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…
American
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…
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 me: this is what everyone else is going for. This is the aesthetic so many other bands attempt to emulate. Not just the sound, either, but the presence, the charisma of the band members.”
Natalie Zed reviews the July 29th performance by SLAYER, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
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 songwriting.
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 era and the start of a new era.
Tate Bengston reviews these two new releases by Chicago doom metal legends Trouble.
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 thinking that maybe we could branch out and do something – a few little twists of things that maybe we’ve never done before with it, with a kind of vocalist like this.”
Laura Wiebe Taylor speaks with Trouble guitarist Bruce Franklin about the current status of the band, their three new North American releases, progress for their next studio album and what the future holds for the legendary Chicago doom metal outfit.
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.