Category: Reviews
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Moonbow – War Bear
What do you get when you cross a BMX racer with Hank III, Valley of the Sun and Steve Earle? (No, not that Steve Earle…) In this case, you get Moonbow, an outfit formed by singer/biker Matt Bischoff and Hank III axeslinger David McElfresh. This is actually album number three from said ensemble, albeit with…
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White Willow – Future Hopes
Every White Willow album is a gem, and Future Hopes might be the most precious of them all. Befitting the fact that they’ve entered their third decade in the progressive rock scene, White Willow’s newest offering is something special, both musically and visually (yes, that’s a Roger Dean painting on the cover). Of the young…
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Familiars – This Water That is Warm (I Will Join Soon)
Though they’re actually from a small town somewhere north of the city, I’ve had the chance to see Familiars open for a whole buncha heavy/stoner rock bands in Toronto these past few years. The semi-local trio plays a brand of heavy psych somewhat reminiscent of local legends Quest For Fire, though in the live setting,…
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Curse the Son – Isolator
Although you’d probably be hard-pressed to find it on these northern shores, I had a buddy of mine smuggle a copy of Curse the Son’s previous album, Psychache. At the time, they were largely a local, unsigned Connecticut band, but had started to make a name for themselves with their heavy brand of stoom. Alas,…
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Vermilion Whiskey – Spirit of Tradition
I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’m a sucker for some good ol’ southern-style sludge metal. Actually, when I reviewed Forming the Void’s new record outta Lafayette, Louisiana, one of those dudes got in touch with me, and mentioned this other local outfit called Vermillion Whiskey that sounded much more like Crowbar, Down and…
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Longhouse – II: Vanishing
Now, I do try to support Canadian bands that fly the freak flag for stoner/sludge/doom, but Longhouse definitely caught me off guard. I did not expect to find a progressive sludge outfit inspired by the likes of ISIS, Neurosis and Kylesa hailing from Ottawa, of all places! Vanishing is actually the second album from this O-Town…
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Alastor – Black Magic
There are actually eight different metal bands called Alastor—without counting Lord Alastor or Sauts Alastor—so finding information on this specific outfit can be a bit of a challenge. This particular Alastor hails from Sweden, and are made more mysterious by the fact that each band member goes by a single initial. Not sure if I…
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Harlott – Extinction
Generally speaking I don’t get too excited for new releases from bands I’m not familiar with, because let’s face it, there is a lot of bad music out there. When Metal Blade Records sent me a copy of Harlott’s upcoming release entitled Extinction, due out on April 7th , I had the usual lack of excitement,…
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Chemical Brothers – Come With Us
Ever encountered a moment when, through no fault of its own, an album just seems to go under-appreciated and/or just generally taken for granted, reader? It’s not an incredibly common occurrence, but it does happen; every so often, an album will suffer because it really just feels like “more of the same,” no matter how good…
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Warbringer – Woe To The Vanquished
Warbringer has a new record, Woe To The Vanquished, being released on March 31st on Napalm Records; this is the Ventura, California thrashers’ fifth studio album. I had the opportunity to see them last week in San Francisco at the DNA Lounge with fellow thrashers Exmortus and Havok, and what a treat it was. As much…