Tag: American

  • Various Artists – American Epic (5CD Box Set)

    Various Artists – American Epic (5CD Box Set)

    It might sound like a bit of a reach on the surface, but the first thing that listening to American Epic reminded me of was my university experience and how music like that which can be found on this box set changed my life. My first full-time year, I took – in addition to the…

  • Wildlights – Self-Titled

    Wildlights – Self-Titled

    Wildlights, a North Carolina heavy-rock duo, is composed 50% of ASG.  While I’m unfamiliar with Thunderlips, the other outfit in the equation, the outstanding recent output of the former was compelling enough for me to check this out. You can definitely hear the ASG influence here, while Torche would be another strong comparison point. That…

  • Slayer/ Megadeth/ Testament @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, Toronto ON, July 29, 2010

    “Testament and Megadeth have both been around as long as I have been alive; Slayer is two years older than I am. These bands have been around for a very long time and have gotten exceptionally good at what they do. More that that, they have defined their genre. Watching Slayer perform, it suddenly hit…

  • Trouble: Plastic Green Head (reissue)

    Boasting the most robust guitar tone of the band’s career, Trouble shifted to a riff-heavy approach and embraced the almighty groove. Trouble did not abandon its zeal for all things 70s so much as it reconciled this enthusiasm with a straight-up metallic punch. However, what truly allowed Plastic Green Head to stand out was its…

  • Trouble: Unplugged and Live in Los Angeles

    While instability is familiar territory for Trouble, the changes of the last few years are of an order of magnitude beyond anything it has experienced previously. The reissue of Unplugged, featuring outgoing vocalist Eric Wagner, and Live in Los Angeles, featuring the debut of replacement Kory Clarke (Warrior Soul), jointly symbolize the end of one…

  • Trouble: Nowhere Near Endtime

    “We’ve heard some people ask why did you pick Kory Clarke, because he’s not a doom metal singer or he doesn’t sound anything like Eric, but we weren’t particularly looking for someone to sound just like Eric, and we weren’t necessarily looking for someone who was just a doom metal singer either. And we were…

  • Slayer: World Painted Blood

    All of a sudden Slayer’s new album trades the metal in their thrash for a heavy dose of hardcore, the infusion of which makes Slayer sound exactly like Black Flag did around 1985.