Radio Werewolf was an deathrock

Deathrock

Deathrock is a term used to identify a sub-genre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in 1979.-Characteristics:...

 band formed in 1984 in Los Angeles. The band split in the early 90s, and Nikolas Schreck

Nikolas Schreck

Nikolas Schreck is an American musician, author, film-maker and religious teacher.Founder and frontman of the experimental occult band Radio Werewolf from 1984-1993, Schreck is also the author of several books on true crime, cinema, literature, and magic. He directed the infamous documentary...

 and Zeena Lavey

Zeena LaVey

Zeena Schreck, born Zeena LaVey, is an artist, musician, author and the spiritual leader of the Sethian Liberation Movement, which she founded in 2002. Her parents were Anton LaVey and Diane Hegarty, co-founders of the Church of Satan....

 continued making music.

History

Radio Werewolf was first formed in 1984, by Nikolas Schreck (vocals), Evil Wilhelm (percussion), James "Filth" Collard (bass) and Nathan Pino (hammond organ.) The band later broke up, but Nikolas Schreck continued the band with his wife, Zeena Lavey, albeit with a more experimental sound. At one time, Paul Antonelli

Paul Antonelli

Paul F. Antonelli is an American composer, musician, music director, and music supervisor. He began his career in the entertainment world as a keyboardist and founding member of the 1980s synth pop band, Animotion, which had evolved out of his previous band, Red Zone...

 of Animotion

Animotion

Animotion is a 1980s U.S. New Wave/synthpop band from Los Angeles, California best known for their songs "Obsession" , "Let Him Go", "I Engineer" and "Room to Move"...

 played with the band on the organ, replacing Nathan Pino.

The band featured a traditional deathrock sound, although lacking a guitarist. The band claimed that their sound was part of a musical purist movement, designed to evoke feelings of power and harmony through the use of the "alpha frequency." The band held a cult following throughout the 1980s, attracting a following which they came to identify as the "Werewolf Youth party." The band was featured in a cameo role as themselves in the 1980s cult horror spoof "Mortuary Academy."

Controversy

The original demo tape released in 1984 by the band sparked a heated controversy due to the nature of the song material. While Schreck and the rest of the band would later refer to their work as mainly a theatrical performance designed to emulate specific aspects of history or culture, songs like "Pogo the Clown" (about John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer, rapist and clown who sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawlspace of his home, buried three others elsewhere on his property, and discarded the...

), "The Night" (About a lovesick vampire), and "Triumph of the Will" (About a former Nazi commander reminiscing about Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

), were pointed to by critics as condoning Nazism and literal vampirism. On their album "The Fiery Summons," Their song "Incubus" was supposed to support necrophilia.

In the late 1980s, Radio Werewolf was heavily featured on talk shows and in media material, billed as heading a worldwide Satanic

Satanism

Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...

 movement. Interviewed variously by Tom Metzger

Tom Metzger

Thomas Metzger is an American white nationalist who founded White Aryan Resistance . His far-right activist groups, including WAR, have been monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center, an American organization that tracks hate groups...

, Wally George

Wally George

Wally George, born George Walter Pearch , was an American conservative radio and television commentator...

, Bob Larson

Bob Larson

Bob Larson is an American radio and television evangelist, currently based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Larson has authored numerous books on the subjects of rock music and Satanism, written from a Christian perspective.-Life and career:...

, and others, the media infamy associated with the group culminated, on August 8, 1988, with a Satanically themed rally in San Francisco at the Strand Theater, featuring Boyd Rice

Boyd Rice

Boyd Blake Rice is an American experimental sound/noise musician using the name of NON since the mid-1970s, archivist, actor, photographer, author, member of the Partridge Family Temple religious group, co-founder of the UNPOP art movement and current staff writer for Modern Drunkard...

, Adam Parfrey

Adam Parfrey

Adam Parfrey is an American journalist, editor, and the publisher of Feral House books, whose work in all three capacities frequently centers on unusual, extreme, or "forbidden" areas of knowledge.-Life:...

, and various members of the Church of Satan

Church of Satan

The Church of Satan is an organization dedicated to the acceptance of the carnal self, as articulated in The Satanic Bible, written in 1969 by Anton Szandor LaVey.- History :...

. At this time the band had broken up and consisted of Nikolas Schreck and Zeena Lavey only, although Evil Wilhelm made an appearance on percussion.

The band was additionally controversial due to the general perception of the band as supporting Neonazi ideologies. This was denied by the band, who eventually split up in part because Evil Wilhelm felt their music was being misunderstood by Nazi groups which occasionally rioted at their venues.

Charles Manson Superstar

In 1988, Nikolas Schreck released a documentary about Charles Manson

Charles Manson

Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

 entitled Charles Manson Superstar

Charles Manson Superstar

Charles Manson Superstar is a documentary film about Charles Manson, directed by Nikolas Schreck in 1989.- Plot :Most of the documentary was filmed inside San Quentin Prison. Schreck narrated the segments while images were shown, and music played in the background. There was brief footage of Spahn...

 under the private video label "Video Werewolf." Billed as the only fair interview ever conducted with Manson, the video featured photographs and footage of Spahn Ranch

Spahn Ranch

Spahn Ranch, also known as the Spahn Movie Ranch, was a movie ranch used for filming generally Western-themed movies and television programs. With mountainous terrain, boulder-strewn scenery, and an 'old Western town' set, Spahn Ranch was a versatile filming site for many scripts...

along with interviews of people connected in some way with Manson or movements he has been associated with. Schreck indicated in the documentary that Manson was mostly a misunderstood and misused figure, advocated as evil and archetypal of everything negative through a large scale fabrication by the media.

Albums

• The Fiery Summons - 1989
• Songs for the End of the World - 1991
• Love Conquers All - 1992

EPs

• The Lightning and the Sun - 1989
• Bring Me the Head of Geraldo Rivera - 1990
• Boots/Witchcraft - 1991

External links

nikolasschreck.eu
zeena.eu

• http://www.myspace.com/realradiowerewolf