Category: Reviews – Audio
Glorious metal in all its earthly forms, compressed onto shiny plastic discs or into digital files. Which ones will become the soundtrack to your life?
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Ian Blurton – Signals Through the Flames
A couple weeks back, I saw Ian Blurton’s Future Now open for Spirit Adrift, during which he remarked that next to the other bands on the bill, his “sounds like some Carpenters shit.” And yet, I would say that they played enough heavy grooves to keep a decent chunk of the crowd satisfied. To my…
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Irata – Tower
North Carolina outfit Irata first caught my ear four years ago with their Kylesa-inspired (and Phil Cope-produced) album Sweet Loris. Since then, they’ve expanded from a trio to a four-piece, and signed to Small Stone for their latest effort. They haven’t completely abandoned that Kylesa sound, though… Tower opens with the title track, a sub-three-minute…
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Saint Vitus – self-titled
It’s a good thing that Saint Vitus spent a couple years out on the road with Scott Reagers back in the fold before heading into the studio to record this second self-titled album with their original singer. I caught ‘em in Cleveland in 2016, and they were quite strong in the live setting. Reagers has…
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Doomstress – Sleep Among the Dead
While not completely underground (they’ve played almost every major U.S. doomfest over the past few years), Doomstress has managed to fly under my radar until now. Formerly known as Project Armageddon, this Texas outfit had put out three albums under their previous moniker…but this is their first full-length release under the new name. In any…
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Dead Kennedys – DK40 (3CD)
Every fan knows that punk rock has had a fantastic relationship and tradition with bootleg records, and that tradition has now broken into the mainstream as well. In the twenty-first century, bands like The Doors, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Pearl Jam as well as artists like Jeff Tweedy, Neil Young and Lars Frederiksen have…
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Nebula – Holy Shit
Nebula might be Exhibit A of why it’s better to burn out than to fade away. After establishing themselves at the forefront of the stoner rock scene in the late 90’s, they spent the better part of the aughts putting on subpar performances to dwindling crowds, breaking up in the middle of one tour, calling…
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Beastwars – IV
The band that put New Zealand on the doom-metal map is back with their fourth full-length effort. IV sees Beastwars return with another platter of raw, visceral, doom/sludge, clocking in just shy of 38 minutes. “Raise the Sword” comes rumbling out of the gate, with a rough-and-tumble riff a la slow-mo High on Fire. Verses…
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Atala – The Bearer of Light
Maybe it’s because they’re from the middle of nowhere, but I feel that California desert doom trio Atala never gets the respect they deserve. These guys play the kind of doom that Saint Vitus made famous, and their last couple records were produced by the likes of Scott Reeder and Billy Anderson… but you still…
