Thursday, September 24, 2020
Jarboe special - Swans & World of Skin
Jarboe special - Swans & World of Skin - in conversation with David Eastaugh
Between 1985 and 1996, she worked as a vocalist and keyboardist in the band, appearing on albums including Children of God (1987), The Burning World (1989), and Soundtracks for the Blind (1996). Jarboe's inclusion in the band marked a departure from their previous noise rock sound to a more melodic industrial and even folk rock sound. She also collaborated with Gira, forming their side project, The World of Skin in 1987, releasing several albums and singles.
Jarboe left Swans in 1997 when the band broke up and embarked on a solo career, releasing various experimental records (many of which she has self-released and distributed over the internet)[10] including Sacrificial Cake (1995) and Anhedoniac (1998). She has continued to self-release solo albums and, despite not returning to the group, recorded vocals for two tracks on the re-formed Swans' album, The Seer (2012).
Jarboe completed a world tour in the autumn/winter of 2013, with Veil of Thorns' P. Emerson Williams on guitar. She released an experimental soundscape album, With Sun Falling, with Veil of Thorns in June 2015.
Sunday, September 13, 2020
The Cyberpunk Playlist (Post Punk, Dark Wave and Witch House)
Many, many thanks to Raul Alvarez for adding the Veil Of Thorns track Dreams Name You to The Cyberpunk Playlist (Post Punk, Dark Wave and Witch House)!!! 7+ hours of necrofuturist grooves & shadowy moods. Check it out!
Click here to listen
Saturday, August 15, 2020
T'was a Turning Point and Prophetic of 2020: Salon Apocalypse
Much of the work of Veil of Thorns and of Choronzon are from the point of view of one being overwhelmed by an onslaught or a flood. This stems from a feeling and repeated visions and dreams starting at the beginning, making it hard to keep to conventional modes of production. How to express warnings and create lines of flight out of the Spectacle without being reterritorialized and thrown back into the machine? The isolation of those who are not idiots insisting on spreading disease as far and wide to prove to themselves that they are of the privileged who will not be ground up in the impending fascist era and witnessing the suicidal madness of the normal machinic direction of gluttonous capital permeates the feeling of this release.
01. Still Bloody Action
02. Sleep, Cut And Run
03. Intellectual Institutional Object
04. And The Beast Of The Vision Still Roams In Dreams
05. Sepulchral Reminder (Torment Rose)
06. Nearer To Hell (Ideological Corpses)
07. The Play Is The Thing
08. Nocturne
09. Infinitude
10. Seduction
11. Windows Blacked Out
12. The Bell
13. Autonomous Anonymous Anomalous
14. The Thing Is In Play
15. Imagination Thieves
16. Veiled Shadows Gaze
17. Soul Intervention
About Veil of Thorns
Veil of Thorns is an ever evolving concept born of the fevered brain of P. Emerson Williams. Among the growing list of
collaborators one can find authors, actors and musicians of many genres, reflecting the scope of what P. Emerson
Williams calls Necrofuturist art.
Both "Salon Apocalypse" and NECROFUTURIST grew out of the process of working on “The Abattoir Pages” as part of FoolishPeople. The intention was to finish “Salon Apocalypse“, as the concept I had been working with for this release was in the same realm that John Harrigan tapped into for “Abattoir Pages“. Through countless sleepless nights and days of madness, “Necrofuturist” wrote itself as a further expansion of the studies and current we were working with. I would not have chosen to take on so much in such a short period of time, but I really had no choice in the matter.
“Salon Apocalypse“, “Necrofuturist” and “Abattoir Pages” are inextricably linked, through current and source materials, all preparing the ground for a future work, for which all this work is a mere prologue.
"Both releases are giant steps in a direction one would not have suspected after “Cognitive Dissonance“. In fact, as I go through the Veil of Thorns catalog – this is close to the shift that occurred with the 2003′s “Birthed“." - The Other Sound Magazine
It’s a masterpiece from beginning to end. P. Emerson Williams is brilliant. He is a master musician whose ability to dive into the darkness – while remaining a musician, is unprecedented in our modern age. Where other artists like to rely on shocking lyrics, or cool effects… Williams writes good musick, and plays most of it himself – again “masterfully”. “Salon Apocalypse” is a aural drama played out for your ears. It weaves in and out of a apocalyptic story line that is just out of reach… The musick… ah, the musick. It’s out of reach to. Death Metal, ambient, noise, industrial, hip-hop, vocal…. it’s all there. Seamlessly. Think of it as a production. Perhaps a musical of the insane… but start to finish it’s complete brilliance. Pulling one track out makes no sense, as the release as a whole plays as a complete work. The musick is everywhere (gothick, metal, hip hop, ambient, everything), yet the release is incredibly cohesive. If you are interested in hearing bit’s and pieces then tune into Inner-X-Musick Radio… it should pop up some what frequently. -TBM
Veil Of Thorns - Salon Apocalypse/Necrofuturist (Inner X Musick)
Two collections of strange ambiences, dystopian noisescapes and cinematic out-thereness from P. Emerson Williams, who periodically unleashes bursts of his weird sonic art upon the world from his Bond villain-style base in Florida. Actually, I made up the bit about the Bond villain-style base, but there's certainly a sense that this music comes from somewhere quite detached from the everyday world. If it doesn't emanate from the crater of a hollowed-out volcano, it should do.
Necrofuturist runs the gamut from the future-folk of 'Through The Fire' to the psychedelic voodoo ritual of 'The Vandal's Exquisite Corpse' - I'll be very disappointed if the back-masked voices on this one aren't reciting some sort of invocation to raise the dead. But then there's the brief interlude of 'Waltz', a strange country three-step, all chiming guitars, bent notes and echoes, like something the KLF would've put on Chill Out. Meanwhile, 'The Reflection' is all swelling, spooky drones, as if David Bowie decided to remake Low in Tibet. If this makes it sound like there's a bewildering variety of music here, that's because there is - but it all hangs together in a blur of ambience and iconoclasm and other-worldly grooves.
Salon Apocalypse is a yet more capricious beast. 'Still Bloody Action' mashes folk-disco with metallic mayhem; but, further in, 'Windows Blacked Out' sounds like the city's small-hours madness, recorded by dangling microphones from the top of a skyscraper. 'The Thing Is In Play' wrests things in yet another direction: stuttering, nervy, electro gives way - incongruously, scarily - to sounds of stress and conflict, half-heard through walls. This is the soundtrack to the film flickering in your midnight imagination. Be sure to lock the doors tonight. And stay away from the volcano.
‘Windows Blacked Out’ is a snatch of something mental, ambient with mumbled overlay, while ‘The Bell’ could be a rare recording of Vincent Price. ‘Autonomous Anonymous Anomalous’ returns to scuffed-up rock daubs jumbled into a cacophonous sludge. Me, I like a nice tune, so I have no idea what’s going on. ‘The Thing Is In Play’ fidgets and slithers with some dance intention or other, ‘Imagination Thieves’ is a moody vocal scene, ‘Veiled Shadows Glaze’ adding in some more vocal drama and musical swirls, before they come close to something conventional to close with ‘Soul Intervention’ sounding a bit like Red Hot Chilli Peppers spinning upside down on their heads.
We have the other two albums they’ve just released over the next two nights. To infinity and…somewhere else besides. -Uncle Nemesis
Veil of Thorns - Salon Apocalypse - Mick Mercer Review
Inner-X-Musick
This where acid rock and Industrial-triphop fuse, where you try and make easy sense of it all and you lose. Worryingly, it does begin to make more sense the more you listen. The walls close in during ‘Still Bloody Action’ as the rhythm clashes with a set of vocals that make you think someone has woken Merlin. If that’s your sort of thing, read on…
Their collective lungs breathe out metal splinters in a confusing ‘Sleep, Cut And Run’ and I’m assuming that’s none other than Aidan McGoran on guitar, although it may not be, but he’s on here somewhere, and Pandora wheels away like an acid casualty cutting her safety chord on a space walk. There’s a different mood for ‘Intellectual Institutional Object’ as P. Emerson Williams rambles on like the Godchild of William Burroughs channelling Bob Dylan, offering a nice bit about ‘Devil to a half-Devil dissolve.’ Pandora’s got back into the space station and seems suitably contrite.
‘And The Beast Of The Vision Still Roams In Dream’ would appear to be a distantly observed orchestra balanced on an electricity pylon shrouded in fog. ‘Sepulchral Reminder (Torment Rose)’ brings in a solid beat as our vocal host sounds like a deranged headmaster as the sound falls in on itself, threshing wildly. (Imagine robots falling down very long stairs.) The psychedelic guitar motif that floats on high above ‘Nearer To Hell (Ideological Corpses)’ gives it all a stronger impact. At least we know we’re on Earth with a poisoned watery dance thing. ‘The Play Is The Thing’ appears to be a continuation, the guitar briefly evident before things tick into a slower, oppressive gear then disintegrates into am ambient maelstrom.
‘Nocturne’ is another thing entirely, windswept and ghostly, with some accommodating bass and fuzzy logic, all art dance friendliness. ‘Infinitude’ is a stripped down, pacey alt-rock avalanche, and ‘Seduction’ is a bit of a torch thing with Pandora waving the flaming torch a bit near your face and the music wandering into filmic horror.
‘Windows Blacked Out’ is a snatch of something mental, ambient with mumbled overlay, while ‘The Bell’ could be a rare recording of Vincent Price. ‘Autonomous Anonymous Anomalous’ returns to scuffed-up rock daubs jumbled into a cacophonous sludge. Me, I like a nice tune, so I have no idea what’s going on. ‘The Thing Is In Play’ fidgets and slithers with some dance intention or other, ‘Imagination Thieves’ is a moody vocal scene, ‘Veiled Shadows Glaze’ adding in some more vocal drama and musical swirls, before they come close to something conventional to close with ‘Soul Intervention’ sounding a bit like Red Hot Chilli Peppers spinning upside down on their heads.
We have the other two albums they’ve just released over the next two nights. To infinity and…somewhere else besides.
Credits:
released April 27, 2009
P. Emerson Williams - Vocals, Guitars, bass, cello, violin, keyboards
Aidan McGoran - Guitars
James Curcio - Drums
Pandora - Percussion, Vocals, Orchestration
Ruddy Bitch - Drums, Percussion
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Veil of Thorns Witness EP now available everywhere
Monday, April 13, 2020
Deteriorated Moons Now Available Everywhere
You can download HQ files from PANICMACHINE for free, just as with most of the releases on the label, or buy the entire 90+ back catalogue for a mere $7.93!!
1. Fear Spreads (The Undying Truth)
lyrics:
Fear Spreads (The Undying Truth)
The Dharma of the coming fall of night
When chronological hierarchy is found
Old world evil of a mind unbound
Straight long mechanical Invisibles
The Established Famous fire a laugh
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
Every version of You playing out of tune
used strong Skin on deteriorated moons
you flower with The bloom of love
From whence rises a watching sun
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
(Where we employed a scripted play of seeing
My original classification for identified moon beings)
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
Fear spreads as We Down here release
The undying truth piece by piece
(Where we employed a scripted play of seeing
My original classification for identified moon beings)
2. Dead Moon
lyrics:
Dead Moon
Ten strange opening Chamber for view
A table minds and understand embraced slow lies
The fresh dread writers piece or secrets
Grasp bodies and mind
Imagination everlasting the identified circles
Your blackest religion, a dead-moon highway
3. Your Far Dead Star
4. Expressions
lyrics:
Expressions
Devil becomes love expressions
Moved theoretically
Wailing in glass
Corruption
element of the future
In a ruptured cruel relation
Exorcise grief
Odd end, extraordinary media
Expressionless truths, conceptions
Imperfections
Gaping fabrications of gratifications past
Gratifications reflect the field device
Among the warm populace grown famous
Odd end, extraordinary media
Expressionless truths, conceptions
Imperfections
The lash
5. Veil the Face of Darkness
about
Contains the key to the hypersigil...
Necrofuturists will spend the oncoming apocalypse, weaving the chaos of collapse into visions of art.
forever between notebooks and prophesy possibility
down suppression pages imagination suppression
stories memory open to book some saint represents
deep tearing mother strange steel show
mind to missing initiative the held reaching secrets
system thus they touch the pattern lies study
build earth fire dread humans back
But come earth shadow confession slipped spent
So These bodies opening fact as will in our mission
the bleeding off of symbols known through the veins
money give repeated pain but see the executioner's city
seeds obtain the new entities kiss the real in books
grow that trance but be munition wastes possessed
synthetic bone reflecting elements in acid breathing
However dead those whispered entities mask the pleasure
nothing beyond the freedom mind translated
So receive trance madness assumes ecstasy
poison state denomination touch so sacred
The heart creations gasp frantic cruel acceptance
in the mirth misguided sages that clean eternity
but redemption because prophesy writers all Nameless
life was spread ever-greater destiny slow subconscious
If power vengeance eyes books love dread sanctum
the black scattered shatter of sin opposing sacred stars
on hanging cross holding open the daemonum
the initiative and this prototype amusement
when bits of wrath was eating our suppression
hope orchard off your rooms like shadow gutter idols
the you of pulped mind even knife in wisdom
here a future paint only a witness dream-book forest
what bleeds her screams in me strength writing you
still strong with half the pleasure on wind screeching
bright ghost predictions burn believing body mashed art
the pathway much dark wonder sign pours on
a meaning everlasting and footsteps became elegance
take indifferent photographs the old highway to freedom
released March 9, 2020
P. Emerson Williams - Vox, 8-string and slide guitar, keys
Ruddy Bitch - Drums, Percussion
About Veil of Thorns
Veil of Thorns is an ever evolving concept born of the fevered brain of P. Emerson Williams. Among the growing list of collaborators one can find authors, actors and musicians of many genres, reflecting the scope of what P. Emerson Williams calls Necrofuturist art.