Knowledge Of The Tyrants
02/16/02
On Thursday February 7th, Proscriptor (Russ R. Givens) was chosen, out of numerous drummers nationwide, to audition for the almighty SLAYER! With only three days notification to rehearse 11 Slayer songs, Proscriptor was asked to be video taped performing these tracks simultaneously with the original Slayer music. The videocassette was delivered to Slayer's management the next day and then directly sent to Kerry King while on tour in the US. Kerry then asked Proscriptor to audition with him the day of the concert and to select 4 out of the 11 songs of his choice, which were "Postmortem," "Raining Blood," "Disciple," and "Hell Awaits." The audition was an immense success and now he waits for the final conclusion. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled due to relative emergencies between both Tom Araya and Jeff Hanneman. We shall see in due time
10/08/01
On Saturday, October 13th between 6-8 p.m., come meet the Cythrául Klan of Absu at Wherehouse Music in support of their fifth release, Tara, on Osmose Productions. Tara will be available for sale at the store and autographed b/w
photographs will be given away FREE with purchase.
Wherehouse Music
5425 Greenville Ave.
Dallas, Texas
214.692.9750
(Southbound on Greenville between Southwestern Blvd. and Lovers Ln.)
Absu are currently composing and arranging the newest hymns for their next album scheduled to be recorded sometime next year.
As the album shall be self-titled as Absu, the Klan seems to be concentrating more on the mythology and magic(k) of ancient times in
Sumeria rather than Celtic lore and cabalism. At the moment, they are (finally) working with a new guitarist (name not to be announced
until the position is official) and preparing for live performances sometime in 2002.
Proscriptor has recently completed the intro and outroduction for the new Thornspawn mini-LP to be released in the upcoming months,
as the band has just been signed to Osmose Productions as well. Also, he has completed the drum tracks for an unreleased Melechesh
hymn titled Purifier of the Stars, which shall be featured on a new World Domination compilation CDx2 to be released before the end
of the year.
Proscriptor will contribute his percussive pestilence to Yuggothian occult metal slayers Blood Storm on September 29th at
Connections in Clifton, New Jersey. The show is addressed as "The Autumn Equinox II," which shall feature performances from
Deceased, October 31, In Vain, Dark Disciple, and other acts as well. Connections is located at 503 Van Houten Avenue in Clifton, NJ
and keep checking for more bands to be announced and time schedules. For directions to the venue, please call (973) 473-3127 or click
onto www.metalwarprod.com for further details.
Proscriptor has negotiated two new record deals for his second solo album, The Serpentine Has Risen, for both Dragon Flight Recordings (USA) on CD and Fossil Dungeon Productions (USA) on limited LP version. Both releases will be issued sometime in either February or March, 2002 and check back to www.absu.ws for more details as they arrive.
And always remember: ABSU arrogantly slices through Mythological Occult Metal. Nothing more - nothing less.
6/27/01
Proscriptor McGovern was recently in Paris, France (at the Osmose
Productions Promotional Office) to promote and answer interviews for Absu's
latest release Tara. Ever since his return back to Texas,
he has answered over 150 interviews in three weeks, giving Tara
the most recognition ever achieved for any Absu release.
Here are just some of the reviews thus far:
Metal Invader (Greece): #1 Sound Check & 5/6
Metal Hammer (Greece): 6.5/7
Rock Hard (Germany): #10 Sound Check
Ablaze (Germany): Cover Story
Rock Hard (France): 7.5/10
Hard Rock (France): 5/6
Mindview (Belgium): 6/7
Hellspawn (Belgium): Cover Story & 10/10
Unrestrained (Canada): Cover Story & 9/10
Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (Canada): 9/10
Metal Judgment (USA): 4/5
Metal Maniacs (USA): Cover Story (upcoming issue)
Absu is still searching for a permanent guitarist and backing vocalist. If interested, send your spells to cythraulklan@msn.com or robertaevans@att.com. The "World Domination" tour (Enslaved, Absu, Impaled Nazarene, Houwitser, Arkhon Infaustus, and Anorexia Nervosa) excursion for Europe (October/November, 2001) is now under pending status due to the absurd costs Metalysee tour agency will be charging each band. Impaled Nazarene has already cancelled due to this matter, so it is currently under negotiation stages. However, if the band proceeds, they will still use Alex Colin-Tocquaine (Agressor) as session guitarist.
The LP version (limited 1000 copies) of Tara, as well as the new TS and LS, have been officially released through Osmose Productions and can be ordered directly through the label's website at http://www.osmoseproductions.com Absu will also be issuing their own shirts and 7" EPs fairly soon and both can be ordered directly through them.
Tara, as well as the entire back catalogue of Absu and even Osmose, will be licensed and released in North America through the SPV subsidiary DNA. The release date should be at the end of July and available in stores.
Proscriptor is officially operating the Osmose Productions Public Relations/Modification office in the United States. From now on, he will be composing and correcting all advertisements, biographies, promotional one-sheets, CD booklets, and other releases as well. He will also help design and draft the texts for the upcoming "World Domination IV" DVD to be released by Osmose in September. Speaking of the DVD, you can expect the video Manannan to be featured on it as well as Melechesh's Genies, Sorcerers, and Mesopotamian Nights. And while we're on the subject of "World Domination," Absu is contributing an unreleased version of Mayhem's Silvester Anfang and Deathcrush to be featured on FREE "World Domination" double CD printed in 20,000 copies. Melechesh will also provide an unreleased track as well titled G.O.A.T. (Guardians Of Assyrian Temples/ Gatherers Of Assyrian Treasures).
Proscriptor is currently composing and arranging the intro and outroduction for the newest Thornspawn album, as well as working on the Heaven's Devils album, Moonshiner's Turn. Plus, Equitant has recently started his own label and production company called Black Montanus Productions, which already carries three of Equitant's latest solo offerings under the same name: Exhibit Two, Hunger, and Erotik. For ordering information, contact Equitant at equitant@prodigy.net
And lastly, the sophomore album of Proscriptor's solo effort, The Serpentine Has Risen, will NOT be released through In Vision Music any longer, as the so-called label has gone completely bankrupt, so this will be the third year this album has not been released. Any labels interested, please contact Proscriptor at cythraulklan@msn.com
3/6/2001
Proscriptor will travel to Amsterdam, Holland on March 1st to shoot a video clip with Mesopotamian Metal Masters Melechesh. The clip will be
for the track Genies, Sorcerers, and Mesopotamian Nights and will be featured on an Osmose DVD compilation called World Domination IV.
While he is there, he plans on conducting new meetings and conferences, with Melechesh members, for the organization O.O.M (Order Of
Mesopotamia). And, they will begin writing the compositions for the third full-length opus, Sphynx.
The new Absu opus, Tara, will officially be released on May 21st and now will be licensed through Red Stream Records in the United States.
1/25/2001
Absu's fifth full-length opus, Tara, will be delivered
to the headquarters of Osmose in Beaurainville and should be released
no later than April, 2001. The format will be released on CD (including
a 38-page booklet), LP, and 1000 limited Picture-LPs. TS/LS will also be
available through the band, as well as Osmose Productions. Touring
excursions for Tara are quite dormant at the moment and it's very
possible that Absu may never tour again, at least with the trio
dynasty of Proscriptor, Shaftiel, and Equitant. Absu is still
painstakingly seeking a PERMANENT lead guitarist/backing vocalist to join
and tour. Also, the In The Visions of Ioldanach home video
will be re-released on DVD in the upcoming months (Osmose) and you can
catch an exclusive interview with Proscriptor in an upcoming home video
to be released by Metal War Productions.
Absu's new seven-inch EP, Hallstattian Swords, will be released in two weeks or so though Lord Imperial's Blood, Fire, Death Productions here in the States. It features unreleased tracks from a live performance at Torino, Italy in 1995 and three instrumental pieces that never made it on any Absu album. The track listing is:
Side Cythraul: i. The Thrice Is Greatest To Ninnigal ii. Yrp
Lluyddawc
Side Klan: iii. The Great Battle Moving From Ideal To Actual
iv. Old Tombs At Hochdorf
And remember this spell: "Spirit of horseman and spirit of Iron Age acclaim the fame for 2000 crypts at Hallstatt."
Absu is already composing and arranging the hymns for their 6th release, which shall be self-titled as Absu. This opus will contain extremely fast-paced, yet Sumerian/ Mesopotamian lyrically-based hymns, which is something the band has not conceived since Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L and The Sun of Tiphareth. The band has even decided to go back to using their initial pseudonyms, such as Shaftiel - The Lord of All Shadows, Lord Equitant Alastor, and Emperor Proscriptor Magikus. It seems that the band's immortal essence keeps transpiring from one realm onto the next constantly. The band will try to use Roger Dean, of Yes/Uriah Heep fame, for the cover illustration, but it may be too much for Absu to handle financially. Working song titles thus far are:
---Akhera-Goiti Akhera-Beiti (One Black Opalith For Tomorrow) (new version) ---Amy ---Immortal Sorcery 2002 (new version) ---They Swarmed Fourth In Their Multitudes And Darkness Ruled The Earth ---Sanga Temple ---Voor --- In The Name Of Auebothiabathabaithobeaee (I swear boys, it's an authentic deus in our Sumerian undersphere!) ---Magick Square Cipher ---Twix Yesterday, Today, And The Morrow ---Our Earth Of Black ---Sceptre Of Command ---Curse Of Agade ---The Last Of Ibbi-Sin ---Nunbarshegunu ---Of Ye Times And Ye Seasons To Be ---Between The Absu of Eridu And Eresh.
Of course, some of these song monikers shall alter in due time, and, Ashmedi from Melechesh will contribute his Eastern poetic charms for this opus as well. That shall be all for now and I will be back with more updates tomorrow concerning such bands and projects like God Dethroned, Melechesh, Dolmen, Morbid Scream, Heaven's Devils, Proscriptor, Equitant, RPB, and Equimanthorn.
7/18/2000
Updated 7/27/2000
Melechesh, the magic(k)al metal dynasty of Mesopotamia, have been
signed to France's Osmose Records. The second
album, Djiin,
will be released sometime during the autumn months of 2000. The
band
asked me to record all percussive spells for this opus, yet I plan
to do
so for their third album as well.
The sophomore Proscriptor album on Dark Age Productions/Reality
Music, The Serpentine Has Risen, has been licensed through
Vision
Musick in Athens, Greece by my great comrade Gothmog
(ex-Thou Art
Lord/Terra TeneBRae). The reissue release date is scheduled
of October
of this year and no, Panos of Unisound has nothing to do with this
whatsoever. There will be a third album tentatively titled 726:
the
Sign of the Number, but I am currently uncertain of any time
to
ritualize with it. Just a thought.
ABSU have a 12-date European festival tour lined up for
December of
this year with Morbid Angel, Enslaved, The Crown, Hypocrisy,
and Hypnos
(ex-Krabathor members). We are a bit irate with out tour
agency,
Metalysee, due to the fact that they arranged the tour without
even
informing us nor sending us a contract! So in other words, we
might
have to decline this tour, but it does not matter to us anyway!
We are
still seeking a PERMANENT lead guitarist/backing vocalist to assist
us
with touring excursions. Right now, we shall either use Alex
Colin-Tocquaine from AGRESSOR or Akhenaten from
SARCOPHAGUS/JUDAS
ISCARIOT to session with us.
Also, for all you American barbarians and witches of deathlust and
banefulness: ABSU will tour the North American continent next
year in
support of our first licensed American release for Olympic Records,
Tara. And yes, it will also be released on Osmose
respectively. We
are truly looking forward to this event, as we have not toured the
North
American continent since 1995 with Enslaved and Incantation.
Speaking
of Tara, Kris Verwimp has completed the cover art to
this opus and it
is immaculately astonishing! And to top that off, the next ABSU
album
will simply be self-titled as The Absu, strictly delving into
nothing
more and nothing less than Sumerian and Mesopotamian idiosyncrasies
and
magic(k). Our initial objective was to have Roger Dean
of YES/URIAH
HEEP cover illustration fame draft it, but his prices were something
we
could not even handle at all. So, we will use a photograph cover
instead.
The new ABSU seven-inch EP, Hallstattian Swords, will
also be
released the same time of Tara's spawn. It will be handled
by none
other than Imperial of Blood-Fire-Death Productions.
(USA) It will
feature live and unreleased material no human as ever laid ears upon
before. This piece of vinyl is dedicated to all Celtic warriors
who
have proudly fought for their Pagan dogmas and ancestral attributions
2000 years before the rise of the Roman Empire.
I am still recruiting blasphemers for my 70's hard
rock/Southern/metal kult HEAVEN's DEVILs. I want to begin
working on it
fairly soon, but I am not able to find the appropriate
riflemen/hellraisers for this band. I have an entire album composed
(2
years ago) called Moonshiner's Turn, which poetically deals
with
downright evilness, heresy, sacrilege, profanation, divorce, boa
constrictors, love and relationships, alcoholism, moonshine, death,
log
cabins, 8-track players, bootleggin,' imprisonment, Satan, criminal
acts, Indians, tornados, and geographical panoramas of Texas/Oklahoma.
This is a serious band. Just imagine The Charlie Daniels Band,
Black
Oak Arkansas, Molly Hatchet, Allman BRothers, Outlaws, Marshall
Tucker,
Mason Profitt, C.W. McCall, Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
and Waylon Jennings teaming up with Nazareth, Bang, Judas
Priest (up to
"Sin After Sin" only - Halford w/ long hair), Grand Funk Railroad,
Accept, Motorhead, Acid, Axe, Fancy, Witchkiller, Piledriver, Fastway,
Bloodrock, Sweet, Loverboy, Aldo Nova, and Blue Oyster Cult.
E-mail me
at proscriptor@webtv.net if you are serious about the next best thing
in
sinful, American rock music.
6/1/2000
Yes, my comrades and witching sisters of the night, they sure are! Why?
Well, ashtrays can fill up with dirty little fags (butts) and keep
multiplying if the trays are not properly discharged. Let me make an
analogy here: the owner of the ashtray would be The Cythraul Klan of
ABSU and the fags (literally) are the feeble mortal seeds that keep
spreading counterfeited gossip about the band.
I have been hearing for the past six months that ABSU has officially
disbanded & we are terminated from Osmose's roster from over 100 sources
now. Guess what? They're 100% wrong.
If you hear such flatulent & pompous talk, please tell them their wrong
for me, tell them Proscriptor said "Shit You," and for you to go home
and hang yourself tonight! So, in other words: pollute some other
kult's ashtray and not ours please.
4/19/2000
Kris Verwimp, ABSU's chief artist and esoteric illustrator, will
journey to the vast lands of Erin (Ireland) this May. He will be
conducting research on the actual site of the (once) authentic Tara
hill, as well as retrieving samples of soil and leaf tissue to mix in
with the paint for the cover/phase illustrations. Also, the album will
be released in the mid-portion of October with a festival tour following
with Morbid Angel and Enslaved respectively.
ABSU will soon have 100 limited "Cythraul Klan" jerseys before the
release of Tara. These jerseys are crimson-colored red with black
sleeves/print and are the official shirt for this organization of myth,
magick, and mystery! These rarities will be available through Dark Age
Productions exclusively and not through Osmose Productions. DO NOT
ORDER NOW, as the official sale date will be provided through all of
ABSU's web pages in due time.
In the midst of this damnated summer, the first official ABSU bootleg
seven-inch EP, Hallstattian Swords, will be released through Blood,
Fire, Death Productions in the United States of America. This (un)
official will feature unreleased live material from The Third Storm of
Cythraul tour with Enslaved and Inferno, unreleased instrumentals, and
an enigmatical cover track. The EP will be available initially at this
year's Milwaukee Metal Fest, then sold through BFD and DAP Productions.
Finally, the In The Visions of lodanach home video has been
officially released through Osmose Productions after nearly a year of
delays and unprofessional behavior from the video cassette manufacturer.
Will ABSU tolerate such pompous behavior from mortal junk ever again?
Also, the Mayhem tribute album on Avant-Garde (Italy) has been
released as well, featuring Sylvester Angfang and Deathcrush.
ABSU is STILL seeking a lead guitarist/ vocalist/soothsaying bastard
and new management from the States for a permanent position in the Klan.
Please send all inquiries and previous playing abilities to the
following address:
Sir Proscriptor McGovern
P.O. Box 743307
Dallas, Texas 75374-3307 - U S A
fax: 001.972.208.9620 (Press *2)
e-mail: proscriptor@webtv.com
3/18/2000
"There were a few 'occultic' bands in the early 90's who attempted a
concise magician's approach to a understanding of the mnemonic value of
Thoth's beacon. Originally recorded in March of 1992, Ruminations of
Debauchery clearly indicates the esoteric and exoteric shades meaning,
which lie hidden in each song. This is completely remixed and
remastered, featuring Proscriptor and Daviel Athron Mysticia
of ABSU's Barathrum: V.I.T.R.I.O.L fame."
The Magus MCD Ruminations of Debauchery is available here,
now!
$10 USA & $12 World
$5 USA & $6 World (Wholesale)
Please send well-concealed bills or money orders only. Also, make money
orders out to "Russley R. Givens." No cheques please.
Send to:
Dark Age Productions
POB 743307
Dallas, TX 75387-3307
USA
1/2/2000
Proscriptor's second solo album, The Serpentine Has Risen,
has finally been released through Dark Age Productions
in conjunction with Reality Music. After two years of numerous
delays and postponements, the disque has now been issued as an initial
run of 500 limited copies,
including an elaborate tylex black cover, sumptuous sticker art, and
parchment inlay sheet. This record is the metaphysical continuation
from The Venus Bellona, as well as the notorious McGovern Regiment,
including pre/post wave oscillation experimentations, Qabbalistic
folklore, and Allaxitonian art-rock dedicated towards his veneration for
Thoth and Scottish lust. In other words, personal and avant-garde
occult music(k).
The cost for this CD is ONLY $5.00 North America and $6.00 Worldwide;
that's all!!! If you are sending a cheque or money order, please make
it out to Cristal Clopton (Hey, Cristal!). Distributors: no
wholesale prices on this collectors piece at all.
Remember: For Alba, 33x22/6x11(ii) = 726(66).
Send To:
Dark Age Productions (Southern Tower)
P.O. Box 743307
Dallas, Texas 75374-3307
USA
9/23/99
Proscriptor will journey half way around the globe to Amsterdam,
Holland, where he shall contribute his percussive abilities for
Mesopotamian black metal legends Melechesh! The sessions will begin on
January 27th at Harrow Productions, which is the notorious home to such
albums as Asphyx's The Rack and Pentacle's
The Fifth Moon. The album shall be released sometime in 2000 on
Dies Irae Productions (Singapore).
10/23/99 UPDATED!!!
The Absu compilation video, In The Visions Of Ioldanach will be
released on October 25th on a worldwide basis through Osmose
Productions.
Also, Proscriptor will contribute his percussive pestilence, for the
debut Judas Iscariot performance, being held on December 4th in San
Antonio at Wackey's. The performance is titled Sacrifice Of The
Nazarene Child: 1st Annual Texas Black Metal Festival. He promises to
make most mortals squeal, more or less, at this enlightened exhibition.
Click here for additional details.
9/3/99
UPDATED!!!
The track list for the upcomming release Tara has been
finalized and is as follows:
Side A: Ioldánach's Pedagogy
I. Tara
II. Pillars Of Mercy
III. A Shield With An Iron Face
IV. The Cognate House Of Courtly Witches Lies West Of County Meath
including To The Gallows
V. She Cries The Quiet Lake
Side B: The Cythrául Klan's Scrutiny
VI.From Ancient Times (Starless Skies Burn To Ash)
VII.Four Crossed Wands including Vorago (Spell 181 &182)
VIII.Hall Of The Masters (...for Magh Slecht)
IX.Tara (Recapitulation)
If all goes well, studio work should begin toward the end of the year.
8/26/99
Absu have released their newest promotional photograph. Check it
out here.
ABSU has halfway completed the compositions and arrangements on their fourth opus "Tara." This exhibition is the third trilological movement from "The Third Storm Of Cythraul;" nevertheless, will examine the juxtaposition from magical gnostics & warding to tyranny & puissance. The album will be presented in a chronicled format dividing this last chapter into two movments: "Ioldanach's Pedagogy" and "The Cythraul Klan's Scrutiny." The album should begin production in October at the notorious Nomad Recording Studios in Carrollton, Texas (King Diamond & Mercyful Fate). This album will feature, that's correct, FOUR engineers and SIX producers to make this album ABSU's finest 'magnum opus' yet (hopefully). Since ABSU is currently experiencing so much difficulty in obtaining a lead guitarist/backing vocalist to "permanently" fill in the appropriate spot, it seems that touring for the band has become an enigmatical obstacle for them. Since this has become such an eneverating issue, the band will concentrate more on studio confections and video/movie productions, UNLESS they find a musician/ magician they are painstakingly seeking; someone who can play FASTER than any kind of fucking HELL. This is exactly what ABSU is searching for!
The sophomore EQUIMANTHORN album, "Lectionum Antiquarum," will be released through Unisound Records in Greece. After nearly 5 years of negotiations between the band and the label, another EQUIMANTHORN album shall be unleashed in June! The Sumerian-fabled Idiosyncracies contained on this opus are actually collaborations of various recordings dating all the way back to 1992, which features the first demo, a live performance, and newer recordings/rites from 1997/ 98. This summer will watch the spawn of the third and last EQUIMANTHORN album to start production, which will be called "Second Sephira Cella."
Speaking of Unisound Records, the sophomore album from ABSU's PROSCRIPTOR, "The Serpentine Has Risen," will watch it's ascendancy as well. After various problems with ex-label "Cold Meat Industry/Cruel Moon International," this album will finally be released in the mid-portion of this summer. Unisound will also re-issue the first album from PROSCRIPTOR, "The Venus Bellona." The third album, "726: The Sign Of The Number," has been written, but not conceived. Who knows when Sir McGovern will find apt time in order to begin composition for this record?
Also, be on the lookout for new recordings by MAGUS, ROLLER, and HEAVEN's DEVILS in stores in the next couple of months.
Peek Gninrub Eht Tneicna Emalf Fo Lairucrem Soun - 33x22/6x11(ii): e.I>I>o. = Vitriol (726).
Hail Scotland!
Contact Emperor Proscriptor at proscriptor@webtv.com
