Tag: hardcore
-
Crim – Blau sang, Vermell cel LP
The catch, when it comes to working within any pop music-based form (and, as inconvenient as it is to say, punk rock definitely falls into that category), is that language plays a key role in the music’s accessibility. Simply said, if a band’s not speaking the mother tongue of the country they’re playing to, they’ve…
-
Friendship – Hatred
Who says heavy music can’t have a sense of humour? Calling this Japanese outfit Friendship is a little on the nose, but the title of this none-more-black record is much more appropriate. These caustic Care Less Bears blast through 12 tracks of blackened, sludgy crust in a little over 25 minutes on this don’t-call-it-an-EP, with…
-
Power Trip @ The Velvet Underground, 25 September 2017
Texas five-piece thrashards Power Trip formed during the apex of the thrash revival in 2008. However, unlike the forgettable clone bands that were spawned in this time and have since surpassed their peak, these Americans’ ascent looks tireless. Since releasing their debut album ‘Manifest Decimation‘ in 2013, Power Trip have rapidly ascended from strength to…
-
Mayhem & Dragged Into Sunlight (2017 tour diary)
Heavy metal’s grandfathers Black Sabbath set the genre’s tone of darkness with their music, visual aesthetic and energy, and it seems that the acorns haven’t fall from the tree at all. Their fellow countrymen—as varied as Cathedral, Paradise Lost and Cradle of Filth—have followed suit and branched off while remaining true to that ominous core.…
-
Neurosis – The Word as Law (reissue)
Man, I’m looking forward to seeing Neurosis again in Toronto next month! Of course, they don’t really have any new material to promote—their last album came out last year—but we do get this reissue of The Word as Law, their second album from back in 1990. At this point, Souls at Zero was still two…
-
Bloodclot – Up In Arms
First and foremost I have to say, I’m not a hardcore guy, but I do enjoy some good punk from time to time. With that said, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band Bloodclot and their upcoming release entitled Up In Arms, due out July 14th via Metal Blade Records. What I got was…
-
Thoughts of Ionesco – Skar Cymbals
Though this is the first I’ve heard of Thoughts of Ionesco, the band has quite the back story. Formed in the mid-90’s when they were still in high school, they developed a sound like My War and a reputation for beating the crap out of each other on stage while opening for the likes of…
-
Connoisseur – Over the Edge
This stoner-themed sludge/crust band from Oakland slammed its way into my heart on their debut album Stoner Justice, with tracks like “Circle of Heads,” “I Am the Weed” and “Full Blown Marijuana Addict.” Their sophomore effort sees more of the same, with 14 tracks in 24 minutes, including such gems as “Live to Smoke,” “Free…
-
Godstopper/Grizzlor split 7”
It’s been a little while since Toronto noise-rock weirdos Godstopper have graced us with an album—and somehow, said record seems to have slipped my radar completely. But as I’m just getting caught up with their latest full-length, this tasty tidbit should tide us over in the meantime—a three-song, seven-inch split with Connecticut trio Grizzlor. Godstopper…
-
Baby In Vain – For The Kids EP
Some self-important critic somewhere will review Baby In Vain‘s first EP and say they saw it coming. Over the last couple of years, bands like Dilly Dally, Like A Motorcycle and Ex Hex have all come along and resurfaced the road which once traced the way between hardcore, metal and grunge and also renewed interest…