Anyone visiting this site in the past year-and-a-half and seeing the same ancient home page dated August 2003 could be forgiven for reasonably assuming we’d abandoned the BEDEMON projects we spoke so excitedly of. However, this is not the case, and anyone going beyond the home page and to the Message Board would see continuing details of the reasons for the delays.
For those who have not dug that deep: Randy died in August 2002. Within a month after returning from Randy’s funeral, Geof’s elderly dad George’s health began to worsen to the point where he actually collapsed in Geof’s arms and had to be rushed to the hospital with nearly no pulse, and shortly thereafter had a pacemaker installed. This sudden turn of events necessitated having to coordinate moving his dad from his Orange County home up to where Geof lives 300 miles to the north. In addition to this, his father began showing signs of increasing dementia. With no siblings or spouse, it fell on his shoulders to deal with all this, and at the same time, deal with the overwhelming loss of Randy, aside from trying to deal with day-to-day activities.
During this period, work was slowly proceeding here and there, but it was difficult to devote any serious block of time to work on band projects. George had been placed in an assisted-living facility and relied on Geof as his sole companion, and the increasing dementia was taking its toll on Geof, who has suffered from depression for over two decades. If you’ve never been in a situation where your own father doesn’t know who you are when you’re sitting talking to him, you have no idea the amount of anger, stress and sadness this causes, and support groups became a weekly necessity. Finishing up the BEDMON liner notes was not in the picture at this stage.
After contracting pneumonia and then breaking his hip in a fall which required surgery, George passed away in April 2004. This brought up a whole new set of logistical-and emotional-issues that had to be dealt with.
Child of Darkness
Finally, and possibly to avoid dealing with the pain, Geof dove into the BEDEMON material and finished it in the summer of 2004. It was sent to Black Widow in Italy back in mid-September, but as they already had releases they were working on, it had to be pushed back to this year.
We are pleased as cyanide-spiked punch to announce that just this past week, Black Widow sent us the proofs of all the artwork and text layouts for both the CD and vinyl LP, and they look great! A few minor adjustments are needed but it won’t be long now. As soon as Black Widow gives us a firm date, it will be announced here.
Beyond that, Mike has completed fixing up some bass work on the 2002 sessions and sent the tapes to Geof, where recording will soon commence on some additional guitar parts to Geof’s two songs and all of Craig’s vocals.
Before he can get to that, Geof is working on the PENTAGRAM First Daze Here Too liner notes and credits for Relapse. Randy appears on two tracks. This release also should be out later this year. Beyond that, he has been talking to both Vincent McAllister and Greg Mayne about recording some new material with Craig on vocals, from older PENTAGRAM songs of his that never got recorded right up to newly-written (but not used) songs for the BEDEMON 2002 sessions. Logistics are the main problem, with Greg located on the east coast while Vincent and Geof are in California.
Mike, inspired by the honesty and integrity of today’s political leaders has regressed (or is it degenerated?) back into his protest song writing days of the late 60’s and early 70’s with a new project called MATARA. Check it out at www.matara.us. He is also starting his own music publishing business and independent label in the hopes of getting some real music out in this era of aural desolation. Additionally, he has also been upgrading his home studio, playing with local musicians in Arizona and travelling back to Washington (state) to take part in a reunion with some former bandmates located there.
So…BEDEMON does indeed live on, despite it travelling at the speed of Lon Chaney Jr. as a mummy (joke for Randy). Good things take time; bad things take a car with a disconnected passenger-side door handle, a shovel, duct tape and an isolated location, but…we digress. Stick around and thank-you for your patients. The doctors of doom will see you soon…
The Surviving Members of BEDEMON
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