Jimmy Kisor, owner of Decorative Injections and frontman for local black metal band Goodbye Goats, did his research before writing the script for the band's theatric performance, The Rock Opera Act II: Athens Assylum A.D.
After reading the history of The Ridges (formerly the Athens Asylum for the Insane), however, Kisor decided the facts weren't gruesome enough for a Goodbye Goats show and promptly wrote his own story, he said.
There wasn't anything really
truly exciting enough to write about so I decided make it (the asylum) run by nuns that are possessed and they use witchcraft
evil and drug abuse to torture inmates
he said.
Kisor will play the head nun during the show, which will take place tomorrow at 19 South. In the script of the performance, the asylum's abused patients eventually revolt, leading to a finale that will certainly prove shocking for some, Kisor said.
A Satanically possessed nun gets impregnated by maniacs and gives birth on stage to the Goodbye Goats. That sums it up
he said.
The decision to add an unholy birthing scene, with the doll props decorated in a grisly fashion, was not an easy one for Kisor, he said.
I'm a big fan of babies
I love babies
and any dead or weird baby stuff really freaks me out. But I started thinking that if it freaks me out
then it will probably freak other people out
he said, I just don't know of anyone else that's giving birth to freaky black metal babies on stage.
The performance is one of many similar stagecraft-laden shows Goodbye Goats has used to entertain - or frighten - Athens throughout its four-year career. Last Easter, the band performed a show at 19 South in which Kisor played a vampire rendition of Jesus Christ, and at last year's Halloween block party, the band's set featured a nine-foot-tall prop of the female anatomy.
Emily Prince, program specialist at ARTS/West, helped Kisor apply for a state grant for his performances earlier this year. Though some might be offended, she complimented Kisor's work.
I think that Jimmy is a genius. It's obviously not everyone's taste
but he's really an uncompromising artist
