Endless Disappointment 7 - The Cloud Botherer

Endless Disappointment Issue 7- The Cloud Botherer June 2020

Featuring: Vile Creature // ancst // Feminazgรปl Crisis Benoit // Horrid tales from the road Remember trustkill? Yep, going to talk about them too

What.Is.Up. So we've all been quarantined and we're not at the point where people think they can peak their heads out the parapets in the hope things will go back to normal.

As of last checking things are opening up in the USA, we've got the NFL wanting to run games for Television with virtual crowds projected on television and crowd-noise piped into the stadium so clearly the powers-that-be have got their sensible-thinking caps on. WWE wants to hold Summerslam in an arena too so expect it to be moved from Boston (not that it'll be worth seeing if Wrestlemania was anything to go by).

Meanwhile in the UK Boris is peddling his usual confusing tripe, likely hoping that if he throws out enough banal statements we'll make the choices four ourselves and he can say that he tried his best and pass the responsbility over to us (a lot like his original strategy). Some of the larger chains are starting to open up again, public transport is filling back up and we've got the Daily Mail focusing all their front-page space on Unions refusing to send their teachers back to school, so expect all that good work isolating to be quickly undone.

Anyway, more positive news, I put out some tapes at the tail-end of last month that I'm very happy with (and hopefully everyone who purchased them are too) and last month's issue is the best-selling edition yet, which is nice as I straight-up did not expect anyone to give a shit.

Shout out to everyone else who's going all-in and putting out zines, but not the people who are charging ÂŁ4 or more for something with less content than my shitrags I put out, boo to you.

Also, what is up with people printing them on A4!? When will they understand A5 is the supreme zine-size, imagine if football programmes were A4 size, ludicrous.

I'm currently on Backlash 2003 in my goal to watch every WWF/WWE PPV since 1999; it's weird to watch the product change at an accelerated pace, as you can already tell the writing has got dead-sloppy now they have ALL the stars and no competition from WCW. I think it's around this this time that TNA (or NWA-TNA as it was back then) started gathering momentum, fuck me that was a trainwreck in the early days.

Looking towards this issue; we've got some great interviews lined up which I hope you'll all enjoy. I think there's more content in this issue as well than the last one, but more of it is written by me so don't get too excited. Hopefully the puzzles will make you feel good about yourselves as well as they are pretty limited and dead-easy.

As always, it's no Astral Noize magazine but I do my best given my limited abilities.

Dog tales So the Gentleman on the right is called Baxter I met him when I visited the Florist for my Wedding He had just been out for a walk so the Florist advised he was a bit wet and stinky To be honest I think he would have been stinky even if he hadn't got himself wet He was such a playful gentleman though And took great delight tearing apart a Child's Ball Not to eat it, just tear it apart He's a very handsome gentleman

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vile creature I had the chance to see Vile Creature when they played Cardiff with Bismuth; I can't remember the exact reason I didnt go, but I didn't and I have been kicking myself since.

One of many bands that got stung as a result of travel limitations and the subsequent postponement of the ever-mighty Roadburn Festival, we have a chat with the Canada's heaviest to see how they're coping.

So we're all still in a bit of limbo with the current pandemic; how have you both been keeping?

Vic: Thanks for asking! We are basically only working and hanging at home. We own a small vegan grocery store/bakery, so lots of work to do! Hanging at home has been rad cuz we take care of 6 cats and 1 dog and have lots of hobbies, despite not being able to play shows and do other stuff outside the house.

KW: We live and work together so I've been doing exactly what Vic said.

So, whether it be by design or not, have a reputation of being a band that has a lot to say, so Im just going to give the next few paragraphs to you talking about what the hell is going on in the world at the moment. There's no wordcount, go nuts.

Vic: Firstly, I feel like this question would be better answered with another whole page of animals, instead of our opinions. Sometimes I feel like I have nothing to say, cause I'm either preaching to the choir, or just exhausted. So right now the world is on battery saver mode, and I've been thinking alot about how fragile our civilization is and how things change. If things feel futile to you, reader, well maybe you'll find comfort in the history of homosapiens and their empires rising and falling. At least, putting things in perspective on a huge scale makes me feel better. I think about space alot and it scares the shit outta me, but it mostly brings some existential peace. Maybe it's my way of practicing mindfulness, cause I'm normally an impatient and irritable person.

There was a piece of graffiti, shown during the start of the unrest in Hong Kong which was translated to say “We can't return to normal, because the normal that we had was precisely the problem.” To what extent do you think that applies now given a lot of leaders are already planning their exit strategies and to relax lockdowns following the pandemic?

Vic: The slow churning mechanisms of capitalism will always find a way to steady themselves This huge event makes me realize that the cracks in the facade are larger than I thought. In March I was feeling hopeful that people were choosing solidarity and mutual aid over individualism and consumerism, but I feel like the State is using this to lock down the panopticon and keep up the mass surveillance and repression of marginalized folks and liberatory movements.

In relation to your question, I hope the exit strategies of leaders/billionaire shitheads involve locking themselves in their luxury bunkers and dying of asphyxiation, cause the working class is still making the economy churn. It was actually a huge let down that there wasn’t a large collective follow thru on the rent strike. I don't blame tenants for this at all...we are all stuck between a rock and a hard place. Those with capital will fight tooth and nail to keep their pyramid schemes going.

Positive things though: Your new album "Glory, Glory! Apathy took Helm!" will be out not long after this zine comes out. How are you feeling about it?

Vic: I'm happy it's going to be out in the world!

KW: Very relieved people are able to hear it, and very stoked we got to make it. I feel like it's the record we've been scaling up to make since we started playing music together, so that is a nice feeling.

When uploading your new album to streaming platforms you referred to them as "those services we all use but don't actually pay artists". I can remember when streaming platforms first came out they were heralded as the great-equaliser, however we are now in a situation where outlets like spotify are still running in the Red whilst major labels have negotiated specific deals for their rosters. I'd be keen for you to run wild on the subject.

KW: I don't know if I can run wild, but I can say that Spotify and those like-minded streaming platforms have done the absolute opposite of "Saving the music industry." They have made it increasingly harder for smaller bands to eek out a living playing music. We are fortunate that this band is our hobby, one that we are passionate about for sure, but it is not our living.

Spotify has enabled people to stop actually paying for music, or to pay the company $10 so they can feel like they're contributing when in reality next to nothing goes to 99% of the artists they are listening to. If everyone who streamed a record just paid $1 on bandcamp to buy the record and have it forever bands would make tons more money than having thousands of streams.

That's just reality.

Liz Pelly, a phenomenal person & writer has been cracking open tons of information on spotify and the hazard it is to the industry. I couldn't recommend higher checking out the ample amount of work she has done writing, speaking, and teaching on this subject. You can find them here: http://lizpelly.com/writing . Truly, they are a gift to the industry that i feel like a ton of people haven't opened yet.

The new album will be out on VHS - In honor of the few regular readers of this zine who were born in a world where DVD's were all they knew: Wut?

KW: I just like doing things that make me smile, and creating a visually stimulating video that goes along with our record and putting it out definitely makes me smile, and putting it out on a dead format as a limited release makes me smile even wider, so we made a VHS. Going back to earlier releases, your debut release A Steady Descent into the Soil came from a very personal place, touching on subjects of identity and gender. Did the record organically go in this direction or did you have a set spectrum of emotions and feelings that you wanted established in the record?

Vic: I guess my thought was that with it being our first album, "what is the most important thing I need to get off my chest? How can these feelings be coupled with music?" I feel like KW and I had very similar ideas with the direction of the music, so when the songs were written, we filled them in lyrically with all the sad shit we had in our brains.

KW: Yeah, musically we went into playing together knowing what we wanted to accomplish, and lyrically we were just being honest with the things we wanted to express and the experiences we had had maneuvering through the world. Stick to what you know is the old cliche about writing, but its super great to do when you are starting out as a lyricist.

By comparison, Cast of Static and Smoke touches upon Human Interaction and is presented alongside a story surrounding machines looking to break away from their programming. What inspired you to deviate more into the realms of science fiction / fantasy?

Vic : The first album had themes about wanting to escape from those things that harm. We released a song between A Steady Descent into the Soil and Cast of Static and Smoke, called A Pessimistic Doomsayer that was specifically about escaping in made up worlds, mostly books!

Writing our own story felt right after exploring these kinda things. KW is a huge fantasy nerd, and I love sci-fi, so it made sense to create some android characters traversing a grim land. If anyone is interested, we recorded an audio book of the short story that accompanies the record (castofstaticandsmoke.com). The only thing I'm going to blab on about is my love for characters that decenter our understanding of what it means to be human. I feel like it triggers a thought experiment to explore potential futures.

Looking to your new material, how has your sound and writing evolved since and was there any themes you wanted to make sure were touched upon in "Glory, Glory! Apathy took Helm!"?

Vic: For me, I'm a lot more confident with vocals, so taking on a larger role for this album has been a nice change. We wanted to touch upon the darkness we carry, how it can shape us and make us feel powerless. Finding ways to escape the apathy is what I hope the record conveys.

The album artwork is very distinct; which means that it wasn't long before the collective internet started taking the piss out of it a bit. Personally, my favourite was the gentleman with loads of audio cables coming out of his mouth, what was yours?

Vic: I mean, it's us taking the piss out of ourselves, cause we invited folks to share their take on the cover. We really are proud of the work associated with vile creature, and there is a seriousness to the content and the sounds, but the humour we love is lowbro, and we are just dumb people and wanna make people laugh.

While we're on the subject: What was the inspiration behind the album artwork?

Vic: I love surrealism and absurd things. I also love bright colours and Kw is colour blind, so I had a time with it.

This album is being released through Prosthetic Records, how did the relationship come about and were you concerned at all with Dragged into Sunlight's open and drawn-out dispute with Prosthetic Records?

KW: Steve Joh, the US Label Manager for Prosthetic, reached out to us around the time we were doing Cast of Static & Smoke about potentially doing a CD version, but our timelines were really different and it just didn't work out. In August of 2018 he reached out again after Halo of Flies decided to shut down and asked to work with us on our next record.

Our experiences with EJ, Steve, Becky and the prosthetic team have been nothing short of amazing. Dragged into Sunlight is a band that is big on pageantry, and I don't mean that in a negative way. It makes sense they'd go out with a bang. Their gripes with Prosthetic are their own, and I hope in the future things work out amicably, but our experiences are the polar opposite of theirs.

You have a close bond with Bismuth, a fantastic 2-piece band from the UK who are one of the heaviest bands around AND have an exquisite backline. How did it all come together and what do you credit to there being such a close bond between the bands?

KW: We were looking to come over to the UK to tour in 2018 and a few plans fell through. Andy from Dry Cough, who helped put our record out & had put out Bismuth records, mentioned that chatting with Tanya would be a great idea. I reached out and we just hit it off immediately. I think from the first time we spoke two and a half years ago to now we have rarely gone a day without speaking, she instantly became one of my best friends and in turn our bands have been linked a lot. Touring together was a joy and we got to experience playing our first Roadburn’s together in 2019, and it’s all been uphill from there!

Whilst most have come to terms with the fact that Roadburn won't be happening this year, what will become of "A Hymn of Loss and Hope", a collaboration between Vile Creature and Bismuth which was commissioned to be played once exclusively for Roadburn?

KW: We are going to be playing it at Roadburn 2021, so just an extra year delay!

Looking at the process for composing the song, how did you find the creative process given the distance between both bands and everybody's hectic schedules?

KW: Tanya & I utilized google drive and constant communication to map out ideas, movements, and riffs. She came to Canada and we practiced for a week in October 2019, and I went over to the UK for 10 days this past January and we sat down and really fleshed it out. It is definitely a weird, new, and interesting way to write music, but it was super rewarding.

Are there any other bands you share a similar bond with?

KW: Aseethe from Iowa. Three of the loveliest lads you'd ever hope to meet with the same sense of humour and same love of early bedtimes as us. We would do every tour with them if it was possible Delving into the realms of obscure merchandise, Vile Creature released moleskin pads with corresponding pens, ranking up there in terms of obscure merchandise with the likes of Fleshgod Apocalypse's Pasta-range and Rammstein's boxset that included dildos in the shape of each member's penis. Why office-stationary?

Vic: The text on the front says "I rebuke reality as a binary/I construct my own earth," as a call back to the themes of escaping into a world of your own creation. We wanted to encourage people to write their own truths and shit.

KW: I came up with the idea because I love a solid pen and a great notebook. I have a collection of them, and thought it'd be fun to add to that.

Vile Creature are openly a pet-friendly entity, regularly celebrating your own Cats, as well as other people's pets too. Can you rank your top-10 pets you've met?

Vic: I feel like this is a trick question, because all animals are beautiful! Some fav animals that I've met are a three legged cat named Trikey, a pitbull named Star, our friends' dear late Widget, a pig named Francis Bacon, my bud from Minneapolis - Spot. And my Chicago bbs Neeko, Smokey and Gus - i miss you.

On the subject of pets, I want to show you my Dog Vic: Your doggie looks very well behaved, but as soon as you turn your back they are stealing your wallet.

KW: Oh yeah that dog's a fucking thief for sure, count on it.

Good pupper tho.

On top of your joined Food Truck/Bakery ventures, you (aimed at kw) set up your own Tattoo Studio at the tail-end of last year (congratulations by the way). When announcing the store's opening you were clear to highlight that inclusivity and providing a safe-space was the focal point of the venture, was this a product of there being a lack of similar spaces in your area?

KW: Tattooing as an industry has moved in so many directions so frequently over the years. Our area, Hamilton, is about an hour outside of Toronto which is a world city and we have a lot less "Rad" stuff here. Our city has a great tattoo community, but nearly all of the shops are your traditional bro-y style shops and that is just not the vibe i enjoy when i want to go get my body modified. My partner in the business, Kat, is a phenomenal tattoo artist who has a history of building amazing queer-centric spaces, and when we teamed up we decided that that is exactly what we wanted to do in our town because there was nothing like it here and it is who we are, and we needed to be true to ourselves. We wanted to open a shop where people would feel comfortable being themselves while they got wonderful, beautiful, life-affirming permanent art.

Was there any particular thinking behind naming your studio "Sleepybones"?

KW: I love occult stuff and Kat has a softer vibe so it fit both niches.

So as to wrap up the interview in a safe and generic package, what bands are you listening to at the moment and who do you want to recommend for us (assuming we’ve all been under a rock up until the point of reading this interview).

Vic: I really love dark dance music, so some things I'm into lately are Zanias , SRSQ, Kaelan Mikla. My favourite bands in general are True Widow, Boy Harsher, that kinda stuff. I’m sorry to disappoint, but I guess that is your thing!

KW: I only listen to three bands on a regular basis: the Tragically Hip, the Hold Steady, and Ghost. So any of those three!

Last Question / statement: First of all, stay safe during all this pandemic business; secondly, what do you plan to do once normality restores (whatever normality is)?

Vic: go back to choking people in jiu-jitsu, lick things in public. I dunno.

KW: My life hasn’t changed drastically other than I am working three times as many hours and at only one of my businesses so I'll look forward to cutting my hours down and re-opening my tattoo shop. Also it will be nice to lick things in public again.

Vile Creature's album "Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!" is out via Prosthetic Records For more information check out https://vilecreature.bandcamp.com Credits to Danika Zandboer for the images.

Also: My Dog is a bit of a thief, I learnt a lot about stealing food from her.

If you ever feel down about yourself Just remember X-Pac sucked so badly for such a long time and had such a shit reputation with both fans and wrestlers alike That the term "X-Pac Heat" was coined.

This is when the crowd isn't booing because they invest in him as a bad-guy or booing because he did a good job pissing them off, they're booing because they can't stand him outright and are booing the fact he's even there / employed by them.

That's right, they were booing the fact X-Pac was even employed with the company. They used to chant "X-Pac sucks" when there was nothing else to chant, even if he wasn't performing that night.

Disastour So last month we heard from Dicky and his wonderous adventures discovery Dean from Extreme Noise Terror's capacity to not keep his shit together. I'm under no illusion that we were going to be able to top that, but a friend from shows decided to share his experiences touring across the European grindcore/crustpunk circuit.

I know Sean through his old band Judas Cradle, who were the only grindcore band in South Wales, they split up and now we have none so that sort of sucks. Being a skilled drummer into extreme music and with a clean driving license, it was no surprise he found himself dabbling in some other bands too.

Anyway, here's his story, from here on it's his words, not mine.

The Venue: Jalla Jalla, Metelkova The Setting: Ljubljana, Slovenia I'm not exaggerating when I say that the traffic in Vienna is an utter bastard. The saddest part is that we are not actually visiting the (surely) fine Austrian city, but just passing through; instead driving to Slovenia from the Czech Republic. We've a long way to go and a narrow margin in which to accomplish the journey on time. The sun is beating down, roasting us in stand-still traffic. The steering wheel and dash to Carlos' Transit is so hot I could probably have cooked my breakfast on it. Harry pokes his head out from the back of the van, and suggests we should consider letting the venue know that we could be late for the gig tonight. He brandishes a beaten mobile phone at me, and begins texting. In his circularr eflective sunglasses he looks like if Charles Bronson and Brian Fair (from Shadows Fall) got pushed into the machine from The Fly at the same time. I'm touring as a drummer in one of his bazillion bands, this one being the short-lived body-building themed goregrind band (yes!) Somnumapnoea. We have a show booked in the incredible Metelkova complex in Ljubljana, and I'd loathe to miss it because of some godforsaken Austrian traffic.

"Bad news" - says Harry "I told them we were possibly going to be late, and they have replied".

It seems like the venue has burnt down. Burnt down? - the other denizens of the van ask in chorus. Burnt down. Brilliant! As we reach the Slovenian border, the heavens open and spew forth their lead-scented watery vomit. We're shortly apprehended by Slovenian police, who have us all pile out of the van at a petrol station and want to know absolutely everything about everyone and keep a hold of our passports for a pant-shitting length of time. Every time I've been to Slovenia the police have pulled me over. I'm starting to take it personally. I do however have fond memories of a Slovenian copper pulling a gimp mask and a blood splattered apron out of Carlos' kit bag and not even flinching at the sight of it. As we roll through the gates (read: hole in the wall) of Metelkova, I'm sure I can see the ruins of Jalla Jalla still smouldering, but sometimes my imagination can run away with me, so for the purposes of this story just enjoy the image of one of Europe's best squat / dive venues reduced to ashes.

The promoter, Mattia, is one of the collective that keeps Metelkova ticking. You can see the genuine hurt and devastation in the lines of his face as he fills us in on the grisly details over stonking vegan grub, cheap lager and strong Slovenian coffee. I didn't know Slovenian coffee was a thing (I'm still not really sure if it is a thing) but I manage to finish a cup and can now see through time. "It was arson" explains Mattia, visibly crushed. Some beef or misunderstanding between the offender and the collective that runs Metelkova had escalated with drastic consequences. The police had an ongoing investigation, and a visible prescence at Metelkova, but there were fears that the arsonist could return.

"He is not well" Mattia explained about the culprit "he has some issues. Butdon't worry, we have secured a second venue, and tonight you will sleep in the library". Oh, great! As impressive as Metalkova's library of anarchist and alternative texts is, I was pressed to think of more flammable sleeping arrangements, considering the current situation.

Mattia is squeezed into the van and for now we leave Metelkova behind. We drive probably about a mile further into the city, and come across what looks like an old community centre that has been left to rot. The crusties have taken it as their own and have turned it into a venue.

They've tended to the garden, which is absolutely lovely, but if you have to take a shit, expect to do it squatting over a hole in the ground in a spider infested bomb site without a lockable door. I was glad to see they had their priorities right. The change of venue has also merged our goregrind show with a punk fundraiser that has something to do with anti-fascism. This was all well and good, but I'm not talking hardcore punk here, I'm talking the old school three chord stuff. None of the weed smoking, hats-with-disgusting-patches folk you'd expect to see at grindcore shows were present. Understandably, as the new openers to proceedings of which we really should not have had a part in, Somnumapnoeawent down like steak tartare at a vegan buffet. Not even our more lively Agathocles-worshipping stomps got anyone going. Not even a fucking nod. The sound was atrocious, and I was chasing the drum kit around the stage, dreading the next flurry of blastbeats which would send the kickdrum a few inches closer to the Croatian border. What did surprise me however, was that Carlos' and Harry's even more abrasiveand maddeningly loud project, CxBxFxIxHxFxLxFxRxEx - in which the duostrip naked, don gimp masks and aprons and then pummel the holy living fuck outof a bass guitar and drum kit for 25minutes, was received very well. I'm not suggesting that Slovenian punk dads have a secret penchant for gorenoise, but they responded well to the spectacle, if nothing else. When the Slovenian punk band whose fundraiser we had crashed takes thestage, the venue is packed and the crowd is rowdy. I catch a few songs before spending the rest of the evening standing in the rain drinking cheap lager with our touring roadie and seat-warmer Gareth, calculating how many cans I can get away with downing before having to get up at 6 in the morning to drive another 5 or 6 hours to Slovakia.

Whilst my tale is not as glamorous or as chaotic as others that has graced this spicy little zine, the memory of this particular bad gig has always stuck with me. There's nothing quite like driving 9 hours across 3 countries to play to 4people who couldn't give a single fuckabout your band to really make you question your life choices.

That ofcourse, and the ashen full stop that wasthe destruction of Jalla Jalla. Speaking of which, it was long dark whenwe got back to Metalkova. The place hadcome alive at night. Surreally, policewalked calmly through gangs of crusties,arty teenagers and backpackers off thebeaten path. It reminded me ofHamsterdam from The Wire, only everyonewas smoking weed instead of crack. The anarchist library was behind alocked gate and up a flight of stairs.Behind another locked door lay thelibrary, and the sleeping quarters forvisiting bands and artists was in theattic, up a steep wooden ladder.

I hardnoped out of the attic, instead crashingon a sofa in the library itself. It nagged at me that the gate was locked; if I had to get out I would need tothrow myself from the second floor like Genesis P.Orridge did out of RickRubin's studio when it was on fire. Maybe if that happened someone would give me a million undeserved Euros and I could go to the grave peddling my awful power electronics projects to edgelords. One can dream, eh? Sleeping three stories up behind a locked gate in a building comprised mainly of wood and paper when there was an arsonist on the loose didn't exactly fill me with ease, but I was too drunk or tired to care.

Until next time - Sean

Feminazgûl For anyone who wants an introduction to bands directly leading the charge over racism, conservative ideologies and the rise of right-wing populism, the Black Flags Over Brooklyn event and the subsequently fundraiser compilation they put out is probably the best place to start.

We interviewed Closet Witch last issue, continuing in a similar theme we've had the joy of having a chat Margaret and Laura of Feminazgûl, an atmospheric Black Metal band fuelled by current events in the world to and using their Tolkien-influenced lyrics as an allegory for resistance of oppressive ideologies.

Whilst I'm hoping the band name wears its heart on its sleeve enough to give readers a general idea of what you're about, perhaps if you could introduce yourself and what you’re about.

Margaret: Feminazgûl is a two-piece black metal band based out of Asheville, North Carolina.

The first EP was just me, but I met Laura and she volunteered to scream and the band got at least twice as good immediately. While the name itself isn't to be taken entirely seriously (it's a play on words, "we're not feminazis, we're feminazgûl) the music is and the feminism is. We write music about the rage that lives in the hearts of those beaten down under a patriarchal system.

Feminazgul is one of a few bands that have popped up during one of the more tumultuous and overt conflicts between right and left-wing ideologies in recent decades, can you narrate us to how Feminazgul came to light?

Margaret: It's honestly mostly a coincidence that we were there during the beginning of the current wave of antifascist black metal. I mean, we're antifascist.... the first day Laura and I met we had a spirited conversation about how obviously there are no Nazis in Valhalla. Also, being actively feminist SHOULD involve being antifascist (and vice-versa, though sadly this is often not the case). For my own sake, I've been involved in antifascist organizing (peaceful and otherwise) for most of my adult life. I'm less on the frontlines than I used to, but on some level every project I do is going to be me with big pom-poms cheering on the team that puts fascists in hospitals or morgues. The music of Feminazgûl isn't explicitly about that, though.

I mean, yes, there are themes of hatred towards those who seek to destroy you, and refusing to forgive and forget what we have suffered. So I guess it's in there.

Despite National Socialist Black Metal being an easy-target, the early pioneers of Black Metal often leaned towards fascism, and far-right ideology is never far away when Black Metal is concerned. Do you ever find it peculiar that the genre leans so far to the right, given it's creation has many familiarities to the same feelings of rebellion and social-outcasting that both Punk and Heavy Metal experienced?

Laura: To me, it's terribly absurd. A lot of these black metal bands sing about Satan, demons, hate, various mythologies, and being anti-religious and whatnot, and yet for the most part, a large majority of them have personal ideologies that are often closer to traditional Christianity than any sort of heathen/pagan/atheist/satanist/whatever mindset which a lot of them claim to have. Forgive me for hyperfocusing for a moment... What they miss out on is, and this is of course going with what the Christian Bible says, what could be more against G*d than being some variety of LGBTQIA+? It's the most satanic thing you can be in that regard. Haha. Going against a higher power and casting down the hold society has with traditionally held beliefs, mores, structures, expectations, and etc. A perversion of nature as they should see it.

But honestly, I've noticed a lot of them tend to be very sexually chaste as well. Sexuality, it really tends to not be a large theme within black metal. I mean it can be, I've seen it. But clearly if you bring themes of sexuality into black metal it will make these right-wing gatekeeping metal dweebs really uncomfortable. We recently had a 'review' done by a person I used to know, and mostly all he could talk about was what was between our legs, how much our existences and music offended him. Sorry not sorry that we didn't write about the stereotypical black metal subjects. (But we did talk a lot about hate though!) Sorry not sorry that they can't embrace anything new or innovative. But I am honestly sorry for them that they can't see it from our perspective.

Whilst there is a glut of music and art that speaks out against fascism and right-wing ideology, to a degree further-reading could be seen as necessary to ensure proper discussion over the matter and to ensure such ideology is sustained at an academic level. Got any writers/books you would recommend?

Laura: Margaret is far more versed in this one so she can have it...

Margaret: I’m kind of an asshole about this. I dropped out of art school to ride freight trains and try to overthrow the government (I wasn't very good at either). I do think literature and intensive study is important, but I don't believe everyone has to do it. I think it behooves the academically-inclined to find out what amazing information is locked up in that ivory tower and spread it as widely as they can. So most of my book-learning is secondhand. (And I say this is as professional author, but mostly of fantasy). I find smart people and I ask them about ideas. I'm bad at structured study, but I desire knowledge. So seek out knowledge by whatever means you can or are interested in, whether that's books, podcasts, essays, or just asking the people around you. Like... when I first got involved with antifascism, I wasn't sure about the policy of fighting them publicly. I thought maybe that would just lead to them getting more attention and being the underdog. Then I talked with my friend in Amsterdam about it, when the nazis were coming to town and he set out to go kick them in the teeth. He put it like this: "In the 80's there were lots of hate crimes in Amsterdam against immigrants, because nazis were everywhere. Then people banded together and put them all in the hospital and sent them running. Now they're not as well organized and the hate crimes have gone down" So that was enough for me. Since then, through study of history (I do study, just not always at books) I've come to realize that nazis are actually really bad at playing the underdog. They'll play that card if it's all they got, but fascism is at its core a populist ideology. Most would-be fascists only become fascists if fascism looks like the winning team.

Okay all that said I think Alexander Reid Ross is a fantastic antifascist academic and I read his essays every chance I get.

Right-Wing ideology tends to blamee Universities for brainwashing students with "leftwing ideals" and so Turning Point was set up as a way of promoting Conservatism to younger generations. Whilst Turning Point has a minor presence in the UK, it's largely seen as a bit of a nuisance. Given the Right-Wing of America's Political spectrum, and their capacity to haemorrhage money on promoting "traditional" values, what sort of impact do you see it having in the USA? Laura: I personally think it keeps people culturally enslaved to the past. and this is something I can very much relate to. So I guess I'm going to delve into some of my personal history.

I grew up in the south. And I grew up in an affluent side of Knoxville, TN. It's very Republican and there was a lot of money that people tended to throw around. We grew up next to an almost-mega Baptist church. It was so grandiose. We jokingly called it Six Flags over Jesus. Just to provide some backstory... My parents on the other hand are generally quite liberal in their beliefs. They both graduated from UC Berkeley.

They're both very logical and science-minded people. My brother and I, we were never brought up in church. With that, I've basically been agnostic/atheist since maybe 7 or so? I've never felt the presence of any sort of G*d. And I've tried. Repeatedly. Nothing. Oh well. Back to my upbringing.... Admittedly, we were quite privileged ourselves because we were allowed to explore ourselves in terms of our interests. Also I was never really brought up with any hard and fast gender roles/rules either. But of course going to a public school in that particular oppositional environment had its struggles. Pretty much existing in that environment was rebellion. There are a few things that stick out in my mind in regards to the funneling of money into "traditional" programs and upbringing. In the 8th and 10th grade, we didn't really have Sex Ed. I mean we did but it was a Christian-based abstinence-only based program. It was riddled with misinformation. The first time around in eighth grade, the message was "it's natural that your body is changing but sex can kill you!" When 10th grade rolled around, the message was still mostly the same but more or less evolved to "Sex is fine and natural but only within your straight marriage!" Jeez, that was a trip. We never got any real education about sex. Just promise slips about virginity and whatnot. I think that a lot of people broke theirs within about a year or so. I remember I was being annoyed with all of this and that I disarmed the presenter when he paused to ask a question.

Presenter: "What's the difference between premarital and marital sex?"

I slowly raised my hand. And to set a picture for you all, I was a young little gothling at the time. All black clothes, chains and studs, black animal collar, greasy pin-straight blonde hair, I might have been wearing a cape too... ANYWAYS...

Presenter: "you? Yes?" Me: "Experience!"

At that moment, the presenter lost whatever point he was going to make. He verbally stumbled in front of 200 15-year-olds. At that moment, everyone starts to slowly turn to look at me.

There were a few giggles. The presenter was so taken aback by the answer that he had to just move on to his next segment. It's one of those moments I'll never forget.

Also in regards to my school-age years, I played softball. (Ah, but of course. The tell-tale sign of a queer girl!) Fellowship of Christian Athletes was pushed on us hard. With a lot teams that I played on and also well into high-school, praying to the Christian G*d was a staple pregame ritual. I was always sort of annoyed with this but I just sort of put up with it.

In short those are some of my experiences in regards to "traditional" values being forced on me growing up. I could give you a few more but we'd be here all day. What do they say about tradition? It's peer pressure from dead people. I think I can agree with that sentiment.

Perhaps it's because we're in a post-modern world where people mix-and-match their beliefs, perhaps it's because Fascism is fairly narrow-minded in approach, but it's not difficult to point out inconsistencies in the message of Fascism. Is there any particular inaccuracies or falsehoods you've noticed over the years?

Margaret: the most immediately laughable is that it makes you a rebel. Yes, being a fascist means being opposed to current forms of democracy, and therefore in some weird way you're rebelling against that. But it's literally conformism. The idea that it belongs in rebellious music is fucking absurd.

Thoughts on combatting Fascism vary depending on who you talk to; some want to combat them head on and talk to them about it, some want key-figures to be deprived of a platform, whilst others hope that by ignoring the issue it will eventually lose relevance and fuck off. From your personal perspective what have you found to be the most effective way of combatting fascism?

Margaret: Literal violence. Not necessarily lethal violence (depends on how virulent the threat has gotten... it was effective at stopping it in Italy and Germany, though we failed at the method in Spain). Beat them up and send them running. They turn on each other like dogs, they cry on Youtube, they denounce their followers, and they go home. I have no problem with deplatforming. I also believe very strongly in counter-recruitment. Violence is oppressive when it is used against people who aren't in the process of oppressing you. I'm proud that the metal scene, at the very least, is learning the difference between naive supporters of fascism, ironic supporters of fascism (edgelords, basically), and informed, earnest supporters. Naive supporter, talk to them. Ironic supporter, mock them (because they're doing it for laughs and to be cool. when they're the butt of the joke they tend to knock it off). Earnest supporters, whatever they get they get. You walk around saying I should die because of my gender, or that other people should die because of their ethnicity or national origin, you're going to meet people who want to stop you from doing that.

There's a film called The 51st State, where Robert Carlyle goes into enemy territory and sets off a flare solely to piss off the fans of a rival team. I find this scene is somewhat of a metaphor for Feminazgรปl's approach, do you agree? If not, can you think of a better metaphor?

Margaret: There's definitely some of that. There's definitely intentional provocation, in the name of the band, in the name of the albums, in choosing LoTR, in choosing black metal. But I refuse to see any of those things as enemy territory. Contested territory, to be certain. The Nazi approach is to claim that it is their territory. That's why their many of their supporters can claim being apolitical. Because Nazis have claimed the territory, they don't need to be "political". They've already got it (so they think). So you can be apolitical and support the status quo, AKA support the fascist claim on the genre. To be clear, I don't want to "claim" black metal for Leftism specifically, or any particular subsection of the Left. I want to say "leftist" ideas belong here, or maybe really I'm just trying to say "I belong here, Laura belongs here." That's going to come with a lot of tension, of course, because there are so many supposedly rebellious edgy rightwingers who can't fucking handle that my body naturally runs on testosterone yet I wear women's clothes and have a woman's name (and am a woman, based on the social understanding of the gender). I love the weird hypocrisy that they want "black metal for everyone" and by that they mean "black metal for people who say kill all the POC" and not the people who say "black metal for people who say kill all the nazis." As an odd tangent, I have a sort of appreciation for the kind of people who just actually mean it when they say they don't care about politics in their music and are fine with fascist and antifascist metal. I'm not one of those people, but like..... I appreciate the consistency, you know? It's rare.

We live in divisive times to the point that anything with any sort of commitment to any given cause will likely cause some friction or controversy. Have you found yourself subject to much abuse as a result of Feminazgรปl?

Laura: haha. I'm not going to lie. Ever since I came out as being added to Feminazgรปl, I've had a handful of people drop out of my life. People I had known for years etc. because they felt I was some kind of traitor for being so political now. But truthfully, I've always been very left in my views. But for a while, I just sort of excused people and brushed sketchy behavior to the side. I used to do college radio for a number of years. And back then, I just sort of played whatever I felt like or whatever people wanted to hear without really considering others. I didn't really care much about ideology or histories or what have you.

I didn't think it mattered that much at the time. So after my stint in college radio ended and about a year later I moved to Asheville. After being situated in Asheville for a little bit, I met Margaret. and after a few months of knowing each other we decided to really give Feminazgรปl a go musically. I noticed that after as soon as I announced I joined Feminazgรปl, a lot of people I knew, most in some questionable circles, dropped me immediately. Which was unfortunate but but you know, it is what it is. I think honestly being in Feminazgรปl has made me more socially and politically conscious. I'm a lot more vigilant about what I consume in pretty much all aspects of my life.

Margaret: It adds to the general level of white noise in my life, for sure. As an author I seem to mostly get shit from TERFs (anti-trans feminists), whereas as a musician I mostly get shit from the far right. Of course the shit I get looks exactly the same. They drag up the same old press photo of me with a beard in a dress. They make the same statements about my sexuality and gender. Laura came from metal and has found some politics. I came from politics and found metal. I mean, I've been into metal since the late 90s, but I haven't participated in any specific scene except peripherally until Feminazgรปl. So I didn't lose anyone, I would have lost those people long ago. The funniest version of the shit we get (it's in the comments on any of our videos, and often on our Facebook page) are the people who think Laura and I are both trans.

This is sort of a tangent, but I want to say all the people I've found because of Feminazgรปl, they've been amazing. Honestly, and perhaps oddly, this project has far and away increased my opinion of the average metal cis dude. The scene is male-dominated, and that's starting to change slowly, and the thing is by being polarizing, I've been able to meet or hear from so many cis men who are fucking badass feminists, who know they've got a lot to learn, are interested in doing that work. Who want to see this scene be more inclusive. Who publicly support me as a trans woman. Honestly, it's been really inspiring. I've also met so many women in metal, cis and trans, and I don't know it just makes my heart melt a little.

The Internet has meant it is a lot easier to not only identify bands that lean to the far-right, but also bands whose members have roots in far-right bands and movements; in turn meaning people could be into bands that hold beliefs that completely conflict with their own and they detach from the politics of it as a result. What is your take on people who enjoy Black Metal as a genre, but detach from the politics involved?

Margaret: personally, that's fine. I don't think people need to share my politics. I think people listening to fashy music is shitty, and I think it often recruits them towards the far right, but my problem is fascist bands not apolitical listeners. I wish people were more consistent in their don't-care-about-politics though. Like if you think antifa is bad and avoid antifa bands, but don't have a problem listening to nazi bands, then clearly it's not just about not caring about politics. It seems to me.

Laura: as I said before I used to be one of those idiots who just sort of brushed sketchiness to the side.

There are a lot of Black Metal bands who refute the idea of being a far-right band, even in the face of evidence that would suggest otherwise; their retort usually being a wordy display of verbal gymnastics that leaps away from the subject outright. Do you have anything to say of this?

Margaret: I just can't with "don't call me nazi" nazis. Grow a fucking backbone and believe what you believe in. Like okay UberMensch88 you're not a nazi it's just that all your friends are. Whatever. Fucking own what you believe in. Like if you have to sit around and nitpick "what exactly do you MEAN by nazi?" Like the Golden Dawn of Greece they're like "what? we're not nazis! the nazis are German nationalists. We're Greek!" Like, okay, you're Greek nazis whatever.

"I'm not a fascist I just believe white people should only hang out with white people" okay you're a nazi I don't care. Metal music is supposed to be fucking earnest. Sing about what you believe in. Let the rage pour out of your soul. Don't hide it. Fucking cowards.

In the UK there have been examples of both bands leaving a bill off the back of being booked with far-right ideals, as well as playing the same stage as them as a sign of directly engaging with the band’s audience. Do you see any stigma in sharing a stage with bands whose ideals directly go against yours?

Margaret: I probably wouldn't judge a band that did that if they made it REAL clear what they were about and what they were doing. I don't know. I'd have to think about that. I think I wouldn't do it. It's not even about purity of politics for me. I will very happily play stages with bands that aren't actively antifascist or whatever. But a show, a song, it's a spell. We weave these things together. The bands on stage especially, but also the audience. Maybe if I was a better witch I could do it, I don't know.

Recently there's been a debate over the lack of Female/non-binary representation in festival lineups. Some argue for better representation in lineups, others argue that it's more a business decision as to who brings the most money in, where do you sit on the matter?

Margaret: if you don't encourage diversity actively you'll never have it. I hate going on stage knowing that me and Laura are the only people on the entire bill who aren't cis men. Not because there's something wrong with cis men, not that cis men don't make amazing music too.

But because I think creating diversity means all of us need to know when to step forward and when to step back. Our scene will be better for it. Our lives will be better for it. No matter our gender.

Laura: Of course I'm all for more representation of those are who aren't cis-het men. I'm always stoked to see more women and LGBTQIA+ in metal. I'm always trying to boost signal to these types of bands or artists. And Margaret is right. It's definitely kind of lonely when you're the only people who aren't cis men. Last summer, we played a show where it was us, another band fronted by a trans woman, and another band with a bi member. And we had a blast playing that show. It went well and it felt safe. I hope we can do more shows like that.

The mythos of Middle Earth is heavily intertwined into FeminazgĂťl. Not only is the name a take on the NazgĂťl, but both releases take from phrases implying the rise of the Orcish breed and the decline of man (or humans to be more general). Aside from noticeably being a fan of Middle Earth and the stories surrounding it, what drew you to interlink your music so tightly with Middle Earth mythology?

Margaret: We start from Middle Earth but depart quickly from there, into other mythologies.

Laura draws amazingly from a lot of different existent world myths. I tend to work up my own.

Fantasy is a powerful source of magic. Myths matter, in a direct and literal and physical way in our lives. Myths tell us what we can and can't do, who we can and can't aspire to be. Personally I like LoTR a lot, and it's one of the foundational myths of my life, has been since I was little. I couldn't tell you the full lineage of Shelob or whatever, because knowledge is never about encyclopedic knowledge, not for me. It's about learning what we need and what we want and then working it into our own lives. The riders of Rohan charging, screaming death, into a the siege of Gondor. That's powerful shit, and I use that for strength sometimes. When I need to understand the power of solidarity. That said, Tolkein was just a man, a white man, and a kind of disappointing one in a lot of ways in that he didn't realize quite how much his own viewpoint limited his ways of thinking. LoTR is a great romantic tale and on some level is a critique of modernity, which is waters that fascists swim in as well.

Yet it's also one of the greatest antifascist parables of all time, and one of the finest anarchist ones.. it's not about seizing power, it's about destroying power. But the poor orcs, they're in so many ways the urban proletariat and Sauron and Saruman are just using them. So it's also worthwhile to flip parables and myths around and view them from the other side. I'm not literally trying to say we should be Nazgรปl. But being wraiths is fucking cool, I'm okay with that.

Your penchant for Middle Earth extends into the wider Black Metal scene; Gorgoroth take their name from an area of Mordor, Black Metal's apex-arsehole Varg Vikernes took his artist-persona from an Orc Captain, if there's a noun in Middle-Earth to do with Sauron chances are there's a Black Metal project that's ripped the name. What do you think draws Black Metal artists to Middle Earth?

Margaret: because we're all fucking nerds, and one of the most potent things about black metal is that it's this deep wellspring of rage drawing from, well, nerdery. Good people and bad people drink from that well.

Laura: basically what Margaret said. fantasy for sure. It's escapism. It provides epic and brutal imagery.

The landscape of Middle Earth was heavily influenced by an area of Lancashire which eventually became known as the "Tolkien Trail", what's your favourite area of of Middle Earth and why (FYI, mine is, and always wil be, Helm's Deep).

Margaret: Oh shit that's cool. Yeah whenever I'm in England I keep being like "why the fuck is everything named like it's out of Lord of the Rings" and then realize I have it backwards. Alan Moore once told me in an interview that Americans shouldn't set their shit in England, because to us it's a fantasy land, like you all might as well still have giants. And that's true. I definitely believe you all have giants. For me, though, Mirkwood. Just because I read The Hobbit so many times as a kid and Mirkwood was when it started to get damn strange.

Bringing it back more to band things before we wrap up; your initial release The Age of Men is Over was a solo-effort; what intrigued you to bring other members in for the follow-up No Dawn for Men? Margaret: I had no idea this project would go anywhere. I wrote The Age of Men is Over nursing heartbreak one winter. I literally wrote most of it lying in bed like a sad sack with a midi controller in front of me. Then people actually liked it. Beyond the clever name. So as soon as I met Laura, and found out she sang metal... I knew that was going to happen. It didn't take a lot of convincing. She'd already heard the EP I think. But the vocals were the weakest part of the first EP, they were... let's go with "heavily processed". Some people don't even realize there are vocals at all, they're so fucking deep in the mix. I had no intention of playing shows. Then I had a singer, and we played shows, and we started writing music, and it really broke something open in me creatively and I'm so fucking proud of No Dawn for Men. Laura also brings a tonne to the band in other ways. I've realized that doing art, whatever the medium, has three components. A triangle as it were. I'm obsessed with triangles. I live in a triangle in the woods.

Strong shape, triangles. Anyway, there's art, there's craft, and there's business. And Laura helps with all three. I do most of the writing for sure, but her feedback is important. And she's just way more versed in metal than me. And, frankly, I'm a fucking cliche starving artist who can't business her way out of a paper bag, and Laura helps with that too. To be clear by "business"I don't mean just like selling shit, I mean the organizing, the promoting, et cetera.

Without those things, no one will ever hear what you do. The triangle needs all three sides to poke its lovely head up into the sky amongst the trees.

I'm a big fan of the art on No Dawn for Men, what drew you to Trez Laforge?

Margaret: I asked my partner Jack who to go with, and they told me about Trez. So glad I did.

The current Global Pandemic has rightfully got a lot of people unsure of what to do; in the UK we get a lot of visibility over how it has affected the likes of Spain and Italy, but not so much for the US. How are things over there and are you staying safe?

Margaret: We're honestly completely fucked.

Laura: everything's a mess right now. Our healthcare system is fucked. there isn't much of a safety net for the small businesses suffering. a lot of people I know including my roommate are out of work. For a while I was going to work because I work for a bank but now I've been moved to a work-at-home situation. As for staying safe when having to venture out, I'm wearing masks and taking precautions.

Margaret: I'm so lucky that I work "from home" in that I work out of a cabin in the woods. Except I'm not lucky when it comes to electricity and running water and climate control and broadband and et cetera et cetera. I've had a hard time getting much done, which frustrates me.

In light of current events you brought forward the release of No Dawn for Men, even though not everything was necessarily in place for what bands would consider a "full release". Pending us all getting through to the end of the year safely, what's your plan?

Laura: I think right now with the release of No Dawn, we're just kind of slowly rolling out merch and physicals and whatnot. I recently put out patches. We're working on getting some other clothing merch options out. We're looking into what we're going to do in terms of physicals. Tapes are definitely in the works. Vinyl is definitely something people are demanding so that is something we're currently researching. As for me I'm going to try to stay inside and socially distance myself as much as possible.

Margaret: We're not quarantined together, so we haven't been able to work on music much at all yet since this album came out. But there will for sure be more music.

No Dawn For Men was released about a month or so ago and can be listened to via the link below https://feminazgul.bandcamp.com/ Their Facebook page is below too. https://www.facebook.com/FeminazgulBand/

Just because it was innovative doesn’t mean it was good I played a game at my mate's house called "Another World". He praised it's graphics as being phenomenal and insisted I had a go. I didn't really think much of it and somewhat archived my experiences of it until I found it was free on PS Plus in the form of a 20th Anniversary revision, which stoked my aggravation of this game again.

So this piece of shit is about a scientist called Lester who absolutely drops a bollock and ends up in an unknown alien world where he has to fight for his survival with some alien buddy who he befriends after being briefly imprisoned. For anyone who can remember the Atari, it plays somewhat like a game called Impossible Mission (which, for the record, was hilarious) and moves like a game called Karateka (which, like the games of the time, had an absurdly intricate and dramatic front cover for a game that played like a Baked Potato).

Now, to get the praises out the way, the game-engine was made from scratch by one person, who did everything himself with the exception of the soundtrack. Even though games were incredibly simple to develop back then, to put together something as innovative as Another World was seen as quite a technological feat, especially with how the cinematics were made to save on space (making it able to be ported over to other consoles).

Hideo Kojima claims it's one of the games that influenced him the most, with Fumito Ueda claiming it influenced the development if Ico. You know what though? I really don't care; Metallica cite Diamond Head as a major influence and Diamond Head are absolutely bloody awful (also, only have one noteworthy song, and the premise of that song is asking a question to themselves and answer it in the next verse).

Know why I don't care? For all its advanced features, nobody should look back fondly at this absolute atrocity.

So first of all, the controls are botched. This is not a conversion thing, this is not a keyboard vs. joypad thing, the control systems are botched whether you play the Amiga version, the SNES version, the 15th Anniversary version or the 20th Anniversary version; the control system is just fundamentally bad.

Press the action button? He may run, he may stand still (even if directing him as if to walk). He might shoot his lazer, he may not, the nerd is about as likely to fill out a tax return than set up a forcefield. Whenever you aim to do anything in this game it's as if a higher-power in the game rolls a dice as to whether it wants to do it or not. An already frustrating game is made arbitrarily difficult.

There is a great difference games being difficult by design (i.e. Mega Man) where you can only blame your shitty skills on dying; now imagine playing Mega-Man but with a control-system that only has a 66% success rate, and jump mechanism is replaced by a random-jig button

So what does that mean? You die a lot. The game is frustrating about 30 seconds in, the premise of the game being you experience that same frustration every 30 seconds until you decide to give up (which is recommended as there is no glory in your struggle with this game).

30 seconds in you say? Yes, that's right, the first obstacle are some snakes; you step on the snake, it grazes your knee and you die. Snake falls on you (they fall from the ceilings too), yep, it grazes your knee, and you die.

Get a bit too close to the snake? Guaranteed it will graze your knee and you will die.

And the reward for avoiding these snakey bois?

A giant fuck-off Panther-Beast thing that gives you a 1-second headstart before it bolts away, dooming you to experience a cutsene of a black-blob drawing out its claws at you.

In fact, this character cannot take ANY damage, which is problematic with the sheer amount of obstacles you face that are time-senstive, and lazer-battles where you are fending off fire which you may not even know is going to happen yet.

Other ways to die? Get hit by a rock, stay in the water too long (even if you're head is above water), stay in a certain area too long; take into account the unresponsive (and fundamentally bad) controls and you're pretty much set up for a fall.

And let's not forget the sheer amount of lazerbattles you end up in. You eventually end up imprisoned by a humanoid-alien species and. upon escaping, obtain a gun which can either shoot, open doors or set up a shield (not that the controls can ever determine which one you want to do).

And you know what? There's no payoff; there is no great accomplishment at the end of this game, the creator MADE the game deliberately abiguous in its ending, so you trawl through countless stages of drivel only to find they can't even provide an even-vaguely intriguing storyline finish.

I suppose what I'm trying to teach here is that there is a staunch difference between being "ahead of it's time" and being "good"; smallpox was introduced to America ahead of its time and that worked out just as well, I'm sure a giant asteroid that blacked out the sun was revolutionary but the Dinosaurs definitely didn't see it that way?

Want me to talk trash about anything else? email worldofshit@live.co.uk, go on, I dare you.

Ancst There are certain things that the British public just have to accept are done better overseas; social housing, nationalised railways, treating bands right and blackened hardcore/crustpunk. I had the chance to see Ancst a while back when they were in Bristol with my mates in Tides of Sulfur; alas, I was knee-deep in the middle of wedding planning and I've been kicking myself ever since.

Still, Tom, the nerve-centre behind Ancst has done me the kindness of having a chat about current affairs, Ancst, mental health and everything in between.

Whilst the UK is typically alright when it comes to keeping an eye out for hardcore/crust bands, for those who aren't aware would you care to introduce yourselves and talk a bit about the band's formation?

Hi, my name is Tom and I am basically the brain and the heart of Ancst. I started this around 2010/11 as a one-off studio project and recorded a rough demo on a shitty laptop. This all happened when I got back into extreme metal after spending most of my 20s within the hardcore microcosm. I always loved Black and Death metal when I was still a teen but turned to hardcore punk after I got fed up with the unpolitical stance that metal had at that time. Besides, my main band at that time henry fonda, a powerviolence 3-piece, was on hold and I needed a new project, so Ancst came along.

I later on recruited Torsten as the singer for the band and we kept on going until we suddenly were 2 singers, 2 guitar players, a bass player and drum machine and were on our first tour.

Since then we put out over 20 releases, toured a lot, had some line-up changes, added a human drummer and now I am answering these questions.

Is there a particular reason why you refer to yourselves as a collective, rather than a band?

Well, to be honest, its a thing of the past. Originally the project was aimed to include tons of musicians from the local scene and the plan was to play and record as much as we could and swap people along the way, so no one needs to concentrate purely on Ancst. That didn't work out, but the collective thing stayed.

You have previously spoken about your roots in hardcore and punk music, what bands particularly influenced you?

That's tough to answer as I never really cared for a single subgenre only. Let's see: Orchid, Nasum, Skit System, Iskra, Heaven shall burn, Arkangel, early Converge, Darkest Hour, Insect Warfare and Undying were all huge influences I think. It would also make sense soundwise, a lot of these a more on the metal side but hey, that's what I grew up with right?

Whilst your more recognizable albums center around Black Metal and Hardcore/Punk, there is a distinctly different catalog of releases that focuses on dark-ambient music. Whilst it's not uncommon for bands to have wildly differing releases in their catalog (Ulver, Wolves in the Throne Room etc), what caused you to include it as part of Ancst's collective work, rather than have it operate as a separate project/entity?

I played in a few other bands that did the same and so it never really occurred to me to separate the ambient stuff from the metal stuff. Ulver had a huge impact on me as well and I really loved the ambient stuff they put out after they turned away from Black Metal so it was not a big thing to put it out under the same name. As the first demo, the first ambient/drone release we put out was not really intended to be a series of sorts but I kind of went from there and continued the path as it was fun and I love putting out small runs of releases. It was really a process that led to more experimentation and that also kept the whole project interesting.

Whilst it will always be hard to tar an entire genre with the same brush, Black Metal has always had the capacity to be safe-haven for far-right ideologies, some bands being a lot more open than others. Have you ever had any problems with Black Metal fans who take exception to your anti-fascist beliefs?

Well, yes and no. We had our run-ins with the right arm of the German Black Metal scene but also were shunned by the far left for playing bigger festivals with more or less sketchy bands. We have always been outspoken about our political views and never backed away from opening our mouths to address racism and other stuff within the counterculture, but compared to other bands people rarely start fights with us because of that. Most folks tend to ignore the political side of us.

Bands like Dawn Rayd, Feminazgul, Underdark and Neckbeard Deathcamp are quite overt displays of looking to devalue or undermine the links between right-wing ideology and Black Metal; how important in the grand scheme of things do you think it is that the far-right doesn't have Black Metal as a musical safe-space?

Let's be realistic here, as much as I like the idea of left-wing bands undermining the rightwing ideology with the black metal scene, that's wishful thinking. Although some of the bands you mentioned are happening within the wider black metal scene they are also more connected to a new Black Metal wave thats a thing on his own. Right-wing folks had a lot of time to build their infrastructure and networks within the scene and they won't be gone that easy. Still, I agree that speaking out and trying to change people's minds is as important as ever.

Right-wing populism has primarily taken the form across Europe of racism and strong anti immigration policies, allowing far-right ideologies to establish an easy route into politics despite not offering much else in terms of policies. From your personal experiences, have you seen right-wing ideologies permeate into other areas of society?

Well, like most European countries Germany has seen a rise in right-wing ideology too in the last 10 years. While the 2000s had a more left-wing centered status quo, things have gotten back to the pogrom mentality of the early 90s. While it was unthinkable to stand up for clearly racist views 10 years ago, it seems to gain much higher acceptance these days. People really accept it as a new political mainstream and you know we already had that in the past and that didn't work so well for people. It's bad especially in the former GDR part of Germany where the major german right-wing party "Alternative for Germany" (AFD) is really having a run with putting straight up neo-nazis into political positions. I see a lot of change on a communal level as far-right small-time politicians gain more access to decision making positions.

That, in the end, will bring significant changes to the education, culture and social sectors that are already suffering for years. And don't make me start on the overall racism that refugees in Germany are experiencing. Where it is at least kind of safe in the bigger cities, it is outright dangerous in the more rural parts of Germany. These are grim times and I really hope this mindset will leave peoples head without causing even more tragedies. But that's wishing.

Closer to home, the UK saw right-wing sentiments reinvigorated off the back of the Brexit referendum. As someone who continues to see the UK's act of exiting the European Union as an act of national self-harm that was fuelled more by political disenchantment, rather than any legitimate disdain with the EU itself, I'd be keen to hear what your thoughts are on the matter.

I agree with what you said. This will probably hurt the UK more than it helps it. This concept of self-isolation (how ironic in these covid-19 times) can be seen in the US too as well as in other countries. Every woman/man for himself isn't it? Where it was a thing to connect and unify people in the past it seems that ripping them apart and fueling their fears is what is happening now. I pity you people for this clown of a Prime Minister you have to endure and I have to admit I really can't understand how people in the UK could seriously think this guy would be a great idea. But as it seems and it would be funny if it weren't that dead serious,

some of the important political figures of the last decade seem to be straight out of that idiocracy movie. But yes, people are fed up politics. How can you blame them when you have to live through capitalism each day right? It is the same everywhere in the western world. The same disenchantment can be seen in Germany and thats why the right is on its way up.

Unfortunately, the last decade has seen a gradual increase in far-right activity; in the UK the far-right became one of the more prominent terrorist threats, with similar unrest across Europe. Do you see an end to it?

We had our share in right-wing terror. It seems it was just yesterday when the NSU (National Socialist underground) self destructed and a wave of covering up had begun. In Germany, people are really sensitive when it comes to terror from the right. It doesn't exist, you know. People tend to think that they are better than their grandmas and grandpas in the third Reich but they aren't. Facts and evidence disappear, law enforcement and military are infiltrated by neo-nazi cells, there are villages completely in vรถlkisch / neo-nazi hands, the state still acts like we don't have a problem with a terror from the right. When I write it sure sounds like a great idea for a dystopian film but thats really happening and I think that it has just started.

You have previously spoken about Mental Health and how your work with Ancst acts as somewhat of a release/catharsis. A lot of artists have used their art to express their struggles or state of mind, from a listener's standpoint though to what extent do you think people are tuned in with the subject of mental health?

I think the music itself can totally act as the vent. I mean it works for me as a listener. It's fast, it has energy, it's angry and on the other side, it can be monotonous, calm and sad like our ambient stuff. I listen to music to fight stress and depression, although I have to admit that some music just worsens my depression (I love treha sektori but I just wanna die when I listen to him when I'm really depressed - don't try at home). The same goes for lyrics. They helped me as a teen / grown up to not feel alone with the terror in my head. Its good to know that there are people out there that feel the same, right? I just scratch the mental health topic in my lyrics tough. It feels weird to really talk directly about it and to open up in front of listeners that to me are strangers. I tend to write cryptical stuff to cover that up.

When writing music as a release, do you find the process leaving you vulnerable or uncomfortable when trying to explain potentially complex emotions?

No not all. I think of it as a much more satisfying, releasing experience. It's fun and although I sometimes turn my insides out it doesn't fuck me up, you know. Like I said, it really feels weird to have strangers go through my lyrics and see what's inside me. I think thats when I feel vulnerable.

Have you noticed any change in how mental health is perceived in the last 5 or so years?

Yeah totally. Everyone is more outspoken about it. It almost seems trendy. This process will have its ups and downs, I'm sure of it but overall breaking up the silence isn't a bad thing to begin with.

You were set to appear at Manchester Punk Festival this year, which has been postponed due to the current pandemic. The UK's media outlets are notoriously terrible at reporting on events in the UK and USA, but not really mainland Europe, how have things been in Germany?

The fun fact is that it is already the second time we cant play that festival and I really hope we will have another chance to do it, as I was really looking forward to it. Well, the situation here is that if you are a booker, festival promoter, rigger or anything else in the cultural sector, you are fucked. All the bigger festivals have been cancelled. There are no shows until the end of July and to be honest, I don't think that there will be any shows in autumn as well.

There could be a situation where smaller events are allowed but as of now, everything is off the table.

Whilst a lot of other events have been cancelled or postponed, there are still some Summer Festivals that seem keen on going ahead with them despite there being no promise that the situation will ease anytime soon. What is your view on the optimism of promoters and bands that remain confident that the matter will be resolved come Summertime?

Can't really say I blame them. For some folks that means losing their income and no chance to bring food to the table. It's a disaster for freelancers in the cultural sector. I understand that people still hold on to it. I'm not that optimistic. I just canceled our second tour this year as we speak. It sucks but there is nothing you can do. I'm just glad I don't have to rely on the music money as part of my income anymore, I would have starved by now.

You toured the UK a few years back; how did you find touring the UK and did you observe any differences between touring is like in the UK compared to mainland Europe?

To be honest it wasn't the best experience. We had our run-ins with bad promoters and violent audiences and can't really say we are really looking for another tour within England. Our experiences in Scotland were much much better tough.

There is a huge difference between UK shows and Mainland shows. I see that the DIY infrastructure is really different. Where you rely on pub gigs and commercial venues a lot of the mainland countries have youth centers, autonomous spaces, loads of legal and half legal smalltime venues, squats and so on. It's a much more different deal you start with when putting on a show. And believe me, we know. All folks involved with Ancst in the past and present had also been promoters for times in their lives. Some put on smaller shows, some put on really big commercial events. I see a huge difference in how promoters treat bands. It's not really common to get food, free drinks and a place to sleep in the UK, where on the mainland that's pretty standard. I also saw support bands drive 3 hours to play with us and getting nothing. I mean zero - no food, no drinks, no gas money, no place to stay - and they thought that it was normal.

Bands that just start out and play their first shows get better treatment over here. I also see a lot of gigs in the UK being centered around bar culture and that leads to drinking and drinking leads to fighting. It's not that we don't drink over here, we get shit faced too but the overall vibe I got from UK shows is that it is centered around selling booze and not selling culture. I wanna give some shout outs to Daran and Jill who have booked amazing shows for us in England and to Ross and Scumpulse for showing us how the Scots do it. If it weren't for them we would probably never ever want to return to your Island. I hope that doesn't sound too harsh, but I had times on tour in the UK where I just wanted to kill people.

You recently released your latest 7" The Darkening recently came out, have you got plans for the rest of the year?

All our tours are canceled so people really can't expect anything on that front but there will be more releases in 2020. I am still writing on that album that should be out in autumn and we will be putting out another split LP with our friends in scumpulse.

Other than that I should really record some more ambient stuff.

Anct's latest 7" "The Darkening is out now via their bandcamp linke along with the entirety of their back catalogue.

For more information, check out Ancst via the following links https://www.facebook.com/angstnoise/ https://angstnoise.bandcamp.com/

Must-Have releases

So last week we looked at Bridge Nine, one of 4 labels that encapsulated the punk/hardcore/emo vible in the mid-2000's alongside Victory and Ferret Records. Today we're looking at Trustkill, who essentially had metalcore locked down during that area.

Starting out as a zine in 1993, Trustkill branched into releasing music in 1994 with a Benefit compilation (Land of Greed... World of Need). It wasn't until 1999 that Trustkill became identifiable, with releases from Eigtheen Visions, Poison the Well, Walls of Jericho and Racetraitor laying the foundations to years of momentum.

Working closely with bands such as Bleeding Through, Hopesfall, Throwdown and Most Precious Blood, Trustkill became a focal point of a burgeoning hardcore and metalcore scene. Trustkill would also release DVD's from Hellfest (the American one) and the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, as well as their own a affordable CD and DVD samplers.

Whilst the shitty reputation of Victory Records at the time somewhat shielded Trustkill from a lot of shit, the label's growth became problematic and the rate of which bands citing problems with not being paid began ramping up; Hopesfall, Bleeding Through, Throwdown, Walls of Jericho, It Dies Today, and Poison the Well all being open in how Josh Grabelle (Trustkill's founder) had not paid them for prolonged periods of time and subsequently owed them all substantial amounts of money. Issues also started arising surrounding bands not having their travel paid for during extensive tours, leaving bands in problematic situations far from home, often taking loans out just to get home.

In 2010, founder and president Josh Grabelle walked away from Trustkill, rendering the label defunct and operating solely to administer the back catalogue. Josh cited an unsustainable and inversatile distribution agreement, coupled with the 2008 recession, as primary reasons for him walking away. He subsequently set up a new label, Bullet Tooth, which failed to capture the same momentum Trustkill have gathered as the recession shat all over anything decent from previous years.

For all the shit that was attached to them and their fall from grace, Trustkill did release a lot of incredibly influential records that fit nicely into the 2000's nostalgia most 30-year olds are currently suffering from. Here are a few warranting your attention, not necessarily favourites or classics, but releases that made their mark all the same.

This is Hell - Sundowning I am steadfast in my stance that this is the best Hardcore record of the 2000's and am not open to any assertion that this is not the best Hardcore record of the 2000's. The only gutting thing is that they were never able to capture that same sound on follow-up releases (albeit Misfortunes was exquisite). The fact they did a tour solely focused around Sundowning as an album is testimony to how good it was.

Eighteen Visions - Obsession Whilst they always fitted fairly safely into the metalcore genre, the reality of the situation was that they were gasping to be Motley Crue and unfortunately that showed in their follow-up Self-Titled Album which was equal parts teenage angst, hard rock and hairspray. This album did flirt a bit with the decadence they aspired to, but with songs like Tower of Snakes and Waiting for the Heavens, this is very much their apex work (albeit some people do get a bit coweyed over the previous album.

Bleeding Through - This is Love, This is Murderous If it wasn't for their use of breakdowns and their association with the hardcore/metalcore crowd, they would essentially be a metal band (and a pretty decent one too). They were always open about how all the different members were into their own styles and it showed (for better or for worse); their follow-up album "The Truth" was definitely the more successful and influential of their releases, but this album was Bleeding Through at their most Bleeding Through-esque. They released an album called Declaration years later which Devin Townsend produced and it was a shame their monentum had somewhat died off by then.

Throwndown - Vendetta The musical equivalent of angry gym-bro's who never got over emotional trauma from their parents, Haymaker wasn't without its charm but this album is a proper strong-john and "Burn" was sufficient enough to put this in the must-listen list over it's predecessor. They did a follow-up album called "Venom & Tears" and it was terrible (unless you like Pantera cover bands).

No surprises that the lead singer of Throwdown was an absolute Tank (albeit, not as tank as the frontman of from Harm's Way. Poison the Well - Tear from the Red Personally my favourite album by them is "You Come Before You", but A) That came out on Atlantic Records and B) Poison the Well fans typically consider Tear from the Red to be the better album. As a cornerstone of Trustkill during its early days, I couldn't keep Poison the Well out of this list even if I wanted to and this is arguably one of their stronger efforts.

Terror - One with the Underdogs There are people out there who probably would probably say this was a close tie with "Always the Hard Way" as far as early Terror goes, which is fair as you can't really go wrong with early Terror. Anyway this one was so spicy that Roadrunner picked up European distribution, acting as a far better gateway into hardcore than what was available at the time (remember this was around the time where Bullet for my Valentine was considered seriously hot-shit).

Also, I don't think enough of us take time to acknowledge that Todd from Nails used to be in Terror; he didn't play on any of their albums but still.

First Blood -Killafornia Bit of a dubious one, but I'm throwing it in there as it flows nicely as the frontman for First Blood is Carl Schwartz, the former bassist of Terror on "One with the Underdogs" / "Lowest of the Low". It's also probably the best example of tough-guy hardcore you'll see for this era too and I remember everyone getting disproportionately hyped for when they played with Agnostic Front in Bournemouth years ago.

Crisis benoit I have a mate who plays in an insanely good instrumental doom band, but also the side loves wrestling and powerviolence. It worked out well knowing him as he put me on to Crisis Benoit, one of the more legit hardcore/grindcore tributes to wrestling. I yearn one day for the term "Wrestleviolence" to become a thing, until then though I'll just be happy that these bands exist.

Anyway, Crisis Benoit actually toured the UK earlier this year, having the honor of a wrestling match happening before they headlined a show. I had a chat with Italy's masked marauders to see how they're doing.

Before we go any further; with the current pandemic still raging on, how are you guys coping? el T: Hi! Thanks so much for asking. Italy was one of the first countries to be affected by the pandemic. At the beginning, everyone had just understimated the situation before it became horrorific. A scenario of death and suffering. Luckily we are fine, but we miss a lot hanging out with friends, going to the concerts, to the gym and especially to the rehearsal room.

How have you been passing the time now that life is at a standstill? el T: Cooking pizza, playing silly and melancholic songs on acoustic guitar, growing moustaches, putting horse severed head in the bed of our enemies... just following step by step italian stereotypes. Ok, one of these is false. el C: Ah, watching again and again old horror movies.

How are you coping knowing only that WWE, AEW and Impact Wrestling are the only providers of regular Wrestling during the pandemic? Put off by empty arenas? el T: mmm i think that also the mexican federation Lucha Libre AAA is providing shows.

Regarding WWE above all, I must confess that I'm not a big fan anymore. I am not thrilled by their shows, but I am happy that backstage workers (technicians, stagehands, cameramen, etc...) don't lose their job. I'm old school, so I cannot conceive of wrestling shows without a crowd.

However, when profit wins over passion, it ceases to be pro wrestling and becomes only business & entertainment, so... the show must go on.

So, let's take it back to the beginning, what made you fall in love with Wrestling? el T: Once upon a time, during the Jurassic period, I fell in love with wrestling in 1989, I was fascinated by colorful hypertrophic monsters screaming loud on TV. I was at my friend's house and his father used to watch WWF shows on TV. There I saw promos of Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, Paul Bearer, The Undertaker, The Bushwhackers, Big Boss Man, Sgt. Slaughter, Ultimate Warrior, Andre The Giant, Demolition brothers, Natural Disasters and most of all, my favourite: Jake the Snake. In the early Nineties, wrestling was so popular in Italy. A second wave of fame came during the early 2000s... until the Benoit homicides/suicide, then all at once wrestling disappeared from tv and from the Italian mass culture. Before that, wrestling here was so popular that in 2003 CZW had a show in Tuscany (Italy). el C: I was ten years old. It was a late afternoon of a Saturday evening, in the summer 2003, i was watching boring Tv shows. My brother advised me to switch over to WWE because there was a giant fighting (I've always been fascinated by oversize people). Suddenly I get mesmerized

by Big Show who was throwing all opponents out of the ring. So in that moment my passion for wrestling started. I m a fanatic of wrestling shows, magazines, news and statistics overall.

During 2000's WWE was so popular, especially among kids... I remember that every day me and my friends tried to imitate the moves of our idols, hurting ourselves because we had no ring, just concrete floor.

Which promotions do you follow and who would you recommend for any readers who may not know much about Wrestling beyond The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin?

CB: Steve Austin and The Rock are two icons of mainstream professional wrestling. We think both deserve respect for their careers, and it could be a good starting point for a good talk about wrestling. We recommend to get lost in the web using Google search bar. Key words could be: Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, Zona23, Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, Game Changer Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling.

The search could range from Stu Hart, Mike Awesome, Terry Funk, Sabu, Hayabusa, Bruiser Brody, Masato Tanaka, John Zandig to Nick Gage, Dynamite Kid, Chris Benoit, Eddie Guerrero, Sandman, Tazz, Dean Malenko, Bret Hart, Shlak, Gypsy Joe, Von Erich family, The Original Sheik, Sabu ...

Crisis Benoit seems to play a lot about Deathmatch wrestlers and wrestlers who lean towards either a hardcore or stiff style, what draws you to hardcore wrestling above all else? el T: We both love pain, suffering, and blood in wrestling, movies and lyrics too. When I was a teen I started a fight because a guy said that Fulci was an amateur director. Lucio Fulci is a cult. We both believe in it, we are two fucking priests of Unholy Fulci Cult. We are two old school horror fanatics: Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, Gary Sherman, George Romero, William Lusting, Umberto Lenzi etc... So we just like the extreme in all its many forms. Personally, I grew up (and I am getting older) listening to Autopsy, Morpheus Descends, Anatomy (jap), Death, Suffocation, etc. More than deathmatch in itself, we are interested in exploring human extreme feelings. About lyrics, for exemple, the song "The Dungeon" (Icon Of Violence EP) is a gloomy story about Stu Hart (certainly not a hardcore wrestler). The violence unleashed by the tales about the dungeon as a training place inspired us with a dark text with Lovecraftian / King features. el C: We agree with the philosopher Bruiser Brody: "I believe in violence. I believe it's the one thing that's understood universally".

When you last toured the UK you had two wrestlers from RISE wrestling compete in a no-ring, no-rules deathmatch, how wild was that?

CB: There were three wrestlers: Michael Canden, Big Joe, Lou Nixon, plus Danny O'Doherty as announcer. They built up a perfect show. It was our first deathmatch, live.

We were in the front row, screaming and supporting every move. The wrestling show took place before our concert. So we played on blood, light tubes, thumbtackes... and we loved it! After the show, a guy of our crew found a piece of glass inside his eye. No panic... he was a paramedic.

We will always be grateful to Rise Underground Pro Wrestling for making our dream come true.

BestDeathmatch wrestlers of all time?

CB: Shlak, Gage, Zandig, Mondo, Necrobutcher, Nate Hatred, Original Sheik (he was the piooner).

The early days had some of the most fucked up weapons around, from weed-whackers to syringes.

What's the most fucked-up weapon you’ve seen in wrestling?

CB: A knife in New Jack's hand.

Have you ever seen anything in wrestling that you think just took it a bit too far?

CB: Bob Holly on Matt Cappotelli [Tough Enough III] With what's happened in the ring over the decades, do you think it's even possible for "Holy Shit" moments to exist anymore?

CB: Nowadays Holy Shit means Zona23. It's amazing!

By comparison, what is the stupidest thing you’ve encountered in wrestling? el T: Let me think... I saw tons of stupid gimmick, stupid matches, stupid attitudes, but I think the stupidest thing could have been giving to Owen Hart the Blue Blazer gimmick.

Owen Hart was a great talent, i mean... the brother of Bret Hart, the son of Stu Hart "the Patriarch"...

How someone could think it was a good idea to dress such a magnificent wrestler as a failed superhero? WWF/WWE is the number one in wasting the best talents on the planet.

You've written songs as tribute to the likes of Mankind, The Original Sheik, Sabu and Terry Funk, all of which were wrestlers who are famed for the amount of pain and damage they have taken over their careers. You also wrote about The Berserker, who had stints in All-Japan, AWA, WWF and WCW but never really achieved much, why write about him?

CB: Huss Huss!! Good question...

The song "The Berserker" is mainly about Bruiser Brody and only secondly about his tag team partner John Nord... but Berserker sounds really cool as track name.

What is the likelihood you would ever engage in a feud with fellow Wrestling-based hardcore band Eat the Turnbuckle, fronted by absolute madman Shlak? el C: Guns don't kill people, Shlak kills people! el T: I like Eat The Turnbuckle a lot. We are looking forward to book again U.S. tour (unluckly U.S. tour and Japanese tour in june were both postponed due to covid-19 pandemic) and hopefully to play together with E.T.T. and also to play during deathmatches (we planned to play in a UWF show). And we hope that when we will be able to come on tour in the US we will stay there long enough to see a GCW or H20 show.

For more information, check out https://www.facebook.com/crisisbenoit/

Monster-HeEl Mashup So Promoters throughout the ages love themselves a big man. Some are athletic, some are charismatic, some are a total package, for better or for worse they go on to get over and do good things.

Unfortunately Vinny Mac loves himself a big man and got distracted with another big-man which he thinks can dominate the competition, leaving all his previous pet-projects in a mire. Can you go find them before we forget them forever? Also, for some reason The Wall is in there too.

the wrong kind of Diva search Prior to the Women’s revolution in WWE, there were some REALLY forgettable names in the Diva’s division. Bet you can’t find them all without some help.

stop...... jobber time So after years of a “pin me, pay me� mentality, years of appearing on television solely to get destroyed and make someone else look good in the process, all the wrestling jobbers are hiding as they can’t stand to lose any more.

Do us a favour and round them up, WWE has another big guy with limited ring expertise that they want to put over.