A beautifully presented and carefully rendered posthumous collection of poetry and writing from the legendary Christian Death frontman Rozz Williams, And What About The Bells? was compiled and edited by Ryan Wildstar, Williams' roommate and confidant. Prior to his suicide in April 1998, Williams bequeathed his writing to Wildstar, who has subsequently made a heroic effort to keep Williams' legacy alive in the almost three decades since his death. This book is one of the great achievements of Wildstar's work in this regard, published on the twenty-fifth anniversary of Rozz Williams' passing, and it is one of the most impressive presentations of Williams' work I've picked up this side of the recent Cult Epics Only Theatre Of Pain boxset. It's kind of a small miracle that this book is even in my hands, as Williams' poetry and writing had only been published in France prior to this.

Published in English in 2023 by the German imprint Eygennutz in a lovely hardback edition (hence the hefty price tag) with a ribbon marker , Bells is a hefty collection at 224 pages, prefaced by a bio that explains Williams' relationship with Wildstar, and a publisher's note from Eygennutz's Bianca Stucker and Chelsea B.. The book is laid out in a very poignant experimental format: the book opens with the new article "Accepting The Gift Of Sin" by Zach Shaw, and a subsequent interview between Shaw and Wildstar. This essay and interview goes deep into the profound relationship that Williams' work had on both writers, and the interview ("My Life With Rozz Williams") is an emotionally arresting testament to Wildstar's time with the notorious frontman / artist / provocateur. It's a genuinely intimate and personal discussion that takes up a third of the book; these men go into deep detail on Williams' life in the 1990s, with Wildstar having lived with him for a period of some seven years before his death. It really is essential reading if you're fascinated by Rozz Williams, filled with amazing personal photos from various people in their collective lives (many from private collections), and an array of recollections of what life was like living with Williams, their mutual interests in Surrealism, experimental theater, their experiences with heroin use and psychedelics. These stories aren't lurid or exploitative, instead offering a unique glimpse into the lives of counterculture youths in the 1990s that you won't find elsewhere. This is about a very human experience, and Wildstar's loving remembrance of his friend comes through clearly. Of course, the spectacle of Williams' life is examined, and is as captivating as one would expect. There's interesting discussion of the 1996 collaborative album The Whorse's Mouth and Ryan's work with EXP; the difficulties of publishing Williams' work; the strange cult of personality that has surrounded Rozz Williams. The second part of the interview delves into Rozz's fascination with the number 1334, his musical and literary influences; his complex relationship with religion and spirituality. His even more complicated personality, and the issues and obsessions he grappled with at the end of his life are discussed in-depth. Wildstar's story goes deep, revelatory, and ultimately heartbreaking. It is a touching, troubling examination of a volatile, brilliant man from those cloeest to him. Shaw is excellent in his interview; throughout, he provides probing but thoughtful questions. In the end, it is probably the best written work I've ever read on Rozz Williams.

And What About The Bells? is an amazing poetry collection. Williams wrote in a flowing stream-of-consciousness style (or at least, it feels like that) influenced by the Surrealist works of Artuard and the Decadents. The pieces shift between free verse poetry and a kind of prose-poetry, and the imagery and language is a delirium of strange visions, often as morbid as you'd expect if you're familiar with his lyrics for Christian Death, but there are lines here that have a haunting presence different from his musical lyricism. Hallucinatory scenes drift among images of pungent eroticism, quixotic sensuality, and florid decay. Brilliant and vivid phrases clash with depictions of violence, pain, or acts of debasement, to astounding effect. His sardonic sense of humor exudes from the page. It comes as no surprise that Williams is a gifted, visionary poet, having immersed myself in the lyrics of so many of his albums (not just Christian Death, but also his collaborative works, and work as Shadow Project). But the poetry here still cuts, the lines barbed and sharp. There are a few pieces that reveal themselves as earlier workings of material that would eventually blossom into song. But the vast majority of this collection reads as completely new to me. It's excellent black surrealism and wilting romanticism, and although the book contains seventy pieces of varying length, it hurts to know that this is the extent of his work. An essential work from this gifted, extraordinary multi-discipline artist.

Also included is a collection of scanned facsimiles of hand-written pages, a mixture of poetry, strange drawings, stray lines, collage art, scrawled musings, and more, taken from Williams' journal pages. This book is thorough in its presentation of his notebook.

The end of the book features personal tributes written by friends and associates, writers and musicians. Some are brief recollections of moments spent with Williams. Others are poems, written to him.

Bells shows Wildstar to be an excellent steward for the written work from Rozz Williams.