Ancient time, ancient magic, ancient rituals and ancient persecution all have a new face in the present. When I watch the amazing new video, directed by Justin Oakey, for Hexvessel’s song “I Am The Ritual,” from his most recent album Dawnbearer, I feel like I have been transported to another millenium, but at the same time I recognize the players in this scene, they still exist today. I’m beyond impressed with this song, and how the visuals are a perfect match for the message the lyrics convey. The camerawork invites the viewer to not only witness emotion, but to feel it as well. Kvohst’s voice leaves me in awe, like the feeling I get when I am in the presence of the ruins of past civilizations. I must say that Dawnbearer is an audio masterpiece unto itself – stay tuned for a full review. After the jump, step into the primitive supernatural and peep this video!

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Thank you Maximum Rock ‘n Roll for turning me on to international punk at an early age. One of my favorite parts of the fanzine was the scene reports, especially the international ones – this is how I got into bands from Brazil, Finland, Mexico, Italy and Sweden. A band that stuck in my mind from jump street is ANTI CIMEX; from the very first moment I heard them, I was fucking blown away, back then we did not even have the term D-Beat. We just knew they were influenced by Discharge, but flipped the script to come up with their own take on dis-noize. My homies and I straight wore out their first three EP’s because they created the kind of ballistic ruckus that got us hyped! Honestly, I think there is something in Swedish water that makes it where they know how to create music that is fucking awesome, with the right amount of dis-crust. Are you ready to check out some rare and vintage ANTI CIMEX footage? Peep some real shit after the jump!


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One of CVLT Nation’s favorite bands, ASH BORER, recently performed a string of epic gigs up North. Today, we found some extra rad footage of them taken by Kill That Cat, aka HASH THRASH. I’m really impressed by their emotional and truly moving show, and the way that it was filmed only adds more depth to the experience. ASH BORER is a band that transcends labels – they create sound that is in its own universe of radness. For over 12 minutes, Kill That Cat captures this band in their purest form, plus the quality of the footage is unreal. I really hope that ASH BORER comes to SoCal sometime soon, I would be there in a heartbeat! After the jump, step into another zone and peep the otherworldly ASH BORER!

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Heimo Korth and his wife are the only people today still living off the land in the contained 19 million acres of boreal forest on the Alaskan interior. His life represents an atavistic and nomadic approach to existence, as he relies on primitive hunting and gathering techniques in order to survive. The nearest neighbour is about 100 miles away, and they rotate cabins to prevent from depleting natural resources in any one location. A film crew went out to spend an entire week with him in the secluded woodlands where he dwells and learned his methods. Heimo catches and keeps meat and fish frozen for use when it becomes needed. The fish he collects is used for trapping which he manages to draw the attention of mynk, wolves, bears, lynx and other animals into his area. All other food is stockpiled in his cabin.

They learn how to skin a rabbit, fire a shotgun, and even kill and cut up and intruding bear. Finding their company in the vast forests, mountains and natural landscapes that enclose them. It is perhaps a romanticized look at one of the most ancient traditions of mankind and a meditation on individualism.

One that band reshaped how heavy music is created and how it affects the listener is Chicago’s Bloodiest. Their 2011 album, Decent, has expanded my mind since the first time I heard it, and every time after that. Something about Bloodiest’s music is transcendental and will take your imagination to different planes of thought. As much as this band creates music that is new, there is also an ancient vibe about their songwriting. I have yet to see them live, but I recently saw an amazing video of their most recent NYC performance at St. Vitus captured by (((unartig))). From what I see, these humans do in fact manifest sounds that defy space and time. So after the jump, descend into Bloodiest’s universe and peep this moving footage!

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Horror has stagnated.  The usual horror film of late is some squeaky clean bloodbath or a remake lacking anything that made its source material so good.  Development, plot and character, has gone the way of the dodo bird.  Not to say that horror is complete shit, but the generic popcorn flick is, no pun intended, horrible.  Now here we have The House of the Devil.  Everything that the last twenty years killed is suddenly resurrected and walking around like its new.  Director Ti West shows obvious reverence for the films of yore, with the film taking nods from such classics as Rosemary’s Baby and Black Christmas while finding a kindred spirit in its contemporary Let the Right One In. READ MORE…

American remakes of any foreign horror film suck. Period.  The Ring (2002), while a functional thriller, is a piece of paranormal poop compared to the 1998 Japanese original.  Ringu ranks as one of the few films that has genuinely scared me in my adult years.  I went about watching Ringu with an open mind, as I saw it after seeing Gore Verbinski’s neutered redo, a film which left me unimpressed.  Oh dear was I sorry I didn’t just skip The Ring altogether.
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In these times of 1% vs. 99%, I thought it appropriate to shed some light on what may be the true cause behind the global meltdown, and even behind the economic and social systems that create the vast divide in the first place – psychopathy. Those poor 1%ers are sick, and they need our understanding. They gather wealth like raindrops, while the rest of us lie parched and dying in the desert, because they are all fucking psychopaths. That’s how you play the system, people. We’ve all know about all those mangey, greasy trust fund kids skulking around New York, living in the same plaid shirt day after day, meanwhile Daddy puts 50K in their account each month. This is why they do it! They are mimicking us so that they can have friends! This is why the New York Times former editor, Bill Keller, pretended to provide us with “news” when he was actually catering to his 1% cronies, people he grew up around as the son of the CEO of Chevron. They are sick, people, sick! And some sicknesses can’t be treated, so I think we should put them out of their misery. But first, let’s figure out what’s wrong with them, and this Australian documentary,
I, Psychopath, is a great place to start. It follows psychopath author and political advisor Sam Vaknin around, and studies his daily fuckery. After the jump, check out I, Psychopath, and then head back to CVLT Nation for some inspiration for what we need to do with these people.

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Any avid reader of Lovecraft should already know the unspeakable evils of the Cthulhu cult and the deep sea lord that rules them all. Enshrouded in mystery is the author himself, who was a complete recluse and often resemble the ugly characters in his short stories. Strangely by watching the film you would come to think its from the 40′s or 50′s, down there when Nosferatu was still haunting the minds of men. But this was crafted in 2005. I wont go into over analytic detail about the aesthetics of the film or soundtrack and how utterly horrible in every way it is. It is entirely in black and white and the music that exists in quite atypical, it’s nothing like you are used to but watch it for yourself. But I have written up some lesser known information of the film to shed some dark insight on the depth’s of R’lyeh… errrr, on the making of the footage! Enjoy it, Fhtagn Ia IA!

The Call Of Cthulhu from Jason Hammond on Vimeo.

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It’s taken me quite a long time to gain a liking for Rob Zombie’s Halloween films, especially this one.  I’m quite the stickler for the traditions set in place by the original series.  A silent Michael.  An adversarial Loomis.  A survivalist Laurie.  Rob Zombie’s H2 presents us with the literal polar opposites of their predecessors.  Michael makes noises, walks around without his mask on, and is loud and almost completely lacking in silent hunter quality of the Shape.  This is not the Shape.  Malcolm McDowell, though a fine actor, is the antithesis of Donald Pleasence’s Loomis.  Whereas the original Loomis was a man concerned with stopping Michael, this one is nothing short of a pompous asshole.  Neither of these variations hold my ire like I do Scout Taylor-Compton’s Laurie Strode.  I could forgive her for her role in Rob Zombie’s first Halloween romp, but this, this is just too much.  She’s a victim who doesn’t try being anything but.  H20 explored a similar theme of Laurie coping with the events of Halloween and Halloween II (1981) and while she was clearly traumatized by it, she chose to face it.  Remake Laurie chooses to drown her spiraling psyche with pills, booze, and a bad attitude.  As said by Danielle Harris’s Annie: “I am not impressed.” READ MORE…