Letter from the Editor So I recently moved from my home in Edinburgh back into my parent's house in the US of A so that's why this issue is a month late and a bit different. Once I get a scanner, it will be back to piecing together bits of paper. I much prefer this as an art project than showing my inability at graphic design. This has been a very difficult transition so please understand the reasons for this being a very different issue =) The good news? This issue comes out with a link for a free download compilation of bands featured in DeathRat issues! Check the link below for your download! Hannah
Madame B Noisi(h)er Silence In this musical installment by Madame B, we begin the journey with some kicking drum and bass that leads us to the familiar voice screaming in the track Noisy Silence. I found the drums on this album to be much stronger than the previous record “Insid(h)er ”, which is a nice addition to the music and makes it even more powerful. It is fitting that the covers of both albums are black and white because that is ver y much how Madame B’s music comes across when having a listen. There are tracks on this record like Not Even My Enemy, which make you feel like you are drowning, and then you go straight to the next track , Little Boxes Cover that sounds more like a deadly nurser y rhyme. This Wall will Fall is an up-tempo track keeping in line with the minimalist
sound but still adding something extra to the record. This album is ever y bit as fantastic as Insid(h)er, which was reviewed in length as the featured album of Issue 3. Check out this brilliant ar tist and her free music at Zorch Factor y Records.
News Break! New album in October! Keep an eye out for another review!
Leper Beautiful Grey Day EP This two track EP by Leper has the same original beauty that has come to be expected of their work. With Skot Shaw’s pained vocals and Otto’s mad skills on guitar, there is nothing that can stop the Chicago band from sounding perfect. Jet Black has gorgeous lyrics and beautiful harmonies, keeping deep and powerful instrumentation that makes this track easy to listen to over and over without getting bored. The second track on the album is I’m No Longer Afraid to Sleep which begins acoustic with stunning violin. Though the vocals are the
same, the sound is far more peaceful than most Leper songs until the chorus. This EP is free and I demand you check it out! Your ears will never be the same!
March Violets Love Will Kill You EP
Now available for free at Pledge Music, this five track EP from the March Violets is a fantastic taster for the first full length album that will be out later this year. Beginning with the track , Road of Bones, with a dance wor thy drum track and the same great harmonies that we have come to expect from the Violets, it is a per fect opening to the Love Will Kill You EP and includes the title lyrics. We move on from this to the second song, London’s Drowning, which is a bit more Specimen-esque in the verses and has an extremely Batcave sound. There is also a fantastic bass solo that gives the track a varied edge. Dandelion King is the third track on the EP and begins rather quietly with a near acoustic guitar and light electronics which kick in a bit as the song continues. It isn’t quite the Post-Punk dance anthem that many of the March Violet’s songs are, but it has some of my favourite chorus vocals, which are provided with the layering of Arch Violet and Rosie Garland’s vocals as with most of their tracks. In spite of being a little different, it is a lovely track and lyrically I absolutely love it. At number four we have what is quite possibly my favourite song ever by the March Violets, Little Punk Thing. Quite frankly, you just have to listen to it. There is so much to it that I honestly don’t know how to break it down but it is obviously a ver y punk track but with ver y little tweaking to the vocals to keep the reverb infused post-punk sound and Rosie’s almost taunting “Hey, you, watcha gonna do?” during the chorus. The final track to this EP is We Are All Gods II. This is probably my least favourite track on the EP, but those more inclined to goth-industrial sounds may enjoy it. It is a bit monotone
throughout the song but it has a nice relaxing quality that makes it still enjoyable to listen to.
DRUNkEN C Dreamville
This album is fantastic for those inclined to the lo-fi sound. Similarly to Madame B, DRUNkEN C is a female solo artist from France who allows her
artistic nature to influence her deathrock sound. The melodies are beautiful and the instrumentation well executed. The first two tracks, Soul Empty and Mary is Dead Since... are great openings and could both be used in any indie movie you like and have a great atmosphere to them. By the third track you realise that the vocals are not from any average-voiced
female, but rather low and melodic with amazing tone quality. It is the chorus of this track, A Disrespectul Summons, that I find to be the most beautiful on this track and it's great because the verses are a bit harsher and lead you into something totally new and separate, but still fitting. While these tracks are the highlights for me, the whole album is beautiful and
very European. It can be found for free on Zorch Factory Records and you can hear the track “DreamEvil” on this month's compilation album.
Februus Februus Hates You EP I can best describe Februus as successfully doing what every industrial metal band has attempted to do and failed at. I can also say that it is music that will wake you up. Whether you are in a really good mood, full of energy, or a really bad mood and you feel like smashing stuff, this band is perfect. The feminine vocals of Rebecca Perchard are a fantastic contrast to the synths, drums, bass, and guitar that make this five piece so brilliant. We've all heard covers from Nightmare Before Christmas, lonely female singers with their covers of “Sally's Song”, etc, but you've never heard “This is Halloween” like the version these guys do. Check it out on youtube and you will be surprised by the awesomeness of their skills.
The EP “Februus Doesn't Love You Anymore” is six songs of pure synth rock energy. The hit on here has to be song 2, Man Machine. If you hear no other song the rest of the year, just make sure you hear this one. It never fails to put me in a good mood and would be a total hit in Goth clubs for getting people on the dancefloor. There is definitely a male/female contrast to the music between the hard and the soft. The piano of “Their Children are Normal' is another highlight on this EP and it is made even more beautiful by the drums accompanying throughout. There's not much more I can really say because it would just be me repeating words like 'awesome', 'energetic' and 'gorgeous' so I think you should just listen for yourself.
Red Lipstick Death The Live Recordings If you are into the deathrock scene then you may have heard of Red Lipstick Death. If you are into the Christian Goth scene, you will definitely have heard of Red Lipstick Death. While this band is no longer together, their masterful music still lives on and among many of the people I have spoken to in my quest to find more Christian deathrock bands, there's no one quite like these guys. I get the impression that these guys would never admit it, or perhaps they simply don't realise how much they are loved because the Christian goth culture as well as the deathrock scene is so spread out. Either way, Christian or not, their music is relevent and downright awesome. It has all the makings of a good deathrock band, with heavy bass, Lanthier-like vocals, and guitar settings that take you somewhere else. I highly recommend these guys! Patches! Custom Patches at great prices for your band, just email thebatgirl@live.co.uk for a quote!
If you would like to buy paper copies of the fanzine, the prices are as follows in US Dollars: 1 copy- $3 5 copies- $14 10 copies- $25 If you would like to advertise, your advert will run for three issues and cost: 1/4 page- $7 1/2 page- $10 full page- $13 Continuation of The Hungr y Gorge 16th of February Following the completion of the upper torso, which I keep preserved in a solution I have created and placed in the freezing garden, I have decided it is time to resurrect my wife. It was going to be a while before I began this experiment, not until I had completed this creature. But I feel it is time to begin. I have little choice in the matter. I want to complete her while her bones are still reasonably intact. The preservation solution is beginning to wear off after fourteen years. But the complexities do not end there. evening that haunts me.
I had a queer dream last
The heavy drapes blocked out the sun. There was a dim light in the ceiling that provided just enough light for scanning the shelves for books and authors. The only other light was a small reading lamp that rested on the desk in between the covered windows. In the middle of the room was a loveseat and a chair, both covered in heavy, floral-print fabric. There was a small table in the spacious room joining the two seats for an intimate setting for reading. It was my precious library. In the centre of the table sat one lone book.
Whilst
William Blake is my Victoria's favourite person to read, this was the book she would get her answers from. I watched as my mind focused in on my scientific journal. Here, in this journal, I have recorded all of my experiments and breakthroughs. This book would be my defense or my condemnation. There was an atmosphere suggesting that Victoria didn't know if I was guilty or not. She hadn't read the journal yet, she much preferred obsessing over it. She entered the room through the large French doors and looked at the walls, wishing she could read all the books at once. But her attention was immediately captivated by the book on the table. It was mid-day and that strange, yet handsome creature of the night was still asleep (he was living though, and I had succeeded). He wouldn't wake for hours yet, she knew. So she opened the pages and listened to the sound of the navy, cracked binding. This was the most horrific of all the books in the library. This, the account of my creation, my mad experiments. This was it. My darling daughter looked at the first twenty pages of illustration. These pictures show each step in the process of creating a human or bringing one back to life as the case may be. Victoria stared at the drawing of sharpened canine teeth. This page, which exists in this book, holds outlines of those I inserted in the mouth of my creature's mouth to allow him survival. Yes, to my death, and account of expression
daughter, this was a horrific book indeed. Life, the need for blood all wrapped up into one man's immortality. And in many ways, I saw by the on her face, I had succeeded.
She spoke allowed, "He tried to be God, to say who lived and who died. But in the end, he was the one whose mortality overtook his morality." This was the only line of dialogue and it haunts me still. For the first time since my apparent death, Victoria began to resent me for my selfishness. It seemed strange that this
little book which holds all my dreams and fears and madness, could bring her to feel such anger toward the only person who truly cares for her. The dream version of my daughter looked up, as if she knew some deep secret. Like she was answering my thoughts. Like there was someone else who loved her. Someone I didn't know about. She closed the book with a thud, wanting to stop before she discovered what she already knew. I, her selfish father, had murdered a girl. The man was just an experiment for a much larger project...to resurrect her mother, Charlotte, the woman I loved enough to die for. To kill for. But I needed parts. It was only a dream, but I fear the truths that are to come. >~< 13th of March I have hidden the body from Victoria so she cannot see her mother as the rotting corpse she currently is, but am keeping her preserved so I have less work to do once she is ready. But it is not just the rebirth of her mother I fear. It seems Victoria is lonely and has few friends. She won't even speak to me much anymore. She sits in her room and reads books, much like I did when I was her age. >~< 23rd of August Two months away before I will complete the experiment on my man. I must get back to work! >~< 6th of October I am to be hanged tomorrow. For grave-digging, I say. Victoria found out about her mother the moment she heard I was condemned to death, the day of her birthday no less. So tonight, I shall bring life to Markus. Charlotte is not ready, though I would prefer to leave my daughter in her hands...
...He is alive! I have succeeded! I have done it! The creature is in there now, squirming to life. I cannot die tomorrow, for tonight I am Go The Local Newspaper (Ukraine) A Mad Murderer 6th of October 1883 Scientist and Madman, Lord Peter Blakely of London, England, has been charged with numerous accounts of grave digging, blasphemy, and even murder. After discovering his attempts to reanimate the dead, evidence was found that suggested Lord Blakely murdered a local female, Mikhail Shamshur, aged 24, to use the body as that of his deceased wife, Charlotte Blakely, who died at said age. Mikhail was unable to do anything in defense as Lord Blakely struck her from behind. He kept at it until he was certain she was dead. Once charged and told of his offences, Lord Blakely confessed everything and is to be hanged tomorrow. Blakely currently remains in his home under house arrest where the law enforcement guards. >~< A Madman's Murder 8th of October 1883 The execution of Lord Peter Blakely was set for yesterday at half five in the evening at the gallows. However, yesterday morning, as he was to be taken and given his last rights, his home was discovered to contain only his dead body and his science notes which were given to his daughter, Victoria.
DeathRock Dollars Creative Ideas on a budget Batcave batWings To make your own batwings, you need strong, bendy wire and tights. You can also use wire hangers if you have any lying around. There are a million tutorials online you can watch but here are some simple instructions: 1.) Bend the wire to a bat wing shape and then do the mirror image for the other wing. 2.) Stretch the tights from the far outer corner of the wing to the inner corner. To make proper bat cave batwings, use a layer of fishnets then another layer of ripped black tights.
3.) Once both wings are covered, wrap then inner corners in what’s left of the tights and, with craft glue or a hot glue gun, glue the inner corners together and wrap them in black ribbon with glue. Here is a pair of faerie wings I’ve done
Zephyr Elf Alternative Online Icon...with Tentacles
Could you tell us a bit about how you started being photographed for fashion and art? Actually, this is a bit of a naughty story! During high school, my best friend and I would rather dress up and skip school- preferring to go to the city for food and shopping than
sitting around in stuffy study lessons. We never missed an art or photography lesson though, I’ll have you know! But I digress, we were sitting at a café, when a shy girl by the name of Cyndal approached me and said that I had the craziest style and that she would love to photograph me some time. Naturally, I was totally flattered and took her up on her offer. To this day, I still count her as a dear friend of mine and am grateful to say it was her guts to talk to me that really started my modelling. After I shot my first set with Cyndal, I uploaded the images to ModelMayhem.com and the rest is history ;) How has your fashion developed over the years? Gosh, I would definitely say I have changed a whole bunch of the years! I am a chameleon of sorts and I live for change and evolution. I don’t think I could list the styles I have emulated over the yearsduring my teens I LOVED goth fashion, and took influences from everything from rockabilly to deathrock. I lived in Japan for a year when I was 15, and I would say that experience definitely moulded my style identification and tastes. I will admit to a brief Kawaii period, but the photos are top secret and embarrassing! ;) This past year has been really important for me stylewise. I had the realisation that I should just wear what makes me happy, rather than trying to pigeonhole mysElf to one sort of style. My wardrobe hates me for it, but I couldn’t be happier What have been some of the best photo shoots you have done?
Honestly, I think I would have trouble listing them! I have enjoyed every single shoot I have ever been on- I love my job, I love to help people create art and madness, and I love spending time with kindred souls who see the world through the same pair of glasses. I don’t think I could ever pick just one, but the work I did with Kimothy will always be fresh in my mind. I don’t think we’ve ever worked together and NOT created a huge, goopy tactile mess of conceptual awesomeness :D When did you start getting body modifications and what attracted you to them? I’ve been intrigued with modifying my body since I was a wee girl, reading my parents’ National Geographic magazines about tribespeople with their wonderful stretched body parts and ritual scarifications. I was obsessed with the idea of putting my fingers through my earlobes and used to wish that my flesh was clay so I could mould it to however I saw fit. I had to wait til I was 16 before I could get my first body piercingmy septum. The moment I felt the needle slip through my skin, while buzzing with the adrenaline being pumped around my body a million miles a second was when I realised that modifying my body was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life One thing that has made you very unique are your ears. How was the process of surgery and what has been the general response in regards to being photographed? Thank you! I love my ears dearly- they are definitely worth every second of pain I went through to achieve such a surreal look! The procedure is quite straightforward, though I had to undergo it twice before my ears would hold together. Slivers of skin and cartilage are removed from your ear, which is then folded over and secured in place with sutures. Honestly, the stitches drove me more mad while healing! People are very lovely about my mods, that said, I have had a few photographers get kind of bitchy and insinuate that they would need to ‘photoshop my ears back to normal’ if I wished to work with them. Needless to say, in order to work successfully with me, a vague understanding of my decisions is required, and I sent them packing! Are you planning on getting any more (what some would call ‘extreme’) modifications?
Definitely! My body is a forever changing canvas, and I’d love to emulate that to the fullest extent that I can. I plan on implants, suspensions and maybe some scarification if I can stop being so scared of scalpels! I am getting my tongue resplit and my right earlobe scalpelled in the near future, but who knows after that! :D Apart from being an online fashion icon, you have a fantastic blog. How has it been sharing parts of your story with total strangers and what have been some highlights and some of the complications of the journey? Oh thank you so very much! Honestly, it’s been surreal. My blog started out as a place where I could go, where I could write about what made me happy and have a place where I could vent what’s inside my head. It’s been amazing to share my stories, meet new people and have such a positive reaction to something that I honestly thought people would disregard. Naturally, there have been some dramas- bored people on the internet with nothing better to do than to hide behind their keyboards and try to take down someone who is obviously comfortable in their own skin. I don’t let it bother me too much- in fact, it’s almost flattering that people would spend their free time trying to get noticed! ;3 That said, I wouldn’t change it for the world. It’s through others ignorance and intolerance that I have met some truly amazing, creative and world changing people that I would be totally lost without ♥ Of course it must be asked, when did you fall in love with tentacles? Heheee! Have you ever read up on Octopus and other beautiful, tentacled critters? I did a project on a native Australian species, the Blue Ringed Octopus (one of my favourites), when I was eight years old. They are so fascinating! Honestly, I love every critter that is on this earth, but tentacles (and critters who rock them, of course), are just such a surreal and amazing adaptation. I don’t know what it is about them- I’m actually terrified of water! Anything else you would like to say to the readers? Awww shucks, I’ll try and keep it brief! ;) Thank you to everyone for supporting me and giving me the oppurtunity to share my life with you! Thank you for caring enough
about what I have to say that you would take the time to interview me, thank you for taking a moment to even skim through this! I send tentacled loveage to everyone! ♥!
Your Free Compilation! 1.) Zombie by Vexing Souls Vexing Souls are a Christian Goth-industrial band based in the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky region and I would like to dedicate the addition of this song to their bassist who recently passed away.
2.)Take Me Back by Februus Eccentric synth rock based in Edinburgh. 3.) Dreamevil by DRUNkEN C
Lo-Fi instrumentation and haunting vocals from France.
4.) Print Message Here (Kellen Remix) by Sacre Noir Lo-Fi electronica from Edinburgh with a creative edge.
5.) Truth is Addictive by The Batonist based
I'm still discovering my genre =) currently stateside in Washington.
6.) Immortal Restless Soul by Madame B Eerie post-punk from France.
7.) Somnium by Bat Nouveau
Australian deathrock (formerly Thirteen Bats).
8.) Desire by Pheonix Catscratch
Deathrock fivepiece from Athens, Greece.
9.) Things we Need to Buy or Steal by Escarlatina Obsessiva
Out of Brazil come this deathrock duo.
10.) Death Jack (Live) by Red Lipstick Death Christian deathrockers from the US of A