CVLT Nation is stoked to present the newest tee in our band t-shirt series…the CVLT Nation X TOMBS shirt, featuring a fucking epic illustration by Viral Graphics. This tee is one of our favorites yet, and captures the menace of TOMBS’ music perfectly! This tee is up for pre-order starting today, and a very limited quantity will be printed by our comrade Holy Mountain Printing to ship by the 18th. This tee is only available in the CVLT Store, and is going to be mind-blowing in person, so pick yours up quick!

Design close up after the jump!
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Even though I don’t see it when I look out my window, I live in a country at war. For the past decade, kids from my neighborhood have joined the US military – to get a degree, a “good” job, a paycheck, to fight for a false ideal – and they come back with war in their minds and hearts. I can’t see the violence and trauma in their souls, nor can I see the indelible images in their brains; they aren’t things I even want to imagine. The fear, the smells of burning flesh and blood, the ear-crushing booms of bombs and bullets are all real life horror and nightmare. If I Am Your Mirror captures this in breathtaking painted animation; director and animator Garrett DeHart was inspired by Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart and romantic painting, and sets a scene of mass murder and revenge that has left me unsettled and sad, but at the same time blown away by the beauty of his film. The protagonist is played by Larry Holdman (Batman Begins, Memento), whom the film is also in memory of, and his character invites us into the dark and paranoid worldview of a veteran of the Civil War. His world is painted black after witnessing so much murder and mayhem, some at his own hands, and he is unable to cope with the world around him. At times we are in his mind, at others we are watching him from the outside, but the lines are blurred and leave the viewer with a feeling of sickness at the cruelty of human beings. This film may mean different things to different people, but to me it is a reminder of why war is to be abhorred and not exalted, and it will keep me speaking out against the bullshit and lies that push my neighbors into its clutches, only to come back broken and scarred. Check out If I Am Your Mirror below and more information about the film and DeHart after the jump.

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Monsters Monsters Monsters rule and the only ones that really scare me run the governments & corporations that are fucking this world up! Creepy beings are things that I have always found beauty in. Maybe this is why seeing fucked up-looking punk rockers as a kid was normal to me. Outsider art is where you find people that are willing to take chances, and do it because they have to and not for the money or fame. Whenever I’m in the trolling mood, searching for some cyco beings to look at, I head over to Monster Brains. This site is a great resource of radness that you can lose yourself in. Metal & Punk have always shared a loved for fucked up imagery. So on that note, check out some ghouly shit after the jump! Fuck Yeah Monsters Monsters Monsters rule!

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Long dark mane, that almost sinister stance, and a sharply groomed set of facial hair. Lazarus Colloredo was an extremely handsome being. That is, until you’ve beheld the mass of dangling flesh, or what looks like to be a corpse, hanging from his abdomen. That my friend, is no member of the dead, it is his living, breathing, moaning, and drooling brother, Joannes Baptista Colloredo.
I stumbled across the prodigy while searching for cabinet cards and curiosities. Oh yeah, did I mention I’m a huge fan of the odd and grotesque? Skulls, bones, medical quackery, ancient artifacts, animal parts, cabinet cards, funeral paraphernalia, ritual tools, etc. are all things I admire and collect. I was looking through old photographs and illustrations when I first laid eyes upon this striking pair. One particular image I took a fondness to was an illustration by the artist James G. Mundie, an illustrator of fine curiosities. At first, all I saw was a Spanish-looking stud, appearing to be so beautifully gallant, just before my pupils drifted down further…I was immediately intrigued. (Ha, and I’m not speaking of any trouser serpents, not this time.)

Lazarus and his parasitic twin, Joannes Baptista (named after John the Baptist), were one of the earliest and most well documented cases of the kind. The 17th century duo were in-fact born in Genoa, Italy and had earned their living by touring parts of Europe. The Colloredos had visited many higher-ups and figures of royalty. Some of their acquaintances may have included the Duke of Lennox and Richmond, James Stuart, and the entire court of Charles I of England. On the streets, Lazarus would drape his capacious cloak over Joannes, to make certain he would not be noticed. Although, there were accounts of him allowing spectators to poke, pinch, and irritate Joannes. When doing so, his brother would leave his constant state of salivation to squeal, twitch, or spew out other nonverbal bellows. Occasionally, the limp twin could be seen fluttering his eyes and performing other less than minimal independent movements. If you’re as curious as I am, I’d like to tell you that Lazarus’ parasitic half did have genitals, but they were said to be “imperfect” or amiss. Actually, the unfortunate brother was only made up of two arms, a head, partial chest, and one leg. Oh yeah, and that ill-sufficient baloney pony I just mentioned too.
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Mark McCoy is a fascinating artist on so many levels. Many people might be familiar with his musical output and as the force behind Youth Attack Records. When you check out his artwork in several different mediums you can to see how fucking talented he is. The detailed pieces he drew for his “Hallow” series are mind-meltingly harsh, but at the same delicate. When you look at his piece “When I Die Bury Me In The Clothes Of My Youth,” the invisible people of his streets stare you right in the face with their dispair! His collage work in the “Wound” series is ugly and gross, but you can’t turn away, just like when you pass a car wreck. Mark’s work does go hand in hand with the music he creates, but can reach an audience that his music might not. What draws me to his art is his honesty and his commitment to doing what the fuck he wants to on his own terms. Youth Attack Records and McCoy’s art are an expression of a part of society that the status quo would like to keep hidden…FUCK YEAH Mark McCoy!

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As a child raised in a “Christian” home, I was told every Sunday in church that the way to ensure eternal life was to believe in the Bible and Jesus. If I didn’t believe in these things, I was going to end up in Hell, a horrible place full of horrible people being tortured for eternity. I was free to choose to believe or not to believe, but if I made the wrong choice I was fucked. Forever. This idea never sat well with me, especially when I realized that other cultures had different ideas about what makes punishable behaviour. Chinese Buddhist Hell is a place that makes way more sense than Christian Hell. In fact, it makes Christian Hell seem like a scam to make more money for the Church. Rather than punishing people for not believing in a weird sexist storybook, in Chinese Buddhist Hell you are punished for doing really shitty things during your life, repeatedly, to the point that your soul becomes so weighted down with bad karma that you sink into one of 18 levels where you are punished until your karma is served off. A kind of rehabilitation scheme for your soul. So if you’re a pedo, you’re going to be boiled alive in a cauldron of oil, a thought that I find quite enjoyable. If you talk a bunch of shit, you’re going to have your tongue ripped out by demons. If you pretend to be someone you’re not, you’ll be steamed like so many little buns. If you are a powerful oppressor, you’ll be ground in a mill into powder, over and over again, until you’ve paid off your billions in thievery. All in all, I like the sound of this place, especially since I always thought that being as nice a person as you can was the best way to avoid Hell – I mean, who wants to believe that all those child molesting priests are going to be enjoying some fucking paradise after they finally die? I would much prefer them to be burned and bubbled in a rolling vat of oil. After the jump, check out the Eighteen Levels of Hell, complete with ancient depictions of each level of torture…

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It’s a post-apocalyptic world, and we shouldn’t take that for granted – now more than ever, life needs to be embraced and lived, and if you are planning a 2013 release, that means your artwork and packaging should be on point! Corpselogic is here to help you, an art collective dedicated to the dark arts of album design and band merchandising. It’s eight members – Tas, Jondix, Thomas Hooper, Tim Lehi, Jane Lives, Andrew Sloan, Joseph Díaz and Andrew Labanaris – have extensive illustration and graphic design experience, having worked with bands like Neurosis, Electric Wizard, Altar of Plagues, High on Fire, Doomriders, Scott Kelly, Tombs, St. Vitus, Pentagram and Slayer. These artists have gotten together to make the process of developing an art direction and packaging concept easier on studios, labels and bands who want their shit to be stunning and disturbing. The artists in this collective are highly talented, and represent a wide range of styles in their artwork, and they are equally open to working with established bands and labels as they are to work with new and unsigned bands. They have a dope site up with galleries of their latest offerings, as well as a place to contact them and get the process started. Check out a selection of their works after the jump…

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We are stoked to announce that we have just launched our CVLT Nation Clothing Spring/Summer 2013 collection, CVLT Nation FIVE! It is now up in the CVLT Store, and is on it’s way to our stockists around the world. This season features tees, tanks, crews and hats from some of our favorite illustrators – Maxime Taccardi, Natvres Mortes Illustration, Halseycaust, Cub of the Woods and Gozer Visions, plus we have two sick photographic tees featuring photos by Lele Saveri. We feel like CVLT Nation FIVE is our strongest collection yet, and is a beautiful and disturbing balance between the ethos of CVLT Nation and the prolific vision of the artists we worked with. Everything is made in the USA to top quality standards and you know that your dollar is going to support small businesses and not the Koch brothers. We have also brought back our CVLT hat by popular demand, restocked our classic DOOM hats, plus we have a new hat style, Black Magic, featuring the LaVey lightning pentagram sigil embroidered in black or white. As a thank you to our loyal CVLT Nation clothing following, we are throwing in a free patch with the first 10 orders! After the jump, check out some of the designs in the store and head over to the CVLT Store to see everything on offer…

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I’m a fiend when it comes to dark art, and this is why today CVLT Nation celebrates a true fucking master, Chris Moyen aka Thorcross Designs. For years he has been leaving his satanic mark on the underworld by drawing for such bands as Absu, Blood Demoncy, Coffins, Archgoat, Ravencult, Slayer and many more. When I look at his work, I feel like I’m looking at evil coming to life and I’m always in awe of his black and white work. He also illustrated the 10th anniversary design for our comrades in filth The Barrier Kult, produced in Japan by Death by Metal, and the pre-orders will be up soon HERE!. Right now, check out a huge gallery of Chris Moyen’s drawings after the jump! Hail another master of the Blackened Pen…Fuck Yeah!

Monsters have always had a place in my imagination. The first being from the darkness that got inside my head was the Boogey Man. Then came Godzilla, Mothra, Mummies, Werewolves and all other sorts of ghouls. I knew was a little off, because I always wanted the bad monster to win. Early on, I realized to never judge something or someone based on looks, it’s the hidden horror inside that you have to watch out for. Growing into my teenage years and being a part of the punk movement meant that we were looked upon by most of society as monsters. Maybe this why so much of the imagery in our scene was dark as fuck! Today CVLT Nation celebrates the many different faces of ugly. Check out our huge Fuck Yeah Monsters Rule gallery after the jump!

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