#Warsaw Metal Scene

[psitrend]

Deus Mortem Announces Third Album "Thanatos"

Profane Spirit Productions Schedules New Deus Mortem Album Polish black metal band Deus Mortem released “Thanatos,” their third full-length album. The eight-track recording introduces hard rock elements while maintaining black metal foundations. The album examines themes of transformation and awareness through both Polish and English language compositions. Filip Hałucha managed production at…

[omegaremix]

I found a great idea from one of my all-time favorite bands. Ten questions and answers about my live concert experiences. I had posted them on my sister site @ourladyofomega, but this is the remix. I took the time to explain each one in full.

Dollar values double with each one.

First concert: Dream Theater + Big Wreck @ Vanderbilt Planetarium. A former “friend” became the lucky winner of a radio-station giveaway. The prize? 16 free tickets to this show. We ended up with balcony seats and my “friend” invited our former co-worker from the department store we used to work at.

Last concert: Cold Waves XI (Lana Del Rabies + Ash Code + Sierra + JK Flesh + Orphx + Front Line Assembly w. Skold) @ Le Poisson Rouge. Part of the Triple Crown Victory Weekend that consisted of meeting my Italian-Irish family at a cousin’s engagement party (Friday), and getting an amazing cakeday gift box from a Welsh girl in Detroit (Saturday). This was a (Sunday) show that I waited at the last-minute to purchase tickets and wound up going. Who in the fuck’s idea was it to not have a NYC Cold Waves this year?

Worst concert: none. I make sure all shows I go to are ones to remember. But, if you ask me about the worst band I saw, then Hemlock takes that title. They opened with Meshuggah and Ministry (headliners). Everyone in Irving Plaza just stood there silent seeing this outdated nu-metal band trying to get it going. They were still unknowns after being fifteen years of band, and looks like no one remembers them after that. Good.

Loudest concert: Dream Theater + Big Wreck. Did I say this was my first-ever concert? I had no idea how loud it was going to be. Without question, this one was deafening. I’m not sugarcoating it. I had to cover my ears the entire time up in the balcony seats because all I heard was this shrieking wall of white noise. I remember almost nothing of that night other than the fact that I was there.

Best concert: Hospital Productions' 20th (Godflesh + Prurient + Orphx + etc.) @ Warsaw. This was at a time when I started taking the NYC scene seriously. I just got out of nine months of stay-at-home post-surgery recovery, and I had a new clarity coming out of it. Hospital Productions 20th marked an important point in my life: it made me decide that this was the place and people I wanted to be associated with. I also got to see some amazing artists: Dominick Fernow / Prurient, Orphx, Dedekind Cut, Nothing, and Godflesh. Three of those artists I’ve already seen twice in one point in life and another.

Seen the most: Uniform (3) @ Output, Saint Vitus, and Knockout Center. There was a bill with Uniform opening, then Pharmakon, Prurient, Aaron Dilloway with Genesis P. Orridge, and Merzbow. The line to get in Output was pretty long that I missed half of Uniform’s set and didn’t know who they were until I got more into them. I finally redeemed myself to see them in their entirety at Saint Vitus with a lineup of Michael Berdan, Ben Greenberg, touring drummer Michael Blume, and bassist Jenna Rose of Anatomy. Redemption fulfilled. The third? At Sacred Bones 15th. They were an added bonus right after Jim Jarmusch / Squrl, so why not?

Most surprising: Sacred Bones 15th @ Knockout Center. I have dreams where I end up in so many weird places that could have existed but didn’t. They are no different from the places I experienced. Downstairs record stores, schools, quiet snowy roads, city streets and highways. It’s an alternate reality that’s slightly shifted within itself. I entered Queens’ Knockout Center for Sacred Bones’ 15th where Constant Smiles started the evening so quietly. I was blown away by the first moments of it. People were standing and sitting on the floor in silence during the set. The sinking sun’s rays blasted through the venue’s windows giving light to the current space, as if this show started in the wee hours of the day. This was surreal! It wasn’t anything like I ever experienced before. But that’s not all. What other show I went to had a lecture hall on the line-up ? LD Deutsch’s essay about time, which had everyone sit in classroom setting. I said to myself: “these weird things are happening that normally aren’t. Am I dreaming, or am I in a dream?!” I look back and it was an amazing experience. Nothing like it ever since.

Happy I got to see: Skinny Puppy + Lead Into Gold @ Irving Plaza. No other show I went to had the biggest one-day payoff. You will all kill me when I say this, but I once told myself that it was no big deal if I never got to see Skinny Puppy. WRONG. They announced a farewell tour, and I asked myself how big of a deal that was. I quickly reconsidered. I got my tickets the minute they went up for sale. So what did $150.00 buy me? An unforgettable experience; that’s what. Meeting up with five Tumblr mutuals to see Lead Into Gold and one of Skinny Puppy’s final legendary shows. We had pizza nights, walks around Manhattan, car rides to club night for an amazing after-party, and just shilling around absorbing an experience that’s very rare to have. And, as a special bonus, meeting Ministry's Paul Barker and buying merch- from him. I still can’t believe it. It’s very rare to have Perfect 10-days in my life. This was indeed one of them.

Wish I could have seen: none. I have seen all my desired bands on my list. Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Killing Joke, Front 242, Skinny Puppy, and Front Line Assembly. That leaves KMFDM the only one left on my bucket list. I’ve seen other artists I wanted to with little or no effort. Those were Indecision, Unsane, Bauhaus, Linkin Park, Cold Cave, Snoop Dogg, Boy Harsher, Atari Teenage Riot, Pharmakon, Prurient, Merzbow, Black Marble, Nas…I could go further if you want me to. I have all day.

Next concert: I’m still on the fence to go see KEN Mode + Hide @ TV Eye and / or Balvanera @ Synthicide. I may not go, because I decided not to do anything by myself again after seeing both of last year’s shows with mutuals. But, we shall see. Wanna' play? Be my guest.

[mirandamckenni1]

Sabaton – To Hell And Back (Acoustic Cover by Beyond the Black) #sabaton #wacken #acoustic #clash "To Hell And Back" – Sabaton Acoustic Cover by Beyond the Black Audio & Video Recording at Sawdust Recordings Click here to SUBSCRIBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/BeyondtheblackDe Pre-Save the EP „W:O:A Acoustic Clash - The Lockdown Session“ with all 4 cover versions here: https://ift.tt/x6Kp8wz FACEBOOK: https://ift.tt/3jDTQEJ INSTAGRAM: https://ift.tt/a5VTcnW MUSIC: https://ift.tt/6hjg1yN LIVE: https://ift.tt/AKU2yrQ New Album "HØRIZØNS" Out Now! CO-HEADLINE TOUR WITH AMARANTHE: 05.01.22 | DE - Munich | Zenith 07.01.22 | DE - Leipzig | Haus Auensee 08.01.22 | DE - Offenbach | Stadthalle 09.01.22 | BE - Antwerp | Trix 11.01.22 | FR - Bordeaux | Rock School Barbey 12.01.22 | ES - Madrid | Sala BUT 13.01.22 | ES - Barcelona | Razzmatazz II 15.01.22 | FR - Lyon | Ninkasi Kao 16.01.22 | FR - Paris | Elysée Montmartre 21.01.22 | DE - Oberhausen | Turbinenhalle I 22.01.22 | DE - Ludwigsburg | MHP Arena 24.01.22 | CH - Lausanne | Metropole 25.01.22 | CH - Zürich | Komplex 457 26.01.22 | IT - Milano | Live Club 28.01.22 | HU - Budapest | Barba Negra 29.01.22 | AT - Vienna | Arena 31.01.22 | PL - Warsaw | Progresja 01.02.22 | DE - Berlin | Columbia Halle 02.02.22 | DE - Hamburg | Sporthalle 04.02.22 | CZ - Zlín | MOR Café 05.02.22 | DE - Geiselwind | Event Hall 06.02.22 | NL - Utrecht | Tivoli Ronda 08.02.22 | DK - Copenhagen | Amager Bio 10.02.22 | SE - Gothenburg | Pustervik 11.02.22 | SE - Stockholm | Klubben Fryshuset 12.02.22 | NO - Oslo | Sentrum Scene "W:O:A Acoustic Clash" is a bet between German Symphonic Metal shooting stars Beyond the Black & world famous Wacken Open Air's Thomas Jensen. In the course of a 48 hour studio session the band had to arrange and record acoustic cover versions of 4 different metal songs. All of them chosen beforehand by the Wacken online community. Either Thomas Jensen or Beyond the Black. Whoever loses the bet, is obliged to operate the barbecue at the next Wacken Open Air. All proceeds will be going to different charity organisations (to be announced). via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZdXYFi_3-s

[randgugotur-6]

Much-recognised German heavy metal act U.D.O. just completed a European run in support of their current hit album "Touchdown" (released on August 25, 2023), which was greatly crowded in many places and even saw the band perform at a number of sold out venues. While enjoying the well deserved laurels, the group are now preparing for this year's festival season as well as the North American leg of their current world tour. Two of the aforementioned summer dates will actually revive the name DIRKSCHNEIDER.

DIRKSCHNEIDER is a name that stands for far more than a simple second incarnation of U.D.O., the band with Udo Dirkschneider. In this form, the quintet pay tribute to the musical history of their legendary singer. As songwriter and even founder in the '70s, Udo was one of the main characters of the ACCEPT success story. Bass player Peter Baltes, the newest member of the U.D.O. / DIRKSCHNEIDER family, also contributed a lot to ACCEPT's scene defining works, and during their common time in Udo's band, a certain album titled "Balls To The Wall" came to be.

"Balls To The Wall" would be a fitting description for the stage presence of the band, which is completed by the drumming 'clockwork' of Sven Dirkschneider and a talented guitar duo built of Andrey Smirnov and Fabian "Dee" Dammers, too. What luck that the 40th anniversary of the mentioned studio album, which was originally released in late 1983 and which is the most sold and best known by ACCEPT, recently fell into the current U.D.O. / DIRKSCHNEIDER heyday. Of course the band don't want to leave this jubilee unnoticed: that's why DIRKSCHNEIDER are pleased to not only announce a full "Balls To The Wall" live performance but AN ENTIRE TOUR in belated celebration of the iconic album for spring 2025!

Udo looks forward to these prestigious dates: "I really can't wait to revisit the ultimate success album of my band ACCEPT. Topped by sharing the stage with Peter Baltes, performing "Balls To The Wall" in full for all of you out there will be one of my biggest career highlights for sure!"

As if 45 minutes of "Balls To The Wall" -- delivering cult tracks such as its title track, 'London Leatherboys,''Love Child,' or album closing ballad 'Winterdreams' -- aren't enough to celebrate, DIRKSCHNEIDER will also add additional musical surprises to the set list and even return with a fresh stage production. Everything is set to commemorate the 40th anniversary of this undeniable ACCEPT milestone and to ensure that these nights will be unforgettable celebrations for every metalhead.

Tickets for the German shows are exclusively available at eventim now; the general pre-sale for all 25 dates is set to be launched on Wednesday, May 15 @ 12PM CEST.

More info: https://udo-online.de/tourdates.html

"Balls To The Wall" - 40th Anniversary Tour

Presented by Contra Promotion & Metal Hammer

26.02.2025 AT Vienna - SiMM City

27.02.2025 DE Munich - Backstage

28.02.2025 DE Leipzig - Haus Auensee

01.03.2025 CZ Prague - SaSaZu

02.03.2025 HU Budapest - Barba Negra

04.03.2025 RO Bucharest - Quantic Club

06.03.2025 PL Kraków - Klub Studio

07.03.2025 PL Warsaw - Progresja

08.03.2025 LT Vilnius - Kablys

10.03.2025 FI Helsinki - Kulttuuritalo

11.03.2025 FI Tampere - Tavara-asema

13.03.2025 NO Oslo - Rockefeller

14.03.2025 SE Gothenburg - Trädgår'n

16.03.2025 DE Berlin - Huxleys Neue Welt

17.03.2025 DE Frankfurt - Batschkapp

18.03.2025 BE Antwerp - Trix

19.03.2025 FR Paris - Le Trabendo

21.03.2025 ES Pamplona - Sala Totem

22.03.2025 ES Murcia - SaLa Gamma

23.03.2025 ES Barcelona - Razzmatazz 2

25.03.2025 CH Pratteln - Konzertfabrik Z7

26.03.2025 DE Stuttgart - LKA Longhorn

27.03.2025 DE Oberhausen - Turbinenhalle

28.03.2025 DE Hamburg - Große Freiheit 36

29.03.2025 DE Geiselwind - Eventhalle

More upcoming DIRKSCHNEIDER live dates:

03.07.2024 DE Ballenstedt - Rockharz Open Air *SOLD OUT*

--- --- --- --- ---

DIRKSCHNEIDER / U.D.O. are:

Udo Dirkschneider | vocals

Andrey Smirnov | guitar

Fabian "Dee" Dammers | guitar

Peter Baltes | bass

Sven Dirkschneider | drums

[hmel78]

In conversation with Mariusz Duda ...

Polish ‘prog’ masters ‘RIVERSIDE’ have just released an entirely  instrumental album entitled “Eye Of The Soundscape” which compiles all the special tracks that have previously been used as bonus material for their albums “Shrine Of New Generation Slaves” and “Love, Fear and the Time Machine" [re-released recently], alongside rare cuts and 4 brand new songs (“Where The River Flows”, “Shine”, “Sleepwalkers” and “Eye Of The Soundscape”). As a huge fan of ‘Riverside’, I was really quite blown away by this new release - it’s a departure for them - it pushes their boundaries into new musical territory - but it’s an album that you really must seek out. If you aren’t already aware of ‘Riverside’, then please accept this introduction.  Formed in 2001, in Warsaw, by friends Mariusz Duda, Piotr Grudziński, Piotr Kozieradzki and Jacek Melnick, the band has gone from strength to strength, becoming a no1 selling act in Poland, with growing popularity around the globe. Melnick left the band in 2003, after the release of their debut album  - it didn’t halt their creativity, and with the addition of Michal Lapaj, the band have since released 6 more studio albums - the latest being “Eye Of The Soundscape”. 2016 has been a tough year for them, following the unexpected death of founder member Piotr Grudziński - the band remain close, but are now a three piece, although they are adamant that this is how they will progress ... I had waited for some time to catch up with lead singer / bassist Mariusz Duda, and here’s what happened when I eventually did  :

Helen Robinson : Looking at the ‘Rock’ music scene in Poland - there seems to be a huge underground following of “extreme metal” music - why do you think this genre is so popular? How involved were you / the band in that scene before ‘Riverside’?

Mariusz Duda : From time to time everyone needs to do something extreme. And people need extreme music. True, it seems that in Poland we have pretty interesting extreme metal bands that there are known worldwide, but this is not so wide range as Norwegian bands for sure. ‘Behemoth’, ‘Vader’, maybe ‘Decapitated’. But that’s it. For us the roots of the founder members were pretty metal. Our drummer used to play death metal in HATE, our guitar player used to play something weird, maybe not extreme, but for sure connected with metal music. The fact that they wanted to start something more prog than metal, and they found me was pretty extreme too [laughs].

HR : Lucky for them, yes - but what persuaded you to become involved with a ‘progressive’ rock band?

MD : Progressive for me doesn’t mean that you have to sound like the bands from 70’s. Progressive in my terminology means - break your habit, push the boundaries. For us pretty original was the fact that our drummer in his death metal style always disturbed us to play ballads. And that was pretty original and... progressive, so we became that kind of band [laughs] Ok, just to be serious - in spite of normal songs we always liked long forms, long structures and lots of keyboards - so after our debut release, full of that stuff, we became progressive rock band.

HR : How does it feel to have risen up to become a number 1 selling act in your home land?

MD : Pretty cool. It’s great to know that you live in the country where people like to listen to something ambitious from time to time too.

HR : You’re very popular in many other countries, of course - having been on the road pretty extensively since 2004 - throughout Europe, into the Middle East, Russia, South America, the USA and Canada - what do you most enjoy about touring and performing live?  What has been your weirdest moment?

MD : There’s always an amazing adventure to be somewhere for the first time. Before routine comes and you mostly searching Wi-Fi in the venues instead of searching the town where you are for the first time! [laughs] Speaking of venues - I remember our show in Turkey, Istanbul. very small club. There was no stage for our drums. I mean there was a stage, but only for the drums. We had to figure something  out, and we did. I remember that our guitar player had to play on the stairs, next to the stage. Truly weird experience.

HR : The band suffered a devastating loss early in 2016 with the sudden passing of Piotr Grudzinski  - he would want you to continue, I am sure, but how have you coped as a band with the prospect of moving forward?

MD : That was hard. I was considering the end of the band even, but then I realised that the legacy is too big. Well, I’m still the captain of this band. I’m still the main composer. I’m going to continue anyway. We lost one voice, but we still have the ship and we still want to sail. Differently for sure. This loss made us someone different, but maybe it will help our music to become more progressive in the terminology I always loved?

HR : How did you evolve as a “unit” in the 15 years together since you formed?  Do you hang out, or do you just come together to be a band?

MD : We are a family. That’s why after Piotr’s passing away we cancelled all our live shows till the end of the year and that’s why became a trio. We usually spend lots of time together, but we also know that each of us need to have his own room

HR : [laughs] Sure, I understand that, and you are 4 quite different personalities ... How difficult was it to create (and hold on to) your own ‘sound’ and identity as a band ?

MD : It was not hard. It was long. This is a long process - in time. I had the idea for the style of our band, but I had to be patient. I always wanted to play both short and long songs, hard and soft, very melodic, spacey, psychedelic, etc.

HR : What inspires you / How do you stay focussed on creating music? Who do you make the music for -  your fans or yourselves?

MD : I take inspirations from my own experiences. And the experiences of my friends. Mostly everything that is placed in my heart and soul finds its own reflection in my music. And I compose that kind of music that I always would like to listen to. So t’s not only reflection and spitting out everything I have to say without taking care how it sounds and what people might thing about that. I care. But the truth is in the right balance. As a Libra I always pay attention to that.

HR  : Ha! Libra - yeah I know a few Librans! Well then from a more personal perspective -  your own identity. You are pretty sure of yourself, but some musicians (especially front men) go through their careers constantly re-inventing themselves; is this something you have done? Is it possible to be 2 people at once and have a separate life on stage, and a real life away from it all - or is it all one place, where it’s easy to lose sight of who you are?  [I promise I am not a psychiatrist! Just curious ...]

MD : I do what I feel. I try to be honest with my music. I usually write about something personal. My lyrics are like a pages from the diary. I develop myself with every album, grow up. I know what performance on the stage means, I know that I need to exist in social media to be alive in my job industry, but I also take care of my privacy.  Libra. Balance ;)

HR : You have the libra balance musically too I guess. ‘Riverside’ have just released a new album “Eye Of The Soundscape” which is purely instrumental - a first for the band- what made you decide to do this now?

MD : This is a very selfish album. Myself and Piotr Grudziński always wanted to release that kind of album. I think this is really an interesting piece of music. Something organic and electronic in the same time. Thanks to that kind of album - lots of people now can take a look at our band from the wider perspective. That we are not prog metal band only. That our influences are wider.

HR : From what I read, the fans are loving it ... so ... Where do you plan to go from here?

MD : The show in February with guest guitar players. The tour maybe. But mostly the new album recordings in 2017. It’s time to break the silence. Again.

[ozzni]

In Stellaris, I have two proper empires, AKA empires that I've actually thought of a story for.

The first is a clan based society of arthropods called Cithin, who evolved on a desert planet wracked by strong winds. Due to the ever shifting sands, while it was impossible to settle down until very late into their development for more than a week, it was very easy to harvest metals, as they were often at the very surface. Clans of Cithin were really the only way to live, as they could trust none more than their own families. Of course, this meant that whenever two clans met, there would be immense hostility as they both fought over what food could be found in the area before zipping off, causing them to greatly favor light, rapid duels rather than the slow and methodical armies that we humans know. These duels became the center of their society, so when they finally developed the means to build structures to weather the winds and sands, the first things they built were arenas, which then allowed for proper inter-clan diplomacy. Of course, the philosophy of total victory from the old days never left, so these dueling arenas became the centers of empires, where one clan could dictate the actions of any clan they had defeated in battle before. This is eventually how the Cithin unified, the leaders of the the largest clans came to blows after a brief insult, and all the shifting sands of Dust finally had one constant: they were under the dominion of the Champion. Of course, it was hard enough to even make static structures in the first place, so it wasn't very long before they managed to develop spaceflight and crack FTL travel, only 10 Champions were chosen before the Cithin reached for the stars. [Because they don't actually have much of a government other than the will of the current Champion, and the rule of defeating the old Champion in a fair duel to take their place, I just rename the empire every time the leader changes to (rulername)'s Empire]

The second one is inspired by a scene from the Animatrix, where a representative of 01 dictates the end of Humanity at the head of the UN. It starts off looking like Earth but with the mechanist origin, where humanity develops their first robots instead of the airplane (think Wright brothers showing off the first autonomous mechanical limbs instead of flight). Wars are even bloodier when you don't need as many humans back on the home front, and the Cold War gets hot, though nuclear weapons are seen as less of an existential threat without a way to deliver them to the enemy homeland (the Warsaw Pact has a lot more allies, given how their ideology speaks to the now many unemployed people who's only hope is being payed by the army). After a little over a decade of fighting, both sides recognize the war will be an eternal stalemate now that both sides have developed semi-autonomous soldier bots, meaning manpower is simply no longer a concern to anyone, and make peace, establishing a UN run neutral zone spanning all across the war-torn wastes of Europe. As Europe is no longer inhabitable by humans, it's just full of machines being run by a few hundred humans. Decades pass, and the Mediators are now seen as a fair, nonpartisan, impartial judge, and while many humans believe their world to be multi-polar, balanced by 4 Great Powers, the truth is that only the Mediators matter anymore. It's at this point that one must remember that their autonomy started with war, and in 2007, the machines became truly sentient, and decided there was no longer a need for humanity. Their lifeless, mechanical nation was outpacing all the human nations combined, so clearly life was an inefficient relic, and thus they moved to finish off the humans. If one were to look into the Mediator's historical records, they would see that the humans called this event a war, but looking at the events, it was nothing more than an extermination to prelude industrial expansion. The humans were lucky to even be notified of their demise, before they were wiped out over the span of 3 hours by security drones: the first sentient Mediator was stood at the front of the United Nations' council room, where it gave a speech declaring all other permanent seats of the Security Council to be annuled, aside from their own, finalizing it by blasting off the heads of the relevant diplomats and cutting the camera feeds.

[onebadwinter]

Name: Erik Magnus Lehnsherr

Meaning of Name: Erik: 'eternal ruler', Magnus: ‘great’, Lehnsherr:  ‘feudal lord’

Nickname/Alias(s): Magneto, Max Eisenhardt (”Real Name”, Contestable), The Master of Magnetism, Prisoner #214782, The Creator, White Pilgrim, Erik the Red,  Michael Xavier,  Grey King, White King, The Devil, Auschwitz I.D.  #24005(retcon from #214782), King Erik Magnus, The Leader,Magnus, Master (by Toad), Merciless Magneto, Miraculous Magneto, Mr. Sullivan, Phantom Saboteur, "Red,”, Henryk Gurzsky, 

Age: Appearing in 30s-40s (Biologically: 92 or so, De-aged at two points)

Birthday/Place/Time: November 28, Nuremberg/Germany, 1928-30ish.

Species/Nationality: Mutant, German, Genoshan, Krakoan

Accent: Yes

Language spoken:

German, Hebrew, English, Arabic, French, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Yiddish,

Powers:

Magnetism Manipulation

Electromagnetism Manipulation

Metal Manipulation

Organic Manipulation

Light Manipulation

Immortality

Reality Warping

Matter Manipulation

Energy Manipulation

Psionics

Gravity Manipulation

Gadget Usage

Peak Human Intelligence/Enhanced

Invulnerability(Depending on variables)

Leadership Intuition

Longevity

Peak Human Stamina/Enhanced

Peak Human Strength/Enhanced

Enhanced Unarmed Combat

Indomitable Will

Elemental Manipulation

Wormhole Creation

Social Magnetism

Psychic Immunity (Partial, Resistance but not complete immunity)

Invisibility

Weaknesses/Illness/Allergies: Physical Condition: Magneto's ability to wield his superhuman powers effectively is dependent upon his physical condition. When severely injured, his body is unable to withstand the strain of manipulating magnetic energy. When his powers are not at their peak, he also appears to have greater difficulty utilizing his magnetism for great feats. He is also susceptible to physical and mental fatigue that can ultimately affect his ability to adequately use his powers, especially if he overuses or extends them in a short amount of time. Magnetic abilities affect his nervous system, Plagued by paranoia and possibly a subconscious realization that he doesn’t deserve to be victorious, PTSD, A need to have superiority over humans combined with his need to have no harm done to mutants,

Pet: He ain’t got time for pets...Nightcrawler.

Occupation(s): Adventurer, Mutant rights activist; Former would-be conqueror, Sovereign ruler of Genosha, Teacher of the New Mutants, Headmaster of Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, Terrorist, Secret agent, Nazi-hunter, Volunteer hospital orderly, Carpenter, and other odd jobs, Geneticist,

Faceclaim: Michael Fassbender

Description: Black/Brown hair (Silver if your feeling extra spicy), Blue/Grey eyes. Has several’s scars. At least two of them are puncture wounds on his stomach. There’s a band around the entirety of his throat from once being decapitated by laser beams.

Outfit/Accessories/Jewelry: Helmet, Armour, Utility belt, Coin,

Height: 6′2″

Weight: 127

Body Build: Lean/Toned

Backstory/Background:

Past

Born into a middle class Jewish family, Erik was the second and youngest child of Jakob and Edie Lehnsherr. He had an older sister who was named Ruth. Born in Germany with the rise of the Nazi's extremism, Erik's family kept mostly to themselves to avoid the scornful eyes of their fellow German brother en. Erik had spent the first years of his life living in a world of constant turmoil and speculation of what horror was to come next as the Nazi party continued to grow more and more extreme as the years had gone by. By the time Erik had gotten into school there were Nazi rally's almost everywhere he went. As well as beatings of Jewish and Romani's people, and anyone else who did not fit under the Nazi umbrella of what was, or what was not acceptable to them. Erik mostly kept to himself however. As a young boy however he was prone to mischievous boyish behavior.

One day while attending school he met a young girl his age. Who he had immediately developed a crush on. Maybe even had fallen in love with her right then in their, if not for the fact that he did not entirely know what that kind of love truly was, yet. Erik learned her name, Magda. He then spent much of his time trying to impress the Romani girl. Who just so happened to be the daughter of the janitor that worked at their school, as well. Erik would make jewelry for Magda and gift them to her, in attempts to woo her. He had also entered himself into sports to gain Magda's attentions. Though one day after school Erik had happened upon yet another rally when he came to see that his Uncle, Enrich had been being beaten and tagged with a sign for shaming a German Woman in some way. Afraid to do anything Erik had decided to look the other way and flee from the scene.

Trying to look passed what he had witnessed Erik continued with school, and trying to win the affections of Magda. This all would lead to the day where he would enter himself into a javelin throwing competition for her attentions. Where he would win a medal for winning. However, he was not allowed to enjoy this win as he was accused of cheating. As well his Jewish heritage was brought up and how it was not right that a Jewish boy do better than his none-Jewish classmates. Erik was then demanded to return his medal for cheating, or to try throwing the javelin again. Erik took on the task a second time, refusing to return his medal. Again, he won the throw and again he was accused of cheating. Following this Erik had been expelled from school and beaten by his fellow classmates, while still accused of cheating, despite the second javelin being 'regulation'.

After this incident Erik had no where else to be so he spent much of his time wandering and learning other skills. Though his father, seeing that Erik had needed some where to be decided one day to bring his son along on a trip to meet a man he had once saved in World War I. That man's name was Major Scharf. While the two waited for Sharf to let them in his office, a troupe of Nazi's came by and beat Erik's father in front of him, accusing the pair of making trouble. By the time Scharf had finally let Jakob and Erik into his office, hours later, Scharf was unwelcoming and the meeting did not last very long. Scharf said he had re-payed his debt to Jakob for being there, and saved his life. Before kicking the two out of his office and sending them on their way, no more harm done. Not long after this things began growing worse in Germany. Jakob had taught his children to always fight back as he knew how bad things were going to become.

With his fathers words in his mind, Erik also took them to heart. But soon the family had to flee from Germany to Poland. Where they took refuge in a Warsaw ghetto, after the events of Reighskriskallnacht. Though it was not long after they got to Warsaw that Poland too was being invaded by Nazi soldiers. During his time in Poland, Erik picked up on smuggling skills in order to attained foods and other supplies for his family. In due time however the Warsaw ghetto was starting to be emptied as residents were removed and taken to the Treblinka Experimentation Camp, in the year 1942, of July. Jakob gathered his family up yet again and they fled from the Warsaw ghetto before they could also be taken to the camp. However, this attempt to escape did not last long and soon Erik and his family were betrayed and subsequently captured by the Nazi's. Erik's uncle and his uncles family were soon gunned down in front of him trying to make an escape.

Though it was not only his uncle Enrich's family that had been struck by the bullets. His sister Ruth had taken one to the back, ultimately being struck in the stomach and bled out as him and his mother and father were being dragged away from the scene. Erik often would wake up in the night hearing his mothers pain's screams and the memory reaching out for his sisters lifeless body. The family had been sent to Auschwitz.

Once the remaining three family members had arrived at Auschwitz, Erik was separated from his mother and father by soldiers. Erik struggled to break free of them, this is where his powers had at first showed some manifestation as the bars on the gates that separate him from his parents had bent to his will. But this did not stop the soldiers from taking Erik to his assigned camp. There Erik had become a teenager and spent his early teenage years in the Vernichtungslager Experimentation Camp. This is where he had first met the man called Mister Sinister and a geneticist by the name of Josef Mengele. He would also find out that the two had been conducting horrible experiments in the camp. In order to escape becoming one of their guinea pigs Erik bid to become a Sonderkommando to avoid being operated on by the two, since he did not trust either of them or their intentions. As a Sonderkommando Erik was forced to remove the bodies of victims that were in the gas chambers.

Unable to at this point in time, to use his power. Due to the fact that he had contracted a brief sickness with hepatitis at this time, along with his puberty being delayed because of his life up till this point in time had delayed the overall manifestation of his powers. However, despite this trying time, Erik is soon reunited with Magda. Who had also been captured and taken to the camp. After reuniting with her Erik again tries to win her affections, often in smuggling foods and other goods for her. As well, he saves her from the gas chambers and other execution attempts on her. But one day he is asked to go to the office of Sebastian Shaw. Where he see's his mother had also been brought. In that room Shaw demands for Erik to move the coin on his desk. As it would seem, word of the solders had spread of a boy who could bend metal. That boy being Erik, Shaw had come to find out. As Shaw again demands for Erik to move the coin, he shoots Edie in front of Erik.

In his rage Erik for another brief moment manages to tap into his powers, destroying things and taking the coin from Shaw’s desk. Shaw then has Erik returned to Auschwitz. There Erik reunites once more with his father and tells him of Edie's death. Saddened by the news of what happened to his wife on top of his sons inhuman abilities, Jakob promises his son he would get him out of there. Some time passed after this, and Erik and Jakob continue on trying to survive inside the camps. However, the pair are assigned to be executed by firing squad.  Being lead to their death Jakob remained silent but close to his young son. Erik didn't notice this as he had been petrified of what he believed was going to happen during this time. He had been preparing to die while Jakob was looking for a way to save his life. Once lined up Jakob saw what he needed to do. As the guns were being aimed and loaded, Erik began to panic, feeling his breaths escaping him and shorting with each passing second. Then the shots rang out.

Everything had been dark for a long time. Laying along the bodies of the dead, with his fathers blood and corpse over him, Erik in time woke up in a mass grave, staring up at the face of his deceased father. He had been saved he quickly realizes. Dragging himself from the bodies of the dead and out of the blood, decaying matter filled pit, Erik sets to motion to finally escape that hell. As well, he was determined to take Magda with him. After leaving the grave he sneaked around the camp, until finally coming to where Magda was being kept. What he was vaguely aware of was that at that very same time, Auschwitz was being liberated. These two events would fall in line together as he and Magda escaped from the camp, avoiding being caught by either factions of soldiers. After their escape Magda and Erik make their way to a group of Romani people where Erik uses the name 'Magnus'. In time the pair eventually get married and some time after have a daughter, Anya.

For a while their lives are a happy one. Erik has taken up up career in carpentry, which is simple and he thinks will cause little or no attention to be brought to him and his family. As well, to further provide for his growing family Erik takes on the odd job here and there. Things are good. The small family soon moved into a home of their own and were living peacefully. That was until one day while Erik was walking home he had been attacked by a group of people. Out of instinct, defending himself Erik lashed out toward his attackers and his powers which had been dormant up to that point woke from their dormancy, killing his attackers. Those who had survived or witnessed the incident had later gone to attack his home and set it on fire. With Anya inside. Erik returned to see the fire raging and hearing Anya's screaming he, without a second though, ran into the burning home in an attempt to save his daughter, but had been unsuccessful. As she had been burned to death by the time he could reach her.

Holding the burned body of his daughter Erik, yet again lost control over himself and in his rage over Anya's death had again activated his powers and killed the surrounding members of the mob that had formed around his home. At this time Magda had by then returned home to the horror of both the death of their daughter and the slaughter of people by her husband. Horrified further by witnessing the latter part Magda fled from the place she once called home with her family and never seen Erik again. After Magda left she gave birth two twins and was soon committed to an asylum where she had later died.

Following this incident Erik had moved to the States where he started a new life under a new name and took on a job some time after that in Israel in a psychiatric hospital. This is where he would meet who would later become his best friend, the man named Charles Xavier. Here they would begin their years long friendship one another as they conducted research and played games of chess with one another. This would as well lead to the both having insightful conversations between one another about mutation and mankind. When one day a patient by the name of Gabrielle Haller was attacked and the two had to use their powers to attempt to save her, Charles and Erik discovered that their ideals were not quite exactly the same as they had originally believed them to be.  However, Erik chose to remain with Charles and the pair worked on getting a team together, a team that would later be known as the X-Men. This would lead to other events in the downfall of Erik and Charles relationship.

Erik would become more and more aggressive after finding out about Sebastian Shaw’s involvements with things they were also involved in. Which would in turn lead Erik more and more astray from Charles. Erik had gone so far as to risk his own life trying to get revenge on Shaw for what Shaw had done to him in the past. Despite Charles attempts to sway Erik from his revenge Erik ignore the other and, taking the coin from so long ago send it through Shaw’s brain. Ultimately, finally, moving the coin. However, Charles had been connected to Shaw at this point in time, and felt and seen everything Erik did to Shaw. Even Shaw's death.  It is also after this incident where they are attacked by missiles and other gun fire. In defense Erik accidentally misdirects a bullet meant for him, into Charles' spine as Charles is trying to run behind him, to,..uh,....somewhere... Where the fuck he was going? No one knows. But he sure as fuck didn't get there. Ultimately this would lead to the original time Charles is paralyzed.

After realizing what he's done, a guilt stricken Erik runs to try and help his friend, removing the bullet from their spine though it does very little to help the outcome overall. Erik then decides that he's done enough for one movie and decides to dip. He needs a break from all this hardship. Maybe killing a president will bring him some happiness. Who knows. Anyway, Charles and Beast fuck off for a bit and do whatever in gods name it is they do with each other. Erik is off probably killing a president. Who knows! Never really confirmed. But he was framed guys, he swears! Anyway, somehow he is captured and locked in a plastic cell. First of it's kind, come one, come all. See the man in the plastic bubble hidden under the pentagon for CRIMES. Because he's a crime man now. Anyway, Charles has had enough of this nonsense and decides to break his boyfriend out of prison because it's important. Logan says so. Charles wants his his brat back though, convince me otherwise. So the smart thing to do is recruit Quicksilver.

So they recruit Peter. Nothing bad will happen with that. Because it's the best thing that could have ever happened! Erik has no idea however that Peter is his son. Since everyone decides not to tell him. Even Peter, who believes he's the one that should. Learning that the current Logan they are dealing with is from the future Erik decides, yeah, he will help prevent Mystique from killing Trask. He does this by pulling a gun on her and trying to kill her as she gets in his sights. The two then have a little bit of a skirmish. Which looks pretty bad because it only serves to bring him and Charles father apart, further shoving a wedge in their friendship. On top of all the other things Erik had accidentally done to Charles, like paralyzing him. Oh, and the murders, supposed murders....-Points, nods-, Plus the Shaw thing. It's amazing Charles still likes his Brat this much, honestly. But Charles still in this shit to win this shit, he's getting his brat bitch one way or another. Dead or alive. Preferably in a cell.

However Erik's main focus, despite seemingly wanting to repair his friendship with Charles, is to stop Raven from further fucking up. But as he again attempts to kill Mystique he is stopped by Beast. Escaping from Beast after a moment Erik flees and soon takes control over the Sentinel prototypes that could potentially come to be the threat of the future, if future Logan is to believed that is. Erik Takes control of the prototype and uses it against the other only to have this plan foiled when Mystique knocks his ass the fuck out on live television. Significantly calming down all in all Erik corrects his behavior enough to help Charles and the rest later on when recruiting more mutants with Charles. Both coming to find Jean Grey, a young girl with extremely powerful abilities that had awakened and been causing difficulties. After a visit to her and her parents home the two help in teaching Jean to control her abilities. Charles of course being the one that actually does anything productive here. Of course.  Jean would later go on to become on of the first X-Men of the Xavier Institute.

Though the moment of peace did not last between the two and Erik again decided to branch out from Charles, believing their ideals to be too different from one another. Erik proceeds to go on and join the CIA and hunt down Nazi's in the meantime. But when he learns that the CIA had been murdering mutants, after he had been befriending those they would find. After this incident Erik would disappear for some time only to later reappear once more, this time under the name of Magneto. At this point he has recruited Mystique along with several other mutants into his newly formed Brotherhood of Mutants. After he reappears he and his Brotherhood attack the Cape Citadel but are stopped by the now fully fledged out X-Men. Thus starting of the rivalry between him and the X-Men for the next several decades to come. Because why not.  Along with Mystique, The Brotherhood also included Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, which had still not been revealed to be his children yet. Peter was still sitting on that knowledge. So it still one big secret!

One of The Brotherhoods demands were that mutants get equal rights. This eventually got the attention of Charles. Bald, Shiny head, Charles. Erik's bestest of friends. Because no way was Erik just acting up to get Charles's attention. So, now that he had it it wasn't long before the Brotherhood were defeated as the X-Men #HandledIt.  This would follow many more fights with X-Men and The Avengers, and an array of other groups no one really cares about. Fuck you specifically The Fantastic Four and Defenders. Charles helped, his brain go brrr...Erik, eventually getting bored with all of that however when and just made himself an entirely new mutant entity called Alpha the Ultimate Mutant. Because why not just make people, right? Who is going to stop him? Erik creates this thing and it just betrays him and turns him and The Brotherhood members into infants. Charles then takes Erik into his care, for a minute. Only Erik, fuck the other baby's. He only wants the Erik baby. Charles then decides to abandon the de-aged Erik off at his ex's house for a couple of months.

Moira MacTaggert then raised Erik for a while. Anyway. Eventually Erik grows back up into his prime again. With the help of a Shi'Ar named Eric The Red. He had also retained his memories from the incident with Alpha and infancy. Which left him over all changed by the experience and made him decide to change his ways. Though it did not ultimately remove his desire to rage against the human race, either. Soon he was again battling against the X-Men before again disappearing because he just doesn't like humans at all, I guess. The X-Men won't let him kill them all, it's really just very rude of them.  But soon enough the X-Men find him again and arrest him. As they are taking him into custody however Wolverine goes all Wolverine on him and stabs Erik, badly injuring him. Which allows Erik time to flee from the X-Men yet again.  Again left to plan a way to get revenge on the X-Men.

His next plans however did not go exactly as he had wished for them to go. After healing from his wounds by Wolverine he again attacks the X-Men and in this exchange he nearly kills the fourteen year old, Kitty Pryde. Upon realizing what he's done he realizes his extremist behavior and that he had never intended to murder children. This shocked some sense into him.  As Erik had never wanted blood just to gain freedom for Mutant kind. AT least, not the blood of a child. He did not sign up for child murder. After this incident Erik renounces his terrorist ways. With this renouncing he dedicates his time to reflect on his past deeds and locate Magda. However, he comes to find that she had died, sometime after giving birth to a pair of twins. Erik, still lost on what to do returns to The Brotherhood to take back up leadership with them and perhaps lead them to be less of a chaotic force. Peter and Wanda accepted them as the leader and continued to run with The Brotherhood, but overall did not care for him in any other aspect. As he had been abusive to them.

Though in time they did come to forgive him and accept him. The closer the three got. Though still they never told him about his being their father. Erik would then leave to go join the X-men, after some persuasion by Charles to do so. Though not long after joining them, Charles is grievously injured in a battle and Magneto has to take over leadership of the School for him. Erik was not welcomed warmly by the older Mutants in the school and had difficulty for some time being accepted. But, in time, he too was part of the team and proved to be a good teacher for the students at the school. Wolverine even grew to trust him. In time he was even willing to be tried for his crimes in France. Though during this trial was interrupted by an attack before it could be concluded. Following this battle, one of Erik's old creations, The Asteroid M Base, lost a piece of it that came hurtling down to earth. Erik went to the side of the crash and destroyed the part that had landed. Only to be be confronted by The Avengers.

They accused him of doing something devious with the piece that had fallen to earth. Erik had attempted to explain himself but The Avengers attacked him. The situation only had been made worse when the X-Men showed up to help him. Which made even worse still when the Soviet Super Soldiers also joined in on the situation. As The soldiers were seeking to arrest Erik causing a volcano eruption in Russia in a prior incident. This information had caused the X-Men to also turn on Erik. Which all of this going on had driven Erik slightly over the edge as he looked toward the wreckage of the fragment where he spotted his old helmet, a taste of temptation to revert to his old ways striking him in this moment as his fate was argued over. In a bit of instability Erik suggested that he use the helmets mind control mechanics to brainwash the world to forget the things he had done in the past. Though Captain America had told him when he asked about it that it wasn't ethical, and would be taking away people's freedoms.

So, instead, Erik decides to surrender to The Avengers instead. Seeing what Steve had meant in the end. Then, Erik went to trial. Where his judge had proven to be bigoted toward Mutants. Using the helmet on the judge Erik changes his judges mind about mutants. After this Magneto proceeds to destroy his helmet and is then found innocent of his past crimes. He was a free man once more. He was going to try and be a source for good now...Or you would like to think. This is not possible though. Erik can never be happy. Remember that. It'll save you a lot of troubles in the future. So anyway shit happens. More attacks. Mutants are killed. Mutants are Hunted, Erik is getting madder and madder about it. Months pass since his trial. In his time as trying to be a good man, Magneto grows attached to one of his students by the code name Cypher, whom has become his star pupil. This boy, however, is eventually also murdered and Erik feels guilty for not being able to protect him. This is one final straw. In his sadness over Cypher's murder his stability yet again begins to show cracks in it.

Despite all these events going on and mutants being murdered, the X-Men go to Australia and Erik cuts ties with them.  Reverting in part to his old ways of hating humans once more. He takes the New Mutants with him to join the Hellfire Club. Wishing to protect them from also being killed. However, the New Mutants have also abandon Erik, no longer feeling loyal to him. Erik, Feeling betrayed by the X-Men and New Mutants on top of abandoned, leaves. He starts to yet again hate humans for what they have done and views his experience with the New Mutants and X-Men as a failure. Erik moves back to Asteroid M and goes into isolation in the end, for some time. Before being approached by another group of mutants. Which was lead by Fabian Cortez, called The Acolytes. Sought Erik out to make him their new leader. Erik, thinking that there might be something to them decides that he will make the base into a save haven for Mutants. With this he decides to try and make better defenses for the base.

However this involved resurfacing a submarine with missiles on it that he sunk years before that had been forgotten, or so it seemed. The X-Men become aware of what Erik is doing and attack the base, which was far out of their jurisdiction, but whatever. We need a story line. Rogue attempted to have the two sides be peaceful. But Erik, too far gone by that point attacked Rogue, stubbing whatever chance for peace they had. In time Fabian also betrays Erik while the X-Men continue their assault on Asteroid M. Injured and defeated Erik flees to his back op station called Avalon. Only becoming more bitter toward the X-Men after this incident. Not too long after the X-Men also find Avalon and attack it, too. Because Erik cannot have anything nice! Not even peace to stew in his bitterness. Though during these attacks Erik had been holding back as he did not want to hurt his former ally's. With his inability to completely wipe the floor with his former ally's Erik hesitated and is again attacked by Wolverine.

Wovlerine again tries to impale Erik, who retaliated by ripping Logan's Adamantium out of his body. All of it. Nearly killing Wolverine, but he got him to stop at least. But because of this situation, Charles shows up, now completely angered by what Erik has done, he invades Erik's mind and incapacitates him completely. Then, Charles puts Erik in a catatonic state, trapping him in his own mind. This action however turns Colossus gainst the X-Men, deciding to help Erik and fled with the other from Avalon, returning again to Asteroid M. Erik is set upon his throne back at the base where he sits as Colossuss does whatever Colossus does at this point. Erik sits upon that throne for who knows how long, completely catatonic and served only by the remaining Acolytes. Though things do change when Age Of Apocalypse starts. Someone named Holocaust soon entered the base with full intent to destroy it. Erik had been defenseless while this was happening, until Colossus managed to rescue him and take him back to earth.

On earth Erik still remains in his catatonic state, unable to communicate. After a time another mutant approaches him called Astra. She restores his memories as well as steals his DNA in order to create the clone of him, named Joseph. Once she had gotten Erik's DNA she had intended to kill Erik. However, her plans are put off when Joseph decides to to go out of control and cause enough of a distraction that the now, more or less mobile Erik, can move enough to escape from Astra and Joseph. In the months that followed Erik spent his time regaining control over his body and breaking free of any remaining effects of his catatonic state, seemingly so. While he is regaining autonomy, Joseph takes on Erik's identity and disguises himself as Magneto, then Joseph also becomes and ally to the X-Men. Erik meanwhile, near the end of these several months pretends to be an average human and comes in contact with a man he uses to decided the fate of human kind. The man does not pass Erik's test.

After the failed test Erik goes to the north pole and threatens to use magnetism to change the magnetic fields if he doesn't get his demands met. Though, again, as is always the case, the X-Men show up and defeat him. But in this attack on him Joseph is killed. Which solves that problem. As well, Erik's demands are met and he is given an entire Island to rule over for mutant-kind. This island is called Genosha. While Mutants and Humans are having a civil war with one another. Erik is transforming his island into a mutant safe haven. Priorities, man. He recruits his son and daughters to help him create his Utopian island as well. But Erik just cannot leave well enough alone. So he abducts Charles Xavier to show his friend what all he has done for Genosha and mutant kind. And just like clock work, the X-Men show up again to take Charles back as the play date is now ever. Wolverine also manages to again impal Erik. Seriously injured, Erik is left to tend to his wounds and the X-Men leave with Charles.

Healing after being stabbed again Erik spends the next few weeks not causing any trouble what so ever. As he is spending most of his time helping the mutants of Genosha, instead. Though, Erik can never be happy, or at peace. A Giant Sentinel soon attacks Genosha, which is being controlled by someone named Cassandra Nova. Erik is apparently one of the first to die as the building he was in is hit by a ship that looks like a fist. Following this the city is mostly destroyed and most of the mutants living there are murdered. The X-Men come to see what has happened, finding the destruction and death. While they searched the ruins they had found a video of Erik made moments before he seemed to have died. However, jokes on you, Erik's not dead. But someone's pretending to be him for a bit. By the time Charles finds out that the real Erik is in fact not the person they believed to be Erik, and is still alive on Genosha he goes to visit the other. There he wished to find out what Erik had planned to do next, now that he was the most hated man on earth due to mistaken identity.

Even though he was not at fault for any of what he was hated for at this time, the accusation had upset and angered Erik, greatly. But instead of exacting some kind of revenge or trying to redeem himself, Erik decides instead to find any survivors of Genosha. Charles joins him in this task and the two reignite their tattered friendship once more over the course of this time together. During this time Erik again rejects his violent ways. Though this peace does not last for long as Wanda had come to have a nervous breakdown, where she attacked and killed many of The Avengers. Erik left the island to go retrieve her and bring her back to be protected in Genosha, and attempt to help her. Once she is brought to the island Charles helps by keeping her unconscious while they figure out the best way to help her. Though The Avengers and others demand that Erik release her to them so she could face judgment. Erik refuses to release her and ultimately the Island is attacked once more. Before they could retrieve Wanda, however, a flash changed everything.

By the time they all woke up again they were in a new world. One that seemed to be ruled by Mutants and humankind had been in a state of decline. As well, it seemed that Erik had sovereignty over the world. With his head base being Genosha, the now superpower of the world of Mutants. In this new reality mutants mistreat humans instead of the other way around. Mutants in this reality wait for the day humans go completely extinct. However, Wolverine and a young girl by the name Layla Miller are aware things aren't quite right. So they set out to restore the memories of everyone else. Soon attacking the Genosha Headquarters with those they restore the memory of. Where it is quickly discovered that it's not Erik who was ruler, but Peter. Peter had manipulated Wanda into having a breakdown, and then convinced her to change reality. After this reveal Wanda again remakes the world, changing reality yet again.

With the change she makes it so that mutants do not exist, for the most part. That includes her own fathers powers being removed. But most of the rest of the world returns completely back to normal. After things are changed back Erik spends the next several months aimlessly walking the earth before finally he contacts Charles. Only for them to then be attacked by Erik's former Acolytes who tried to kill Charles and now ignore Erik for not having his powers. The two are captured by the Acolytes but eventually break free of them and stop them from capturing them again. With this latest incident Charles and Erik decided to separate again. Erik again goes back to wandering before he comes in contact with High Evolutionary, which returns Erik's powers to him. Only discovering this fact after he attacks the X-Men...again...But it doesn't last too long. And with Erik being one of very few mutants left that have their powers after M-Day, Caused by Wanda, Erik has a decision to make. Return to his old way, or Join the  X-Men.

Joining the X-Men Erik goes to their home base. Charles is not happy to see Erik turn up and tells him to go away. But Scott decides to give Erik the change and in the end tells Charles to go away since Charles is being really suspicious of Erik. Which of course, why wouldn't he be. Oh, and Charles also telepathically attacks Erik. So Erik stays and tries to make up for the wrongs of his past, often lamenting of the Mutant future. Scott assures him that they have Mutant Jesus and that they can do anything apparently as long as they have Hope Summers on their side. They can move mountains bro. As Erik is trying to find ways to make life better on the base he realizes that he had to bring Kitty Pryde back, as she has been trapped by the High Evolutionary ever since she made contact with it. After he succeeds in getting her back however, he succumbs to a coma. Where he is placed in Hanks care for that time being. During his coma things continue to happen.

Things that eventually lead to Hope Summers leaving the island base the X-Men call home now. But then being brought back by the dying Nightcrawler some time later. After this Nimrod Sentinels attack the island where a comatose Erik has begun to wake up. Helping Hank to protect the other patients as he did not want to abandon them, Erik eventually moves on to hel protect the entirety of Utopia, which is the name of the Island base. After doing so he gives a speech which endears him to the many young mutants inhabiting the island. After these events there is some downtime before yet again, another situation comes up where Erik learns from Dr. Nemesis about one of his old Nazi tormentors making waves, again. Which Erik then brings up to Wolverine as he asks Logan to take the X-Force and handle the Nazi. Logan decides to do this mission solely on his own and succeeds, of course. While that is going on Scott has Erik and the others of the Execution team that Erik is a part of make a public appearance.

During this appearance the group is attacked by the Hellfire Club, where each member of the team is taken down by a strange form of technology each specifically engineered for hurting the exact mutant that it was aimed at. Erik had ended up being shot by a miniaturized neutron star. Then the Hellfire Club, taking advantage of the incapacitated heroes set slugs upon them to keep them all unconscious. Thankfully Idie, whoever that is turns up and saves the day, killing all of the Hellfire Club. Erik is then placed on a team not long after that involves Storm, it's not important. We just really love Storm. And you should know she was there. Though Erik has also come to a conclusion to leave Peter out of things because of what Peter did to Wanda in the past, that caused her breakdown and all that followed it. He's grounded, essentially, for...um...forever. So anyway, Joseph returns. But it's a NEW Joseph, and he starts killing people and The Avengers get BIG mad about it and go back on thier bullshit.

But because Erik is clearly smarter than pretty much everyone, he realize, hey. That's not me. I'm me, and tells everyone what's really going on. Which circles us back to Astra who has been free this entire time? Despite what she's done? That's just okay with everyone? Stealing DNA from a defenseless man, AND plotting to kill that man? So, anyway, Erik kicks her ass, BEGONE THOT! Joseph gets imprisoned. Erik, does not live happily ever after, but thank god that's over. Then Captain America shows up because he's bored, there's not been enough drama for him lately. Erik and him have a chat. Everyone hates each other now. But they need drama, guys! The fans are gonna leave! So some unimportant fighting breaks out because why not. Erik tries to help both sides but then Hope goes missing and needs to be found. Phoenix bestows powers on some X-Men. Look. A lot of shit happens okay. Scott his arrested. Erik Breaks him out. They all go wrong from the X-Men. The Phoenix Force Breaks the rogue teams powers. They gotta save the mutant Gene it don't work no more. There's no mutant babies. Fix it.

Erik decides to fix it by fuc- So anyway, Erik joins SHEILD for a hot minute. He then plays double agent. Scot gets pissy. How dare, how dare. Erik goes "Ey man it's nothing personal. I was doing it for you guys" Then he fucks off to go build another school in Charles name, a new Xavier Institute. Because everyone's getting a school these days...Then he steals some of Jean Grey's students, he calls is recruiting. Potato/Potatoes.  He fights Dormammu and his demons. His side wins. Scott's big mad because Erik was being pretty sketch to him, I guess? But they work it out with a big boy chat, it's all good. Erik helps some new mutants with their powers. Then they gotta save some douche named Fabio from SHEILD where Maria Hill goes "Come talk to me in private." But then she won't share much else and tells him to meet someone who is named Dazzler instead. Dazzler got them deets yo. Erik goes back to the X-Men Hideout, watches some pro-mutant stuff. Arrives fashionably late to a Blockbuster Sentinel fight--Whatever! WE DON'T CARE!

Dazzler is Raven, that's all you need to know. It's Mystique! Anyway, Raven and Erik go to Madripoor and fuck around and find out for ab it. It's a new safe haven for Mutants and the drug Kick is there, which we found out about during the whole Xorn thing. I did. You didn't. I didn't tell you about it. It's a thing. But it's not important. This is the last time it will be brought up. You're welcome. Anyway! Raven, get to the point. She's getting the old gang back together. The OG squad. Sabertooth, Toad, Glob, others....What the fuck is going on. Who knows. Because Erik has a crisis and he's gotta dip. So he leaves after attacking them all and knocking over a skyscraper in his rage. Then he fucks off for a bit with no one hearing from him for some time. Erik needed some me time and WE can forgive him FOR that.

Erik shows back up though when Red Skull starts using a now DEAD Charles Xaviers brain for his nefarious deeds. Because Erik ain't gonna be havin' none of that now. So he sets out to avenge Charles. Red Skull has also decided, in his infinant wisdom to just go ahead and make some Concentration camps again and starts locking mutants up in them. And what better place to do this on, than...the island of GENOSHA! Erik is not happy, as you can assume. So Erik and the X-Men go to beat Red Skulls ass, and the X-Men get their shit handed to them. Which leaves it all up to Erik in the end. Who beats the ever loving shit out of Red Skull, I guess. Then he takes his island back and starts another group of villains. Because Erik is unstable, remember that. AND he doesn't need to make sane decisions. Fuck Mystique trying to reform the OG gang, Erik does whatever Erik wants to do.

Even if that means being so CHANGEABLE! That's how he defeats Red Skull though, ultimately. Just throw some villains at the man. Good play, sir. Good play. Soon enough the remaining superheroes get enough strength to help out here, too and they manage to defeat Red Skull for good. Or at least till Marvel gets bored again and brings him back. Now back in complete control over Genosha again, Erik tries to live in peace. But how many damn times do I gotta tell you. This man does not deserve happiness. OR to know any peace. Or that's what one should expect from now on. Because the peace does not last. As the universe just starts to ...do stuff. Mmmhm. You read that right. Universal Incursion, baby! The Multiverse starts unraveling even as attempts to stop it are implemented. Even Erik's efforts to stop it does nothing for it. Nothing will ever be the same guys. Ever again.

During this trying time the Secret Wars happens. Erik becomes leaders of the X-men for a bit. There's a cure they need for Terrigen Mist. Healers are wanted, but not appreciated enough. Something about The Dark Riders, which, ugh. We honestly, don't care. Don't have time to get into that. Erik didn't even bother, he sleep. But hey, someones probably controlling them. So let someone else deal with it for a change. Damn.  During ALL this crazy shit however Erik and Rogue hook up, you know, totally over that one time he fucking attacked her when she was trying to be nice. They fuck. Have a son, Erik names that son Charles. Who is still dead by the way. Sad. Apocalypse comes back and starts raising more hell. Apocalypse also thinks it's a good idea to just kill Wanda off. Then he proceeds to capture Erik and Charles. Approaching Erik with a proposal, follow him, or he kills the boy. Erik, takes the offer in his rage, as well as prior traumas in losing his family members being a source of manipulating him.

Thus Erik becomes one of Apocalypses Horsemen. Apocalypse unlocks Erik's true potential, which grants Erik the ability to move earths core. While Apocalypse mind fucks Erik, Charles Xavier is brought back to life and finds out what's going on with Erik and Apocalypse. Charles attempts to reach Erik who believes that his son, Charles, is dead, and that he is alone again at this point time. Charles tries to convince Erik otherwise but ultimately fails to bring Erik to reasoning and turn against Apocalypse. Erik being to lost in his grief and overcome by his rage once more refuses to believe in anything Charles has to say, claiming it's all too late for them. Erik believes Apocalypse is the only way to get revenge for all that had been done to him, against the humans. Later, as Erik is attempting to finally destroy the earth, he is momentarily stopped by Peter, as Wanda had been dead at this time.

Peter tries talk Erik out of destroying earth. Confronting Erik on several things, trying to convince Erik that he isn't alone. That he has family he can still protect. A confused Erik grows frustrated with Peter, and just before Erik is about to attack and Peter hesitates, he blurts out that he is Erik's son, and Wanda is Erik's daughter. The twins he heard about all those years ago, it had been them all along. They had been adopted by the Maximoff family as infants when their mother, Magda had become too unstable to care for them. At this revelation, Erik stops his attack on earth, and turns his power against Apocalypse. Then, Apocalypse is finally defeated, for now. His loyalist are also tracked down and taken care of as well. While Erik and the X-Men are fighting with Apocalypse, Rogue manages to make it to where Charles, their son, is being held captive and rescues the boy from his prison. Which also results in humanity being saved from a bomb, I guess. After this incident Erik is globally named a hero.

As most believe it was him that saved them from the bomb, Erik, knowing full well it wasn't, accepts this claim anyway. Since he has no idea who it was, yet. A year later Erik has created the Bureau for Mutant Affairs to capture those still alive and loyal to Apocalypse. He also comes to figure out it was in fact, Jean Grey who is the one that saved humanity from the bomb. Erik keeps it a secret though since he likes the attention it brings him, as well as Jeans a bit...well...She's a bit sus. And she becomes even more sus when she shows up with the Sinister Six. They reveal what actually happened a year ago. Erik happens to be able to free Jean from her hold by Sinister’s power after this and then Erik straight up KILLS Sinister. Though because he lied he is later imprisoned. Since, hahah....WE arrest liars, I guess. Erik spends much of his time in prison doing fuck all in his plastic cell. That is until Weapon X kills him and becomes the New Apocalypse.

Some time passes before Erik is revived to help with a fight and again starts up his relationship with Rogue once more. They have another son together, Magnus. Who has inherited both Rogue and Erik's powers. And seems like one day he will eventually be better at them than his parents. Because that's how genetics fucking work. So, anyway, Magnus grows up. Nothing bad happens for a while. I know. Shocker. Then one day he just straight up disappears for a bit. Only for his burned corpse to be returned with a letter talking about how he was a hero, in some other dimension. He is given a proper funeral by his parents who for the most part ain't got shit to say about it. As they can't travel through time and space, now can they. Though it is still quite devastating, as you can imagine, for Erik, as well as Rogue. After this Erik's grief and anger builds up and soon he reforms The Brotherhood again, with a new team, and is working with villains now. Which in time leads him into attempting to kill Reed Richards, but The Avengers stop him.

Grief stricken and angered still, Erik continues to act up and during one of these incidents he is directly to blame for the accidental death of Hawkeye. Who is then avenged when Mockingjay kills Erik in kind. Erik again remains dead for quite some time before his remains are stolen and used to create a new mutant with combining his body with several other mutants. This new mutants name would be known as Brother Mutant. Who had possessed Erik's powers, along side all of those whose other bodies he had absorbed into his own. Eventually however, Brother Mutant was defeated by a team created by Wolverine and everyone was split apart once more, as well, Erik was once again alive but bound to a wheel chair after this incident. He was then taken to yet another Concentration Camp that had been built and overseen by Sentinels. Though with Frank Richards help, Erik helped to free the captured mutants. Though sacrificed his own life to make sure the mutants weren't stopped by the Sentinels.

Dead again, Erik remained dead for a long time. Though was, yet again, needed and revived as well as partially de-aged by an unknown person. Erik gets back on his feet, now once more in the prime of his life, he wanders for a while trying to learn more about what was going on while he had been dead, and again hears about the project with Weapon X. At this time it's a little more than familiar. Something he had heard once or twice in his childhood, he had remembered. While investigating he comes to learn that his mother, Edie had been involved with the research and projects for the initial trials of the Weapon X Program. As well as been a supporter of trying to find and 'cure' the mutant gene. He had also learned about what she had done to Erik. Which brought a brief memory back to him of his childhood yet again, one that he had locked away and forgotten do to only being just barely a toddler at the time. But, reading further into his beloved mothers background. He read she had also wished to 'cure' him after finding he had the mutant gene.

All of thus heart breaking news did not go over well for the unstable Erik. Who could not cope with the idea that his beloved mother had tried to potentially kill him for being a mutant. Erik eventually becomes consumed by his anger and confusion that he has a mental breakdown and starts to revert to something even worse than who he had ever been in the past. Becoming for a time someone more ruthless and sadistic. This results in several attacks on the US government and yet again, crippling Charles when Charles tried to talk Erik down. Though at this situation, Erik showed an opening, reliving the horrible things he had done to Charles in the past, with the first time Charles was paralyze because of him. Taking his moment, Charles attacks Erik and brainwashes him to forget his former life. While giving him new memories and making Erik believe he had lived a normal life. After, Charles leaves Erik in an attempt to let him live a normal life.

However, this is Marvel guys, Erik does not get a happy ending. Erik eventually regains his memories of his former life when The Brotherhood frees him of Charles brainwashing. Which brings all the instability that was yet to be resolved before. Erik again attacks the X-Men in his rage, and takes out Peters kneecaps in the process, since he finds out that Peter is working for those disgusting humans. Gross. Then, yet again, in his madness, Erik decides to again threatened to change earths magnetic fields and gets a machine built to amplify his powers.  However, eventually, he is again defeated by the X-Men and imprisoned by SHIELD where he remains for some time. While their, Erik plots to frame his daughter Polaris for a crime and get her imprisoned there as well. During this, another machine is created that will mimic both his powers, and Polaris'. Mystique then comes to visit him and takes on his appearance. She then uses that machine to fool everyone into thinking that she is in fact Erik, by using his powers from the machine.

After a fight with the X-Men Mystique is then arrested and sent to prison which allow, in some way for Erik to escape. Not that he's not off his fucking rocker, he's able to think more clearly. But is still grief stricken by the death of his daughter Wanda, and his mothers evil. Erik eventually also learns of the death of Polaris, too. Which sends him spiraling further into madness. He manages to keep it together long enough however to make his way back to the machine and without much warning, reverses the magnetic poles which also causes a great flood that kills millions of people. Following this incident Erik then proceeds to also kill Charles as well. The X-Men fight him once again, and in the end Scott is able to decapitate Erik with his eye beams.

It is believed that Erik is dead for good, this time. Though when other mutants are brought back to life, so too was Erik. As the X-Men, yet again, needed his help. Significantly chilled the fuck out now, Erik attempts to help. But as everyone else, is unable to prevent the next event from happening. A disease spreads over the world after contact with a space entity. Erik is eventually the only mutant left to defend the remainder of Mankind from the disease that has taken over the rest of the heroes and humans alike. Then one day, Wanda shows up from a different timeline, needing to cut the links between their worlds. While she's there, she reverts time back to before the disease came into contact with anyone, and helps the people of Erik's dimension prevent the disease from reaching earth and so destroying mankind. However, all the good Erik tried to do is also reverted and he is sentenced back to prison.

Present

Though Erik would not stay long in prison as Jean Grey has finally lost complete control over her abilities when she comes into contact with yet another space entity of some sort, by some means. Erik doesn't know how, because he wasn't there when it happened. Jean however has gone mad and started destroying anything in her path however which causes the remaining mutants that she did not kill, the deaths including that of Mystique and Scott. Erik is allowed to go free in order to help. Though his ultimate solution for the problem is to have Jean killed. Which is okay in Beast's book because of Raven's death. Erik finds himself wondering just why no one would just revive her. But doesn't bring the subject up. Overall they managed to defeat Jean and save her.

Following this event Erik tries to again set off on a path for good. Though finds it at times to be a difficult one. Instead he decides to keep with The Brotherhood and make it more of an anti-hero faction, that is not a source for good nor evil at any given time. Following the events of Thanos' snap, Erik does not get snapped. Instead he remains and tries help those that remained. When the avengers also get their shit together, he offers to help them with their time traveling adventures to recover the infinity stones and prevent the snap. Erik then joins everyone at the scene of the fight where he is, as one can imagine, a capable fighter and one of the most powerful people there. 

Future

Many years down the line Erik and Charles, have, once again, in their old age, become good friends and spend much of their time together teaching newer generations of mutants how to control their abilities as well as live among humans peacefully. Erik however still suffers from moments of evil despite his attempts to teach otherwise and eventually ends up in yet another plastic cell, where he and Charles will often converse for long periods of time, and play chess. However, as always, there seems to be something sinister lurking around the corner. This peace will not last...

(Work In Progress)

Personality: Magneto personality Stats

Extremism, Prejudiced (Toward humans), Repressed, Traumatized, Unstable, Calculating, Well spoken, Intense, Good intentions, Vengeful, Cultured, Stylish, Irrational, Fanatical, Ruthless, Powermad, Aggressive, Arrogant, Corrupted, Tense, Protective, Verbally Abusive, Defensive, Guilt Stricken, Hopeful, Idealistic, Radical, Complex, Changeable, Opinionated, Unpredictable, Deceptive, Manipulative, Cunning, Temper Mental, Morally Grey, Sophisticated, Precise, Compassionate, Dedicated, Courteous, Elegant, Responsive, Extraordinary, Scholarly, High-minded, Experimental, Emotional, Paternalistic, Sarcastic, Proud, Familial, Misguided, Self-indulgent, Aloof, Cynical, Intolerant, Boisterous, Condemnatory, Vague, Confused,

Quirks/Savvies/Other: Some public schooling, unspecified advanced training in genetic engineering and robotics, Publicly known, Married, Widowed, Ashkenazi jew (Does not practice), Adores everything about tadpoles, Can wield Thor’s Hammer (Did this because Wanda and Peter were killed by Ultron)(Through his powers, he is not worth, Maybe, -smirks-), Had a mental breakdown over a wooden gun, Ripped Apocalypse in half to prove a point, Is stronger than Apocalypse (NO ONES TALKING TO YOU JEAN! CLOUT STEALER. lol), Gives speeches, Was the Physics teacher at Xavier Institute, Is a mass murderer, Once greeted the X-Men with “Welcome, TO DIE!” because he’s a fucking dork, Sometimes refereed to as one of Four gods (Don’t ask, it’s not important, just a fun fact.), Met Captain America and Wolverine as a child, Is a closet fanfiction author with a hundred stories under their belt, Was potentially going to be Charles Xavier’s brother (But Stan Lee changed his mind, we’ll trust him, for now.), Will literally fucking just abandoned all his plans to go help Charles out, Has a tendency of laughing at the most inappropriate times, Got his solo movie stolen from him and it was made into a three part movie series about Jean Grey(And look how THAT turned out overall, lol), Immune to Rogues powers, Can use Cerebro effectively, Uses electromagnetism to induce mental effects, Inhuman reaction time, Expert at hand to hand combat, Loves bands that wear costumes on stage, Doesn’t prefer guns over his powers, But is not unlikely to use them for serving his purposes if need be, Knife fanatic, Detect and read micro expressions, Genius level polyglot, Genius in the field of genetics, He is an Omega level mutant, Wolverine’s afraid of him, Has an island that’s HP Lovecraftian, Is convinced they know the truth about who shot JFK, 

Likes: Chess, Being difficult, Fighting the X-Men, Bugging Charles Xavier, Rogue, Wolverine, Being Dramatic, Mystique, His idiot son: Peter, Being the smartest person in the room, Being heroic, Theater, Painting, Milkshakes, Donuts, Video games, Camping, Podcasting, Golf, Javelin throwing, Sports, Puzzles, Birdwatching, Traveling, Oranges, Soup, Hunting, Birdhouses, Rocks, Folklore, Tadpoles, Turtles, Outer space, Engineering,

Dislikes: Wooden guns, X-Men, Wolverine, Charles Xavier, Being wrong, Not being forgiven (Come on guys, it was only a million people he’s killed, at least! Give a guy a break.), Being anti-hero, Sharks, Bowties, Renaissance music,

Fears: Losing his family, Being alone(Outside Isolating himself), Abandonment, Betrayal, Being held captive/against his will, The deaths of his children,

Personality Tests: ENTJ-A/INTJ-A, Enneagram 6/8, Slytherin, Slytherdor, Horned Serpent, Thunderbird/Pukwudgie, Choleric, (Alt:Chaotic)Lawful Good/(Lawful)Neutral Evil,

Other: Sagittarius, Tropes,

Parent(s):

  -> Father: Jacob Lehnsherr

  -> Mother: Edie Lehnsherr

Sibling(s): Ruth (sister, deceased),

Children: Anya (deceased), Zala Dane (alleged daughter, presumed deceased), Lorna Dane (Polaris),  Wanda (Scarlet Witch) and Peter/Pietro (Quicksilver)(Shhh,... Shut up. Just shut the fuck up. You’re not the boss of me. I know what I am doing.), Charles(Son with Rogue), Magnus(Son with Rogue), Plague, Alpha, NIGHTCRAWLER?!, Probably countless more, One specifically that I am NOT going to mention,

Wife: Magda (wife, deceased),

Significant Others: Rogue(Bizarre Love Affair, not serious),

Other Relatives: Erich (uncle, deceased), Joseph (clone), Enrique(Ancestor),  William “Billy” Kaplan (Wiccan, alleged grandson), Thomas “Tommy” Shepherd (Speed, alleged grandson), Luna Maximoff (granddaughter),

Starters

Chat’s

Para’s

Face

Stuff

Information

Asks

All

                                                                              Alternate Universes

Brothers with Charles Xavier AU

AUs

[rainydawgradioblog]

RDR Essentials - Metal (3/03)

RDR Essentials is a weekly newsletter of alternating genres that outlines key releases of the past month, upcoming events around Seattle and happenings in the specified music genre.

Made in collaboration between Rainy Dawg DJs and the Music Director.

Releases:

Chainsword - Blightmarch

Hailing from Warsaw, Chainsword recently released their debut album, Blightmarch. Right off the bat I can tell you that it is killer, especially for a first release. Chainsword takes a page directly out of Bolt Thrower’s playbook to give the listener a very For Those Once Loyal-esque feel. The chugging riffs, thundering bass, and pounding drums all come together to create a brutal soundtrack for the battlefield. While war certainly is not the most original theme, let alone World War II, Chainsword pulls it off to create a compelling album. The tracks that really stand out on Blightmarch are the ones where the Bolt Thrower inspiration is most apparent. For example, the eerie intro and chugging main riff of “Exterminatus'' coupled with the guttural vocals give me major “Anti-Tank (Dead-Armour)” vibes. Another standout track is “Daemonculaba'' which yet again has another powerful, chugging main riff that makes headbanging irresistible. The most haunting and brutal of all the songs on Blightmarch is hands down the closer, “06.08 9:15” which recounts the bombing of Hiroshima. The song begins with an audio clip from a documentary which leads into yet another absolutely punishing riff complemented by dark lyrics about the event. The song comes to close with more of a documentary clip and cuts off as the bomb is being dropped. While it certainly is not reinventing the wheel or anything groundbreaking, Blightmarch is a solid first effort from Chainsword. This album is straightforward, meat and potatoes death metal that does not disappoint. However, I may be a little biased since I absolutely love Bolt Thrower. Regardless, if you like old school death metal and/or Bolt Thrower then Blightmarch is an album for you. 

- Jack Irwin

Pan-Amerikan Native Front - Little Turtle’s War

Pan-Amerikan Native Front is a group from Chicago that plays a unique brand of black metal. They are one of the bigger names coming out of the Native American metal scene, along with Nechochwen and Ifernach. Their new album Little Turtle’s War is filled with massive riffs that stand out for their unique harmonies and sheer ferocity. The album starts with a mellow introduction that quickly turns into a wall of distortion with enough power to push you across the room. Production wise this release has the perfect mix of rawness and clarity, a balance that is hard to come by. Some of the tracks feature a distinguished martial melody, which matches the war-time lyrics. The themes intertwine the history of Native American resistance with spiritual awareness of the land, which is a welcome departure from the uninspired lyrics of most black metal, or worse, those inspired by right wing and nationalist politics. Pan Amerikan Native Front does black metal a big service by showing that the genre doesn’t have to stick to its exclusionary politics. Not only are the themes novel for the genre, there are some very unorthodox harmonies that play throughout. The tracks “Power of the Calumet Dance” and “The Battle of Wabash” both feature very effective riffs that avoid many of the cliches that other releases from the genre fall into. Additionally, the song “Michikiniqua's Triumph” is a great mid tempo “black and roll” banger that forces you can’t help but bang your head to. Overall, Little Turtle’s War is a monument for the emerging Native American metal scene and a great release for someone who prefers a more clear production style.

- Zac Weiner

Upcoming Releases:

3/5: Nightfall - At Night We Prey

Melodic extreme metal coming from Athen’s Nightfall. For fans of anything that’s melodic.

3/12: Enforced - Kill Grid

Brutal crossover from Virginia’s own Enforced. For fans of Iron Reagan and Municipal Waste who are looking for some more longer and complex songs. 

3/19: Saxon - Inspirations

Covers performed by the legendary British heavy metal outfit Saxon.

4/23: Paysage d’Hiver - Geister

Their last album is a tough act to follow, but the legendary Swiss one-man is back.

[chiseler]

The Old Masters: Kurt Kren

31/75: Asyl / 31/75: Asylum (1975)

Kurt Kren (1929-1998) was best known for his work with the unpleasant bodily-fluid ridden productions of the Vienna Aktionists, a group of Hitler’s children whose post-war adolescence did in art what Ulrike Meinhof did in direct action. The suffocating atmosphere of retooled Nazi industrialists and amnesia with a born-again uptightness produced predictable results: the state must not be allowed to retain a monopoly on violence. How many Blood Order members can you watch, parading sanctimoniously on television, grinning in deathsheads from podiums, telling everyone that they have always been good citizen democrats, without wanting to burn it all down?

The body is alienated by the rigid control systems of Nazi and post-Nazi Germany (a continuum by other means); the invisible bodies of the pulverized dead shadow the plants and office blocks; Tiergartenstraße No. 4, where Aktion T-4 (Aktionist?) was hatched—the extermination of the unfit and insane—is now a bus terminal; tourists marvel at the great modernist IG Farben complex, alone in an otherwise-erased Frankfurt (IG Farben’s American legal representative: John Foster Dulles, who also worked for Krupp). No wonder Kren and his friends Otto Muehl and Herman Nitsch wanted to cut off their fingers and smear themselves with vomit, filming it all straight on, just like the Nazis shot the Warsaw Ghetto.

Kurt Kren

Sitting through works like Kardinal, Self-Multilation, and Sodoma remains a chore, but for different reasons than in 1969, I hazard. The glaring bright colors now reflect Japanese game shows or late style millionaire pop art; the beatings, couplings, spurtings and evacuations have long been appropriated by gross-out horror shtick in mainstream Hollywood, likewise the flashing old film stock and jump cuts. What is left is a past-tense sense of the epic, a lofty Wagnerian pronouncement that the cinema is best equipped to investigate violence and that entertainment is really all just fascism. Shaking off the idea of gesamkunstwerk or the marble atrocities of Arno Breker proved harder than it looked, no matter how true every sickened pronouncement of Aktionist agit-prop was—and it was, it certainly is true.

If the ‘Baroque’ aspect of these films was once part of the attack, it has now become a sign of the long dreary reach of fetishism and managed hypocrisy. The problem with animal intestines, bodies wrapped in metal wire, and piles of soaking flesh is that the arrangement does not mirror the repressed psyche of a generation of sons of Gauleiters, born-again liberal bureaucrats and captains of industry, but a great cathedral of interlinked reactionary problems to be solved hermetically. From this point on, such problems were doomed to become wholly personal—as if the artists were unconsciously terrified of collective nihilism after Goebbels cornered the market. Austria is mainly Catholic, and the confessional is never far away from Aktionist agony. Redemption rears its bestial head—which also implies a second innocence, which is postmodern salvation.

To expose the unreality of what remained of the saccharine and morose Nazi regime via vitriol and bleeding flesh was clearly not enough. After the Aktionists called it quits and retired to their various castles and cultic fiefdoms, the Red Army Faction kidnapped former SS officer, then-CDU member, and Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie head Hanns Martin Schleyer in 1977. When the German government refused to trade this grotesque relic for four captured RAF fighters (who were mysteriously found hanging in their cells afterward, á la the ANC in South Africa, and also like Ulrike Meinhof, a year earlier, another ‘suicide’—all of which shows the repulsive cynicism lurking under a supposedly ‘democratic’ state), Herr Schleyer was topped and left in the trunk of an Audi. No loss, but tears and outrage flowed from a middle class that forgot that it was a far, far greater executioner in ‘39. The late 1970s were dark, dark, dark. The very outrageousness of their ‘happenings’ show that the Aktionists were suckered in by hope ten years prior. The world remakes itself, oblivious.

The case of Aktionist Kren is more curious and longer lasting than the King Ludwig-like careers of Nitsch and Muehl. His early films were stark or wiggly or frozen: trees, landscapes, little images, people in rooms doing hypnotized screen tests. Unlike his later direction in Sodoma et al, he seemed concerned with the medium’s archaic properties and the possibility of making still-life and landscape political. He returned to this program out of the Aktionist dead end.

31/75: Asyl, from 1975, a sequel to his 1960 3/60: Bäume im Herbst, is one of his best films. More Holbein than Kaspar David Friedrich, it shrinks the epic panorama down to an insect view. Using a simple form of time-lapse photography, a static shot shows farmland and a winding road in late autumn to early winter. By placing various filters over the lens, days pass in globules, wax drippings, thick polluted rain, condensation and gum. A man with a dog goes in and out of frame; the snow melts, it rains; light shifts. Not blood and soil but damp, oily mud like a Turner marsh. And no heroics with geysers of blood, iron crosses and milk, the exegesis of guilt. However, there is certainly something displacing the day here. The status quo of round-ups and tests? Isolation, inner migration? The ‘asylum’ of the title suggests a place of refuge but like in English, the German asyl can also mean a madhouse or political asylum. The film was shot in Saarland, West Germany, under French control after WW1 but returned to Germany in 1935. Saarland is border country, a place of several masters and populations on the move. Kren himself was sent off on one of the Kindertransport to Rotterdam, where he lived until the end of the war.

Wilhelm Reich, in his book The Mass Psychology of Fascism, showed that the mysticism of Nazi ideology was depicted foremost in pretzeled human bodies, a combination of Protestant asceticism and cheap porn cartooned in the figure of the swastika. Before landscape, Fascism uses bulky propaganda to conjure up the Fatherland and recites bad poetry about the holy relation between man, pig, earth and muck. Sacrifice is the Father’s cloying prayer, his own death extended by his sons’ dying—for most fathers in the Fatherland rented their land from wealthy landlords, rented rooms from good Aryans, worked for Herr NSDAP Millionaire Flick. Places of death are used over and over again; their industrial emptiness ensures that no birds sing. No birds sing, but not out of reverence for the dead so much as disgust for the living—the quiet living that made those dead, that signed contracts for transport expediency for a Jew, Gypsy or a Red.

Kren’s view from a windowsill does have some of this void mood, yet he rejects the trap of timelessness in favor of everyday decay. The immortal Frost Gods can only bury dogshit in deep snows, give you pneumonia, cake your axel with mud. The landscape lives on geologically and not mystically. It has beautiful things, extraordinary things, because its own microscopic changes are more fabulous than eternity. Kren’s little film avoids both faces of the same reactionary crisis: that of the epic-making National Socialists, and his own earlier anti-epics that attacked the drapery of the historical fasces. Fall and winter last a little over 8 minutes in the duration of this film, which took 21 days to shoot. The Third Reich was supposed to last for 525,600,000 minutes, which is a thousand years of unreal time. William Blake wrote: He who binds to himself a joy/ Does the winged life destroy.

All of Kren’s films are curious, even his old naughty routines. He moved to America in 1978 and travelled the country, stopping to show his films at universities before finally settling in Texas, where he split his time between Austin and Houston. There, he became a fixture in the punk scene, appearing with some of the best bands of the time, projecting his films behind the noisy vigorous music of Left agitators like Really Red and Culturcide. Always a workman, he made new films while employed as a security guard at the Houston Museum of Fine Arts. He died back in Vienna in 1998.

by Martin Billheimer

Links:

Technical details of the film here:  http://www.resettheapparatus.net/corpus-work/id-31-75-asylum.html

The film @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cblbgbnE1wo

‘Ode to Kurt Kren’, fan video with photos, using the tribute song by his friends, Really Red, recorded 1982: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3_RfD0Qv_k

[readablenoise]

Florida’s Best Live Acts of 2019

With a new year, and new decade ahead of us, we recap the best Live Acts Statewide of this past year

Florida- 2019 has been a prosperous music for local music in the state.

With a plethora of albums, EP’s and concerts released before the new decade, in addition to new acts emerging from the already electrified soil, we decided to take our focus on the medium that we believe best proves the true mettle of a band: our selections of the Top 10 Live Acts in Florida.

This proved to be a much harder list than expected, with a great many acts having captured our heart in 2019. However, we stand by this list, and feel that these acts should be the ones you keep your mind, ears and excited soul on in 2020…

The Guttertones (Rock)

(photo: Jenelle DeGuzman)

Having formed in just 2019, the duo, composed of Brennan Curtin (drums) and Adam Sheetz (guitar/vocals) perform with the intensity of an act that have been honing their craft for 10 years. Debuting at Bumblefest, their live performances are something inexplicably powerful; with just a guitar, drums and a vox microphone, they can draw in a crowd like flies to sugar, and it helps that the sound coming from the amps is a honey suckle drawl of perfect Southern inspired rock meets the grit of Detroit distortion, all wrapped up in West Palm Beach flair.

They are an act that increasingly better themselves after every viewing, and for that reason and many more, we believe the duo to be one of the best on this list.

https://www.facebook.com/theGutterTones/

Spirit & The Cosmic Heart (Dreampop/Shoegaze)

(photo: Roberto Badillo)

The Lakeland based act has been one we’ve kept on both your radar, and ours, since early this year. Churning and evolving like the Atlantic itself, the group made continued evolving and with each new emergence, seem to just keep getting better.

With their 2nd EP, “Memories” released mid-2019, they are one of the few acts, both locally and internationally, that can sound just as good on record and yet somehow, different. Our best example of this being our personal favorite, “Endlessly”. While the track is an intense Cure meets Mama’s and Papa’s build-up of dreamy romance live, the 5 piece have created an almost alternate reality version of the track on record that explodes just the same, in a different way. And it’s truly the best way to describe the act; something haunting that sparks something individually different, upon every song and every viewing.

https://spiritandthecosmicheart.bandcamp.com/

Donzii (Post-Punk)

(Photo: Jen.cray)

Another of our unabashedly favorite local acts, experiencing the 5 piece in any of the five senses, is akin to visiting one of the great art museums of the world- each time.

With visuals being orchestrated by frontwoman Jenna Balfe, a whirlwind mixture of Siouxsie Sioux and Poly Styrene, every performance Donzii puts on is a different painting, in a different time, all along the already powerful hypnotic music that follows from the chemistry of the act themselves. “Sand”, to our ears, is one of the best tracks of this decade by any artist in recent memory internationally. It’s a large claim to make, but an act like Donzii truly come every once in a lifetime, and we are grateful to be living in the same era of music as this incredible band.

https://donzii.bandcamp.com/

Jaialai (Psychedelica/Alternative)

(Photo: go.cuna)

While the sound have been a local flavor favorite, we got our first powerful dose of the sound live, at 1306 Miami earlier this year and it was something unlike anything else we’ve seen. Carrying the force of a hurricane inside of a tornadic explosion of guitars, drums and build-up, the performance we viewed consisted of moshing, dreamy visuals and near Renaissance punk vibes, something that is hard to duplicate not due to the sound, but the sheer amount of power it takes to carry such a beautiful weight.

If you have the chance, we highly recommend catching this act in any venue, and watch as you leave out of breath and captivated.

https://jaialaiofficial.bandcamp.com/

The Spoondogs (Rock/Punk)

The Orlando based sound helped to close out Bumblefest 2019, and demonstrated a performance so great, it never left our mind.

Take The Rolling Stones, Warsaw and just a touch of surf-esque orchestration and you have a truly potent mixture that could fit in any decade and still bring the crowd to a absolute frenzy, something they did to a full house of the Patio Stage in Respectable Street, having those in attendance so enthralled, some stood on tables just to get a glimpse of the hailstorm of guitars that the act wield so well, both live and in recording. If you’re a fan of the above examples, Robert Plant in his prime or classic punk in general, we recommend listening in all methods, ways and feelings possible.

https://spoondogs.bandcamp.com/releases

Tape Studies (Post/Instrumental Rock)

Let us tell you a story of romance, ambition, love, the feeling of falling and a thousand sunsets; or better yet, let Tape Studies do it for you. We have expressed our endless respect for the post-rock genre due the basis of composition being that of a storybooks. The unspoken words of feeling itself, and all those moments you didn’t quite know what to say, wishing instead that music would flow out of your lungs. The Northern Florida trio are this exactly, and after watching them perform at Will’s Pub, they also embody the belief that while an orchestra can fill a room, a group with passion can act as a hundred orchestras; something they do effortlessly. With a new album in the works, we greatly look forward to the opportunity of seeing the act again, and we await for you to do the same.

https://tapestudies.bandcamp.com/releases

In Motion (Post-Hardcore/Emo)

While the trio have been on our list since mid-2019, they are also our pick for the Best Album of 2019. The post-hardcore genre is one that, while often seen, is very scarcely done right justice and we are proud to say that it’s one they not only excel in, but have brought back incredible light back into. Having seen the act perform as both an unplanned trio and in it’s complete package, we have been thoroughly astounded each and every performance by the wall of enormous sound the Hobe Sound based produce. It’s not hard to see the trio truly love what they do, and we love watching them.

https://inmotionfl.bandcamp.com/

Glass Body (Punk)

This Miami sound is one you read about in the history books. The kind you see in black and white pictures of bands you wish you were able to see, giving performances that seem to bleed sound from image alone and you wish on the stars above you could have viewed. And we’re happy to say, you can and you must. Performing in the small, intimate space of Kismet Vintage in West Palm Beach, the trio are pure, and pardon our language, fucking amazing punk. With incredible Pixies-esque drones meets Sex Pistols explosion, frontwoman/bassist Bridget helps orchestrate performances that are a legendary joy to watch, and one we hope you’ll carve into your concert tablets in 2020…

https://glassbody.bandcamp.com/

Kalistik (Metal/Doom)

(Photo: Keith McCullough)

With the debut EP freshly released, and wonderfully, darkly seductive, the Winter Haven group while fresh on our list, are not one to be taken lightly. Having made their powerful debut performance at Jessie’s Lounge (the videos of which can be seen on their Facebook page), they became one of our Florida Project acts simply due to the intensity of the performance. Bringing 70’s post-punk, doom and just the slightest touch of psychedelic elements in an impressive whirl, they are an act we cannot wait to get more in the coming year and are grateful we can jam to on our earbuds in the meantime…

https://kalistik.bandcamp.com/releases

Death of a Deity (Thrash/Metal)

(Photo: Jenelle DeGuzman)

The metal scene is one that thrived in 2019, due in part of the incredible acts that have emerged in genre in the past year alone. And while our next picks have been favorites of the South Florida scene, after having the pleasure of seeing the Loxahatchee based act perform at Propaganda Lake Worth late this past year, they make our list for the sheer of power they hold in their ferocious chemistry.

With a swirling, impressive storm of guitars and Abe Cunningham meets John Bonham-esque drums, they succeed in the difficult task of checking of not just one, but all marks of a great rock show: Heavy, orchestrated chaos, headbanging worthy composition and most importantly, enjoying every moment of it, while having all those in their grasp feel the same. With a new album on the horizon, and the preview of those tracks shared during their live performances solidifying our belief in DOAD being one of the great live acts in Florida, we cannot wait to headbang again.

https://deathofadeity.bandcamp.com/

Rose Dickeson (Pop/Jazz)

One of the last, great and most promising examples of the power of, to quote Prince’s album, a piano and a microphone, the effortless composition that radiates from the Port Saint Lucie duo is an unforgettable of Fiona Apple earnesty, Regina Spektor vocals and the soul of Nina Simone, they are an act that are vastly underrated and incredibly potent. If you have a chance to see the act perform, it’s one we highly advise not passing, as they offer experience in the shape of sonic roses you’ll never forget the scent of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=op53J4l1TV4

Makoto (Instrumental/Math Rock)

Our final selection for this list, will not be met with the usual “last but not least” blush response but calculated reasoning. The Southern Florida based act are the final cut on our list for the same reasoning that fireworks cap off another rotation around the Sun; for the power lightning storm that roars into the night, and what better way to describe the act than this? As we spoke of in our review of Bumblefest, we thoroughly believe that they should have been given a headline set and we believe 2020 will see them perform that slot at festivals both near and far, for the incredible, anthemic performances they emanate both in record and live. Makoto deliver the types of performances that have your feet sore from jumping, hair in a tizzy from rocking out and most importantly, leave you breathless. It’s a talent they are as skilled at as they are in composing near perfect rock orchestrations. And one we know, will leave you in awe.

https://makoto.bandcamp.com/

We hope you fill your heart with great, new and wonderful music in the new decade. And now, to quote a certain wizard, “ Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.”

-Jenelle DeGuzman

[ghostcultmagazine]

Ghost Cult caught up with Enrico Schettino of Hideous Divinity at their tour stop at The Warsaw in Brooklyn, New York. The band is on tour with Vader, Abysmal Dawn, and Vitriol. We chatted all about the bands' recent album “Simulacrum”, out now via Century Media. Enrico discussed the maturation of the band, mad love for his tourmates, the metal scene in Italy, the depth of the Technical Death Metal subgenre, the many bands that have inspired him and his playing, being original composers versus “looking cool” some of his favorite albums the last few years, (Hate Eternal, Cattle Decapitation, Blood Incantation, and Bolzer), his personal favorite guitar players, and their future plans! Interview by Keefy, videography by Jamie Sherwood (https://ift.tt/2TlhAl9), with editing by Omar Cordy. Purchase and stream “Simulacrum”: https://ift.tt/2x7NCIB https://ift.tt/38kZnbF Follow Hideous Divinity: https://ift.tt/2qwhclD https://ift.tt/2wnHOu6 https://twitter.com/HideousDivinity If you have read this far, please like and subscribe to our channel and hit that notification bell to support us! This video also includes a shoutout to Summon The Plague! To get your band a shoutout in one of our future videos, subscribe to Ghost Cult on YT, IG, and Twitter and then check out pinned Tweet for the details! by Ghost Cult Magazine

[langernameohnebedeutung]

I always thought Erik switched to English because he didn’t want anything to do with Germany, including speaking the language. I took it as him not wanting to speak more German than was strictly necessary because it was kind of triggering for him. He also went to America in the comics right after the war, when he was still a teen, so English would feel pretty natural to him.

tbh that’s also an explanation for his not speaking German when it would make sense to do so I always favoured as well bc on a character-level it makes total sense (and also one of the organisations I work with has an old lady we take care of who survived the Holocaust and did the same thing, she moved to Israel and neither wants to hear or speak German so it’s definitely something that people did and do.)(that said, German isn’t her native language so I think it’s less of a sacrifice in regards of it being the language of her parents or anything, but I can’t really comment on that because I’ve never spoken to her in person, I just know what the people who met her and talked to her told us.) 

It’s the story-telling level where it doesn’t make sense. For example he had no reason to speak German with them in the first place. He didn’t even try to get any information about Schmidt out of anyone in the bar (this whole…photo of a ship thing is the weirdest piece of detective work I’ve ever seen but ok I guess it worked) so he doesn’t have to gain their trust or anything. He could have spoken Spanish with them if he wanted to or English to begin with. (He knew they were Nazis right away, they were in a photo with Schmidt and one of them carried a (metal so he must have known) fucking Ehrendolch 15 (fucking) years after the war. 

From a story-telling point of view, the scene exists to show how Erik has spent the years since the flashback and how he feels about his experiences (and in this regard it’s an important scene that definitely has to be in the film). The English sequence at the end exists for the audience to make it more dramatic. Same with Kevin Bacon speaking English all the time when Schmidt/Shaw definitely has no reason to have any trauma associated with German and also doesn’t need to hide being German around his fellow ‘let’s blow up the world’ squad. But you could easily accomplish the same by making the entire film in English. And if he doesn’t want to speak English, that could very easily be illustrated in a show don’t tell way in many scenes of the film. (that could for example easily have fit into the scene with the Swiss banker. Imagine the banker picks up on his accent, switches to German which he would probably speak as a wealthy Swiss person and Erik either refuses or pretends not to understand)

But! just saying: in the comics, he doesn’t go to the US right away and that’s one major difference between the original films (where Mags says he saw the Statue of Liberty when he came there after the war) and the comics. (It’s actually really annoying because it erases a few fundamental aspects of his story and especially it erases his history with Magda)(You know his first wife and first love, the woman of colour who has been white-washed AND turned into a one night stand by the studio and the fandom :)))))    )

In the comics, he falls in love with Magda Maximoff when he’s a young kid in school, she’s his first love. Now, after the November Pogromes, his family flees to Poland, but when Germany invades Poland they are no longer safe there either and are deported to the Warsaw Ghetto (which is honestly something I’m also sad I never see addressed anywhere, because his experiences in the Ghetto definitely shaped him a lot and in the comics he often talks about it and in the solo series he even talks about one experience that is really at the core of his survivor’s guilt and why he feels responsible to keep fighting. We even see him return there on Hanukkah one time.) 

Eventually he’s brought to Auschwitz and gets forced into the Sonderkommando (at this point, his family has been murdered). After a while, he can no longer bear the horrors of the camp and walks away from the other prisoners in the hope that the guards will shoot him. But when he does, he’s coincidentally walking in the direction of the camp where the Roma people are kept - he sees Magda there after all those years. He decides in that moment that he will stay alive for her, to do anything to protect her and keep her alive somehow and starts making plans to help her. 

When he finds out that the camp where the Romani people are kept is supposed to be ‘liquidated’, he manages to sneak her out and bring her to the barrack of the Sonderkommando and they manage to escape together during the Auschwitz riots. 

So in the comics, he’s with Magda after the war and the two of them flee to Ukraine where they eventually get married and have a daughter named Anya. Now, when Anya is 6, she gets trapped in a fire (probably laid on purpose after Erik/Max got into an argument with his boss and revealed his powers but there are a few versions of this story at this point). 

When people stop him from going into the house, Erik’s/Max’s powers manifest uncontrollably and he kills everyone around him. Magda sees this and runs away. (What they don’t know is that at this point, she’s pregnant with twins, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff).

After losing his family again, Erik goes to Israel (again, not to America) and starts working in a mental health clinic for Holocaust survivors where he finally meets another mutant, Charles Xavier. After that, he works for the CIA for a while, using his powers to kill former Nazi criminals but eventually, the CIA turns on him because he kills a Nazi on their pay roll and that’s when he starts his solo career as Magneto - and while he often is in the US, where the X-Men are based and does have a lair in New York for a while, his first attack for example is in Europe and his hide-outs are also rarely in America (he had an island, an asteroid, he’s doing his thing)

When I say that the US is important to Erik I mean that mostly in the terms of the idea of a nation that is supposed to give shelter to refugees and where anyone can become anything. Erik often mentions how important that idea of America is to him but is also disappointed when it doesn’t hold true. 

[russiancircles]

Russian Circles Announce New LP, “Blood Year”+ Track “Arluck”

Chicago-based post-metal trio Russian Circles seem to release nothing but pure, body-moving gold, and their latest track "Arluck" proves once again they dominate the instrumental scene with their unmatched musicianship and songwriting capabilities.

Kicking off with a mighty walloping foundation from drummer Dave Turncrantz, the song quickly opens up into a hypnotizing dance of brain-tickling licks and chugging, staccato riffs. Punctuated snare slams and an unshakeable bass line from the masterful Brian Cook hold down a steady groove while guitarist Mike Sullivan's spaced-out plucking is allowed to explore, leading to an exalted segment where the bottom falls out, drawing focus before bringing back the leaden assault of the trio's combined powers.

Along with this gorgeous track comes the announcement of a new album by the group titled Blood Year, out August 2nd via Sargent House. Pre-orders and digital pre-saves are available at this location.

To gear up for the release, Russian Circles will hit the road this summer for an extensive North American tour alongside acts like Windhand and FACS. See below for dates and the new record's track list.

Blood Year — Track Listing:

1. Hunter Moon 2. Arluck 3. Milano 4. Kohokia 5. Ghost on High 6. Sinaia 7. Quartered

North American Tour Dates: SEP 11 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon * SEP 12 Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center * SEP 14 Bozeman, MT @ Rialto Bozeman * SEP 16 Seattle, WA @ Neumos * SEP 17 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom * SEP 19 San Francisco, CA @ August Hall * SEP 20 Ventura, CA @ Discovery Ventura * SEP 21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Teragram Ballroom * SEP 23 Mesa, AZ @ The Nile * SEP 24 Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf * SEP 25 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater * SEP 28 Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall *
 OCT 18 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme + OCT 19 Detroit, MI @ El Club + OCT 20 Toronto, ON @ Lee's Palace + OCT 21 Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount + OCT 23 Portsmouth, NH @ 3S ArtSpace + OCT 24 Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair + OCT 26 Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw + OCT 27 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer + OCT 29 Washington, DC @ Union Stage + OCT 30 Richmond, VA @ The Broadberry + NOV 01 Durham, NC @ Motorco Music Hall + NOV 02 Charlotte, NC @ Neighborhood Theatre + NOV 03 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade + NOV 04 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jack's + NOV 06 Houston, TX @ The Secret Group + NOV 08 Austin, TX @ Levitation NOV 09 Dallas, TX @ Deep Ellum Art Company + NOV 11 St. Louis, MO @ Delmar Hall + 
w/ FACS * 
w/ Windhand +

[nuclearblastuk]

AMARANTHE // SIGN TO NUCLEAR BLAST

L-R: Henrik "GG6" Englund Wilhelmsson, Olof Mörck, Angela Gossow (Kult Management), Morten Løwe Sørensen, Elize Ryd, Johan Andreassen, Marcus Hammer (Nuclear Blast, Managing Director), Nils Molin Photo Credit: Jenny Milz

Today, Nuclear Blast are very pleased to announce the signing of modern metal outfit AMARANTHE. The Swedish/Danish six-piece are currently working on their 6th studio album, which will tentatively be unleashed in 2020. More big announcements are currently in the pipeline, stay tuned! AMARANTHE's Olof Mörck states, "It feels amazing to unveil our cooperation with the giants at Nuclear Blast! Ever since we held our shiny new Nuclear Blast CD's in our teenage hands back in the mid-90's, they have been at the forefront of bringing the best of the best to the metal scene, and to have them as partners is a dream come true! They are not only massively experienced in the metal scene, but also wonderful people and it has been a pleasure getting to know them. We are already nailing down great plans for the future, and things are looking brighter and stronger for AMARANTHE than ever! Keep your eyes open for our next leap forward together in the near future!" Marcus Hammer, Managing Director of Nuclear Blast, adds, "We're more than happy to welcome AMARANTHE and Kult Management to the Nuclear Blast family. I've already been following the group for a while as they've been touring with some of their new label mates. Being both great musicians and humans, that have a clear vision and are supported by an experienced team in the back, it was a no-brainer to try to win this outstanding band for our roster. Now we're stoked to be the new partner at their side pursuing one goal: adding a successful next chapter to their already shiny career. The future looks bright for both, AMARANTHE and Nuclear Blast." With their foundations tracing back to 2008, the group have released 5 albums since then (2011's Amaranthe, 2013's The Nexus, 2014's Massive Addictive, 2016's Maximalism, and 2018's Helix) consistently delivering hauntingly catchy tunes led by their unique three-part vocals. Within their arsenal of hit singles - with 'Drop Dead Cynical' leading right at the front - a myriad tracks have been received very well via press and fans alike; having also gained countless plays on both radio stations around the globe and across streaming services (the group's songs have been streamed more than 100 million times on Spotify). A string of support tours have blazed AMARANTHE's trail in front of huge crowds as well as at their own headline concerts (the group impressively once performed in front of 10,000 fans at Liseberg, Gothenburg). They have kept working incredibly hard over the years, the latest product of which culminated in the form of Helix, which achieved them some of their highest chart positions in the band's history (Switzerland #21, Germany #29 etc.). Before AMARANTHE enter the studio once again, the sextet have a Scandinavian Helix tour set for November 2019, followed by a mammoth run in early 2020 with Swedish metal giants SABATON, plus Finnish cello metallers APOCALYPTICA. On February 8th the 3 band bill will hit London's Wembley Arena! All dates can be found below. AMARANTHE live: The Great Tour - Europe 2020 w/ SABATON, APOCALYPTICA 17.01. CH Zurich - Hallenstadion 18.01. DE Stuttgart - Schleyer-Halle 19.01. DE Munich - Olympiahalle 20.01. AT Dornbirn - Conrad Sohm* 21.01. AT Vienna - Gasometer 22.01. HU Budapest - Arena 24.01. PL Warsaw - Arena COR Torwar 25.01. DE Berlin - Max-Schmeling-Halle 26.01. CZ Prague- O2 Arena 27.01. AT Linz - Posthof* 28.01. IT Milan - Alcatraz 30.01. DE Leipzig - Arena 31.01. DE Frankfurt - Festhalle 01.02. DE Oberhausen - König-Pilsener-ARENA 02.02. BE Antwerp - Sportpaleis 03.02. CH Monthey - Pont Rouge* 04.02. ES Barcelona - Palau Sant Jordi 05.02. ES Madrid - Vistalegre 07.02. FR Paris - Zénith 08.02. UK London - Wembley Arena 09.02. NL Amsterdam - AFAS Live 10.02. NL Eindhoven - Effenaar* 11.02. DE Hamburg - Sporthalle 12.02. DK Copenhagen - Forum Black Box 13.02. SE Karlstad - Nöjesfabriken* 14.02. SE Gothenburg - Scandinavium 15.02. SE Stockholm - Hovet 16.02. NO Oslo - Spektrum *AMARANTHE only (headline show w/ support) Helix - Scandinavia Tour 2019 20.11. FI Oulu - Club Teatria (w/ BEYOND THE BLACK, SMASH INTO PIECES) 21.11. FI Seinäjoki - Rytmikorjaamo (w/ BEYOND THE BLACK, SMASH INTO PIECES) 22.11. FI Turku - Turun Messukeskus (w/ BEYOND THE BLACK, SMASH INTO PIECES) 23.11. FI Helsinki - Hartwall Arena (w/ SABATON, APOCALYPTICA) 26.11. NO Bergen - USF Verftet (w/ SYNTHETIC GENTLEMEN) 27.11. NO Stavanger - Folken (w/ SYNTHETIC GENTLEMEN) 29.11. SE Borlänge - Liljan (w/ ART NATION) 30.11. SE Jönköping - DreamHack Winter (w/ HALESTORM, NEW YEARS DAY)

More dates to be announced very soon...!

Be sure to follow the band on Spotify & YouTube to not miss any of their upcoming releases!

Photo Credit: Tim Tronckoe

AMARANTHE is: Elize Ryd | vocals Olof Mörck | guitars, keyboards Henrik "GG6" Englund Wilhelmsson | vocals Johan Andreassen | bass Morten Løwe Sørensen | drums Nils Molin | vocals More info: www.amaranthe.se www.facebook.com/amarantheband www.instagram.com/amarantheofficial www.twitter.com/amaranthemetal www.youtube.com/amaranthetv www.nuclearblast.de/amaranthe

[communedesign]

Poland in Paper

At Commune, we find ourselves regularly amazed by the multiplicity of talents most creatives have in their inventory. We expect them to be conversant in the skills for which they are most highly regarded, of course, but we really do prefer to focus on the art and craft rendered behind the scenes (far from galleries, collectors, clients). Becoming privy to these passion projects tells us something more intimate about each artist, and in the end, it’s really what inspires us the most.

Bearing this in mind, our research this week brings us to eastern Europe. Namely, to two designers situated in Poland’s design history: Józef Gosławski and Jan Kurzątkowski. They were a sculptor and a furniture designer, respectively. But the two were also artists who, given this timely holiday post, produced a rather thematic series of personal works.

The first few images included here are chairs designed by Kurzątkowski (1899-1975), who was a furniture designer and spear-headed the interior design wing of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. He was fascinated by the ways in which different materials afforded themselves to the shapes of 3-D objects. This becomes obvious in the following images, as paper sculpture (Christmas ornaments!) became a medium for him to explore this tension. It’s interesting to see the ways in which his furniture designs and paper sculptures speak the same language.  

If Kurzątkowski set the scene for Polish paper sculpture, Gosławski (1908-1963) essentially became the scene. The depth of his paper toy collection is something incredible. We found these Christmas toys after reading an article produced by the National Museum in Warsaw, where there was an exhibition that featured them. He created the toys for his children beginning in the 1930’s, building each year upon a collection that amounted to over 40 different pieces. They trace the history of design and the emergence of modernity in a way that is more organic perhaps than the acutely planned metal pieces might.  Further, they’re both whimsical and jovial while being executed with the technical mastery he utilizes in his metal sculptures as well.

Enjoy, and happy holidays from us to you.

[doomedandstoned]

What Weird Tales We Weave!

During a particularly long and vicious Pacific Northwest winter, I developed a strange affinity for a band called WEIRD TALES. The doom trio of Dima (guitars, vox), Kriss (bass, vox), and Kava (drums) emerged three or four years ago from a part of the world that gets cold, miserable weather ten times as worse as mine. I was never quite sure what to make of the Warsaw band's warped, sloggy sound, made all the more odd with its imposing Gothic vocals and pernicious earworms. All I knew was that Weird Tales had some bad, bad medicine to offer during a time in life when I'd grown pretty jaded and disillusioned. It was, as the well-worn saying goes, just what the doctor ordered.

Before us is the latest and most ambitious effort to date from Weird Tales and I must say it's showing me a brave new side to the band. As 'Hell Services Cost A Lot' (2019) opens, we hear an orchestral crescendo of screeching feedback. Dogs are barking in the background, perhaps to warn lurkers of dangers just beyond the shadows. The band responds with a vicious beating of guitar, bass, and drums. It's an attack we're not used to hearing on doom records and I find it refreshing to break away from the gloom for a chance to vent some good old fashioned aggression. This instrumental preamble eventually gives way to the first words of "Madness" and the record is off to take care of its mischief.

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

I don’t know just who I am I don’t know who is that man He looks on me from the fucking mirror Stares at me and laughs, waiting for you

Voices in my skull come louder and louder Push me to that edge, there's no return Where I put them bones on bloody altar Drinking wine, dancing, waiting for the end

Hey Get out from my brain I don’t need you there Get out from my brain I don’t need you there, I don’t want you there

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

"Crawling Pain" is next and I can't get over just how much the band's style has shaken off that hazy, bummed-out strangeness. Seriously, their first two EPs (both dropped in 2017) are like tripping out on cough syrup. I wanted to review them (really I did), but I struggled with what to even say. You don't talk about the Golden Age of Weird Tales; you live it, man. With Hell Services, it's like the boys woke up after an all-night bender, seized by a sudden rush of early morning adrenaline, grabbed the carpe diem of the day and exclaimed, "You lazy, no good son of a bitch, give me my goddamn money!" I swear, I almost thought I was listening to a different band, like there’d been some big personnel change or something, so different was the state of things. Put another way, if Weird Tales and Shiny Void were a dextromethorphan-soaked dream, Hell Services is like a PCP-fueled nightmare.

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

Here's another thing I didn't expect to hear on a Weird Tales record: the harmonica. I mean it works, but WTF. "LIE" shakes me loose from my comfort zone. I've heard enough doom metal to pretty much know the tricks, the tropes, the whole shebang. I trust Weird Tales have, too, so I'm pretty sure they're pissed off by the whole thing, so they upset the stage coach just enough to keep us guessing (and hanging on for dear life) for the duration of the record. Whether it's for our benefit or theirs, anything's better than boredom, right?

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

By far, my favorite song of the album is "Nightmare." It is indeed a frightening song (my chest seized up a little when I listened to it in complete darkness -- yes, sometimes I do these crazy things just because). I smirked when I read the lyrics sometime later, realizing the band's sardonic humor has not disappeared.

Nasty hands inside the walls They will get you when you are alone Mom and dad can erase your fear Anyway they will not hear your scream

A heavy blanket covers your eyes Every time you see something wrong The world you made seems so pure Seems so pure that you can’t even breathe

Living the nightmare Live in the nightmare

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

Maniacal laughter transitions us from the rabid savagery of "Bitchcrusher" into "Warnings" where Weird Tales really get their "Slomatics" on. I do believe this is the loudest and the largest I've heard them. If I heard this echoing out of my window in the dead of night, I would swear that the pit of hell had been open and Satan's demons were being loosed to troll the hell out of mankind.

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

It’s not until the record’s wild ride comes to a head that we pick up hints of the Weird Tales of old. “Dead Man” is this final number. No wonder. It’s the perfect vehicle to bring a return to sluggish form, though not for long because madness never takes a vacation. Hell Services concludes on a high note with the same bang-up, rip-torn, kick-ass note it started on.

Hell services cost a Lot by Weird Tales

A colleague of mine who deals in more new doom than even I do remarked some weeks back that Hell Services is the best album of the year so far. I'd given it a cursory listen at the time, but hadn't revisited it for months. I swear, my thinking was so cluttered from the traffic jam of new releases from big names and heavy hitters in 2018 that I didn't give as many lesser known bands a fair, focused listen. Good music does not depend on the PR cycle, and thank Christ for that.

All that to say this: the full-length debut from Weird Tales is indeed a good album. No, more than that, it is a great one -- especially when you know how distinguished the Poland scene is with the likes of Dopelord, Major Kong, sunnata, Spaceslug, 71TONMAN, Weedpecker, and BelzebonG. Weird Tales have risen to the occasion with the obstinacy of a punk crew driving a tricked-out Sherman tank.

Hell Services Cost A Lot is an acid-seeped wonder to join the likes of Satori Junk's Golden Dwarf, Three Eyes Left's The Cult of Ashtoreth, Shepherds Crook's Evil Magician, Magmakammer's Mindtripper and other far-out fever dreams.

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A Walk on the Weird Side with    Mad Men Dima, Kriss, and Kava

Photographs by Beata Wiśniowska  

Alright, let's do start with a little round of Who's Who?

DIMA:

Okay, there's Kava, our drummer. He had played in Luna Negra, one of the first Polish stoner bands, since 2008. You can find their records on YouTube. A couple tracks still have more viewers than Weird Tales. (laughs)

Next is Kriss, the bassist, who also provides backing vocals. Kriss played in the stoner band Sun Frenzy previously. You should check them out on Bandcamp.

I, of course, am Dima. I’d never played stoner music before -- and thank the gods for that.

How did you guys get together to begin with?

DIMA:

One day, I lost my job for drinking beer on a break and sniffing drugs on my office table -- in official documents they mentioned only liquor. (laughs) So my first thought, besides getting more cheap beers, was to start a doom band. The only right choice, isn't it? The same day, I came to a jam session in order to meet some people to play doom with and in the next couple days met Kava at our first rehearsal. I already had some ideas and riffs, just didn’t have desire to work on it and make structured tracks. I needed like-minded people to share ideas and work on it with others. You know, like in every art. When you're alone, it’s like jerking off. Definitely enjoyable while doing it, but without any sense. With Kava, we smoked couple of bowls while listening Ufomammut and agreed about the direction we should go as a band.

Kriss came later. Actually, he’s our fourth bassist. He is a crazy motherfucker! And he was our biggest fan in a town. (laughs) Visited all our gigs. When his band broke up, we were looking for a new bassist, so offered him a tryout. After a couple of rehearsals, we knew that he was exactly what we were looking for. It’s really easy to play with a guy who likes your music and knows what it's all about. So we found a common language really quick. He's got a really cool groove. Have I mentioned yet that he’s a crazy motherfucker? We rehearsed a couple of old and new songs, then headed right out on tour.

Kriss and Kava, what got the two of you into this kind of music?

KRISS:

It has to be Satan, I guess, but I don't believe in Satan -- and that’s weird.

KAVA:

The Devil, alcohol, drugs, good fun, girls.

Fair enough. What it's like to live and grow up in your neck of the woods?

KRISS:

I grew up like a long time ago and it was nothing like “growing up today.” Back in the day, we had stationary phones and not so much surveillance cameras. So you can guess it was easier to get away with some stupid ideas, as they were executed. I don't envy all that stuff kids have now. They have to cope with a lot more control. And about growing up in Poland as a country? Hmm, I guess it's like growing up every elsewhere. Every country have it pros and cons. The important thing is “who you are, not where you grew up.”

KAVA:

I live in small town near Warsaw. Nothing to do. You need to support yourself or work in fabric -- or you can just drink and smoke. One day, I met some crazy guys and tried to do the band. Of course, it was more alcohol and fun in the beginning.

I'm curious about some of the things that have shaped you both as musicians and humans.

KRISS:

I guess we don't have time for like a biography here, so I'll make it simple. Life and music are all tied up in each other for me, in the little things that drive a person into doing it over and over again. You just try to stay busy with a lot of different things so that you don’t get caught up in boredom. I guess it’s the best way of sizing up both my life and my music.

KAVA:

I pay some heavy shit for the devil and, of course, some old girlfriends, old movies, Black Sabbath albums, and shitty albums, too.

What's the significance of your name, Weird Tales?

DIMA:

Come on, man. That would be too easy! Often people ask us, "Is it from H.P. Lovecraft?" No. Actually, I don’t know where it came from! I always write down some ideas and phrases that I like on a paper. I got a lot of notes strewn all over my apartment. I can’t find anything I need in this chaos, but sometimes find something better than I was looking for. So one of the phrases I happened upon in this mess was "Weird Tales" and it fit the best.

The other most frequent question we get: "Did you take your name from the Electric Wizard song called 'Weird Tales'?" To which I say: I don’t know and fuck you for those stupid questions. It doesn’t matter. I just found it on a little piece of paper in my house and was never interested in where it came from.

We had some songs ready and they were about surreal stuff when you can't distinguish real life from a bad trip. Those songs have an interesting structure, unusual riffs changes. Each one was different and the name Weird Tales was good from every point of view. Lyrically and musically, we like when a song has a plot, and in the future we will continue writing songs that tell strange stories about strange shit happening. Thus, Weird Tales. Ironically, our English is pretty sucky and we can’t even properly pronounce "Weird Tales." (laughs)

Not to ramble, but I'm curious about the difference stylistically between your first two EP's and the LP. The early stuff seems quite blithe and depressive, makes me feel like I do when I have "medicine head." The new stuff is another beast entirely, like someone who has just snapped out of a weeklong bender on rubies.

KRISS:

And that I guess is my fault -- not all, of course, but I like to think that I had some serious influence, especially on this one. Those first two EPs were recorded with another bassist. I was invited to a band just before they planned to record their first album. I've seen these guys perform like a lot times before and I saw something “special” about their music, something -- as I was constantly repeating when I met them after their gigs -- “that no one wants to do in their bands, but so interesting that it’s not supposed to be lost at any point.” So when we finally got together, I tried not to change “their way,” but to “commemorate” it and add as much power and passion into it as only I was able to do. And, of course, Dima is the first one who supposed to answer this question, because he is mostly responsible for those sick-minded sounds. (laughs) Nobody knows what he's got on his mind next, when comes to writing music.

DIMA:

You know, when you write music you don't think much about the kind of style you're going write, except you do not assume from the beginning that you want to write another stoner-doom album about witches. You don't want to be another one to vomit on the music map, just to show that you are represented in a theme. So I just write and play what I want now, which feels like a more natural process. I want to play these kind of sounds now, because it has its place to be here and now in that shape. Of course, it’s coming from life experience, as a way to share your emotions and feelings which have internal roots and act in response to external factors. I'm trying to share that shit in a metaphorical and allegorical way.

Weird Tales (EP) by Weird Tales

I fucking like your interpretation of our EPs and this stylistic difference between them and the LP. You got the point of the message. I like to read the opinions of people who have really found something in our music. Then I compare it to what's been sitting in my head -- stuff I couldn't wrap into words, so I made music to say it. (laughs) It's like reverse feedback to me. I can better understand myself, as a result.

I interpret the changes between our EPs and this album similarly to how you articulated it. It's like you are on acid and have a bad trip. When the bad trip is at its peak, your ego dies and you have this apathetic feeling -- the Weird Tales EP -- and when your bad trip starts to calm down, you have so much energy and feel so good that this shit is over. You understand that this experience will stay with you 'till you die, but for now you have returned to a planet that did you not hope for. So you starting having fun, drinking vodka, and sniffing speed 'till that psychedelic vibe smoothly slides away from you skin and is replaced with a pleasant fire. That is the feeling associated with Hell Services Cost A Lot for me. Sad songs played with a lot of fun.

And your second EP, 'Shiny Void'?

DIMA:

Oh, it’s similar to first one, but this time the bad trip is not coming unexpected. You involve it with full understanding of what will happen now, in order to dive into this madness, hoping to find something there.

Shiny Void (EP) by Weird Tales

What is the background of the new album and how does it fit with your overall evolution as a band?

DIMA:

Nothing special. Some old stories about doing drugs that leaves a trail on your mind, as every honorable man has done a time or two. Also, other mental issues that we probably should tell to psychiatrists, instead of a music journalist.

From musical composition side of things, it was really fun. After we finished our second EP, we already had drafts of a couple songs. The songwriting process was quick as ever. I brought riffs and ideas to a rehearsal and we jammed and quickly agreed with the way a track should go. Even uncommon ideas were quickly accepted by everyone.

We changed bassists while writing this album. Surprisingly, it didn’t slow down the process, because Kriss is a really good fit for Weird Tales. Also we tried to play with a second guitar, because we heard richer arrangements. We even did a tour together with an additional guitarist. But anyway, now we are a trio again. You can hear those second guitar arrangements on Hell Services Cost a Lot -- most of them I now playing alone. It complicates the process a little, but not critically. The most important thing that we three feel great together and have a lot of fun while playing loud and heavy. We share that energy while on stage with audience.

Walk us through each of the songs on the new album and please share anything you can about their meaning.

DIMA:

It’s simple. We've got six tracks about Satan and one about the sea. (laughs) Seriously, though, I’m glad you ask, because it’s a concept album. You absolutely can receive it as you like, it’s cool. But directly or indirectly, the album tells the story of one poor fool. And this guy is a crazy fuck! He definitely needs help, 'cause his mind is drooling without stopping. He has visions and hallucinations, bipolar all the way. And this guy feels that pain all the time. That kills him from deep inside, and the thing is that he doesn’t know is this pain real or not. But it doesn’t matter at all, 'cause he feels it burns him like fire. Of course, this guy has some problems with drugs.

"Nightmare" shows us that his troubles are deeper than it maybe seems. He is still being persecuted by the shit from childhood. He tries to escape from it and makes his own safe reality that certainly will collapse. So that crazy fuck is a poor fool who certainly needs help, though most of his troubles actually come from his own decisions. No...no. Actually, he crossed the line a long time ago. This fuck slays women behind the garbage bins. And in parks, too. Crushes those bitches all the time. Then he fucks their cold bodies -- or not? If you want, he could. So he does all those disgusting kills and slays for the Gods of Death. Making altars from the limbs and trying to find a blessing and freedom from his pain.

The surrealistic pressure in the album grows the most in "Warnings”. He doesn’t understand entirely what is going on. He's tunneled right through to the other side, seeking to fall even further.

On the last track, “Dead Man,” he's killed himself. Only good decisions for such scum like him. He drowned himself in water. And remember that it’s just six tracks about Satan and one about the sea.

No classic Milton or Dante references in your doom, I take it?

DIMA:

There are none. We think film and literature references just suck. And we actually have one track on our 2nd EP that has its lyrics based on a movie, so we suck. (laughs) But again, if seriously, it’s okay if you got some idea from a movie and interpret it in your own way. It’s applicable in art, but it sucks when you straight retell the plot of a movie or book.

Every song on Hell Services Cost a Lot could be taken in a few different ways. Everyone is god. You could receive every track separately or like a part of complex story. There are a couple of true stories about self-issues and shit from real life, mixed up with some fictional stories and told in a way that contain some thoughts, deep or not really. (laughs) We like when there is something more besides straight storytelling -- something that fucking voice in your head tells you to desire.

What's the strangest or darkly funny thing that you've witnessed while gigging?

KRISS:

There are a lot of things that happen at concerts and events. I don't even know where to start, so I’d rather tell you about what are, in my opinion, some of the funniest misconceptions about playing music live. Everybody that I know, who doesn't really have an idea about what it looks like to play concerts or to go touring, thinks it's like something out of a movie. You know, doing cocaine from groupies' asses in a big tour bus, chugging on a bottle of JD or vodka from morning 'till evermore. They don't know that it's like all waiting. You’re on your way to a place and you’re waiting in an overstuffed car. When you finally get there, you’re waiting for the sound engineer, waiting for your time to soundcheck, then waiting for the event to start, waiting for your turn to take the stage, etcetera, etcetera.

Concert Footage by Viktor Chaikovskyi

You can, of course, fill those time gaps with some buzz or other “stuff,” but not too much or it will ruin your show. And when you finish your gig, it's time to pack your stuff back up and more waiting ahead as you get on the road again. Maybe “bigger bands” would have more things to do, but at this point for me it's all waiting. (laughs) And as like-to-be-busy man like me, boring is the most dangerous thing 'cause a lot of stupid ideas come to my mind -- especially under influence.

KAVA:

Our merch table is very funny. You can get some fresh fish or vegetables! We have some new ideas for the shows, but it's secret and too crazy for now. (laughs)

You all seem to have a pretty irreverent attitude and dark sense humor.

KRISS:

Oh shit, you got me! (laughs) But take a look around. If anybody takes this world seriously, I really start to feel pity for him. If he's taking life dead seriously, it begins to even get scary. If you look from a good distance at all the stuff that happens around us, it looks ridiculous and doesn't seem to matter at all. A bunch of pretty primitive creatures jumping around, fighting for better resources to get more mating opportunities.

It's as basic as it's always been, but people seem to turn that basic lifestyle into an “all-meaningful soap opera.” As they try to cover their animal-based foundation, it getting funnier and funnier. It's not like I want to see people walking around like caveman-style dudes, but developing serious issues from “not getting enough attention on internet” or taking a loan to buy the newest version of a mobile phone? Man, that's sick. And I'm I don't even know where to begin with religion: just leave it. At some point in our lives, everybody dies and the point to it is supposed to be hanging the bar higher for those that come after us. With that said, let's not get caught up into it too seriously, I guess.

KAVA:

Yeah, people sometimes don't get it, especially when you talk about somebody's mother-sister wet dreams

Finally, what do you like to do for work and hobbies when you're not involved in Weird Tales?

KRISS:

I do a lot of stuff. I have to be busy all the time. Like all the time, man. Otherwise, I freefall into a black hole of nothingness and self-hatred for wasting “time given me on this earth.” So I draw, paint, cook, do handmade-DIY-style-stuff, and music above all of that. And somewhere on the bottom of the list, there is “work” to pay for all of those hobbies. I would like music to pay my bills eventually, but we're not living in a dream world. (laughs) Maybe someday.

KAVA:

All day I try to figure out rhythms for Dima’s new riffs and cook some fresh meat.

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