Category: Reviews
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The Flaming Lips – Greatest Hits Volume 1 (LP)
As a general rule, I must confess that Best-Of compilations seldom thrill me. While the odd set does prove to be the rule’s exception (like Nirvana’s black album, the set that Morphine released several years ago, ChangesoneBowie, Hot Rocks and All For Nothing/Nothing For All turned out to all be great sets), most best-of comps…
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NEEDS – Limitations (LP)
The funny thing about punk and hardcore bands has always seemed to be that, no matter how caustic they may have sounded when listeners first began paying attention, the desire to get louder/harder/more aggressive as soon as MORE people begin listening to them is nearly immediate. A perfect example of this tradition can be found…
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AxMinister – The Crucible of Sin
AxMinister have arisen like vengeful wraiths from the frozen tundra of Ontario to save the metal world from trends! Founded in 1999, this power-trio are metal for life, and it shows. The Crucible of Sin is a great thrash/traditional metal album, showing strong influences from Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica to full effect. The production is…
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Forming the Void – Rift
Lafayette, Louisiana might only be 150 miles from New Orleans, but native sons Forming the Void are much further removed from the NOLA sludge metal of Eyehategod or Crowbar. Their 2017 record Relic reminded me of a cross between Torche and Sleep, with a side of early Mastodon, and landed on my year-end top 10…
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Black Elephant – Cosmic Blues
Album number three from Black Elephant landed in late July on Small Stone Records. Their heavy, fuzzy psychedelic rock is certainly right at home on one of the leading purveyors of stoner rock, as this Italian outfit walk the line between desert rock and vintage psych jams for 34 minutes. “Cosmic Soul” kicks things off with a mellow…
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Corrosion of Conformity – No Cross, No Crown
After two albums with the classic three-piece line-up of Woody Weatherman on guitars and vocals, Mike Dean on bass and vocals, and Reed Mullin on drums, Corrosion of Conformity have reunited with legendary vocalist/guitarist Pepper Keenan! Instantly we are back in Deliverance territory with strong, heavy and sincere songs. COC’s music comes from the heart,…
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Fu Manchu – Clone of the Universe
In an ever-changing universe, one thing that is pleasingly consistent is a new Fu Manchu album; it is as though this album was always with us, like some 70s stoner artifact. Fuzzy riff and grooves abound, and tracks like “Slower Than Light,” “Don’t Panic,” and the title track will please long-term Fu-fans. Interestingly though, the final…
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Prodigy – Keep It Thoro (12″ picture disc single)
It’s kind of incredible to think about just how much the “single” has changed as a format over the years. When singles first gained popularity, their construct was simple: a hit song was collected from a long-playing record, then paired with a song of complementary length and then pressed one-per-side onto a seven-inch record. Simple,…
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Orange Goblin – The Wolf Bites Back
As the Elder Gods of Metal die or retire, we need new legends to fill the void left in their sonic wake: Orange Goblin are one such band. They’ve earned it, putting in the hard work live and on vinyl. Indeed their headlining performance at last year’s Siege of Limerick is itself becoming legendary. The…
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Weed Demon – Astrological Passages
Now, I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but when the band’s name is Weed Demon, their logo looks like a pot leaf, and they’ve got some crazy spaceship action happening on the record sleeve…it’s gonna be pretty hard for me NOT to dig it. This Columbus crew’s debut has just…