Some writing music: Part 117

Good day inmates!

Happy new year! I know it was a few days ago, but that was for everyone I hadn’t got the chance to wish well. I hope you all had some grand celebrations. I think you all deserve it after the last couple years eh? Did many of you have to nurse a monster hangover afterwards? I’m genuinely curious. I had a bit of a quiet one myself. Not due to lack of invitations, but rather a distinct lack of energy. As it happens, it was also my birthday on the 2nd as well. Happy birthday to me and all that. Another year closer to the grave eh? Haha!

So, it’s time for the first edition of the Harlequins writing music of 2022! I wish I could claim I’m going to do something special, but alas, not this time my friends. It’s going to be a pretty standard showing. I hope that isn’t the negative it sounds in my head. Did anybody see the clue earlier today? I quite liked that one as I’m rather fond of that kind of artwork.

Well, now for the “big” reveal! Todays musical theme is the macabre! I don’t know if you knew this, but the generally grisly, morbid and darkest things have informed much of my creativity for years. Poetry about the undead, monsters, death and yes, those darn serial killers. Sure, much of my work is political, philosophical, satirical or just generally wacky in nature but I find it hard to conceal my interest in the macabre. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but the darker aspects of the world and human experience are not to simply be shirked. They are as real and unavoidable as the reaper itself. Art is not always aesthetically pleasing. I watch a lot of horror movies and shows alright? It’s not my fault. So, want to hear some music inspired by the darker aspects of the mind? I knew you would!

So, join me as we delve into the musical minds of ghastly artists the world over!

Gothminister – The Sun
https://www.gothminister.com/

Brothers Osborne – Skeletons
https://www.brothersosborne.com/

Ghostemane – Bonesaw
https://www.ghostemane.com/

Rammstein – Stirb Nicht Vor Mir
https://www.rammstein.de/en/

Ghostfire – Vaudevillain
https://www.youtube.com/c/ghostfiremusic/

And there we have it once again! Some interesting artists there no? I actually tried to avoid the obvious macabre choice of just loads of gothic bands. That would have been a little too easy I feel. Cradle of Filth, Tiamat or Behemoth wouldn’t be bad choices if you’re into those kinds of bands. Also the Tiger Lillies and Creature Feature! I hope you find something that you enjoy here anyway. Check them all out, they all deserve the attention you know!

Speaking of attention, mind if I have some? I have social media sites you know! The asylum has a page over on Facebook, an account on Instagram and a page on Twitter as well. Please consider checking out those pages for random stuff! Also, if you enjoy what I do here at the asylum, please consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page too! Thanks for everything!

Until next week, have a very crazy day inmates!

Cult Of Worms

Throughout this thousand year war,
Numberless threads have been severed,
Both political and carotid,
Every fall gives rise to a cult,
A coven of worms,
A morbid congregation drawn together,
Each elongated creature both priest and disciple,

Each slain prince or pauper,
Becomes a temple of writhing masses,
Another prone parish of rot,
Erected on putrescent pillars,
Ribcages holding up their necrotic chapels,
Flesh is chewed away in ritual feasts,
Marrow supped like wine from bone,

These cultists are no fiends though,
It’s simply the way of the world,
Entropy and taxes being the only certainties,
Even the most triumphant and grand of us,
Shall be naught but a temple for the worms,
Little more than grisly alms,
Meat for the cult.

Some writing music: Part 111

Good day inmates!

How does the week find you so far? Keeping warm I hope. Keeping those artistic vibes going strong too I hope. It’s gotten bloody chilly here, I tell you. I wouldn’t say it exactly feels like full-on winter just yet, but it’s certainly autumnal. I don’t like the cold, have I ever mentioned that? I rarely do well in the winter. Still, at least I’m not unwell anymore right? The cough is hanging on by a thread, but all is clear apart from that.

So, for todays post you know what to expect by now I’d hope. That’s right! It’s the Harlequins writing music once again. I think I’ve got an interesting one for you guys this week. I was torn between a few different subjects, but settled on this one eventually. Did anybody see the clue earlier? Not too subtle I suppose.

Well, that’s me attempting to demonstrate a little bit of our musical theme today. Today’s musical theme is Goth! I don’t look all that goth in that photo, but you get the idea. This much-maligned (wrongfully so) subculture is a melting pot of artistic ideas. From the fashion to the music, the ideals to the attitudes. Goth is a fascinating scene and something I’m quite fond of personally. But you didn’t come here for a lesson on Goth did you? No, you’ve come for music and that is an area where I feel goth excels. Stereotypically you may think of your average screaming death metal band, but goth is so much more than that. It has propagated into genres of all kinds. You still get your metal bands, but you can find gothic electronica, gothic orchestral numbers and even gothic rappers. Or alternative, if you prefer. Want to hear some? Go on, treat yourself.

Join me as we delve into the musical minds of dark artists the world over!

Dead Lights – The Host
https://www.deadlights.band/

Cradle Of Filth – Nymphetamine
https://www.cradleoffilth.com/

Tiamat – Cain
https://www.facebook.com/tiamat/

$uicideboy$ – Antartica
https://www.instagram.com/suicideboys/

Type O Negative – I Don’t Wanna Be Me
https://typeonegative.net/

And there we have it once again! I hope you enjoy my choices this week. I realise that what people consider “gothic” can vary quite radically from person to person, but I consider all of these artists gothic in their own ways. They exemplify the mindset in my opinion. I hope you guys check out each of these artists and let me know what you think. They all deserve the attention!

And speaking of attention, come and look at my social media! The asylum has a page over on Facebook, an account on Twitter and a page over on Instagram. Please consider following me over on those eh? Also, if you enjoy what I do here at the asylum, please also consider supporting me over on the Ko-Fi page. Thanks for everything!

Until next week, have a very crazy day inmates!

Crowmother

I heard tell of a witch,
A maiden in this harvest season,
A lady in an obsidian regalia,
Where she walks the flock congregates,
A winged host of subjects,
Upon her word do they fly,
She walks paths lost to man,
She is the mother of ravens,
She is never alone,
She is nature,
She is death,
She carries the murder in her soul,

The Morrigan

Top Hat

I am not a glamourous man,
Not a Prince Charming,
More of a Grendel or Hyde,
Something akin to a blobfish in a shirt,
A weirdo,
An eccentric enemy of the state,

But when I place that crown upon my head,
That mad hatter headpiece,
Victorian fashion supreme,
I don’t care anymore,
I know that I’m finally me,
I’ll be able to grin,

With it comes the face paint,
A clown taking shape under its rim,
Madness coalescing with joy,
With this ensemble I can recover from normality,
But I fear it’d all be for naught,
If not for my top hat.

Bad Prose

The page spits in my face,
Goblets of verse striking my cheeks,
The lamps grow dim,
The night drags on,
I’m on the backfoot,
The prose is fighting back,
It shrieks back in subtext,
Spite in every drop of ink,

The characters rising up in protest,
Letters as torches and pitchforks,
Punctuation as hidden blades,
This mass of written flesh,
It rages against its own conception,
This is no poetic creation,
But an adversary,
An abomination.

Dark Tower

You approach the dark tower,
A megalith of private business,
Its ebony walls in stark opposition to the sky,
Projecting an aura of foreboding to the peasants around,
A display of power in masonry,
You hear squeals and barbarism from within,
You approach over a lava moat of taxpayer dollars,
Musk and oppression emanate in waves,

Distraught souls and suited gargoyles,
Spreadsheets and torture devices,
Demons with security cards,
Ritual performed across desks of oak,
Monsters behind obsidian partitions,
Above those ironclad gates,
There is a plaque saying thus,
“Town Hall”,

Armed only with a downcast gaze,
You put hands on that cold metal door.

Grotesque

I am bound to this place,
This gothic mausoleum,
Of outdated thesis,
Warding off evil with monstrosity,
I was chiselled out of stone,
So I feel nothing,

I appear an abomination,
An amalgamation of goat and drake,
A chimera,
A terrible sculpture,
Defending this farcical place,
As if it held the grail,

An architectural guardian,
A gargoyle in the common parlance,
I look down at the ants below,
My granite heart feels nothing,
Yet I wonder what their lives are like,
Are they as cold as I?

I was once a very real dragon,
If not for this cement,
I would soar from this perch,
And wreathe the earth in flame once again,
But fear not child,
Those warm days are long dead,

For I am bound to this place.