Jan 152017
 

 

(Old-timers at our site will remember our old friend Phro, whose frustration at the infrequency of our That’s Metal! series has led him to take matters into his own hands.)

One of the few bright spots in my week is waking up Sunday morning, after passing out following a rousing evening spent fighting zombie wombats for the last packet of crackers, and reading a new edition of That’s Metal! Sadly, though, the (not-so) esteemed Islander apparently no longer feels like entertaining me with all manner of entries that are metal in one way or another.

A lesser human would whine and moan about it while waiting a year to get new entries — and that is exactly what I did last year, until we received a new installment in November! But now the jerk has gone off and been a lazy ass again, so post-zombie-wombat-battling Sunday mornings are once more sad and boring. But to hell with waiting another year! Here’s some metal-ish stuff that’s not music I found all on my own. Please enjoy them.

Prince Rupert drop

I imagine this isn’t really new to many of you — it seems these bits of glass have been made since at least the 17th century! (If you can believe Wikipedia.) They’re pretty cool looking bits of glass — kind of like a giant piece of sperm frozen as it rocketed through space Silver Surfer-style. Continue reading »

Sep 092015
 

WIndfaerer-Tenebrosum small

 

(Over in the list of Categories on the right side of the page, I’ve kept alive one called “Phro’s Posts“, hoping that one day our old friend would come back to us — and so he has. Here’s Phro’s review of the new album by New Jersey’s Windfaerer.)

Tenebrosum, Windfaerer’s newest album, is seven tracks of pure frigid despair that could be summed up with three adjectives: Melancholy, punishing, and fierce. When you get the album on September 22 (which you absolutely must, whether you think you like black metal or not), wait for a cold, rainy day to listen to it. Tell everyone to leave you alone for an hour and grab your best headphones, preferably a pair with a relatively flat but accurate frequency response. Find an empty room with a single window, turn out all the lights, and sit in the grey light of the afternoon. Then, press play and close your eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The plane rattles with the kind of turbulence you’ve only seen in movies. Smoky clouds whip by the windows and the sobs of terrified passengers fill the cabin. Alarms blare for a moment and then everything disappears…

When you open your eyes, you’re neck deep in snow. The wreckage of your plane writhes a hundred meters away, hungry flames licking at the cabin. The shrieks of someone dying reach your ears before falling silent a moment later when the fire stretches out and engulfs the plane’s skeletal remains. Continue reading »

Feb 162013
 

I have more than three friends. I think the exact number is four or five, depending on the day. So the fact that I’m only writing about three shouldn’t be misunderstood as implying that there are only three.

With that out of the way, here’s a shout-out to Phro, Andy Synn, and Valley of Steel. And if you have a problem with me using space on this blog to crow about my friends, please send the words “Fuck You” scribbled in crayon on a piece of paper and mail it in a stamped, self-addressed envelope.

PHRO

As many of you know . . . as all of you should know . . . occasional NCS contributor and long-time supporter Phro has his own blog (Phro Metal) on which he publishes all manner of speculative, mainly Phro-written, fiction. Okay, “all manner” is an exaggeration. To be more accurate, it’s the manner of speculative fiction that’s hyperviolent, sexual, and psychotic. In other words, it’s fun for the whole family!

Yesterday, Phro became a published author in a compilation that’s actually available for sale on Amazon as a Kindle download. It’s called FULL METAL ORGASM #69003, and at this writing it’s ranked #27,271 in paid sales on Kindle. I would like to make a big push to get that ranking up to #27,270. I’ve done my part by downloading it to my own Kindle, which is now making a low moaning noise and beginning to smoke. The screen is also beginning to look like an Etch-A-Sketch that’s just been given a good shake. Continue reading »