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?

Rozamov – This Mortal Coil

I actually saw this Boston trio in Toronto last summer, when they played the basement of the Smiling Buddha with Moon Curse and Ol’ Time Moonshine. And with all due apologies to said moon units, Rozamov was definitely the heaviest band on the bill. I half-expected my old landlord to come down and tell ‘em…

February 1, 2017
AURAS – Heliospectrum

O’ Canada, who are you really? Are you a dualistic nation, because of your anglo/franco roots? The colonial settlers whose languages and cultures would permeate the land, intertwining two disparate homelands into one? Are you a romancing of the classic era, or are you an eclectic mix of all nations of the people your borders…

January 31, 2017
Ol’ Time Moonshine – The Apocalypse Trilogies

Y’know, the first thing that struck me about this CD was the packaging. See, I’ve got a whole binder full of CDRs from a buncha local bands from back in my days at CKLN—including a few from Diablo Red, this outfit’s spiritual predecessor—so when I get something new from someone nearby, it’s usually not very…

January 27, 2017
Freedom Hawk – Sunlight

Man, these guys have been kicking around for a while. I actually reviewed their self-titled debut on MeteorCity nearly seven years ago—at least, I thought it was their debut at the time. Turns out that Sunlight predates it by a year, but it was such a limited edition CDR release that next to nobody actually…

January 18, 2017
Kings Destroy – None More

At this point, I’m pretty familiar with Kings Destroy… but you might not be. This NYC epic doom outfit has three albums under its belt, and they’ll be playing Toronto for the third time—along with Montreal and Ottawa—as touring support for Truckfighters later this month. Not that they sound much like Truckfighters, mind you. If…

January 16, 2017
Various Artists – Meantime [Redux]

Oh, Helmet! Now, I’m not talking about anything sexual. Just the legendary NY band. If I were a real journalist I’d go into the influence Helmet have had on the hard music scene, naming specific bands or scenes or whatever but Helmet’s reputation speaks for itself. Well, to a point. Strap It On, Meantime, Betty…

January 13, 2017
Lo-Pan – In Tensions EP

Columbus heavy rock crew Lo-Pan is kicking off 2017 in style with this five-song, 22-minute EP. The grizzled tour veterans head out with “Go West,” a slower, sludgy stomp that kinda reminds me of Torche, especially in the vocal department. “Sink or Swim” is slightly shorter and crunchier, a decent, mid-paced, melodic rocker. The slow,…

January 11, 2017
Dealer – Billionaire Boys Club

Take me to your Dealer! This Oakland trio was formerly known as Sexless, are good bros of The Shrine, and totally take the piss outta the Bay Area tech scene with the title of their debut LP. Musically, they range from later Kyuss to Black Flag to Unsane, knocking out 10 tracks in 36 minutes.…

January 9, 2017
Arduini/Balich – Dawn of Ages

In case you weren’t familiar with the two names on the cover, Victor Arduini played guitar on the first two Fates Warning LPs, while Brian Balich is known to doomsters as the former voice of Penance and current voice of Argus, one of the leading purveyors of power-doom these days. This collaborative effort has been…

January 6, 2017
Metallica – Hardwired… To Self-Destruct (Deluxe Edition 3CD)

It’s funny how the psychology of salesmanship works – after a certain point, one has to wonder where the logic goes. A great example of that can be found in the Deluxe Edition, 3CD version of Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. As previously stated in my review of the standard-issue 2CD version of the release, Metallica‘s new…

December 23, 2016