Throwback Thursday Jam – H.I.M. – “The Sacrament”

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There’s a plethora of sub-categories in the master genre of metal music, to the point it’s been satirized many times in documentaries and animation. Power metal, thrash, death metal, black metal, doom, sludge, math metal, folk metal, Viking metal, proto metal, nu-metal, taiko metal, psych metal, party metal, I’m surprised a blaring hippie band like Enuff Z’nuff never got tagged with “Flower Power Metal.”

I should know. I covered the stuff for 16 years.

Finnish Goth metal band H.I.M., who carried a massive following from the 1990s through their breakup in 2017, has the distinction of carrying a second brand named after their fourth album, whether they wanted it or not. They probably did, since their music became precise and calculated, whether you were a fan or not. Dark romance anthems swung high largest by former MTV personality, Bam Margera, and the millennial generation he pandered to: Love metal.

As if the calling-card heartagram logo following H.I.M. (dubiously standing for His Infernal Majesty) is indicative, the band formed by vocalist/guitarist Ville Valo and bassist Mikko “Mige” Paananen, engineered a mass-fed Goth movement not even the founding masters Mission UK, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Sisters of Mercy were able to hit outside of the alternative rock ranks.

Dangerously infectious, H.I.M. morphed from the tenebrous world they started into a brand of perfected and polished amp rock carried by Ville Valo’s trademark lovesick weeping. Too slick at times for many critics’ tastes, Razorblade Romance, Deep Shadows and Brilliant Headlights, Dark Light and Love Metal became neo-Goth hipster couture.

The latter album probably being the best of this middle (and most profitable) section of H.I.M.’s career, “The Sacrament” from Love Metal is genius level power pop with a swooning piano melody that’s been a personal earworm for two decades since it came out in 2003. An absolute masterpiece of its kind, much less heavy rock itself, other standout tracks from Love Metal are “Buried Alive by Love,” “Soul on Fire,” “Beyond Redemption” and the incredible, Peter Murphy-esque “Circle of Fear.”

The sacrament is you.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Retro Ad of the Week – Stanley Cup is Up for Grabs!

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It’s a rare comeback down 3 games to none, but the Edmonton Oilers have done just that against the Florida Panthers in this year’s Stanley Cup tournament and tonight someone’s taking home the hardest to win trophy in sports!

Game 7s, no matter what stage in the Stanley Cup playoffs, are almost always gems, the most intense, go-for-broke yet highly cautious matches. I used to cover NHL games for a year in 1999 and Game 7s were always the most palatable, the most buzzworthy. When a Game 7 is played for all the marbles like tonight, it’ll either be balls-out mayhem or a chess match on ice.

This ad from the 1988 Stanley Cup Finals says it all, which is not to give a predetermined outcome for the 2024 edition, even if Edmonton won it all behind the immortal Wayne Gretzky in 1988. Will current Oilers captain Connor McDavid replicate the same magic, or will Alexander Barkov lead Florida to a home ice lifting of Lord Stanley’s hardware?

We’ll know by the end of the night, but don’t be surprised if it takes double or even triple overtime to settle this thing. Like this old ESPN ad says, it’s time to get serious.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

First Advance Testimonial for My Upcoming Horror Short Story Collection, “Behind the Shadows”

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I already have two advance testimonials in praise of my new horror short story collection, Behind the Shadows, coming out in a few months. I can’t help but share one of them this soon, coming from Quantum Demonology author, Sheila Eggenberger, my longtime “Danish Connection.”

When Sheila’s novel came out in 2013, I reviewed it and she did me the honor of using my blurb in all of her promotional materials, including t-shirts. You can see what I wrote in the picture above. I am beyond privileged what Sheila sent me this morning after she read Behind the Shadows cover-to-cover:

“Pick your shivers. Any shivers. Ghosts? Zombies? Things unmentionable in daylight? Whatever your preferred chills, shivers and icy winds down your spine, Ray Van Horn, Jr. has you dangerously uncovered and quaking in your armchair at a steady 150 mph in his new collection of short stories, Behind the Shadows. They’re guaranteed to leave you both quaking, shaking and emphatically stirred.”

– Sheila Eggenberger, author of Quantum Demonology.

From Baltimore to Copenhagen, much love and madness to you, Sheila.

Behind the Shadows, from Ray Van Horn, Jr. Coming soon from Raw Earth Ink.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

With Gloria Cavalera, One of the Savviest People I Ever Met in the Music Industry

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I’ve had a terrific time thus far reconnecting with my prior world in horror and music journalism, first with a rad assignment from Rue Morgue magazine, then hired to write a musician press release this past week, which was a new domain for me, even with all the work I did in the industry. Very rewarding in both cases and I’m happy the clients glowed over my work.

All of which led me to this photo with Gloria Cavalera, wife of Sepultura/Soulfly/Nailbomb/Cavalera Conspiracy/Go Ahead and Die icon, Max Cavalera. I interviewed Max three times in my music journalism career and will never forget the first time Gloria met me beforehand and introduced me to the man himself in the back of the tour bus.

I was as impressed with her on the spot as I was in awe of Max, just the humblest dude for all he’s achieved and been through. Later in life, Gloria had me come down for Max and Iggor Cavalera’s gig in 2017 playing Sepultura’s game-changing Roots album in its entirety. Better than that amazing show was the time Gloria granted me, an hour-and-a-half on the bus of convo. Just us, with a quick hello from Max as we chatted.

Let me tell you, this is one of THE finest interviews-turned-hangouts I had with anyone. Gloria’s knowledge of the music industry, her overall business knowledge and as matriarch to família incrível Cavalera forever changed my outlook on things at a time I was losing heart as a music journalist.

The Cavalera tribe knows trials and tribulations better than most, and even though I parted ways with Blabbermouth shortly thereafter so I could take care of my family at the time (and also due to an overall pervading sense of lackluster in my work then), I thought of Gloria’s advice as an unknowing mentor this week. Gloria and Max are the quintessential couple, a true partnership destined by the gods.

I wanted that for myself at the time and later, I was able to get it for myself. I wrote my assignments the past couple weeks with the same passion I started with so many years ago. Gloria, you and Max celebrated your anniversary not too long ago, but in the metal industry, I can think of no one else who inspires me greater with your shared love and your will to beat all odds. Saudação!

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

What Father’s Day Means to Me

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From the Let’s Get Real Department, Father’s Day Files. If there was one thing we got right in my former marriage, it was adopting the boyo. Good times and bad, my ex pushed me to become a dad and I’ll always be grateful for that. We took foster parent classes, but there’s no real manual on how to do this job, whether the children come via birth or through other means. It was my stepfather, the shining knight example of manhood, who taught me how to love another person’s kid, and I have had a deep 16-year bond with my son because of it.

At least through his tweens, there wasn’t a day he and I weren’t at each other’s sides doing everything together. It was instant love between us and no matter the turmoil we’ve been through later in our lives, I never question his loyalty to me and I can see the dawning inside of him just who has had his back all these years. We all have, as his family, but at the core, it’s been me and him, BOND.

Fatherhood hasn’t been easy. It’s been downright painful and thankless at times. Dads aren’t perfect. Dads blow their lids. Dads screw up. Dads can only keep their armor polished and dent-free for so long until they learn to keep the tarnish and the dings as badges of honor. If dads take the job seriously, they love their kids more than themselves. They want the happiness of their kids more than their own. No matter the pushbacks, no matter the backtalk, the fights against ill-founded superiority complexes shot at them from their charges. Fathers see the endgame and if they’re worth anything, they want their children to win it faster than themselves.

I love my kids, including my new adult stepchildren who’ve only known me a short time in whatever capacity they need me to be. I know this is a day they miss their dad as much as I miss my blood father, flawed and occasionally abusive as he could be. Their dad would be as proud of them as I am.

My dad loved me more than anyone on this planet and his good deeds superseded his faults, which I was able to philosophically put together down the road. My stepfather, Pop, and I have had nothing short of a “My main man” kind of father-son relationship, and I can think of no finer dude I’ve ever known. He and I once had a man-to-man sit-down at the same age my son is now, and that remains one of my happiest memories with Pop. We toasted as men do (I’ll leave you to make your inferences on what that entailed) and b.s.’d for hours that day.

I needed that chat with a father who showed me he understood me, accepted me as a man and wanted to see me rise above the things that were dragging me down. One week ago, I re-enacted the entire thing for my own son. Man-to-man, at the kitchen table (again, leaving you to infer as you will) since my son has known great pain of his own as much as he’s made terrible mistakes. That was a day to put it all on the table with minimal lecturing and an open-door policy to speak our minds. Above all, it was to acknowledge the kid’s manhood as Pop did for me. Thus far, it’s been a game changer. For us both.

To all my brothers of the cause out there, a Happy Father’s Day to you. I still have an unexplainable shakiness to being celebrated every June as a dad, but I’ve done nothing less than take the role I was handed with full commitment. TJ has been an amazing partner to me in all things, inclusive of passing her knowledge and having the courage not only to be his stepmom, but to keep me on track with him. I get exhausted, I get burned-out. Sometimes my aspirations cloud my day-to-day. Eye on the prize, getting this young man to reach his destiny, whatever he chooses that to be. A good father needs a good mother to keep him strong and sane, and I have that.

At the end of our man-to-man, my son challenged me to a future Spartan race once he gets himself entrenched in the military. He joked how he would probably wipe me out once he has his training, since the primary reason of my fitness crusade has ALWAYS been to inspire him before others. I think the plot worked over time, and I told him, “I accept your challenge and when that day comes, we’ll start the heat together and don’t you worry about getting a lead on me. In fact, go hard, go fast. Dust me and don’t look back. I’ll find you at the finish line.”

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

Getting Our Wine On at Dodon Vineyards – Davidsonville MD

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What a wonderful post-wedding gift from my stepdaughter, a tour and tasting session TJ and I enjoyed at a hidden gem stashed in Davidsonville, MD, Dodon Vineyards.

555 acres of prime farmland passed between generations, cultivating a heavy lean toward darker wines like Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot still dealing a wet Rosé, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc for those with lighter tastes. We were graced with wonderful hospitality by our hostess, Hannah and we were able to sample nearly all of Dodon’s current stock. We were paired with a second, younger couple who had just moved into the area from Texas and were fun to chat with.

The estate is housed in this county seat, and you will need a sharp eye to scout the attenuated, at times windy access road, so keep your drinking checked or employ a D.D. to get out safely. The producing grounds of Dodon have been around for centuries, Hannah informed us, noting the estate had once yielded tobacco crop along with corn and soybeans. At one time, the estate had been owned by the Catholic church. As a former Catholic myself, I smirked, knowing full well the wine allegory representing the blood of Christ during communion ceremonies at weekly masses.

As a group, we all agreed the Dungannon 2019 Merlot-Cabernet Franc hybrid and Oronoco and South Slope (both also 2019 vintage) combining all the estate’s dark wines were aces, along with the finishing touch dessert wine, Salute the Truth. While I’m across the board when it comes to wine, I prefer dark, dry reds the most and Dodon doesn’t fail with those. TJ fell in love with the 2023 Rosé and you can see our preferred blends for our walkaround glass after the tasting session. That’s South Slope I’m pulling on in the second picture.

The Vineyards at Dodon are well-known by Maryland wine aficionados and it’s been profiled as one of the top 15 American vineyards by Gotham Magazine. Dodon is a carbon negative producer, a traditional farming winery where the estate’s sheep chomp down on high grass and their biological waste is utilized as crop fertilizer and compost.

An entirely organic process based on microbe breakdown and regeneration into the soil, which fuse the vines growing Dodon’s prime crop. An old school, nature partnered approach for times where ecological consciousness has become dire, no matter which side of the political fence you sit on.

We were particularly impressed with the vats which were emptied during the time of our visit, but the yield statistics Hannah gave us blew our minds for a considerably small operation. The refrigeration room housing all the caskets of fermenting wine was cool to hang in, literally and figuratively. Considering we’d been delayed by a 3-mile backup on Maryland Route 97 due to pesky road construction, our heated irritation was cooled immensely in the storage area, allowing us to relax and relish a beautiful gift we won’t forget.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.