Monday 24 March 2014

....Of Tortured Faustian Slumbers and the Rivers of Grue

Okay boys and girls....I know what you're thinking and yeah...I was thinking it too, how fucking cool a heavy metal band name is Rivers of Grue? Well, it would be if it was a heavy metal band name, but even cooler, it represents a group of "grue"some story tellers I've recently had the pleasure and good fortune to meet. This post is a little different today...I'm not speaking of my great love of music but of another great love and fascination - the macabre!

I've always had a fascination with horror and in my earliest writings it showed. In grade 11 we were required to write a poem for English....mine was titled "My Nightmare" and was vivid with fire and pain (oh by the way, I don't mind spiders and snakes but fire scares the fucking shit out of me). I got an A.

In grade 12 we had the option of taking English electives, where for 3 terms (every 2.5 months - the 4th term was basic English that you were required to take) you had your choice of 4 different electives. Is it any wonder I took "Evil" (no shit, we read Stephen King's Salem's Lot for fucking school credit!), Crime and Punishment (I swear I didn't fucking know it was Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment....fuck that was a hard fucking book to get through) and creative writing?  In class during the "Evil" elective, we were required to write a short story...come to think of it, I'm pretty sure we were required to write short stories in all the electives...I can't even remember what mine was about but I do remember not holding back - the elective was "Evil" after all. I also remember the teacher (I'm sorry, I don't remember his name), after reading mine asking me - the new girl, the shy, cute blonde who sat in the back of the room - if people knew this about me...I just smiled. Yeah, got an A on that one too.

Although I took a very long break from writing anything, my love for horror has never faded.  I won't say I've kept horror in my life as a daily thing but I did, and still do, love to read and watch it every chance I get. Well,  I'm not sure whether it was fate or just good luck that caused C William Giles to follow me on twitter and send me a link to a review of his book, .....of Tortured Faustian Slumbers - riversofgrue.com - but whatever it was as soon as I read the review I was intrigued enough to buy the book.  Okay...perhaps it didn't hurt that C William Giles looks like this...


How fucking heavy metal is he!!  Anyway...ordered the book along with a couple of others.  To my later dismay, I left ....Of Tortured Faustian Slumbers to sit at the end of my reading list.  When I did pick it up a couple of months later, I couldn't put it down!  I fucking LOVED how this guy wrote!  His descriptions vivid, his characters, even the most sinister, were believable.  I ate up every word greedily like the twisted little horror junkie I am.  

I will be absolutely honest with you, as I neared the last 30 pages of the book I started to worry.  I really didn't know how it was going to end but knew it must....the final pages were in sight....and I was so afraid that after keeping me captive throughout the whole book, the ending was going to be fucking lame and ruin the whole experience for me.  But not one to be of a weak constitution, I faced my fears and read all the way to the end.  One word..... Bravo!!!  I fucking LOVED the ending!! Brilliant!!

I immediately found Craig (C William Giles) on twitter to gush about how much I had loved his creation and how sorry I was that it had to end!  He happily fed me more by sharing more of his writing through his blog, In Darkness & Fire > cwgimmortal.wordpress.com.  In particular a series he had collaborated with the Keeper of the Crimson Quill (the reviewer whose review had convinced me to give ....Of Tortured Faustian Slumbers a try in the first place) which featured one of the more evil, twisted characters in his book, Severin Frost.

I, being the witches familiar that I am, the cat that prowls the night, ever watchful and sly managed to slink between the bars of the gate that hold back the fires of hell to discover that Craig was a part of a creative group, led by Keeper and his blog, The Rivers of Grue > riversofgrue.com < it is here where you will find offerings from all.  Since my discovery I've been moving from one to the other, rubbing up against these dark angels, feeding from the morsels that drop from their fingers through their keyboards.

Yes, I am a happy Cat (in the darkest of senses) with this incredibly talented group of writers and I confess, I do have a favorite.  I have an adulation for Keeper that outshines all others (even my love for the King of macabre, Stephen King).  Keeper, through his writing has made me laugh, he's seduced me and has scared the fucking shit out of me.  Oh yes, he is THE master and nothing would make me happier than to one day settle in his lap, to rub against him and purr as he strokes my hair, hehehehehe...... ; )


Tuesday 18 March 2014

Kyng - Burn the Serum

Eddie Trunk fucking rocks and because he does I listen to Eddie Trunk Rocks every week.  For those of you who don't know who the fuck Eddie Trunk is, well, let me tell you....Eddie Trunk is a huge supporter of metal and kick ass rock music.  Syndicated radio DJ and co-host of That Metal Show on VH1, Eddie keeps the classics alive and yes, sometimes even introduces us to new up and coming music.

Last year (2013), Eddie put in a lot of effort to back the Winery Dogs (you gotta fucking check out the Winery Dogs) and the last couple of weeks I've noticed he's been playing another relative newbie band.  If Soundgarden and Queens of the Stone Age had a baby it would sound just like Kyng.  Kyng is about to release their second album Burn the Serum and judging from what I've heard so far, it's going to fucking rock!

ELECTRIC HALO



Burn the Serum is set for release on Razor and Tie on April 15, 2014, so we don't have long to wait to hear the rest of what these kick ass Los Angeles rockers have in store for us.  In the meantime, you can order their first single Electric Halo from iTunes and pre-order bundles (includes hoodies, t-shirts, cds, etc) at kyngband.com.

Thanks again, Eddie, for sharing the rock!  Keep those horns up high baby....... ; )


Friday 7 March 2014

Vote for Revival!!

Okay, metal fans, I gotta treat for you!  This week I've been voting in the TBFM Factor "The Biggest On-Air Battle of The Bands Competition"!  Mainly because there is a fucking kick ass metal band from the UK competing.  I'm a big fan of Revival and am proud to support them!

Revival is in the number three spot and I'm counting on you to help us get them to number one!  Please visit http://www.tbfmfactor.com/ click on Quarter Final 02 and vote for Revival!  Here's a taste of what they sound like.....

BETTER LEFT UNSAID


Yeah....they're fucking hot - musically and well, in other ways too...... ; )

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Aviator Shades at the Cambie

Saturday night  I was so looking forward to going out.  Even my horoscopes were in my favor! The one for Saturday read that if I was single, I probably wouldn't be anymore by the end of the night....hmmmmmm.  And if that weren't interesting enough, the one for the next day read that I was going to be ill, but it would be of my own doing, and went on to describe a hangover.  I figured I was going to have a hell of a night!  Well, I did have a hell of a night, but it wasn't due to meeting Mr. Perfect or getting drunk and laid because neither one of those things happened.  By the way...horoscopes are bullshit.

No, I had a hell of a night because I headed up to Nanaimo to catch some live music.  I had to go really....I had promised Dave Gorman of Aviator Shades from Vancouver that if they ever performed on the island, I'd be in the audience....and well, I'm not one for breaking promises (especially the ones so fucking easy to keep) so I had to be there when they played The Cambie on Saturday. 

The night started off great!  Shortly after I took a seat, I was joined by Oliver Galloway "Ollie", guitar player for No Operator....the band featured in last week's blog! We chatted about some of the things currently happening for No Operator and it sounds like it will be an incredible year for an incredible band.  I also learned they'd be back at the Cambie in April....I will not miss that show come hell or high water....oh fuck....I probably shouldn't have said that (you can probably bet on floods or fire hitting the island in April now).

First to hit the stage was Under the Mountain.  I saw this band for the first time during the finals of November 2013's Battle of the Bands at the Cambie.  They fucking rocked and I was highly impressed.  I wasn't the only one....they impressed the crowd, winning the people's choice, and they impressed the judges, winning the finals and taking home top honors and big prizes.  I was even more impressed Saturday night when they fucking rocked again.  This time my admiration was partly due to poor Steve Plantz (lead singer and guitar player for Under the Mountain), suffering from a killer hangover after celebrating his birthday the night before.  He still fucking killed it...and performed an acoustic cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here that gave me goosebumps.

By the time Aviator Shades hit the stage I was primed and as soon as they started to play, I started to shake my ass.  These guys perform with the high energy their songs deserve and let me tell you, it's contagious.  This is one of my favorite songs by Aviator Shades.  What can I say? It speaks to me.....

DOIN ALRIGHT


I had a chance to speak to lead man Dave Gorman after the set....my god, I love an Irishman.  Dave's been in Canada for a few years, dedicating himself and his efforts to his craft.  All I can say is Ireland's loss is Canada's gain.  Aviator Shades will be back in Nanaimo on May 9th and probably needless to fucking say so will I!  Next time though Dave, if you're gonna steal a kiss, hit the lips and make sure it counts....... ; ) 

Aviator Shades have a few dates scheduled across BC and even into the prairies in April.  Head over to their facebook page at www.facebook.com/AviatorShadesBand to check out more tunes and tour dates.  Don't forget to hit the "like" button while you're there.