The psychopath knows her secret!

Blue and Daniel temporarily put aside their own family problems and put their lives on the line to hunt this dangerous and well-protected psychopath to get Iris back.

This is an excellently told tale, a wild thrill ride full of danger, intrigue, and red hot romance.

* In the UK, Darren Shan’s Blood Beast -- book 5 of The Demonata - went on sale on June 4th and quickly shot to the top of the Children's Bestsellers chart!!! It has been Number One for two weeks in a row, selling almost 70% more books than the #2 book in each week!!! In its first week, it was also #5 on the overall UK hardback fiction chart!!!

Blood Beast also was the #1 bestselling children's book in Ireland in June, and it has been selling like hotcakes online too. It was the #1 children's bestseller on Play.com, and #3 on Amazon.co.uk (the top two spots on the Amazon site are held by the two different editions of "Harry Potter 7"). It remained in the overall Top 20 chart (including adult books) for more than a couple of weeks -- the highest position that I saw it reach was #11 -- and has been in the Children's Top 10 chart for a month.

Darren’s publishers in the UK, HarperCollins, have created a movie-style trailer for Blood Beast, which they're using to generate interest in the book. It's pretty cool, featuring some text from the book, video images and nice, creepy music!! The video will be posted to a number of sites, including Google Video and YouTube. (The video quality isn't great on YouTube, but it's OK.) This is the first time the Shan camp done something like this, so leave a comment to let them know what you think.

* In Marvel Comics news - After crushing Black Blot of the Inhumans and Iron Man (even in his "invincible" Hulkbuster armor) in World War Hulk #1, the Green King is ready to take out his pent-up anger on the next line of Earth defense-the Avengers and Ghost Rider!

In Avengers: The Initiative #4, the Superhuman Armed Forces step up to the challenge of the Hulk and his Warbound, but do they have what it takes to defeat the Emerald Giant who smashed the Armored Avenger? These young heroes have trained with Yellowjacket, War Machine, and the Thing, but their preparation might not be enough to halt an angry force of nature. And Hardball may be hiding a secret that could alter the course of the entire war! Renowned writer Dan Slott and fan-favorite artist Stefano Caselli bring you another exhilarating chapter of the World War Hulk saga.

Johnny Blaze convinces the ruthless Ghost Rider into taking a break from hunting down the avatars of Lucifer to battle the Hulk and save innocent lives. Ghost Rider can take on the Devil himself, but the Hulk may prove to be more than a match for ol’ Flamehead! Who will survive this no-holds-barred showdown - the Spirit of Vengeance or the rampaging Hulk? Fan favorites Daniel Way and Javier Saltares reveal the suspenseful conclusion of this grudge match in Ghost Rider #13!

With every tie-in to World War Hulk selling out at Diamond (though copies may be available at the retail level), and continued mainstream interest in this summer blockbuster, Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on these two newest World War Hulk tie-ins. The Hulk has already destroyed two of the Illuminati, so pick up Avengers: The Initiative #4 and Ghost Rider #13 to see who-if anyone-survives after the Incredible Hulk thrashes the Marvel Universe even further!
AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #4 (MAY072126)
Written by DAN SLOTT
Penciled by STEFANO CASELLI
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
On Sale -7/18/07

GHOST RIDER #13 (MAY072127)
Written by DANIEL WAY
Penciled by JAVIER SALTARES
Cover by GABRIELLE DELL’OTTO
On Sale -7/18/07

* Flip Flippen delivers a life-changing and honest course in The Flip Side (Springboard Press) - a book that guides you through identifying then breaking free of personal constraints and behaviors holding you back from success.

The first step is identifying what your own personal constraints are, and Flip takes you by the hand and leads you through a step-by-step process to do just that. He even personifies the Top 10 Personal Constraints for readers, giving them cute nicknames like "Bulletproof" or "Ostriches" or "Bulldozers" or "Marshmallows" and so on, then goes in-depth to look at each one, giving examples and behaviors common to those constraints.

Then, he guides us through ways to make changes once we’ve identified what is holding us back and pushes us towards being the best we can be and achieving success and happiness along with it. Along the way, we’re graced with personal insights from his own life and experiences.

Flip heads The Flippen Group, one of the fastest-growing corporate training companies in the U.S. and largest educational trainer in North America. He has worked with everyone from children in classrooms to nationally known celebrities to NASCAR and executives of such corporations such as ITT.

This book can change your life if you are honest with yourself and follow the steps. Become the best you can be, and achieve your goals!

* 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?"

Wanna know how to eat healthier? Make sure you’re putting the best foods in your body? The Crowgrrl recommends checking out his books Eating for Beauty and The Sunfood Diet Success System, or better yet – catch one of his lectures or retreats! (And don’t forget to check out www.rawfood.com for products like raw cacao and yummy vanilla beans!)

* 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:

here

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 #23 is 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: Vampire Hunter D 7: Mysterious Journey To the North Sea Part 1 by Hideyuki Kikuchi, Kitty Takes A Holiday by Carrie Vaughn, Tattered Souls edited by Frank J. Hutton, Natural Cures "They" Don’t Want You To Know About by Kevin Trudeau, an English translation of "The Kalevala", "Mind of the Raven: Investigations & Adventures With Wolf-Birds" by Bernd Heinrich, "How To Buy, Sell, & Profit on eBay" by Adam Ginsberg, "Teach Yourself Portuguese" by Manuela Cook, Living Language: Portuguese (Complete Course), Rick Steve’s Portuguese Phrase Book and Dictionary, "Norwegian In 10 Minutes A Day’ [Amazon Links 74 - 83]

OTHER NEWS:

* INSERT CONTENT HERE

* THE GOTHIC OCCULT EMPORIUM IS NOW OPEN AND READY FOR BUSINESS! This unique store is like an online Shopping Mall to serve all your Gothic, Metaphysical, Occult, Musical needs AND MORE. Truly a magickal place to shop where you can fulfill some of your wishes and dreams.

You’ll find clothing, jewelry, footwear, medieval weaponry, exquisite chalices, Egyptian artifacts, Dragons, Gargoyles, Music, and much, much more! New items are constantly being added, so check back frequently! ENJOY!

* The Crowgrrl has a Myspace Blog! Keep even more up to date by checking it out! It’s at: http://www.myspace.com/crowgrrl or more directly at: http://blog.myspace.com/crowgrrl

* The Crowgrrl highly recommends that readers check out the website Bazaar Bizarre for freakish deviations on fluffy conceptions. Great online place to shop for fun and unusual items (and you can do some gift shopping there as well!)

* 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.

Also Exclusively for the crowgrrl's readers you can get your own FREE quart of Body Balance. Go to this website http://www.lifeforcefamily.com Then put in this special redeption code 20485805.

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 recently tried to take care of an in-grown toenail 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!

The information provided at this site has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration, and is for educational purposes only. It is not intended as a diagnosis, treatment, or prescription for any disease. Please consult your physician for advice.

* 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!

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