Thursday, December 2, 2010

They Call Us Death -- Lyrics

Here are the lyrics to our new album, for those who bought it on iTunes, or accidentally found a copy of it on the internet.

Enjoy!

They Call Us Death
In the dust there's a flame that burns
Pack of wolves watch the meat in turns
Because the pain that you alone will feel
Will never seem as real
As the night you went and died

Where in the world has a fool like you to run
When the sun
Burns beyond the veil of days
She broke her vows
She lost her life
In the end they call us death

When the stars in the sky they bleed
All my life they have lied to me
The hearts of men possessed by sin
Revenge it pulls me in
When the devil calls me home

---------------------------------

Black Anathema
This place is cold and lonely
You better start to worry
There’s no ever leaving here
The spell is all around us
Making my world feel worthless
A ghost imprinted in the air

When you lie, you will live no more
I know your secrets
I know your weakness
When you sin, you will give me more
I know your secrets
I know your weakness

You dreams are dead and broken
Everyone has forgotten
Who you are what you have to say
It's too late to pray
It's too late to change
Your world is burning down
You'll fade away

---------------------------------

Deep In The Red
Bleed, all over me
Bleed the heat inside your skin
Bleed the hate you keep within
Well, the pain that chokes the world
Is the serpent crawling through your veins
In your heart, it’ll stop
To take on you

Deep in the red
There’s nothing but a pulsing death
Taking all your life, baby
Everything you know
Will soon be mine right through your eyes
Move slow, holy blood

Screams in the dark
Crippled inside
When you fall you fall apart
In the darkness in the world
In the cold Antarctic of your heart
You cry blood
And leave me screaming

---------------------------------

Near Twilight
Oh, my baby believes that demons are real
But only I know the way
Why you walk in fear and hide?
Failed to open up your eyes to see
Trust in me
In me

Oh the twilight, its killing me
Oh my body, it burns and bleeds

The things that we do they seem rather strange to you
Cause we believe in worlds you cannot see
When the devil calls you will hear your name
And know that you are just like one of us
You can’t deny your desires

---------------------------------

Blood of the Wolf
You wanted power they gave us pain
They don’t care if you live or die just as long as you do what they say
Do you ever question what you believe?
Is there a God above or are we alone?

You better move it when we move into shape and start to change
Blood of the wolf
Heart pumpin’ death, black death into our teenaged veins
Blood of the wolf

Steel coffin holds me down
Blood in me is the blood in the ground
And it feels just like I’m on my way
Born in dirt with nothing left
'Cause my bones are breaking and I don’t give a shit
It’s the power of death

---------------------------------

Within the Abyss
See, I see the end
You wanna be, just where I stand
I walk through flames, where the damned fall in place
Oh, baby, so strange

Whoa-oh
From beyond our time and space
Whoa-oh
To destroy the lives of man
Lightning strikes the womb and no child will be born alive
Whoa-oh
As is in hell

When you're alone, that's when I'll whisper my venom
What makes you feel strange, is why we are the same
Fall toward the Abyss within

---------------------------------

Venomwolf
My body is a wasteland
The heat is all I wanted
Like a four crowned burning pain in my chest
My veins, they're screaming
Like a ghost in its death
And it goes...

A weaker man
Might burn in hell, for the venom
Drink your death
Blacken the blood
Feel the power
Destroy the world
Eternity turns

What lies beneath, you don’t want to see
Faceless creatures with a secret name
A chill in your mind that will make you a sinner
A crooked spine of evil charm

---------------------------------

Summon the Beyond
In the hour of fire, left hands grab
All that I have left is all I've planned
Because the blood that I'll use tonight
Is the blood that I know is mine
And the heart knows just how to melt
When it's outside beyond your chest in hell

We summon the ancients
We offer our sins
Phantoms of madness
Perversions within
Invoking those who were never born
To bring hell crashing down on you

It’s your choice to take the knife
One decision brings the afterlife
When you see all the hate it brings
The eyes empty, call to me
Temptations of the ecstasy
Your life is dead
A fantasy

---------------------------------

Violet Hellfire
We stand at the edge of time and live to walk away
Exploding worlds, violent stars, chaos gods
We call to them
Chaos rules again
Chaos rules

When the Unknown grows in force
Flesh and blood and broken bones
A silent whisper from beyond
Spirit of darkness lets me know that...

Whoa-oh
Violet Hellfire comes
Whoa-oh
This hell…is our home
Buried in the wall of bedroom where I used to live
The memories they haunt me still of what I did, of who I am
My live is a lie, my life is…

---------------------------------

The Machine of Instant Death
I feel the ashes
Of everything I’ve known , through the madness
With the hellhound wolf’s disease
Feeds the bodies hot in heat
Into the ether
Into the unknown
Alone

Oh, this shadowed life I roam
Is the only life I know
You see me as the end
Well, I am
Sweat burns the flesh
Hot machine of instant death
Bright lights are only a dream

You seem like nothing
Invisible to me
You hold it all back
Biting your tongue
And tasting the blood
The nameless horror
That they call love

---------------------------------

Endless Night
There's a darkness in the world
I feel its pull
In the beating heart that kicks out dirt
You'll find me there
'Cause the only death I like
Is the death buzz of the night
When your knife plants a kiss through my heart, you're alive

I know you don't belong
I know you wanted more
It's all a lie, you know
Paranoia's cold shadow
In this endless night
You will do just what you're told
Don't look back you're alone

Possessed with a spirit I brought forth
Down deep with the vultures and the worms
A quicksand of serpents remind me
My bones and the dirt are the same

---------------------------------

Loveless God
I have seen the end of time
It makes it’s way
To the forefront of my mind
Breathe in, taste the dirt
What you want is dead and gone
There’s no return
Holy death, holy design
I am the dead

After what we did last night
We can never go home
When you’re all alone
We will always know

With you tarot cards you told me
Things I tried to hide away from the world
They spoke of secrets and lies
Skeletons of despair and crime

-------------------------------

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Notes from the Road – Corona CA @ Showcase Theatre


The “legendary” Showcase Theatre, which closed down in 2008, was our first California show. We opened for our pals Order of the Fly who helped us book the show.



When we first played the Showcase Theatre I experienced a flashback. When my family moved to Arizona from Illinois my older sister Gina and I drove out to California. California is the Mecca for any Midwesterner growing up in cornfields and snow. The years of television and movie propaganda made one think the only place to be is California. So the first chance we got, we drove out to Hollywood. We did the usual tourist things, but we also wanted to see the real Hollywood. So drove around trying to get lost. Eventually we found a random place to walk around, and as we passed a restaurant guess who we saw going in for a bite? It was the Lord Almighty himself, Glen Danzig. Like giddy school girls bumping into the Jonas Brothers at the mall, we didn’t know what to do. I managed to pull it together and yell out “Hey Glenn, can we get your picture.” Then he turned around, smiled and my sister took the picture.


Anyway, that night we decided to go see a punk show. We found a weekly flyer and picked out a venue at random, The Showcase Theatre. I can’t remember who was playing or if I even liked the show. I do remember sitting on the staircase that led to the merch tables and wrote in my journal. “Dear Diary, wow I can’t believe I’m at an actual punk show in California. I hope that one I’ll be on this very same stage and fuck up.”
 

I remember when we opened for Three Bad Jacks, we did a podcast interview after the show in our van. While we were recording, we heard yelling going on outside. We made a joke and thought nothing of it. It turned out that someone stole a guitar from the Three Bad Jacks. It was one of Elvis’s $1200 guitars that someone snagged from the stage as they were unloading the gear. The thief ran out to his car and people chased him down the street. All that excitement and we missed i t!


Eventually we headlined at the Showcase. It had been our first California headlining show, and I was in disbelief that all these people came out to see us. Then I felt the pressure, cause all these people came out to see us! I can’t mess up. So of course, when we played Your Ghost my mind went blank and I couldn’t remember how to play the opening bass riff. The goddamn riff I wrote! I repeat that riff a few times during the song, so I tried to recover each time I played it and failed. It was the longest 2 minutes of my life. Afterwards I tried tuning my bass and Bobby kept yelling at me “It’s not your tuning! You’re just playing it wrong!” Thanks for pointing that out.





I have a lot of great memories at the Showcase. Jose the owner of the venue is a great guy and always took care of the bands. He had plans to open a new venue, so I hope when the economy turns around he will be able to do that.


At the Showcase we’ve played with; Koffin Kats, Three Bad Jacks, Zombeast, Order Of The Fly, Chop Tops, The Returners, 12 Step Rebels, More Than Never, Summers End and many others I can’t recall.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

The Graves / Vampires Don’t Exist Music Video















With our new music video scheduled for September (with Brian Pulido again) I thought it fitting to recap our last music video for the movie, The Graves. The song we chose for the movie is a fan favorite, "Vampires Don’t Exist." The video is a cross promotional vehicle for Calabrese and the movie. The scenes for the music video we shot were also used in the movie. We are featured at the beginning of the movie. We play Calabrese, the band that the heroines come to see before they get into trouble!



It was awesome seeing ourselves on the big screen at the cast and crew screening. I think it’s a natural progression for Calabrese to be projected ten feet tall. If you have not seen the movie, I’d suggest renting it or picking up a copy to add to your Calabrese Collection. We’d be happy to sign the DVD. The extras on the DVD have a performance only version of the video.


When we first arrived at the movie location, I didn’t know what to expect for an indie horror film, but when I saw the 3 RVs and 2 trucks unloading equipment and people, I was very impressed.





From what we’ve learned about making movies and videos, there’s a lot of hurry up and wait. We arrived at 4pm at the venue The Sets, as instructed, and I don’t think we shot our scene 'til around 8pm. The assistant director (I think that’s who it was) told us set up our instruments on the stage right away. So we hurried up, got everything into position, including the banner, then the lighting guys did their thing. We were excited, we were ready to rock...but we had to wait.






While we waited, a line of extras started forming outside the venue. The movie held an open casting call and a lot of Calabrese fans and the curious showed up!





I was told that this day was the last day of shooting and everyone was in a good mood. I guess out in the desert, where they shot most of the film, was pretty rough and the cast and crew were happy to get back civilization.


After what seemed like hours, the crew’s walkie talkies started buzzing. Like General Patton about to arrive, the director, Brian Pulido, was coming and everyone was getting ready. I believe they just shot the scene at Atomic Comics. Then they arrived, Brian, Adam (the Cinematographer) and the actresses. The set came alive, down time was over. Brian said hello to the crew while checking the location for the next scene. The actresses were whisked away into one of the trailer for a costume change. While they were getting their hair and makeup done they listened to "Vampires Don’t Exist." They had to familiarizing themselves with the song to join us on stage to sing.






When they were ready for us, all we had to do was perform along to the song while they blasted it through the PA. To the camera, Brian would introduce the band then we’d do our thing. I took some shots from the stage during the down times. I believe we performed about 5 times while they shot the scene with several different cameras and POVs. Then we were done.






They had snack table all day and a nice spread of food to feed the cast and crew after they finished shooting our scene. After dinner, they shot the final bar scenes around midnight.



We only met Claire Grant and Jillian Murray, unfortunately, Tony Todd and Bill Moseley were not in our scene. My biggest regret from the movie was that I didn’t get killed nor was I scripted to kill anyone. My cinematic vision had been squashed!










We got to see a screening of the movie before everyone else, see this blog post. Then the movie had limited theater run during the After Dark 4 Horror Fest. I didn’t get to see it with an audience but I heard reports that at least in one theater, the audience cheered when they saw Calabrese on screen. Fuck yeah!


We are eternally grateful to Brian Pulido for writing us into the script and getting us some screen time.



Overall it was a great experience. We had fun on a professional movie shoot, we have another promotional music video, and we are now officially a part of horror movie history!