2023: The Year of Conan

Robert E. Howard’s Conan has been around since 1932. One hundred years later, the barbarian is even more relevant than he was during Howard’s lifetime. He’s enjoyed a tremendous revival in comics and books in 2023 and will continue to do so in 2024. I thought I’d take a moment to look back on all things Conan that have graced bookshelves in the past year.

On the tail end of 2022, Titan Books published the first novel in a new series of Conan books, Blood of the Serpent, written by S.M. Stirling. That story takes place shortly before the events of Robert E. Howard’s beloved Red Nails novella. It was a pretty good way to get the ball rolling and made me eager to see what the publisher had in store for future books. You can read the Audiobook Showcase I did on it over here.

Fast forward ten months or so to late October and we saw the re-release of the classic 1982 novelization of the Conan The Barbarian film which put Arnold Schwarzenegger on the map back in the day. The novel was penned by legendary pulp writers L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, two of the best Conan scribes of that era. You can find my Audiobook Showcase on it right here. Both of those Conan novels were published in print, eBook, and as audiobooks on Audible.

Perhaps what was the most exciting Conan-related event of 2023 was the new monthly comic book series from Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures. Kicking off on Free Comic Book Day back in May, this phenomenal Conan series is done in the spirit of the classic Marvel comic books from the ‘70s and ‘80s while injecting new blood into our favourite barbarian. Writer Jim Zub and artist Robert De La Torre delivered a spectacular first story arc and have whetted our appetites to see what they’re concocting for 2024. You can check out what the fuss is about over at Titan Comics’ Website.

For fans of the medium that got Conan his start, the short story format, we got you covered as well. Started this past September and ongoing until September 2024, The Heroic Legends Series features today’s best authors taking a crack at writing stories set in Robert E. Howard’s universe including Conan, Solomon Kane, Belit, Bran Mak Morn, and El Borak. Every month, a new short story is on sale exclusively on Kindle at a bargain price. So far, the four stories that saw the light of day in 2023 were all amazing. Visit Amazon to start reading now!

As you can see, Conan experienced a stellar rebirth in 2023 and it’s only the beginning! I’ll have more news on upcoming Conan projects for 2024 in my forthcoming Sword & Sorcery Roundup article around the third week of January, so be on the lookout for that. Until then, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year and a fantastic 2024 in great health and filled with Conan adventures of all kinds! 

Harbinger of D.O.O.M.’s Top 10 Albums of 2023

Another year is almost over. Once again, it’s been a terrific year for music and the race to make it to the Top Ten Albums of the Year List was closer than ever. As usual, it strictly contains LPs of albums released in 2023 in the genres and subgenres of Metal and Rock. I have not included any Synthwave, Pop, Classical, or Jazz releases on this list. So, without further ado, here are my ten favourite albums of 2023 with a link to my review for each one:

10. Grand Design - Rawk

9. Hail The Void – Memento Mori

8. Mos Eisley Spaceport - Further

7. Spectre – Lonesome Gambler (9-Track Edition)

6. Angelus Apatrida - Aftermath

5. Extreme - Six

4. Overkill - Scorched

3. H.e.a.t - Extra Force

2. Savage – Glory Riders

1. Metallica – 72 Seasons

And that’s all she wrote, folks! I hope my list will make you discover an album that you’d overlooked or not given a spin yet. I know a lot of you will roll your eyes at my choice of Metallica for the top spot, but it was Metallica’s year from top to bottom for me. I got back into the band in a major way after not giving a damn about them for twenty years. Their album 72 Seasons was the one I enjoyed the most since the Black Album all the way back in 1991. I had a blast attending the album launch in a packed theatre. The live broadcasts later in the summer of two shows from Texas once more in a packed theater for two nights are memories that I will cherish for a very long time. And to be able to own the two shows that they performed in my hometown of Montreal as MP3 albums—shows that I skipped going to due to them being at the Olympic Stadium where the acoustics are terrible—as part of their live recordings is the perfect way to immortalize the phenomenal No Repeat M72 Tour. I’ll see you again for one final blog post before the New Year. Until then, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all! 

Audiobook Showcase: Aliens - Bishop

The Alien franchise has been one I’ve loved ever since I was a teenager. Ridley Scott’s original 1979 film remains my favourite and is firmly planted in my personal top ten best sci-fi films of all-time. In an alternate universe where David Fincher would’ve had his way with Alien³ (1992), it would most likely be my second fave, followed by James Cameron’s Aliens (1986). The third film left a big impression on me as it was the first Alien movie I experienced in theatres during its opening weekend. The Assembly Cut improves the film, adding an extra 30 minutes, but it’s still not the movie Fincher had envisioned. I’m not a big fan of military sci-fi, so in spite of it being a fun and wild ride, Aliens is the chapter of the saga I’ve seen the least in the original film trilogy. I didn’t care for Alien: Resurrection (1997) or Alien: Covenant (2017), but I enjoyed Prometheus (2012) quite a bit.

When it comes to Alien comics and books, I’ve read plenty of them, going back to the Dark Horse comics and Bantam books of the ‘90s and the more recent wave of Alien novels of the last decade or so. Of those recent books, the ones I’ve enjoyed the most are Alien: Out of the Shadows (Tim Lebbon), Alien: Sea of Sorrows (James A. Moore), Alien: River of Pain (Christopher Golden), Alien: The Cold Forge (Alex White), and Aliens: Infiltrator (Weston Ochse). I have to say that in the course of the past two years, though, I’ve lost faith in the book franchise after a series of disappointing novels (to me anyway) like Alien: Into Charybdis, Alien: Colony War, Alien: Inferno's Fall, and Aliens: Vasquez. Just as I was about to give up on the Aliens prose books, Aliens: Bishop was announced for early December from a sci-fi writer by the name of T. R. Napper who’d garnered a lot of praise for his debut novel and short story collection. That got my hopes up and I was really excited to listen/read what this new book had to offer. The audiobook is read by various narrators and has a runtime of ten hours and fifty-five minutes. Here is the official synopsis:

“A direct sequel to Aliens and Alien 3—Weyland-Yutani, the Colonial Marines, and Bishop’s creator all pursue the android for the deadly Xenomorph data contained in his brain. Written by T. R. Napper, author of the acclaimed 36 Streets, whose explosive work explores the artificial intelligence and what it is to be human.

Massively damaged in Aliens and Alien 3, the synthetic Bishop asked to be shut down forever. His creator, Michael Bishop, has other plans. He seeks the Xenomorph knowledge stored in the android’s mind and brings Bishop back to life—but for what reason? No longer an employee of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, Michael tells his creation that he seeks to advance medical research for the benefit of humanity. Yet where does he get the resources needed to advance his work. With whom do his new allegiances lie?

Bishop is pursued by Colonial Marines Captain Marcel Apone, commander of the Il Conde and younger brother of Master Sergeant Alexander Apone, one of the casualties of the doomed mission to LV-426. Also on his trail are the “Dog Catchers,” commandos employed by Weyland-Yutani.

Who else might benefit from Bishop’s intimate knowledge of the deadliest creatures in the galaxy?”

Napper is a damn fine writer and his knowledge and passion for the franchise comes through clearly in his writing. My biggest gripe is that we didn’t get enough of Bishop. He’s supposed to be the central character of the book, isn’t he? What we got instead were the usual protagonists, the Colonial Marines, which I think has been overdone in Aliens books as of late. It also could’ve used more “black demons” as well—it is after all an Aliens novel! The first half of the book dragged a bit in places, but once it got going, it was captivating enough to keep me listening until the end. It was fun to see Michael Bishop, the creator, once more as we’d gotten a peek of him at the end of the third film and I always thought it would make for a great story to get inside his head for a bit. Here we do get to see how the man behind the machines thinks and what his objectives are in the grand scheme of things. Is he good or evil? How does Bishop, the synthetic, interact with his maker? It was interesting to witness their relationship on the page.

One of the pluses of getting the audiobook version as opposed to the print/eBook is the fact that it’s narrated by numerous narrators including Alex Boyles, Eunice Wong, Shiromi Arserio, Nancy Wu, Pun Bandhu, and Tim Campbell. Since the story unfolds mostly from different character viewpoints each getting turns at their own chapters, it keeps the narrative flowing at a good pace. For the most part, the narrators do a stellar job of portraying the characters.

In the end, Aliens: Bishop was a mixed bag for me. Although, I think Alien fans who enjoy Colonial Marines tales will most likely get a big kick out of this book. Being a fiction writer myself, I would’ve gone a completely different direction had I been tasked with writing a Bishop novel. For starters, there wouldn’t have been a single Marine to be seen, but that’s neither here nor there. The audiobook elevates the experience, in my opinion, and makes Aliens: Bishop a more compelling read/listen. If you’re an Aliens fan or simply a sci-fi fan, I think you’ll find something to like in T. R. Napper’s take on the Alien franchise.  

Rating: Three stars out of five

Get your copy on Audible 

Short Story Time: The Errand

Greetings to all wherever you are! It's the first Saturday of December, so it's time for a final FREE short story for 2023! This one is titled “The Errand” and it’s a tale about a man who goes through the woods of Bitternest to run an errand and will see the course of his life altered forever. It was first published in 2008 in the Darkened Horizons Vol. 4 anthology and later reprinted in my first collection, The Bitternest Chronicles, in 2010. You can download it as a PDF right here.

In case you missed them, you can download the previous entries in Short Story Time below. Enjoy and drop me a line to let me know what you think of those tales!

“Hershell’s Motel” is a strange tale about an unusual motel where, you guessed it, bizarre things happen.

“The Rattling Man” is a coming of age Halloween tale. Do you believe in the bogeyman? Do you believe in the Rattling Man? Find out who or what he is!

“Crimson Nightmares” is my take on the “Halloween” movie series. Written and initially published digitally back in 2011, this 106-page novella picks up 33 years after the events of the second "Halloween" film from 1981, the night when Michael Myers terrorized Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) and the residents of Haddonfield, Illinois. It follows little Lindsey Wallace, the little girl Laurie Strode babysat in the first “Halloween” (1978) film, who is all grown-up now and bears the scars of that terrible night to this day. She has moved to my fictitious town of Bitternest, Louisiana to get away from her past and has been leading a quiet life, that is until something inside Michael Myers snaps and he comes looking for her on Halloween. Add to that a killer clown with an agenda of his own and it’s a Halloween you won’t soon forget. It’ll be a showdown for the ages when Michael Myers comes to the eerie city of Bitternest.

“The Bypassed Mind”, a romantic suspense/fantasy story with some hypnosis thrown in for good measure that was directly inspired by the late, great Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return also adapted as the film "Somewhere in Time".

“Breaking and Entering”, the story of a man who enters people’s homes just for kicks, never stealing anything, just to see what goes on behind close doors. One day he’ll stumble upon something that will change his life forever…

“Scapegoat”, a tale about the Curse of the Cubs, the love of baseball, some time travel, and a whole lot of nostalgia. Even if you're not into baseball, this fantasy tale filled with mystery is sure to entertain you.

Last but not least, fans of Conan and Dungeons & Dragons can also download a PDF of the first two tales of the ongoing adventures of my Sword & Sorcery character AMOK right here.

December Brings the Final Bandcamp Friday of 2023!

It’s the final Bandcamp Friday of the year! For one last time in 2023, Bandcamp waives its revenue share and all the money goes directly to the artists and labels for a full 24 hours. It’s been another terrific year for independent and underground music. For the occasion, here are my Top Five picks of the month to help you find some great songs and albums for the snowy month of December.

First, something old getting a new release, the partial soundtrack to the 1984 horror flick Rocktober Blood, featuring the music of Sorcery. RidingEasy Records is the label behind it and it’s a 4-song EP that’s a total blast to listen to if you’re into classic rock, hard rock or heavy metal. You can pick it up right here.

Second, an album that came out completely unexpected, released on Thanksgiving Day: Mos Eisley Spaceport’s follow-up to their 2020 debut EP, a full-length album titled Further. This one is ten shades of awesome and a definite contender for those Top Albums of the Year lists. You can read my thoughts on this psychedelic, bluesy, proggy, desert rock masterpiece over here and you can pick up the “Name your price” LP right here.

Third, the mighty Ripple Music has pulled out all the stops for their phenomenal CCR Tribute album titled Burn on the Bayou. The star-studded double LP is set to be released next Friday, December 8^th and features Bone Church, Horseburner, La Chinga, Thunder Horse, War Cloud, and Great Electric Quest to name a few of the bands included. You can read what I think of it here and pre-order it here.

Fourth, also on December 8^th, fuzzy psychedelic Canuck trio AAWKS will release their follow-up to last year’s Heavy on the Cosmic, a 4-track EP titled Luna. It’s another trippy set of tunes that’s sure to please fans and newcomers alike. Read my thoughts on it here and pre-order it here.

Fifth and final, indie metal boutique label Dying Victims Productions will release Krautrock/prog rock quintet (formerly known as Vvlva) now named Ritvs’ newest LP, entirely sung in German, titled Der Tag naht. The album comes out on December 15^th and is a great throwback to classic ’70 prog rock. You can pre-order it here.

And that’s all she wrote! Dig into your wallet and show those hard-working bands and labels some love. Where would we be without music? As we bid goodbye to 2023 and are getting ready to greet 2024, spread some generosity around and get some cool tunes in the process. Tune back in throughout the month for some cool articles including my Top Ten Albums of the Year list. 

Musings: Mos Eisley Spaceport - Further

It’s been a minute since the space rock/desert rock trio from Bremen, Germany released an album. Imagine my surprise this past Thursday when out of the blue, I got an email from Bandcamp to notify me that Mos Eisley Spaceport had not only released some new songs but a full LP consisting of 9 songs, roughly 58 minutes worth of tunes! I love this band. Their debut EP, The Best of Their Early Year, was the second review I ever did on the blog, back in September of 2020. They were kind enough to join me for the blog’s very first conversation and even contribute a new song to the Doom Comes Knocking compilation I curated back in 2022. Needless to say, I was stoked to see that not only had they just put out new music, but a whole album at that!

Let me start by spoiling it for you by telling you that the long wait has been entirely worth it. Man, this new LP, the appropriately-titled Further, is a horse of a different colour! Further sees the band adding a more proggy feel to their already unique desert/space rock and heavy psych sound as they welcome new member Björn Groos on keys/organ. The band had bid farewell to one of their founding members, vocalist/guitarist Daniel, sometime in the spring of 2022 and had become a duo (Sebastian Reimann on vocals/bass VI/guitar/synthesizer along with Guido Hanslik on drums/percussion/vocals). Now they’re back to being a trio and they’ve really refined their sound, delivering a more polished record than on their first outing. This next chapter in the band’s evolution is an exciting one.

“Ashes to Ashes” is a superb proggy opener, epic in scope. The organ is a welcome addition and complements the band perfectly, often adding shades of Deep Purple in the process. Next up is “Drop Out”, which was a very catchy tune on Early Year but this new version is more fine-tuned and once again one of the highlights of the record. Turn on, tune in, drop out, join in and sing along! “Space Shift” is the other song that’s been revised from the debut EP, but this time, we get a much-expanded interpretation of it, almost doubling its length, improving on an already terrific tune. This may very well be my favourite track on Further. The hits keep on coming; “Raised by a Lioness”, the awesome song from their sole 2022 release—the double single pairing of “Raised by a Lioness” / “Laika”—also gets fresh coat of paint. This newer version is more accomplished and sounds quite hypnotic at times, with Björn’s organ adding cool layers to the proceedings. “Cocaine Blues” is a groovy, organ-driven track that’s sure to stick in your head (in a good way) for a long time after the record’s done spinning. The afore-mentioned “Laika” from the double single and the band’s contribution to my Doom Comes Knocking comp gets the redux treatment as well. It’s a longer, more energetic version than the original. Both this and “Lioness” are alternate versions of the originals and while they do sound more polished on Further, I have a fondness for the originals and will always treasure them. “Scattle Cat” has a killer head-bobbing riff with a punk-rock edge. It’s a fabulous tune with a healthy dose of heavy psych. We get a sequel to “Laika” in the form of “Laika II” and we don’t even have to wait for the next album! It’s a short number that feels like listening to echoes in the cosmos with its spacey and foreboding vibe. The LP ends with track 9, “I’m a Robot Dancer”, a song reminiscent of “My Bicycle Won’t Fly”, the closer on Early Year. The acoustic guitar and bassline are a beauty on this song! It’s got a nice prog rock feel to it that sounds kind of like Supertramp.

Further brings us the further adventures of this Star Wars-loving trio and it’s one hell of a fun ride. I’ve already gone through multiple listens and I can safely say that this LP belongs on my Top Ten Albums of the Year list. It’s like visiting old friends you haven’t heard from in a long while. Mos Eisley Spaceport have honed their craft and proven that they have staying power with this album. In terms of space/desert rock, heavy psych, classic rock, and stoner rock, Further is a stellar record that’s just as unique in 2023 as their debut was back in 2020. In a landscape of bands that struggle to differentiate themselves from the pack, Mos Eisley Spaceport rises above the masses and are some of the most refreshing purveyors of music out there. Let’s just hope we won’t have to wait another three years for their next LP!

Mos Eisley Spaceport on Bandcamp: https://moseisleyspaceport.bandcamp.com/album/further 

Rapid Fire Reviews: AAWKS

AAWKS are back with a new 4-track EP titled Luna set to be released on December 8^th via Black Throne Productions. It’s no secret that I love this Canuck trio whose phenomenal debut album, Heavy on the Cosmic, still gets regular spins in my headphones. Luna—the goddess of the moon in Roman mythology, is a very fitting title for this EP that uses a darker palette musically than Cosmic did.

The new single, “The Figure”, kicks things off with its psychedelic and fuzzy tones turned up to eleven. This is one of their absolute best songs. Then we run off to a brilliant cover of the 1982 new wave classic “I Ran” from A Flock of Seagulls. It gets the heavy psych treatment and AAWKS puts their stamp all over it, making it their own. From new wave to the psychedelic ‘60s to cover a lesser known Pink Floyd tune from 1968, “Julia Dream”. Back then it was the first Floyd song to feature David Gilmour on lead vocals. Once again, AAWKS put their spin on it and make this slower tempo song even more trippy than the original. The fourth and final track is a dynamic live rendition of what is probably my favourite song of theirs, “All Is Fine”, recorded at the Poolhaus in February 2022. It gives the listeners a taste of the energy this band brings to their live shows. I’ve seen them in concert and they are ten shades of awesome, playing like a well-oiled machine. They’re so tight, it feels like they’ve been jamming together for a decade!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: AAWKS are gonna be huge in the near future (they’re already pretty big!). Luna continues where Heavy on the Cosmic left off and sees the band transitioning from a quartet to a trio and delivering another stellar space rock/psychedelic fuzzy delight of an album. If you’re already a fan of the band, you’re gonna love Luna. If you’re new to AAWKS, this is an excellent starting point and when you’re done listening to it, make sure to pick up their debut LP as well to get the whole picture.

AAWKS on Bandcamp: https://aawks.bandcamp.com/ 

Rapid Fire Reviews: Almost Honest

Almost Honest is a funky doom rock trio from Pennsylvania. No, they’re not a Megadeth cover band named after that song, but rather a band that writes and sings about folklore, myths, and creatures they’ve created. That’s a pretty original concept if you ask me. Their third LP, The Hex of Penn's Woods, comes out tomorrow, on November 24^th via Argonauta Records. It features a nice blend of hard rock, a splash of doom, a few drops of stoner rock, a sprinkle of prog rock, and a whole lot of fuzzy, psychedelic vibes.

Some of the highlights for me include the opener, “Mortician Magician”, with its cool carnival atmosphere and catchy riff; “Laughter of the Deer Owl”, probably my fave track, an absolutely infectious tune; “Alien Spiders”, a fun song with prog rock tendencies; the sludgy “Eyeless Herd”; the head-bobbing “Amish Hex”, and the final track, “William Penn”, a short instrumental acoustic-that-turns-electric ditty. It’s a crop of eleven songs that are sometimes humorous, wholly original, packed with riff-heavy guitars, throbbing basslines, and pulsating drum beats. Overall, The Hex of Penn's Woods is a solid album that’s sure to appeal to a wide audience as there is something for everyone here.

Almost Honest on Bandcamp: https://almosthonestpa.bandcamp.com/album/the-hex-of-penns-woods 

KISS - End of the Road in Montreal

Last night in Montreal at the Bell Centre, the curtain came down after my favourite band of all-time took a bow. It’s over. KISS is finally riding into the sunset after 50 years of delivering magical moments, phenomenal music, lengthy tours, roster changes, and going through ups and downs that add up to a music career that is legendary. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, but you gotta respect the body of work this band has done and the level of success they’ve achieved.

After waiting in line for about 45 minutes at the merch booth with hundreds of people to buy expensive souvenirs—an awesome T-shirt and the gorgeous program which I highly recommend purchasing as its chock-full of oversized photos and thicker than any concert program I’ve ever seen—I went to my seat, halfway through the opening act, a Canadian duo by the name of Crown Lands from Oshawa, Ontario that sounds eerily like Rush. KISS took the stage with the bombastic “Detroit Rock City” before moving on to fan-favourites “Shout It Out Loud” and “Deuce.” Paul told us that it was the 14^th time that KISS was making a stop in Montreal since the first time they came here, back in 1976, if I’m not mistaken. I’ve seen them five of those times, as early as 1996 for the reunion tour. I skipped them the last time they were here for the first leg of the 2019 End of the Road Tour and regretted it a bit afterwards so I was glad they were returning one final time. Paul’s voice sounded much better than I’d heard back in 2019. I’m not gonna get into the lip-synching debate; if he did so for certain tunes, I didn’t see or hear it, it all looked kosher to me. And even if he had for a few parts, I absolutely do not give a shit! It’s insane the amount of energy these guys have to put on a two hour and ten-minute show night after night amidst explosions, flames that are literally hotter than hell as I could feel the heat from my seat which was ways from the stage, loud music, even louder crowds, all that while having fifty pounds of gear on and wearing platform shoes. Kudos to them for doing it for so long, especially at their age.

(Click on pics to enlarge)

The setlist was a by-the-numbers affair which I no longer blame them for; I get it, they have to play their biggest hits to please the fans and for the newer fans who are seeing them for the first time. It was almost the same 20 songs as during their 2019 tour, save for switching the order around of a few songs and replacing “Let Me Go, Rock ‘N’ Roll” and “Crazy Crazy Nights” with “Makin’ Love” and “Do You Love Me” this time around, much to my satisfaction as I prefer these two songs to the two others. Paul came out to see us as usual for a few songs (“Love Gun”, “Do You Love Me”, and “Black Diamond”), singing from his starred platform which happened to be aligned with where I was sitting, to my delight. For the encore, a piano emerged from under the stage out of the darkness with Eric Singer at the keys to sing a heartfelt rendition of “Beth.” The boys followed it up with their biggest worldwide hit, a song that the KISS Army in general hated back in the day during its initial release in 1979, blaming KISS for having sold-out and gone disco (how dare they!), “I Was Made for Lovin’ You.” Personally, I’ve always loved this song since the first time I heard it back in the ‘80s and am always happy to hear it played live as it sounds crunchier than the studio version. Then they unleashed the confetti and broke into the overplayed “Rock and Roll All Nite” which for once I was happy to hear because it was bittersweet: The show was sadly coming to an end. KISS will never play in my hometown again. On a personal level, this was also my last big rock show in Montreal as I’m moving to Quebec City on March 1^st, after spending all my 49 years here, so it was kind of a double farewell.

Setlist

1. Detroit Rock City

2. Shout It Out Loud

3. Deuce

4. War Machine

5. Heaven's on Fire

6. I Love It Loud

7. Say Yeah

8. Cold Gin

9. Lick It Up

10. Calling Dr. Love

11. Makin' Love

12. Psycho Circus

13. 100,000 Years

14. God of Thunder

15. Love Gun

16. Do You Love Me

17. Black Diamond

18. Beth

19. I Was Made for Lovin' You

20. Rock and Roll All Nite

For those of you who haven’t seen KISS on this final tour, there is still time: there are nine shows left, including the final show in New York in 13 days which will be broadcast live on Pay-Per-View on Saturday, December 2^nd at 8 PM. I’ll be purchasing that PPV to see them front row, live in my living room for a final time. I’m hoping for a few surprises—no, not an appearance from Ace and/or Peter, that is not gonna happen—but rather hoping they’ll play a couple of gems they haven’t performed in ages like “Love Her All I Can”, “Room Service” or “I Just Wanna.” In any case, I’m sure it’ll be a blast to see them perform live at their final concert. I know I will tear up at the end, I was already feeling it coming last night at the show (and even while writing this lengthy article!).

(Click on pics to enlarge)

They don’t call them the hottest band in the world for nothing. I’ve seen all the big rock bands in my time and to me, no one does it like KISS. Thank you, Paul, Gene, Eric, and Tommy for all the awesome music. Thank you to past members like Ace, Peter, Eric Carr, Bruce Kulick (and even Vinnie Vincent) for their invaluable contributions to KISStory. Thank you, Star Child, Demon, Spaceman, and Catman for providing the soundtrack to my life. Thank you for all the memories. No other band has ever been and will ever be as special as KISS in my eyes. Long live KISS!

* All photos of the show taken by yours truly

Visit KISS Online: https://www.kissonline.com/

Watch KISS’s Final Concert on PPV: https://www.ppv.com/events/kiss-live 

Audiobook Showcase: Savage Realms Monthly #9

Time for another Sword & Sorcery Audiobook Showcase! Let’s go back to January 2022 for issue #9 of Savage Realms Monthly. The Audible version came out a few weeks ago, so let’s dive in, shall we? As usual, we get three short stories and author interviews.

Book 9 kicks off with a tale from Willard Black’s fan-favourite characters Redgar and Natali in a new adventure titled “The Forbidden Basin”. This time, the duo gets thrown in jail for drinking from a sacred pool and twists and turns ensue. This is another very enjoyable tale in the exciting series of Redgar the Hathor. Tale number 2 is titled “The Glass Crypt” and is penned by Tim Gerstmar. It concerns a wench who coaxes a mercenary to steal a necklace from the tomb of a dead king and queen. Needless to say, it won’t go as planned. A fast-paced yarn, it was engaging from beginning to end. We cap things off with a returning author (from issue #7), Morgan Kane, and a story titled “Exiles” about a courtesan who is left to fend for herself naked in the desert as she is thrown out of a sultan’s court. A well-written tale of survival that is to be continued. After each tale, we get an author bio for Willard Black and cool interviews for Tim Gerstmar (a particularly lengthy one at that) and Morgan Kane.

The audiobook version of SRM #9 has a runtime of two hours and twenty minutes. The narration is done with panache by our always-reliable Cryptkeeper of Sword & Sorcery, Moose Matson. These tales wouldn’t be as lively without him. As is the case with any issue of SRM, you can jump right in with any book without having read prior issues. This is already the twelfth Audible release for the magazine and it shows no sign of stopping, publishing more recent issues as well as their back catalogue from 2022. So, what are you waiting for, pick up Book 9 and any other of the eleven available books on Audible. If you dig Sword & Sorcery, Conan, or Dungeons & Dragons, then you’re in for an awesome time with these three tales.

Rating: Four stars out of five

Get Book 9 on Audible 

Audiobook Showcase: Conan The Barbarian

Director John Milius’ Conan The Barbarian (1982) is my favourite Sword & Sorcery film of all-time. It’s an epic movie and while taking its own spin on the character, it embodies the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s beloved Conan. The novelization penned by the duo of L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter was published forty years ago to coincide with the film’s release, but it’s not until now that we’ve been able to enjoy it as an audiobook. By Crom, Blackstone Publishing and Titan Books have seen fit to grant us our wish and have published this classic piece of literature on Audible (and reissued it as a paperback/Kindle) two weeks ago, on Halloween day, to be precise. The audiobook is read by Bradford Hastings and has a length of six hours and fifty-two minutes. Here is the official synopsis:

“Two of the most famous contributors to the Conan legend present the official novel of Conan the Barbarian, the seminal fantasy film written by John Milius and Oliver Stone.

In the novel by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter, the Cimmerian youth Conan witnesses the death of his parents at the hands of Thulsa Doom, a priest of Set. Enslaved, he is trained as a gladiator. Gaining his freedom, he allies with Subotai, a Hyrkanian archer, and a skilled swordswoman thief named Valeria. Together they raid the Tower of the Serpent, and then Conan breaks away to seek the cult of Doom—and revenge on the sorcerer who leads it.”

Let’s get one thing out of the way: I love this book! It’s superbly written by Sprague de Camp and Carter and it felt like an extension of Howard’s Conan writings. As good movie tie-ins often do, it goes in greater detail in some aspects of the story and as a fan of the film, I appreciate that a lot. One of the cool things is that while listening to it, I hardly ever pictured Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan but rather the character himself, which made me enjoy the adventure in a different way than on a viewing of the movie. Maybe it’s because of the Conan Marvel Comics of the ‘70s/’80s I grew up with by the fantastic duo of writer/artist Roy Thomas and John Buscema or the gorgeous Frank Frazetta book covers, and more recently, the exquisite pairing of writer Jim Zub and artist Rob De La Torre, but that’s the Conan I pictured in my head while listening to this book.

Rob De La Torre's Conan

Bradford Hastings who also narrated last year’s Conan: Blood of the Serpent handles reading duties once more and he is absolutely perfect for the task. He gives Conan a unique voice that is different from his narration and the other characters of the book. He really makes the Barbarian his own and you don’t think of Arnold when you hear him speak (which is a good thing in my opinion). I hope he continues to provide narration for future Conan books (and that Blackstone publishes an audiobook of John C. Hocking’s upcoming Conan in the City of the Dead next year).

Valeria, Conan, and Subotai

Whether you’ve seen the movie a hundred times like I have or even if you’ve never had a chance to watch it, if you’re a fan of Conan or Sword & Sorcery, you’ll have a grand ole time with this audiobook. It’s a short listen and it’s engaging from beginning to end. It also serves as a perfect introduction to Conan if you’re new to the genre and haven’t read any of Robert E. Howard’s legendary Conan tales. Listen to this and then move on to Howard’s stories. I can’t help but give Conan The Barbarian my highest possible recommendation.

Rating: Five stars out of five

Get your copy on Audible 

Musings: Ripple Music - Burn on the Bayou

The mighty Ripple Music will unleash a mammoth double LP celebrating the music of Creedence Clearwater Revival, better known as CCR, titled Burn on the Bayou on December 8^th. This massive project had been in the works for years as I seem to remember first hearing echoes of it and even glimpsing the cover art back on Ripple’s Twitter account as far back as early 2021. It’s finally come to fruition, and man, was it ever worth the wait!

Featuring a stellar cast of Ripple Music’s stable of bands, we have a little something for all tastes here, from heavy rock, classic rock, stoner, heavy psych, doom, and almost everything in between. Every important CCR song is covered and the renditions are terrific for the most part. It’s pretty impressive when you put together a compilation of 32 songs and only a handful of them end up being less than good—and that’s always very subjective as mileage can vary depending on your musical inclinations. Needless to say, Burn on the Bayou has well exceeded my expectations. This album is just as strong as Ripple Music’s Blue Oyster Cult tribute from last year, Dominance and Submission, which I deemed one of the very best covers albums of all-time.

Some highlights for me are “Suzie Q” by Cities of Mars with their haunting rendition of that classic track. “Nighttime is the Right Time” from the Hazytones captures the vibe of CCR while giving it their own spin. Tony Reed’s band Hot Spring Water delivers the goods aplenty on the seminal “Born on the Bayou”. La Chinga bring us “Sweet Hitchhiker”, a tune from CCR that I was unfamiliar with but really dig. War Cloud’s treatment of “Working Man” is a blast and sounds full of energy. Bone Church decided to expand on “Fortunate Son” and it’s a great song, but I must confess that I enjoy Ozone Mama’s version of it a tad more. That brings me to a minor gripe I have and which I have every time this happens on albums: repeat songs. There are four songs repeated here, including two versions of “Cotton Fields” by Great Electric Quest! With such a large repertoire of songs, you’d think every band would agree to each cover a different song. That being said, I’m just nitpicking here, but I don’t like repeats when I listen to an album, be it a live version of a song tacked on as a bonus track or an alternate take or what have you.

Burn on the Bayou is a phenomenal tribute album that fans of Creedence Clearwater Revival are sure to love. And for those a little younger who aren’t too familiar with those legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll, well, you’re in for a treat! It showcases just how deep Ripple Music’s roster of bands is and it’s really a star-studded affair. And to top it off, the digital album is priced at a bargain $7, as per usual Ripple Music regular album releases, but you get a double LP and over two and a half hours of music. That’s gotta be the best music deal of the year.  

Ripple Music’s Bandcamp Page for Burn on the Bayou: https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/album/burn-on-the-bayou-a-heavy-underground-tribute-to-creedence-clearwater-revival 

Short Story Time: Hershell’s Motel

Good morning, good day, good evening! It's the first Saturday of the month so it's time for another FREE short story! For the occasion, I've selected a strange little story about a strange little motel. It's titled "Hershell's Motel" and that's all I'll say about it to keep the mystery. It was originally published in the Bonded by Blood anthology in 2008. The tale was later reprinted in my first short story collection in 2010, The Bitternest Chronicles. You can download it as a PDF right here.

In case you missed them, you can download the previous entries in Short Story Time below, starting with a coming of age Halloween tale. Do you believe in the bogeyman? Do you believe in the Rattling Man? Find out who or what he is in “The Rattling Man”!

“Crimson Nightmares” is my take on the “Halloween” movie series. Written and initially published digitally back in 2011, this 106-page novella picks up 33 years after the events of the second "Halloween" film from 1981, the night when Michael Myers terrorized Laurie Strode (played by Jamie Lee Curtis) and the residents of Haddonfield, Illinois. It follows little Lindsey Wallace, the little girl Laurie Strode babysat in the first “Halloween” (1978) film, who is all grown-up now and bears the scars of that terrible night to this day. She has moved to my fictitious town of Bitternest, Louisiana to get away from her past and has been leading a quiet life, that is until something inside Michael Myers snaps and he comes looking for her on Halloween. Add to that a killer clown with an agenda of his own and it’s a Halloween you won’t soon forget. It’ll be a showdown for the ages when Michael Myers comes to the eerie city of Bitternest.

“The Bypassed Mind”, a romantic suspense/fantasy story with some hypnosis thrown in for good measure that was directly inspired by the late, great Richard Matheson's novel Bid Time Return also adapted as the film "Somewhere in Time".

“Breaking and Entering”, the story of a man who enters people’s homes just for kicks, never stealing anything, just to see what goes on behind close doors. One day he’ll stumble upon something that will change his life forever…

“Scapegoat”, a tale about the Curse of the Cubs, the love of baseball, some time travel, and a whole lot of nostalgia. Even if you're not into baseball, this fantasy tale filled with mystery is sure to entertain you.

Last but not least, fans of Conan and Dungeons & Dragons can also download a PDF of the first two tales of the ongoing adventures of my Sword & Sorcery character AMOK right here.