Friday, October 29, 2010

Fuel Magazines - Killer Desktop

The fine folks over at Fuel Magazine have once again delivered! Check out this free downloadable wallpaper for your desktop. Yes, yes and more yes on this fine photo. Ok, we are a bit tongue tied and we can't figure out whether or not its the bike or the babe. Grab the photo from here for your desktop or download from Fuel Magazine's site

Fuel Magazine


Sneak Peak Friday

Whats a sneak peak Friday without a killer update about whats new in our store and what will be coming out soon. First up we have all the new ANTiSEEN - Primal Roar shirts in stock now along with our new style of silkscreen sew on patches. Look for these soon for the other bands on the music label here shortly.




Next up we have a sneak peak at close to being done cover artwork for Flat Tires new full length release for early 2011. The helllions from Hickory are going to unleash a new batch of fury when these songs are available. After hearing a quick sample of these just finished songs all I can say is holy shit are yall in for a Carolina Shit Stompin' good time. More details on the album soon.

Goat Bagpipes - Satan Reveals Himself



As all hallows eve gets closer and your coven needs to reinvigorate the true believers with the sacred goat pipes played during Samhain, give this guy a call. Beelzebub is seen here without his normal red skin tone, horns and maniacal laughter, maybe its his true form, the jury is still out.



In the spirit of the All Hallows Eve, I believe that we should all individually call upon Baron Samedi to guide us on our way. Maybe this video can help out...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Behind The Barbed Wire - Werewolf Special



Howdy folks! I hope everyone is getting their Halloween game plans ready to launch here in a few days and I sho nuff hope that those plans will include stopping by The THIRSTY BEAVER in Charlotte, NC for our FREE show this Friday night!!!! We will be cranking the noise at about 11pm for those who are keeping a schedule.......



Also the next night we'll be at the record store of ANTiSEEN's very own Mighty Joe Young, REPO DEPOT in Lenoir, NC. this show is also FREE but this one will begin at 8 pm!!!! If ya show up at 9 the show will be OVER jack...either by our own blitzkrieg like speed or by local law enforcement!!!!! So if ya still wanna take the lil one trickin' & treatin' there will still be plenty of time for that!!!



Well dammit, I didn't get it together enough to keep on keepin' on about those HAMMER movies like I promised ya last blog but I gotta get one more in here to ya before the holiday cuz this is THEE CREAM OF THE CROP buthuahs & sistahs...Hammer's only Werewolf tale entitled CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF!!!



1960 was the year this masterpiece was created. It stars motion picture/real life English hellraiser and real life bad ass Oliver Reed and is IMO one of the coolest Werewolf movies ever!!!! This one takes place in Spain where a lowly beggar (Richard Wordsworth) ends up at the front door of the Marques mansion on his wedding night. The beggar ask for some scraps from the table and is asked inside to become the entertainment for the Marques and his guests. After having enough of belittling the poor guy the Marques and his new bride are off to bed for some honeymoon hi-jinx and the beggar makes a snide comment that enrages the Marques and ends up getting his ass thrown in the dungeon and is eventually totally forgotten about. Fast forward about 20 years and the jailer of the dungeon gets his super fine ass, but mute, daughter to start helping out around the place by feeding the inmates and such. the jailer's daughter is played by Hammer Super Fox Yvonne Romain....MEEEEEOWWWWWW!!!!!



Yvonne Romain

Anyway, the girl goes to feed the old beggar, who by this time looks like Rip Van Winkle and is of coarse, raped by him and so on and so on which has her making a hasty escape from the mansion and the Marquis busy hands as well...oh yeah, after she kills his ass!!!!
So later the girl is found by a nice old Spanish gal and taken in to have her baby in comfort out of the elements and all. Much to everyone's dismay, the child is born on Christmas Day and THIS is bad ju ju for some damned reason. The girl dies during delivery so we don't get to see her anymore. DAMN!!!

Childhood for young Leon starts off kinda rough with his strange thirst for blood and his fascination with the moon not to mention some local livestock being mutilated by some unknown beast!!!! Fast Forward 20 more years and Leon (Oliver Reed) is off to make his way in the world....gets and apprenticeship makes some good friends but all that goes to shit pretty fast when that age old moon/ blood problem comes to call again. What ensues after this is one of horror cinemas greatest Werewolf rampages!



I wont give away the ending (like I did on some of the Dracula films Tee Hee) but i promise you...this film does not disappoint. When Reed is in his full lyncenthrope mode ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE!!!! Here are some great stills and some very cool promo photos for the film with Reed & Romain even though they never appeared on screen together.








OK yall......I hope each and everyone of you have a safe and Happy Halloween. If ya don't spend it with us...well...have a good un anyway!!!!! And for those of you who can't get enough...here is a little gallery of some of those HAMMER HOTTIES!!!! ENJOY..



Til next time.....

That Metal Show

Could it be? The one and only Phil Anselmo on an upcoming episode of That Metal Show, KILLER! I dig taping this show and saving a few episodes up on Tivo and then having a tasty bourbon and PBR to reinvigorate my metal history knowledge. With the candid interviews, great back stories and Eddie Trunks never ending depth of trivia its a great show for all that is hard rock and metal.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Super Rat's Triumph Trident Cafe Racer

Found these guys on youtube and I had seen this bike elsewhere before and it just screams style. Knowing the ideas and seeing footage of how this build went together makes it all the more interesting. Now I just gotta get back to the new land speed race build whenever I can carve out some time.

Super Rat Machine dot com


Clips From Cafe Racer TV

If yall don't have access to Discovery HD, here are a few clips from the new show Cafe Racer TV that are posted over on YouTube. I got into these bikes after buying a random wrecked piece of Honda parts on Craigslist and set out to build something cool on the cheap. I had no idea what I was getting into as I am more at home on Harley's. After lots of ebay parts and late nights with PBR in the shop scratching my head, I am officially hooked on the speed and agility of these machines. My 1979 cb650 cafe doesn't have a huge amount of top end but take her out on some country roads and its all you need to crack a grin ear to ear.





Saturday, October 23, 2010

The "F" Word

Amazing how life presents you with exactly what you were thinking. Perusing the time suck hole called Facebook and seeing what some friends are up to and I come across my buddy Gary's link to this short clip pulled from another source. This video basically sums up family time shared with my brother and dad on our favorite word. A word which is so perfect that it transcends every language, is pervasive in every culture and can ultimately be used as a noun, adjective or adverb. Once again German engineering has proven to be a powerful force.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Jamey Johnson - Playing The Part

Really diggin' the direction music videos are going these days, which is more towards short movies. Overall I believe its a sign of the times showcasing people's attention span and the lack of free time we have to find new things in conjunction with how much content is shoved towards us. Its overwhelming at times but then a video like this comes along and it just reels ya in. Funny part about it all, is who directed it and who is in the ape suit, who would of thunk. Guess you are going to have to watch it to find out.

All the critics keep talking about how all the outlaws are gone in country music, well they better clean out their ears as they haven't listened to Hellbound Glory just yet.

New Merch Friday!

Well folks, today seems to be a great day. We were back ordered on a few items as things have been selling like hotcakes and we are now restocked on most of them. Also, arriving today are a few new items to the store, check'em out.

Since we were asked to design two new shirts to go on the new Discovery HD's show called Cafe Racer TV, we now have those shirts for sale on their site as well as our store.




Check'em out in the Rusty Knuckles Store

Another great item arrived today which is the Repackaged and Remastered version of Hellbound Glory's "Old Highs & New Lows". This album has been named in numerous best of lists for 2010 so get your copy today.



Get the album in the store


For all the Antiseen fans, we will printing the newest shirt "Primal Roar" this weekend and will be ready for the Charlotte and Lenoir shows next weekend. Also on deck will be back patches and patches with the Primal Roar design. We are stoked and always glad to be working with the fellas in Antiseen.



Pre-Order Antiseen's - Primal Roar

Art, Contradiction, And The Asshole Who Says What He Wants

We have a brand new column starting here on our blog and would like to thank Brian L. Mullen III for coming on board. With his candid storytelling and pointed views we know it will be a welcome addition. Brian Mullen is a tattoo artist from Providence, RI and has played in a plethora of bands in the North East such as She Rides, Crippler Cross Face, Tabernackle, Unsung and Bullet Eater. His preference in music ranges from classical to black metal, finds beauty in vintage Matchless motorcycles and is a solid visual communicator.

Needless to say you will be hearing more from Brian and we will be posting a link to his blog and work quite soon. In the interim, check out his first post below as he hits the nail on the head.


Art, Contradiction, and the Asshole Who Says What He Wants
By Brian L Mullen III


Free speech. Lets talk about this for a little bit here. Free speech is one of the certain inalienable right that was declared with our independence and clearly stated in the constitution. It is what makes America as good as it is (along with a few other things). Free speech is the soap box under foot and also that thorn in the sides of everyone that has a cause, or wants to defend or fight for something. As an example i recently read a few people posting about getting a page dedicated to legalizing dog fighting removed from facebook. I do not condone dog fighting (cock fights are way funnier) but I do believe that this person has the right to say they support this cause. I know it drives people crazy as it sometimes does to me but if we remove this persons right to say what he thinks those that oppose us could make it so we don't have the right to say what we believe.

This is not a rant about dog fighting which I think is a cruel and inhumane practice.

I want to write about several things that have happened to me in the last few weeks that make me feel, besides hurt, annoyed that my friends would want to censor what someone else has to say. Now I have had a few comments deleted by friends recently because they might stir controversy. I do have a habit of writing wise-ass comments to people, but in doing so I have been either joking to make light of a serious situation, or trying to show people that their statement might be a shared one but not from the same point of view. One of these happened out of ease. My friend who normally would have laughed at my comments and known that I was making light of a bad situation removed said comments to make his home life easier. His significant others family are much less likely to understand my jokes and would not ask me about what I meant by said comments. Although offended, I do understand that he did this not out of disregard for my opinion, but out of not wanting to have a very uncomfortable conversation over the thanksgiving day dinner table.

I had someone remove a comment for reasons I do not clearly understand. I have a few guesses as to why someone who is very opinionated would want to deprive someone else of their opinion, especially since mine contradicts theirs. I tried to make it in such a way that it was understood to be a minor difference of opinion and let her know that her comments were as offensive to me as some might find mine. I ended it with what I thought to be a funny comment to really enforce the "we disagree but, oh well, it doesn't matter" attitude that I try to keep. That attitude I can only guess was not shared. No explanation was offered, no comments made back, just remove the contrary opinion so it looks like no one argues with what was stated. There might be other issues that led to the removal of the comment but if that was the case maybe something could have been said about it. I continue on with this last comment on these actions. If you don't want to hear what what people have to say in response to your posts or photos, don't post them. Make your settings private so that these things that upset your delicate sensibilities off of a public forum.

Now my main reason for writing this is based in the tattoo world and the very weak link that connects that world to the fine art world. That statement might piss some people off but that is my opinion, if you have a contrary one please feel free to share it, as I will not delete it no matter how offensive I may or may not find it. I am not of the opinion that all tattoo artists are fine artists, likewise I don't think that all artists would make good tattoo artists. In fact I would go so far as to say I think most artists who think they would be awesome tattoo artists are mistaken and the opposite is even more accurate. But if we are to accept art with open arms regardless of merit or qualifications, then we have to accept it across the board. I am not saying that I want to agree with this, I am horribly judgmental when it comes to art. I am opinionated and pigheaded and I love way less than I hate and I like maybe as much as I dislike, but I will defend anyone's right to do what they want in the art realm. I however also reserve the right to voice my opinion on said art be it positive or negative.

I was asked to take part in a group show which had an open invite. I at first declined and then when inspiration struck I did a painting, framed it, and then called to check and make sure that it was still within a time frame that it could be submitted to the show. It was approved time wise so I dropped off the painting knowing that it would not be making everyone happy. I did not do a painting to make friends, nor did I do it to kiss anyone's ass, nor did I even do it to try and fit in with some imagined in-crowd. I did a painting that i thought would have good flow, be funny, and would state something that I could stand behind. Now maybe people think that common ground make friends, I do not. I do not base my friendships on a share thing, I base them on a feeling and enjoyment of someones company. I am friends with some people that tattoo, but I'm not friends with them because they tattoo nor am I friends with everyone who tattoos. I don't troll facebook looking for other tattoo artist to become friends with. I don't need to sit there and blow smoke up someones ass about their tattoos so they will do the same to me. Now if you are someone who does that, good for you. Sorry I sound so offensive when I talk about it but I find it incredibly shallow and most of the time very pathetic. I do know some people who belong to forums and talk to other artist about work related things and that I think is great and wanting to expand your knowledge is awesome. The superficial, "shake your hand stab you in the back" mentality of tattooing and the art that surrounds that world is crap. Stating that in a painting should not be so offensive if you have strength of character and confidence in your actions. Now my painting that people found offensive simply states that I don't base my friendships on something so superficial as a profession. I am not my job nor is my job what defines my character.

What I personally find very offensive is that stating a fact is considered insulting but putting swastikas in paintings is considered risque, or funny. It's not. If it is done in a political statement or for a specific reason (see the works of Manuel Ocampo) then fine but when done for simple shock value it is pure stupidity. Just to really remind any tattoo artist who may get to read this, almost 6 million Jews were killed about 70 million people in general were killed during WWII, so doing a swastika in a painting or in a flash sheet isn't really funny. if you want to make jokes between you and a friend go nuts, but to put something down for posterity, to leave your work for the foreseeable future with swastikas in it is a political statement and sadly one that most of you don't realize you're making. So in the end my main point on free speech is feel free to do what you want but remember that free speech also entitles others to make whatever statement they would like to make. And just as you would judge what someone else does, they might judge what you do to be equally as offensive. I apologize if I have gotten off course with this, I have been known to ramble when I write, but hopefully the points are all there and easy enough to understand. Thanks for your time.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Germs Of Perfection - A Tribute To Bad Religion


The first time I got to see Bad Religion was in September of 1993 with Green Day and Seaweed opening up at Graffiti in Pittsburgh. How I can so easily recollect that rough date is by the fact that I still have the ticket stub and that life was changin' in many ways. I had just started college and met up with a soon to be great group of friends. I was all about the hardcore and thrash metal and my buddy Todd was a punk stalwart. He introduced me to so many great new bands that I still thank him for it. Bad Religion was one of those bands in which I had always heard of them but never really checked'em out. As soon as I started listening to Against The Grain, I was absolutely hooked. Besides the killer vibe the lyrics are a powerful force and one in which each song feels like a chapter in the book. Every album has been this way and puts Bad Religion into a whole other sphere of influence.

Take for example this free sample of recordings. Each artist on here gives the song a different feel and my personal fave is William Elliot Whitmore's version of "Don't Pray On Me". Thanks to all involved for making a cool project happen. Download the songs now before they are gone.

Download the songs here






Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Mike Ashcraft - Thumbin Sleazoid Cinema

We have a major short film in the works over here within Rusty Knuckles Music and its about time we introduce yall to Mike Ashcraft. Through his film company Thumbin' Sleazoid Cinema he is producing films that exploit the southern vibe with a trashy punk rock underbelly. With his bare knuckle approach to cinematography we know that the short film about to be produced is going to cause quite a stir. More details will be arriving soon and we can leave ya guessing on which band it will be. Watch "Cyclone" and see what Thumbin Sleazoid Cinema is all about.

Thumbin dot com

"Cyclone" from Mike Ashcraft on Vimeo.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Hellbound Glory - Top 30 Best Albums Of 2010

Leave it up to the folks over at Farce The Music dot com to be a great blog posting about the state of the music industry and current albums. They write up quality reviews and just happen to be a huge fan of Hellbound Glory, what can we say, that is great news to us. The repackaged and remastered album "should" be arriving by thursday of this week and will be shipping on Friday. Thanks for all the interest in the band as they truly deserve it!

Check out Hellbound Glory on facebook


Check out Hellbound Glory on myspace

Farce The Music dot com article on Top 30 Albums so far this year


Antiseen - Primal Roar Sketch

Been cranking on this illustration for quite a while and about to start scanning it in to prepare it for press. Need to add in the ANTiSEEN logo and create some distinct text for "primal roar" but its just about there.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Behind The Barbed Wire - Halloween Edition





Well, October is finally here! My favorite time of year and the home for my favorite holiday..Halloween! Now I know a lot of you have yer holiday traditions and such and also that many of you out there are horror movies geeks like I was at one time in my life. There is a series of films that I'm STILL a geek for and that is those made by the English film company HAMMER. Most of Hammer's horror films were period pieces set way back in the 1800's and early 1900's. They were shot in brilliant color and showed lots of blood.....and BOOBS! Hammer had a stable of some of the most beautiful actress in the world and weren't afraid to show them off. I can just imagine what all those low cut blouses and protruding cleavage shots did to young men when they went to see these on the big screen!!!




Ingrid Pitt

But boobs & blood aside, the sets, scripts (most of em), the scores and the acting were top of the line. The company's biggest stars hands down was Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Together, these guys made the greatest series of Dracula / Van Helsing films in movie history...IMHO.



Peter Cushing as Van Helsing

I'm gonna write about this company up until the end of the month to give those who might be interested time to Netflix, Blockbuster, or Ebay any of these films in time for Halloween. Since I mentioned the Dracula series I'll go ahead and start there. In 1958...yeah, 58, Hammer released HORROR OF DRACULA. This film was loosely based on the old novel by Bram Stoker and the story most people know of Jonathan Harker visiting the Castle in Transylvania.In this adaptation Harker, comes to take the job as Count Dracula's Librarian. All relation to the novel ends there pretty much.

The highlights of this are of coarse, Lee's portrayal of the main character. A smooth and sophisticated, if not somewhat peculiar host and then to a feral, snarling, fang bearing creature of the undead! The final battle...(.final? yeah right) between Dracula and Van Helsing is pure a cinematic classic! watch the damned trailer.



The next installment in the series is DRACULA : PRINCE OF DARKNESS from 1966. Cushing did a non LEE Dracula film called BRIDES OF DRACULA which I will cover in the next installment when we discuss Hammer's various vampire films.Cushing would drop out of the seires after BRIDES and resurface later on in the role of Van Helsing's kinfolk. Apparently in POD , Lee felt he wasn’t getting paid enough to reprise the role so as a FU to the powers that be, he refused to learn any lines so therefore has NO spoken dialogue in the whole damned movie!!! That's bad ass if ya ask me! STICK IT TO 'EM CHRIS! Anyway, he still pulls the role off with lots of great hissing and stink eye shots. Dracula's demise in this one is a bit different, A monk shoots the ice around the Counts feet as he stands on a frozen river, which has running water under the ice. Maybe not the goriest of endings but there's plenty of the red stuff (and great cleavage) in the rest of the film.




The next film is my favorite of the series...1968's DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE. Lee makes Dracula a hellbent for vengeance bad ass in this flick. The Count is thawed from the ice by the blood of a priest's brow and all hell breaks loose when he finds a giant cross blocking his entry to his own castle. Since the Count needs a place to sleep he makes his priest servant (Ewan Hooper) dig up a grave and dump the corpse out in a kinda gruesome scene that RULES in my book! One of the most ass kickin' scenes is when slave priest boy insists that after Paul (Barry Andrews) plunges a wooden stake into the Count's heart, he prays to make sure the extermination is blessed by the lord therefore permanent. Well, being an atheist , Paul assures slave priest that his prayers wont be considered valid by the almighty so while they argue this point, Drac pulls the bloody stake out of his own chest and then throws it at the bastards!! CLASSIC!!!!!





Next came TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA in 1970. IMHO this was the weakest of the bunch. I'll still take it over the current crop of teeny bopper computer graphic block busters any day. Basically a kind of Hellfire Club type of group (bunch of rich dudes going out once a month to indulge in all sorts of debauchery) and want to resurrect the Count for kicks.......Watch



1970 also saw SCARS OF DRACULA....maybe this was the weakest link....still really good. I mean, ya cant go wrong with an entire village's population of women being eaten by giant rubber bats can you?





1972 gave us DRACULA AD 1972. Now the shit starts kicking again. For one reason, Cushing is back as a descendant of Van Helsing in modern London....imagine Austin Powers mixed with a classic Hammer vampire film and you got a good idea of what your in for. Now I don’t mean that as an insult, this movie is bad-fucking-ass and has a GREAT soundtrack that was composed by one of the dudes in Manfred Mann. Its almost has a real Blaxploitation feel to it. The cast also features super foxy Stephanie Beacham & Caroline Munro! Meow!!!!




Anyway....there is a scene at the opening where a group of crazy hippies and swinging Londoners crash a society party and rock group Stoneground plays a couple tunes while the kids wreak havoc on all the uptight suits. Rumor has it that Rod Stewart and the Faces were supposed to be the band in the film but for some reason or another that didn’t happen.....that would have been BAD ASS!!!!!



and just to confirm how bad ass it would have been to have the Faces....



1973 rolled right along with THE SATANIC RITES OF DRACULA. Still set in modern London, this time the Count is so god damned pissed off that he wants to wipe out the entire human race by unleashing the Black Plague on the earth!!!!! Well, a lot of other good shit happens before all that goes down. Cushing returns as Van Helsing and this will be Lee's last time in the role of Dracula....seems he was getting tired of being typecast and all. Hmmm. Well, anyway this movie has a pretty innovative way to dispose of the Lord of the Undead, he gets tangled in a patch of thorns, the type used in Christ's crown of thorns, and then falls into a pit of stakes. God damn, that’s some good ass shit!!!!!!!





Cushing would play Van Helsing one last time in 1974's LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES. This shit was right up my alley....Hammer Horror mixed with Kung Fu!!!! I ain’t shittin' ya either! Filmed on location in Hong Kong with The Shaw Brothers (Martial Arts film legends)Dracula takes the form a Chinese monk gone bad and travels to China to fuck shit up on a new continent. With the help of the 7 Golden vampires he does just that. ...even though he only appears in the whole film for a total of about 10 minutes. Dracula is played by John Forbes-Robinson....all I can say is, ole John had some awful big shoes to fill replacing Lee and fell short by about a mile. Other than that, there’s all kinds of great stuff going on, zombies, dismemberment, boiling blood baths, kung fu, naked Chinese chicks, golden vampires getting pissed off about there golden bat getting stolen and even more kung fu! Say what you will, but I LOVE this goddamned movie.



Well, I hope this blog entry will give y’all some good ideas for your Halloween viewing. Next time Ill talk about Hammer's werewolf , Frankenstein , and various vampire films. OK this wouldn’t be BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE unless I did a little shameless advertising...We are doing two FREE...yeah I said FREE....(damn, FREE?) shows for Halloween.

First ... Friday October, 29th at The THIRSTY BEAVER in Charlotte, NC. We'll be strumming the strings about 11 o'clock. This place is s m a l l....could be a really fun night!!! Come on out!





The next night we will be playing on the front porch of REPO DEPOT RECORDS in beautiful Lenoir, NC. Repo Depot is owned and operated by ANTiSEEN's own Mighty Joe Young. The noise will begin at 8pm. Hope to see every damned one of ya's there!

Monday, October 11, 2010

Dime City Cycles - Brass Cafe

With the new show called "Cafe Racer" premiering this week on Discovery HD, what better timing could it be Dime City Cycles to have another featured build on BikeExif. This particular site is proving to be one of the best resources for cafe racers, race bikes, vintage and custom motorcycles as a whole. The clean photography and simple style of the site ensures that the bikes get all the glory they deserve. All we can say is hells yeah for the fellas over at Dime City Cycles!

View the article on BikeExif dot com


Cafe Racer TV dot com






Orange County Choppers - Electric Drag Bike

Say what you will about the Orange County Choppers folks as they are truly just an aspect of our current pop culture, but this electric bike will move! The electrical revolution is on its way...

Donks - Part 2

Life is just damn amazing sometimes and especially when I drive downtown and see the amount of donks that are cruising around these days. They have to ride like crap with the little amount of air in those tires and the shit suspension, but that is not even nearly the point. Folks will say what they will, but damn they look sorta rad rollin' down the road. They are truly the bastard child of hip hop and monster trucks if that is possible.