AMH.VS.JB

▲ Anne Marie Hurst ▲

Koka Kalim ▲ John Blanche ▲

▲ Anne Marie Hurst ▲

 Amazona Gothique ▲ John Blanche

▲Anne Marie Hurst ▲

 Adeptus Sororitas▲ John Blanche

BURNING THE OIL ▲ ANNE MARIE HURST ▲ JOHN BLANCHE ▲ FEMME MILITANT ▲ SKELETAL FAMILY ▲ AMAZONA GOTHIQUE ▲ GHOST DANCE ▲ SISTERS of BATTLE ▲ KOLA KALIM ▲ PROMISED LAND ▲ DUNGEONPUNK ▲ LUSTRIA ▲ LAURENCE THE ELDER▲ RIVER OF NO RETURN ▲ ADAPTUS SORORITAS▲ BOY LONDON CLOTHING▲ WHITE DWARF 79 ▲ DOMINATOR ▲AMAZONS▲ IMPERIAL MARINES of SPACE ▲ SHE CRIES ALONE ▲ TREES

Addendum historium obscurata: 1 + 2 JB predates AMH. 3 AMH predates JB.

+++ THEE TRANCEMISSION THVS ENDETH+++ 

Dungeonpunking: Rocky Horror / Eternal Champion

ECO5 Eternal Champion Personalities: Tanglebones
via Owl Bears Lair

Richard O'Brien | Riff Raff | Rocky Horror

A little bit similar, one might say... not sure if Elric's manservant Tanglebones is a Goodwin sculpt or not. He did most of the range, so probably. Strangely I always imagined Sourdust from Mervyn Peak's Gormenghast to cut a similar figure.

And Richard O'Brien also appears as the renown Occultist John Dee in Derek Jarmans rather brutal and dirty Elizabethan/Punk time travel mash-up Jubilee, (NSFW) alongside Toyah Wilcox. Should I mention Games Workshops connection to Richard O'Briens TV series Crystal Maze? Probably not, it might complete the circle and open a warp-gate or something.

Disturbia loves Fighting Fantasy

...so they ripped them apart, glued them to the walls and threw ink all over them.

Click for bigger images:

Island of the Lizard King (right) / Warlock of Firetop Mountain (left)

Deathtrap Dungeon (Far left)

Deathtrap Dungeon Wallpaper

Disturbia Clothing

Studio 5,
The Kiln,
Hoults Yard,
Newcastle Upon Tyne,
NE6 1AB.

Open monday to friday 10am-5.30pm.

Why not visit? take a pair of D6 and play the walls.

Would be cool if a label like that were given the rights to produce official FF merchandise. That Iain McCaig dungeon door and gnome from Deathtrap Dungeon will make a killer tshirt.

▲K▲ // D¡S†URB¡▲ 4 F.F.

The Spirit of Dungeonpunk 1894

Spiked Armour | John Dickson Batten | 1894

The Lambton Worm

'But hear me, and mark me well. Thou, and thou alone, canst kill the Worm. But, to this end, go thou to the smithy and have thy armour studded with spear-heads'...

'This I will do,' said Childe Lambton.

Joseph Jacobs, More English Fairy Tales 

Yes, that's not a typo. 1894, not 1984. Spiked armour is often cited as one of the key signifiers of Dungeonpunk and as a fantasy trope is over 100 years old.  If going fishing and swearing on a Sunday is any indication of alignment (which it surely was in 1894) then Childe Lambton was no doubt one of the original Warriors of Chaos.

The Spirit of Dungeonpunk '87

Orcs is da best, da 'ardest and make da most aggro noise. We is da punkest punx! Waaagh!

Savage Orcs 1987 Spring Citadel Journal | Perry Bros.

Throw the post-colonial caricature of bones-through-the-nose cannibals from 1930's cartoons, Neanderthal skull-shapes, symbolism of the disaffected white urban youth and American Indians into a semiotic melting pot and what do you get? Savage Orcs. The mohican haircut, of course, is named after the American Indian nation of the Mowhawk, and is resonant with ideas of the noble-savage and was easily assimilated by the anarcho-primitivistic current within punk. 

Taking for granted that the whole cannibal cartoon is a projection of primitivism onto Africans by way of blackface stylisation largely by white post-colonialist media-producers, the admixture of 'punk' signifiers goes some way towards redeeming the Savage Orc caricature as a symbol of a more universal primitivism, rather than one as a sole product of post-colonial stereotyping.

Of course, it is needless to say that the box-set of plastic Savage Orcs you can buy from Games Workshop no longer carries any punk signifiers.

Enough of the run-on sentences and polysyllabic babble!

Wots dis den? Kevin Adams Gobbos wiv da moheekan hair, innit. 'Cos Gobbos iz Punx too.

Click for bigga!

Naaah! Orcs iz da best punx. Jes Goodwins Lord of the Rings Orcs, wiv mohawks. Mohawk Orcs in Lord of the Rings. So let's get this absolutely straight: Tolkien is Dungeonpunk, official. Well, officially licensed by Elan merchandise. In the 80s. On 1 miniature.

Tolkiens Uruk-hai, dungeon punk orcs by Jes Goodwin

And here's a more recent member of the dugneonpunk goblin tribe, a rather natty fellow from Kevin Adams, with nose-ring.

Kev Adams Punk Goblin 2010 from Rhoninstorm

TR00 KVLT AD+D WARHAMMER DEATH FIGHTING FANTASY METAL ZINES

More Swords and Sorcery influenced DIY/punk culture, looking at a few 80's 'zines which appropriated images from the Fantasy genre and some AD&D inspired Black Metal.

Alchemist | Tony Ackland 1984 | via uk zine lbrary

Tony Acklands Alchemist first appeared in Warhammer Fantasy Battle 2nd Edition, and was to reappear in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st. Edition. Here it has been appropriated by the editor of Fight Back Zine for a cover. According to the uk zine library, Fight Back contains an impressive list of interviews, which tend along the thrash-metal / crust-punk axis of the alignment-chart*. Legion of Parasites, Uproar, Wretched, Instigators, Ma Maus, Bloodlust, Criminal Justice, Venom, Metallica, Deformed, Stupids, Terveet Kadet, Sarcasm, Morbid Humour, Chaos UK, Rafgier.

Elves | Victor Ambrus  | 1987 zine | via uk zine lbrary

Head | Ian Miller | 1987 zine | via uk zine lbrary

The charmingly named Poosheet - "lake district gig guide" with a modified Ian Miller head (2) and Victor Ambrus Elves (1), both from David Days Tolkien Bestiary. The Bestiary has terribly cobbled together text (with many errors and misrepresentations of Tolkiens work), combined with superb illustrations from Ian Miller, John Blanche, Victor Ambrus and others. I've no idea what content Poosheet contained.

UPDATE: Just stumbled across "Evilspeak" at Punk is Hippies blog. Which only goes and puts a Trevor Hammond image (the smoking zombie ghoul creature) from White Dwarf on the cover, pure 80's dungeonpunk gold...

Russ Nicholson | Zombie 1982 | Blast 'zine 2009

A more recent Death Metal 'zine Blast feturing Russ Nicholsons amazing Zombie from the first Fighting Fantasy Gamebook The Warlock of Firetop Mountain (1982). I love it when artwork from childrens books is used for thee seriousness ov troo kvlt black metal. But really, that is one hell of a piece, the pure artistry of the detail and shape forming aside, I really wonder how the gore got past Puffins editorial team back in the day...

With regards reclaiming 'dungeonpunk', I'm stretching the idea of 'punk' to include DIY / 'zine culture that isn't necessarily punk in ethos or aesthetic. Of course crust/doom/grind/death/black metal grew out of punk, but then so did the new-romantics and art-rock, so such geneologies ultimately prove useless exept to show mutability of genre (which more often than not are a consrtuction of journalism than a defined movement which artists seek to identify with) and the monumental influence of punk.

Unlike Toyah who herself had punk-era credentials and created a certain weird-fantasy vibe mixing pop-occultism, fairy-tale and post-apocalyptic imagery or indeed the Hawkwind space-rock crossover with Michael Moorcock (mentioned in passing here), which more rightly belongs with prog-rock psychedelia (although with a much crustier production), pinning down a more definite influence of fantasy (rather than say, a horror based influence) on punk subculture does seem a little unlikely, especially when looking at the agendas of grindcore bands like Extreme Noise Terror or Napalm Death who are more interested in a radical anti-corporate, vegan, anti-war politic than the kind of conservative romanticism associated with High Fantasy.

However, Burzum named after "darkness" in Tolkiens language of Mordor, and whose lead Varg "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes name-checks AD&D The Temple of Elemental Evil as an influence on the album art. He puts these influences down to youthful exuberance, and nowadays more often than not tends to head straight for the neo-völkisch jugular rather than messing about with the gateway drug of fictionalised mythologies.

Burzum artwork based on The AD&D Module: The Temple of Elemental Evil

Realm of Chaos / Bolt Thrower Tsirt | Ian Miller / John Blanche(?)

Finally a Bolt Thrower T-shirt for the "Realm of Chaos" album, with custom lettering by John Blanche (based on the Warhammer Realm of Chaos Supplement which grounded the concept of the album, provided artwork for the sleeve-notes) with a lovely thorny skull pile by Ian Miller. Damn. I want one of those.

* I hereby release the Thrash/Speed/Doom/Black/Crust alignment system under a Creative Commons attribution non-commercial license.

Motörhead vs. Khörne

So I'm working though creating a Chaos Champion and his retinue using Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness, and accidentally looked across at the sleeve of a Motörhead LP.  Khorne + Motörhead = Khörne.

Khorne| John Blanche 1988

Snaggletooth / Warpig | Joe Petagno 1977

The original War Pig device designed by Joe Petagno in 1977 for British rock-band Motörhead, named after a song Lemmy wrote for space-rock pioneers Hawkwind, released as the B-side of the single Kings of Speed which had lyrics by British sci-fi/fantasy writer Michael Moorcock, who essentially invented the concept of "Chaos" as commandeered by Games Workshop, eight-pointed star logo and all, in his Eternal Champion series (and is namechecked in WFB 1e as an influence).

The Warpig / Snaggletooth character appears on almost every album Motörhead ever released, however Petagno and Motörhead have (recently) parted ways, with Petagno reclaiming the character as his own.

Juggernaut of Khorne | Joe Petagno 1988

Balrog Bloodthirster -note the elongated side-tusks | John Blanche (1988)

Realm of Chaos | John Sibbeck 1988

It might be possible to dismiss the similarities between as belonging to a pre-existing "generic demon" category, drawing on the bestial equals evil theme, which leads to chaos beastmen, werewolves, the Elphias Levi's Goat of Mendes / Baphomet and the cynocephalus of medieval propaganda.

However, I think there are some more definite resemblances between The Motörhead Warpig and The Blood God Khorne. Putting aside the John Blanche Bloodthirster with massive elongate side-tusks - exactly the same as The Motörhead Warpig -  the fa ce in the centre of the composition of the cover of Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness by John Sibbick, has some very specific motifs, the curve of the helmet over the eyes, the oversized teeth, the helmet spike which match up perfectly.

In a slightly looser sense, its the combination of dog-monkey-pig face that can also be seen in the early Bloodletter and Juggernaut designs seems to derive from the The Motörhead Warpig. Indeed the whole Juggernaut seems to be some kind of biomechanical pig monster.

The Irön Pig | Juggernaut

Dög of War | Bloodthirster

No idea who Taylor Momsen really is, but appears to be some kind of plastic Avril Lavigne type rock chic / actress / vacant polymath / attention whore with a vague Motörhead Khörne fetish. Her 'band' is called The Pretty Reckless (sounds like pop muzak with a 'rawk' production, and zero lyrical subtlety or wit) and she plays a 2500pt Khornate army at her local FLGS. OK. I made the last bit up. She plays Dark Elves.

Taylor Momsen | Disciple of Khörne (via)

And the Motörhead influence still seems to continue through more recent manifestations of Khornate imagery.

Khaös WarPig gets his tusks back | Warhammer Online 2008

Finally, nothing to do with Khörne - I don't have much interest in GWs output after 1990, but do think they owe Derek Riggs and Iron Maiden a pint for the Tomb Kings imagery.

Derek Riggs | Powerslave (Iron Maiden) 1984