In Defense of Heavy Metal and Crowdfunding: Again We Bang Our Heads in Disagreement

Metal heads are a fickle lot. If there’s one thing we all know how to do well it is voice our opinions loudly in the hope that everyone around us will bend to our indomitable will. Whether we’re arguing the finer points of King Diamond’s “Abigail” versus “Them” or who can spew the most facts about how many band members a group had (reciting their names verbatim in chronological order). As newer trends rise within music and in the technological world around us, more arguments from within the scene rear their ugly ten-horned, seven heads like some monstrous dragon from a fantasy novel about a resurrected dead guy and whores. Lots and lots of whores... Anyhoo, crowdfunding is our latest pariah and boy are there a lot of strong opinions…and whores!

Let’s start off with what crowdfunding actually is for those who have heard the term, said it was stupid, then wandered away and listened to their bootlegged digital copy of Old Funeral. According to Wikipedia (it never lies…NEVER) it is “…is the collection of finance from backers—the ‘crowd’—to fund an initiative and usually occurs on Internet platforms.” So basically you ask for money from friends, family, and strangers with the hope that a certain monetary goal is reached in order to record, master, print, and distribute music. Some bands utilize crowdfunding for other purposes such as paying for a new tour van…

Or help finance tours which they otherwise could not have afforded.

What makes asking for cash through websites like Indiegogo or Kickstarter stick in people’s craws and make their stainless steel undergarments chafe? Is it because the platforms are gaining popularity and make the discussion between investor and investee impersonal? Perhaps these platforms have become intermediaries in an arena where do-it-yourself (DIY) truly meant cutting that third party out? Why is it that now, when the technology is there, in place, and proven successful are Hessians being such sticklers about asking for money? Even though online crowdfunding sources charge a percentage of what is raised, is it really that much different from asking your friends, family, strangers, or maybe even applying for a bank loan to help you out? Did you notice this entire paragraph is made up entirely of questions? Cool, huh?

Like a public corporation, a potential downside for the lazy musician in all of us is that crowdfunding holds a band responsible for releasing a product on time in order to satisfy its investors. Because that’s what the people who are contributing to your art are and they want to see a return on that investment. Not necessarily monetary but a finished product would be nice. Now that may sound intimidating to many musicians out there. Deadlines can be scary and goals…holy hell, goals are the worst! What successful artist ever made goals and stuck to them?

Believe it or not, there are a lot of bands who aren’t on labels or have mass distribution. Most labels nowadays do not support their roster as they did back before the Interwebs so artists have to be flexible and adjust with the times (unlike the record companies). With the increase in DIY recording and being able to make an album sound professional from the comforts of home, recording costs have been halved or taken out of the equation almost entirely. The real costs come with album art and design, what kind of media the music is printed on (vinyl, cd, etc…), distribution, and promotion.

Los Angeles-based Cobra Venom is one of many examples of a DIY band with no label support who exceeded their modest financial goals (twice) using crowdfunding. They released two projects and delivered what they promised to their fans. Black/Thrash band Vrawsche exceeded their goal as well, released an album, and even donated a portion of the additional funds back into their community. Why are these success stories horrific to Hessian purists? Is crowdfunding another version of “selling out” to Luddite metal heads? These bands made it clear to anybody who contributed money to their projects what they would receive based on donation level. Nothing else. Nada. This isn’t some Washington D.C. fundraiser where the rich press hands with other rich people and garner favors and back door deals. It’s about supporting music, not egos.

Like any other investment opportunity in the real world, crowdfunding can be risky and there are a few bad apples. If you donate $10 to a campaign, were guaranteed a copy of the music, and the band doesn’t deliver, you’re out $10. It will piss you off and you’ll stew and curse and wish you could have spent that $10 on a twelver of Natty Light or something equally exotic. But the cost to the band is greater. Pissing off your entire fan base and cheating them out of money is not exactly the best way to keep your musical project going (see Blake Judd).

In the end though, it’s really about the fans of the music. We constantly hear the battle cry of “support your scene” and “support this band” but when it comes to actually opening up wallets and putting money where our mouths are, the Bitch Fest Bonanza™ erupts. Crowdfunding is not a demonic technology used to pilfer your hard-earned money and funnel into a black hole of lost artistic integrity. You are getting new music or seeing a tour that you helped finance. You helped contribute to a successful project and have helped a band you enjoy listening to achieve success. Some call it begging, some call it charity, but what if…hear me out…what if crowdfunding is actually investing in the future of a band no matter if they are DIY or Obituary? Imagine that. Supporting your favorite bands directly instead of indirectly. What a concept.

Goregon Massacre Fest III: 2012

It's weird how writing sometimes seems like a chore and at other times is quite an enjoyable experience. The roughest part is where do you start? What kind of introduction do you want to grab people with and hopefully lure them into a false sense of security so that they think they are about to read a professional, thought-provoking piece on metal music, concert critiques, or the secret life of Gravehill's Hell Messiah and his obsession with homemade scented candles? It's not as easy as it looks; but luckily I just did it and thus I feel like I have accomplished at least one thing today.

Hell Messiah's obsession with urinals and candles is frightening.

The Goregon Massacre Fest III: 2012 was held in Portland, OR on June 22nd and 23rd and the ladies in the Gravehill camp were chuffed to play it. Our plan was to do a mini west coast tour with our brothers in Destroyed in Seconds (DIS) where we would hit San Francisco, Portland (for the fest), and then back down south to Oakland for a final show. But of course, nothing exactly goes to plan for Gravehill.

It turned out that of the 11 people in my group at my "regular" job, 5 of them decided to take vacation the same week as the fest and all of them asked for it way in advance of me. I mean, as soon as these fuckwits got off of Xmas vacation in December, they immediately put in for Summer vacation. So this meant that I got the figurative vacation shaft up my poophole and couldn't take off, even for a couple of days. At the time, I was furious and I was about to tell my job where to shove it but then came to my senses after a few bumps of blow. Coke really makes you focus on what is important. What was important was that if I was going to fight for time off to go on tour and play shows, it better be worth it if I was risking sudden unemployment. The guys were a bit annoyed (as they rightfully should have been) but luckily we had an "ace-in-the-hole" with Bodybag.

Bodybag: Ex-Gravehill Guitarist/Current Exhumed Bassist. I couldn't find a better pic in my archives.

Bodybag had been on tour with Exhumed for a couple of months and was back briefly before he had to take off again. If anyone knew the riffs to Gravehill songs it was him and he had two pluses going for him. One, he's a beer-swilling, rape maniac who has been playing bass in Exhumed for about a year now and two, he knew the songs and can play bass ten times better than me. Needless to say, most anyone with a fundamental knowledge of music can play bass better than me but instead of hiring an 11th Grade band major, the Gravehill camp opted for one of our own. Bodybag covered for me in San Francisco on Thursday night and I'm glad he was there to take up the slack. I owe him many beers and besos!!

Possible Corpsemolester replacement.

So what the fuck did I do? Well, since I couldn't get the days off to drive up to Portland, I had to fly up. I bought a one-way ticket through Southwest and flew up to Oregon on Saturday, the day of the fest. I arrived with no problems and since I only had my handy man-bag with me (IT'S NOT A PURSE!!), I was traveling very light. Portland has excellent public transportation so instead of opting for an expensive cab, I bought a $2.00 light rail ticket and got off at a station that was only a 10 minute walk from the venue. I'm all about the cheap!

I walked into the venue and was greeted with various cries of joy and relief that I had arrived safely. You know how it is, "It's about time you got here, FAG!", "Nice purse asshole! Did you pick that up at Victoria's Secret along with your see-through panties.", "Hey, look who decided to join us. Mr. 'I'm-too-good-to-drive-up-with-the-rest-of-us Corpsemolester!" It was a very emotional day. Lots of crying and hugging.

We're very emotional.

The fest was pretty damn busy and I wanted to start drinking like, IMMEDIATELY. So I threw on my cool as fuck leather jacket, slathered on some eye shadow, feathered my bangs, and scooted up to the bar and ordered a local craft beer. After a few of those I eventually resorted to the cheapest brew available which was PBR because, if anything, I'm a pretty cheap bastard and as much as I like craft beer, I'm perfectly fine with the cheap stuff as well. After chatting it up for a bit with the Gravehill crew, a few local friends, and some of the fellas in Cardiac Arrest, I went to go check out some of the bands and to have a vegan gyro.

The bands I caught and who stood out were Heavy Voodoo, Bone Sickness, Mutant Supremacy, Coffin Dust, Blood Freak, and of course Cardiac Arrest. All of these bands flattened my face and pummeled my guts into mush. Now Blood Freak and Bone Sickness I had seen before and they always deliver the goods. But the east coasters (I believe they are anyway) Mutant Supremacy and Coffin Dust had me caught up in their thrashy as fuck hooks and technical proficiency. I've been kicking myself since Goregon that I didn't grab some merch. Luckily Gravehill will be seeing them again when we play a fest in New York come October (I think).
 

This is a random kitty photo I thought was funny.

So I guess I should mention at this point that Cianide had dropped off the bill due to a set of unfortunate events. The stars didn't align for them and so Gravehill was pushed to headlining status. Now Gravehill headlining anything is always a crap shoot. Sometimes it's a home run and at others it can be a bit dismal. We're not a high profile band like Exhumed so our crowd draw can be weird at times. Don't get me wrong. Even if the crowd is made up of a few people, those few people are die-hard Gravehill fans (or fans of good old fashioned death metal at least) and we always have a good time. But I don't think it's necessarily an incorrect reaction when promoters tell us that we're headlining and we have a little apprehension.

The crowd was thinning a bit but that's too be expected as it was pushing after 1:00 A.M. We got ready in our usual manner of spitting blood on each other and giving back massages (CC is the best at those) and we took the stage around 1:20 A.M. Now to me, the crowd looked pretty good. Of course it was dark and everyone I saw was up front but still, a better draw than I thought it would be. The stage was extremely small and I had the unfortunate place right behind Mike Abominator. During every one of his screeches, a hellish "silent-but-violent" chemical cloud of nausea-inducing fart stank assaulted my nostrils. This cloud would creep back to Thorgrimm as he dropped a drumstick twice!! The crowd raged, sang along, crowd-surfed, moshed, and proceeded to "out metal" us on stage. Portland knows how to fucking kill! Someone offered me chips during one of Abominator's ill-timed awesome jokes and Hell Messiah spat a big lugie of blood into my face effectively welcoming me back into the fold after not being able to play in San Francisco. What a great show with chants of "one more song" after we had already bulled through 10 fist bangers! Gravehill has always had a home in Portland and those guys welcomed us back with open, bloody arms!

You can see my hair being blown back from a massive Abominator fart.

Many thanks to Brandon and Jason and whoever else helped in organizing this awesome fest and treating Gravehill and the rest of the bands in such a professional manner. YOU ROCK!! Next time we see you, CC is gonna give you the most erotic massages EVAR!

Links to awesomesauce and more sweet sexy pics below:

https://www.facebook.com/bonesickness

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mutant-Supremacy/121440554551204

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Official-Blood-Freak/130816076957363

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cardiac-Arrest-US/92250701414?ref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/CoffinDust

Cool Lovecraft-themed bar just a block down from the venue!!

Members of DIS, Cardiac Arrest, Blood Freak, and Gravehill acting the fool.

Trying hard not to be sexy and failing.

The initial blood spattering went well.

Thorgrimm and I playing "Trolls Under The Stairs".

I give this latest blog post a Corpsie-approved thumbs up!!

Me, Hookers, and Gravehill: Part 2

I moved to California from Texas back in 2001 because I didn't have anything better to do. My roommate was my best friend from the Army days and we were both jobless and living off the government's dime (and my credit card). As much as the Army had cleaned me up, I fell back into some old habits. I started smoking pot again and since I lived in the hood (commonly known as Riverside), I was required to start smoking crack. It was part of my lease unfortunately.

This chick had the highest quality crack.

Many a night was spent sitting around playing video games, eating TV dinners, and talking about getting jobs. Now don't get me wrong, my roommate (let's call him Ru Paul) and I went out to several job interviews but 90% of them were scams. I actually scammed people into signing up for a modeling agency that was pretty much nonexistent. I feel bad about it now, but shit, I got to talk to hot chicks without them running away in terror. Let's see, I also tried the door-to-door salesman routine but every time I knocked on some poor schmoe's door I wanted to kick my own ass.

"As you can see here, ma'am, there is a clause
that says you can beat my ass with your
walking stick at any time during this conversation."

Money was running dry, we had used the last of any cash reserves to pay for at least one more month in the apartment, and my credit card was maxed out. As luck would have it, Ru Paul found a temp agency and got a job within a couple of days. I signed up at the same place and got a job just as quickly. This was an actual grown up job. Monday to Friday, 8-5, benefits, vacation and sick days, man...what the fuck was this. I was officially an adult! It only took me 27 years to get there.

Before I knew any of the turd burglars in Gravehill, most of my weeknights and weekends were spent looking for any and all metal shows. There were none too big and none too small. I just wanted to watch bands play. Another good friend of mine (let's call him BeelzeBob) knew Lilith Sanchez whose father owned the infamous Wild Rags Records and in turn, Lili eventually hooked up with Thorgrimm. Frequent parties were held at Lili and Thorgrimm's pad and that's where I met a majority of the creeps I hang out with today. That's also where I got the Gravehill demo "Metal of Death". Soon after, Thorgrimm gave me "The Advocation of Murder and Suicide" EP. Gravehill knew I played guitar because of a previous black metal project I worked on so Thorgrimm approached me soon after they sacked their bass player and asked if I wanted to play bass for them. I think my reply was, "Nah. I got better things to do." I was a fan of the band but I was trying to pursue a career in Hip Hop so my priorities were elsewhere.

Months later, I started to get bored again and my Hip Hop dreams were dashed upon the unforgiving rocks of the music industry. Did you know there were already white Hip Hop artists out there?? Fuck, if I would have known, I wouldn't have tried. My goal of trying to start up another LA Dream Team was crushed.

R.I.P. Dreams of fortune and fame! :(

I hadn't smoked, inhaled, or taken a suppository full of PCP in several years since getting my grown up job. While I was making decent money and still in party mode every once in a while, I realized that perhaps I needed a money pit to sink my dollars into instead of saving and investing like I was. So in September 2008 at the Masters of Metal show in San Bernardino, Thorgrimm once again propositioned me, "So we still need a bass player..." And I said, "Fuck it. Okay. I don't have anything else better to do."

Coming up next on Me, Hookers, and Gravehill: Part 3-

The evolution of the Helmet, Mexican Hookers, and my first show.

Recording When All Roads Lead to Hell: Part 1

After almost a year and a half since the release of Rites of the Pentagram (ROTP), the long road to Hell we have paved is finally reaching its destination. Gravehill entered John Haddad’s Trench Studios in Corona, CA for drum tracking on February 1, 2011 and already we can smell the fire and brimstone boiling underneath our cloven feet. At least my feet are cloven. Birth defects are a bitch. To all you pregnant moms out there, don’t do crack until AFTER your kid is born.

ROTP was officially released in the summer of 2009 and writing for When All Roads Lead to Hell (WAR) began soon after. But the Gravehill writing process is a slow beast at times. Many a day was spent staring at the walls, eating sticks of butter, or mumbling about why our hemorrhoids didn’t go away. Eventually we broke through our stupor and began writing but it was still slow progress. Recording was going to happen in early 2010 but by the time early 2010 arrived, we had maybe three complete songs and the skeleton of another. So recording was pushed back until the late summer but by the time we were off tour in July, perhaps only 3/4 of the album had been written. So recording was pushed to early December 2010. As December loomed and we still weren’t ready, recording was pushed back again to January of 2011.

But then inspiration hit Gravehill for once and the skies cracked open, the seas boiled over, and blood ran freely over the chests of young (female, 18+), nubile, dead hookers and suddenly we were writing. Shit was flowing free; songs we thought were done, were recast and chiseled down. One of the first songs we wrote in the beginning was completely thrown out but another, stronger one was written off the cuff and suddenly we had a complete album. What the hell happened?

Whatever happened, we’re back at it in the studio again. Drum tracking took two days and Thorgrimm was done. Guitar tracking started on February 8, and Bodybag and Hellfiend have been ripping it up. One of the major differences this time around probably is that most of us have been sober during recording! ROTP is a gritty fucking album. You can hear our drunken debauchery jump out and soak you in cheap Mexican beer. But WAR is turning out to be something different. Yes, the raw intensity is still there but it is more focused and a slight evolution to ROTP. The more I hear the raw guitar tracks thrashing over the “in your face and up your ass” drums, the more my taint tingles. We’re certainly not recreating the wheel here. There will be riffs and sections of songs that will have you thinking, “Oh shit, someone was thinking of Slayer when they wrote this.” Or just replace Slayer with Sodom, Celtic Frost, Autopsy, or Death. Hell, you may even hear some Darkthrone and Bathory as well. Whatever you hear, even if you don’t like it (or think ROTP was a superior album), WAR is coming from a pure place where posers are butchered before the hordes of the real Hessians! We will never compromise!! Unless we’re offered a bunch of money, then DUH!

Murderfest in L.A. on 4/18/08

I figured I'd give a low down on my recent concert experience.

Murderfest is one of those fests that is similar to other fests scattered about the United States like CIM, Michigan Death Fest, MDF, etc... I believe this was the second or third year it was held and it was completely sold out.

The day started early as "The Gore Crew" assembled at my friend Bob's house. Our plan was to leave around 12:30 PM, head into Los Angeles, and grab a bite to eat at this popular Armenian restaurant. Three of us were at the pad and we were waiting around for three more that eventually showed up 30 minutes late. Our driver, Septi-Gore Erik was a little annoyed but we persevered and wound up on the road a little after 1:00 PM.

About an hour later we were in downtown Los Angeles and eating at this hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Around this time my muscle relaxer started kicking in. I had really strained myself at the gym a day or so previously and figured some expired muscle relaxers from the bowels of my medicine cabinet would help the pain. Well it did a little, but I almost fell asleep in my falafel. The beer didn't help either.

Anyhoo, we arrived at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood (Mann's Chinese Theater is only about a block away) and parked in this awesome underground garage filled with metal heads and startled Asian tourists running the opposite direction. At the entrance to the venue, we met up with some more friends that we knew from Orange County and L.A. and our group of six swelled to about 15. Our small Gore Crew was turning into a Metal Horde!

After pounding fists, doing some "bro" hugs, and slapping asses we finally inched our way into the club. The Knitting Factory is a dark sweat box folks. Luckily it wasn't too bad since the weather was mild, but later on as people started piling inside, it was like this one big sweaty human sauna filled with the exotic smells of beer, vomit, and body odor. There were merch booths set up all over the place but unfortunately I had spent a majority of my cold hard cash on food and a ticket so couldn't buy anything. There was a lot of treasure there and we were all salivating over the vinyl, cds, shirts, and patches that were for sale.

I wiggled my way out of the merch room and made my way to the main stage to watch my buds from the group Gravehill begin their set. They do old school death metal, spit blood, and are covered in spikes which made watching them even more interesting. A word of warning just in case anyone catches this group: don't stand too far up front or you'll get a face full of theatrical blood. On their final tune they were joined by Kam Lee of Massacre fame and he helped belt out some grunts and growls OG style.

As the day wore on, some of the more local bands didn't make that much of an impression on me. I remember some memorable stuff from Abysmal Dawn and Epicedium though so it wasn't a total loss. Really, I was waiting for later that night when the major hitters would be out in force.

So by the late afternoon, a lot of people were liquored up, the club was filling up, and my pain started coming back. More in my back because there wasn't a place to sit which annoys the hell out of me about that place. Sometimes I'd just sit against the wall in misery until the next band came out. Denial Fiend jumped out in a fury of metal as Kam Lee once again took the stage with his new band. They were pretty ferocious but by the end, I'll honestly say that a lot of the material was forgettable. A one-off Morgion set took stage and delivered a slow, doom-death vibe which was cool but was missing something...oh yeah, the original members. Who the hell were those guys up there anyway??

I kicked myself because I had to step outside and take a breather and all the while Impaled were ravaging the audience on the front stage. I don't consider it that big of a loss though since I've seen them before and they'll more than likely be around here again. While outside taking my breather, I ran into a number of other people I knew and we chatted up metal, smoked, joked, and all around had a drunken "I love you, man!" session with the smell of Mary-J floating in the wind. Good times!

I went back in and caught the classic Monstrosity from Florida which definitely brought back memories for me. Very nostalgic to see some of these old bands. Next up was Anal Blast which were frickin' horrible. After their first obnoxious tune, I decided to step out again and catch another breath of fresh air.

As I stepped outside this time, the fire alarm went off. A high pitch wailing that had some people on their knees. Luckily I had earplugs. Hah! Suckers. Security finally shut the alarm off and not a minute later, a big bouncer is dragging my drunken friend out of the club, and onto the sidewalk. The bouncer proceeds to rip the entrance wrist-bands off of his arm and throws him out! We all stood there in amazement as our Gore Crew pal weaved his way down Hollywood Boulevard screaming "f*** YOU!!!" We learned that, in a frenzy of unadulterated metal while watching Vital Remains on the front stage, HE was the one who had pulled the fire alarm!

On the main stage, Kam Lee once again took the stage with Massacre. They crushed of course and the pit spawned many a fight which abruptly turned into love fests as the testosterone settled. One minute guys wanted to kill each other and the next they were hugging. Metal does crazy s*** to people I guess. Or could it be the booze? Hmmmm...

Entombed headlined and I remember bits and pieces because by this point I was in physical pain, popping pain meds, and wandering around in a drug-addled haze feeling up breasts. Unfortunately some of those breasts were big fat Hispanic dudes who didn't like to be touched. I told them they looked like big fat Hispanic chicks which didn't go over well and it was agreed that our night should end after only a few Entombed songs. Luckily I got to hear a couple from Clandestine and Left Hand Path which was all that mattered to me.

There was still another day of this damn thing and I wanted to see Extreme Noise Terror, Ghoul, Cardiac Arrest, and Today is the Day, but Sunday was total recovery for me. I was dead to the world.

All in all, it was a pretty good damn time. Good music, friends, beer, and drama! Who can ask for anything more??

EDIT: I forgot to mention I saw Repulsion nestled in there somewhere.

The New Age of Fratricide

Wow. It has been a while hasn't it? Well, I hope I still have my legions of adoring fans reading this. Actually this is a great outlet for me to let off steam and rant. Frankly I could give a damn if anyone reads this blog.

So onto relevant news from the Fratricide camp.

It has been about 5 1/2 months since the Prayers for an Apocalypse EP was released. Fratricide has received a couple of glowing reviews from Noose of the United States Black Metal Sect (USBMS), Belle and Blackmetal Jim from Black Belle Webzine, as well as a cool review and interview with moi from the almighty Septi-Gore Zine which is published exclusively in hard copy form.

Several line-up changes have happened. Some smooth; some not so smooth. Rob (aka Hellfire) has a distinct vision in mind for Fratricide and usually when he sets his mind on something, it is definitely going to get done one way or the other. This has worked in his favor but also to his detriment. A former member didn't like the way he was fired from the band. Admittedly it was rather sudden and informal which took me by surprise--Rob at least acknowledges it could have been handled differently but sticks by his decision. Of course the former member is very bitter about it (again, understandably) and has decided to mock Rob and carry on a venomous campaign to discredit the band.

I've tried to stay out of a majority of it. Afterall I wasn't there and didn't know the dynamics of what was going on. All I knew was from the e-mails I received both from Rob and the former band member. I actually thought things were fine.

So I guess I'm just trying to get the perspective of the former band member right now. He's bitter, pissed, and full of vinegar. I get that. I've been fired from bands unceremoniously (as well as Rob) and know the feeling very well. I've talked shit and the band has talked shit, but in the end, shit settled and that was it. That was the "grown up" thing to do. You can't harbor negativity for the rest of your life. It will just eat you up inside causing mental and even physical problems.

But what do I do when I see harsh things continually said about a band I helped establish? Obviously the former band member has some issues he needs to work out. This isn't all about Fratricide and if it is all about Fratricide, then that's even more disturbing. But to fuel the fire with responses just as mean as his is nonproductive to the band itself. Unfortunately this guy will more than likely be forever bitter about the experience and I'm truly sorry for that. I hope he can eventually move on and turn that anger into some brutal heavy metal music.

As Fratricide proceeds into 2008 and pushes past all the vitriol, new and exciting things have appeared on the horizon. An incredibly fast and skilled drummer (Warmachine) has joined the ranks as well as a talented new bassist (Cudgel). They form, along with Akula (guitarist) and Hellfire, the foundation of the New Age of Fratricide. A new lead guitarist will be found eventually but until then the boys are starting to write new material and are focusing their efforts on injecting a fresh new voice into the Black and Heavy Metal scene. I raise my beer to their success and hopefully I'll see them at a live gig in the future. Screw the drama, ignore the haters, and raise the horns high!

In the Works: Fratricide Demo

There once were two metalheads who met by chance in the military. Both were into death and black metal and both were relieved that there were other "heads" in the Army. Being surrounded by constant barrages of rap, hip-hop, r&b, country music, and shitty alternative rock, it's a wonder that neither of these two individuals committed "fratricide" on their fellow soldiers during this time period.

Fratricide is the black metal brainchild of Rob Gaines (aka Hellfire Helviti) and moi (Coaxial "Coax" Helviti). In all actuality, it was Rob's idea. His experience ranged from great vocal prowess in several Ohio death metal groups as well as some good guitar abilities. He knew I played guitar and approached me one evening about starting a black metal "group." Starting any kind of band while serving in the military is virtually impossible so our "group" pretty much consisted of he and I. It was his idea to create this fantastic militaristic image of black SWAT fatigues complete with name tapes of the group and our respective stage names. But his most original idea was changing the traditional corpse paint of standard black metal fair to black and green. Those who know me have already seen these pictures and I will post them up later.

So we had a name and look, all we needed was music! I lived in a very small barracks room designed for one person. Space was limited but that didn't stop me from plugging in the guitar and wailing for days, trying to come up with Fratricide's sound. Rob came over anxious to see if I had come up with anything. At the time he didn't have a guitar rig so I was pretty much the primary music writer. I played him some riffs along with a drum machine I had. He immediately sat down and started writing lyrics. This was Rob's talent. Not only does this guy have a powerful set of vox on him, but he's an extremely talented lyric writer. What he produced was Bastards of the Battlefield. To this day I think this song has some of the most evil and powerful lyrics I have every seen or heard. I may be slightly biased though, but these lyrics are fucking brutal.

Rob and I were couped up in my barracks room for a couple of nights arranging the music for Bastards of the Battlefield. From searching the still fledgling Internet for sound clips to setting up the drum machine, bass, guitars, and vox to patch through my sad little 4-track recorder. We recorded several versions of Bastards... and finally settled with the one you can hear on our MySpace profile (visit http://www.myspace.com/fratricidemetal). During this time period, Rob and I also wrote two other dynamic songs called Prayers for an Apocalypse and Attention to Orders which we sat down and painstakingly wrote out.

But then the bad news came, Rob was leaving the Army and moving back to Ohio. It seemed as if what was destined to be the ultimate kvlt black metal would just fade back into the night. But he and I kept in touch and I continued to write. A song called Schwerpunkt was developed but the recording didn't turn out that well and frankly, it was a disorganized disaster. This was my first time writing Fratricide material without the other half of Fratricide! I still sent it on to Rob who then proceeded to write lyrics for it.

After wallowing in several cases of beer, I decided to jump back on the horse after several months. Inspiration hit after a visit to a Chinese restaurant. I opened a fortune cookie and the title of a song was staring me in the face, "No One Conquers Who Doesn't Fight". To me, that sounded war like and I'm guessing the actual fortune can be interpreted in several ways. I took it as "You will never conquer anything unless you actively stand up and fight." It affected me on numerous levels. On my way home, riff ideas were rushing through my head and that night I created the actual song No One Conquers Who Doesn't Fight. This was the song that made up for the travesty of Schwerpunkt and also reignited the Fratricide fire. After recording, I forwarded it on to Rob for lyrics.

Fast forward 8 years later (give or take a few months). I've kept Fratricide's spirit alive in various forms. From comedy, to small demos of our 4-track recordings, to websites. Rob and I are communicating once again after a long hiatus and we have decided to pursue and finish what we started so long ago.

Already he is practicing with session musicians in Ohio and I am building my strength back up on guitar. He has a recording studio, photo shoot, and all manner of things set-up. I've seen video of a practice session of Rob and the session drummer, Kellum (I believe that's his name) rocking out to Prayers for an Apocalypse and it sent chills down my spine. It looks like Rob has pulled together some extremely professional musicians and that's refreshing. Out of everything that's coming up with this demo, that's what I worry about the most. I'm hoping I can even keep with their caliber of expertise. We still haven't set a recording date but I hope it's soon.

In the Works: Abigail Screenplay

In the later part of 2006 I noticed a post on MySpace from a fellow metalhead and filmmaker by the name of Joel Wear. A talented director based out of Oregon, Joel was looking to find a screenwriter to collaborate with on a specific project. Namely, he was looking to put to film one of King Diamond's (a metal legend) spectacular concept albums. The album in question was Abigail, acknowledged by most metalheads as the ultimate King Diamond release.

Joel and I had known each other previously from the World Metal Alliance

It is the perfect combination. We both are rabid Kind Diamond fans, full blown metalheads, musicians, and filmmakers. Joel is the director. He has made a LOT of short films, finished a full-length called "Multiple" (check it out on IMDB) and is now working on another full-length titled "133".

Though I've really only made one (official) short film, my experience leans more towards screenwriting. I've gone to school for screenwriting, participated in contests, attended seminars, as well as finished several scripts to include: Age of the Dead (zombie splatter horror), Stitches (sci-fi), Last Four (comedy), and a drama/action period piece that remains untitled.

The process has been great as we both have been able to communicate our concerns clearly which has lead to a pretty damn good script thus far.

Currently I am still incorporating Joel's notes and some suggested scenes into the draft we have now. We are pretty much staying true to what King originally wrote. Drama wise, we have taken some liberties and added extra content that we feel will ratchet up the suspense more and give us a closer look into the lives of the main characters.

My official page count now is between 67-70 pages. We did have more but taking story and plot into account, some thing's just have to be cut and whittled away. Usually this happens after a first draft, but we are constantly going back and tweaking items. This isn't a bad thing and I'm glad we are doing it.

Stay tuned for more updates.