By Jillian Locke, Music Editor

2009. Endless possibilities lie ahead. 2008 was truly epic for some, and truly tragic for others. Whatever the case may be, 2009 is yet another springboard into whatever we envision for the new year. With that being said, HAPPY F’IN NEW YEAR!!!

The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star, by Nikki Six, with Ian Gihins

What better way to ring in the new year than with a story about the rise, face-plant, rise again, total annihilation, and rising YET again story of one of rock’s most notorious and diabolical dope fiends, Nikki Sixx. Released in 2006, this harrowing and heinous tale of a rock star spun the f*ck out of control encompasses a year in the life of Sixx, and how this sardonic, heroin-addled mega-star spits in the face of death and lives to tell the tale…over…and over again. The Heroin Diaries is the contents of a personal journal Sixx started on Christmas Day, 1986, which aptly begins: “I guess I’ve decided to start another diary this time for a few different reasons…1. I have no friends left. 2. So I can read back and remember what I did the day before. 3. So if I die, at least I leave a paper trail of my life [nice lil’ suicide note]. Merry Christmas…it’s just you and me, diary. Welcome to my life.”

The rest of the 413 pages takes you down a narrowing, spiraling path of complete filth, but entertaining filth, in true Sixx fashion. Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll is an understatement. When I had put the February entries down to make some dinner, I felt completely scattered. I felt like I was the one who was all sorts of messed up after reading through just a month and a half of Sixx’s day-in-and-outs. Not only does the actual read puncture your brain piece, but the artwork is dripping in gore in comic-book influenced fashion, flooded with bloody illustrations of needles, body parts, and racy photos, all done entirely in black, white, and lots and lots of red. It’s amazingly visually stimulating. Sadistically titillating, one might even say.

As for the story, when I said harrowing, I meant harrowing. All you keep wondering the entire time is, “Holy sh*t, how is this guy not dead?” If you’ve ever read The Dirt, Motley’s Crue’s autobiography, then you’ll be pretty prepared to take this read on. For those of you who haven’t, I really, really hope you like books about drugs. And more drugs. And then a bl*w job, of course followed by a straight-shooter of drugs. But that’s the point. Sixx (who also goes by a name he created for his junkified alter-ego, “Sikki”) had a purpose with this book. At the end, Sixx attests: “Someone asked me why I was writing this book and I said, ‘Maybe one person will read it and it will help them.’ They said, ‘That’s not very rock ‘n’ roll, is it?’ I said, ‘F*ck off’ and smirked, because I know it’s the most rock ‘n’ roll thing about me – doing what I wanna do in life.”

The entire experience can be likened to Being John Malkovich; it’s like being hurtled head-long down Nikki Sixx’s drug-gnarled, suffocated brain stem, accentuated with blunt and sometimes horrifying testimonials from the likes of Evangelist Denise Matthews (formerly “Vanity,” one of Prince’s back-up singers), Slash, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, and of course, all of Motley Crue. You get to witness, first hand, the effects that unimaginable amounts of money and fame have on a struggling, suffering rock visionary. And after all that, you get to see Sixx, reduced to nothing but a literal bag of bones, pick himself up from the depths of his own personal hell and pave the way back towards life. The Heroin Diaries is a truly heinous, inspiring, and ultimately uplifting literary experience ~ a perfect way to welcome in the new year!
www.nikkisixx.net/HeroinDiaries.html

And now for some updates…

Fit for an Autopsy

What happens when you throw ex-members of Since the Flood, The Acacia Strain, Premonitions of War, and Shattered Realm into a studio? Death metal debauchery, that’s what. With the recent disbanding of Since the Flood, Nate Johnson has joined some metal brothers-in-arms for the death metal annihilation tank, otherwise known as Fit for an Autopsy. Check out what these crazed Vikings of doom are up to these days at www.myspace.com/fitforanautopsy.

Propagandhi set for 2009 release

Oh yeah, you read that right. For all of you who have been feverishly awaiting the next Propagandhi installment, take a breath – the band has announced an early 2009 release, a much anticipated follow-up to 2005’s Potemkin City Limits. I don’t know about you, but I still listen to that album on the regular. And I know I use the word “epic” a lot, and I use it now in a completely different sense. All around, that album is absolutely solid. Air tight. Never gets old. I can only hope that their next Fat Wreck Chords release will take it to the next level. www.myspace.com/propagandhi, www.propagandhi.com

Maylene and the Sons of Disaster

These grungy, sludgy sons of Birmingham, AL, entered the studio last month to start work on their newest album. Working until February, the band will head out to Australia for the Sound Wave Festival, then return to the states in March and ready themselves to take on their own tour. www.myspace.com/mayleneandthesonsofdisaster

POISED FOR GREATNESS IN 2009

The Funeral Pyre’s Wounds

Although Wounds was released in May of last year, its creeping, potent black metal seed is just starting to sprout in the minds of the metal community. I’ve had the album since May, and it’s just really started to sink its hooks into me now. “It’s actually quite funny, because we were put in the Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles (www.bravewords.com) Top 20 Records from the writer David Perri, but he even said that the record didn’t really ‘click’ with him ‘til like a month ago,” says TFP vocalist John Strachan.

It’s an-depth musical trip, to say the least. I’m not going to try to sum it up in metal terms and labels. However, I will tell you that some of the melodies within that album creep under your skin and strike a chord. A serious chord. The desperate, scowling vocals amplify the musical layering of dark and light. The pummeling drums penetrate the deepest recesses of your stomach, supported by often spooky, surreal, and always soaring riffs, making each track a separate pilgrimage. The composition is balanced and the flow is organic and natural.

“It’s funny now looking back on writing the record, because we were writing for two years, playing these songs, so of course they made sense to us,” Strachan says. “We thought that people would just ‘click’ with them immediately ‘cause we enjoyed them so much, but it looks like it’s happening the way it did with us, where it wears on you. Then you start hearing certain melodies which actually make the record extremely potent, I think. It’s not a quick listen by any means; I’ve always felt it’s a pretty in-depth record that most people just couldn’t really get into.”

I bet you ~ my metal mavens ~ can get into it, though: www.myspace.com/thefuneralpyre, www.thefuneralpyre666.blogspot.com, and check back for updates on their 2009 EP, December.

Onward and upward! Cheers!