The Final Reconciliation by Todd Keisling

Release date: February 3, 2017

Subgenre: Horror

About The Final Reconciliation: 

 

TAKE OFF YOUR MASK!

Thirty years ago, a progressive rock band called The Yellow Kings began recording what would become their first and final album. Titled “The Final Reconciliation,” the album was expected to usher in a new renaissance of heavy metal, but it was shelved following a tragic concert that left all but one dead.

The sole survivor of that horrific incident was the band’s lead guitarist, Aidan Cross, who’s kept silent about the circumstances leading up to that ill-fated performance—until now.

For the first time since the tragedy, Aidan has granted an exclusive interview to finally put rumors to rest and address a question that has haunted the music industry for decades: What happened to The Yellow Kings?

The answer will terrify you.

Inspired by The King in Yellow mythos first established by Robert W. Chambers, and reminiscent of cosmic horror by H. P. Lovecraft, Laird Barron, and John Langan, comes The Final Reconciliation—a chilling tale of regret, the occult, and heavy metal by Todd Keisling.

Proudly brought to you by Crystal Lake Publishing - Tales from the Darkest Depths

Excerpt:

 

-TRACK 2-

THE GYPSY ON DARKENED SHORES

The first time I saw Camilla Bierce was in a dive bar called Murphy’s, the local watering hole in some no-name town out West. We were on tour then, supporting the Jesters in Our Court EP. It was our first official release, save for a self-titled demo we’d circulated to all the labels a year before. Most of the songs from that demo—‘The Infernal Machination’ and ‘Holes in the Fabric’ parts one and two, in particular—ended up on the EP, except this time they didn’t sound like they were recorded in Bobby’s basement.

The suits at the label were cautiously optimistic at best. Our style of rock was a niche genre for sure—no one wanted 15-minute epic rock journeys anymore, and they hadn’t for at least 30 years—but other bands like Tool, Mastodon, and Opeth had found their audience, and our manager Reggie was able to convince the suits to send us on a small tour.

“Let them get their feet wet,” he told them, or at least that’s what he told us he told them. We weren’t there for the actual meeting. Our bassist, Hank, was the only one of us who had a car, and the night before he’d gotten drunk and left his headlights on. Reggie made something up to explain our absence, but I don’t remember what it was.

Anyway, Reggie was the only one who didn’t seem surprised by the label’s decision to pony up the cash for a tour.

“Me and a couple of the execs go way back,” he said. “Besides, you boys are the full package in spades. You’ve got the name, the mystique, you’ve got the look, and more importantly you’ve got the sound. You’re King Crimson two-point-oh!”

Johnny was the one who picked the name ‘The Yellow Kings’. He’d lifted it from some book he read when he was in high school. He was always into weird shit like that. I think if he hadn’t picked up a guitar and fallen in love with Robert Plant, he would’ve been one of those creepy writer dudes, sitting in the dark, hunched over a keyboard, writing about the apocalypse.

I’d like to say our ‘mystique’ was something we’d planned, but the truth is, all of us were pretty terrified of playing in front of a crowd. We dealt with it in our own ways. Hank always carried a bottle of Jack onstage with him. Me and Bobby, we grew our hair long to hide our faces. Johnny would always sing with his eyes closed until someone told him to just wear sunglasses like Al Jourgensen or Layne Staley. He did, and he caught a lot of flak for it at first. We joked once that maybe we should all just wear masks like the guys from Slipknot, but Reggie shot that down real quick.

You know, thinking back on it, I can see why the label wanted us to get our feet wet. We were all pretty green.

So, Reggie booked us some shows, and Bobby borrowed some money from his ma so we could buy a beat-up shit-heap of a van. And off we went, The Yellow Kings on our first tour.  

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  About Todd Keisling:

Todd Keisling is the author of the bestselling horror series Ugly Little Things, as well as the novels A Life Transparent and The Liminal Man (a 2013 Indie Book Award Finalist). He lives with his wife and son somewhere near Reading, Pennsylvania. He still has a day job, he's awkward and weird, and if you were to live next door to him, your grass would probably die.

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