Tag: album review
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Rhine – An Outsider
Rhine is one of metal’s best kept secrets… but not for much longer. Rhine play progressive heavy metal in the best sense of the word. With some progressive metal bands, there is often an over emphasis on the progressive over the heavy or vice-versa, but Rhine have got the balance just right. Drinking from the…
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Circle Jerks – Group Sex
At this point, six years after the band that Keith Morris, Steven McDonald, Dimitri Coats and Mario Rubalcaba started took off (ahem – no pun intended) and brought hardcore punk into a much brighter and broader spotlight before a much larger audience, the history of where OFF came from and the circumstances which got them…
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Rebel Wizard – Invocation of the Miserable Ones
Rebel Wizard released their first demo in 2013 and then went on a rampage in 2015 releasing 5 EPs of heavy black/speed metal. A band this new going this fast at the beginning of their career can sometimes run into problems down the road, but for now they seem to be going at a steady…
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Arcana 13 – Danza Macabra
Colour me intrigued by this horror-inspired Italian psych/doom outfit, which just might be The Boot’s answer to Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats. Italy’s tradition of cult horror is certainly not lost on Arcana 13—they even cover the theme from Suspiria on this one. Danza Macabra starts off with an eerie howling wind, as some Italian…
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Black Tusk – Pillars of Ash
Not entirely sure if this is to be Black Tusk’s final album—bassist/vocalist Johnathan Athon tragically passed away weeks after it was recorded. They’ve replaced him with a guy who used to play in Kylesa, and are hitting the road in March, so whether or not it’s the end of the band’s legacy, Pillars of Ash…
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Seven Sisters of Sleep – Ezekiel’s Hags
I have not heard from this L.A. sludge crew since their self-titled debut in 2011. Seven Sisters of Sleep have put out another album—and a whole shitload of splits—since then, but now that they’ve signed to Relapse, their status is about to get a big boost. While you might accuse such a band of dropping…
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Bloodiest – self-titled
We last heard from this Chicago post-sludge supergroup (of sorts) in 2011, with their debut album Descent, which was pretty decent. But almost a full five years have passed, and Bloodiest’s ranks have been narrowed from a nine-musician collective to a solid sextet, which appears on all tracks on this one. So while I might…
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Dilly Dally – Sore
In this age of computer-generated musical perfection, it’s refreshing to hear Sore – Dilly Dally‘s debut album. For the first time in what feels like forever, listeners are confronted by a female-fronted (both on vocals and guitar) outfit who is unafraid to have (and bare) some teeth and anger without trying to be cute about…
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Eels – Shootenanny! LP
After Souljacker was released, nothing was ever quite the same again for the Eels. Part of it must have felt fantastic because the band really thrived; it was as though Souljacker blew open a floodgate which spontaneously made new sounds, experiments with different moods, vibes and ideas fair game to explore. Liberated, Mark Everett threw…
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Ecorche – Deep in the Ground
It seems like almost every time you turn around something is coming out of Philly. This time it’s blackened industrialists Écorché and their sophomore album Deep in the Ground. JGW (vocals, guitar, synths, programming) and Wolfman (bass, synths, samples) follow no formula on this experimental experience. The album itself and its tracks seem pieced together…