Fort Wayne, IN, native Dusty Neal is the master of many dark arts: he is the creator of Sistine Press, a super rad illustrator, tattoo artist . His independent publishing house is releasing some killer fanzines that are pushing the limits. Instead of just interviewing him we wanted to do something different…so I’m going to let him take it from here…
Dusty Neal: Recently I was asked by CVLT NATION to list my top four metal/punk records and why they were important to me. Rather than picking my favorite records, I started thinking about which albums hold the most importance to me in terms of how they have influenced me and my taste over the years and decided this might be more interesting to write about.
VENOM – BLACK METAL
After becoming literally obssessed with black metal in high school, I went backwards from the 2nd and 3rd wave of bands to discover the genius of Venom. Only back in my youth, I didn’t quite fully understand the power of this band, or this record. I was expecting something cleaner sounding, something faster and more shrieked. Over the years I slowly began to learn the magick of Venom, but the older I get the more I seem to prefer Venom to most 2nd and 3rd wave bm bands. Along with Celtic Frost, Motorhead, and Bathory, I could listen to these dirty, sloppy rock songs everyday, and the more I do, the less new music seems to speak to me. Fuck-all attitude and casual satanism is the kind of shit I’m way into.
Check out the rest of Dusty’s favorites after the jump…
DANZIG – III HOW THE GODS KILL
To me, Glenn Danzig is the ideal balance of evil masculinity and vulnerable human sensitivity. There is a Danzig song for every mood or emotion I’ve experienced, and this album undoubtedly holds my favorite and most epic Danzig songs. My d.i.y. publishing press, Sistine Press, is also a reference to the song “Sistinas.” There isn’t much I really need to say here, you should already worship the Evil Elvis.
CRAFT – FUCK THE UNIVERSE
By years, this is the most recent record on my list, but to me it is just as much already a classic as the others I have listed. Aside from being unabashedly abrasive and sincerely blasphemous, the major reason this album means so much to me is because it opened my heart back up to black metal. After seeing the movement burn itself out and branch into a dozen sub-genres I became very pessimistic towards modern black metal and the quality of new releases that seemed at one point impossible to follow and give proper attention to. Yet, after a strong recommendation from a friend, this album reignited the black flame inside me that I had long lost. From this album on, I will never lose interest in true, hateful, black metal ever again. Fuck the universe!
CONVERGE – JANE DOE
Converge is one of the most amazing bands ever in many regards. Constantly evolving and expanding the limits of what can be expected from a hardcore or metal band, they are innovators through their sheer technical musicianship, Jacob Bannon’s definitive artwork, and their intensity toward playing live. “Jane Doe” was released during a very important time in my life. I was just about to start art school and leave my close friends behind. Through the tumultuous happenings of my college years I always returned to this album for a therapeutic comfort that only a few albums have ever left me with. It also bears mentioning that the artwork and layout of the album still tremendously impact my artwork to this day.
CVLT Nation would like to say thank you to Dusty for his support.
Niceone!
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