Category: Reviews
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Sithter – Chaotic Fiend
Now, Japan has produced some pretty solid stoner and death/doom bands over the years, from Coffins to Corrupted, Eternal Elysium to Chuch of Misery… not to mention Boris, who practically deserve their own category. But when it comes to straight-ahead Japanese sludge, I usually come up empty. So when I heard that Sithter, a band…
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Scum – Garden of Shadows
Bit of an interesting back story behind this one. This Finnish death/doom outfit formed in 1990, and was signed to the legendary Black Mark Productions, where they put out a couple records in ’94 and ’95. Garden of Shadows, recorded in ’96, was to be Scum‘s third album, but Quorthon reportedly tossed this demo in the…
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Roadside Bombs – War On Love 7”
It might not be for everyone but, for me, some of the coolest things to hear are those which crosswire a few different sounds and styles which feel as though they should stand at odds with one another. A perfect example of such an unusual stylistic counterpoint can be found on Roadside Bombs‘ new single, “War…
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The Second Coming of Heavy Chapter IV: Red Mesa/Blue Snaggletooth split
Like I said when I reviewed Chapter 3 of this compilation, Ripple Music has become somewhat of a tastemaker in the stoner-rock scene, a modern-day Man’s Ruin or MeteorCity, if you will. And they’ve only built on that reputation in the past couple years, signing the likes of Wo Fat and Devil to Pay and…
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Alice In Chains – Live Facelift 12″ EP
A deeper look at the grooves pressed into the Record Store Day Exclusive Release pressing of Alice In Chains’ Live Facelift 12” EP. While readers may be familiar with parts of Alice In Chains’ new Black Friday/Record Store Day release, Live Facelift, it’s nearly guaranteed that they don’t know the whole thing. They may know…
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Soggy – self-titled
My introduction to Soggy came when I saw their frontman get up and jam with The Shrine at Pyscho Las Vegas. The Shrine covered Soggy’s 1981 single “Waiting for the War” a couple years back, so they went online to see if they could find the guy… and the rest is history. I had no…
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Backwoods Payback – Fire Not Reason
I last heard from Backwoods Payback about five years back, when they released their Momantha record on Small Stone, a pretty decent dose of southern-fried heavy rock from a band outta Pennsylvania. In the years since, they’ve switched a few things up, dropping from a four-piece to a trio before releasing this album independently. Most…
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Red Cain – Red Cain
Firstly, let me praise Red Cain for their commitment to music as a physical entity; the CD bears a most amazing cover by Peter Mohrbacher which would put many a major label band to shame. It just cries out to be released on vinyl so all its intricate details can be seen in all their…
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Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct
I must confess that it would be very, very easy to find a bigger fan of Metallica than I am. To be perfectly blunt, I haven’t heard a new album by the band that I’ve liked in twenty-five years – and even that was a reach because I thought the Black Album spent more time…
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Hornss – Telepath
This heavy trio hails from the Bay Area, and one guy is a dead ringer for a younger, pre-bearded Al Cisneros, but if you’re looking for Dopesmoker Part Deux, look elsewhere—the 11 tracks on Hornss’ second album clock in at a combined 30 minutes. A heavy bass rumble begins “St. Genevieve,” and there are certainly…