Tag: album review
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NOFX – Punk In Drublic (vinyl reissue)
One look at the list of albums which came out in 1994 reveals that it was a red letter year for punk rock (Offspring’s Smash, Green Day released Dookie, Bad Religion released Stranger Than Fiction and NOFX released Punk In Drublic), but what’s even more impressive in NOFX’s case is that Punk In Drublic‘s success…
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Goya/Wounded Giant split
Less than a week into 2015 and what will likely be the year’s best – or at least heaviest – split has already sold out. The split LP from Goya and Wounded Giant sold out in less than eight hours upon its release January 3rd at noon. I had my eye on the Die Hard…
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Bewitcher – Midnight Hunters
Unlike the vast number of their Pacific Northwest contemporaries, Portland, OR party kvlt BEWITCHER keep it simple, succinct and proudly Satanic. Eschewing lumbering, portentous doomdoomdoomDOOMYdoomdoomdoom in favour of a relentless, no nonsense speed metal attack, these lithe Bacchanal sonic sorcerers have conjured a confident, defiantly lo-fi sound. Over the course of their three demo EPs,…
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Karma to Burn – Arch Stanton
You always kinda know what you’re getting from Karma to Burn. Debut album aside, on which Roadrunner insisted they add vocals, they’ve always been an instrumental band, with song titles consisting simply of numbers—they’re up to 59 now. And while they took a seven-year break just past the turn of the century, they’ve been cranking…
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Best metal album art of 2014
My favourite metal art of 2014 doesn’t come from an album cover, but a poster. I’ve been a great admirer of Costin Chioreanu for a couple years, and with time the Romanian artist’s work just keeps getting better and better. He was commissioned to do the poster art for the Roadburn Festival this past year,…
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Sans Soleil – A Holy Land Beneath a Godless Sky
The band’s name, Sans Soleil, translates to Sunless, and they worked with a guy who produced Earthless on this EP, but their music actually sounds more like Earth. And no, not just because some of these songs are viola-driven, although that certainly helps. It’s the stringed instrument that rises right away on opening track “A…
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Origin – Omnipresent
The music of tech deathers Origin produces either a smile or a grimace. Outer space themed! Insanely fast! Insanely technical!…but also a blender of sound and a stagnant end point close to frigid techno. Really, resembling a computer blurp isn’t something everyone aspires to (or wants to listen to). 2008’s Antithesis changed the narrative by…
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Astrakhan – A Tapestry of Scabs and Skin
The second release from these young Vancouver sludgesters Astrakhan combines the two tracks from their previous The Pillarist 7” with a couple new numbers on this 25-minute EP. “Cupid’s Fist” comes swinging out of the gate, a djenty piece of post-sludge with breakdowns aplenty. Vocals are clean and atmospheric for the most part, but they…
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Death From Above 1979 and Old Lines – last minute xmas vinyl suggestions
Two last minute vinyl picks for your holiday gift-giving list, from Bill Adams, editor-in-chief of Ground Control Magazine. Death From Above 1979 The Physical World (Last Gang/Warner Brothers) On The Physical World, it’s impossible to miss the difference between Death From Above as they existed in 2005 and this new, re-energized incarnation of the band.…
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Psychostick – IV: Revenge of the Vengence
I love this album. Sometimes albums that are funny are only good for one listen, but I’ve lived with this one for a few weeks, and I still like listening to it. One of the reasons is that the band are great musicians and there are some really good metal songs here. A reference point…