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?
-
GRUESOME ON GRUESOME – Dimensions of Horror
Now, here’s a band that’s very near to my cold, cold heart. Gruesome originated as a tribute act on the Death to All tour, until, much like the Thin Black Lizzy Star Riders, they decided they couldn’t record any new material under their original moniker without creating decades of bad karma. I’m not sure how…
-
Helhorse – self-titled
Because in Denmark, it’s H-E-single-hockey-stick. This Copenhagen-based sextet includes two guitars and two singers, one of whom also plays the piano, apparently. But these are no sons of northern darkness—Helhorse‘s sound is more akin to the southern grooves of Down, Crowbar and Orange Goblin. And this isn’t their debut, but rather their third album since…
-
A Rebel Few – As The Crow Flies
Every once in a blue moon, I get an album to review that truly is a pleasant surprise. Such an album is A Rebel Few’s As The Crow Flies. Coming across as a killer modern combination of Down and Lynyrd Skynyrd, this is one seriously good album. A lot of things makeAs The Crow Flies special:…
-
Bright Curse – Before the Shore
British imprint HeviSike Records leaves little to the imagination—you get a sense of what kinda music this is before you even push play. And sure enough, the debut album from London power trio Bright Curse is equal parts heavy and psychedelic, capturing that retro-rock feel of Kadavar or Graveyard. “Lady Freedom” is led by a…
-
New Keepers Of The Water Towers – Infernal Machine
I’ve heard New Keepers of the Water Towers being compared to Mastodon, and there is some truth in this. They do share some attributes with Mastodon circa, say, Crack The Skye, where their prog influences were much more to the fore than they are now, sadly. But really they derive far more influence from Pink…
-
Van-Halst – World Of Make-Believe
I have to say the title of this fine album is somewhat ironic as its lyrics are a million miles removed from fantasy; rather they are socially conscious and reflect the real world. Indeed, much like last year’s welcome Mad Max: Fury Road, Van Halst display a strong, articulate and welcome feminist agenda in their music.…
-
Vektor – Pillars of Sand
They’re Ba-ack! Building to their first full studio release since 2011, Arizona thrashers Vektor are giving your earholes a tasty morsel of sonic deliciousness with “Pillars of Sand,” a new track from their upcoming album Terminal Redux. This song though. The band teases with a melodic intro reminiscent of “Enter Sandman,” before enacting the bait…
-
Wrong – self-titled
This Miami noise-rock outfit features former members of Torche and Kylesa, but musically, Wrong are more like Unsane or the Melvins’ old-school slowcore, with just a dash of punk rock fury. Either way, you can’t really go wrong… Their self-titled Relapse debut has 11 tracks clocking in at an even half-hour; when it comes to song…
-
Abnormality – Mechanisms of Omniscience
It’s been four years since Massachusetts’s Abnormality released their debut Contaminating the Hive Mind, which is a long time for a band dedicated to technical-flavored, ‘droid-stomping death metal. You’d think that the speed of the music (and label requirements) would lead to more frequent releases, but thit isn’t the case. Surprisingly, Abnormality are already a…
-
Miss Lava – Sonic Debris
This Portuguese stoner-rock outfit has actually been on my radar for quite some time, ever since they sent me a copy of their first CD back in ’09. (And yes, they still sent physical copies in those days!) Since then, they’ve opened for some big-name bands in their home country, played a few major fests…