Editorial, January 2019: RIP Intravenous Magazine 2013-2019

This is an extremely hard post to write especially coming so soon after one of our most successful free compilations too date... however I have come to the decision that after six years and 1787 articles, it is now time to end Intravenous Magazine as an active website. 

Many may have noticed that the frequency of posts has rapidly diminished in the latter half of this year, and this has been due to my own rapidly diminishing mental health over this period. When I started this site it was a new challenge and a middle-finger to the magazine that previously saw the majority of my journalistic output, Dominion, which halted suddenly and without explanation. Six years on and the challenge and enjoyment has become much harder, and the growth of the site has faltered as a result. So to me it feels like the right time to walk away. 

As IVM grew and I changed my day job to something more fulfilling, a lot of my own creative projects were sidelined, and since making the decision to put this site to bed I've felt a creative renewal that I'm manically channelling into lots of new projects. I hope those who have read, enjoyed, and contributed to the site over the past six years can understand and support this decision.

It may be that I resurrect IVM in the future perhaps, who knows? Or I may look to give my services to another publication after a sabbatical period. But in the meantime the site will remain as is in order to remain archive all of the hard work that has gone into it. 

I'll still be plugging the latest compilation on our facebook page so please check that out and any donations made will still go to DKMS UK to help fight blood cancer. 

There are some other great websites out there still flying the flag for our scene such as I Die: You Die, Brutal Resonance, Coma Music Magazine, Peek-A-Boo Magazine, Regen Magazine, Reflections Of Darkness and many others to name but a few that need your continued support. 

Goodbye and thanks for six years of making IVM happen.

- Sean M. Palfrey, Editor.

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Blood Pack Vol. 6.66 released!

It's that time of the year once again! A new year and a new compilation album celebrating our 6th birthday as a webzine. 'Blood Pack Vol. 6.66' is now available from our bandcamp page. It's been a lot of work and I just hope you all enjoy it, discover a new band, and then go and buy all their albums. The compilation is our biggest to date and features a massive 27 tracks including many exclusive or as yet unreleased tracks. The sixth and final free annual compilation album features the likes of Angelspit, Noir, IIOIOIOII, Flesh Eating Foundation, ßęđŧīmĕ Šŧōŗĩėş, Hardcore Pong plus many more exclusive and unreleased tracks from international gothic, industrial and electronic bands. It also comes with an A4 PDF booklet containing bios and links for all the bands who have kindly donated a track. To download it all you have to do is go to our bandcamp page here: https://intravenousmagazine.bandcamp.com/album/blood-pack-vol-666

As this is a *free promotional item, feel free to share this among your friends and family. However, please refrain from uploading this on to torrent or other free download sites. This is a free compilation available through our bandcamp page and will remain so. If you would like to share this album please use a link to our bandcamp page. Track List: 1. Angelspit – Tragic Sexy Muse (Intravenous Mix) 2. Noir – TimePhase (Die Sektor Remix) 3. Sine Division – Solitary Observer 4. Injustrial – Porcelain Doll (It's Not You It's Me Remix by The Gothsicles) 5. Lorelei Dreaming – Of Stars (Single Mix) 6. RCH IV – Road Opener 7. IIOIOIOII – Reunite 8. Deflexity – Reflections 9. BolPaVox – Deep Dance 10. May May Graves – Die Like It's The 80s (Intravenous Mix) 11. Flesh Eating Foundation Feat. JOHN 316 – Spinality (intravenous Version) 12. ßęđŧīmĕ Šŧōŗĩėş – ßąbęł 13. Miel Noir – From the Ashes (Crvor Martyrivm Remix) 14. TONTTU – Tonttuuden loputtomassa suossa soi pimeyden ääni 15. Veil Of Thorns – Something Passes Into View 16. Hardcore Pong – Space Course Golf Course (Intravenous Mix) 17. Howl – Squall 18. A Slice Of Life – Sweet Sin 19. The Mannequin Factory – I Found God (Intravenous Version) 20. Non-Bio – Believe 21. Humanfobia – Electronic Voice Phenomenon 22. Miss Ballistic – Scream (Intravenous Mix) 23. Dirty K – Provoked 24. Vlimmer – Moskenstraumen 25. Sugarplum Suicide – Burn Me Alive 26. Blood Magick – Your God Is Dead 27. Stahlschlag – Storm *Please note: We have now switched over to a Name Your Own Price model from now on - Don't worry, we're not charging you for a free download (that would be stupid!) - instead we're asking you to make a donation of just £1 which we will then be donating **DKMS UK (www.dkms.org.uk) a charity that is helping to fight blood cancer. If you don't want to donate, that is absolutely fine as well. We just saw this as an opportunity to something good. **We are not an official partner of DKMS, but we will be periodically donating the proceeds of this download compilation to them.

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FOR WHOM 'THE BELLS' TOLL

The strange thing about the history of the gothic movement in Britain is that this generally neglected and often forgotten cultural current has roots which go back centuries, crossing paths with other movements and art forms, many of which are long lost, misrepresented, or misunderstood. The role of gothic theatre in the formation of modern goth culture is one such example.

The second wave of British gothic culture effectively began with the first production of 'The Bells', at the Lyceum in London, in 1871. This single production was a key event in both the renaissance and eventual respectability of British theatre, but also indirectly laid the basis of twentieth century gothic. The fact that it is generally ignored these days, then, is a curious and unfortunate development.

'The Bells', a translation by Leopold Lewis of the 1867 play 'Le Juif Polonais (The Polish Jew)' by Erckmann-Chatrian, was first performed by Henry Irving in that production. Irving had taken over management of a failing Lyceum earlier that year. Irving, a renowned 'actor-manager' who took keen (some may say overbearing) interest in the running of the theatre and set the artistic direction of the productions, each of which would invariably star himself, was a huge star in the theatrical world at the time – but even he had his work cut out in turning around the fortunes of the Lyceum. There were many empty stalls when 'The Bells' made its debut. So the huge success of the production was, then, extremely timely.

The play itself deals with a fairly simple gothic trope: a wannabe Silesian Burgermeister who owns a tavern who kills a passing Jewish trader for his money, only to tormented by his guilt in the form of the sleigh bells of his victim. The ingredients of the play – cursed ambition, petit-bourgeois avarice, guilt, madness, and not a little anti-Semitism – were standard fare. But what was more unusual was the powerhouse, barnstormingly visceral performance that Irving's production gave. The histrionic, hammy performance by the Old Man was so electrifyingly emotive that it provided all the thrills and chills that a Victorian theatrical audience were craving; the third act of the production was essentially a showcase for Irving's singularly egomaniacial vision. It was, as Garth Marenghi would say, “raw, balls-to-the-wall horror”, and it was a smash hit. It ran for a spectacular 150 nights.

This production had a number of repercussions. It had the result of making Irving's career, and taking British theatre a massive step forward towards respectability; Irving would later become the first actor to be Knighted. It also rekindled the Victorian appetite for the macabre, and with it the next generation of gothic.

But probably most importantly it provided the basis for the figure that would dominate that next gothic wave. Irving's theatrical manager was one Bram Stoker, who would become so enamoured with the visceral performances Irving gave that he intended his new character – one Count Dracula - to be performed by him. Indeed, the first ever stage performance of 'Dracula' was a dramatised reading on stage at the Lyceum – and the description of the Count in Stoker's original novel, with his grey hair and 'aqualine nose', bears an obvious to the Old Man himself.

Where is that legacy now? Well, in one of those curiously self-defeating things that characterise the goth movement the Lyceum, after being derelict and then a bingo hall, is now showcasing 'the Lion King' on a daily basis whilst we were busy trying to get 200 bands in a small field in the midlands. Irving died at the Midland Hotel in Bradford, just a few miles from Goth City, although this fact in itself has also been largely ignored. 'The Bells' today is just a footnote in the backstory of modern goth.

But that's not important to dwell on at this time. What is important is to remember that ham pays, that audacity pays off, and that things begin. All the time, they begin.

Merry Christmas, gothics!

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ENOUGH TO WAKE THE LIVING

OK, stop that. Whatever you're doing. Yes, that. Stop whatever it is your doing, and what's this.

In the balmy summer of 1954 the prime time variety showcase of American comedian Red Skelton boasted three special guest stars in a spooky, elongated skit. Lon Chaney Jr, firmly established as one of the few bonafide US horror stars of the post-war era and still a much-loved celebrity; Vampira, at that point still the macabre host of a horror showcase TV show; and Bela Lugosi, his career at an all-time low, struggling to resurrect his career. As a slice of timeless gothica, it is irreplaceable, uncanny, and perfect.

Beginning with a scene of Lugosi watching the start of the show on a small television, it moves on to the then-standard format of a corporate sponsor introducing the show (in this case, Geritol). Announcing that Red Skelton will be starring in 'Dial B For Brush', it sets off into an opening gag where Skelton is offered a job as a door-to-door brush salesman on wages of $12 a week, with $15 a week deductions (“Sure I'll take it, I need the money!”) and sent on the worst sales job purely to get him out of the picture.

Cut to a spooky castle laboratory, and Lugosi in lab coat singing jollily as he sharpens his tools. Examining the sleeping girl on the slab, he laments “They don't make gurls like dis anymooor!”. The wolfman (his 'half brother/half wolf') is Chaney, gurning comically through oversized teeth. Mistreated, he's keen to make it up to Dr Lugosi - “Didn't I get your lunch from the blood bank?”. Lugosi explains his plan to place a 'new, unused brain' into the body of a robot, to unlock the secrets of the universe.

Skelton arrives at the door, and is promptly mailed by Chaney. “This is going to be an easy sale!”, he yelps cheerily. As they are sizing him up the slab appears again, the woman screaming unprompted. “Don't ad lib, kid – you're among stars!” Determined to make the sale, Skelton exclaims “I never say die!”, to which Lugosi and Chaney reply in unison “...but we do!”. Drugged, Skelton falls unconscious, Lugosi dances and sings “It's so peeeecceful in de graaaveyaaard!”, and part one of the skit is over.

The second part begins with dancing skeletons, which look quite impressive even today, before Skeleton awakes in a graveyard with Lugosi and Chaney. “Where am I? Pasadena?” Then, stage left, enters Lugosi's 'half-sister' Vampira who instantly lets rip a characteristic shriek. Spotting some new blood in the water in the form of Skelton, she invites him to call her 'after he's dead'. Skelton is unconvinced by her advances - “This is a physical impossibility” (we've all been there). Subsequently hypnotised by Vampira, Skelton is taken to the lab in the graveyard.

After the transformation, Skelton behaves less like a wise god but as a small child – cue much corpsing (no pun intended!) amongst the cast. Lugosi implores him – “Give me the information! I must have the information!”, and when he can't hear Skelton's reply Lugosi looks confused, misses his line, and everyone corpses again. Skelton chases them around the lab, amidst many groans and wails, and Vampira emerges from a slab in the wall to exclaim “Be quiet! You're making enough noise to wake the living!” And then, stage right, enters Geritol-man again to bring proceedings to a close.

It's frenetic 20 minutes of chaos, chills, and sheer joy. Not only are the characters smiling as they perform their macabre work, but the actors are too – it's a wonderful slice of spooky from the golden age of American gothic, and after watching it this terrifying world doesn't seem so bad.

So, yes. Stop whatever it is you're doing, and watch this. After all, it's so peaceful in the graveyard...

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Front Line Assembly To Release New Single featuring Robert Görl of D.A.F.

The legendary Front Line Assembly returns with the release of their crushing new single "Eye On You," taken from the forthcoming album "Wake Up The Coma” coming in early 2019. Featuring Robert Görl of the pioneering German band D.A.F. along with smashing remixes from Terence Fixmer and Orphx. This single will be released by Metropolis on November 16th.

https://www.facebook.com/frontlineassembly/
http://www.frontlineassembly.com/

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COSEY FANNI TUTTI ANNOUNCES NEW SOLO ALBUM, ‘TUTTI’

COSEY FANNI TUTTI announces the release of her second solo album, TUTTI, out on Conspiracy International on 8 February 2019.

TUTTI is comprised of eight soundscapes: an audio self portrait comprising of manipulated sound recordings from Cosey’s life, music and art: “It’s the only album I’ve made that is an all encompassing statement expressing the totality of my being. A sense of the past in relation to the present and everything in between.”

These eight pieces were originally conceived as the soundtrack to the autobiographical film ‘Harmonic Coumaction’, and performed live in February 2017, part of a series of events that accompanied the COUM Transmissions retrospective which opened Hull UK City of Culture 2017. Later that year, ‘Harmonic Coumaction’ was presented as an audio-visual installation for Cosey Fanni Tutti’s solo exhibition at Cabinet Gallery, London.

Cosey Fanni Tutti explains: “Working on the COUM Transmissions exhibition also coincided with writing my autobiography - collating archive material and re engaging with my past. My work is a continuum, the past feeding the present and vice versa. The album is an interpretation of my past and present, of my understanding the shifting perceptions of how they inform one another. One form creating another through a metamorphic process.”

On TUTTI, the music has been updated and enhanced with elements of the original tracks re-recorded and further processed specifically to create a unique stand-alone document, separate to the live performance and installation.

Recorded at Cosey Fanni Tutti’s studio in Norfolk, the album, as on her debut release, Time To Tell, merges Cosey’s art activities with her exploration of sound: The album’s autobiographical theme is not locked into any specific time or place, the ‘voices’, instruments and sounds together span decades of my life, music and art. In this context my name 'TUTTI’ shifts from its role as a noun to perfectly represent the concept of the album, also acting as sign for me the artist.

TUTTI is Cosey Fanni Tutti’s only solo album release since 1982’s Time To Tell. Time To Tell was recently given its first release on vinyl, on a long awaited official deluxe edition. The interim years between solo releases has seen a blisteringly prolific output as an artist and musician. Renowned for her art, her work in the sex industry, as co-founder of Industrial music and Throbbing Gristle, and her pioneering electronic music solo and as Chris & Cosey, Carter Tutti and Carter Tutti Void, she has created throughout with the motto “my life is my art, my art is my life”. 

Cosey’s autobiography ART SEX MUSIC was published to worldwide acclaim by Faber & Faber in 2017, a Japanese edition has just been published with further translations and an audio book to follow.

TUTTI TRACKLISTING

Tutti

Drone

Moe

Sophic Ripple

Split

Heliy

En

Orenda

Pre-order: https://cargorecordsdirect.co.uk/products/cosey-fanni-tutti-tutti

http://www.coseyfannitutti.com/

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SEER signs with Artoffact Records.

Formed in the Autumn of 2014, doom metal outfit Seer have curated an eclectic sound across three EPs and a full length record, punctuating traditional doom and glacial sludge with both clean and harsh vocals, folk passages and ambient meditations. The five-piece, Vancouver-based quintet comprises vocalist Bronson Lee Norton, guitarists Peter Sacco and Kyle Tavares, bassist Josh Campbell, and drummer Madison Norton. Seer cite bands like Black Sabbath, Candlemass, Blue Oyster Cult, and King Crimson as the pillars of their sound.

As with any strong music scene, the one Seer finds itself in draws its strength from the musicians who inhabit multiple projects, often diverse in genre and atmosphere. Seer members also play in Wormwitch, Empress, and many others, making for a brimming cauldron of creativity.

The current Seer sound incorporates black metal and NWOBHM influences, venturing into territory occupied by groups like Judas Priest, Queensryche, Taake, Bathory, The Ruins of Beverast, and Dissection. In 2018, the band recorded their latest, a record dubbed simply Vol. 6, and signed with Toronto-based Artoffact Records (Dead Quiet, Xandria, The Sorrow, Front Line Assembly). The album was produced by Jordan Koop (Wolf Parade, Lié, The Courtneys), with stunning cover art by Caué Piloto (Un, Jupiterian), and mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust).

Kyle Tavares expands on the album’s themes: “Vol. 6 tells the story of a monk who belongs to a monastery built upon the tallest mountain on the planet. This monk has been chosen to make pilgrimage to the peak of the mountain where lies the power to return their world to a golden age long past. This pilgrimage is taken once each decade, and no monk has ever returned from his journey and completed the quest. The main theme is dogma and the consequences of accepting rigid principles one must not stray from.”

SEER:

Bandcamp / Facebook

ARTOFFACT: 

Bandcamp / Facebook

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Engram release debut album 'Das Kapital'

Martin with Attrition and John mostly under his own name. Together they have concocted an atypical mix of minimal wave, body music, soundtrack tonalities and lush melodies, bound with washes of dark electronics.
In 2018 a wheel turns full circle and a partnership forged 22 years ago is finally fulfilled.
Back in 1996 the original version of What Am I? was released in demo form on US label Silber Records compilation, Alleviation.
In 2013 the project was consolidated with a remodelled version of What Am I?
c/w the compelling atmospherics of Law of Betrayal and Hi Teikei No.
In 2015 the next single arrived and Karl Marx was given a new platform on the electro dancefloor.
'Leninism, Stalinism, Revolution...'
An 80's influenced political marriage of minimal synth wave and dark electronic rhythms & textures.
'Invasion, Infiltration, Intimidation...'
"A crisply chilling political observation..." Hot Music Live 

Produced by Martin Bowes & John Costello
Mixed and Mastered by Martin Bowes at The Cage Studios, Coventry, England. 2013 – 2018
Cover image by Rainer Ganahl

ENGRAM Photos by Antony Weir.
A limited edition, signed numbered digipack...
https://engrammusik.bandcamp.com/album/das-kapital

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SHADES OF HELL

When does horror become horrific? This a question that has been on my mind recently. When do the conceptual, primal horrors of the word and the film become the kind of horror that actually keeps us awake at night?

The culture of terror has always been concerned with the demons of our subconscious, or their manifestations in modern society. So when we talk about monsters, we are actually talking about science, and passions, and fear, rather than actual beasts. A dragon itself isn't as terrifying as the emotions and projections behind it. The witch, the wizard, the ogre, the ghost, the dungeon; these are all expressions of other ideas. By expressing them we exorcise our own negativities, either by catharsis or by turning them into thrills, chills, or laughter.

The horror is the horror; but it is not horrific. The horrific relates to the real pain of real people the actual movements of power and experience that render us powerless. We can all probably recount many examples of the horrific from our own lives, where the reality of pain and suffering makes the memory hard to withstand. These horrors are not entertainment; they are sobering, disorientating, and without comfort.

Furthermore, there is an increasing amount of the horrific in the world today. From the separation of families, the uncovering of abuse on a massive scale, the rise of extremist street violence, and the election of authoritarian misrulers the world over, we are seeing an invasion of the horrific into the world on a massive scale. Fear of disorder, oppression, violence are filtering through into the collective subconscious of society. What can Pennywise or Jason Vorhees do that Donald Trump and Jair Bolsonaro would not?

It is no wonder, then, that Halloween, that evening of escapism and the macabre, has turned into a month-long festival of spooky: as the horrific grows, horror becomes all the more important. As the real world becomes more and more horrific, the exorcism of our personal demons becomes the preferable alternative to misery. And often, a pretend hell is preferable to a hell on earth.

So, get carving those pumpkins; practice your hexes; and sharpen your scythes. We may be needing the cast our own spells soon enough. And, Happy Halloween!

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CALL THE SHIP TO PORT: THE AMPHI FESTIVAL OPENING EVENT 2019

The seventh edition of our famous opening event "CALL THE SHIP TO PORT" sets off on 19. July 2019. Aboard Europe's biggest domestic eventship, the MS RheinEnergie, we invite you again to start the Amphi-weekend with an enchanting evening cruise along the Rhine.

No matter if you choose to enjoy the relaxed atmosphere at the promenade deck with cocktails, snacks and various other refreshments or to rock out to the concerts at the fully air-conditioned main hall, CALL THE SHIP TO PORT remains the ultimate overture to the Amphi Festival weekend.

Speaking of the bands, we once again focused strongly on presenting you a well-paired selection, to make you bust a move instantly! As headliners expect nobody less than the British synthpop-veterans MESH. Also look forward to masterclass electropop with  SOLAR FAKE as well as the ever impressive DIORAMA, whose songs unleash an electrifying energy on stage.

S TRICTLY LIMITED TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE AT AMPHI SHOP!

Strictly limited to only 1333 pieces, the highly coveted CALL THE SHIP TO PORT 2019 tickets are now exclusively selling at the Amphi Shop at www.amphi-shop.de. As always the CALL THE SHIP-TICKETS are delivered together with an Amphi Festival 2019 weekend-ticket!

In case you already bought an Amphi Festival 2019 weekend-ticket earlier, we then give you the alternative to buy the CALL THE SHIP-UPGRADE. The upgrade provides only admission to CALL THE SHIP TO PORT and not the Amphi Fest itself. A small hint: the shop also allows to combine the CALL THE SHIP-UPGRADES with Amphi/E-Tropolis 2019 combi-tickets!

In any case we recommend to get your tickets soon. Last time CALL THE SHIP TO PORT was booked out after just a few weeks.

For more info on CALL THE SHIP TO PORT please head over to www.amphi-festival.de/calltheshiptoport.html

CALL THE SHIP TO PORT 2019

19.07.2019 - MS RheinEnergie | Cologne

(The Amphi Festival Opening Event)

Line-Up: MESH + SOLAR FAKE + DIORAMA

Boarding: 7:00 pm | Departure: 8:00 pm

Tickets: www.amphi-shop.de
Info: www.amphi-festival.de/calltheshiptoport.html

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