Tag: album review
-
Secret Cutter – Self Titled
It’s not cool to cut yourself; remember that, kids. But Secret Cutter, a bassless trio from Bethlehem (Pennsylvania, that is), is out to make the baby Jesus cry with their self-titled debut, a 26-minute blast of sludge-metal sickness. Downtuned chugs abound on tracks like album opener “Mirror Mirror” with glass-shattering vocals straining to be heard in…
-
Triptykon – Melana Chasmata
A picture can often be worth a thousand words and you only have to look a picture of Tom G. Warrior (I know his real name, but to me, Tom G. Warrior is more real than any birth name). You can see his life experience etched into his face, those intense eyes burning out from…
-
Barghest – The Virtuous Purge
For their second full-length, The Virtuous Purge, Louisiana deathened black metal titans Barghest have ratcheted up the production quality several notches. They still sound raw and born from the places hidden from the sun’s piercing glare, but now all the hellish screams, ice cold, bowel-shaking guitars and manic percussion can be heard with a new…
-
Valley of the Sun – Electric Talons of the Thunderhawk
Now, you wouldn’t expect a band named Valley of the Sun, the nickname of Phoenix, Arizona, to hail from Cincinnati—a city known colloquially as Dirty Cincy. And yet, it’s an apt moniker for this outfit, a desert-rock trio that captured the attention of Swedish stoner greats Truckfighters, who subsequently signed them to their label. And…
-
The Cutthroats 9 – Dissent
This Bay Area trio, The Cutthroats 9, features howling madman frontman Chris Spencer of Unsane fame and released its debut on Man’s Ruin, waaaaay back in the day. Based on that information, I think you can take a guess as to what Dissent, their comeback EP, might sound like. And you’d be pretty much right.…
-
Beastwars – Beastwars
Being that this was an independently-issued release outta New Zealand, of all places, I must admit I missed Beastwars’ debut the first time around. But the band has generated a bit of buzz, seeing as they’re the heaviest thing to hit Godzone since the Big Sheep Shearer, and as such, we’re getting a vinyl reissue…
-
Corrosion of Conformity – IX
Since the original/core members of Corrosion of Conformity decided to carry on sans Pepper Keenan they’ve been on a tear. 2012 saw their “comeback” self-titled album. Then came the Eye for an Eye reissue and Megalodon EP. Now just in time for Summer, Reed Mullin, Woody Weatherman and Mike Dean deliver unto us a new…
-
Lecherous Gaze – Zeta Reticuli Blues
First heard these guys, Lecherous Gaze, on a split with Danava and Earthless, to which they contributed a rollicking tune entitled “Get You Some.” Apparently, it was the strength of that track that got ‘em signed to Tee Pee, which issued their debut a couple years back, along with this, their second release. Well, it…
-
Crowbar – Symmetry in Black
Crowbar’s Sever the Wicked Hand was an awesome album, one of my top albums of 2011. And despite an unfortunate head-kicking incident at MDF, I was still pretty psyched to hear what the band would come up with the next time around. No boycott here—let’s just say I’m hoping this album delivers a solid blow…
-
The Lone Crows – Dark Clouds
This Minnesota-based outfit, The Lone Crows, is apparently pretty big in Germany. Big enough, anyways, that the German label World in Sound reissued their debut last year, which landed them on my radar. And hey, if there’s a retro-psych revival going on across the pond, then these guys would really fit right in… Sophomore effort…