Rocktober! Day31

Pumpkininny!

Here it is! The final day of Rocktober! Boy, what a long strange month this turned out to be!

You know, Rocktober wasn’t a total failure…I realize that now. I’ve been particularly hard on myself the past 31 days…worrying that no one was enjoying all the (mostly) hard work I was putting into my month long horror/metal celebration.

But that wasn’t the case at all.

My good friend Bwana, was always a strong supporter of Rocktober and he totally brought us Donny Most‘s most horrific character since Ralph Malph…the totally awesome, MOLOCH on Day 3..

The lovely and talented, Becca, over at No Smoking In The Skull Cave gave Rocktober, not one, but two separate shout-outs this month! If you haven’t checked out her awesome blog, do yourself a favor and peep it post haste! Just click the banner!

My favorite Auntie and Unkle even threw a parade in honor of Rocktober over at Kindertrauma…(well, that’s not totally true…there is a parade, but it’s the 1st Annual Kindertrauma Halloween Parade and has nothing to do with Rocktober…heh.) Thanks, boys! You’re the bestest!

Oh, I can’t forget The Wife! She stood by her man during the soaring highs and soul crushing lows of Rocktober…and even though I couldn’t find a way to work in Mike Schank for her, she definitely helped my Rocktober dreams come true with her suggestions, comments, and understanding.

I also gotta’ give a special thanks to my good buddy and inspirational coach, Steve. (Steve has no links…he is a private man…and a genius…seriously…he’s super smart.) Thanks, Steve, you’re always good for a swift kick in the pants area to get me back on track! You’re wicked awesome. Say hello to your family for me.

Alright! Let’s do this! It’s Halloween and that means it’s the 31st day of Rocktober!!!!

Today….One Man…Three bands…all metal…all horror…

Glenn Anzalone!

Huh?

That’s DANZIG, you chuckleheads!

First there was the horror punk of The Misfits!

Then there was the death rock of Samhain!

And finally, the dark metal-blues hybrid of Danzig!

Happy Halloween, fellow fiends! Thanks for sticking out Rocktober with me….now go eat some candy and watch a scary movie or two.

Rocktober! Day 30

Almost finished….

Never will there be another Rocktober in my life…or yours.

Who wants to hear a song?

Anyone?

Anyone?

No?

Okay…here’s one by The White Pigs. It’s a cover of The Munsters theme.

The video kind of sucks, but I still like the song.

See you tomorrow.

Rocktober! Day 29

You know, I guess it’s just my need to finish what I started that’s kept the miserable failure that is Rocktober going. No matter how many friends tell The Wife how much they miss some old favorites of Awesomeness past…or how many work mates politely hint around that 31 days of one subject (they don’t give a shit about) doesn’t make for a good blog…

…I just won’t quit, NO…I JUST CAN’T QUIT! NOT NOW! NOT EVER!

DO YOU HEAR ME, INTERNET! I DON’T CARE IF YOU HATE ROCKTOBER! I HAVE 3 FUCKING DAYS LEFT! AND YOU’RE JUST GOING TO HAVE TO KEEP IGNORING AWESOMENESS FOR AWESOME’S SAKE UNTIL I GET THIS WHOLE STUPID THEME OUT OF MY SYSTEM!

Whew. Sorry. So, uh, it’s the 29th day of Rocktober…and, uh, I guess, uh…here’s a video…or whatever.

Yeah…that was Lizzy Borden, uh, performing Psychopath…from, uh, their 1985 Lp…uh, Love You To Pieces…

whatever…

Rocktober! Day 28

Hang tight, kids…we’re so close to being finished with Rocktober, I can taste it!

Today I bring to your attention, the Among The Living LP by ANTHRAX! Let’s start with the cover.

Who’s that standing out from the crowd of faceless nobodies? Why, it’s the delightful, Reverend Henry Kane!

The band once said that this dude was the one guy that really scared them…and that’s saying something for a bunch of guys that love horror movies and books as much as they do.

And speaking of books, there’s not one but two, cuts on this record inspired by world famous horror writer, Stephen King!

First up, the title track: Among The Living, pays homage to The Walkin’ Dude from King‘s bloated masterpiece, The Stand.

Then there’s A Skeleton In The Closet, a breakneck thrasher based around the events of Todd Bowden’s fascination with Kurt Dussander, the “Blood Fiend” of Patin, from King‘s novella, Apt Pupil.

There you go…Rocktober the 28th! It may have come late this year, but it’s done…and at this point, that’s all that matters to me.

Rocktober! Day 27

Okay, so today was going to be the video for The Beautiful People by the super awesome, Marilyn Manson…but the not so super awesome dickwads at Universal Music don’t like their videos being embedded in blogs and whatnot.

I was going to ramble on about how much I like Marilyn and how he’s “good for the kids” and why he’s perfect for Rocktober, but I got all bugaboo when I couldn’t find an embeddable video…

Then I found Justin.

Thanks to the really super awesome, justin1486steiner on YouTube, we have a video far superior than even The Grim Reaper could have imagined….far superior than the actual video directed by Floria Sigismondi…you just have to see it…

But first, here’s what Justin has to say about himself:

“Justin Steiner is here all the way from The Netherealm or gates of hell (some bloody place) and I have decided to play your favorite songs. The tools of destruction i use are my Epiphone SG Special, 30 watt 12 inch Line 6 Spider III amp, Monster cable, knife und verdammter Mickey Maus (i got all that from the manual). Oh yeah and i have a really hot girlfriend that i love and will die again for!! Sie liebe Ich sehr viel!!”

Oh man…have I ever told you guys how much I love the internet?

No?

I really, really, really, love it….seriously.

Rocktober! Day 26

MANSON!

MURDER!

MOTLEY?

Oh yes, my friends…the year was 1983 and these four knuckleheads decided it would be a good idea to cover HELTER SKELTER by The Beatles.

The song was pretty damn metal for 1968, so it only seems right and natural that a metal band from the 80s would want to cut their teeth on Paul McCartney‘s rambunctious interpretation of the fall of the Roman Empire.

Except, I think The Crue was more interested in the sordid history associated with the song…you know, the Tate-LaBianca murders and Charles Manson‘s vision of an apocalyptic race war.

I can’t believe I ever liked The Crue‘s version of this song…I’m sure I was just as enamored of Helter Skelter‘s pop culture importance as those boys, but dear Christ, the only thing getting murdered here is this fucking song.

Wow…that sucks…seriously.

You know, some songs really shouldn’t be covered…unless you’re Japanese.

Rocktober! Day 25

Hoo boy! This is it, kids…the home stretch! The final week of Rocktober!

It’s been a quite a month over here at Awesomeness…I’ve lost some regular readers and gained some new ones thanks to my 31 days dedicated to two of my favorite things. It seems that heavy metal and horror for an entire month can be a bit tedious to some readers who prefer a little more variety from one Mr. Canacorn.

Well, never fear, my little ones…We only have seven days left and then the old Awesomeness you’ve come to love and respect will be back on track.

I hereby promise you the return of, not one, but two old favorites…MAN-UP MONDAYS and FETISH FRIDAYS will be back starting in November!

How you like them apples?!

Okay, now that that’s out of the way…on to the 25th day of (the soon to be over) Rocktober!

Why look who it is? It’s Ronnie James Dio, everybody!

This magical little man has quite a history weaving horrific imagery and metalistic riffage into some of the best heavy metal songs ever written!

Like the one we’re going to watch today. It’s the title track from from Dio’s second album, The Last In Line! This is a record that belongs in everyone’s record collection!

The less said about today’s video the better…it tells it’s own story…

Rocktober! Day 24

One of the main problems with Rocktober‘s 31 day celebration of all things metal and horror is that we seem to be hung up on one guy…SATAN.

Yeah, the Big Red Dude is all sorts of spooky and he’s a great spokesperson for the metal community, but come on already! It makes for a boring series of posts if it’s, All Satan All The Time, here at Awesomeness.

Luckily, Venom is here to help!

I know you’re all, “Venom? Are you nuts or just plain ol’ stupid, Canacorn?! They made their career singing songs about The Devil! ”

They sure did, but did you know they also wrote a killer jam about a Manitou!?

Since you refuse to click on any of the links I so graciously provide for you knuckleheads (like the one in the previous sentence) you must be wondering, “What in the Sam Hill is a Manitou?”

Well, instead of me explaining it to you, you can check out Stacie P‘s Final Girl Film Club from February and get the dish from her and her Film Club Coolies!

Oh wait, that might not work for you, what with your strange aversion of actually clicking on my hot links. I know! Why don’t you just sit back and relax and peep the awesomeness that is “MANITOU” by everyone’s favorite black metal pioneers, VENOM, right here?!

How?

Well, with a clip from YouTube, duh.

It’s a damn shame that this song isn’t the theme from the film, Manitou…but a boy can dream right?

Rocktober! Day 23

Okay, look. I’m not really a fan of White Zombie or Rob Zombie’s solo stuff.

Some songs are okay, I guess, but I’ve never felt the urge to own a whole record.

The same goes with his films…Weeeell, I have to be honest and say that I’ve only seen House Of 1000 Corpses. I didn’t like it…and I haven’t given his other movies a chance because I disliked 1000 Corpses so much.

So it’s not really fair for me to say I don’t like his films-plural. I’ve heard good things about Rob’s Halloween reimagining (or whatever the fuck we’re calling it these days), but I just can’t seem to bring myself to watch it.

Anyway, I didn’t come here today to bash a guy I really kind of like and admire. I may not totally dig his entire out put, but come on….He’s a Monster Kid that grew up and got to live out every Monster Kid’s dream! Fronting a band, marrying his hot girlfriend, touring the World, inspiring Jr. Monster Kids, meeting and working with some of his childhood heroes, making horror movies…Christ, it sure sounds good to be Mr. Cummings.

So, I may not be crazy about his song, Dragula, but the video is pretty cool, I guess. But if I were you, I’d skip watching the video I’ve posted below, and click HERE to see Rob’s totally Rocktober-worthy appearance on Mtv‘s Cribs.

I ain’t mad at cha’, Rob. You seem really fucking cool and extremely lucky in life…oh, and your house fucking rules.

*more illustrations by Mario Delgado on Flickr

Rocktober! Day 22

Swan’s message on the back of my Phantom Of The Paradise LP:

“An Invitation…
How exciting these satanic ’70s. This magical time when reality and fantasy are so cleverly disguised by the media masters. Full color shoot outs nightly on all channels. In the movies. In the news. Fact or fiction? Check your local TV listings if you’re left confused.

Here at The Paradise we offer you a special blend off ends and fact. Atrocity and art. Music and murder twice nightly. And is the horror you witness mere theatrics, or is it real? The only way to be sure…is to participate.

At The Paradise our performers are contracted to entertain you at any cost! And entertain you they will. Trust me… SWAN”

There is nothing I can say about this awesome Rocktober pick that hasn’t been covered at the amazing site, THE SWAN ARCHIVES!

You can also check out a review at one of my new favorite places to waste some time and learn a few things at: No Smoking In The Skull Cave!

Enough chatter…On with the music!

So, here we have The Undead performing “(The Beef Construction Song) Somebody Super Like You” followed by Beef’s, “Life At Last” (totally a Canacorn favorite):

Oh, Beef, could you be any cooler?

Beef. Knows drug real from real real.

He steals every fucking scene he’s in…check it:

And that’s your quickie Rocktober post for today…things are crazy busy at Casa Canacorn this month…so Rocktober might have to suffer a bit. Never fear, I will complete this insane (or is it inane?) task of honoring 31 days of horror and metal on Awesomeness…of this I swear!