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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The Flaming Lips – The Hypnotist EP
The Flaming Lips The Hypnotist 12” EP (Warner Records) 2023 marks the twentieth anniversary of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots and, to celebrate, Warner Brothers has embarked on an impressive campaign to re-examine the album (stay tuned for more on that later) but, without question, one of the most unusual parts of that endeavor is…
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Poe – Hello LP reissue
Poe Hello LP (reissue) (MNRK Music Group) The fact is that, by intention and not by accident, Poe (born Anne Decatur Danielewski) has always chosen to present herself in a manner completely separate from any artist who might pretend to be her peer. Most recently, the proof of presenting herself that way can be found…
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Wayfarer & Wode – Glasgow, UK – April 28th, 2023
Tonight is an opportunity to escape to the wild west with atmospheric black metallers Wayfarer. Given America’s rich Wild West heritage, it’s baffling that it’s taken this long for a band to weave together metal and American folk inspired by the western post-Civil War period. For some odd reason, many American folk bands prefer to…
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Voivod & Cryptic Shift – Glasgow, UK – April 19th, 2023
Decisions, decisions. Tonight Canadian prog metal weirdos Voivod are in Glasgow, the same night as Cannibal Corpse and Dark Funeral. Despite the former’s legendary fame, Slay is particularly busy with punters who select cosmic chaos instead. The doors open at 6:30pm, yet the sole support Cryptic Shift takes the stage at 8:15pm. The audience’s mandatory…
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Swallow the Sun & Draconian – Glasgow, UK – April 10th, 2023
What better way to celebrate Easter Sunday than a gloom-drenched evening with Nordic doom metallers Swallow the Sun and Draconian? This funerary co-headlining tour stops in Glasgow’s Slay on its UK tour. The venue is busy, defying both economic despair and festive familial commitments. Sweden’s Draconian are a well-established hybridisation of gothic and death/doom metal,…
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Flores Y Fuego – Altar LP
Flores Y Fuego Altar LP (Pirates Press Records) It’s startling when one realizes how far punk as progressed over the last thirty years or so. It could be argued that the turning point in the history of punk’s greatest evolution was when Epitaph Records broke the barrier between pop and punk in the Nineties; suddenly,…
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SC.U.M. – Born Too Soon LP Reissue
SC.U.M. Born Too Soon LP (Reissue) (Porterhouse Records) Listening to the reissue of Montreal-based punk/hardcore outfit SC.U.M.’s Born Too Soon LP really takes me back. I mean, I understand that the idea of a reissue is supposed to recall a time where the album in question was new and is capable of allowing a listener…
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Teenage Bottlerocket – So Dumb, So Stoked 7”
Teenage Bottlerocket So Dumb, So Stoked 7” (Pirates Press Records) In 2023, calling something instantly gratifying feels as though it might be a setup to defuse potential disappointment, but that is simply not the case when it comes to the So Dumb, So Stoked 7” – Teenage Bottlerocket’s first release for Pirates Press Records. In…
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Hunting Lions – Light 12” EP
Hunting Lions Light (one-sided 12”) EP (Pirates Press Records) While the quality of Hunting Lions’ Dark EP can’t be denied, anyone who hears the band’s Light EP (which will be released later this month and in the same format – with all the music on one side and a graphic on the other) may be…
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Hunting Lions – Dark 12” EP
Hunting Lions Dark (one-sided 12”) EP (Pirates Press Records) While I can’t keep myself from wondering why Hunting Lions elected to keep the music on the Dark EP contained to just one side of this 12” (there’s five songs on one side and a graphic on the other), there is no question that the songs…