Stranded at C-60 #4: Dylan Desmond (Bell Witch)

September 11, 2015

. . .

You are truly on a desert island. Sand and sea surround you, with no life in sight. As your ship went down, you managed to salvage a boombox, some batteries, and a 60-minute cassette tape you made for emergencies like this. The tape will be your only companion for the foreseeable future. What is on it?

. . .

I tried to pick the songs I’d need to make it on a desert island. I figured sentimentality should take the back seat here where survival is key. Ideally there would be a few Bolt Thrower and Townes Van Zandt cassettes I could salvage from the wreckage as well, but life proves troublesome. I went about a minute over the space the shitty 60 minute tape can hold, so the tracks get no break in between and the last two on each side are gonna be cut a little short.

. . .

Angel Witch: “Free Man”
If I’m stuck on an island with no contact to society the first thing I’m gonna do is set the mood. Suck it, humanity.

ZZ Top – “Master of Sparks”
I expect I’ll need auditory examples of precision to get me going right from the start. There are things that need done on remote islands that require precision; fruit picking, fire starting, shelter building, etc. This is some of the best guitar tone ever recorded, not to even mention one of the tightest, precise performances set to tape.

Worship – “Graveyard Horizon”
The musical contrast in this song is spectacular. The clean vocals are haunting in the way I imagine Poe intended “The Raven” to read. When the screams come in with a funeral bell and outright disgusting distorted guitar it feels like a lightning strike. And those trembling overtones in the guitar melody lines are the sort of things that would keep giant snakes and predators distant with fear.

George Jones – “Just One More”
No doubt one of my first tasks will be to start fermenting everything on the island that doesn’t have teeth or claws. I’ll need a proper drinking song to sing along to once that shit’s done.

Morbid Angel – “The Lions Den”
This song is thick and heavy enough to eat, which might come in handy. If I had to pick a favorite Morbid Angel song this is the winner. I figure it should land here in the play order because it can double as both a perfect drunken follow up after rewinding the George Jones song 50 times in a row as well as a perfect song to battle a hangover with the next morning.

Funebrarum – “Grave Reaper”
I imagine myself stalking sea gulls all over the island pretending I was the grave reaper as I gourmandized their feathery flesh.

Otis Redding – “These Arms of Mine”
I saw a TV show where the two British guys were shipwrecked on an island and both of them developed romantic relationships with coconuts. They painted faces on them and danced around and the whole bit. It was kind of morbid the way it played out on the show, but I figure everyone needs a little romance in their life sometimes. This song will get the electrolytes flowing.

Skepticism – “Sign of a Storm”
If the intro to this song doesn’t conjure up some sort of magic in your heart, you don’t have one. Plus, something’s got to make it rain. I won’t drink the salty fish-piss water.

Profetus – “Burn, Lanterns of Eve”
Profetus are the kings of capturing emotion through repetition. The guest vocals by Filipe Plaza Kutzbach in this song are an incredible compliment to an already stunning piece. This song gets included because I’ll need reminders of the profound since the rest of my days will be spent sunburnt and stinking like a salty fucking pig.