May 1, 2025
Hello Fellow Hermits, and welcome to the seventh ritual of Hermit Rites! I've got great news: I share birthdays with my debut novella, The Sweep! It came out on April 18, the same day I turned forty. The paperback will be available through me soon, and possibly through Amazon if I can get things figured out with them. The e-book is available everywhere else it seems, so that's awesome.
I finished reading End of Watch and read The Outsider, both by Stephen King. I've got my thoughts on those below, as usual. I also played a ton of Fable III to help my writing of my own fantasy long-form story (novella?). More about that in my review of Fable III below!
Bringing Hermit Rites closer to what I want it to be, there is more music than usual this month, and not just because I listen to a lot of it. I'm very excited to publish my first interview with a musician in years: I got to talk to Froth about his multitudinous fantasy synth projects!
An Interview with Froth
You're in Victoria, BC now, but have you always lived there?
Yes, I have lived in Victoria my whole life. I really love it here, it's not too big but also not too small. The access to nature is amazing with a beautiful forest and mountain only about 10 minutes from my house.
How does the city of Victoria and its surrounding forests and mountains influence the music you make?
The surrounding forests play a huge role in the influence of my music, specifically for projects such as Woodland Meditation, Dark Cascadian Forests, and Äther. Beyond the obvious thematic influence, the creation of the music is also intimately connected to the forest. I will go for walks/hikes for inspiration, come home and create music, and then go on walks/hikes again while listening to the music, writing down notes and other ideas while doing so, and then come home and create more, etc. This cycle essentially just repeats until I can go on a walk while listening to the music and not have anything to change. Additionally, I am collecting field recordings and photos to use on the album while out on these walks.
The seasons influence this as well. In the summer, when the sun is filtering through the trees and the birds are singing, I am inspired to make warm and peaceful sounding music under the banner of Woodland Meditation. Conversely, in the winter, when the rain is heavy and the trees are shrouded in mist and fog, I am inspired to create the darker sounds of Dark Cascadian Forests and Äther. I love both seasons equally and find much inspiration in both.
How were you first exposed to ambient and synth music? Did you discover it on your own or did someone show you a path of discovery?
I discovered it on my own, as an offshoot of the heavier music I have listened to most of my life. I think the first full synth album I really got into was Wolves in the Throne Room's Celestite. I've always enjoyed more atmospheric music so I think it was a natural progression, and I think the synthesizer was an instrument that was present in a lot of the music I was enjoying without me realizing it or appreciating it. I think there was two things that really drove my search for ambient music though. The first was the desire to have something to listen to while reading and ambient/fantasy synth fit that perfectly, even adding to the experience. The second came with me beginning to do yoga/meditation, and the desire for music to fit that space. That's where my interest in more new age style ambient began.
Is this also when you discovered you wanted to be a musician, or were you already making music?
Yes, ambient/synth music was my gateway into music creation. I don't have any prior music making or playing experience.
What was it about ambient and dungeon synth that drew you in?
The accessibility of it was what really drew me into making synth music, combined with the fact that I had just finished university and I had a lot of free time and lots of pent up creative energy. I was able to get a free software synth and my sister's old Casio keyboard and start messing around for little to no investment, and I had the time and energy to try and figure out how everything worked. It was very difficult at the beginning but it was very satisfying when stuff started coming together.
How many different synths do you have? What is your main composing and recording synth?
I mostly use software synthesizers. In fact, I use Vital almost exclusively. It was free to download and it's really great. I still feel as though I've barely scratched the surface of what is is capable of, and I haven't yet found myself really wanting to spend the time or money trying to learn something else. I also have a Casio LK-240 keyboard that I have used quite a bit on Forsaken Keep stuff, particularly on Kurald Galain. I had a another software synth that I used at the beginning, for most of Woodland Meditation I, I think it was called "Carbon Electra," but I stopped using that after I found Vital.
Do you sit down to specifically write for each project, or do new compositions fall into their band's name once it's vibe is fully fleshed out?
Yes I think the majority of the time I am sitting down with a specific project in mind before I start writing. For me, they are all pretty separate in theme and sound, and so that dictates right off the bat which project I am working on. Also, Woodland Meditation and Dark Cascadian Forests for example are very much seasonally oriented, with me finding inspiration for WM in the summer and DCF in the winter. All that said there have been times when I've sit down with nothing in mind and just seen what happens, but I think pretty quickly I'll find out what project that will fit (or maybe it warrants a new project haha).
What is it about synth music that encourages anonymity?
For me, the anonymity gives me confidence and the ability to express myself without any need to hold anything back. I've never really been someone who was comfortable sharing my creative endeavours and being anonymous allows me to shed some of that fear. So I guess for me the anonymity isn't necessarily a direct reflection of synth music but more of myself. I do, however, think you are right that fantasy synth encourages a bit of anonymity. Maybe it is just the fact that other people that feel a connection to this music have the same feeling towards anonymity that I do, or maybe it is that the subject matter of the music (fantasy realms, alternate realities, etc) lends itself to anonymity, I am not sure!
Are any of your projects also live bands?
No, I don't see myself ever playing live.
1. Bury Them And Keep Quiet/Lust Hag - Split (x2) [2023/Black Metal/Eleanorcore]
2. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (x2) [2006/Gothic Metal]
3. Lust Hag - Lust Hag (x2) [2024/Black Metal/Eleanorcore]
4. Sacrament Ov Impurity - All The Colors Of The Dark [2015/CS/Melodic Black Metal]
5. Phylactery - Demo 2016 [2016/CS/Death Metal]
6. Norilsk - The Idea of North [2016/CS/Funeral Doom]
7. Wold - Stratification [2008/CD/Black Metal/Noise]
8. Nine Inch Nails - Wish [1992/CD/Industrial]
9. Zeal and Ardor - Devil is Fine [2017/Black Metal]
10. Bodydrinkers - Swamp Hammer (x2) [2023/Death Metal]
11. Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars (x3) [2023/Gothic Metal]
12. Iron Maiden - Powerslave [1984/CD/Heavy Metal]
13. Iron Maiden - Somewhere In Time [1988/CD/Heavy Metal]
14. Lammoth - Tales of Treachery (x5) [2024/Medieval Black Metal/Moistrobertcore]
15. Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno [2012/Occult Rock]
16. Sepulchral Curse - Howl of the Cursed [2023/Blackened Death Metal]
17. Construct of Lethe - Exiler [2018/Death Metal]
18. Putrecine - The Fading Flame [2021/Death Metal]
19. Psychonaut 4 - 40% [2011/DSBM]
20. Yellow Eyes - Immersion Trench Reverie (x2) [2017/Black Metal]
21. :wumpscut: - Body Census [2007/Industrial]
22. Afsky - I Stilhed [2022/Acoustic]
23. AfterEarth - Ruin [2012/Melodic Death Metal]
24. Fief - II [2016/Fantasy Synth/Fiefcore]
25. Fogweaver - Magelight [2023/Fantasy Synth/Evergreencore]
26. Katatonia - Dead End Kings (x2) [2012/Gothic Metal]
27. Junius - Blood is Bright (x4) [2006/Post Metal]
28. Jenn Taiga - Siege [2022/Berlin School/Krautrock]
29. A Flock of Seagulls - Some Dreams [2024/New Wave]
30. Cynic - Kindly Bent to Free Us [2014/Prog]
31. Sentenced - The Funeral Album (x2) [2005/Gothic Metal]
32. The Barrowfolk - Of Tollund And Elling [2024/Folk/Willowcore]
33. Saltmarsh - Saltmarsh [2024/Post Black Metal]
34. Siegetower - Demo [2022/Medieval Black Metal]
35. Another Black Autumn - Resplendent Apparitions at the Dawn [2023/Atmospheric Black Metal]
36. Torn Cloak - Torn Cloak (x2) [2025/Ambient/Fantasy Synth]
37. Cynic - Traced in Air [2008] [Prog Metal]
38. Earthencloak - Commune of the Gnomes [2018] [Fantasy Synth]
39. Earthencloak - Pipe Smoke & Faery Magick [2019] [Fantasy Synth]
40. Galdr - Morkergang [2015] [Atmospheric Black Metal]
41. Avsky - Scorn [2010] [DSBM/Atmospheric Black Metal]
42. Deapscufa - Beyond a Dying Horizon [2022/Symphonic Black Metal]
43. Stonesword Key - Age of Dark and Fire [2024/Death Doom/Jeffcore]
44. Flora Lux Victoria - Princess Rot [2024/Noise Pop/Shoegaze]
45. The Interpretation Cultures - Ignored Notifications [2025/Noise Pop]
46. Opeth - Blackwater Park [2001/CD/Progressive Death Metal]
47. Bubble Blade - Vaporous Halls [2024/Fantasy Synth/Drum 'n' Bass]
48. Esthero - Breath From Another [1998/CD/Trip-Hop]
49. Wolf Counsel - Vol. 1 Wolf Counsel [2015/Doom Metal]
50. Wolf Counsel - Ironclad [2016/Doom Metal]
51. Haunt - If Icarus Could Fly [2019/Heavy Metal]
52. My Dying Bride - A Line of Deathless Kings [2009/Gothic Doom Metal]
53. Goblin Girl - The Valley of My Heart [2025/Dungeon Synth]
54. Hemiptera - Demo MMXXIV [2024/Melodic Crust]
55. Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down [2001/Gothic Metal]
56. Arüspex - Hawthorn & Henbane [2024/Melodic Crust]
57. The Pub Mouse - Midnight at the Mitre [2025/Fantasy Synth]
58. Southern Shores - The Great Lake Huron [2025/Winter Synth/Timcore]
59. Willow Tea - Home [2022/Fantasy Synth/Willowcore]
60. Iravu - A Fate Worse Than Home [2023/Progressive Blackened Death Metal]
61. Tumultuous Ruin - An Abscess on the Heart of the State [2023/Black Metal]
62. Moss Troll - Urn of Earth [2023/Ambient/Fantasy Synth]
63. Cedar Grove - Demo I [2025/Ambient/Forest Synth/Frothcore]
64. Mordran - The Midnight Woods [2024/Atmospheric Black Metal]
65. Grave Sermon - Whitewashed Tomb [2019/Death Metal]
66. Grave Sermon - Liturgical Perversions [2015/Death Metal]
67. Lágrimas/Habak - Split [2023/Melodic Crust]
68. Habak - Un minuto de obscuridad no nos volverá ciegos [2018/Melodic Crust]
69. Habak - Ningún Muro Consiguió Jamás Contener la Primavera [2020/Melodic Crust]
70. Habak/Fractal - Split [2022/Melodic Crust]
71. Habak - Insania [2015/Melodic Crust]
72. Feijoa Tree - A Day in the Life (x3) [2025/Fantasy Synth/Ziricore]
73. Forsaken Keep - Kurald Galain [2024/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
74. Forsaken Keep - Secrets of the Starlit Citadel [2024/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
75. Genital Shame/Lust Hag - Split [2025/Black Metal/Eleanorcore]
76. Lucerne Hammer - Demo [2025/Black Metal/Timcore]
77. Haunter - ...Of the Night [2024/Blackthrash]
78. Maȟpíya Lúta - Wówaȟwala [2023/Black Metal]
79. Maȟpíya Lúta - Wóohitike [2022/Black Metal]
80. Shadow and Claw - Whereabouts Unknown [2024/Black Metal]
81. Steel Bearing Hand - Slay in Hell [2021/Death Metal/Punk]
82. Opeth - Damnation [2003/CD/Progressive Rock]
83. Opeth - Deliverance [2002/CD/Progressive Death Metal]
84. Zireal - Brokilon [2024/Fantasy Synth/Ziricore]
85. Strandhem - Enlightenment [2024/Blackgaze/Post Black Metal]
86. Quietus - Quietus [2012/CD/Melodic Death Metal]
87. Voltaire - Spooky Songs for Creepy Kids [2010/CD/Rockabilly/Goth]
88. Atavist/Nadja - II: Points At Infinity (Collab) [2008/CD/Drone Metal]
89. DONE™ - Rest To Rust (2024/Blackened Powerviolence)
90. Sólstafir - Berdreyminn [2017/Post Metal]
91. Spectral Temper - Chimeric [2023/Black Metal]
92. Incantation - Dirges of Elysium [2014/Autographed CD/Death Metal]
93. Earth - The Bee Made Honey in the Lion's Skull [2008/CD/Doom/Psych Rock]
94. Sophist - Betrothal to the Stone: Conception of Mephisto [2019/CD/Black Metal]
95. Hircine - Return to the Ruins [2024/Fantasy Synth/Damiancore]
96. Morke - Morke [2017/Black Metal/Ericcore]
97. The Divine Accolade - Für Anna [2023/Dungeon Synth]
98. Foretoken - Ruin [2020/Blackened Melodic Death Metal]
99. Legions of Crows - Stab Me [2011/CD/Blackened Doom Metal]
100. Weald and Woe - The Fate of Kings and Men [2020/Castle Metal/Jeffcore]
101. Warlocks of Mordor - Caliginous Fortress of Woe [2025/Black Metal]
102. Junius - The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist [2009/Post Metal]
103. Aterrima - A Name Engraved in Cold Soil [2023/Blackened Death Metal]
104. Yellow Eyes - Silence Threads The Evening's Cloth [2012/Black Metal]
105. Yellow Eyes/Monument - Split [2012/Black Metal]
106. Yellow Eyes - The Desert Mourns [2014/Black Metal]
107. Bihargam - Executioner Star [2023/Death Metal]
108. Tongues - Hreilia [2017/Blackened Death Metal]
109. Zireal - Upon Her Blade (x3) [2025/Fantasy Synth/Ziricore]
110. Lady Gaga - Artpop [2013/Pop]
111. Marcy Playground - Leaving Wonderland... in a Fit of Rage [2009/Alternative Rock]
112. Ashenheart - Tales From Eternal Dusk [2025/Atmospheric Black Metal]
113. Hypomanic Daydream - Image [2023/Progressive Death Metal]
114. Moss Knight - Homestead/Adventures Across Hearth [2024/Fantasy Synth/Timcore]
115. Graverobber - Conscious Autopsy [2014/Death Metal]
116. Dom Flemens - Traveling Wildfire [2023/Folk]
117. Mourn the Stars - Saudade... (x2) [2025/Atmospheric Black Metal]
118. Nachtterror/Altars of Grief - Of Ash and Dying Light... (Split) [2015/Symphonic Black Metal/Blackened Doom/Damiencore]
119. Cephalic Carnage - Conforming to Abnormality [2000/CD/Grindcore]
120. Cephalic Carnage - Anomolies [2002/CD/Grindcore]
121. Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapian [2004/CD/Grindcore]
122. NONE - Life has gone on long enough [2018/DSBM]
123. Cruxis - Cruxis [2024/Crust]
124. Bird Band - The Rescue [2023/Cozy Synth/Musique concrète]
125. Judas Priest - Sin After Sin [1977/CD/Heavy Metal]
126. Blütwürm/Termagant - Split [2024/Death Metal/Eleanorcore]
127. Earth of Misery - In My Dreams [2024/Dream Synth/Comfy Synth]
128. Horrendous - Anareta [2015/CS/Death Metal]
129. Gun Girl - Vengeant Siege of Unholy Divinity [2024/War Metal/Eleanorcore]
130. Golden Chamber - Falling Through Silent Skies (x3) [2025/Atmospheric Black Metal/Ericcore]
131. Agarthan Key - Demo MMXXIV [2024/Medieval/Vampyric Black Metal]
132. My Dying Bride - Feel the Misery (x3) [2015/Gothic Doom]
133. Tower Hill - Fighting Spirits [2021/Heavy Metal]
134. UADA - Devoid of Light [2016/Melodic Black Metal]
135. UADA - Cult of a Dying Sun [2018/Melodic Black Metal]
136. Willow Tea - A Time of Renewal [2025/Fantasy Synth/Willowcore]
137. Celtic Frost - Monotheist (x2) [2012/Doom Metal]
138. Iravu - A Fate Worse Than Home [2023/Progressive Blackened Death/Hareeshcore]
139. Bull of Apis Bull of Broze - The Fractal Ouroboros [2023/Black Metal/Evergreencore]
140. Massive Attack - Mezzanine [1998/CD/Trip-hop]
141. A///Plague - Solve Et Coagula [2024/Black Metal]
142. Démonos - Polyhedra [2025/Black Metal]
143. Fogweaver - Vedurnan [2020/Fantasy Synth/Evergreencore]
144. Fogweaver - Labyrinthine [2022/Fantasy Synth/Evergreencore]
145. Capitalist - In the Days of the Crimson Sun [2025/Blackened Crust]
146. Namebearer - Demo I [2024/Black Metal/Silver Metal]
147. Naðra - Form [2016/Black Metal]
148. Necromass - Exsanguinati Sacerdotes [2014/Black Metal]
149. Lust Hag/Reaping Fields - Prayers Unanswered (Split) [2024/Black Metal/Eleanorcore]
150. Saasil - Novilunium EP [2024/Post Black Metal/DSBM/VCHcore]
151. Klanen/Saidan (Split) [2021/Black Metal]
152. Valyria - Into the Dying of Time [2018/CD/Melodic Death Metal]
153. Vespéral - La Mort des l'Âme [2025/Black Metal]
154. Rammstein - Mutter [2001/CD/Industrial Metal]
155. Horrendous - The Chills [2012/CS/Death Metal]
156. Svneatr - The Howl, The Whisper, The Hunt [2018/Melodic Black Metal]
157. Howling Fjord - Utgarde Keep [2025/Fantasy Synth/Sylfvrcore]
158. Cursed Axe - Sequestered in the Decrepit Stronghold of the Ashen Stag [2024/Fantasy Synth]
159. AIAA 7 - Sueños eternos [2023/Post Black Metal/Blackgaze/VCHcore]
160. Editors - Violence [2018/Alternative Rock/Indie Rock]
161. An Autumn for Crippled Children - Everything [2011/Post Black Metal]
162. Monoceros - Space Dungeon [2017/Stoner Doom]
163. Krieg - Isolation/Transmission [2014/Black Metal]
Stephen King's End of Watch is the third and final book in the Hodges Trilogy. Like the two before it, it's a detective/crime novel, but in it we get to go full Stephen King. The Stephen King we knew was there, lurking in the shadows of Mr. Mercedes. The Stephen King that poked his head from behind the curtains and winked at us in the corner of our eye in Finders Keepers. This is the Stephen King that made little girls light shit on fire, little boys read minds, and ended the world with Captain Trips. Warning: major spoilers ahead.
Brady Hartsfield got his head bashed in by a sock full of steel bearings at the end of Mr. Mercedes. Behind the A-Story of Finders Keepers, Brady was a through line with Bill Hodges visiting the catatonic Mr. Mercedes in the hospital, where rumours began circulating that he could turn water taps on and off and rattle the blinds with his mind. And now, in End of Watch, we are back with Brady as the A-Story, and we get to find out how he went from a catatonic criminal to psychic psychotic.
One of the constants in being a Constant Reader is how good Stephen King is at writing friend groups of people we can care about deeply. That definitely has not changed with this book, and indeed I think it's one of the biggest highlights. The friendships between Bill, Holly, and Jerome is more like a family, and it feels that way on the page.
On the flip side of this, King is pretty damn good at creating a villain we love to hate. Brady Hartsfield is a psychotic piece of shit of a human. His M.O. has morphed from Mercedes-driving spree killer to convincing people to kill themselves through his technology-assisted mental and emotional manipulations. It's also hard to prove it's him because who is going to believe a vegetable in a wheelchair--with so much brain damage he cannot stand trial for his crimes--is killing people with his mind through a video game?
So with this, the final book in the series, will Hodges finally retire with Mr. Mercedes behind him? Or will Brady Hartsfield triumph over his nemesis? What's in store for Holly and Jerome? How will these loose treads get tied up nicely into bows? I'm not spoiling that. Read this and find out, or even better read the whole trilogy and see why Stephen King is the best.
Spoiler-filled review ahead: I have finally read The Outsider by Stephen King! And by finally, I mean at last. I have the receipt from buying this book in this book, from 2018, the week the novel came out, and I'm just reading it now in 2025. Really crushing that TBR, eh?
I bought it but never read it because I knew it followed the Hodges Trilogy. How? I didn't know that, but I understood that reading those three books first would clarify some of this novel. I would say that I didn't have to do that, it wouldn't have changed much for me, but I am glad I waited because one of my favourite recurring characters Stephen King has created is in the pages of both the Hodges Trilogy and The Outsider, and she gets her own book named after her too: Holly Gibney.
The Outsider starts off hot, basically right after the dead body of a young boy is found. The first half of the novel is a police procedural that sets up the second half: a very public figure in Flint City, a school teacher and sports coach who is practically a local hero is arrested for the crime. Eye witnesses verify key details, as do his finger prints at the crime scene, making it pretty much an open and shut case, and he is arrested very publicly during a little league game he is coaching. On his way into the courthouse on his arraignment day, he is killed by the brother of the young boy. The whole time he maintained his innocence, even with his dying words.
With the only suspect of the murder having now been murdered, and evidence suggesting he didn't kill the kid continuing to pile up, including more victims, the second half is a police procedural with spooky shit: a hunt for the real killer, a monster that might very well be Mexico's El Cuco, or something much like it.
I wouldn't put this in Stephen King's top ten best, but it is definitely a fun read if you like old school, classic Stephen King. It feels like it could easily become someone's comfort read, especially if that someone likes cop shows like Law and Order, CSI, Midsomer Murders, and King's novels It, Salem's Lot, and the Night Shift collection.
I've been playing Fable III again. Once more I walk the Road to Rule, and as always it is both satisfying and a grind. The story follows the prince of Albion (who is also the son of the Hero from Fable II) and his coup against his fascist dictator brother and his crony named Reaver. Strange that I'm playing a video game where I can choose to fight or join fascism when in the real world I can fight fascism. But I digress.
It's such a predictable game in that it *could* be different every time it's played, but I always play it the same way. I tried playing a fully evil game one time almost a decade ago, but got drunk and forgot about being evil and just played the way I always do.
I have intentionally been using my sword more than magic (it's usually the other way around) and every time I open the portal to the Road to Rule I make sure I'm wearing the same gear and same weapons for ~*aesthetics*~. The second biggest difference is that I have the music turned off and everything else dialed quiet so I can listen to my own music collection instead.
Currently I'm maining the Channeler sword, weaved fire and shock gauntlets, and the Gusket's Musket rifle or Bonesmasher pistol. Unless I have to wear something for the quest I'm on, I'm always wearing the Industrial Knight suit, which is unfortunate because it's got the Reaver Industries logo on it but at the same time... meh. It looks badass. It's a video game, not real life.
My plan now has become to play the full series backwards because I'm a masochist I've never done it successfully. Fable III is easy but a bit long, Fable II is one of the best video games ever made and I wish it was longer, but the OG Fable I could not finish my last few attempts--I don't know why. Something to do with my attention span becoming halved from when I was twenty? Probably. I played it a lot back then (on an OG X-Box along with Sid Meyer's Pirates, which I also have...). But maybe 2025 is my year! Now that I've talked about playing it on the internet where less than tens of people can read it, I'm kind of obligated to play all three now.
Truthfully, I'm not replaying the Fable series just for it's complex characters, rich lore, and deep history that I want to explore; my original plan was to play Skyrim, but I didn't have the CD for it handy so second choice was Fable III. I'm using it more as a writing tool, like reading fantasy without the reading (currently reading horror). It's getting my outer thoughts into the fantasy/steampunk mindset to lubricate my inner thoughts to connect dots within the fantasy novella that has totally taken over my writing schedule. It was supposed to just be a monsterfucker short story, to see if I could write one, and of course it has started to become something more--with it's own complex characters, rich lore, and deep history that I want to explore. Which naturally means that I have to create maps and roll characters and all that fun shit, too.
April 1, 2025
Greetings, Hermits, and welcome to the sixth ritual of Hermit Rites! This month, April of 2025, is one of the biggest months of my life. My first ever book is coming out on the 18th! And I'm turning forty on the same day or whatever. If you like werewolves getting gory, you might like The Sweep.
I was able to get a fair amount of writing done in March. I started and completed a short story called "Thanatos", worked on my sci-fi novel that I've been writing since 2022, and started a fantasy novelette that will hopefully read more like R.A. Salvatore, Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman than GRRM or Jordan. I also got to finish off an interview with a Canadian musician that will be available to read in the next Hermit Rites, and I worked on some drabble because drabble is fun, and sometimes hard to write.
As always, I listened to a ton of music. Some was new, some was new to me, some was just the everyday classics I like reaching for due to comfort and because My Dying Bride are one of the best bands to ever exist. Keep in mind that releases in italics are Canadian bands. Is this list a lot of Fiadh Productions released or adjacent? Fuck yeah. Why? Because Fiadh and it's core group of people are a good label and good people. Some of these people are becoming part of my family, to be quite honest, and I know none of them in real life. But even more importantly it's fucking killer music and I know I don't have to worry about any of it being sketchy; Fiadh is an antifacist, woman owned, and vegan record label.
My reading has gone down the shitter in March. I finished reading Finders Keepers and as a result finished the review that I started in Hermit Rites 005. I also finished reading Bury My Body Somewhere Nice and wrote the review for that as well. The sad thing is that I didn't start reading my March book until like the 27th, meaning there's no review for End of Watch here-you'll have to wait a few weeks. I am, on March 31st, just a tad more than halfway through, but will probably crush at least another hundred pages today. Hopefully I can read three books in April, two for sure, to catch up to where I want to be for my 2025 reading goals.
March's Music and Reviews
1. Junius - The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist (x2) [2009] [BC] [Post Rock/Post Metal]
This is one of those albums that I'm fairly certain will be on every list of music I listen to in a month. I saw Junius live once and bought Martyrdom on CD. They were opening for Alcest and Enslaved at the Starlite Room. That was the show I had to leave before Enslaved because I was literally falling asleep on my feet, so that sucked, but Junius have stuck with me far more than either of the other two bands. There is such a wonderful atmosphere of this album, so heavy but not oppressively so. It's a strange weight that lifts me up. Lyrically this is also one of my favourite albums, with songs of love and loss and wanting to change the world for the better. It's a concept album, based on the life of Immanuel Velikovsky, who has had his work widely panned by every scientist worth their salt. His Wikipedia entry, linked above, is awesome if you have several hours to devote to a scientific and pseudoscientific wormhole.
2. An Autumn For Crippled Children - Portugal EP [2015] [BC] [Post Black]
3. Nightshade - Belladonna [2023] [BC] [Cozy Synth]
4. In Flames - Foregone [2023] [BC] [Melodic Death/Metalcore]
5. Howling Fjord - Utgarde Keep [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Sylfvrcore]
6. Woodland Meditation - I (X2) [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
7. Woodland Meditation - II [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
8. Woodland Meditation - III [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
9. Woodland Meditation - Stillness [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
10. Dark Cascadian Forests - The Gate (x2) [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
11. Forsaken Keep - A Decrepit Tower In The Distance [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
12. Forsaken Keep - Kurald Galain [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
13. Forsaken Keep - Secrets of the Starlit Citadel [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fantasy Synth/Frothcore]
14. Hideous Gomphidious - Spore Sorcery [2020] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Fungal Synth/Evergreencore]
15. Year of the Cobra - Year of the Cobra [2025] [BC] [Stoner/Doom]
16. Haunt - If Icarus Could Fly [2020] [BC] [Heavy Metal]
17. Sacred Noose - Vanishing Spires [2025] [BC] [Blackened Death]
18. Inexistence - The Enchanted Waterfall [2024] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth]
19. Gloomlurker/Witch's Amulet - Ballads from the Bannered Mare [2024] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth/Ziricore]
20. Venus-426 - J.O.N.E.S./The Aftermath (x2) [2023] [BC] [Noise/Wendycore]
21. Alkilith - Beneath The Fells I-III [2022] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth]
22. Cynic - Carbon-Based Anatomy [2011] [BC] [Progressive Metal]
23. Iravu - A Fate Worse than Home (x2) [2023] [BC] [Blackened Death]
24. Antzaat - The Black Hand of the Father [2017] [BC] [Melodic Black]
25. Antzaat - For You Men Who Gaze Into The Sun [2020] [BC] [Melodic Black]
26. Altars of Grief - Iris [2018] [BC] [Blackend Doom/Damiencore]
27. Altars of Grief - This Shameful Burden [2014] [BC] [Blackened Doom/Damiencore]
28. Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno (x4) [2012] [BC] [Occult Rock]
29. Blitzar IV - Ayla [2023] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
30. My Dying Bride - A Mortal Binding [2024] [BC] [Gothic Doom]
31. Hircine - A Crown of Wildflowers (x3) [2025] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth/Damiencore]
32. Dream Chalice - Forlorn Paths Through Forgotten Dreams [2023] [BC] [Dream Synth/Dungeon Synth/Frothcore]
33. Hircine/Altar of Moss - The Long Night (Split) [2024] [BC] [Winter Synth/Damiencore/Dungeon Synth]
34. Weald and Woe - For the Good of the Realm [2023] [BC] [Castle Metal]
35. My Dying Bride - A Line of Deathless Kings (x3) [2012] [BC] [Gothic Doom]
36. My Dying Bride - The Light at the End of the World (x2) [1999] [BC] [Death Doom]
37. Idolatry - Pyrrhic [2023] [BC] [Black Metal]
38. Idolatry - In Nomine Mortis [2019] [BC] [Black Metal]
39. Katatonia - Dead End Kings [2012] [BC] [Dark Rock/Gothic Metal]
40. Katatonia - Sky Void of Stars [2023] [BC] [Dark Rock/Gothic Metal]
41. Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us [2009] [BC] [Gothic Metal]
42. An Autumn for Crippled Children - Only The Ocean Knows [2012] [BC] [Post Black]
43. An Autumn for Crippled Children - Everything [2011] [BC] [Post Black]
44. Begrime Exemious - Rotting in the Aftermath [2022] [BC] [Death Metal]
45. Northwest Passage - The Future Past [2025] [BC] [Ambient/Dungeon Synth/Willowcore]
46. Ancient VVisdom - 33 (x4) [2017] [BC] [Occult Rock]
47. Halizth - Halizth (x3) [2025] [BC] [Cosmic Black/Sylfvrcore]
48. The Pub Mouse - Midnight at the Mitre [2025] [BC] [Comfy Synth]
49. Sacred Noose - Renounce the Flesh [2023] [BC] [Blackened Death]
50. Katatonia - The Great Cold Distance (x2) [2006] [BC] [Dark Rock/Gothic Metal]
51. Thangorodrim - Towers of the Teeth [2016] [BC] [Dungeon Synth/Fiefcore]
52. Feijoa Tree - A Day in the Life [2025] [BC] [Cozy Synth/Dungeon Synth/Ziricore]
This album is set during a single day in the life of a herd of deer and conveys their feelings and adventures. It is an emotive record, as like 98% of synth is, and it's definitely comfy synth, but there are elements of danger and sadness. After all, a pack of wolves and deforestation are realities that deer face daily.
Like everything Ziri touches, this is fantastic.
53. Dimmu Borgir - Abrahadabra [2010] [CD] [Symphonic Black]
54. Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestial Lineage [2011] [CD] [Atmospheric Black]
55. Dark Tranquillity - Fiction [2007] [BC] [Melodic Death]
56. Tempestarii - Temple of Skies [2017] [CD] [Atmospheric Black]
57. Alkillith - Dracolich of The Gray Waste [2022] [BC] [Dungeon Synth]
58. Cattle Decapitation - Terrasite (x2) [2023] [BC] [Technical Deathgrind]
59. Darkthrone - Ravishing Grimness [1999] [CD] [Black Metal]
60. Voyvoda - Autochthonous [2023] [BC] [Coldwave/Post Punk]
61. Voyvoda - Confessions of a Macedonian Bandit [2020] [BC] [Coldwave/Post Punk]
62. The Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir - Demo I: Folklore (x3) [2025] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
63. Morke - Forged in Steel and Love [2024] [BC] [Castle Metal]
64. Sentenced - The Funeral Album [2005] [BC] [Gothic Metal]
65. Griftegard - Solemn. Sacred. Severe. [2009] [BC] [Doom Metal]
66. My Dying Bride - The Manuscript EP [2013] [BC] [Gothic Doom]
67. Woe - A Violent Dread EP [2019] [BC] [Black Metal]
68. Wintersleep - Wintersleep [2003] [BC] [Indie Rock]
69. Katatonia - Brave Murder Day [1996] [BC] [Death Doom]
70. Wintersleep - New Inheritors [2010] [BC] [Indie Rock]
71. Wintersleep - Hello Hum [2012] [BC] [Indie Rock]
72. Katatonia - Last Fair Deal Gone Down [2001] [BC] [Gothic Metal]
73. All the Cold/Fornicatus/Black Hate/Happy Days - Children of Failure (Split) [2009] [CD] [DSBM]
74. Ecologist - Glaciares: Premonición de los fragmentos del deshielo inminente [2024] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
75. Willow Tea - A Time Of Renewal [2025] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth/Willowcore]
76. Ancient VVisdom - Deathlike [2013] [BC] [Occult Rock]
77. Fogweaver - Vedurnan [2020] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth/Evergreencore]
78. My Dying Bride - Feel the Misery [2015] [BC] [Gothic Doom]
79. Various Artists - Knuckletracks XLIII [2002] [CD] [Various Metals]
80. Various Artists - Knuckletracks XLIV [2002] [CD] [Various Metals]
81. Moonspell - The Butterfly Effect [1999] [CS] [Gothic Metal]
82. The Wolves in the Throne Room - Celestite [2012?] [CS] [Ambient]
83. Scythra - Forever Unclean (x2) [2018] [BC] [Death Metal]
84. Hot Dog Cart - ~* boy dinner *~ [2025] [BC] [Comfy Synth/Food Synth]
85. Toad Blood/Unearthly Gasp - Alliance of Poison Skin and Noble Fur [2023] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth]
86. Genital Shame/Lust Hag - Split (x2) [2025] [BC] [Black Metal]
87. Warlocks of Mordor - Caliginous Fortress of Woe [2025] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
88. Vandal Moon - Black Kiss [2020] [BC] [Goth/Coldwave/Post Punk]
89. Hulder - Godslastering: Hymns of a Forlorn Peasant [2021] BC] [Atmospheric Black]
90. Craft - White Noise and Black Metal [2018] [BC] [Black Metal]
91. Borknagar - Universal [2012] [BC] [Progressive Black]
92. Yfel - Beneath The Mountain's Vigil [2023] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
93. Morke - We Are the River [2024] [BC] [Atmospheric Black]
94. Various Artists - Knuckletracks XLV [2002] [CD] [Various Metals]
95. Various Artists - Knuckletracks XLVI [2002] [CD] [Various Metals]
96. Sacred Noose - Renounce the Flesh [2023] [BC] [Blackened Death]
97. Striborg - Through The Melancholy Tunnel of Despair [2023] [BC] [DSBM]
98. Dawn Treader - Bloom and Decay [2024] [BC] [Post Black]
99. Nightmare Effigy/Marrow of Man - Decimation of the Spirit (Split) [2025] [BC] [Black Metal]
100. Snawfuss - The Six-Petal Rosette [2024] [BC] [Fantasy Synth/Dungeon Synth]
101. Mourning Mist - Amen (x2) [2020] [BC] [Doom Metal]
102. The Vision Bleak - Songs of Good Taste [2004] [BC] [Gothic Metal]
103. Various Artists - Knuckletracks XLVII [2002] [CD] [Various Metals]
104. Cocteau Twins - Victorialand (x2) [1986] [CD] [Dream Pop/Shoegaze]
105. Failure - Fantastic Planet [1996] [CD] [Alternative]
106. An Crom Cruach - Leath-adhairce [2024] [BC] [Folk]
107. Ancient Pyres - Sous la férule des météores [2025] [BC] [Dungeon Doom/Sylfvrcore]
108. Da Captain Trips - Maths of the Elements [2022] [BC] [Psychedelic Rock/Doom]
109. In Flames - Subterranean [1995] [CD] [Melodic Death]
110. In Flames - Whoracle [1997] [CD] [Melodic Death]
111. Leng Tch'e - Marasmus [2007] [CD] [Grindcore/Razorgrind]
112. Sparklehorse - Bird Machine [2023] [BC] [Alternative]
113. Lucerne Hammer - Demo (x3) [2025] [BC] [Black Metal/Timcore]
114. Willow Tales - Songs For The Friends We Made Along The Way [2024] [BC] [Comfy Synth/Willowcore]
115. Arctos - A Spire Silent (x2) [2017] [BC] [Melodic Black Metal]
116. Skymir - Blood Moon Rising [2016] [CD] [Melodic Death/Folk]
117. Skymir - Haunted Saloon [2012] [CD] [Melodic Death/Folk]
118. Death - Symbolic [1995] [CD] [Death Metal]
119. Atlantic - Torrents [2022] [BC] [Atmospheric/Post Black]
120. Atlantic - Black Sands [2024] [BC] [Atmospheric/Post Black]
121. Creek Moss - Herald of Hvrall [2024] [BC] [Fantasy Synth]
Kalvin Ellis - Bury My Body Somewhere Nice
Kalvin Ellis and I have followed each other on Instagram and other places for awhile, gradually becoming friends. He wrote the books In the Hills Above the Grist Mill and it's sequel In the Grave Where the Bones Are Still Wet, both of which lit Bookstagram's collective asses on fire. When Kalvin made a post about having ARC readers for his upcoming short story collection awhile back, I said I'd be honoured. He sent me the ebook version of Bury My Body Somewhere Nice, and I kinda fucked it a bit and took too long to read it. It was my goal to have a review of it for Hermit Rites 005 because I thought it was coming out in March. Nope. It's out on April 4th, just a few days from now, so I didn't completely fuck it. So, without further ado, my unintelligible thoughts on these five short spooky tales:
Holy fuck this shit rules.
That's it, that's the review. I could go into detail like how "Scissors: A Love Story" sets up the whole book as a "whoa okay, shit's not just horror, but weird fiction as well". Or I could say the second story, "Soft Chewy Center", takes that set-up and throws a splash of sci-fi into the mix with an alternating point of view that gradually ramps up the horror to an ohmyfuckinggod level at the end. And maybe I can say that "Atomic Despair" takes the horror/weird fiction/sci-fi to a post-apocalyptic gas station and becomes a love and revenge tale. Or the story that the book derives it's title from, "Bury My Body Somewhere Nice" is "To Catch A Predator" with schizophrenia and a lot of blood and some genuine, beautifully written romance. Perhaps, even, I could say the final story in the book, "In the Dark We Sin" could be filmed and re-titled as a Saw sequel and I'm fairly certain I want to try to straight up rip it off (which I already told Kalvin, so don't worry, if I do it I think we're cool--I just have to make sure my version isn't as good as his). But I'm not going to go into details, I'm not going to say all that. I'm just going to go with my original review:
Holy fuck, this shit rules.
Get a copy from Kalvin Ellis's website.
Interstellar
Interstellar takes place in our future, mid-21st century roughly, and it's grim. Crops are dying thanks in part to the Blight but also because when you only grow one crop for years in a row your land will eventually go to shit. Oxygen levels are depleting, and the human race is walking towards its death bed. Everything is dust. Shit's fucked.
Due to a gravitational anomaly occurring on his farm, Cooper and his daughter Murph accidentally find what is left of NASA, headed by Professor Brand. Cooper, who used to be a test pilot for NASA before his sub-orbital ship crashed is then roped into flying a spaceship from Earth to Saturn, where almost fifty years ago they found a wormhole to another galaxy. He travels with a pair of robots and a trio of human scientists, one of which is the daughter of Professor Brand. The goal is to colonize one of the planets they found orbiting a supermassive black hole on the other side of the wormhole. The problem with such a location is not just that it takes a couple years to get to Saturn, but once around the black hole time dilation kicks in: one hour on the planets they investigate is equal to seven years on Earth. Meanwhile back home, Cooper's son finds a wife, has a family, and is taking care of the farm. Murph is growing up and working with NASA to help bring her dad back, and to send the rest of humanity through the wormhole.
Fun space adventures are had and people die and crazy stuff happens, but all of it is based on hard science and real life, making this one of my favourite movies for that very reason. Despite it being in the future, the technology is not completely all futuristic. Buttons and switches and analogue flight methods are beside cryosleep chambers and cool shit like that. The special effects are mostly practical, so even though Interstellar is a decade old it still looks fantastic. Who would have thought that shooting on real film in real locations with real humans in real space suits makes shit look real?
Stephen King - Finder's Keepers
Stephen King's Finder's Keepers does not directly follow Mr. Mercedes, instead taking a four year break between the books, while also sometimes taking place in the 1970's.
World renowned author John Rothstein is murdered, and his safe raided. Sure, the twenty grand in it is awesome, but even more important to Morris Bellamy, the murderer, is the Moleskine notebooks with the money. Everything is tossed into a trunk and buried to be grabbed a later date when the heat has cooled. Unfortunately for Morris, he is caught for a different crime and is thrown in jail for life.
Years later, Pete Saubers finds the trunk after the tree it was under gets blown over. His family is currently in major financial problems after his father was run over by some asshole in a Mercedes at a job fair, and divorce seems to be looming, so Pete begins to mail the money incrementally and secretly to his family. Until it runs out. Then Pete decides to try and sell the Moleskine notebooks full of the unpublished writings of John Rothstein, and things begin to get tricky. The man he tries to sell them to is the same man who told Morris to bury them all those years ago, and he begins to try to blackmail Pete.
The inconvenience of Morris Bellamy being granted parole at this time makes everything go sideways for everyone, because Morris is back in town and wants the notebooks, and is willing to kill to get them.
Behind all of this is the story of Brady Hartsfield, the Mercedes Killer. He's awakened from his coma and is locked away, one step from being a complete vegetable, but Bill Hodges still visits him every so often, and strange things seem to happen around him. Framed photos fall over. Taps turn on with no one near them. And nurses kill themselves.
Naturally this is written in the same tone as most Stephen King novels, and the way he writes and the way my brain works makes it so I'm right there. I see, hear, and smell the heads exploding under car tires; I watch hungover men puke in jail cells; I'm a fly on the wall when big brothers worry about their little sisters and when crooked book dealers and freshly released ex-cons argue. This is also written in such a way that if by chance you did not grab Mr. Mercedes first, it is not that big of a deal. There is enough backstory given that helps to recap that novel while leaving enough details out to keep you curious enough to grab it.
In all, I really liked Finders Keepers. It's a fast moving crime novel with some deadly twists that makes you want to turn the pages, while still being a Stephen King novel.
Flash Fiction I - Apocalypse: 2021
The sun was setting, finally. I was tired of having my balcony baked by the sun, and my AC was out. Cool temperatures were all I craved. I sat in my white plastic lawn chair and waited for these said cool temperatures to creep over the warm pavement of an overcrowded world.
By the time I was two root beers and three joints into the night it was time to go to bed. The wind had picked up, whipping the smell of thousands of sweaty bodies up and around my apartment building. It was a disgusting smell. It was a smell that I almost had gotten used to before the other smell took over.
The cool temperatures had yet to come, and in some places they never would.
When I awoke the next morning the city was strangely quiet. I opened my eyes and felt a hush descend upon me. Without opening my curtains I knew something had happened. Something had finally Gone Wrong. I grabbed my iPad and opened Chrome, my eyes squinting against the sudden brilliance. The top news was the same as all the headlines and links below: nuclear winter was blowing its winds upon Asian soil. I didn't click anything, just closed the app, left my bedroom, and sat on my chesterfield to light a rare early-morning joint.
My cat oozed out of the bedroom like a xenomorph. He blinked at the weed then jumped onto the kitchen cupboards and watched me.
I took a walk down the street, my mask billowing out and sucking in with every overheated breath I had. The twenty first century was supposed to be full of promise and new hope and instead it's full of killer viruses, rapist Presidents, and bad Star Wars movies.
I arrived at my destination after a nearly half hour trek, and in that time I barely saw a single person. A few vehicles up and down the street and a food delivery guy in a rough sounding Toyota were the only indications that I was not the Last Man on Earth. I bought some more weed, then walked the opposite way back home, seeing almost no one. I grabbed a copy of the Sun on the way and read more headlines while slowly meandering, somehow successfully smoking, reading, and locomoting.
The virus holding the world by its balls was obviously a hoax, and the dead were just part of some conspiracy, and people without masks were protesting outside of the White House. Some patriots drove through the protest with a large truck, killing twelve protesters and a cop. When the driver hauled his fat white ass out of the truck they cuffed and arrested him without incident. When his black brother-in-law got out of the passenger seat, his hands in the air, he was riddled with bullets. The driver died from the virus twelve hours later, having contracted it from the crowd. He was still the lucky one; his brother-in-law's body was still slumped on his ass on the asphalt against the open door of the truck.
(Author's Note: I wrote this, as the title suggests, in 2021, from February 22 to April 19 to be specific. It is essentially exactly what happened one day when I went walking to buy some weed. I find it fucked up that some of this shit is actually still happening. I chose to post this in a very raw state that needs editing, just for funsies, to keep it as a flash fiction piece.)
