In 2011, my good friend and Horror-Vision co-host Tori gifted me Fen's album Epoch. This, maybe more than any other album, propelled me headlong into Black Metal. I'll never forget the first time I hit play on Epoch; it was pouring rain - uncharacteristic for Southern California - as I drove home to San Pedro from Borders Books in Torrance where both Tori and I worked at the time.
The rain was perfect; I've maintained ever since that this record sounds like it was recorded in the rain (whatever that means, exactly, I can't really explain). At the time I was also falling in love with John Crowley's Little Big, and that book, the weather and Epoch combined to invoke a nearly hallucinatory couple of days off. I kept up with Fen through the follow-up, 2012's Dustwalker, then kind of dropped off for no reason that had anything to do with the band. Seeing the release of Monuments of Absence last week, I was blown away by the opening track, which is considerably more severe than anything I've heard Fen do, though as I say, I'm behind a few albums. Looking forward to catching up, though.
Monuments to Absence dropped this past Friday, 7/07/23, so you can head over to the Prophecy Productions website and order a copy HERE.
It's been a minute since I handled the Bound deck, so I tapped into it for this morning's Pull:
Watch:
Bloody Disgusting did an exclusive premiere of the trailer for the new company Neon Noir's first film, That's A Wrap:
Beautiful colors abound, so they definitely nailed that element of the classic Giallo aesthetic. I watched enough of this trailer to know I will be checking it out when it releases August 25. You can read Bloody Disgusting's full article about That's A Wrap HERE.
Playlist:
Ghost - Stay (single)
Blackbraid - Blackbraid II
QOTSA - In Times New Roman
Deth Crux - Mutant Flesh
Godflesh - Pure
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic Apocalypse
Fen - Monuments to Absence
Fen - Epoch
Drab Majesty - Careless
Drab Majesty - The Demonstration
Final Light - Eponymous
The Devil's Blood - The Thousandfold Epicentre
Forhist - Eponymous
Type O Negative - October Rust
Type O Negative - World Coming Down
Cocksure - Be Rich
INXS - Kick
Tennis System - Technicolor Blind
Card:
From Jonathan Grimm's Bound Tarot, which you can buy HERE.
• Knight of Pentacles - The Will as applied to Matter; Fire/Earth
• Knight of Wands - The Will as applied to Will; Fire/Fire
• Page or Princess of Wands - Matter applied to Will; Earth/Fire
That's a lot of wink-wink about my Will, eh? I read this as a reminder to be present and apply patience, lest my Will, pulled taut, snap and leave me rudderless for a while. Long story short, I need a reset in order to carry on.
