Monday, April 6, 2009

The Gspot #38: The Last Dream of Vivaconundrum


In this episode guest host P. Emerson Williams brings us a transmission of unknown provenance. It could be a fever dream, or a love note from the near future. It could be the climax of a tale told by a time-traveling messenger, or the dénouement of the fantasies of a madman. Then we have an excerpt from a chapter of Lives of Ilya, a novel from Mythos Media written by Tara Vanflower and lushly illustrated by Daniele Serra read by Jarboe and including a haunting soundtrack by Tara. Additional music by subQtaneous and Veil of Thorns.



Download

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Veil of Thorns - Veil of Thorns 1991

An exchange with someone writing a book on goth brought up the fact that I had, through odd circumstances and band personnel issues, I no longer had a copy of the debut Veil of Thorns demo, nor was the dat tape with the mixdown in my possession no longer. ("How you musicians can let things like this happen, I don't understand" said he.) That led me to dig through 4 and 8 track master tapes to see what I still had. No longer having the equipment to play this stuff, I had to do some serious beatmapping and quantizing, but left rehearsal complex ambientia, artifacts and tape quirks.

The debut demo from Veil of thorns, recorded on primitive equipment in a basement rehearsal complex in Boston. Instrumental tracks were recorded all at once on two tracks using two ribbon mikes and a direct line for Ruddy Bitch, leaving the other two for vocals and a couple additional guitars.

the noise of other bands can be heard at quiet moments.








Lineup:

P. Emerson Williams - Guitar, Vocals
Jarrett Laitinen - Guitar
Catherine Chenoweth - Bass
Ruddy Bitch - Drums

Tracks:

Void
Utopia
Tear the Cities Down
Sanctify (Drowning)
No Claim
Dreamshadow (Falling)
Re-Creating Space-Time
Crimson Smile
Nod

Whole ItemFormatSize
VeilOfThorns-VeilOfThorns1991_64kb.m3u64Kbps M3UStream
VeilOfThorns-VeilOfThorns1991_64kb_mp3.zip64Kbps MP3 ZIP30 MB
VeilOfThorns-VeilOfThorns1991_vbr.m3uVBR M3UStream
VeilOfThorns-VeilOfThorns1991_vbr_mp3.zipVBR ZIP149 MB
Audio FilesVBR MP3Ogg Vorbis64Kbps MP3
Veil_of_Thorns_-_01-Void19 MB5.4 MB3.8 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_02-Utopia17 MB5.3 MB3.4 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_03-Tear_The_Cities_Down18 MB5.7 MB3.5 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_04-Sanctify_[Drowning]20 MB6.6 MB4.0 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_05-No_Claim12 MB4.1 MB2.5 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_06-Dreamshadow_[Falling]22 MB6.2 MB4.4 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_07-Re-Creating_Space-Time15 MB5.3 MB2.9 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_08-Crimson_Smile22 MB7.3 MB4.3 MB
Veil_of_Thorns_-_09-Nod5.1 MB1.7 MB1.0 MB

MUSIC TO DIE FOR BY MICK MERCER

MUSIC TO DIE FOR
BY MICK MERCER
Cherry Red Books £17.99



My fifth book has now arrived. It is 624 pages long, containing individual entries on 3,581 different bands, from 70 countries, with 183 photos. It covers bands from the beginning of these scenes to the present day and wherever possible contains full line-up details and discographies as well as unusual facts revealed by many of the bands. This is the biggest guide ever printed about the underground scenes in which Goth, Post-Punk and all things noir co-exist with equal splendour

You can find this on Amazon, Barnes & Noble (etc) but if possible please use the link below to buy direct from the publisher. They accept Paypal and for such a chunky book they’re doing a very cheap deal on postage. Content details behind the cut.

This time around I am delighted to have discovered details on many countries I had never been able to infiltrate before. The world unfolds as follows:

Argentina - 31, Australia - 75, Austria - 22, Belarus - 3, Belgium - 28, Bolivia – 7, Brazil – 53, Bulgaria – 11, Canada – 77, Chile – 24, Colombia – 28, Costa Rica – 2, Croatia – 6, Cuba – 2, Czech Republic - 13, Denmark – 12, Ecuador – 4, Egypt – 3, Estonia – 2, Falkland Islands – 2, Finland – 47, France – 174, Germany – 346, Greece – 35, Greenland – 1, Hungary – 7, Indonesia – 1, Ireland – 13, Israel – 2, Italy – 172, Japan – 25, Kazakhstan – 2, Latvia – 3, Lebanon – 2, Liechtenstein – 4, Lithuania – 11, Luxembourg - 1, Macedonia – 5, Malta – 1, Mexico – 60, Monaco – 1, Netherlands – 49, New Zealand – 14, Norway – 28, Pakistan – 1, Paraguay – 3, Peru – 6, Philippines – 8, Poland – 36, Portugal – 55, Puerto Rico – 9, Romania – 20, Russia – 70, Serbia – 1, Singapore – 2, Slovak Republic – 6, Slovenia – 3, South Africa – 4, Spain – 84, Sweden – 93, Switzerland – 31, Thailand – 5, Turkey – 6, UK – 579, Ukraine - 11, United Arab Emirates – 1, Uruguay - 5, USA – 1092, Venezuela – 6 and Yugoslavia – 5.

Musically we have representatives from these distinct and Goth-related genres:

‘Alt’ (covering a multitude of sins) – 336, Ambient – 71, Classical/Ethereal – 33, Comedy – 1, Deathrock – 12, Electro – 99, Electronic(a) – 79, Folk/Country – 67, Glam – 11, Gothic – 1042, Gothic/Metal – 449, Historical – 4, Horror – 25, Indie – 99, Industrial – 117, Other/Exp/Minimalist – 135, Post-Punk – 356, Psychobilly – 93, Punk/New Wave – 234, Rock – 238, Shoegaze/Psychedelic – 36 and Surf/Garage – 44.

Please spread the word now that it’s out! I hope you find it worthwhile and useful, and I obviously want as many people as possible to do likewise. Your help in circulating the news is much appreciated.

http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/musictodiefor.php

Veil of Thorns - Retrofuturist Gothic Xpanded

veil of thorns - retrofuturist

Friday, April 3, 2009

Mick Mercer Reviews Cognitive Dissonance

Mick Mercer Reviews Cognitive Dissonance


I have to say I'm aglow from reading this one. One sends out ones creations to be reviewed and what comes back is usually expected. Sometimes what is written is surprising, sometimes completely off the wall, to the point that you want to check and make sure you sent the right CD. But when it's understood, whether the review is positive or not, that's one of the greatest rewards. 



VEIL OF THORNS
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
Mythos Media


Although working at another end of the noisy bastard spectrum to History Of Guns, Veil Of Thorns, and other P. Emerson Williams projects, provide the same alternative. Just when you have become used to experiencing your guitar stimulants, your ethereal relaxants, your electronic placebo, along comes Doctor Thorns, like a knight in deliberately ill-fitting armour and bellows ‘No more!’ causing all patients to fall from their beds. Where a lot of old-school Industrialists make deliberately obscure, ugly amateurish trash and new Industrialists churn out whatever club-friendly sounds they hope will land them a big record deal, there are some artists wading sternly through the same muddy waters with more artistic sensibilities. Veil Of Thorns may make threatening music but it is not without gentler asides, and often presents itself in alluring form. This is their most stylish work, but some of the thorns have an extra edge.

It’s really just down to P. Emerson Williams on virtually everything but the live drums of James Curcio, whose alarming novel I am currently reading. That’s the thing – music and other genuine influences, with P. himself a very talented artist, as I am sure many of you realise. It infuses what might be a trudging sound and throws light into murky corners. ‘Peripatetic’ has a dark rhythmical flow below a bright needling guitar and the drums stay furtive, the vocals commendably aghast, the song briskly cantering into action. It is actually hard to follow the vocal narrative but maybe that’s a good thing? ‘A Weirdness Less Expressed’ is great. If ever robots develop their own Thrash genre with a glaring sheen and viciously seedy bass pulses they will point to this song as a formative spark; more keenly urgent vocals and liquid guitar unusually catchy at times.

‘The Enigmatic Rarely Atone’ is slippier, as guitar slides away from the gleaming, undulating core. ‘Fallacy Decides Initiative’ lurches off after the seamless intro into a sighing, tumbling exercise, but ‘Delusions Of Excitement’ has low key, sweeter sounds and a dignified comeliness, deeper slopes and a playful atmospheric element. ‘Surgically Dream Like’ does what it says on the bloodbag, the cello providing a blurred setting, as though orchestral ocean liners were calling to one another, Industrial whale song!

‘Languishing In The Rusting Valley’ is not the worse holiday brochure ever, but a fractious combination of tingling guitar and grating rhythm in a plainly enjoyably melodic cacophony, as pert as the ungainly ever get. ‘Corrode And Engulf’ is deep growliness, like an ambient intestinal voyage. ‘Night Access Hallucination’ is a weird entity, being spindly, addled art-rock, with a touch of the Frank Zapata about it, with ‘Anomalous Breaks’; fun, not fearful. Austere, like monks hungover on mescaline, and then the title track itself sends you home with a cold bowl of sonic porridge.

They’re one of the few creative outlets for these more tangled sounds, and this gets the thumbs up, being a fine record, and one which some people might find easier to get into than earlier works as it’s got elements you’d recognise. Okay, you may develop extra thumbs with prolonged exposure, but what is life without risks?

http://www.veilofthorns.com
http://www.myspace.com/veilofthorns
http://joinmycult.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/choronzon333

Veil of Thorns: Back Catalog

Veil of Thorns: Back Catalog



Releases:

Demo 1991 – Cassette – Remastered 2008 (Last.fm, torrent, buy)

Study In Decay Demo – Cassette - 1992

Legemet Og Stemmen Demo – Cassette - 1993

Lust Beyond Flesh 7» ep - 1994

Cafe Flesh CD - 2002 (Last.fm, torrent, buy)

Birthed CD – 2002/2006 (Last.fm, torrent, buy)

Legemet Og Stemmen Demo Remastered CD - 2006 (Last.fm, buy)

Manifestation Objective CDR/Online Release - 2005 – Remastered Edition + Bonus Tracks 2009 (Last.fm, torrent)

Cognitive Dissonance CD – 2007 (Last.fm, direct download, buy)

The End of the Beginning – First album sessions 1992 – Remastered 2008 (Last.fm, torrent, buy)

The Dead God Sessions CD – Second lineup album sessions 1996 – Remastered 2008 (Last.fm, torrent, buy)

Live WMFO 1991 – Fall 2008 (Last.fm, buy)

Live Halloween 1992 WMFO – Fall 2008 (Last.fm, buy)

Bats in the Belfry 1994 Live – Fall 2008 (Last.fm, buy)

Salon Apocalypse - Winter, 2009

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