Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death) (d. 1998 )

You know, Dave, I was just about to ask you if you had seen the last episode of Mad Men, yet — which I think is the — gulp — penultimate of the season? If you have, then we have a heck of a lot to discuss good golly!

In the interim, there’s always Glee.

Anyway, I was reading Flaubert’s correspondence recently — bits and pieces, natch — and it really humbled and almost shamed me.  You remember those wild times when e-mail was just starting out and we had that kind of clubby student interface at the old school?  And then I started getting four to six e-mails a day from my mother?  And we all kind of thought that was really weird.  I mean, not as weird as some people thought I was, but still…

Well, reading the letters Flaubert wrote to his mother from Egypt, it appears that I should have been both more appreciative and more assiduous in my replies all this time… I mean, not only did she write him constantly, constantly complaining that he did not write back often enough, but he actually seemed to take pleasure in reading her letters!  Sentimentally setting aside all other task to open himself to the wellspring of emotions brought about by the words of his chère vieille (seriously, I cannot imagine addressing my mama with some variation of “you old bag”). Moreover, he took to writing to his comrades requesting that they check in on her.  Times change… Anyhoo, it really brought me back to those moments when I would have to lie about where I was traveling, just to avoid any excess of fretting: Flaubert’s mother apparently imagined that he was eaten by crocodiles or, perhaps, besieged by Bedouins as every week went by without word from him.  Of course, in other respects, I have never been expected to give the kind of detailed report on my daily health that Flaubert felt necessary — Dude, TMI!

Otherwise, I was wondering why I always have a rough time leaving the house in the morning.  Then I realized that there is an inverse relationship between distance between sleeping cats and hours it takes to get out the door in the morning:

let sleeping cats lie

Really… could you bring yourself to abandon such a thing?

Hail Khephra! Meditated on the verse from The Book of the Law: “There is a splendour in my name hidden and glorious, as the sun of midnight is ever the son.” Each time I think of this, I can hear the song “The Path of Sorrows” by Rozz Williams:

Across the abyss
This weary traveler struggles on
Casting his eyes upon the ground, he cries out
“Is there no end to this immortal pain that haunts me?”
Thou hast become the path and the way
That leadeth to destruction
Be thou accursed
Be thou abolished
Be thou annihilated
Testify that all is vanity
In heaven as on earth
Dressed in universal torment
Crying openly
As I engage myself in prayer.
“Bring me through midnight to the sun!”
As I enflame myself with prayer
“Bring me through midnight to the sun!”
Everythings in motion, everything lies still
Through the veil of sorrow
And the pall of death
Everything’s in motion, everything lies still
Through the veil of sorrow
And the pall of death
Like that of a drowning man
His life flashes before him
Turning his eyes away in shame, he cries out
“Is there no pity for a blind man such as me?”
Thou has become the path and the way
That leadeth to destruction
Be thou accursed
Be thou abolished
Be thou annihilated
Eyes, feet, hips start moving
Where the laurels grow
Another sacrifice
Stains the tomb of human despair
As I enflame myself with prayer
“Bring me through midnight to the sun!”
Everything’s in motion, everything lies still
On the path of sorrows
On the road to death

Most of these lines originated with Aleister Crowley but I digress.

What is the significance of splendor? It seems to indicate the secret name of Hoor, which Crowley notes as combining the force of the Sun with Mars. This fits with the inward journey of initiation in the Aeon of Horus. The reward being the accomplishment of the Great Work, and I think the greater mystery relates specifically to the essence of death.

Are we to become like Christ, as the son of God, yet averse with an inverse nature? If death is the crown of all, the possibility of conquering death would be compelling. The past conception of the sun being false, only time will tell when death itself becomes an illusion unmaksed.

I was researching the history of my ancient ancestor Lord Bloodwar and
had visited his crumbling gothic estate. Outside a huge cathedral I
noticed a massive silver tank, about the size of a house. A voice came
over a loudspeaker from within and told me that Bruce Dickinson was the
current Lord Bloodwar and that he wanted me to go to Iron Maiden’s last
ever gig.

The tank started rolling toward me and Maiden mascot Eddie was standing
on the turret in futuristic green armour. I had to scramble up an old
castle wall to get out of the way. I found myself overlooking a valley,
the tank behind me and the sun setting before me. Maiden then got out of
the tank and started playing a song written by the ghost of Rozz
Williams about cutting peoples’ limbs off and reassembling them in weird
configurations. The tank shot missiles over the valley and I stood on
the precipice rocking out and going ‘Woo’.

A poetic dismal view of society translated in grainy black and white, imagery overload, dialogue free, art house film in the style of transgression. Pig is the love-child of Rozz Williams (Christian Death) and independent, underground film maker Nico B.  Disturbing, dark and full of twisted murderous fantasies, the film examines the ritualistic, methodical murder between serial killer and his submissive victim. A man wearing a pig mask (Rozz Williams) takes his bandaged face victim (James Hollan) to an abandoned house in Death Valley and tortures him according by the pages of a book entitled “Why God Permits Evil”. The tortures of body mutilation, nipple piercing and homosexual fantasy are perpetrated in front of the camera for realism almost to the cusp of becoming a snuff film. The film comes to a conclusion when serial killer and victim become one at the the moment when the bandages are removed from the victim. Pig is a very disturbing and disgusting glimpse of a serial killer’s deranged perspective and his evil intentions in the most purest state.
 
I found the film bothersome, confusing and entertaining all at the same moment. The electronic ambient music and visual arts were artistically impressive by doing very little from an artistic angle. Pig isn’t just another gratuitous filled sadism film, the book “Why God Permits Evil” is an shocking artistic achievement of the translation of the Bible that shall never be duplicated. Although the deceased Williams is better known for his musical talent, Rozz’s tortured spirit of his personal demons and homosexual eroticism desires are documented into a film art should be admired with an open mind… Rozz took his own life shortly after shooting of this film.
 
 
-Joseph

This album is spookier than sitting in a graveyard on Hallowe’en while listening to gutwrenching vocals by someone who cleans their tonsils in acid is an apt description of the review that appeared in “Sounds” on 17 April 1982.  April may not be a kind month, but in his review muso Ralph Traitor made it sound exactly like the kind of music I wanted to listen to.  Ralph Traitor’s review was of “Only Theatre of Pain” recorded by Rozz Williams with James McGearty (bass), George Belanger (drums), Rikk Agnew (guitar).  Rozz drew the picture on the album cover, apparently loosely based on Hamlet holding Yorick’s skull, done in gold on black.  The album was released in Europe by the French L’invitation au Suicide label.  Shortly afterwards, this line-up split up.  Rozz was actually 18 when “Only Theatre of Pain” was recorded, although it would seem that Christian Death probably started two years previously because newspaper interviews claimed Rozz was 16 at this time.
        Originally Rozz described the name as a “bringing together of opposites.  Christianity is so life-reinforcing, live by these rules you’ll go onto eternal life, and death is the complete opposite of that”.  Quickly realising this opened the band to accusations of being pretentious or pseudo-intellectuals, Rozz began to refuse to discuss the band’s name.  Later he said some band members had been throwing names into the air.  One person had been wearing a Christian Dior tee shirt.  The suggestion Christian Death came up.  It suited Rozz’s dislike of organised religion.  In interviews he often stated that any belief in God should come from the individual and be explored internally without automatic acceptance of churches’ creeds, “Learn to accept yourself for who you are and screw other people’s expectations of who you should be.”  Rozz’s two spoken word albums and his collaboration with Gitane Demone had God on their thanks list. So Rozz personally did have a faith.
        Rozz listed his influences as David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Velvet Underground Charles Manson, Throbbing Gristle, Current 93.  He frequently read Rimbaud, Baudelaire and William Burroughs.  Particularly in the nineties when the British label goth was taken up by the US music press and made a straitjacket, Rozz complained about being compared to The Sisters of Mercy when he wanted to be compared to bands that had influenced him and wanted musos to consider the whole range of his song-writing – rock, noise/ industrial, spoken word, pop and death rock.  Death rock was a term Rozz coined to separate him from the more theatrical or vampire-influenced goth bands whose members claimed to be blood-drinkers.  “I want to branch out and do other things.  People should not limit their minds to one thing,” commented Rozz.
 After “Only Theatre of Pain”, L’invitation au Suicide also released a series of outtakes, without consent, titled “Deathwish”.  Although rejected for “Only Theatre of Pain”, the song “Desperate Hell”, was later revisited by Rozz.  Valor Kand, Gitane Demone and David Glass, members of the band Pompeii 99, met Rozz at a party.  “Catastrophe Ballet” followed.  Initially Constance joined on bass, however, whilst on tour, Dave Roberts of Sex Gang Children replaced her.  It was decided to continue using the Christian Death name.
        At this time in the UK the Sisters of Mercy were trying to be Suicide after reading “The Waste Land” and ‘goth’ was a word coined in a review of Bauhaus, but hadn’t yet been exported.  So, despite Christian Death’s traditional rock band line-up of drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, male vocal and female backing vocal, California couldn’t categorise them.  “Catastrophe Ballet” dealt with states of depression, the story of “Electra” and queried faith.  It highlighted a dark side to California’s climate of AOR and sunny, synthesised pop which generally didn’t go down too well although fans of post-punks 45 Grave and Community FK lapped it up.
        For “Ashes”, Christian Death set up their own label, Nostradamus, which basically licenced the band’s recordings to other labels.  After negative reactions in the US, mainly from religious groups, Valor, Gitane and David Glass settled in Europe, although David Glass soon returned to the US.  Rozz didn’t want to leave California, so by staying put, effectively left the band.  No formal agreement appeared to have been reached as to who owned the rights to pre-1984 Christian Death songs although Rozz held copyright and publishing rights to the lyrics he’d written.  Rozz’s friends have suggested that Rozz asked Valor not to use the Christian Death name.
        There was much speculation about what happened to Rozz at this time: that he’d got AIDS, that he’d dropped out with a bunch of addicts, that he’d OD’d.  The only rumours that seem to have any basis in truth was that Rozz worked briefly as a washer-up in a San Franciscan restaurant.
        In 1987 Rozz resurfaced in LA having teamed up with long-standing friend Chuck Collison to form Premature Ejaculations, a band that used samples of literally anything: TV/Film clips, sound effects, from crying babies to chainsaws.  This was before the term ‘industrial’ was used and while Ministry were still trying to sound like Shriekback.  Premature Ejaculations’ vocals were spliced together samples and all instruments were also sampled.  The result could be disconcerting to listen to but was certainly original.  It paved the way for RevCo’s “Union Carbide” track about the Union Carbide chemical plant disaster in Bhopal which used Premature Ejaculations’ method of grinding, heavy, machine-like rhythms with repetitive sampled soundbites or slogans.
        Rozz’s lack of business skills meant that Chuck set up the Happiest Tapes on Earth which used the slogan “we just want you to see things as clearly as possible”.  Chuck also dealt with the mailing lists and shipping orders.  Rozz’s later attempts to set up a mailing list and newsletter for Shadow Project often got put on hold as the money was required to tour or for the next studio recording.
        In addition to Premature Ejaculations, Rozz worked on a side project, also noise-based, Heltir.  Through the Happiest Tapes on Earth Rozz released “Heaven and Hells” a compilation of remixes of Christian Death songs that he’d written and a couple of demo tracks, “Haloes” and “Spectre (Love’s Dead)”.  By 1988, Chuck was talking about Rozz working on some material for another band, Shadow Project.  Eventually Chuck licenced Premature Ejaculations and Heltir recordings to Cleopatra.
        Between 1989 and 1990, Rozz and his wife Eva O worked on remixes of Christian Death songs that Rozz had the publishing rights to.  “The Iron Mask”, “The Path of Sorrows”, “Rage of Angels” were released through Cleopatra and credited to Christian Death.  Rozz and Eva also played gigs in California under the name “the original Christian Death”.  Valor complained that he couldn’t sue Rozz for using the Christian Death name because Rozz “never had any money”.
        Shadow Project probably represented the direction Rozz had wanted to take Christian Death in.  It gave him the chance to write and play with experienced lyric-writers and musicians, who were allowed the freedom to take their own leads.  Rozz became more open in interviews and happy to talk about what he was reading or listening too.  In early Christian Death interviews, he used to leave the talking to Valor.  Rozz also spoke of the childhood trauma of watching his mother have a nervous breakdown.  Since his parents are listed in the thanks lists in his albums, Rozz did have a good relationship with them but it does seem that he cared for his mother during her illness.  This was probably another reason for him staying in LA while Valor and the rest of Christian Death had moved to Europe.
        Shadow Project’s original line-up was Rozz, David Glass, Johann Schuman.  This soon changed to Rozz, his Eva, Thomas Morgan and Jill Emery with Paris joining to play keyboards.  Eva and Jill had played together as punk rock band The Superheroines.  For Shadow Project’s second album, “Dreams for the Dying” in 1992, the line-up changed again to Rozz, Eva and Paris plus William Faith (guitar) and Steven Gary (drums).   After the “Dreams for the Dying” tour, Eva began to focus on Superheroines material and the other members took up side projects.
        Rozz commented that after gigs he felt, “exhausted sometimes.  It’s a nice feeling.  It’s a nice feeling when people actually appreciate what you’ve done.”  Before it became a cliché he’d occasionally come onstage in a coffin.  For one show he and Eva wore hooded cloaks, for another he wore a straitjacket.  It wasn’t unusual for Rozz to wear a vampish dress at one show then a suit and tie for the next.  Both outfits complimented his slender body.  Rozz took care of his appearance.  He knew what clothes and cosmetics suited him: often emphasising his pale skin by using kohl and dark lipstick.  Early Christian Death gigs saw him with the left side of his hair cut short and bleached while the right side was long and naturally dark brown or dyed ebony.  Obviously temporary work in San Fransisco  forced Rozz into having a reasonably sensible haircut.  He grew out the left side of his hair to the same shoulder-length as his right side and left it dark brown or added blond streaks.  He had toyed with the idea of having his Christian Death support Shadow Project but dismissed it as too exhausting.
        In collaboration with Ryan Gaumer, Rozz made two recordings of spoken-word material, “Every King a Bastard’s Son” (1992) and “The Whorse’s Mouth” (1996), the latter containing the renowned “HEROnlysIN”.  At this time Rozz became more open about his heroin use, that is, he didn’t deny it but didn’t openly talk about it, and made attempts to come off the drug.
        James McGearty got in touch again asking if Rozz was interested in forming another rock band.  Rozz initially expressed cautious interest then became convinced James was “involved in bullshit” and instead focused on Daucus Karota with Mark Barone (bass), Roxy (guitarist) and Christian Omar Madrigal Izzo (drums) instead.  Daucus Karota only recorded one EP, “Shine”, with tracks “The Stranger”, “Angel”, “Love Lies”, “Father of Temptation” as well as featuring a cover of Iggy Pop’s “Raw Power”, which Rozz managed to persuade the Stooges’ producer, Hunt Sales, to produce for him.  Rumour had it this particular track was recorded with the band on heroin, the song’s theme.  This was dream come true territory for Rozz.
        In 1995 Rozz got the chance to work with Gitane Demone again.  Gitane had since left Valor’s band and had settled in Amsterdam.  The result was “Dream Home Heartache”, with covers of Bryan Ferry’s “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” and Jimi Hendrix’ “Manic Depression” along with original tracks written by Rozz and Gitane.  A brief European tour followed in 1996, where Rozz and Gitane sang tracks from “Dream Home Heartache”, then Gitane sang from her Demonix album, after which Rozz would perform from his spoken word material and the gigs ended with songs from Christian Death’s “Ashes”, such as “Lament, “When I was Bed” and a blistering version of “The Luxury of Tears”.
        April was still to prove a cruel month.  On April 1, 1998 Rozz’s body was found by his roommate Ryan Gaumer in their West Hollywood apartment.  With hindsight it’s easy to trawl through lyrics for sections such as, “In willing suffocation / neck twisted, new cadence/…/ There is no season of birth / I am out on a limb which is broken, hanging / abundance of nightmares, my last words” (from “Zaned People”).  Without a suicide note, no one can ever say for sure why Rozz decided to take his life.
        His widow Eva released “From the Heart” a compilation of studio recordings that Rozz had completed with her before his death.  These are mostly remixes of Shadow Project songs.
 Cleopatra released remixes of Rozz’s cover of Bowie’s “Panic in Detroit” plus remixes of a few Christian Death songs, provided by bands such as Rosetta Stone, Numb, Die Krupps (Juergen Engler), Spahn Ranch (Matt Green), Leather Strip (Claus Larsen), Noise Box (Josh Helm) and Zero Gravity (Len Del Rio).  Bands such as Wreakage, Bis Ende, Switchblade Symphony, The Shroud, Bloodflag and EXP have all claimed Rozz Williams as an influence on their music.  Commentators often use Rozz’s Christian Death as a comparator or reference in music reviews.
 Former band members Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, Gitane Demone have had varying degrees of solo success.  David Glass now plays with Dave Roberts’ Carcrash International.  Jill Emery played bass on Hole’s first album, “Pretty on the Inside”, after which she left to give more time to the Shadow Project then joined Eva O when the Superheroines reformed.  William Faith formed Faith and the Muse.  Paris now models and still occasionally plays keyboards.
        Rozz’s own recording career had spanned 16 years.  An output of some 20 albums with a variety of styles from extreme noise to spoken word.
        I met Rozz backstage at the Hellfire Club in Leicester in April 1996.  Here was a man who used and developed his talents by being open to new influences.  This had earnt him a great deal of respect.  Rozz could select any of a number of accomplished musicians and talented songwriters to suit whichever project he wanted to work on.  He had a record company willing to back him.  Yet, after an initial wariness, I found him friendly, open and unaffected by sychophancy and pretension.  Rozz enthusiasically talked of meeting one of his own heroes, Hunt Sales, barely allowing me to get a word in edgeways.  Although I wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt as I was more than content to just listen.  When news of his death reached me, I felt as if I’d lost a friend.  This is probably the best tribute I can give him.

Emma Lee

10 anni alan, 10 anni!
ti ho cercato invano tra cipressi, ruscelli, pietre e piccoli laghetti.
nelle distese scozzesi di santa monica boulevard.

dove sei?

“and here there is no space for me…”

il tempo ha cancellato tante, troppe cose, in nome della verita’.

ogni singola volta rimane la stessa identica vibrazione,

grigia, oscura, malata,
che non ti appartiene piu’ o forse non ti e’ mai appartenuta.

These are troubling times, people. These are the days where one can hear no fewer than 3 Combichrist songs in one goth night and hear someone say “what the hell is this” when The Cure are played. These are times when one can go an entire hour without hearing a single vocal. Isn’t anybody doing punky goth anymore?

Well, yeah. It’s just that Gothic Beauty magazine is too busy covering The Cruxshadows to tell you about it.

On the goth timeline, we see…
1. The five seconds in the 70s when people used pipe organ with no sense of irony
2. “We’re kinda serious, but not really” pipe organ a la London After Midnight or Nosferatu
3. “Not only are we not serious, we are openly wearing polka dots. We don’t just watch Killer Klowns From Outer Space, we ARE Killer Klowns From Outer Space.”

Case in point today are The Last Days of Jesus. Their label’s web site describes them as “shizzo deathrock,” but that seems a tad serious for a band who starts a song with “gimme some spooky organ, man.” Here are some of my suggestions for how to describe my second-favorite subgenre:

Psycho Clown Car
Muppet Murder
Devil’s Polka

That is to say, they do the kind of music that makes you picture Muppets dancing in a musical number featuring circus freaks and that puppet from Saw. TLDOJ’s singer went to the Rozz Williams school of gothsing, with a minor in Peter Murphy. Electives: makeup, effective use of bouncy pipe organ. If your favorite Bauhaus song is “Watch That Grandad Go,” if your favorite Cure song is “So What” (half credit for “Meathook”), or if you find lime green inexplicably hilarious, I strongly suggest a listen. It’s a hell of a lot more fun than listening to amelodic songs in which some dude repeatedly yells “Christfuck! Christfuck!” Ain’t no damn irony in that.**

**Not to mention that it’s a little on the nose, don’t you think? I envision Wumpscut holding a focus group to see what song title will be more offensive. “Christ” or “Fuck?” Why decide? Pick “Christfuck!” Great taste! Less filling!

Not my favorite of all band names and at first glance you immediately think these must be Marilyn Manson influenced goth kids but in reality this is the best thing to happen to gothic death rock since the passing of the amazingly enigmatic Rozz Williams. Bloody Dead and Sexy play it old school and shy on the too much electronic cheats that over simplified the genre to anyone with a programmable keyboard or computer throughout the 90s until now. This is a perfect revision of Rozz Williams and Rikk Agnews Christian Death and Rozzs later Shadow Project. Hopefully they will mature into a more suited appearance as they progress but really its the music that counts and they got it down.