King Diamond: Abigail by King Diamond, Dan Watters, Damien Worm and others

 

(pb; October 2021: graphic novel, based on King Diamond’s 1987 concept album. Publisher: Z2 Comics.)

From the back cover

“King Diamond’s classic horror story featured on his 1987 concept album Abigail has received a masterful in-depth overhaul and is brought to life in a whole new way in this. . . graphic novel by Dan Watters, Damien Worm, and King Diamond himself!”

 

Review

Summer 1845. Jonathan Lafey, in financial trouble in London, inherits a mansion from his never met and deceased uncle near the rarely visited and superstitious village of Wodenstone. Jonathan flees London with his second wife, Miriam, an eighteen-year-old, talented artist. (His first wife, Sarah, died during childbirth as did their child.)

While traveling through dark woods near Wodenstone, seven shadowy and supernatural horsemen stop the Lafeys’ carriage to warn Jonathan and Miriam to turn back, that the castle is a bad place. Of course, Jonathan scoffs at this (despite his spine-shivery response to the suddenly disappeared horsemen), and he and his wife travel on. Once in Wodenstone, they get a chilly silence when Jonathan asks where La Fey House is—not that they need directions once outside, they can see the mansion atop a nearby hill.

A stink (“It is iron and offal scent of botched surgeries. Of spilled amniotic fluid thickened by blood”) permeates Lafey House, although Miriam claims to not smell it. That’s just the beginning of their troubles in the abode where Count Lafey, Jonathan’s uncle and by most accounts a cruel man, murdered his wife and child—the latter a restless and hungry spirit named Abigail.

King Diamond’s spooky, bloody, and mood-immersive sonic work gets comparable graphic novel treatment, with a nightmare-inducing house with way too many shadowy corners, paintings, and secret places. Damien Worm’s artwork captures well the spirit of Diamond’s melodic and guitar-heavy tale, and Dan Watters’s writing is spare enough to not belabor the source album’s story yet detailed enough to supply further mood-effective details to Abigail.

I’d recommend this graphic novel to fans of Gothic horror, haunted houses and, of course, King’s 1987 album. Here’s hoping Z2 follows this up with a companion work to its 2002 sequel, Abigail II: The Revenge.

The Lords of Salem by Rob Zombie with B.K. Evenson

(hb; 2013)


From the inside flap:

"Heidi Hawthorne is a thirty-seven-year-old FM radio DJ and a recovering drug addict.  Struggling with her newfound sobriety and creeping depression, Heidi suddenly receives an anonymous gift at the station - a mysteriously shaped wooden box branded with a strange symbol.  Inside the box is a promotional record for a band that identifies themselves as The Lords.  There is no other information.

"She decides to play it on the radio show as a joke, and the moment she does, horrible things begin to happen.  The strange music unleashes something evil in the town.  Soon enough, terrifying murders begin to happen all around Heidi.  Who are The Lords?  What do they want?

"Now, as old bloodlines are awakened and the bodies start to pile up, only one thing seems certain - all hell is about to break loose."


Review:

Lords is a compelling, entertaining read, with its engaging characters and its graphic, jubilant and orgiastic bloodshed.  While it's not the grimmest horror novel I've read, its unrepentant and unflinching unveiling of viscous, carnal violence makes many other like-genre books pale in comparison.

Zombie and Evenson weave elements of humor, Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby and the Norwegian black metal genre into this feels-like-a-Seventies-horror-flick novel, making it even more fun.

Worth owning, this.

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The film version is scheduled for theatrical release on April 19, 2013.  Co-author Rob Zombie scripted and directed the film.

Sheri Moon Zombie played Heidi Hawthorne.  Bruce Davison played Francis Matthias.  Jeff Daniel Phillips, billed as Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, played Herman Whitey Salvador.  Ken Foree played Herman Jackson.   Ernest Thomas played Chip Freakshow McDonald. 

Michael Berryman played Virgil Magnus.  Sid Haig played Dean Magnus.   Maria Conchita Alonso played Alice Matthias.  Dustin Quick played Masie Mather. 

Judy Geeson played Lacy Doyle. Patricia Quinn played Megan.  Dee Wallace played Sonny.  Meg Foster played Margaret Morgan.  Brandon Cruz played Ted Delta.  Torsten Voges played Count Gorgann.  Niko Posey played Cerina Hooten.  Lisa Marie played Priscilla Reed.

Maria Olsen played a "Dream Sequence Woman".  Diana Hart played another "Dream Sequence Woman".  Flo Lawrence played a "Witch".  Silvia Moore played another "Witch".

Barbara Crampton, in deleted scenes, played Virginia Cable.  Udo Kier, in deleted scenes, played Matthew Hopkins.  Camille Keaton, in deleted scenes, played Doris Von Fux.  Clint Howard, in deleted scenes, played Carlo Caravaggio. Richard Lynch, in deleted scenes, played Reverend John Hawthorne. 

Daniel Roebuck, in deleted scenes, played The Frankenstein Monster.  Christopher Knight, in deleted scenes, played Keith 'Lobster Joe' Williams.  

Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore, by Albert Mudrian

(pb; 2004: non-fiction. Introduction by John Peel.)

From the back cover:

"In 1986, it was unimaginable that death metal and grindcore would ever impact popular culture. Yet this barbaric amalgam of hardcore punk and heavy metal would define the musical threshold of extremity for years to come. Initially circulated through an underground tape-trading network by scraggly, angry young boys, death metal and grindcore spread faster than a plague of undead zombies as bands arose from every corner of the globe. By 1992, the genres' first legitimate label, Earache Records, had sold well over a million death metal and grindcore albums in the United States alone.

"Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore examines the rise, fall and resurrection of death metal and grindcore through the eyes and ringing ears of the artists, producers, and label owners who propelled the movements. 'I thought of death metal and grindcore as a return to extreme punk,' says John Peel. 'This music was another step in the outlaw territory beyond any aggressive music heard before.'"


Review:

Entertaining and informatory delineation of these "extreme" music scenes, which appeared in the mid-Eighties, and have continued, on and off the mainstream radar, to influence today's high-profile bands (e.g., Slipknot, who incorporate these elements in their genre miscible songs).

Bands like Master, Napalm Death, Arch Enemy, Carcass, Godflesh, Morbid Angel, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, Dark Tranquility and others are part of this storied past and present, one the that has not-so-quietly mutated its way into the mainstream.

Worthwhile read for those interested in underground/extreme music, heavy metal or evolving subculture dynamics.

Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica, by Mick Wall

(hb; 2011: rock biography)

From the inside flap:

"As Led Zeppelin was for hard rock and the Sex Pistols were for punk, Metallica became the band that defined the look and sound of 1980s heavy metal. Inventors of thrash metal followed - Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth - but it was always Metallica who led the way, who pushed to another level, who became the last of the superstar rockers.

"Metallica is the fifth-largest selling artist of all time, with 100 million records sold worldwide. Their music has extended its reach beyond rock and metal and into the pop mainstream, as the band moved from speed metal to MTV with their hit single, 'Enter Sandman.' Until now there hasn't been a critical, authorative, in-depth portrait of the band. Mick Wall's thoroughly researched, insightful work is enriched by his interviews with band members, record-company execs, roadies and fellow musicians. He tells the story of how a tennis-playing, music-loving Danish immigrant named Lars Ulrich created a band with singer James Hetfield and made his dreams a reality. Enter Night follows the band through tragedy and triumph, from the bus crash that killed their bassist Cliff Burton in 1986 to the 2004 documentary Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and on to their current status as the leaders of the Big 4 festival that played to a million fans in Britain and throughout Europe and continues in the United States in 2011."

Review:

Excellent biography of the band.

Wall, a longtime music critic and friend of Metallica, chronicles the personalities, music eras and facts/opinions in an entertaining, straightforward and informative write. His take on their music, both its faults and merits, is pointed, kind and constructive - the best thing any critic or friend can be.

Worthwhile read, if you're fan of the band, past (Cliff Burton-era or pre-Load) or present.

Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, by Michael Moynihan & Didrik SØderlind

(hb; 1998, 2003: non-fiction)

From the back cover:

"At the close of the last millennium, more than 100 churches in Europe were torched and desecrated by adherents of Black Metal, the most extreme form of underground music on the planet. In an escalating uholy war, Black Metal bands and their obsessive fans have left a grim legacy of suicide, murder, and terrorism that continues to spread from Norway to Germany, Finland, America, and beyond. . .

"Written by two journalists with unique access to the hellish demimonde, the acclaimed Lords of Chaos has now been revised and expanded, with startling new revelations. This award-winning exposé features hundreds of rare photos and exclusive interrogations with priests, police officers, Satanists, and leaders of demonic bands who believe the greater evil spawns the greatest glory."

Review:

A good friend, Gary Russell, turned me onto this non-fiction book nine years ago, but I finally, after getting distracted by so much other stuff, got around to reading it: thanks, Gary!

This is one of the best true-crime books I've ever read. Authors Didrik SØderlind and Michael Moynihan have composed a level-headed, fascinating account of the Black Metal suicides, murders and ancient church burnings that took place in Norway (and in other countries) in the early 1990s (and, to a limited degree, to this day).

One of the reasons why Lords of Chaos works so well is that the authors have, for the most part, adopted a non-judgmental attitude towards the people involved -- that includes hangers-on, police officers, and those who perpetrated the crimes, like: Per Yngve Ohlin (aka, Dead, vocalist for Mayhem, who blew his head off with a shotgun in April 1992); several members of the highly-regarded Black Metal band, Emperor, who continue to put out music today; Hendrik Möbus (of the band Absurd, who was also convicted of a Black Metal murder, and briefly found refuge from the German police in the States with William Pierce, founder of the racialist group the National Alliance, and author of notorious racist tract The Turner Diaries); Bård "Faust" Eithun (drummer of the aforementioned band, Emperor, who, in August 1992, stabbed a homosexual pedestrian to death); and Kristian "Varg" Vikerenes (aka, Varg Qisling LarssØn Vikerenes, aka, Count Grishnackh), founder of the one-man band, Burzum, who, in August 1993, stabbed and killed Øystein Aarseth (aka, Euronymous, of the band Mayhem, and owner of the Black Metal music store, Helvete).

Vikerenes's comments make up much of the interview sections. As a motormouth and founder of the religious organization, Norwegian Heathen Front (aka, NHS), he was part of the "Black Circle" (a phrase used to describe many of the Black Metallers who hung out at Øystein Aarseth's store Helvete, where Aarseth recorded and sold albums, including Burzum/Vikerenes's); also, Vikernes, who has a hate-hate relationship with the media (who love to interview him, because of the s**t he spouts), has evolved, belief-wise: he's disdainful of his early satanic Black Metal work -- it seems he's more into his later, dark Ambient Electronica work, which is heavily influenced by neo-Nazi/skinhead propaganda, heathenism (with a heavy emphasis on Odinism, which is anti-Christian), and grim Norwegian Black Metal steadfastness (which seems, on the surface, to be humorless).

SØderlind and Moynihan also trace the beginnings of Black Metal, to English and American bands like Venom, Bathory and Slayer (who, aside from their early occult themes, are actually are more speed-metal) -- the phrase Black Metal actually stems from Venom's second album of the same name, which came out in 1982. One of the main things that differientiates these bands from the later Noregian and Swedish bands is that the American/English bands were using their Satanic, often-nonsensical themes as sensationalistic window-dressing. At heart, they were regular, law-abiding people who were trying stir s**t up, get recognized (at that point in their careers).

It's that lack of sensationalism that ultimately propels Lords of Chaos into greatness. These events and personalities are dramatic enough to sell themselves, and all SØderlind and Moynihan had to do, writing-wise, was research it and put it down on paper without flourish -- in recognizing that and doing so, SØderlind and Moynihan have written a timeless true crime tome that remains relevant today.

Disturbing, informative time capsule book with (no doubt) echoes of our future -- hopefully only in a fringe, limited sense.

Read it, already.

The Kill Riff, by David J. Schow

(pb; 1988)

From the back cover:

"Lucas Ellington's daughter is dead, trampled by an out-of-control mob at a rock concert turned riot. There was no trial, but Lucas has identified the murderers -- the band, Whip Hand.

"Two of Gabriel Stannard's old bandmates are dead. Whip Hand's former lead singer knows who killed them. Stannard will not be a passive target..."

Review:

Adrenalated, excellent novel, this. The familiar storyline gets a boost from Schow's metal-edgy well-paced writing, characters who ring veracious (that's saying a lot, considering how crazy-violent a few of the characters are), explosive twists, and the underlying message regarding societal and media responsibilities -- a given, considering that this is set in the late-Eighties milieu. (Do yourself a favor, and read Schow's one-paragraph Foreward: it's a smart hoot.)

This is not a tale for the faint-of-heart. The violence and several of the characters are over-the-top and vivid (particularly: Lucas Ellington, the grief-enraged Vietnam-vet father; Gabriel Stannard, the macho rocker who opts to face Ellington, on his terms, not Ellington's; Cannibal Rex [aka, Martin Killough Beecher, Stannard's younger, ferocious, Kerry King-like guitarist]).

The milder, more "normal" characters, who provide balance to this crazed tale, are interesting, too: there's Sertha Valich, Stannard's ex-model live-in lover; Sara, Lucas's doctor, who just might be in love with Lucas; Horus, Stannard's Zen-infused, death-ready bodyguard (he reminded me of Common's character, Sir Ivy, from the movie Smokin' Aces); Cass, an ex-boyfriend-battered young woman who takes shelter with Lucas in his mountain cabin; and Burt Kroeger, Lucas's level-headed friend and PR business partner (who's also a war vet).

Exciting horror/action novel, worth owning -- especially recommended for book worm metalheads.

Sound of the Beast: The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal, by Ian Christe

(hb; 2003: non-fiction)

From the inside flap:

"From its cataclysmic beginning with Black Sabbath more than thirty years ago to the hyperactive nu metal bands ripping apart the charts today, heavy metal has become the dominant musical force around the globe. Yet despite selling more than a quarter-billion albums and breaking into new markets wherever it can be heard, metal has never been given a complete overview of its dark, powerful, and untamed history -- until now.

"Included here are heavy metal's primitive origins, the rise and fall of MTV hair metal, Metallica's successful quest for world domination, the devilish frenzy of Florida death metal, the church-burning fever of Scandinavia's morbid teen terrorists, and metal's return to center stage at the hands of Ozzy Osbourne and Ozzfest.

"Plus readers will get:

"Twenty chapters based on interviews with Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer, W.A.S.P., Slipknot, and more than one hundred other great heavy metal bands.

"A timeline of the most explosive happenings in metal from 1970 to 2002

"A list of twenty-five heavy metal masterpieces that changed music history

"Genre boxes breaking down dozens of metal styles, from thrash and black metal to avant-garde and beyond, including essential CDs

"Exclusive insights from Chuck D of Public Enemy, Iron Maiden artist Derek Riggs, the directors of Paradise Lost, and more..."

Review:

Christe provides an excellent overview of metal, its effect on society (and vice-versa), and its musical permutations into subgenres over the past thirty-something years, making this real-life narrative -- much of what was familiar to me, given that I'm a metalhead -- more user-friendly for non-metal readers with genre-specific bullet lists and a detailed timeline. The writing is engaging and solid, with occasional flashes of appropriate metal-esque hyperbole; many of the interviews are illuminating (the star factor is impressive and knowing), with genre breakdowns that are well-defined and charted.

This is a gotta-read for any metalhead, and a great starting point (in terms of readership) for anybody interested in metal. Good stuff.