(2015-2016)

            THEOLOGIAN’s first performance of 2015, a collaborative set with WHORID, took place in support of seminal UK power electronics/noise rock act (and Crucial Blast labelmates) RAMLEH, at Saint Vitus Bar on January 28. The event also featured friends YORK FACTORY COMPLAINT and ALBERICH, as well as RAMLEH side project JFK.

            In June 2015, ANNIHILVS presented the sixth iteration of APEX FEST, showcasing a massive lineup of international and domestic industrial, darkambient, power electronics, and other less-easily categorised acts, spread over three days, bookended by two tours.

APEX FEST TOUR I:
TREPANERINGSRITUALEN, ADERLATING/SLAVERNIJ, IRM, SUTEKH HEXEN
5/31/2015 Machines With Magnets – Pawtucket, RI
6/02/2015 Philadelphia Mausoleum of Contemporary Art – Philadelphia, PA
6/03/2015 The Crown – Baltimore, MD w/ THE BODY

APEX FEST VI MAIN EVENT @ TRANS PECOS – QUEENS, NY
DAY I – JUNE 5, 2015
JARL
OMEI
ARTICLE COLLECTION
ARBITER
Film screening & reading by MARTIN BLADH, KAROLINA URBANIAK

DAY II – JUNE 6, 2015
GNAW THEIR TONGUES
TREPANERINGSRITUALEN
MENACE RUINE
IRM
SUTEKH HEXEN
BARREN HARVEST

DAY III – JUNE 7, 2015
THE BODY
SOPHIA + KARJALAN SISSIT
SVARTSINN
NORTHAUNT
HAVAN
FUNERARY CALL

APEX FEST TOUR II:
SOPHIA+KARJALAN SISSIT, SVARTSINN, NORTHAUNT, VISIONS
6/08/2015 3rd & Girard – Philadelphia, PA
6/10/2015 Dusk – Providence, RI
6/12/2015 La Vitrola – Montreal, QC

    In the year following this absurdly ambitious undertaking, ANNIHILVS pushed onward with a slew of live events.
The label’s 18th anniversary celebration was spread over two days at The Silent Barn in August.

FRIDAY AUGUST 14, 2015 @ THE SILENT BARN - BROOKLYN, NY
RICHARD RAMIREZ
THE RITA
A WEEK OF KINDNESS
SERPENTINE
BLESSED THISTLE (Bob Bellerue)

SATURDAY AUGUST 15, 2015 @ THE SILENT BARN - BROOKLYN, NY
T.O.M.B.
RECTRIX (Pippi Zornoza)
JEFF CAREY
SPITEFUL WOMB
SWOLLEN ORGANS

    I had learned some time earlier that Dave and Liz Brenner of Earsplit PR lived just five minutes from me, and had begun socializing locally with Dave. I invited him to contribute to THEOLOGIAN, as he’d expressed interest in working on music. The relationship led to several opportunities, and during this period, THEOLOGIAN played several shows, including the tremendous 3-day Voidstar Productions 25th Anniversary Festival in Boston.

OCTOBER 2-5, 2015 @ BRIGHTON MUSIC HALL/MIDDLE EAST
ABSTINENCE
AUTHOR & PUNISHER
CENOTYPE
CERVELLO ELETTRONICO
COMPACTOR
ΔAIMON
EDGEY
END.USER
GREYSCAPE
HIGH-FUNCTIONING FLESH
INSECT ARK
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE COLON
MARCHING DYNAMICS
MASSDIRGE
MEND
PATTERN BEHAVIOR
PINE TREE STATE MIND CONTROL
SLEEP CLINIC
SNOWBEASTS
STATIQBLOOM
THEOLOGIAN
TIMEGHOST
UKUPHAMBANA
THE VOMIT ARSONIST
ZERO TIMES INFINITY

    Not long after this event took place, The Silent Barn experienced an electrical fire, damage from which displaced its residents and caused several shows to be cancelled or postponed. ANNIHILVS planned a benefit show at The Acheron in November.

FRIDAY NOVEMBER 20, 2015 @ THE ACHERON - BROOKLYN, NY
BLESSED THISTLE (Bob Bellerue)
SICKNESS
ONEIROGEN
LONG DISTANCE POISON

    Later in October, I co-organised Myth to Flesh Live at Trans-Pecos with photographer, videographer, and performance artist Gretchen Heinel. The event featured sets by Providence black metal act SIRE, PDX gloom duo MUSCLE AND MARROW, and was headlined by legendary funeral doom band EVOKEN, who accompanied a hook suspension performance by Heinel and fellow performance artist Luna Duran, facilitated by suspension troupe White Flag.

    THEOLOGIAN played our final show of 2015 at Trans-Pecos on December 30, for an event co-produced by Earsplit PR and ANNIHILVS, featuring SIRE, T.O.M.B., and PYRRHON.

    Moving into the new year, as a result of Brenner’s existing relationship with the label, THEOLOGIAN began working with Cadabra Records on their series of vinyl releases featuring spoken word performances of H.P. Lovecraft stories and works by other “weird fiction” writers.
    Additionally, the decision to construct a collaborative release with Oakland post-doom band LAMENT CITYSCAPE came directly out of Brenner’s work with Battleground Records. Unfortunately, the dynamic between Brenner and myself proved impossible to maintain due to profound personality disparities, and in May, I was forced to sever our association.

    In March and April 2016, I organised the OPERATION EQUINOX TOUR, featuring Danish neofolk acts OF THE WAND AND THE MOON and DIE WEISSE ROSE, joined on the road by New Yorkers BLOOD AND SUN. While every show was successful, this was perhaps my most challenging endeavor to date, as we faced something more than the usual challenges facing artists working at the DIY level. I admit it took a profound toll on my outlook for future activities.

    With the arrival of summer, we hosted two shows at Trans-Pecos. SEWER GODDESS played on July 28, touring with industrial acts NYCTERENT and SCROTAL TEAR, both from Portland, Maine. On August 13 we celebrated the 19th anniversary of ANNIHILVS, featuring performances by HOGWASCHE and CENOTYPE, along with a special collaborative set by THEOLOGIAN, featuring Gretchen Heinel, with Nikki Telladictorian.

    THEOLOGIAN continued to work with Cadabra Records, and in October 2016, Battleground Records and ANNIHILVS jointly released Soft Tissue, the LAMENT CITYSCAPE+THEOLOGIAN album on CD, with the two bands performing collaboratively at Southwest Terror Fest in Tuscon the day after the official release.

    ANNIHILVS produced multiple releases in 2016, facilitating albums by SWOLLEN ORGANS (Jimmy Aly of THE COMMUNION), SLAVERNIJ (a collaboration between members of GNAW THEIR TONGUES and WHORID), the final EP of long-defunct Providence post-doom act VVLTVRE (Featuring Pippi Zornoza of WOLD), and many others. Australian label Cipher Productions issued a double vinyl edition of Nature is Satan’s Church, THEOLOGIAN’s 2012 collaboration with THE VOMIT ARSONIST.