...like wet tires spinning against wet pavement ... like H. R. back flipping just ahead of a tornado of nails. ... subtle new sonic palettes, wrapped in a launched fury.

Pointed shards of cold black rained down for nearly 2.5 hours, penetrating our bodies and minds, like little psyche-needles; that is, before Attila and co. swung us into deep, contemplative territory. That said, there are a great many shades of "black," and it feels good to know that so many of you see that reality as I do. Black metal has, to me, been the most consistently fertile musical genre of the last 20 years, constantly reinventing itself and opening new doors of exhaustingly varied creative expression.

How gratifying to have reached this plateau with the My Castle of Quiet show, where listeners shower the program with positive commentary, and appreciate the assemblage of my selections. You have made the program what I always hoped it would become—a place where music that's often challenging, and still remains immediately repellent to a great many, can be thoroughly appreciated in the context of a thoughtfully crafted mélange. Thanks and thanks again, Castleheads!

Thanks also for your many generous pledges, at a time when WFMU is in dire need of financial relief and support. I'm proud and honored to do what I can to keep the great mothership of unique creativity that is WFMU afloat, while returning every week to a listenership that's beyond supportive, and always looking forward to more! I always knew that black metal, noise, and the darker side of human expression in general needed a voice on terrestrial radio, and with your help that vision has been made manifest.

Playlist favorites included "Achilles Last Stand" (great live clip here, Knebworth 1979); Altars; the excellent, new tape by Montréal's Verglas; our great backlog of live performances, most notably (this time) Occultation, The Gate, and Shaved Women; Cold Empty Universe (who this week, were not even aired!); Orcrist; White Medal (split CD w/ Caina on Legion Blotan); Marblebog; and Swansea's Ghast.

Thanks as always for listening, and for your incredible support! I'll be back next week, an anti-holiday celebration.

Click on our flexible and quite resourceful (!) playlist hottie, from Gerald Kargl and Zbigniew Rybczynski's Angst (1983) (thanks to SARZAN for the avi rip!), to reach the playlist, audio archives and comments board for last night's horrorcast™.