INTERVIEW: DOCTOR DELIRIUM

My favorite. Photo credit: R. Van Zandt

Hey art lovers, I’ve been called a lot of things during my heinous existence, but I’ve never been called a Philistine. We’ve covered burlesque, poetry, painting, photography, and of course music from every unholy corner of the universe. But now I’m proud to interview the first featured model at Mister Growl, the “wonderfully bizarre” Doctor Delirium!

Mister Growl: For those unfamiliar, could you provide a history of your creative career?

Doctor Delirium: Well, my creative 'career' isn't too interesting, actually. I used to draw A LOT when I was little all the way up until I was seventeen, then all of the sudden it just didn't interest me anymore. I still wanted to be creative but use a different medium, so I took a cheap camera and began taking some photos with dark weird makeup on. Eventually I got a nice makeup kit and started putting on interesting designs and uploaded them to my Facebook. The responses from my friends and family were mostly "Oh, you should model!" I loved the idea, and even went to try out a modeling school in Boston, but never went. When I moved back to New York I began taking pictures again then uploaded them to Model Mayhem where I met a few photographers, and after a few photoshoots I'm now here!

Mister Growl: I'm the sort of guy who frustrates my girlfriend by thinking any dark color is black, so my understanding of fashion is pretty damn slim. That said, you seem to push aside fashion photography in favor of photography that's much more aesthetically challenging. What's your "artist statement" when it comes to modeling and photography?

Doctor Delirium: Don't get me wrong I'd love to get into fashion modeling for Gothic/Industrial attire but that would never be what I want to be known for.  Now I'm not from some high end family, in fact I'm married living in a small apartment, haha! So I use what I have, and I actually love that about myself. I love taking something simple and making it great. For instance, most of the stuff I used for makeup was dirt, mascara, eyeliner, black paint/latex and fake blood! Not to mention the very very talented photographers who have so much vision!

Photo credit: Doctor Delirium

 Mister Growl: It seems your work is heavily informed by horror imagery. What are some of your favorite horror films, or ones that have terrified you the most?

Doctor Delirium:  I usually don't watch horror movies and tend to stay away from them, but it doesn't mean I won't watch them at all. I'm more into supernatural films or older films with stop animation (i.e. The Thing). When I used to draw they had that horror imagery as well, but that was taken from influence of a lot of Jhonen Vasquez's work, who created Invader Zim and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac.  As silly as this sounds Dead Silence freaked me out the most because I HATE dolls with a passion. They freak me the hell out! Ugh!

Mister Growl: You've recently shared music from Necrophagist and Iron Maiden on your Doctor Delirium/Wonderfully Bizarre Facebook page. Has heavy metal informed your modeling and photography?

Doctor Delirium: Metal is more of a interest and a passion beside my modeling, but hey, I have wonderful fans and admirers because of that! I grew up listening to progressive metal with my brother and it grew when I married my husband. Metal is very diverse and maybe it has influenced me a bit, I'm not sure.

Mister Growl: Where else do you find inspiration for your projects?

Doctor Delirium:  A number of ways and places! Sometimes it's from other talented models and sometimes it's by watching an artistically done music video or it's just me randomly thinking of it and annoying a few photographers about it, haha.

Photo credit: Doctor Delirium

Mister Growl: What are the challenges faced when working with a photographer for the first time?

Doctor Delirium: I can't really think of a challenge, when I meet someone I'm very open and excited and try to be as friendly as I can.

Mister Growl: You also work extensively with your husband, who's a talented photographer. What sort of dynamic do you both have when it comes to the creative process?

Doctor Delirium: Sometimes I just have the ideas in my head and he grabs whatever camera he can find and goes to work. We take a few shots and exchange ideas before uploading and retouching. It's not too exciting!

Mister Growl: I recently handed in lists of my favorite all-time black metal albums and the top 2013 metal albums into Decibel Magazine. What are some of your favorite albums, and if you could model for any band's merchandise, who would you choose?

Doctor Delirium: If I could model for anyone's merchandise it would be for Cradle of Filth. Now I like their music, but it's mostly the artistic side of their videos and their albums I love. Dani himself seems like a very friendly and intelligent man, and I can respect that! For my favorite albums, I don't really have a favorite but one I have been listening to a lot lately is Dead End Kings by Katatonia. When listening to that I don't know whether to be happy or sad, it just has such a beautiful and mystical sound to it.

Photo credit: Nate Wood

Mister Growl: On your website you discuss your firm believe in collaboration during the creative process. What about collaboration do you find most rewarding?

Doctor Delirium: When collaborating on something that turns out great and I keep looking back at the photos in awe. It feels great to have a concept in your mind being brought to life!

Mister Growl: What's lined up for Doctor Delirium, and what would you like to achieve going forward?

Doctor Delirium: I'm not really sure how to answer that! I mean, I'd love recognition and to do so much more but mostly I just want to continue meeting artistic people and being creative. Sometimes I like not knowing so it's always a surprise, as corny as that sounds.

Photo credit: R. Van Zandt

Many thanks to Doctor Delirium for taking time to answer some questions and kindly allowing us to share her amazing work!

Check out her modeling portfolio, which I need to inform you includes NSFW material, unless your workplace embraces fantastic, nightmarish, erotic, and grimly original photography:  http://www.thewonderfullybizarre.com/

And for photographers/bands/labels looking to make their merch and promo material considerably more awesome, you can contact her with project details over here:  http://www.thewonderfullybizarre.com/#!contact/czpl

And add the Doctor over on Facebook to stay current with upcoming shoots and news:  https://www.facebook.com/thewonderfullybizarre

REVIEW: ASHENCULT / MEPHORASH - OPUS SERPENS (SPLIT)

The perfect way to discover Opus Serpens, the split EP from Ashencult and Mephorash, would be to mysteriously unearth a black cassette with ancient symbols carved in the plastic from the soil of your lawn while gardening. The fact that I listened to it on Bandcamp is only unfortunate because it denies me that story. But it’s a good thing for every black-hearted metalhead that this split exists, even in digital form. But soon that won’t even be necessary, as you can now pre-order this release on either silver or black vinyl and conjure unknown evil from your turntable.

Ashencult hide somewhere in the meatless ribcage of Philadelphia, in a neighborhood I imagine looks like the elephant graveyard from The Lion King. “My Tenth Death” is based in melodic, somber black metal that brings the grace and danger back to the genre that thrived in the days of tape-trading. But there’s a sharpened, sophisticated edge of this double-sided axe, and even while it blasts without mercy there’s an overarching sense of drama that makes it feel immediate and emotive. The lead guitar work is superb and the drums plow through fields of bones with a rock vibe that avoids the occasionally stiff blastbeats that lesser BM bands employ. The vocals sound like they come from some creature who has seen dinosaurs come and go and watched the forces of nature and man drive species to extinction. It’s a fantastic song with texture and suspense that compares favorably with early Emperor, but with a little less grime.

“Atramentous Ungod Suspect” closes the album, a 9+ minute song from Uppsala, Sweden’s own Mephorash. Commencing with low groaning and gothic organs, it sounds like it could be rooted in the candelabra-lit crypts of early-90s Cradle of Filth. But don’t let that fool you, when the song begins foaming at the mouth and thrashing wildly the guitars provide extra bite and sound heavy as hell. With guest vocals from Acherontas V. Priest, the song features a variety of vocal approaches, ranging from a traditional black metal rasp to the insane whispers of some leprous gatekeeper. The fastest moments of this song could stab unprepared metal novices to death. When all’s said and done, the song reminds me of a grittier Borknagar song that was raised in complete darkness in some forgotten catacombs, nursed on the milk of plague-carrying rats.

This is a must-purchase for anyone who likes bleak black metal with tasteful keyboards, or anyone who enjoys extreme music with a sense of mystery and majesty. I’m definitely excited to hear this spinning in my room, and I’m looking forward to each band’s future releases.

Listen to Opus Serpens over here on Bandcamp, and check out the pre-order links for their beautiful 10” records:  http://unholyanarchyrecords.bandcamp.com/album/opus-serpens

Or support these bands and this awesome release from Unholy Anarchy Records by pre-ordering this on vinyl from their address:  http://unholyanarchyrecords.bigcartel.com/product/ashencult-mephorash-opus-serpens-10-split

Follow Ashencult over on Facebook here:  https://www.facebook.com/ASHENCULT

And do the same for Mephorash here:  https://www.facebook.com/Chaliceofthagirion

REVIEW: EXHUMED - NECROCRACY

I bought Gore Metal from a little tattoo shop that carried Relapse releases due to the success of local deathheads Skinless. I was a freshman in high school and more curious than passionate about death metal. If you know someone who’s on the fence about extreme music one of the most persuasive things you can do is have them listen to a few songs written by Matt Harvey. As a Mets fan I will clarify: The founder of Exhumed, not the All-Star pitcher/nude model of the same name.

Exhumed again triumphs over significant lineup changes, this time welcoming back past-bassist Bud Burke as a guitarist. While the supporting cast is formidable (especially Mike Hamilton, also of Deeds of Flesh), this is a horrorshow that always hinged on the performance of its founder. Always honest about the pop song structures of his blood-drenched compositions, Harvey has understands the power of a good (meat)hook. On their newest release, Necrocracy, Exhumed display the melodic tendencies of Anatomy Is Destiny, the tight songwriting of Slaughtercult and All Guts, No Glory, and the sheer brutality of Gore Metal. We hear all the time that bands are borrowing elements from their entire discography while working towards a sound that’s entirely new, and 90% of the time it’s a load of zombie shit. But Necrocracy is not zombie shit; it’s looking backwards at their history of jubilant bloodshed, then stepping forward.

Kicking off with “Coins Upon the Eyes,” Exhumed blast into their dual growl/snarl attack and deliver the first memorable chorus on the album, hinting where vocal melody might exist if this wasn’t death metal. Other memorable hooks include “Dysmorphic,” which features a Carcass-esque groove fit for a marauding gang of re-animated bikers, and “The Shape of Deaths To Come,” a slick powerhouse song that throws razor sharp At the Gates riffs into the cannibalistic fray. Fans who are particularly hungry for bile-puking grind will devour “Sickened” and “Carrion Call,” which could both chainsaw-duel classics like “Necromaniac” and “Limb From Limb” for supremacy. The album closes strongly with “The Rotting,” with riffs that carve flesh from the bone before settling into a mid-tempo prowl and fading thrash.

I even hesitate to mention this, but I also noticed how similar a few songs felt to the most intense moments of Cradle of Filth’s Midian. From the abyss-scraping growl to the higher-pitched shrieks and the muscular mid-tempo guitarwork, I was just amazed at how comparable elements can deviate due to the direction of one visionary participant (Matt Harvey/Dani Filth). That isn’t saying Exhumed will end up writing songs about mysterious pale women exploring their bloodlusts in foggy woodlands, it’s just interesting how metal can intersect and then speed away from itself.

Like always, Exhumed have a great balance of catchy and disciplined songwriting, brutal technicality, and a macabre sense of fun that continues to scratch, claw, and feast their way to the top of the death metal food chain. This album proves once again that Californian death metal is as mean and nasty as the best examples from any other location, because the constant sun makes the corpses rot faster.

Necrocracy comes out in North America on August 6th, so save your lunch money, creeps. For more info on the band (including merch and upcoming tour dates with Dying Fetus), check out their page at Relapse Records: http://www.relapse.com/label/artist/exhumed.html

And if you want to yell at me for the Cradle of Filth comparison feel free to send me angry Tweets (@MisterGrowl) or hate mails (mistergrowlblog (at) gmail (dot com)).

GUEST REVIEW: COFFINS - MARCH OF DESPAIR

Continuing our series of metal reviews by non-metal fans, Mister Growl welcomes another guest reviewer into our unholy flock: Shane Frasier, Acquired Taste Booking owner and creator of the Behemoth Music Festival, a series of concerts in Upstate New York that recently reached down into Brooklyn. He has also been a member of roughly seven thousand bands, ranging from hardcore punk (Daytime Soiree) to electronic/dance music (Mr. Owl) to eccentric insanity (The Lanky Mofos and The Bumblebees). He was nice enough to accept our invitation and review one of the several 2012 releases from Coffins, their March of Despair EP:

“Full disclosure: I know nothing about metal.

Well, that's not entirely true. I like metal, but there's no way I'd proclaim myself an aficionado of the genre. It was, for lack of a better word, forced on me at a young age by my older brother. Bands like Cradle of Filth and Slayer paved the way to others like Emperor and Skinless. Not that I minded, but it was quite a culture shock to me when bands like The Clash were my main musical staple. Bearing that in mind, my understanding of the genre has blossomed into something more appreciative now, but I’m not entirely convinced. I say this so I don't come across as a complete idiot whilst I review a EP from a Japanese band called Coffins.

The five song album titled March of Despair, opens up with the track “Till Dawn of the Doomsday,” which, honestly, didn't quench the punch in the face opening track thirst I needed to really get into this album. It's a solid track, full of enough trudging guitar riffs and breakdowns to make me throw down at my desk chair, but it stalls in the beginning, which, in my humble musical opinion, is not the beginning of a great song. I know metal is about momentum, but when it’s forced on you early in the track, it can create an incomplete feeling to the rest of the track.

The songs “Carpet of Bones” and “In Bloody Sewage” remain my favorites, maybe because I myself own an actual carpet of bones and I have a fixation towards bloody sewage. These two tracks feel more refined than the others, if maybe not altogether more free form. While I liked these two songs, they created a bigger problem for me overall as I found all the songs on the album to have different production values. I could be going deaf, the end result of the hundred or more shows I've gone to in the last couple years where I haven't worn ear plugs, but I got the distinct notion these songs were all leveled differently, which can create a problematic listening experience if you’re a fan of audio consistency.

The other two tracks, “Grotesque Messiah” and “Corpsegrinder,” didn't hit me the way I wanted them to. “Grotesque Messiah” feels sloppy, and yeah, I know, I'm listening to a death metal band, sloppiness is appreciated in this genre, right? But considering the other songs on the album felt tight, this song in particular bugged me in a way no other song since “Mambo Number 5” has (THE TRUMPET!). And “Corpsegrinder” just doesn't feel like much of a song to me. That's a very vague review of it, but if you listen to it, maybe you'll agree.

Overall, I'm a bit torn. Like the 80's song, but in reverse, Japan is big with me, and I often go out of my way to either listen to music from Japan or at least appreciate their take on the punk and metal genres. But I couldn't help feeling this was more of a faux version of what death metal is supposed to be, the culmination of one band’s attempt to replicate bands that they've loved, but couldn't fully execute musically. If you have a half hour to spare, and just feel like giving something a try, March of Despair is as least worth a listen, if not completely unforgettable.”

- Shane Frasier

(Editor’s Note: “Corpsegrinder” is a cover of a song off Death’s second demo tape. Just a little pop-up trivia for the diehards. - MG)

Many thanks to Shane for sharing his thoughts! He introduced himself with modesty but he did actually suggest Black Cobra and Withered when deciding what album to review. That’s pretty obscure knowledge for someone who knows “nothing about metal.” Check out Coffins on Spotify, they have several albums available, and their upcoming album The Fleshland is due out July 9th.

Pre-order The Fleshland here: http://coffins.bandcamp.com/album/the-fleshland

REVIEW: RAGE NUCLÉAIRE - UNRELENTING FUCKING HATRED

With an album title like Unrelenting Fucking Hatred the listener shouldn’t expect subtlety. While the lingering results of genocide, war, and hate crimes (among other atrocities) may impact the human psyche in subtle ways, the violent results are as immediate and brutal as the album title suggests. If Rage Nucléaire had a collective ringtone it would be the bomb sirens that blare in several tracks, warning of the oncoming onslaught. This record is a dizzying lo-fi assault that captures the rawness of the tape-trading age of black metal while maintaining its own peculiar charm. Charm may be a strange word for a vicious black metal record, but this is not your grand dad’s sullen strand of black metal. And if it is, then your grand dad is pretty awesome.

Rage Nucléaire features vocalist Lord Worm, a provocative and engaging frontman formerly of Cryptopsy. Now as the demented elocutionist of a black metal band he spits and screeches with startling commitment. There’s not a single half-assed snarl on this album. These (inaudible) words are absolutely screamed with conviction. I picture Lord Worm as some mad preacher rummaging through the ruins of bomb-blasted cities surviving on the flesh of charred battle casualties. His voice is deranged and menacing, from the high-pitched howls to the strange robotic croaking that becomes so unhinged it seems unconcerned with the accompanying music’s rhythm in “Gift of the Furnace” and  “30 Second in the Killhouse.” There is charisma, danger, and wit in Lord Worm’s songwriting/vocal performance on Unrelenting Fucking Hatred. This is just another example of why Lord Worm deservedly became a household name in the metal community.

The accompanying music on Unrelenting Fucking Hatred is driven by keyboard melodies while the buzz of the guitars and the mechanical hammer of the drums provide the spine for each song. While the album is undeniably fast and heavy it’s more of a foundation for the gothic flamboyance of the keyboardist’s electronic strings and 8-bit organ. The keyboards do the real heavy lifting when it comes to what differentiates the songs from each other, which makes this brutal music still feel weirdly warm, and at times, harmless. While Emperor and even Cradle of Filth (like on their early demo, titled with eerie similarity Total Fucking Darkness) have experimented with this approach before, both of those bands featured the guitars more prominently, using the keyboards strictly as a supporting instrument for additional texture. Mystic Circle’s dragon saying concept album Drachenblut might be the closest comparison, though it doesn’t possess the fuzzy grit Rage Nucleaire achieve on this album.

If it’s not clear yet, Unrelenting Fucking Hatred is a strange animal. At its best, like in “Endziel” and “The Gallows and the Black Coffin,” Rage Nucléaire change speeds to highlight the crunchy, crusty elements of their black wall of sound and include terrifying sound-strokes like Lord Worm’s occasional droning delivery or samples of screaming swine. These songs definitely have sharp teeth, but not all of them have the strongest jaws. A few of them grab the listener and let them escape as the keyboard’s dominance distracts from the surrounding mayhem. For songs about unrelenting fucking hatred the keyboard sounds pretty unrelentingly fucking polite at times.

I think this album is definitely worth your time if you’re a fan of black metal and feel immense nostalgia for mail-order days spent studying ‘zine back pages for obscure, evil music. Also, if you’re tired of the grim grind of pitch-black metal and want something with (comparatively) softer edges, Rage Nucléaire offers that while still featuring an entertainingly combative, confrontational vocal performance. It’s not the most brutal release of the past year, but it ranks among the most interesting. Also, I’m not sure what a Murderworm is, as mentioned on  “Hunt with Murderworms, Sculpt With Flies,” but I imagine it looking like one of the creatures from Tremors, and I really want one as a pet.

Support Rage Nucléaire on Spotify or over at Bandcamp to hear the horrors of the Murderworm:  http://ragenucleaire.bandcamp.com/releases

 

And check out their humorous band description/mission statement over at Season of Mist while checking out merch over at:  http://season-of-mist.com/bands/rage-nucleaire