Reels Fatigue

Im a man of your world brother - Im covered in blood

Im a man of your world sister - my boots are caked in mud

I murdered Issac to show my love of god

I fucked whoever I could and wept, am I still a stud?

Please ask me questions when you film me on the street

Please see my silence as my defeat

I had the news reels flying on repeat

"20 dead on a crowded street" I laughed myself to sleep

Let me question you - a parasite to a whore

Let me question you - who make a living on all fours

Even though I don't at all

(at all)

We're all kings and queens here - crowns of styrofoam

Bleating like goats into cheap streaming microphones

The difference is it's a shame a goat must die for mutton

It's a blessing when we're gone

I'm a man of your world brother- but you are not a man of mine

I'm a man of your world sister - but you're not a woman of mine

I'll be willing, you'll be Abel

Consider this a cold take from he, of a colder time

The Parable of the Mountainside

And upon a mountain, carved, a great sorrow laid strewn. He, for his name was not and is not renowned, lamented for his child. "Oh, you angels - you devils who stole my child from me. In thy careless hands, in thy shining shameful shimmer you whisked her away from me! And for what?!"

As tears rolled down the man's face, an angel appeared before him. A voice thundered and a branch of olive offered. The man leaped afore the angel, and with fury struck upon his wings. With abandon and the force of grief he consumed the angel. Ripping feather and blood covered the ground where they met, the branch consumed in the fervor. "This?! This pale amalgamation of thy shame is what thou senth me?!"

A devil, pleased at seeing his enemy so desecrated, came near the man. However, he, whom so history hath bled and erased, looked into the devil's eyes with no greater joy. A quick maneuver, and he held the devil's tail. Before the monster's very eyes, he et his tail, he ripped his horns and drank he the blood within in gluttonous rage. The devil screamed in agony as it tried to wrench itself free but to no avail. "Mortal! Mortal! Knowest thou not the cost of!" But the mortal cared not, and in the mouth of the devil, his own hoof lodged deep. The devil saw every step of his own consumption, until finally his breath left him.

The mortal turned, angry, lost within his great fury. He took to him the devil's trident, and with it pierced his chest. He looked into the heavens and through hells "I brook no deals! Give me back she who you took or so shall you and yours suffer. I am Revelation!"

Anthropomorphosis

(Explanation in the post script)

Anthropomorphosis

Beggars can't be choosers I suppose

I just didn't want to be like one of those

The multitude of apes who the streets adorn

From them skin was torn

From them my blood was retrieved and warmed

I feel not for them but I wish not behold anymore

I was strapped unto a bed

Camera eyes embedded into my head

Ears carved out, fitted with microphones within

Sensors installed but not sense

An all consuming light I run to hence

In my dream as I regret this happenstance

I provoke your instinctive heart

Mine is but a work of art

I am you to you but to me we're worlds apart

Was I born to fool?

Am I merely a tool?

I lay awake, I lay in wait, but whatever future comes

It will be cruel

Explanation and Report-

I’ve been quiet for a while recently as a few new projects began taking flight and some older projects were wrapping up. Recently however, just for fun, I’ve taken on writing about androids and robotics. I’m very close to finishing editing my long-form piece about Greece and as a respite and outlet I’ve been writing about an android who’s all too aware of the fact he’s not human, which is both a pride and a pain to him.

I don’t know why this theme appeals to me to this degree, either it’s my own tendency to feel alienated or my fondness for 16-bit fonts. Anyway, so far I only wrote a couple of poems and a couple of terms. The title of this poem, “Anthropomorphosis” is a conjunct of “anthropos” (human/man) and morphosis - the process of becoming. So Anthropomorphosis is a neologism that roughly translates to “the process of becoming human.”

Short Story Cenotaph II

This week on the cenotaph: Encyrcle, Trenchrot and Morthus.

Encyrcle-

Today we start again in Scandinavia but with a band that actually released a second full length last year...and fucking broke up since. Hailing from Odense,Denmark, I initially had this band recommended to me by the fountain of knowledge himself, Asrok from Slægt.  When I heard it, I thought to myself two things - A. Wow that's some angry, wicked Speed right there and B. It makes total sense Asrok would like them.

Why? Because they have the trifecta of excellent Speed Metal down to the dot on the i. First of all the guitars are sharp and have that excellent rolling quality to them that is the hallmark of good Speed Metal since the days when Fredrick Barbarossa was king of the Holy Roman Empire and Running Wild was on their first three albums.  Second, their vocalist hits that sweet-spot between epic and Metal. He reminds me more of early Thrash vocalists with a splash of Maiden than full-on bordering Euro-Power which is not my thing.

Third and perhaps most saliently, their mix of elements gives the band a personality that's all their own. It's a bit Running Wild here, Maiden there but its never drowning in another band's personality. Recommended as all hell.

Trenchrot-

I'm not a massive fan of the current up and coming USDM scene, that's well attested, but Philadelphia seems to be an exception. There are a slew of interesting bands coming from the city of brotherly love and vehicular homicide at the moment and the scene at large has started waking up to it.

I'm sure you're thinking of Crypt Sermon and Daeva... actually you probably aren't because this section is titled Trenchrot. Anyway Trenchrot was a precursor band to those two acts in a lot of ways. Brooks Wilson who's vocalist of Crypt Sermon did both guitars and vocals for Trenchrot while Steve Jansson did guitars for both and Daeva. It really is a who's who of who has them, to quote Goniloc, googoo gaga riffs.

The best way I can describe Trenchrot is Asphyx adjacent but without the Doom elements. Brooks really outdoes himself vocally and manages to evoke that rough exhorting sound Martin Van Drunen perfected.  It all comes together in this grimy but sharp sense, like a brisk spring rain in a trench.

Morthus-

I kind of went back and forth on if I could include Morthus ethically. They were and are friends of mine to this day, but I was championing the quality of their music since before we became friends or even met. Seeing as the band's debut and last recording so far saw light in 2016, I feel I can. Plus it's my website so nananananana.

Well Morthus was a black/ death metal band from the Warsaw suburb of Warka. What drew me to the band, on the eve of their debut "Over the Dying Stars," were the very epic compositions being worked into a very organic sound. The band painted these massive soundscapes that incorporated everything from death metal to black metal and back again while recording live.  All while remaining catchy and etching my memory for good.

Besides the LP they released a demo called "Legacy of Asteroth" and an EP called "The Abyss." You can see how the beyond excellent guitar work and dynamic was present from the band's earliest days by digging deep into the discography. Of course the dynamic evolved, but songs like "Morbid Process" are so unique in their own right that that it makes the early work different and interesting but never obsolete.

Babalon's Note on the "Fate" sections- I decided to do away with these as I found myself searching for ways to rephrase "I don't know" three times. Reality is that bands appearing here are either in extended silence or broken up. If they weren't, they wouldn't be here. Simple as that