A tiny preview.

Working on a ten-page Engineer short for an anthology book. Here's a single page. I really don't want to show more of it at this point, but here's a taste. I'll post more as I near completion.

Music Pics of 2006: Converge - No Heroes

While I am still much more of a fan of some of their preceding efforts (Jane Doe, You Fail Me, When Forever Comes Crashing), this is still a fantastic album and one of my favorites of '06. Their brand explosive, spastic arrangements are more like rhythm exercises tied end-to-end in a linear or near-linear order. Hardcore at its finest.

Music Pics of 2006 : Deathspell Omega - Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice

Though not as refined as their first Southern Lord release, "Kenose'", this album is a profound achievement in Black Metal nonetheless. They are able to combine churning, grindcore-esque assault-to-the-senses riffing with more subdued instrumental sequences, all the while maintaining near-linear arrangements. Southern Lord has been putting out a lot of great Black Metal in the last few years, and this satanic opus is a worthy addition to their already stellar library of releases.

Music Pics of 2006: SunnO)))/Boris - Altar

This may be my favorite SunnO)))-related album to date. Boris too. It's much more richly textured and dynamic than most of Sunn's other records. There's lots of droning analog synth sound which is a real plus for me, and it's nice to hear the crushing sound of SunnO)) backed by a really kick-ass drummer. I wish they did that more often. Nay, I wish they hired a full-time drummer all together. Track three is of special note. With its haunting melodies sung by femme fatale Jesse Sykes, "The Sinking Belle" has got a catchy pop-hook to it that I would have never guessed would be on this record. Needless to say the album is freaking terrific. Go buy it.

THE ENGINEER vs BAT-SIMIAN-PUG CREATURES

Here's an image that got stuck in my brain, and I had to draw it. It's of The Engineer, a creation of Jeremy Shepherd and myself battling a few pug-demon-simian-bat creatures. This might be the cover for the second issue, but who knows, I may be sick of looking it by the time the second issue is done.

the engineer and all related characters copyright 2006, brian churilla and jeremy shepherd

Mercury illo

Here's a little something done for this Thursday's edition of The Portland Mercury. Its a news story about a cop downtown who searched a womans bag, found a condom, and arreseted her for being a prostitute.