As the clergyman approached the king’s gilded throne, he felt the familiar flood of saliva building in his mouth. Why was it that he alone could smell the rot? The rest of the royal court continued with their preening, their blissful arrogance, but he feared his stomach would revolt upon the sovereign’s buckled shoes. How sickly the king looked: jaundiced eyes; wrinkles that housed a deeper darkness; peeling, tarnished gold atop his head. With a shudder, the clergyman lifted the crown for its monthly polish. Beneath it, a cratered skull teemed with beetles that scurried to escape the light. “Don’t … Continue reading Album Premiere: Father Befouled – Crowned in Veneficum