I remember my dad used to tell me stories about leaders like Pol Pot, Mao Zedong and also Idi Amin when I was a kid, maybe thats one of the reasons why I love Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday In Cambodia” when I first heard the song. I always told myself that someday I gotta go to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, and finally I did. I spent 4 days in Phnom Penh, it was not for vacation anyway. I came there to work on a project, “company stuffs” if you know what I mean. So after I make sure all my work has done, I decided to go to the museum on Friday (April 6th) by myself – my friends were going to visit another place. I left my hotel around 10.30 am, and arrived there around 11 am. The trip took about half an hour by Tuktuk (a traditional transportation), its not as far as you think since there’s a regulation in Cambodia not to drive fast (below 40km/h for cars, and below 30km/h for motorcycles). You need to pay $2 admission (US Dollar) to enter the museum, every visitor got a photocopied brochure. The horrors started as you walk into the area, you can feel the eerie atmosphere on this place.

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There is a new home for the few and far between dark clothing brands, and it is You’re Not Human. The brainchild of Sofi Donuts, You’re Not Human is a UK-based online store, with it’s first lineup of brands being CVLT Nation, Actual Pain, Raised by Wolves, ScumFuck, BA.KU, Creature x Peter Beste, Thrasher and Witchcraft Hardware. With her site’s illustrations & Darkthrone-inspired logo by French, owner of Witchcraft Hardware, Sofi has envisioned a webstore with an awesome aesthetic. It’s pretty grand to be able to go into one shop and find so many killer tees, and we get so much love from the UK, we are happy to give back – You’re Not Human will be the exclusive carrier of CVLT Nation for the next couple of seasons. You’re Not Human opened it’s portal to the dark side yesterday, and we are stoked to be a part of Sofi’s beautiful nightmare! Sofi will be stocking the shop with more underground brands as it grows, so make sure to keep in touch via their social media (links after the jump) so you are abreast of their updates. After the jump, check out images from the You’re not Human lookbook shot by Rebecca Naen, featuring model Hannah May & Gonga guitarist, George, wearing Bryan Proteau’s design Constellations and Halseycaust’s design Crown of Eyes.

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It really cracks me up, in a sad kind of way, that there are some ignorant people out there who truly believe that Europeans “invented” civilization. It takes very little research to find out that while the great cities of Europe were awash in their own shit, cities in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa had invented fully functional sewer systems thousands of years prior – plus they took regular baths. Don’t get me wrong, I do not deny my heritage as one of the unwashed Celtic masses, but I think it’s a good idea to give credit where credit’s due. For example, the earliest known complex sewer systems and clay pipes kept cities like Babylon and Eshnunna clean and hydrated between 4000 and 2500 BCE. The same cannot be said for Paris, where multiple outbreaks of plague and cholera ravaged the city, mostly due to the rivers of human waste running through its’ streets. It’s also interesting to note that while Mesopotamian sewage systems benefited all of the cities’ residents, when proper plumbing was first introduced to Paris, it catered to the royal gardens, leaving the peasants to live in poisonous environs. How civilized! After the jump, check out a fascinating history and amazing photos of Paris’ dark, dank and creepy underground sewer system…
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With an upcoming invasion of both American and international tours happening this summer on U.S. soil, it is no surprise that some of them might go unnoticed for those who do not frequent on social networking platforms (as the majority of gig/touring announcements seem to hit first) or lurking on the internet to go look for them. It is quite overwhelming in retrospect how many acts from overseas have come to America within the last few years, literally from all around the world with the sacrifice on bands’ behalves put forth with the chance of knowing it will always be hit-and-miss with every gig in every different city. For those who have redeemed positive feedback and success upon their first impression have always come back or conjure up plans in the works for a future return. READ MORE…

Photographer: Sarja Hasan
Site: FB
Based in: Richmond, VA

ONE

THE ADICTS. Jaxx – Springfield, VA: 03/2011

This venue is a little more than an hour away from Richmond, VA, where I live, and driving up there was a painful experience. It’s in the weirdest almost strip-mall type environment in what seemed like the middle of nowhere cause we got turned around so many times due to construction and one too many “ROAD CLOSED” signs. Plus, I was the one driving and if you ask anyone that knows me, I get turned around real easily to begin with. Already tired & delirious, “Hey Jack! The ROAD’S CLOSED!” quickly became a hilarious inside joke, which, reiterating now… doesn’t sound too funny at all. But that’s what happens in a car full of girls who have been on the road for over an hour, going to see a band that makes them feel like they’re 15 all over again. Anyhow, the Adicts were definitely worth the hassle. They put on an amazing show & ended with bubbles & beach balls & streamers. There was confetti & glitter all over me by the end of the night & my friends and I somehow ended up being the obnoxious girls on the floor after everyone had started to clear out. Some guy asked to take a picture with me & whoever he was probably still has it on his camera. And, as most obnoxious girls get their way, we ended up hanging out with the Adicts in their tour RV afterwards & drinking their Heinekens while they lounged around in their pajamas.
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Tomorrow at 7pm, Breath of the Black Muse opens at the Black Vulture Gallery in Fishtown, PA. This celebration of the macabre arts is the first of a series of installations curated by JL Joseph Beaulieu at Black Vulture that will showcase artists whose work is so often admired in the metal/hardcore/blackmetal scenes. This first installation in the quarterly series features artists from around the world, including Belgium artists Kluze Hellion and Patina Vas Diaz, Irish artist Paul McCarroll, Brooklyn’s Karlynn Holland – who also curates the Dreams Were Made for Mortals series, Bianca Olson from California, Seldon Hunt from NYC, Yeshua Hill from Burlington, VT, and many more talented and morbid artists. If you’re in the area tomorrow, we highly recommend that you check out Breath of the Black Muse! Check out some preview pieces and a list of the artists showing after the jump…

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We get so excited at CVLT Nation because of the way we can celebrate the past, present and future. It might be hard for the younger generation to imagine how life was before the internet, iPhones, FaceTime, Facebook and Youtube. Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig all of these things, but what really excites me about many of these tools is how they are a window to my past. That’s where tumblr comes into play – I really dig the D-Beat/Anarcho punk pages that have flicks of the bands I grew up on. I have said it before: when I was young, most of the pictures of Amebix or Antisect were bad xerox copies. This is why Dirty Squatter is CVLT Nation’s favorite tumblr this moment. It’s full of awesome flicks of bands, it’s but also a political point of view that I can relate to. Let’s all get with the Dirty Squatter tumblr and also peep an epic photo gallery after the jump!

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North America has always been notorious for keeping its black and death metal festivals more “under the wing” rather than heavily flyered around and via popular online news tabloids. And for a festival such as this one from this past March called Cathedral of the Black Goat Fest, it is done properly for a reason and certainly isn’t for everyone in the expanded metal community who would fully appreciate or soak in the bands as well as ideologies that are behind an event such as this one. READ MORE…

I’ve always been keen on the idea of documenting my travels along with the photos of artists living their dream on the front of the stage as well as my own. It wasn’t until more recently when I decided to share my experiences with the world outside of my own personal group of friends, and how much it has been both an outer as well as introspective journey in the most recent years of the lifestyle I have grown adapted to and love. READ MORE…

Photographer and model Kris Mort from Austria brings us a dark world of occult and witchcraft. Dreamlike imagery of pagan rituals mixed with a look of seventies Jean Rollin horror movies like ‘Requiem for a Vampire‘ or ‘Fascination‘. Kris pulls together gorgeous landscapes and self-portraits all in an eerie bewitching way. If you like 70’s Euro cult and movies like Lars von Trier’s ‘Antichrist‘ you’ll enjoy www.kristmort.com

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