What can I say, ever since I was young I have been a major history freak, and when comes to music, I’m a music history geek! When it comes to punk rock history, I get super hyped, so years ago when I heard that one of my idols, Don Letts, was directing a film about the punk revolution, my interest was instantly sparked! The name of his documentary is PUNK ATTITUDE, and what makes his picture different than others is the way he connects all the dots, going back to the roots of the three chord rock tune. I also dig how he covers the American scene with the same respect as the British scene. It’s pretty epic to hear mad heads from back in the day drop knowledge about the past and speak words that the youth of today should live by. Many of these people paved the way for what many kids now take for granted. What’s also very interesting is no matter the decade or century, there will always be outsiders, and those people can come together to make a difference!All PUNK ATTITUDE is full of rare footage that you will never see anywhere else but in this film. So what is your attitude…I know what mine is…after the jump, check out this killer documentary PUNK ATTITUDE!

Why do I feel all covered in dirt and shit, I have not even left my house today…I know what’s up, I just got finished watching the EYEHATEGOD Live DVD. Okay, that makes sense…there is no way to view this DVD without grime, stench and danger jumping out of the screen at you. If you are an EHG fan like I am, this is a must have. All of the live sets captured for this film are off the motherfucking chain. The production work is pretty epic as well, the way it’s filmed you can feel the sweat on the Cleveland crowd. What’s extra rad is that all of the gigs have EHG performing all of their classic fucked-up songs, with all of dirgy angst you want to hear and see! It’s ultra gnarly being able to see the band actually kick out the power, and witness how their damaged sound effects them. One thing that really stands out about this film is that these southern fried fuck ups really enjoy being onstage with each other, there is no way to miss the brotherhood between each member. Each crowd that they perform for brings a different energy, and the band responds differently to each situation. The videos that keep coming with this DVD are pure fucking insanity and visual homicide. I don’t want to give it all away, it’s up to you to bring this piece of EYEHATEGOD cinematic history into your messed up existence! To really get your weirdo on, head over to their demented website!

One the raddest things about doing this job is the relationships you form. Some time they start in cyber space, then you get to meet each other in person, and it’s like fucking wow, you and this person really get along. That’s what happened with two of our favorite bands here at CVLT Nation ALPINIST and MASAKARI - I got a chance to meet them on their most recent tour. In person, we found out we had mad shit in common and it was real cool, plus I got to see both bands totally just wreck shit! It’s also interesting how music can be a huge unifying factor; this can be seen and heard by the connection that ALPINIST/MASAKARI have. If you need proof about what I’m saying, just listen to the super epic split that they put out together early this year, then you will recognize the magic that I speak of! While in the States for their tour, ALPINIST created this really cool video diary which we would like to share with you today. I must say, the way that they shot the video is pretty impressive, and it tells the story of life on the road. I guess the cliche is correct – a picture is worth a thousand words, because there is no way to miss the sense of brotherhood between both of these bands. After the jump, find out how you can download the ALPINIST/MASAKARI split in full for free!

Music. Arson. Suicide. Murder. Art. Black metal. Until The Light Takes Us is the first feature length documentary chronicling the history, ideology and aesthetic of the infamous Norwegian musical subculture.
This interview with American filmmakers Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell is from the vault, before the international release of the DVD last year. READ MORE…

Satanis: The Devil’s Mass is a 1970 documentary by Ray Laurent that delves into the founding years of the Church of Satan, as told by Anton LaVey himself, his family, his inner circle of members and priests, some random Christian priests, a couple of Mormon guys and his nosy, gossipy neighbors. It’s fascinating to see his house on California Street, a small, all-black Victorian manor sandwiched in between modern white houses, and to hear his neighbors recount various tales of his lion and naked ladies on altars. What’s more fascinating is to hear from the young LaVey, and see what a charismatic and strange man he was, hearing his philosophies spoken over a glass of scotch on the rocks. Watching him hang out with his “entourage” of followers is really interesting, as you get a much better idea of him as a leader in the Church of Satan than you do watching him preside over various rituals. They present themselves as a group of outgoing and outspoken individuals, and frequently interrupt his serious diatribes on Satanism and it’s place in history among other religions with jokes and stories about masturbation and sex. I guess that’s how Satanists roll, and it’s far from the mainstream portrayal of them as zombie-like, unquestioningly worshipping evil – that’s how the Christian evangelists roll. And when I’ve have heard the Mormon dudes ramble on once or twice about how they are giving up all earthly pleasures so that they can guarantee they will end up in some fabricated afterlife, if I were to choose a religion, which I’m not, I would definitely have to go with the people who are telling me it’s ok to drink and have sex and generally enjoy life instead of seeing it as punishment. Call me crazy. After the jump, step back in time and meet some fascinating people in Satanis: The Devil’s Mass…

READ MORE…

Aaron Aites and Audrey Ewell are the young filmmakers that took it upon themselves to create the black metal documentary UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US. I have watched it a couple of times, and some things in it I found really interesting & thought provoking. I really like the way it is filmed, and it was rad to see interviews with certain players who were a part of the early scene. There are many stories in this film that needed to be heard & documented, but straight up, certain characters like Varg Vikernes & Bard Eithun are not my kind of humans, because I have no tolerance for racists/homophobes; these ways of thinking are against everything we stand for at CVLT Nation. UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US as a documentary has way more to offer than the views of those two insignificant non-beings. So after the jump, check out UNTIL THE LIGHT TAKES US in full, and feel free to let me know how you feel about the film!

If there is one thing that Sean and I have learned from starting CVLT Nation, it’s that we have become a part of a supportive, compassionate global community of people, both in those who are covered on or contribute to the webzine, and those who read the webzine. We have met so many amazing people through CVLT Nation, and at the foundation of what we do, and what a lot of the musicians and artists do, is give to each other in the form of information, music and art. It creates a society that crosses the globe, and exists in the dark corners of other, larger societies. What unites us is the message that the world we live in is run by people who pretend to care for us, but behind closed doors, they work to destroy us and our connections to one another. Our compassion for one another and our creativity is a threat to their profits, and we vocalize our knowledge of their selfishness through our art and music.

One documentarian who tirelessly works to expose the mechanics of the global power structure is Adam Curtis, creator of The Power of Nightmares, The Trap and The Century of the Self series. His latest documentary series is called All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace, and addresses our global love affair with computer technology and how we have become beholden to and bound by their influence in our lives. On a micro level, sites like CVLT Nation bring together like-minded people and foster the kind of community I described above. On a macro level, Curtis argues that computer technology has created a false sense of security in global systems, like the financial system. In the first episode of the series, “Love and Power,” Curtis shows that computers facilitate an anti-community spirit, even when they were envisioned as a way to allow people to self-organize via vehicles like the Internet. Instead, via the New Economy, they are used to create “failsafe,” high-speed trading systems like the ones that run the US and European economies, systems that package and repackage loans at a rapid rate, and that inevitably led to property bubbles that exploded our economies into nothing. He ties in Randian theory, arguing that Objectivism pervades both Silicon Valley and Wall Street. As such, they are not held responsible for the consequence of their actions when entire swathes of the population lose everything due to their faulty speculation and immoral trading.

In “Love and Power,” Curtis ties together seemingly disparate ideas into one cunning web that we are all stuck in right now, immobile as we are wrapped in the spider’s silk, waiting to have our guts sucked out for his dinner. He brings in Silicon Valley, the Chinese economy, Bill Clinton, Alan Greenspan, Ayn Rand and a whole other bunch of amazing ideas – and out of all these people and things he creates a sharp, innovative argument against modern economics, and explains why, on a global level, we are in the shit. Check out Part I of his series, “Love and Power,” below…and remind yourself why you listen to angry, revolutionary music:
Watch the rest of this mind blowing documentary after the jump!

In different times and spaces, genres like Death Metal are born. The early 90′s were still full of the 80′s vibe of over-consumption & greed, which found it’s way into everyday life, even into the music that was created. Just like hardcore in the early 80′s, not all of the teenagers of this decade wanted to hear the bubblegum pop that had invaded the airwaves. Death Metal did not want to be digested by the masses, and as a sub culture it was totally happy being the outsider. I’m not sure what was in the water in Florida during the late 80′s, because those kids were on some next shit, and they helped push the genre to other heights. When you are living in a certain period of time, you do realize that the life you are living could become historic to others in the future. We are pretty lucky that some young filmmakers had the vision to make a thought-provoking documentary called 666 At Calling Death – Impressions Of Death Black Metal. This cinematic piece of history has appearances by Deicide, Atrocity, Death, Sepultura & many fucking more.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH 666 At Calling Death – Impressions Of Death Black Metal

I’m super excited about writing this post, because it’s about rad homies doing things that make a difference. While living in New York, I met all different sorts of humans & this one dude I met named REILLY left an impression on me, because he just had this really cool vibe about him, plus he also had this really cool punk spirit about him. I want to make one thing clear, he was one of those guys that I call a SST punk, who not might look like the status quo punk (ie leather,studs & spikes), but had a punk rock state of mind to the core. REILLY is a human who just shoots off laser beams of artistic energy, which might take the form of making music with his band Japanther, or some random killer art project. Which brings me to this point: a couple of years ago, he made this epic documentary about the 4th Street punk house in San Pedro, CA. Every time I watch this film, I get chills because it reminds about the true spirit of being DIY & if we are united, nothing can stand in our way. This film captures some super rad moments from young punks opening up their hearts on how they really see the world. One observation that I made was that you can tell that this film was created by punks, for punks, because REILLY was able to treat the subject matter with mad respect, since it was his story as well. Then there is live footage of Japanther & some other bands that is fucking electrifying to the max. If someone out there lives in a punk house & has some similar stories to tell through film or still photos, we would love to feature it on CVLT Nation. So after the jump, check out this radical documentary!!!

If you’ve stumbled across this zine chances are your days of meadow-dwelling are long since past. You no longer view the world through the hate-veil of the Fox News Corp (although, I think you should since it becomes an endless “Blood Test” scene from John Carpenter’s The Thing), and have deduced that most Muslims are not blood-crazed terrorists, the world won’t fall apart and decay suddenly in 2012, most mothers are not time-bomb murders incognito and most Skinheads are not racist, ignorant hatemongers.  At some point one of the proudest, loudest, least politically minded and certainly best looking sub-sects of the Mod culture was adopted stolen by the very people who make civilization a crumbling structure.  Entirely, although unsurprisingly, lacking the foresight to see that their newly purloined look was  largely a Jamaican/Immigrant/Black creation, these Bonheads chose simply ignore the truth and go on tarnishing a proud crest. The documentary Man Alive was filmed in 1968 and examines the Dancehall roots and Football hooliganism of the skinhead culture and while the sugar-glazed goggles of the past often allow us to overlook glaring flaws of our heroes (Paki-bashing is entirely unacceptable regardless of how great your Merc looks), these gentlemen were simply rudies intent on having a good time.  Check out the original English roses after the jump