Thrash Till Death

I can't believe this saturday I'm actually going to see Piledriver and Destructor together!!! Holy shit, speed metal hell awaits!





PILEDRIVER MYSPACE
DESTRUCTOR MYSPACE



MF 1 Reviews

Interviews from Mental Funeral #1

Here's a select few interviews from MF 1. Originally MF was suppose to be nothing more than a newsletter/mini-zine cos I still had plans to continue on with Children Of Caine zine. I did 2 issues under the C.O.C. name and had a 3rd ready to go before I pulled the plug and decided to go with MF as my main zine. I have alot of interviews that never got published in C.O.C. Some have shown up in MF and I'll probably add some to this blogsite. Anyway, enjoy the interviews with Warsore, ATM, and Mermaid In A Manhole from MF 1. Warsore has called it day, ATM is still going I think?(can't find Ryan's Mypace page!?), and I'm willing to bet Mermaid In A Manhole is dead too? Anybody confirm?

MF 1 front cover and inside front cover. Released 11/22/2000





WARSORE MYSPACE

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Some pix from Halloween past.

I joined the "Darkside" in 1978. Homemade Darth Vader get up. Minues the mask!?
I think I was the Red Skull here? Nevertheless still the "bad guy" in 1981.


Every Death From the Friday The 13th Series - Video
VIDEO

I'll be spinning Mercyful Fate's/King Diamond tonight!!! Perfect for All Hallows Eve, especially Melissa...love that album.

AMC tv 10th ANNIVERISTY MONSTER FEST

The American Movie Classic channel started their 10th anniversity monster fest 11am on Sunday Oct 22 running right through Halloween night. Ok, I know it's AMC and the shit they show is cut but what what hell is else on tv!? Granted like most of you I watch dvd's but it's a nice change of pace. I glanced at the schedule real quick and I saw the likes of Nightmare On Elm Street, Psycho, Lost Boy's, Halloween, Godzilla, and a whole host of classic Universal Horror(Frankenstien, Dracula, The Mummy ) movies lined up for the 9 day's. Check out AMC's site
AMC'S MONSTER FEST 06


This weekend at the at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Boston Ma:

Sat, Oct 28 starting @ midnite
HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MARATHON
13 grueling hours of terror!

$20 / special midnite double feature ticket only $10

Back from the grave, it's the all-night Halloween Horror Marathon! Steel your nerves, load up on candy corn and coffee for this 13-hour journey into GRUELING TERROR! From the witching hour of midnite Saturday, Oct 28 until the harsh light of noon Sunday, Oct 29 we'll screen six horror classics guaranteed to make your hair stand on end, your knuckles go white, and your eyeballs ache. From sadistic slashers, to monsters from beyond, to post-apocalyptic zombies, to blood sucking vamps, we've put together a program to satisfy all your fiendish horror cravings. Plus, chilling shorts and trailers, dreadful prizes for best costumes, and ghoulish surprises!

Complete lineup in order -- all films on 35mm, not from DVD!

LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT - 1972, dir. Wes Craven, 1h24m
Before Freddy's nightmares... before even the hills had eyes... Wes Craven scared -- nay, disturbed -- the bejesus out of us with this brutal slasher/revenge story. Hell hath no fury like grieving parents exacting their revenge on the sickos who kidnapped and murdered their daughters after a rock concert... As its legendary tagline warns, "To avoid fainting, keep repeating 'It's only a movie...It's only a movie...'"

EQUINOX - 1970, dir. Jack Woods, 1h20m
Things go weird for a group of carefree teenagers on a mountain picnic when they run into a creepy old scientist who's been conjuring monsters from an ancient book bound in human skin. Yes, THAT book bound in human skin. No doubt the inspiration for Sam Raimi's cult classic EVIL DEAD, this long overlooked sci-fi horror gem also features early special effects work by Dennis Muren, who went on to win a bunch of Academy Awards for his work on STAR WARS, E.T. and TERMINATOR. Plus, Frank Boers, Jr, aka Herb from WKRP in Cincinnati and "Supernatural" Color by De Luxe!

NIGHT OF THE COMET- 1984, dir. Thom Eberhardt, 1h35m
Scores of post-apocalypse films came out of the '80s but few were as good as NIGHT OF THE COMET. Two high school girls wake up one morning and find that almost everyone else in Los Angles has been turned to dust by a comet that passed through the earth's atmosphere. Well, everyone except some zombie survivors, a radio deejay, and some scientists living in a secret underground government installation. Did we mention one of the girls survives because she spent the night in a movie theater projection booth? Spooky.

VAMPIRE CIRCUS - 1972, dir. Robert William Young, 1h24m
Come one, come all to the greatest blood-show on earth! When this circus comes to town, creepy clowns and carnys running afoul are the least of the villagers worries in this campy Hammer horror romp. Turns out the members of this troupe are ALL blood-sucking freaks!

THE GATE - 1987, dir. Tibor Takács, 1h25m
When an old tree is removed from their backyard two teenagers find something odd: a giant hole that turns out to be a gateway for evil nasties to pass from their world into ours. In fact, we're pretty sure that's how the film's star Stephen Dorf made it here.

NEAR DARK - 1987, dir. Kathryn Bigelow, 1h35m
Just when you're praying for daylight, we'll end our marathon with this horror/western/action cult fave about a young cowboy who unwittingly becomes a vampire after receiving the old eternal blood kiss from the strange new gal in town. As he slowly makes the turn from farm boy to creature of the night, he reluctantly trades his spurs for fangs and joins her "family," a marauding pack of blood suckers on an endless search for food and a dark place to hide.

HALLOWEEN HORROR MOVIE MARATHON

Your's truly will be at this event! I'm gonna document it for MF 6. In-depth write up's and plenty of pictures.


Playlist:

GORE-From Second Side. Killer Czech grindcore! This is their new one.
Morbid Saint-Spectrum Of Death.Underrated thrash from the mid 80's. Total Dark Angel and Kreator feel.
Eternal Majesty-Wounds Of Hatred And Slavery. Really good French black metal.
Candlemass- Ancient Dreams. One of my fave doom albums ever!
Rotting Christ- Non Serviam. Sadly never got the attention it so deserves. 1994's follow up to They Mighty Contract. The production ceratinly could of been better plus it can out on the notorious Unisound Records. Over looking those 2 aspects this album is filled to the brim with excellent songs and memorable riffs. Perhaps the last true black metal record from these greek's. I haven't liked em' since signing to Century Media!
Cianide-The Dying Truth. Death/doom from 1992! Don't make it like this anymore. Tell me the likes of Winter, Hellhammer, and Celtic Frost weren't an influence on this classic. One of my all time favorite bands and albums from the early 90's. Still going strong too! Cianide kills.
SewerGoddess-The Dirt Behind the Daydream (demo). So what do get when you mix Psychosadistic Haterapist, Manes (demos), Mordor, Whitehouse, Nicole 12, early S.P.K, Con-Dom, Brighter Death Now, BrainBombs, physical and social degeneration, true crime, urban terrorism? You get the awesome SewerGoddess demo. Look for the review in MF 6.
Clestial Season-Forever Scarlet Passion. In 1993 C.S. came out with this really good gothic doom death debut. No doubt influenced by the first couple of My Dying Bridge releases. I think it still holds it's own. I'm sure this is way out of print but one worth tracking down.


CIANIDE circa 1991! Did you know I was on the thanx list on 1994's release A Descent Into Hell!? Well, I was. See if you can find me.


The UNISOUND version! I'm pretty sure sombody re-released recently?

SEWERGODDESS
GORE
MORBID SAINT
ETERNAL MAJESTY

Cool Reads:

Cineama Sewer #19- Shameless Cinema Sleaze. The best film zine around!

CINEMA SEWER


Dead World #5-Yes sir, I was a big fan of the original series.There's been alot of not so hot attempts to revive the series. I'm happy to report though with this new series out through Image Comics they finally got it right. Original writer Gary Reed is on board and covers by original penciler Vince Locke!

DEADWORLD


Warren Ellis Blackgas #3-Zombies!!! Way gory. See write up and covers at Avatar Press.

AVATAR


Fell #5-More Ellis! Fell is Warren Ellis's ongoing experiment with the comics format, an attempt to tell complete stories in single issues that sell for $1.99 US and don't leave you feeling like you got less than your money's worth. So far all the stories have been gripping and meaty, with brutal and shocking twist endings. By far my fave comic at the moment.


Fell 5 REVIEW

Upcomming MF 6 Interviews.

Chuck Keller(OFC) live from the Wetlands NYC 1995. Letter from Pete Helmkamp(OFC) 7/25/1995.

One of the best US death/thrash/black metal bands from the late 80's till the mid 90's was Order From Chaos. Man, I loved those guy’s! I was lucky enough to catch em’ live 2x during the mid 90's.OFC were ahead of their time both musically and conceptually. OFC influence can be heard today especially in the “War Metal” genre. Spawning bands like Bestial Warlust, Conqueror, Axis Of Advance, and Revenge. Well, former OFC members Chuck Keller and Mike Miller have since gone on to form Ares Kingdom after the split of OFC. The Ares Kingdom debut “Return To Dust” is now out and let me tell you it’s been getting a lot of play around here...unrelenting Infernal Thrashing Death Metal!

I just sent an interview over to Chuck for MF 6.

More info on Ares Kingdom can be found at ARES KINGDOM

I also wanted to point out that bassist/vocalist Alex Blume was a member of the rather obscure early 90's death/black metal band Nepenthe. Nepenthe hailed form the same state(Kansas) as OFC and certainly was an influenece on the Nepenthe sound. Track down Nepenthe’s awesome 1993 debut demo ‘The Conqueror Worm” and see if you agree.

Nepenthe Discography:

The Conqueror Worm Demo,1993
Ligeia Single, 1995
Live at Howard's Demo,1995
In Death Overshadow Thee advance EP, 1997

Changed their name to Ligeia in 1996.

Original ad for Nepenthe's 1993 demo "The Conqueror Worm"

Torche blew me away with their debut that came out at the end of 05. HEAVY shit! Think Black Sabbath, Hellhammer, and Melvins. After seeing them live(ear’s ringing for 2 day’s) at CBGB’s earlier this summer I knew I had get em’ in MF 6. I got the interview back from frontman Steve a few months back. Guy’s a total death/thrash fanatic! An Autopsy fan at that too!
TORCHE

Fucken Axegrinder! How many of you old farts out there remember buying the Prophecy Of Doom/Axegrinder split back in the day? I still have my cassette! Axegrinder played music heavily influenced by Amebix, and other crust/punk rock bands that had been experimenting with metal riffs and sounds. I alway’s thought they had a Bolt Thrower vibe about them which is probably why when grindcore and death metal became more popular they seemed to find their audience. I’ve been a big fan since the early 90's and was psyched to find a Myspace page for the band. Lo and behold I’m on the page and stumble across a comment from another Axegrinder fan by the name of Chris Eagan. Chris mentions he has an unpublished interview with Axegrinder from 1989. Holy fuck! Well, I got ahold of Chris and the rest is history cos Chris was cool enough to grant me permission to finally print the interview in MF 6. Mondo Thanks to Chris Eagan of (now defunct) 'Wake Up or Die!' 'zine & 'Desperate Attempt Records'.
AXEGRINDER MYSPACE
AXEGRINDER OFFICAL

Although not as nearly old as the Axegrinder interview is the one with Marco of Atrax Morgue fame that I’ve been sitting on since 96. My good friend Todd from the excellent Transcendent Device/Marspiter projects conducted the interview with Marco. Todd befriended Marco while both where in NYC. Marco had come to states to play a show with Bloodyminded, and Deathpile(which Todd was part of at that time). Cool interview in which Marco talks about an operation he had just undergone at the time and the nurse who cared for him.
ATRAX MORGUE OFFICAL MARCO MYSPACE
TRANSCEDENT DEVICE MYSPACE


So there you have it Ares Kingdom, Torche, Axegrinder, and Atrax Morgue thus far in MF 6. Plenty more to come!

Listen up. All pictures and artwork are the real deal from my personal collection. I have no problem sharing but for godsakes ask first!

The Good And Bad News.

"Where is the fuck is issue #6". I know that's what on the minds of the MF zine faithful. Yup, it's been over 2 years since I put out issue 5. I've been saying "It'll come out this year" for how long now? What can I say? I've been lazy, unmotivated, and easily distracted by friends/family/school and work. What's worse is MF 6 is nowhere near complete. I've only done 2 interviews. How cool is that. Pretty bad, eh? Well, I need get my ass in gear and start working on MF 6 hardcore. I suddenly have the "itch" again to dive right into the whole process. Good news, huh? I think so too. I figure if I start tackling MF 6 this fall and work on it through the majority of the winter I should have the end product out by early 07. Probably more like springtime though. MF is staying a print zine by the way. And I repeat "MF will stay a print zine".

Now, as far as the purpose of setting up this blog. MF needs a better cyber outlet other then the Myspace page( http://www.myspace.com/mentalfuneralzine). Once I get the hang of Blogger I'll be uploading older reviews, interviews(from the sold out first 4 issue) and tons of pictures. I'm talking mainly my own personal pictures I've taken at various concerts(past and present), film conventions, wrestling events etc etc. What ever the fuck I want and feel like sharing. I would also like to have this blog updated with progress on MF 6. Probably share with you some info on cool bands, dvd's, websites, concert links, comics etc. Hell, maybe I'll even share some personal and unrelated zine shit with you guy's. Maybe???

Anyway, since Halloween season is here I thought I'd leave you with this priceless ad mat...enjoy!



until next posting....