Michael Moorcock - Smoulder and Hawkwind

Plus Critical Hit Parader zine news

I was excited to see Critical Hit Parader patron saint Michael Moorcock playing a key role in two album releases this year. On top of this, he has a new novel coming out as well. Read on for details!

Smoulder

The recently released Violent Creed of Vengeance album by the band Smoulder includes a song with a spoken word introduction by Michael Moorcock. The track is called “Victims of Fate” and is about Moorcock’s Eternal Champion. According to this Decibel magazine article, the voiceover words were written by Moorcock himself. Here is the spoken text in full:

"The balance swings back and forth
Determining the fate of worlds
Back and forth as all inchoate matter swirls
And thus we come to the time of tears
To the great conjunction of the million spheres
The monstrous massing of the million spheres."

I’ve had the album in heavy rotation this week. The music is a combination of epic doom, US power metal, and traditional heavy metal. The “Victims of Fate” song has two vocal hooks that have infected me. The first is the chorus with the lyrics providing a concise summary of the Eternal Champion concept: “Then we become/The four who are one/Greater than the sum.” The second time the chorus is sung, the words are changed to “Then we become/The three who are one/Sorcery undone.” The other vocal hook is in the outro when vocalist Sarah Ann laments for Tanelorn, the mythical city in Moorcock’s stories.

I’m enjoying the whole album and just placed an order for the vinyl version. The album features cover artwork by Michael Whelan:

This painting was originally used for the cover of the book Amazons II. Whelan is a legendary fantasy artist whose work has adorned many Appendix N and Appendix LP classics, including Michael Moorcock’s Elric books and album covers for Cirith Ungol.

Hawkwind

Moorcock’s vocal delivery on the Smoulder album is reminiscent of his poem recitations on the Hawkwind’s 1975 album Warrior on the Edge of Time. Moorcock’s Eternal Champion was the inspiration for several songs on the record. On June 30th, a version of the album remixed by prog rock genius Steven Wilson will be released on vinyl! This Prog magazine article has details on the release.

New Michael Moorcock Book

Michael Moorcock’s latest novel The Woods of Arcady was released yesterday. It is the second book in the Sanctuary of the White Friars series. At 83 years old, he is still going strong!

Critical Hit Parader Zine

I’m excited to report that the first issue of the Critical Hit Parader zine is now available in the Goodman Games online store. If you missed the Kickstarter, you can order the issue in both print and PDF formats.