BERGRAVEN art, MELVINS comic, etc...

above, from top to bottom:

1. front cover for the forthcoming bergraven album "till makabert väsen". photo is black and metallic gold duotone, with the framed picture in full color. mini-frame with band name and album title will be a sticker affixed to jewel case. basic ideas and photos supplied by bergraven - i've been creating additional elements and assembling this thing, with help from faith coloccia once again...

2. back cover for the same bergraven album. text and frame printed in metallic gold. all artwork will be printed on uncoated stock for that "ole tyme" feel. listen to bergraven.

3. front cover of the newly completed "your disease spread quick", a comic inspired by the music of the melvins. written and drawn by tom neely , published by robotic boot, a hydra head industries subdivision. available at san diego comic con this weekend at tom neely's booth, and at the merch table on the current melvins tour. later to be made available as part of the melvins "senile animal" 4xlp box set, and individually on the HHR webstore. melvins = awesome. tom neely = awesome.

4. back cover of the aforementioned comic. also recommended: tom neely's "the blot".

in other news: mixing of the grey machine album (new project from justin broadrick, with contributions from myself and other affiliates), is finally underway. completion imminent and samples available soon. isis "live IV" and "holy tears" vinyl now available . new isis album still in the writing process, currently on hold due to upcoming shows in chicago and oslo. new lustmord album "other" now available, with guitar contributions from adam (tool), buzz (the melvins), and myself. new house of low culture releases in the works. the band with james plotkin, tim wyskida, and myself is no longer going to be called "vessl", since apparently there is already a band with that name. we're trying to think of something else and having a hard time... really hard. all the good names seem to be taken.

improving the quality of life: wold "stratification", gridlink "amber gray", "batman: the dark knight" (though not quite as good as i was hoping), "bill moyers journal", ghostface killah "supreme clientele", evoken "a caress of the void", helms alee - live in los angeles, orange and robot: excellent (but disobedient) italian greyhounds, organum "omega", carne asada burritos from yuccas too....

ZOZOBRA art pt 2

above are some preview images from the completed zozobra "bird of prey" layout. peices shown are the front of the o-card, the back cover/outer tray card, and an interior spread from the booklet. the final layout will consist of an embossed o-card/slipcase, regular cd face and tray card, and a 12 page booklet. the color displayed on screen as a sort of tan/dirty yellow will print as metallic gold. aside from the music of zozobra and the notes they gave me, inspiration for this layout came from the black flag "family man" 12" cover. the connection may not seem readily apparent, but i just couldn't get that cover out of my mind once i began work on the assembly of this project. i would hardly classify that as one of my favorite black flag releases, but i've always found that particular sleeve fascinating.

aside from work on the zozobra i've completed the drawings for the forthcoming pelican/these arms are snakes split 10" (formely a 7", upgraded to the larger format to accomodate the track lengths). the layout is now in the hands of the very capable ryan frederiksen, and i'll hopefully be able to post some previews of that stuff in the coming weeks. next up will be the layout for the forthcoming bergraven album for hydra head, which i might add is a motherfucker. while i thought "dödsvisioner" was a pretty remarkable piece of work, its successor is superior in every respect - i'm truly excited for other people to hear this thing, and they will come october of this year. in the mean time you can find a small and inadequate sample of bergraven here

in the aural realm, the previously untitled collaboration between james plotkin, tim wyskida, and myself, finally has a name: vessl. the debut album has finally been completed and hopefully samples will be made available in the near future - most likely through james' website . it also looks like there's going to be some house of low culture live performances this fall, specifically in the northwestern US. the only confirmed date as of this moment is seattle, wa, on september 14. HOLC wil have the distinct pleasure of sharing the stage with mamiffer and hemingway . more info on those shows as things get firmed up. hopefully i'll get my ass in gear to put together a new HOLC release in time for those shows - but that remains to be seen...

pretty, pretty, pretty good: daughters - live at the troubadour, torche and clouds - live at the relax bar, hellblazer vol. 2 "the devil you know", twin peaks: fire walk with me, pierrot le fou, ashpool "the world turns on its hinge", leviathan "massive conspiracy against all life", wu-tang "8 diagrams", boris "smile" japanese version (a totally different mix/version than the US version - well worth seeking out), further visitations from astral traveller of the 4th dimension, and animal companions (even the whiny one jacked up on steroids)....