Crowgrrrl's Perch 08-26-07

CROWGRRL’S PERCH 08-26-07

By Athena Schaffer aka The Crowgrrl

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

Spotlight: MALEVOLENT CREATION, AFTER FOREVER, APOSTOLUM!

CROWGRRL’S SPOTLIGHT - MALEVOLENT CREATION!

* With Doomsday X being heralded as the "fastest and most diverse Malevolent Creation album yet", you can bet The Crowgrrl wasted no time loading this puppy into the CD player. And I was NOT disappointed - this 10th addition to Malevolent Creation’s uncompromising discography does indeed deliver the goods.

With a main base in Florida (although the band members are actually scattered throughout the East Coast), Malevolent Creation are: frontman Bret Hoffman, guitarists Jon Rubin and Phil Fasciana, bassist Jason Blachowicz, and drummer Dave Culross.

The band is getting ready to bring this ferocious apocalyptic assault to live audiences. The Crowgrrl caught up with Bret by phone to find out more.

The new album is the fastest and most diverse album that Malevolent Creation has ever done?

Oh, yeah! I think it’s pretty much like all the old albums combined. You can hear a lot of the other albums in there. Also it’s got its own kind of feel to it, too.

OK. How did the songwriting process differ from your previous albums?

It was pretty much the same as the last couple, except that Phil, Jon, and Jason wrote a lot of the music down in Florida, and then they’d send me CD’s when they’d recorded the stuff, then I’d work on lyrics up where I live in Niagara Falls.

Same thing with Dave - they’d send him some songs and he’d work out the drums. Then we all just came down here and practiced a bit, went into the studio and got it done.

Living so far apart, how do you guys get together to practice? How often? What are the logistics?

We’re pretty spread out! Phil and Jay are in South Florida, Jon Rubin’s in Virginia, Dave’s in Long Island, and I’m in Niagara Falls. We’re kind-of spread out! But we’ve been playing music for so long that if we have to do a tour or record, we get together for a week or two. It all gels pretty good.

Do you guys get together over the internet at all?

Some of the guys do. I really don’t. I just do things the old-fashioned way - just mail me up a cassette or a cd, and I just listen to it and work on it like that. Directly through a boom box or something.

How did you guys talk Mick Thompson into a guest appearance on Deliver My Enemy?

He’s a long-time friend of the band. He’s a good friend of mine and Phil’s and Dave’s. He’s a fan of Malevolent Creation from way back before Slipknot and stuff. He’s a big Death Metalhead. Dave talks to him a lot. I internet e-mail with him a lot, and the same with Phil.

It kind-of just came about. I think Dave brought it up, and he was into it, so it just kind of happened like that.

The lyrics to Bioterror weren’t included in your booklet. Why not?

I have no idea why that happened. I just found out about it a couple of days ago myself. I don’t know what the mix up was there because they got all the lyrics. That was a song that Jay wrote, but still I did all the lyrics - we had e-mailed all the lyrics to Nuclear Blast. So someone screwed up. I don’t know what the problem was. Someone dropped the ball on that one.

What were some of your inspirations behind Unleash Hell?

I remember watching that movie Gladiator, and I just liked that part where they were getting ready to go to war. I liked the phrasing of that: "Unleash Hell". Just kill everything in your path. I kind-of like the way that rang.

OK. Any video plans for any of the songs?

Nuclear Blast is talking to us about doing a video. We’ve talked about it but we’re waiting to see what happens. Right now we’re trying to get tour stuff going and all that. But there’s definitely talk on the table about doing a video. We’re just trying to figure out a song to do and how we want to go about doing it.

Which song would be your pick for a video?

I don’t know. That’s a tough one! There’s a couple of songs we could do. We talked about doing Deliver My Enemy - we’ve gotten a lot of feedback on that song, it’s catchy and stuff and it’s got a chorus in it where we say something at the same time over and over for once. Most of our songs don’t have any choruses like that.

There’s probably a few songs that might be picked, but we’re still kicking everything around right now really.

Any personal favorite songs?

I like Strength In Numbers, Upon Their Cross, Cauterize. I like Jon’s instrumental, Prelude To Doomsday. I like Deliver My Enemy, too.

Are you adding any of these to the live set list?

Oh yeah. Definitely. We’re doing a U.S. tour - I think that’s going to be in September. They’re still trying to put that together. The previous attempts fell apart twice. We’re talking about getting songs together. We’re probably going to do like 4 or 5 from the new album.

You’re doing some of the European festivals?

Actually, we’re doing a couple festivals and a couple of regular shows. It all depends on one more thing that I’m not too sure about. But as far as I know now, we’re definitely going to be doing a couple festivals in Europe.

What about this Bestial Legion show in Hollywood?

The Elite Deathfest? Yeah, we’re doing that, too, in the middle of August.

The album has a really eye-catching cover. Any stories behind the cover art?

He’s a friend of our bass player Jay. Jay knows him. It’s the guy who worked on a lot of the special FX for the Harry Potter movies and stuff. I like it because it’s really colorful but it’s brutal, and still it catches your eye.

What is your live show going to be like this time around? How are you changing it up from your previous tours?

I think really it’s like the last European tour. It just feels like there’s a lot more energy on the stage right now. Everyone’s really going sick and stuff. There’s just going to be a lot of aggression, a lot of energy going on. It’s raw, we play the music better than on the album and we kick everyone’s ass.

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

Yeah, I got a PSP. I play Tiger Woods’ Golf and NHL Hockey on it. This time around I’m bringing my laptop out so I could take care of stuff on that end, too. So we find things to do. We try to not drink so much anymore because you don’t put on as good a show if you’re drinking that much every day.

We still have our buzz but we just try to find other things to do during the day.

OK. Any long-form DVD plans? Are you filming any of the shows?

Right now we’re actually working on putting a DVD together. We’ve got one of our friends who lives in South Florida - he’s a long time friend of the band, and he has this really big library full of everything from like videos from the late ‘Eighties up, and old pictures. Right now he’s collecting - he’s going around and finding other people who have lost songs and stuff. He’s going through all that and putting stuff together.

We’ll be doing some live footage probably on the next tour. We hope to get something pretty decent out. We’re trying to get some bonus tracks, we’ve recorded some of the Stillborn stuff with better production.

Very cool! What kind of merch are you bringing out this time around?

I hope we have a lot more shirts this time - different designs. We’re working on getting some cool designs for our older albums and stuff like that. We should have a good line up of merchandise.

How hands-on are you guys with your website and Myspace page and stuff? Do you do that or have someone do it for you?

Our drummer’s wife does the Myspace page for Malevolent. Everyone else has our own individual ones. We’re on there pretty regularly. I haven’t actually been on for a few weeks because I’ve been busy doing a lot of other things, but I’ve finally got my card for the laptop so I’ll be out there.

Pretty much, everyone does their own thing, and Dave’s wife takes care of the Myspace page.

OK. You also have another band, Down The Drain?

Oh, yeah, here in Buffalo. We’ve got an album, Dying Inside, which comes out in September. I’m not sure of the date. It’s more of like a hard core edge to that band. It’s not really Death Metal. It’s got a little more of the Old School Hard Core with a little bit of the more aggressive metal thrown in there.

It’s just a lot of fun to play with those guys. It’s really laid back and we just have a lot of fun playing. We get to practice a lot. When I’m living up in the Falls, I get to practice with that band. They’re really good guys, so I wouldn’t leave them out in a lurch when I’m back with Malevolent. So I’m just trying to handle doing both bands, that’s all.

Yeah, that can be a juggling act!

It’s a little pain in the ass, but it’s all good in the end. Obviously I want to continue doing both bands, so I’m a little busy but it’s worth it to me.

So is Down the Drain going to do any touring to promote that album?

Yeah, there’s talk about doing some things. I might have a very busy Fall and Winter coming up! Probably a very busy Fall, Winter, and Spring. Malevolent is going to try to get some festivals next Summer in Europe.

There’s the Malevolent tour of the U.S. this September, and we’re trying to book a U.S. tour and maybe some Canada for Down The Drain, that will probably be more in the Winter time.

Canada in winter? Shouldn’t you do that when it’s warmer?

I live in Niagara Falls, so I’m pretty used to the cold. It doesn’t make it any easier, just a little more used to it.

True, true. What have I not asked that you want to tell Perch readers?

I just hope that they’ll really enjoy this album. I don’t think we’ve lost any aggressiveness. I think if anything it’s gotten more aggressive.

And I really hope they come out to the shows we’ll be putting on. The songs will sound even better than on the album. I just hope they really enjoy the album and really enjoy the live shows.

SECOND SPOTLIGHT - AFTER FOREVER!

* After Forever are celebrating their Tenth Anniversary in a big way indeed - a new eponymous album on a new label: Nuclear Blast. The band has always forged an ambitious new musical path, experimenting with blending different Metal subgenres and adding Classical elements as well. Each previous album before this had it’s own flavor, its own personality. Now all of these flavors are combined into one delicious treat indeed.

You can check out videos for the songs Equally Destructive, Energize Me, and a live version of Transitory.

Hailing from Holland, After Forever are: frontwoman Floor Jansen, lead guitarist/vocalist Sander Gommans, guitarist Bas Maas, drummer Andre Borgman, bassist Luukvan Gerven, and keyboardist Joost Van Den Broek.

The band is currently appearing on the summer European festivals, and will begin a headlining tour after that, first in Europe, and then the U.S. starting with the prestigious (and already sold out) Prog Power festival in Atlanta on October 5 & 6.

You guys have a very unique sound that blurs different Metal subgenres. How did you come up with it?

Sander: It’s cool that you mentioned that. We mingle a lot of styles also because we listen to a lot of genres and different styles.

Since we started our first album already with all kinds of influences, it was kind of natural to continue with that. We can use a lot of freedom in our songs, which is cool.

You incorporated a real orchestra into your sound?

Floor: Yep, we did. It’s the Symphonic Orchestra of Prague.

How do you recreate that sound live?

Floor: Well, we would have things like the orchestra and we also have choirs that we would have travel along with us if that was possible both financially and practically. But these things run along on a hard disc. So everything’s live but these things. They are impossible things.

Sander: But we can also play a lot of those songs - we have a very good keyboard player who can play a lot of these parts in different ways. So, there are a lot of possibilities to play these songs because you don’t necessarily need to have everything on a hard disc all the time. But we normally use one live.

OK. How does the songwriting process work for you guys?

Sander: Normally, Joost, the keyboard player and I (I play guitar), we start with writing the instrumental stuff for the basic shape of the song. We work it out a little bit then we play it for Floor, let her listen to it, and she makes all the vocal melodies and the lyrics.

Most of the time the three of us work the song out completely and make a pre-production and play it for the rest of the band. With the rest of the band we make it sound like After Forever.

Floor: We finalize it.

Sander: Exactly! At this time all the little details are being shaped and then the song is ready.

OK. You had some guest appearances on this album?

Floor: Yep. We had Jeff Waters from Annihilator on the track De-Energized, and Doro Pesch from Warlock singing along on Who I Am.

Cool! What was it like singing along with her?

Floor: We didn’t do the recording together. I wrote the melodies and the lyrics for Who I Am, and thought that it would be very, very cool to have her on that track. We wanted to make this crossover between her style of Metal and of ours. And of course the combination of our voices.

She’s one of the first women in this genre! Although her style is so different than ours, we thought it would be cool to make the crossover, and so did she. She was very enthusiastic about the idea. So we sent her the track, she sang on it and sent it back to us. We were very happy with that.

She did sing along with us at our CD Release Party in Holland That was awesome! She was in the scene when I was still wearing diapers. Being onstage with somebody who is almost like a living legend almost was just so awesome! She’s half my size - I’m 183 meters - I’m a tall girl - and she’s a small woman. We just stood next to each other and sing together and create that sound together was so awesome.

And Jeff Waters is one of Sander’s personal favorites. He’s a big fan! So I think he should tell the Jeff Waters story.

Sander: Well, concerning Jeff Waters, I think it was amazing how willing he was to cooperate. I have been a fan for a long time. He is like a guitar hero. It was quite an honor to work with somebody like him.

What I think was really cool was the guitar solos he played were typical Jeff Waters stuff. You can really recognize his sound - the melodies he played are recognized from some other songs of Annihilator. It was a very great honor!

Very cool! The song Dreamflight was very complex. What were some of the inspirations behind that one?

Sander: Certainly that song Metropolis from Dream Theater’s Images and Words - that was a song actually we all loved. Joost and I were listening to that song before we wrote this song.

We wanted to write a more challenging song in a complex way but with structure that was catchy elements. I think in Metropolis Part 1 have these elements, so that was one of the inspirations.

Most of all I think we were actually inspired by ourselves this time because this song had all the separate influences we’ve used throughout the albums. Actually a lot of our previous songs also inspired us to write that song instrumentally. I’m not sure what inspirations Floor had when she was working on the vocals.

Floor: Well, I wanted to include all the elements of the instrumental parts. I also wanted to put my vocal capacities in there. I can go from Pop to Opera. I wanted to see if I could squeeze all these things in there. That was a challenge.

The whole song was kind-of like a story in itself. The music was a story, so I also wanted the lyrics to be a story - a storytelling kind of theme. It’s like "I welcome you into my dream." It’s like I’m going into my dream world.

It’s like I welcome the awake version of myself into my dream world. It’s like, "Step in." This is you but then there’s the subconscious dream in you. The "awake me" in the story is like, "What the Hell is going on?!" My subconscious self was taking over like it does during your dreams.

You can do all kinds of things in your dreams. That’s been fascinating me for many years now. It’s a source of inspiration for more songs. It’s so funny. You can fly. You can be a man if you’re a woman or the other way around, and it’s all normal. All these kinds of things I think are fascinating. I thought I’d take people along on a musical dream.

One of my favorite tracks was Equally Destructive. That had a bit of a scary edge to it. What were some of your inspirations behind that one?

Sander: Actually, I don’t know if you know for example the new Europe album. Do you know that one?

Not really, but I’m familiar with their earlier stuff.

Sander: OK. Well, the new stuff is far more modern . It sounds modern, it sounds more big. I think it’s very Rock & Roll, but also it has a kind of Industrial edge. I think that might be what you thought of with the "darker" element.

We tried to make a song that was still Metal, that would still sound heavy but have some sounds that are a little bit creepy or at least different than the rest of the songs. But we were greatly inspired by the new album by Europe. It was a cool song to write because it inspired the part after that. It was a very logical song to write.

Floor: Lyric-wise, it kind of fit into the whole environmental thing - the global awareness of us treating our planet in the wrong way and polluting our environment. That’s all something that I’ve found since I was a child. I have always been into Nature and stuff. I’ve always done my share of treating the environment as well as possible.

In the past few years many bad environmental things have happened like the Tsunami. When something like that happens, it’s the ultimate proof that us humans are definitely not in charge of our environment. Nature will do what it wants. When there’s a volcano eruption or a tsunami or an earthquake - having stuff like that we’re all like, "Oh my god! How can this happen?" It’s Nature. And Nature is in charge of us. Nature is overwhelmingly big and it does its own thing.

There are people who want to control it, or people who think there’s some god - that we’re being punished by god. Entire tribes think that - people all over the world. What I tend to think is yes, maybe all that is true. But aren’t we equally destructive?! That’s what it kind of comes down to. The things that are happening around us, we are equally or maybe even worse.

Definitely! Very cool song! I love that song! Transitory was another excellent stand-out. What were some of its inspirations?

Sander: That’s kind-of a difficult thing - Transitory is a song that’s more reactive; yeah maybe it’s a little bit Thrash Metal and Aggressive Metal. We are a pretty free-form band but still a very aggressive band when it comes to some of the songs. Transitory is one of the songs based in the more Metal side of After Forever.

Floor: Yeah. And lyric-wise it’s about things in Life being Transitory. It’s kind-of a double theme. On one side I believe that when something really bad happens in someone’s life, you become stronger than you thought. There are people who - let’s say your parents are being murdered. Or you’re in the tsunami and everything around you is being wiped away. Or you’re in the middle of a war. Horrible things like that. If you literally survive it then mentally you’ll learn to survive it. Somehow people do that. Traumatized people do function and still live their lives after that. When you think of it, it’s like, "How can they do that?!"

I think people are stronger than they think very often. It’s also, on the other hand, everything is so transitory. Everything is so - you can lose it. Having situations like that are proof that things can slip away so easily. That awareness is what Transitory’s all about.

What are each of your personal favorite songs on the album?

Sander: Well, for me it’s obviously all the songs. We didn’t put any songs on the album that we didn’t think was good. But for me, I like the more extreme songs. I like De-Energized and Transitory. And songs like Dreamflight are very special songs.

Floor: I have a hard time choosing favorites as well because I consider each song as one of my babies. They’re all our creation. You put everything you have into each one of them.

But, yeah, I like the more personal ones - the ones that have the most of my personality and emotions. It would be Cry With A Smile. I love that song! And of the heavier stuff, it would definitely be Transitory and Discord. I also have a special thing for Dreamflight - that’s one of the ultimate songs on this album. There’s not one favorite, but those are the ones that really stick out for me.

Which ones are you going to be including in your live set?

Sander: Well, actually, we play most of the songs, but we focus on the more aggressive stuff, of course. That works out really well live. We don’t play the last song, Empty Memories.

Floor: Yeah, it’s not a live song. It’s not really suitable for that. The problem is, this is our 5th full-length album - granted, we’re talking it’s a luxury problem that we’re facing - but you have a show time depending on whether it’s a festival or a support show or a headliner show - sometimes your time is somewhat limited. You have to choose from 5 albums!

But when we get to do a headlining set like an hour and a half or longer, we’ll definitely play most of the new songs.

You have a video already for Equally Destructive?

Floor: The one on Youtube, you mean?

Sander: We have a videoclip for Equally Destructive that you will be seeing. We have a video for Discord, the first song, and we have a video for De-Energized. So, there are 3 professional videos from this album so far. And there was one made by a fan that’s being played on Youtube.

That’s the one from the Monsters Of Rock festival?

Floor: No, that’s one I made myself, actually. We like to keep in touch with our fans and keep them as much inside with who we are and what we do. So, we take our camera along with us now again. It’s really easy to make a short film like that yourself. That’s just something I made.

But we have an official videoclip of Energize Me, and there’s a live video coming up for Discord. Then there’s a video made by a fan we don’t know of who made a visual impression of the subject of Equally Destructive. And that’s on Youtube. If you go on Youtube and type in "Equally Destructive", there is this amazing videoclip with literally visualizations of the lyrics of it. It’s been watched by an amazing amount of people. It’s like a little online hit.

Some of the stuff you’ve been filming yourself…are you going to compile it for a DVD or anything?

Floor: Well, we have like 10 years’ worth of material. We’re very eager to make a live DVD - like filming a show and making a whole DVD of it. Then we would have so many extra materials. So that’s like in the pipelines.

About your fans - you’re holding a party for them on August 26?

Floor: Yeah, we have our fan club meeting. In Holland we have a fan club. Together with them we organize meetings for people who are members of the fan club. Now we’re going to barbeque and go hiking or something. It’s really funny. It’s not Metal at all.

We really want to have contact with our fans. We really want to know what they think of our music. We want to interact with them. For many years now we’ve had a Dutch fan club. We’ve had fan clubs all over the world, but in Holland it’s more easy to reach the fans.

But, yeah, we’re going to have a meeting with them and have a bite together.

Very cool! There are a lot of fan clubs for a lot of bands, but most bands don’t get that involved.

Floor: Yeah, but I think that’s maybe partially because they’ve been existing so long. They started after we released our first album. This goes back to 2000 when we were this very small teenage band with their first record. Then already we had this fan club. Together we grew. We’ve always stayed in touch with each other and found it important.

Holland is so small. We do a lot of shows - quite a remarkable amount of shows playing for partially the same people all the time. Because they are fans, they come out and watch us. There are a bunch of people who come out to every show to see us. These people are very committed to our band. We’d like to keep that alive and give something back. With them always coming to see us, we feel we want to come and see them.

Very cool! Floor, you posted something on the website about videogames, but it was all in Dutch. I recognized the names of the games like Kill Zone and Metal Gear Solid but have no idea what that was about.

Floor: I was singing songs from videogames with a symphonic orchestra. It was like the symphonic orchestra of Holland which is a huge genre. They played music from videogames. I’m not a gamer so I had no idea what kind of music is actually going on in videogames. This is a project that was done in December of last year already. It was a December concert. And now they’re going to be on a festival where we’re also going to play with After Forever called Lowlands. It’s like one of THE festivals in Holland! It’s very, very cool.

I didn’t put it on in English because it is in Holland. But I did give a short overall information about what it is.

Yeah. I didn’t know if you were announcing you were putting songs in videogames or what, because a lot of bands are doing that now.

Floor: Well, we’re actually working on - we’re hoping to get something like that done. I think personally we all think our music would be very suitable for videogames. I think that would be awesome!

Yeah, it would! OK, so if you’re not a gamer, what do you do in your "down time" on the road?

Sander: I think we play a lot of games.

Floor: But I’m not a gamer.

Sander: Floor is not a gamer but she gets to be asked to sing game music.

Floor: There’s a jealous person sitting next to me!

Sander: Of course! We are gamers, but especially live. It’s fun. None of the band members are huge fans of games. Andre the drummer and Bas the other guitar player, they sometimes play computer games. But on the road it’s really cool because it’s a real competition. It’s a matter of life or death.

Floor: I’m not part of that. I don’t enjoy it. I’m not so good at it either, so I’m not competition to them anyway. So I read or listen to music or hang out with people. I usually read a lot. Now I have - since the dawn of the laptop, if there’s internet, I’m always happy.

Sander, you had to sit out some shows last Spring?

Sander: I had to take a break, and it’s almost over. It was because I combined too many things. I’ve been a teacher for 6 or 7 years, and the band was getting bigger and bigger. I didn’t get to choose between them because I wanted to keep both for as long as possible. Then I realized I have to stop teaching because I was just too busy.

When you have a chance to take it a little bit more easy, that’s the point where you really realize you have too busy a schedule. So the best thing to do was to take a break, fully recover, and get back into the band because obviously we have a new label, Nuclear Blast. They do a great job!

It just doesn’t make any sense when you withhold your strength trying to get things done. Especially not for me. So I had to work on myself and had to make sure that I’ll be returning to the band 100%. That will happen soon. So it was all for a good cause.

What age kids were you teaching?

Sander: Between 11 and 16, 17.

What subjects?

Sander: I’ve been studying to become an art teacher. But I didn’t only teach art. I also taught the Dutch language and the French language. But my main subject was art.

Very cool! I home-school my own 15 year old, so I can relate. Floor, you teach, too? Music and performance?

Floor: Yes. I’m more like a vocal teacher in music. After that I started giving singing lessons and I put up some courses, and one of them is a performing course where I have singers who mostly want to work on their performances. And also some singing courses, and courses about lyric writing. Yeah. That’s what I did next to the band. I still do that if I get a chance.

Sometimes it’s a little bit hard, though, also for my students because I say, "I can teach you this week and this week and that week, but then I’ll be gone for a week, then we’ll have a few more weeks to go again." But it works.

OK. You’ve got a European tour in August?

Floor: No, for September. In August we’ll still do some festivals. It’s still really like the festival season in Europe. We’ve been doing festivals in June, July, and August. In September we’ll start our European tour

Headlining?

Floor: Yes. It’s going to be our headlining tour.

You’re also going to be at ProgPower USA?

Floor: Yeah. That’s actually the beginning of our North American tour. It’s quite a nice start to be able to headline a festival like that. They’re so completely enthusiastic about After Forever, and they’re giving us this huge opportunity. After October 6 in Atlanta, we’re going to continue our North American conquest, which is going to be our first North American tour - partially headlining, then we’re doing 3 shows with Sonata Arctica. And we’re doing the last show in New York with Overkill. So, that’s very cool! Then we’ll fly to Mexico, then do our South American tour.

OK. Any Asian tour plans?

Floor: Not yet, no.

This is your fifth album, so why did you name it after the band? Usually bands do that with their first album.

Sander: Yeah, but since we had already 4 full length albums and 1 mini-album, we had a lot of different styles. I think every album we made was slightly different. For instance, Invisible Circles was very progressive, and Decipher was very melodic. We try to experiment a lot.

This album, when we started writing the songs, it seemed to come together; all these styles seemed to come together into one album. Back then, we didn’t actually really realize it. When we heard the album when it was mixed, when we recorded the songs, then we thought, "Yeah. This is the summary of what we did." It was so obvious that this album deserves to have our title on it.

If you want to introduce somebody to our style, to all the different styles we play, then After Forever is the best album to give to that person first because it has all the styles. That’s why it’s called After Forever.

OK. Do you have the cover art ready for it yet?

Sander: Yeah, it’s ready. It will be released in September in America.

Floor: It’s already been released in Europe. It’s been out on the market since April.

So, the U.S. release will be the same cover?

Floor: Yeah. It’s the same album, but it’s also going to have an extra DVD on it here in the ‘States. It’s going to be released the 25TH of September.

Cool! You consider your producer Gordon your "unofficial seventh band member"?

Sander: Yeah, I guess you can say it like that because we are a band - especially in this style a lot of bands work very in an extreme way together with the producer. A lot of producers even write music and arrangements for the bands and stuff like that.

We never did that. We always write everything ourselves. Even our arrangements are made by our keyboard player. We didn’t feel the need to work that closely with the producer because the songs were good. The songs were partially ready.

But we wanted to have this album sound like a Metal band. We wanted to have a decent album. Because we have so many influences and because we used an orchestra and things like that. We had to have a producer who is a good mixer, but certainly also somebody who could make choices when you write a song and when you record it.

Gordon didn’t really write songs or whatever, but he was much into the music and into the band that he made some very important decisions sound-wise and also structure-wise. Without him, the album wouldn’t have sounded like it does now. He made a product in my opinion that was not only nationally a great product but also internationally. That was our goal.

Very cool! Sander, you collect Masters of the Universe merch?

Sander: Yeah, that’s true. Actually I’ve bought a lot of toys. On Wednesday we went to some collectibles store here in L.A. Nuclear Blast organized that. Especially for me, it was really cool!

America seems to be a He-Man-loving country.

Yeah, a lot of us here are all about Collectibles!

Sander: Yeah! I’m thinking about moving here just for He-Man. That made a big impression.

You’ll have to check out some of the comic book conventions, too. There’s always a lot of merch at those events.

Sander: Yep! I’ve obviously read a lot about that already at websites, but I’ve never actually been there. Whenever I have the chance, I will do that.

You’ll love those conventions! OK, what have I not asked that either of you want to tell Perch readers?

Sander: First of all, I want to say the questions were really cool. I think what would be cool to say to the fans - especially in America - is they have to know that we respect our fans a lot, especially the ones that have followed us for a longer time because it’s really difficult to get the old albums here. I know that a lot of the fans had to import them and that cost a lot of money obviously. Still, we really have some dedicated fans.

I want to let them know that we know how hard it is to follow a band like us, and that it’s extremely appreciated that they’re still there. We’ll be coming for them.

Floor: I hope that everybody will enjoy the new album, and we hope to meet everybody soon at the concerts in October.

THIRD SPOTLIGHT - APOSTOLUM!

* Italy’s ApostoluM have recently signed with Moribund Cult records, and wasted no time in unleashing their first unholy offering - Anedonia, a 5-song EP. But you seriously get your money’s worth; the intro and outro are as long as most full-length songs, and the full songs clock in from over 8 to over 10 minutes in length!

ApostoluM frames morose lyrics laced with themes of desolation and paranoia over an ebony tapestry of beautiful melodies that blur the lines between the Black Metal and Doom Metal subgenres.

ApostoluM are: vocalist Meba, guitarist Matteo Galimberti, bassist/guitarist Stone, and drummer Roberto Tortini.

The dark atmosphere permeating from the speakers is so thick you can cut it with a knife! This journey through the desolate, nightmarish dreamscape begins with Prologue (Maya Ixtalo), a caliginous keyboard-based instrumental. Dark Deep Waters indeed has an oceanic vibe, as many musical twists as a boat caught in storm-ravaged waves behind growling demonic vox. The tortured, schizophrenic Anxiety Attack has deliciously dark guitars behind manic, corrosive vocals. There is a fantastic cover of Katatonia’s Brave. The EP is then rounded out by the melancholic outro, Epilogue (Days of Crucifiction).

The Crowgrrl recently caught up with Stone via e-mail to find out more.

How did the deal with Moribund Cult come about?

Hails, the past winter I sent the recording to Moribund, without any pretension of an answer; a little time later Odin contacted me and Anedonia came to life.

Was Anedonia already set to go when you signed?

Yes, Anedonia was ready, it only needed a label to have the possibility to live.

Wasn't it supposed to be half of a Split cd with another band? What happened?

In the beginning Anedonia was planned to be part of a Split with the Italian Sleeping Village, but the project failed not for our fault. I consider Sleeping Village an excellent project of decadent music, I hope it may have a chance for a larger visibility. Mortifer is a great artist, but in my point of view he isn't a serious person.

Who does most of the songwriting for the band?

I write the main tracks of the songs, than I send them to Matteo Galimberti that improves them by his ingenious insights; than everything is sent to Roberto Tortini for the drums parts and in the end comes the vocal parts of Meba. We rarely rehearse together, everything is created in this way.

Who is Lisy Lunaria, and why does she write your lyrics?

Lisy Lunaria (Elisa Stefanoni) is my girlfriend, she totally understands my emotions, and we are facing together the anxiety discomfort that fills our life day by day. I consider Elisa's work in perfect harmony with the music of Anedonia. Elisa is a singer and musician, she is involved in several musical project: Evenoire (www.evenoire.it) is an excellent gothic rock reality of our country.

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

The music comes first, than Lisy listens to the songs and writes the lyrics. The songwriting of Anedonia has been really long and winding, because of my mental and physical state, I had many problems in that period, and Anedonia has been for me a way to find an outlet to my problems.

Who does the keyboards in Prologue (Maya Ixtab)? (I think I heard some elsewhere on the EP as well).

Prologue is taken from Nekromantik 2 by Jorg Buttgereit; when I watched that film, the soundtrack touched me and I decided to use this wonderful music in homage to Mark Reeder, the author of the song.

What does Maya Ixtab mean?

Ixtab was the Maya goddess of suicide; she was portrayed as dangling from the sky with a rope round her neck. It was believed that suicides went directly to paradise.

Why did you decide to cover Katatonia's Brave?

Brave is a monumental song, I always wanted to cover that song that will always stay written in the pages of melancholic music .

Dark, Deep Waters and Anxiety Attack are very complex musically. Why do you write such long, epic pieces?

Long and complex like the human mind, our songs are our fears, our phobias our disappointment. A long way towards the liberation of our mind from paranoia.

Any personal favorite songs on Anedonia?

Anxiety Attack is my favourite one, music and lyrics embrace themselves perfectly.

Are you already working on material for a full length album?

Yes, I'm working on new tracks for our new work that will be the first full length of ApostoluM; they will be very melancholic songs, I'm working a lot on the atmospheres and I'm sure that our next work will be really dark and depressive.

Any stories behind the cover art?

The cover is a really famous painting by Caspar David Friedrich, "Monk by the sea" (1809-10); it expresses perfectly the solitude, the monk is in front of his "Dark Deep waters", the waters where we shelter and we meditate, where nobody can look for us, where we think, where the war against our paranoia has a beginning and also an end.

How do these songs translate live?

These songs are my emotions, my bad feelings, a way to liberate myself from the discomfort, the solitude, the depression: "Anxiety Attack" talk about a real anxiety attack, when you have such a bad attack you feel an inner suffocating that block up every state of mood, it strangles your breath, it take possession of your body and there is nothing you can do.

Everyone in their life may experience bad sensations, these are mine.

What is your live show like?

We have never played live, maybe we'll organize some shows when our next work will be ready.

Any tour plans?

Music is our main plan, to express our inner life by music.

Any video plans for any songs from Anedonia?

No, no one.

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

Thanks for the interview!! Visit us on www.myspace.com/apostolum.

MUSIC

* Filii Nigrantium Infernalium who have left a bloody eviscerated offering on a Satanic altar with their new album "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 creating a sound distinctly their own. The musicianship is awesome throughout, with agonized vox and stellar fretwork over rock-solid foundations.

The critically acclaimed Metal masterpiece had been next to impossible to find in the U.S. previously, but now "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" IS AVAILABLE IN THE U.S. EXCLUSIVELY in the Gothic Occult Emporium! (www.gothic-occult-emporium.com)Grab a copy Here!

The import of "Fellatrix Discordia Pantokrator" was the # 1 cd in the 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 in The Crowgrrl’s Perch and also received glowing reviews in such publications as Terrorizer, The Metal Observer, Rockezine, Metal Review, Metal Coven, Ultimatemetal, Feindesland, and Gothic Beauty Magazine. Now Metal fans across the U.S. can enjoy this relentless Metal assault as well.

The band also deliver a killer live show, appearing at such festivals as Steel Warriors Rebellion and Barroselas Metalfest, and sharing the stage with the likes of Bolt Thrower, Rotting Christ, Ancient Rites, Hate Eternal, and others.

FNI are: Belathauzer (vocals/guitar), Andremon (guitar/backing vocals), Helregni (bass), and Gorg (drums). Check out their Myspace page at www.myspace.com/fninfernalium.

* CRADLE OF FILTH vocalist Dani Filth records the theme song for Dario Argento’s latest horror epic Mother of Tears: The Third Mother. The band is also confirmed to headline Bam Margera’s Viva La Bands 2007 Tour.

Grammy- nominated, British shock rockers Cradle Of Filth have delved towards a new level of darkness. Vocalist Dani Filth recently recorded vocals for the theme song to Dario Argento’s latest horror/suspense opus Mother of Tears: The Third Mother. The song, entitled "(She’s) The Mother of Tears" was composed by Claudio Simonetti. Simonetti, a veritable legend among horror film scores, is also noted for penning music to such classics as Dawn of the Dead, Suspiria, Phenomena and several episodes of the popular series Masters of Horror.

Says Dani Filth on his experience working on the film, "'It was a real honor to be asked to work alongside Claudio Simonetti from Goblin, especially as it’s the last of a trilogy for a Dario Argento movie. The whole project has been very exciting to say the least. I received word that my services were being demanded of and I was especially delighted to have been given free reign with the vocals, both musically and lyrically, preserving the lush choir that forms the backbone of the chorus. The result is a four-minute homage to the last and most dangerous in a trio of powerful witches whose aim is to enslave the world. Having finished the song (which is intended for the film’s credits), I am now tense with anticipation for seeing the how the two work together... the film apparently rocks!"

Mother of Tears: The Third Mother concludes Argento’s cult trilogy that began with Suspiria (1977) and Inferno (1980) and revolves around the resurrection of demonic witches in Rome. The film stars Asia Argento (Land of the Dead), Udo Kier (Grindhouse, Rob Zombie’s Halloween), and Cristian Solimeno (Footballers’ Wives) and is slated for a late autumn worldwide release. It is rumored that this film may also be the last directorial outing for Dario Argento, whose horror career has spanned almost forty years and included such cult films as Deep Red, Demons and Tenebrae. This experience continues Cradle of Filth’s growing trend of offering dark music to films and making the films rather darker. The band’s previous soundtrack credits include Underworld: Evolution, Alone In The Dark, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Ginger Snaps, and Faust.

Cradle of Filth is also spreading the darkness over North America this autumn as they are confirmed to headline Bam Margera’s Viva La Bands 2007 North American Tour, presented by Rockstar Energy Drink. Cradle of Filth is touring alongside some of Bam Margera’s other favorite acts, including CKY, GWAR and up-and-comers Vains of Jenna.

Says the band’s outspoken frontman Dani Filth, "The Viva La Band's tour promises to be a great musical outing for Cradle, mixing it up with a very eclectic bunch of bands. Bam is a good friend of ours, and when we heard that he was putting together a tour that would hit all the major markets in America, we just jumped at the chance to be a part of his lunatic vision. Where CKY supply the heavy melodic groove and GWAR supply the theatrics, Cradle Of Filth as headliners will give the American audience the proverbial kick in the bollocks they so rightly deserve. Fall will never be the same again! Viva the damned!"

Cradle of Filth is known for its singular stage show and is matched only by its indomitable, dark, heavy, ‘gothic romance’ rock music, which has been brilliantly displayed on the latest Roadrunner Records release Thornography. The album, which firmly planted itself on the Billboard Top 100 Chart upon its release shocked and awed America, as Entertainment Weekly deemed it "excellent" and "gruesomely themed." Thornography’s brooding energy was accentuated by guest vocals by goth rock hero Ville Vallejo of H.I.M. and Doug Bradley (Pinhead of the Hellraiser film series and longtime Cradle of Filth collaborator). A special edition of Thornography, featuring brand new music and video footage is currently in the works for an early October release.

Cradle of Filth’s sinister music and outrageous stage show is primed to be the ideal backdrop to the imminent Halloween season. With the infamous Bam Margera behind the band and an arsenal of ghoulish mischief in tow, autumn is sure to be anything but ordinary! Tour dates include:
Sept. 19, 2007 - Quebec City, QC, Can.; Capitole Theatre (COF solo)
Sept. 20, 2007 - Montreal, QC, Can.; Metropolis (COF solo)
Sept. 21, 2007 - Hartford, CT; Webster Theatre (COF solo)
Sept. 22, 2007 - Burlington, VT; Higher Ground (COF solo)
Sept. 24, 2007 - Baltimore, MD; Ram’s Head Live
Sept. 25, 2007 - Sayreville, NJ; Starland Ballroom
Sept. 26, 2007 - Norfolk, VA; Norva
Sept. 28, 2007 - Myrtle Beach, SC; House of Blues
Sept. 29, 2007 - Atlanta, GA; Roxy Theatre (COF solo)
Sept. 30, 2007 - Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Revolution
Oct. 01, 2007 - Orlando, FL; House of Blues
Oct. 02, 2007 - St. Petersburg, FL; Jannus Landing
Oct. 04, 2007 - Dallas, TX; House of Blues
Oct. 05, 2007 - Houston, TX; Verizon Wireless
Oct. 06, 2007 - San Antonio, TX; Sunset Station
Oct. 08, 2007 - Tempe, AZ; Marquee
Oct. 09, 2007 - Las Vegas, NV; The Joint
Oct. 11, 2007 - San Diego, CA; Soma
Oct. 12, 2007 - Los Angeles, CA; The Wiltem Theater
Oct. 13, 2007 - San Francisco, CA; The Warfield
Oct. 15, 2007 - Salt Lake City, UT; Salt Air
Oct. 16, 2007 - Denver, CO; The Fillmore
Oct. 18, 2007 - Tulsa, OK; Cain’s
Oct. 19, 2007 - St. Louis, MO; Pop’s
Oct. 20, 2007 - Kansas City, MO; Beaumont
Oct. 21, 2007 - Minneapolis, MN; Myth
Oct. 23, 2007 - Chicago, IL; Congress
Oct. 24, 2007 - Milwaukee, WI; Eagles Ballroom
Oct. 26, 2007 - Columbus, OH; LC Pavilion
Oct. 27, 2007 - Cleveland, OH; Agora Ballroom
Oct. 28, 2007 - Detroit, MI; Harpo’s
Oct. 30, 2007 - Toronto, ON, Can; The Docks
Oct. 31, 2007 - Philadelphia, PA; Electric Factory
Nov. 02, 2007 - New York, NY; Roseland Ballroom
Nov. 03, 2007 - Worcester, MA; The Palladium

* Secret arcane rites are resurrected in the latest offering from Mithras: Behind The Shadows Lie Madness (Candlelight Records). Their unique blend of Death, Doom, and Black Metal reaches almost mythic proportions.

Hailing from the U.K., Mithras is: Rayner Coss (oratory/bass) and Leon Macey (guitars/drums). And just like an ancient Persian solar deity, this duo does indeed shine light into the shadows to show us the madness buried there with their newest release.

The Journey And The Forsaken sets an ominous mood as this instrumental leads us into the album. To Fall From The Heavens is a fiery meteoric crash indeed. Under The Three Spheres balances demonic vox against beautiful, haunting fretwork, the whole having an other-worldly feel. A proverbial blitzkrieg ushers in Into The Black Holes Of Oblivion.

The instrumental When The Light Fades Away is timeless, with a theatrical feel. Frightening dangers hide Behind The Shadows, a chilling journey indeed. Awaken Man & Stone combines Fire & Ice into a powerful creation strong enough to wake the dead. The Twisted Tower conjures up images of the Tower card from the Tarot.

To Where The Sun Never Leaves is absolutely blinding. Nice ethereal instrumental The Beacon Beckons is a mesmeric siren’s call. Thrown Upon The Waves unleashes Nature’s own fury. We’re then sent on a cosmic instrumental journey Into The Unknown.

* Finland's Insomnium and Swallow the Sun have embarked on their first American tour alongside Sweden's Katatonia and Scar Symmetry for the anticipated all-European "Live Consternation" tour. Both bands are enjoying growing American audiences and are excited to meet with their American fan base.

Insomnium are expected to perform selections from their current/third album Above the Weeping World. "This is by far the best Insomnium album", says vocalist/bassist Niilo Sevänen. "It is the first time we feel we really succeeded in the studio. As a band we are very happy with the end result." Formed in 1997, Insomnium recorded two demos before signing with Candlelight Records.

Hope is the third album from rising doom/death band Swallow the Sun. Featuring a guest appearance by Katatonia vocalist Jonas Renske the album charted in the band's home country of Finland upon its release. The tour comes as the band's profile is rising internationally.

Tour dates include:
Sept. 06, 2007 - New York, NY; BB King’s Blues Club
Sept. 07, 2007 - Bedford, NH; Mark’s Showplace
Sept. 08, 2007 - Poughkeepsie, NY; Chance Theater
Sept. 09, 2007 - Montreal, QU; Le Medley
Sept. 10, 2007 - Quebec City, QU; Imperial de Quebec
Sept. 11, 2007 - Toronto, ON; The Funhaus
Sept. 12, 2007 - Cleveland, OH; Peabody’s
Sept. 13, 2007 - Detroit, MI; I-Rock
Sept. 14, 2007 - Mokena, IL; The Pearl Room
Sept. 15, 2007 - St. Paul, MN; Station 4
Sept. 17, 2007 - Denver, CO; Bluebird Theater
Sept. 19, 2007 - West Hollywood, CA; Whiskey-A-Go-Go
Sept. 20, 2007 - Corona, CA; Showcase Theater
Sept. 21, 2007 - Phoenix, AZ, Brickhouse
Sept. 22, 2007 - Albuquerque, NM; Launchpad
Sept. 24, 2007 - San Antonio, TX; White Rabbit
Sept. 25, 2007 - Ft. Worth, TX; Ridglea Theater
Sept. 26, 2007 - Houston, TX; Scout Bar

* Deadsy’s sophomore release, Phantasmagore (Immortal Records) serves up a delightful midnight snack of delicious Gothic Rock and Punk elements behind deep, dark vocals.

California-based Deadsy is the brainchild of Phillip Exeter Blue (which is actually the stage name for Elijah Blue Allman) who performs vocals, guitar and synths, and movie-score writer Alec Pure kicking the skins. They’re joined by Dr. Nner with synths and vocals, Carlton Megalodon on synths and guitars, and on the album, Creature played bass. He’s since made an amicable split with the band, and Jens Funke now holds the bass slot.

Considered as much an "art project" as a band, each member represents an "element" that drives society, each associated with a color. Blue, of course, is Exeter Blue, representing "Academia". Yellow is "Science and Medicine", and is Dr. Nner’s realm. Red, of course, is "Horror", personified by Jens Funke. Carlton Megalodon holds the Gray banner, representing "War". And Alec Pure has the Green archetype of "Leisure".

After touring in support of this album (including a stint on the Family Values Tour) the band is currently taking a short break so Elijah can work on his solo album and Alec can concentrate on movie scores. (Which includes the upcoming The Good Night staring Gwyneth Paltrow, Penelope Cruz, and Danny Devito.

In the meantime, we have this excellent album to enjoy to tide us over until they hit the road or head back into the studio. And trust me, this will do the job! Razor Love is indeed razor sharp as it reminds you to live life to its fullest. Carrying Over has a romantic vibe. Babes In The Abyss Rocks, Old School Punk-style!

Deadsy puts their own unique stamp on the Rolling Stones classic Paint It Black. Better Than You Know is as reflective as a black mirror, about hidden emotions. Book Of Black Dreams carries the listener through nightmarish, ethereal and dangerous astral planes. The complex, chaotic Asura shares a feeling of helplessness as the world spins out of control.

The Last Story Ever is a morose ballad. The dreamlike, psychedelic Phantasmagore is heavy on the keyboards and FX. The aggressive Time delivers philosophical lyrics with a frantic edge. Lyrically philosophic, Health & Theory reminds me just a bit of Faith No More.

* Sweden’s Dark Tranquillity are one of the founders of the Gothenburg Sound. And they continue to push the musical envelope with their latest release, Fiction. (Century Media).

The Crowgrrl loves the dark strength and myriad of moods in the opener, Nothing To No One. Poignant melodies are layered over pulverizing crunches and profound lyrics in The Lesser Faith. Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive) is morbidly dangerous!

The intense Blind At Heart is driven by anger born of frustration. Icipher is as beautifully dangerous as a moonlit snowstorm. The tormented Empty Me has nothing left to give when someone asks for forgiveness.

In contrast to the gravelly vox on the rest of the album, Misery’s Crown has refreshing clean vox over fantastic melodies! I love the catchy Focus Shift that melds furious lyrics with impressive musicianship. The melodically beautiful The Mundane And The Magic featured guest female vox giving the song a Beauty & The Beast quality.

* Within Temptation have long been known for weaving lush, enchanted Symphonic Gothic Metal landscapes. They’ve taken us one step further on their gorgeous new album The Heart of Everything (Roadrunner Records) by taking us to the enchanted realm of the Shards, the lands within the role-playing videogame The Chronicles of the Spellborn. (In fact, the songs The Howling and Sounds of Freedom were recorded as promotional material for the videogame.)

Hailing from the Netherlands, Within Temptation are: vocalist Sharon den Adel, Robert Westerholt on electric guitar, keyboardist Martin Spierenburg, drummer Stephen van Haestrect, bassist Jeroen van Veen, and Ruud Jolie on mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, and backing vocals on Frozen and The Cross.

Although the overall storyline on the album follows star-crossed lovers, a human and a daevi, on first listen and before exploring the worlds of the Shards - the enchanted realm where the game is set - I thought it was a bittersweet lycanthropic love story…possibly because of the opening track, The Howling, which reminded me of the Whitley Strieber book of the same name and subsequent films. And you know what? The tale totally works under that concept as well. You really don’t have to know anything about this game to be able to follow the tragic tale of forbidden love.

Before we get into the "meat" of the album itself, here’s a bit of a The Chronicles of the Spellborn 101 Class - As mentioned before, this is set in a world called The Shards. There are two races battling for supremecy - the Daevi are descendants of demons, and were the ruling class until the humans who served them decided to rebel. There are also orcs and trolls and beings like that in the Shards, but they’re not playable characters.

The Heart of Everything opens with a ferocious start by the frenzied The Howling. Life of Agony’s Keith Caputo makes a guest appearance in What Have You Done, an empassioned duet about a dangerous love affair. The mournful Frozen shows one of the lovers running away in an attempt to protect her man. The extremely theatrical Our Solemn Hour shows the lover finding her despite her attempts to push him away, he’s blinded to the danger they’ve put themselves in.

The Heart of Everything is like a desperate attempt to escape from those hunting them. Hand of Sorrow is anguished soul-searching: "he’s torn between his honor and the true love of his life" - one extremely powerful track! The Cross is a tearful plea for his embrace. The gripping Final Destination shows the lovers escaping Death, but there is still danger all around them.

All I Need is beautifully romantic! The Truth Behind The Rose is a search for what is truly sacred, especially when one race says the other will be denied an afterlife paradise simply for being born into the race they are. Forgiven is painful loss! There is also an extended version of What Have You Done.

* Rock Warrior THOR is ready to shake the very halls of Valhalla itself from the stage of DANTES (http://danteslive.com/venue.html) in Portland,Oregon, on Sept. 14. Joining THOR

will be THE PUNK GROUP and another band TBA.

See a clip of The Rock Warrior THOR’s triumphant headlining performance from the Northwest Metalfest on Youtube! The clip also features rabid fan reaction at both the Metalfest (including fans that trekked over 3,000 miles to see THOR!) and current 2007 tour.

This clip is also whipping up hurricane-force energy in preparation for the new album release for the thunderous, epic musical quest THOR is preparing to take listeners on with "INTO THE NOISE"!

"INTO THE NOISE is basically a concept album where the band goes on a journey to the center of the mind, of noise," said THOR. "They come across all these alternate characters and creatures like The Sound King. It’s a quest. Like in the song ‘Back For More’, it’s about coming back to rise up again and do battle again. Sometimes you have to retreat when you get overwhelmed or defeated, but then you regain your strength and go back in. So we’re heading back Into the Noise."

The new songs are already getting very positive responses as the band has been playing cuts from the album onstage.

This album will be a digital and cd release through SUDDEN DEATH RECORDS (SDR Records). JOE KEITHLEY, famous leader of the band DOA, is the president of the label and is very excited about the new recording saying, "It’s THOR’s best yet!"

In Portland, THOR will take the stage with JET STARSYSTEMS on bass, STEVE PRICE on lead guitar, ADAM RIDDLE on rhythm guitar, and BEN FRITH pounding the drums.

THOR also will continue to promote the albums "DEVASTATION OF MUSCULATION", "THOR AGAINST THE WORLD" and the DVD retrospective "AN-THOR-LOGY" released by SMOG VEIL RECORDS. THOR has long been a champion of environmental causes, before the industry as a whole jumped on the bandwagon with events such as the Live Earth series of concerts. THOR is very proud to be associated with SMOG VEIL - the label is currently converting to an all-Green, environmentally friendly office for its HQ.

Track listing for "Into The Noise" includes:

1) Warrior's Reprise
2) Into The Noise
3) Evil Twin
4) No Guts, No Glory
5) Escape Or Die
6) Fight For You
7) Sound King
8) If Tomorrow Never Comes
9) Forever & After
10) Back For More

"The song FOREVER AND AFTER is from a movie that’s been in the works for a long time," THOR shared. "I wrote the song back in 2002. It’s an acoustic number - you hear THOR sing acoustically which I don’t usually do. It’s for a movie coming out called ‘Forever & After’. It’s a sci-fi movie."

Videos are being filmed for the title track and the song "Evil Twin".

* 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:
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

* In an unprecedented move by Ozzfest organizers, DevilDriver was added mid-tour to fill in for Mondo Generator, who left the tour earlier this month. The band takes over the third co-headlining slot on the Second Stage, alongside Hatebreed and Behemoth! DevilDriver played on all remaining Ozzfest dates this summer. The band has also cancelled its previously-announced US tour with God Forbid.

Frontman Dez Fafara had this to say about the band’s addition to Ozzfest: "DevilDriver would like to thank Sharon , Ozzy, and the whole camp for thinking about us when a slot opened up. We’ve been having a great time, and the crowds have been killer. Thank you everybody for your support. We’re gonna bring the devastation all summer!"

In addition to their Ozzfest dates, DevilDriver’s brand-new CD, "The Last Kind Words" recently hit streets! Already having generated major buzz overseas, the album is set to explode across America .

DevilDriver has toiled endlessly to create a metallic masterpiece, partnering up with producer Jason Suecof (Trivium, God Forbid, Chimaira) to hone in on the essence of the band’s growing brutality. Marking their third Roadrunner release, "The Last Kind Words" focuses on structures and arrangement, painting a sinister yet palatable picture.

* Southern Lord artists’ music will be featured in the new Decaprio Film (11th Hour)!

Leonardo Dicaprio has hand picked songs by Southern Lord Recording artists: Khanate and Toadliqour for the soundtrack of his forthcoming film/documentary: "11th Hour". "The 11th Hour" is a documentary concerning the environmental crises caused by human actions and calls for restorative action through a reshaping of human activity. The Khanate track: "Torching Koroviev" (from their debut album) and Toadliquor track: "Charred" (from their album: "The Hortators Lament") can be heard during the opening montage over the main title early in the film. The "11th Hour" opened in LA and New York theaters on Aug. 17th.

* Black metal legends Dark Funeral will release their first-ever DVD set, "Attera Orbis Terrarum - Part 1," on October 15 through Regain Records. The two-disc set consists of three complete, professionally-filmed live shows and rare bonus footage.

The first show was filmed with seven cameras on March 12, 2005 in Katowic, Poland. The second was filmed the following March in Tilburg, The Netherlands with four cameras. The second disc starts off with a camera-shot show from March 2006 in Paris, followed by the video clip for "Atrum Regina" and previously unreleased amateur footage that chronicles Dark Funeral's entire career, including the very first, and now legendary, show in Oslo, Norway on May 4, 1994. The total combined running time for the two discs is nearly four hours.

"Besides the three professionally filmed shows, we wanted this first DVD to also serve as a historical, live documentation of our career with rare and previously unreleased footage," said band leader Lord Ahriman. "This is the first DVD in a series of two that we will be releasing from touring for 'Attera Totus Sanctus.' This first DVD focus on European shows, while the second DVD will focus on South America."

These shows capture Dark Funeral, a band known for being one of the most intense live acts, in their natural element - on stage slaying fans with their relentless brand of extreme metal.

The Dark Funeral website will be re-launched shortly to coincide with the release of "Attera Orbis Terrarum - Part 1." Regain Records recently re-released three records from the Swedish band's catalog - "The Secrets of the Black Arts," "Vobiscum Satanas," and "Diabolis Interium" - with bonus material.

The band will embark on a North American tour this fall, immediately followed by a short tour of Mexico. Tour dates include:
Oct. 09, 2007 - Allentown, PA; Crocodile Rock Café
Oct. 10, 2007 - West Springfield, VA; Jaxx
Oct. 11, 2007 - Hartford, CT; Webster Theatre
Oct. 12, 2007 - Poughkeepsie, NY; The Chance
Oct. 13, 2007 - Worcester, MA; The Palladium
Oct. 14, 2007 - New York, NY; BB King’s Blues Club
Oct. 15, 2007 - Quebec City, QUE; Imperial de Quebec
Oct. 16, 2007 - Montreal, QUE; Club Soda
Oct. 17, 2007 - Toronto, ONT; Opera House
Oct. 18, 2007 - Cleveland, OH; Peabody’s
Oct. 19, 2007 - Mokena, IL; Pearl Room
Oct. 20, 2007 - St. Paul, MN; Station 4
Oct. 21, 2007 - Lawrence, KS; The Bottleneck
Oct. 22, 2007 - Denver, CO; Bluebird Theater
Oct. 24, 2007 - Santa Ana, CA; Galaxy Theatre
Oct. 25, 2007 - West Hollywood, CA; House of Blues
Oct. 26, 2007 - Tempe, AZ; The Clubhouse
Oct. 27, 2007 - Tucson, AZ; The Rock
Oct. 28, 2007 - Albuquerque, NM; Launch Pad
Oct. 29, 2007 - San Antonio, TX; White Rabbit
Oct. 30, 2007 - Ft. Worth, TX; Ridglea Theater
Nov. 01, 2007 - Nashville, TN; The Muse
Nov. 02, 2007 - Detroit, MI; Harpo’s Concert Theatre
Nov. 03, 2007 - Louisville, KY; Uncle Pleasants
Nov. 07, 2007 - Sonora, MEX
Nov. 08, 2007 - Guadalajara, MEX
Nov. 09, 2007 - Monterrey, MEX
Nov. 10, 2007 - Mexico City, MEX

* Former Skid Row and Saigon Kick drummer Phil Varone bares his soul in Waking Up Dead. The expanded DVD edition via Demolition Records and MVD Entertainment Group is out now!

"My heart’s like an open book, for the whole world to read" goes the famous Motley Crue lyric. But few rockers have followed these words as closely as drummer Phil Varone, who over a four year period, allowed a thorough and no-holds-barred window into his personal life - the end result being the unflinching documentary on the ups and downs of rock n’ roll, ‘Waking Up Dead.’ Directed by Emmy Award winning journalist and filmmaker Fabio Jafet, the near hour and a half documentary was first released in 2005, and has now been issued as an expanded DVD, via Demolition Records and MVD Entertainment Group.

The way that the media often portrays rock stars is one of a dream-come-true existence. And while quite a few of Varone’s rock n’ roll dreams came true, it’s certainly not all champagne, caviar, and limos for a working musician, and Varone and Jafet pull no punches throughout ‘Waking Up Dead,’ as such topics as addiction, how to support your family on meager earnings, and business betrayal are all dissected and analyzed. While countless musicians have indulged in ‘the rock n’ roll lifestyle’ over the years, few have had the nerve to document it all as thoroughly as Varone does, which results in a head-on collision you just can’t turn away from…known as ‘Waking Up Dead.’

"Phil was incredibly brave and trustful to allow me to tell his story," explains Jafet. "The only way this movie could have been done was with all access and no censoring. I was not interested in doing a 'Behind The Music.' There was no point.

"What you get is a flick that truly encompasses sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll - times ten. "I didn’t want to make any ordinary documentary. I think most of them are flat and boring and carry the stigma of being called ‘documentary.’ I wanted to break the rules and make something that stood out visually and emotionally."

* Sweden’s Candlemass have unleashed a morbid dose of desolation with their new King of the Grey Island. This time around they’ve added the vocal talents of Robert Lowe from Solitude Aeternus, who fits this band like a glove! The song may not be a "concept album" in the true sense of the word, but all the songs are tied together with the theme of depression and suicide in modern society.

One of the fathers of the modern Doom Metal movement, Candlemass are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Besides the aforementioned newcomer Lowe, Candlemass are: lead guitarist Lars "Lasse" Johansson, guitarist Mats "Mappe" Björkman, bassist Leif Edling, and drummer Jan "Janne" Lindh.

King of the Grey Islands is ushered in with the stark, forsaken guitar solo Prologue. The strong yet tortured Emperor of the Void seems to invoke the album’s title character. Devil Seed is deliciously dark and demonic! (A Crowgrrl fave). I also love the crunching fretwork in the melancholic Of Stars And Smoke that reminds me just a little of Dio.

The fretwork steals the beams of moonlight in the excellent Demonia 6. By contrast, Destroyer is very doom-laden and simplistic. The menacing Man of Shadows gives the listener goosebumps!

Clearsight is a bit more upbeat, a stark contrast to the rest of the album (with a nice melodic break). The Opal City is morose, with a hint of an exotic flavor. I love the bass solo in Embracing the Styx, another Crowgrrl Fave on the album.

* On 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:

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

* 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):

* Horrorfind Weekend has become one of The Crowgrrl’s absolute favorite events! This "Scariest Show On Earth" is held twice a year - March and August - in the Baltimore, MD, area. I recently attended Horrorfind 8 a couple weeks ago, and it was AWESOME!

Rob Zombie’s new Halloween had a strong presence there this time around: many of the film’s stars - including Malcolm McDowell, Udo Kier, Scout Taylor Compton, Courtney Gains, Danielle Harris, Ken Foree, Sybil Danning, Kristina Klebe, Ezra Buzzington, Lew Temple, and Dee Wallace Stone - were all on-hand graciously signing autographs and chatting with fans.

Fear of Clowns 2 was also prominently featured in the Celebrities Room, building excitement for the movie’s World Premier in Baltimore later that very week. Producer/director/writer Kevin Kangas was there, as was actor Chris O’Brocki from the film.

Many other Crowgrrl Favorites were in that room as well, including Count Gore de Vol, Doug Bradley, Ernie Hudson, Michael Laimo, J.F.Gonzales, Jack Ketchum, Tom Woodruff Jr., and many others.

Out in the hallway, we encountered The Predator, great Baltimore comedian (with a dark side) and Goth DJ Dorian Grey, and a couple folks from one of my favorite local radio stations 98 Rock! The 98 Rock team was looking for someone looking like a vampire to interview with silly stereotypical vampire questions. Since (as many of you readers know) the Crowgrrl does indeed have real fangs, they grabbed me and my family. And we played it to the hilt! Too much fun! Questions like, "Why do vampires bite the neck instead of someone’s hand? You can grab a hand when someone offers to shake it." I responded, "You don’t know where that hand has been!" The whole hilarious interview was in that vein.

Need we mention the Vendor Room? Oh yes we do! The biggest threat to my budget I know of! And we talked to several about adding their products to the Gothic Occult Emporium! I was pleasantly surprised to see that Donna and Steve of Ego Likeness there! We also found a The Crow merch item that wasn’t already in my collection (what are the odds of that?!).

I was only there for one of the three days, and was more focused on meeting people and catching up with friends. So I missed some of the other stuff that was going on in this jam-packed day. There was the ever-important Costume Contest (that I really did want to attend! That’s one of my favorite events there!), an art show, author readings, film screenings, seminars, "Scaryoke" (OK, I would’ve sat that one out regardless), and a concert by Deviljoy.

Mark your calendars for next March and August, and keep checking the Horrorfind Weekend website to see what fun is in store next time!

* The Movie Mogul Fund recently launched - an exciting initiative sponsored by Panavision, Technicolor and many other industry greats to fund one feature film and one short film every 3 months. The public gets to decide which of the films will be made by backing their favorite and have the chance to get involved as "Movie Moguls" with Producer credits on the finished film!

Robber Baron Productions is pleased to announce that PRæY, a new horror project by writer/director Frazer Lee and renowned author Max Kinnings is one of the 8 feature films selected.

This is a fun way to get involved in the movie industry! The Crowgrrl highly recommends you check this out, get involved, and show support for PRæY!

* The excellent Pathfinder (20th Century Fox) is now out on DVD! The Crowgrrl highly recommends that readers grab a copy (or rent it at the very least!) This is the Legend of the Ghost Warrior.

A Wampanoag woman happens upon the hull of a Viking ship in early America (Vinland to the Vikings), 500 years before Columbus claimed discovery of the continent. The lone survivor she finds inside is a young boy, who she takes home to her village and adopts, despite the prophesied warning that he brings trouble with him. The boy, named Ghost by the tribe, is not only taught the skills of any growing young man of the tribe such as hunting and fighting, he still has a sword from his Viking forbears that he also trains himself with.

As he reaches adulthood. Ghost (Karl Urban) falls in love with Starfire (Moon Bloodgood) from a neighboring tribe, who is the daughter of a wise shaman known as Pathfinder. (Russell Means)

(One of the things Pathfinder teaches ghost is that, "There are two wolves fighting in each man’s heart. One is Love, the hotehr Hate." Which one wins? The one you feed the most.

Another Viking horde reaches landfall as Winter is giving way to Spring, and while Ghost is in the forest, they slaughter everyone in the village that adopted him - including his adopted mother and young sister. He races to warn Pathfinder as the Vikings pick up their trail after the tribes’ annual visit and follow. Ghost is forced to take the best of his training from both the Native American and Viking heritages, and combine them to become the savior of his adopted people.

Dark Horse has also released a graphic novel adaptation of this poignant and gripping tale.

Of course, the DVD is loaded with bonus features, including: Commentary by director Marcus Nispel, an On The Set documentary, the concept trailer, deleted scenes, and featurettes including The Beginning, The Stunts, The Shoot, etc.

* New releases in theaters that look interesting: Halloween, Death Sentence, War, The Bourne Ultimatum, Rush Hour 3, Stardust, The Invasion.

* Readers, you’ve GOT to check out one of the most fun sites on the internet (if you haven’t done so already - and regularly) - Count Gore’s Creature Feature! There’s always something new going on there every week!

This week Count Gore interviews Malcolm McDowell, the star of Rob Zombie’s Halloween on The Rack. There’s a review of this excellent new movie in The Crypt and an essay on the film by Prof. Griffin on The Gallows!

The Tombkeeper interviews author and web mistress Lisa Mannetti in The Vault, and reviews a magazine and two books in The Tomb.

Rock Savage has action heroes on the menu in The Dining Room. Your Sci-Fi Guy Mark Gross interviews Pat Priest (Marilyn Munster) in The Atrium. Yours Truly interviews After Forever down by The Moat and review their latest release in The Chamber.

It’s also Trivia Time with a great quiz and trivial film, Attack of the Giant Leeches in The Lab, and MUCH MORE!

* 300 (Warner) is another fantastic new DVD release that the Crowgrrl highly recommends! Although based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller of Sin City fame along with Lynn Varley (Dark Horse) , that graphic novel itself was based on one of the most intense yet inspiring last stands in history.

The Persian conquerer Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) had set his sites on including Greece - starting with the city-state of Sparta - into his empire. He sent a messenger to demand Sparta’s surrender in 480 B.C., and this messenger also arrogantly insulted Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey). Big mistake!

King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) made it very clear from that very moment where Sparta stands - and Sparta certainly wasn’t going to roll over and play dead to this warlord and his minions.

The Senate would take time debating whether to send troops to defend the city and ask for reinforcements from neighbors like Athens. And unbeknownst to most of the politicians, a traitor whose loyalties were with Xerxes was one of the most powerful and respected members of the Senate: Theron (Dominic West).

Meanwhile, King Leonidas gathered together 300 of his fiercest warriors, who were holding the mountain pass to prevent the Persians from getting to Sparta. They were joined for awhile by some Athenians, but they were a volunteer army, not raised from childbirth to be warriors like the Spartans. Many Athenians fell, and retreated to get reinforcements while the Spartans firmly held their ground.

Another traitor emerged - a hunchback who was refused admittance to King Leonidas’ elite force. He then offered his services to Xerxes, leading some of their forces into Sparta through another route and surrounding the courageous 300, who held the pass for 3 days with their very dying breaths. And Theron’s treachery was exposed, causing the Senate to now stand firmly with Queen Gorgo - too late to help the brave men who sacrificed themselves to save Sparta, but in time to save Sparta itself.

Now, what the movie didn’t show was the aftermath - the 300’s sacrifice was not in vain, as the annals of history show. Those 3 days were crucial in the grand scheme of things - it bought time for the rest of Greece to send forces by sea to destroy the Persian navy, causing Xerxes to run home with tail between his legs, and marked the end of the Greco-Persian war.

This brilliantly done film not only effectively brought history to life in a way you felt you were there, it was also jam-packed with intrigue, emotion, and of course plenty of Action, Blood, and Guts!

There were bonus features as well, including additional scenes, featurettes including: Frank Miller’s Vision Realized on Film, 300 Spartans - Fact or Fiction, and Who Were The Spartans. We also get to virtually go on the set behind the scenes with the cast an crew. There’s commentary by director Zack Snyder, and more!

* New on DVD -

All Creatures Great & Small - Season 7, The Lookout, NASA Collection Vol. 2, Stunt 101, Perfect Stranger, Ugly Betty: Complete First Season, Heroes Season 1, Return to Halloween Town, The Wind That Shakes The Barley, The Black Donnelly’s, Secret of the Cave, Stories of Lost Souls, Masked Rider the First, Legend of Zelda: Havoc in Hyrule, Super Mario Brothers King Koopa Katastrophe, Tsubasa Vol. 3, Samurai Jack, Naruto The Movie: Ninja Clash In The Land of Snow, Naruto Vol. 15, Aqua Team Hunger Force Colon Movie Film, 3 x 3 Eyes Vol. 2: Divine Demon, Doctor Strange, Gaogaigar King of Braves 4: Hammer of Heroes, Inuyasha Complete Movies Collection, Suzuka Vol. 3, Genshiken Complete Collection, Drunken Monkey, Toho Live Action Films, Utawarerumono Vol. 5: The Beast Within, Kissology Vol. 2, Rob Zombie Collector’s Set, SXSW Live 2007, Fracture, Vacancy, Acts of Death, Boris Karloff Collection, Christopher Lee Signature Collection, Cold Harvest, , Lon Chaney Jr. Signature Collection, Masters of Horror: Valerie On The Stairs, Masters of Horror: We All Scream For Ice Cream, Puzzlehead, Roger Corman Collection: Master of Low Budget, Savage Harvest 2: October Blood, Splatter Farm, Tales of Terror from Tokyo III Part 2, Vincent Price Signature Collection, Zoo, Beast, Borderline Cult, Night of the Sorcerers, Rising Dead, Confess, Dark Shadows: The Beginning, Demons & Devils 10 Movie Pack, Frankenstein Vs. The Creature from Blood Cove, ID, Kazuo Umezzs Horror Theater, Masters of Horror, The Outer Limits, Sci Fi 100 Movie Pack, Tomb of Terrors 50 Pack, Curse of the Wolf, Dead Men Walking, The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It, Minotaur, Wind Chill.

* One of the freshest new Comedy/Dramas to hit TV screens for the Fall 2006 season was Ugly Betty. Granted, the original reason I checked it out in the first place was because a "Crow"was involved - Eric Mabius who played "Alex Corvus" in The Crow 3: Salvation. Hey, I AM The Crowgrrl, after all. But I was pleasantly surprised in the show as a whole, and was hooked from the very first episode! Luckily, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has released the entire first season on a 6-disc DVD box set!

Adapted from a Colombian "telenovela", Executive Producer Salma Hayek delivers this "prime time soap" that will make you cry as much as it makes you laugh. Set at fictionary fashion magazine "Mode", this shows the superficial and backstabbing world of the fashion industry. Especially seen through the eyes of two "fish out of water", Betty Suarez, (America Ferrera) the title character, who was hired as the personal assistant of playboy Daniel Meade (the aforementioned Mabius) - and gets the position not because of her credential, but because Daniel’s father, publisher Bradford Meade (Alan Dale) sees her as the only female his son Daniel won’t be tempted to sleep with.

Despite odds where multiple people with their own agendas are trying to bring Daniel down - especially Wilhelmina Slater (Vanessa Williams) and her cronies Marc (Michael Urie) and Amanda (Becki Newton) - Betty’s warmth and intelligence shine through, making her invaluable to Daniel; and the two become a formidable team swimming against the sharks. With a sole ally in the mix - seamstress Christina (Ashley Jensen).

Disc 1 features the first 4 episodes of the season. With Episode 1, we’re introduced to Betty and her family, how she gets the job at Mode, how misguided Daniel tries to coerce her to quit. But how she shines through to save the day and salvage one of the magazine’s biggest advertising accounts. We meet all the characters who will be carrying us along with the strong currents of this river of a story. The second episode shows Betty getting a coveted photographer to work for the magazine by just being herself, a girl from Queens. But when Amanda tries to substitute for Betty at a lunch meeting, things go horribly wrong.

In episode 3, Betty takes "the book", the mark-up galleys that will be the final magazine, home for safekeeping, they end up getting stolen. And all opposing factions are hell-bent on getting finely manicured claws on that book! Episode 4 thickens the plot when Betty’s father has a hidden secret which is exposed when Betty tries to get his HMO to help with health problems. And back-stabbing gets so in full-swing it could almost be declared a spectator sport when Christina wants to clean the overflowing "Swag" out of the official company closet.

* Upcoming movies that look like they may be good: The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, 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, Saw V, Saw VI, Pirates of the Caribbean 4, Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead, Persepolis, Dracula Year Zero, Forbidden Kingdom, Dragon Wars.

* The Crowgrrl was channel surfing with my DirecTV a few weeks back, and stumbled upon an EXTREMELY amusing channel - now one of my favorites: G4! The Ninja Warrior competition was the first thing to grab my attention, and now I’m addicted to that show! And exploring more of their offerings, found they have plenty more fresh, fun stuff as well. X-Play not only has the latest news from the videogames world, but also some of the sassiest, entertaining reviews that are just as fun (if not more so) than the actual games themselves.

The channel features coverage of Gaming conventions and Comics conventions (the next best thing to being there), and has plenty of other enjoyable stuff like Attack of the Show, Anime Unleashed, Electric Playground and Cheat, (the latter giving tricks and tips to get the most out of your gaming experience) and tons more!

Check out their equally addictive website (link in the first paragraph) where there’s always something going on, and CHECK OUT THIS CHANNEL! It’s Uber-Fun!

* New Game Releases that might be fun: Dungeons & Dragons Tactics, Madden NFL 08, Bioshock, Dragoneers Aria, Ghost Recon Advance Warfighter 2, Blue Dragons, Carnival Games, Dynasty Warriors Gundam, Lair, Medieval II Kingdom, Metroid Prime 3 Corruption, Monster Hunter Freedom 2, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes, Stuntman Ignition, Tiger Woods PGA 08, Balls of Fury, Medal of Honor Airborne, Naruto Uzumaki Chronicles 2, Resident Evil: The Essentials, Sherlock Holmes the Awakened, Star Wars Empires at War.

IN PRINT:

* The Crowgrrl is ecstatic that Marvel Comics has resurrected the excellent Thor franchise! You betcha I snapped up the new Thor 2 the moment it hit the stands, and believe me, I was not disappointed!

Dr. Donald Blake has relocated to Oklahoma, where he finds "miles and miles of miles and miles". Perfect for his ulterior motives. He transforms into his alter-ego, the Thunder God Thor, and begins rebuilding Asgard itself after its destruction in Ragnarok!

Granted, just because there’s wide open space doesn’t mean there isn’t prior ownership of said land, and complications arising from that fact. And mundane weather tracking instruments and the meteorologists who interpret them are certainly perplexed about the storm activity confined to that area, and not moving with normal weather patterns.

And all the grandeur and riches of Asgard are a hollow victory until Thor can find a way to resurrect the souls of the other gods. How can he accomplish this task?!

The artwork is stunning in this edition, and the storyline addictive. I can’t wait until the next installment in this storyline!

* Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D series IS COMING TO MANGA! (About time, if you ask me!) Saiko Takaki will be doing the adaptations and illustrations for Digital Manga Publishing, and the first issue is scheduled to be released in November, 2007! Watch for it!

* The second installment in the fantastic Vampirates series, Vampirates: Tide of Terror [Amazon Link 123] by Justin Somper (Little, Brown) picks up where the previous installment [Amazon Link 124] left off - following the high seas adventure of the Tempest twins.

Sidorio had rejected the Vampirate code of ethics, and was exiled from the Vampirate boat. The rogue now plans to enlist a new crew to embark on a bloodthirsty rampage.

Connor is adjusting well to life as a pirate on the Diablo. However, one well-trained plan during a mission went horribly awry - the crew walked headlong into a trap. And resulted in the death of his best friend, Jez. While the crew held a wake for Jez at Ma Kettle’s Tavern, Cheng Li invites him to attend the Pirate Academy as her guest.

Connor is granted leave from the Diablo to visit the Academy, and Grace goes with him. He takes to the studies there like a fish to water, and thinks he also makes friends easily. He decides he wants to attend the school full time, but had signed a contract to serve on the Diablo.

Meanwhile, Grace is desperately trying to find a way back to the Vampirates ship, especially to Lorcan, who had saved her life. She gets a visit from one of the Vampirate crew, Darcy, via astral projection. Grace attempts to utilize this ability herself to return to Lorcan.

All these subplots eventually gel together after Sidorio manages to get a small crew together, and goes on a vicious attack.

No spoilers as to what happens, but this is one wild ride on very choppy seas indeed! It will definitely keep the adrenaline pumping.

* 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.

* 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, Naked Chocolate, 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!)

* Tattered Souls edited by Frank J. Hutton (Cutting Block Press) is a truly disturbing collection of short horror stories!

Jeff Crook takes us into the deepest heart of Africa with his The Monkey Skin Cloak, a tale of sorcery and were-creatures, and the horrors felt by skeptics who encounter the unbelievable. Other People by Richard Wright indeed fits the tattered souls title - a tenement where the different people in each apartment give in to inner demons and commit suicide in bizarre ways (with an inherent Seven Deadly Sins theme behind them).

Matt Wallace’s The End of Flesh shows a macabre future where a pandemic decimates meat sources, and cannibalism becomes a problem - especially for a detective trying to solve a high-profile murder.

M.E. Palmer’s Clipped Dirty Wings invokes an ancient Goddess, conjured by a homeless man’s mother to look over him - a man who has crossed gangsters and whose death is imminent. The totally sick Drool by Chris Reed takes us into the mind of a very demented pedophile-turned-murderer who thinks he hears "voices" coming out of wounds. Chris Ryan’s Terminal Condition is a bizarre tale where a police officer unwittingly and unwillingly becomes an Angel of Death.

Definitely NOT one for the Perch’s younger readers. But mature readers who really want a descent into tortured minds that will give you chills, be sure to check this one out!

* 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 #24 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: Kitty Takes A Holiday by Carrie Vaughn, Psychic Vampire Codex by Michelle Belanger, Marvel’s The Essential Thor Vol. 3, 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’

OTHER NEWS:

* 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!)

* 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!

You're enjoying the Perch! Keep up with the latest! The Only Way to Win Prizes! Join the Crowgrrl's Murder.
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