Author: Steve Earles
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Justice For All: The Truth About Metallica
A lot has been written about Metallica, ranging from scathing criticism to fawning praise. The truth, as always, lies in between. The band is composed of three-dimensional human beings, just like you and I both. This here is a fine update of Joel McIver’s best-selling book on Metallica, named after what I consider to be…
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Protokult – No Beer In Heaven
Ah, this album was a pleasure to review. So many albums are a slog to get through, but I was sorry when No Beer In Heaven Ended. Recently I went to see Irish folk-rock legends Hoslips, and I realise that the organic, joyous nature of their music was a delight to listen to – so much…
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High Spirits – You Are Here
High Spirits‘ You Are Here is resolutely old-school ’80s hard rock/metal, and if that’s your bag (baby!) it’ll definitely do you. I like the cover design by the way (very clever). On the positive side, it’s nice to listen to something that’s fun and cheerful, but in this case it’s the musical equivalent of a burger,…
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The Body Politic – Egressor EP
Taking their name from a Clive Barker story, The Body Politic share a similar desire to take their art in new directions. Opening track “Vtam Agere” is the perfect intro to the EP, short ,modern and original, and something that would work well in film soundtrack. Second track “Armature” shows the band to be technically…
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Disparager – Timeless, Ageless
Passion and sincerity are what matters most in music, and Disparager have an overabundance of those. Opening with “Pictures,” the band show themselves as technically adroit but never at the expense of the actual song. “Tuesday Love” is raw in its emotion; this is an antidote to the fake music that clogs up the airwaves…
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Nunslaughter – Angelic Dread
If the review of the Spooky split with Acid Switch whetted your appetite for more Nunslaughter, read on… Angelic Dread is Nunslaughter’s first full length in seven years and has been well worth the wait. It has a lot of excellent tracks and thus is great value for the money. The first disc consists fifteen brand…
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Triptykon – Melana Chasmata
A picture can often be worth a thousand words and you only have to look a picture of Tom G. Warrior (I know his real name, but to me, Tom G. Warrior is more real than any birth name). You can see his life experience etched into his face, those intense eyes burning out from…
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Nunslaughter/Acid Witch – Spooky split
I love splis releases. A recent favourite would have to be Godreah’s splendid The Bones of This Land Are Not Speechless/British Black Punk Metal, from the excellent Old Corpse Road and The Meads of Asphodel respectively (see www.godreah.com). Wouldn’t it be great to see Mastodon and Voivod do a split? I’d love to hear Mastodon…
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Psychotic Gardening – Hymnosis
The new self-released album from Winnipeg’s Psychotic Gardening puts a great many albums released on larger metal labels to shame. The musicianship is top-notch, production values are high, and that is a very memorable name for a band indeed. ‘Origin of the Infection’ gallops along in old-school fashion, yet those guitar flourishes give the song…
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The Zero Theorem
There’s a parallel between fans of metal and fans of Terry Gilliam’s work. There’s the sense of imagination and adventure, and loyalty, and the sense of belonging to something exclusive, and the sense of anticipation whenever one of our heroes creates something new. Thus is it with metal and thus is it also with Terry…