Tag: album review
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At The Gates – At War With Reality
Comeback hype, buoyed by hazy, revisionist memory (and no little vain optimism) rarely bears fruit. That’s the well-established, seemingly legit, conventional wisdom in popular music. However, recent comeback stints from Autopsy and Obituary, alongside the relentless, entropy-defying longevity of acts like Vader that are only just now reaching full potential, have defiantly pushed the bloody…
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Autopsy – Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves
Autopsy is remarkably consistent. For the fourth time in as many years since reuniting, the Oakland band has released another full-length, the awkwardly titled Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves. Autopsy has now reached a point where post-reunion output nearly matches the initial catalogue in size, and it’s easy to forget they were absent for fourteen years.…
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Karkaos – Empire
I had not heard of the intriguingly named Karkaos before and this is a shame as they are a pretty decent band. Musically, the band are very adroit; they sound like a cross between Arch Enemy and Dimmu Borgir but with a twist of their own. What really gives them a strong identity of their…
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The Body / Sandworm split
I still have fond memories of the one and only time I’ve seen The Body live. The local promoter had a hard time finding a venue that would accommodate their awesome amplitude, and they ended up being double-booked with some indie-rock band at The Shop, a pre-fabricated Parkdale punk-rock dive. After the respective local openers…
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The Flaming Lips – With A Little Help From My Fwends
The problem with trying to critically review anything from The Beatles’ songbook is that many potential listeners are going to flay it apart as they listen very closely for flaws – any flaw at all. A lot of that has to do with The Beatles’ standing in pop culture and musical reputation; their songbook is…
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Kolony – Sledge
Review by Steve Earles Canada is like a metallic Cauldron (pun intentional!) at the moment, constantly spewing forth molten metal into the world. And now we have Kolony, who to my experienced ears sound like a collision between the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound beloved of Cauldron and Laugh At The Fakes, while…
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Tinkerbelles – Fine Asses EP
It has been a very, very long time since a new record forced my mind to expand so quickly that it made my eyes blur, but that’s exactly what Tinkerbelles‘ debut 7-inch – the Fine Asses EP – did to me. The first time I put it on and stylus touched vinyl, the record just…
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Viathyn – Cynosure
Once again, another self-release that would put a major label to shame, this is of the same quality as many a band on, for example, Nuclear Blast. The music is very heavy, but progressive, and very heartfelt, reminding me of folk music in its feel and atmosphere. The song-writing is superb, which is how it…
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Kerbdog – Congregation
Kerbdog are without a doubt the finest metal band to ever emerge from Kilkenny in my native Ireland. Formed in 1991, they signed to major label Vertigo Records (home, at various times, to Black Sabbath and Metallica – hmm, interesting split release potential there!). Alas, despite two great albums, success eluded the young band and…
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Smashing Pumpkins – Adore (vinyl reissue)
The moment I laid eyes on the copy of the vinyl reissue of Adore which arrived on my doorstep, I stopped what I was doing and took a moment to absorb and enjoy the image on the cover. It is very captivating; while the original image which introduced Adore to fans in 1998 was a…