Wednesday 27 February 2013

The Underground Resistance Artwork Explained

You have to go back to 2009, before Darkthrone's last LP Circle The Wagons was even released, to find where the concept for the artwork to their new album, The Underground Resistance, was born. I'd been in contact with Fenriz for a year maybe, around about the time he started his Band Of The Week crusade and I was doing my blog with a lot more enthusiasm. I had originally gotten in touch with him about an interview for Vice, which he had declined for the time being, but kept up the contact regardless. I then decided I would ask for a mixtape having been blown away by a multi-genred mix he had done for Actual Pain around the time. He complied and came up with the brazen Trapped Under Vice, Vol. I. I had taken the artwork for this mix a bit too seriously perhaps, ha ha, and even had a graphic designer (badly) help me out with the artwork which was supposed to be a take on the classic Scanners poster.

Anyways, when it came to volume two the style had changed so dramatically that I wanted to use some more fitting artwork. My mother introduced me to the works of Jim Fitzpatrick as a child, and had given me his Erin Saga book for a Christmas present some years before. Without thinking of his previous sleeves in metal history (Thin Lizzy and Manilla Road), I set about finding one from the book for the mix. I drew up a list of five or six possibles and sent them over to him to see which he liked best (there's a whole post about this, here).
He said this about the above: "just go with the first one. i don't want to be a bother. it's just the 1st one looks a bit...TOO METAL for the comp, perhaps. i mean, the black widow song has SAXOPHONE on it... (beatiful, though)" Ha ha. I think he was blown away by the effort I'd put into them (I was working for Vice magazine at the time and rarely had anything meaningful to do, so I would milk any menial task to make it seem like I was busier than I was, or I would just pull the "Costanza face", if I wasn't so busy, ha ha) and asked if I would be up for maybe finding something fitting for the next Darkthrone album. I was like WHOA and asked what the title was.

"I wanna call our next album UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE. he (Ted) says it should be THE UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE. But what could portray it?"

To which I replied: Personally, I would side with THE being prefixed as there is a massive Techno movement from Detroit called Underground Resistance. UNLESS, you are tipping the hat to them?!?

And he said: "yeah, i have been since 92 when i bought my first vinyl from there, also RED PLANET was a tip to those submerge guys. But ok, fine with me with the THE"

I was also like HUH not long after when cover images for another album, Circle The Wagons, appeared online, with artwork from Dennis Dread. I didn't have a clue what was going on so I asked him. It transpired that he was thinking further afield indeed, ha ha.

Then I found the image at the top of the page, "The Battle Of Moira", did some tweaks to it and they both loved it. The image of the warrior fighting back with the horde laying in wait, to me, having heard the album now, fits the music almost perfectly.

These are the original concepts:
Ted wanted it to have a browner tint, so I came up with this:
All of which came from this (not the colour version):
Years passed and I honestly thought they had either rethought the album title or artwork, or both, and was shocked when someone sent me a jpeg of the finished artwork a few months ago, which eventually, not by mine hand, ended up looking like this:
And yes, unlike that Che Guevara artwork, Mr. Fitzpatrick was paid for this. End of history lesson. Wait, I never did get that damn interview...

Maniac Monday XXVII - Born for Burning











Monday's show is an ode to the twenty hazy years I have spent under the smell of the green bark, ha! A slightly lazy show (well, what do you expect???) , perhaps, but it was fun to just play some old late-night classics. Thanks to Jack Herer for the inspiration for this one, hehe.
I will be back March 11th for more madness, this time I will be throwing some more bones out from the releases that keep flooding in plus some other shit too. Maybe another 2000s/BOTW show as the last one seems to have been so popular. Maybe some more thrash this time, as I purposely left it off the last one. Enough.

The Return of Darkness... And Live Evil

Yes, you read that correct, Live Evil is BACK. London, correction, England's premier metal gathering is ready to attack after a year hiatus. It promises to be another legendary weekend, with Satan and Midnight both confirmed to play the festival itself, held this time at The Garage, with AFITFOG favourites Antichrist set to blaze trails at the pre-show. Poster below with words from Marek beneath that. THRASH!

The weekend of October 18th, 19th and 20th this year will see the third full Festival in its new home at The Garage in London, Islington. Live Evil announces the only UK shows this year from the blistering reformed NWOBHM legends SATAN and Cleveland, Ohio's unmissable Satanic Royalty MIDNIGHT. Both acts are devastating live and will add legendary shows to Live Evil's many previous highlights. The Saturday and Sunday days will be completed by an all new selection of the cream of the international metal scene.

Swedish thrash wunderkinds ANTICHRIST are also back to obliterate the Friday pre-show party. This evening show will be ticketed cheaply but separately from the two weekend days and will also take place at The Garage (Upstairs). More line-up announcements for all three days will be made soon.

Live Evil Festival is an International Heavy Metal Festival presenting the very best underground Black metal, Thrash, Speed, Death, Heavy Metal, Heavy Rock, Metal Punk and Doom bands from around the world. The bands who play it are all handpicked by Live Evil but using Fenriz and his Darkthrone 'Band of the Week' choices as an extensive but shortened list to keep quality high and eliminate external pressures. The festival is 100% committed to the fans and bands who play it.

“Something CAN come out of pure uncorrupted idealism" Fenriz (Darkthrone)

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE:
http://www.gigsandtours.com/

OFFICIAL LINKS:
http://www.facebook.com/liveevilfestival
www.liveevilfestival.org

Live Evil 2013 poster hand-drawn by Costin Chioreanu.

Tuesday 19 February 2013

Maniac Monday XXVI - 2000AD

Apologies for the delay posting this, the NTS guys only just posted the show last nite. Slightly theme-free—only playing release from the year 2000-on, doubling up as a kind of Band Of The Week show too. Enjoy. 
Next show is on Monday 24th, so hold tight for more lunacy, maniacs.