U.S. Christmas – Bad Heart Bull
By Gruesome Greg This record is where it all began for U.S. Christmas (now known as USX), released independently back in ’04 on CDR,…
Hawkwind
The Devil’s Blood – The Thousandfold Epicentre
The latest band to make it big in the new wave of occult rock (ie Ghost, Blood Ceremony), these Dutch demons have unleashed a lengthy, 76-minute Metal Blade debut upon the masses with this, their second album. Opening with a shuffling, ringing, haunting instrumental, you know you’re in for a hell of a ride…
Shooting Guns – Born to Deal in Magic: 1952-1976
In the hands of a producer who specializes in this style of music (this band was born to work with Sanford Parker), these guys could be capable of a record that sounds even more massive. For now, though, we’re perfectly content listening to one hell of a fun debut, one of the very best Canadian metal/rock albums of 2011, singer or no singer. Besides, with grooves this contagious, who needs a singer, anyway?
Overkill: The Untold Story of Motorhead By Joel McIver
Oh, I loved reviewing this book, it was like a time machine back to a golden age, one that importantly still continues, as Motorhead are still as awesome as ever.
Boris – Heavy Rocks / Attention Please
“Boris is always at its best and most exciting the more adventurous they get, and the two new records, Heavy Rocks and Attention Please, are just that, as both see drummer Atsuo, guitarist Wata, and bassist Takeshi embrace their accessible side in ways nobody, especially those on the metal side of the fence, could possibly have imagined.”
Adrien Begrand reviews the two new studio albums by Japan’s BORIS, Heavy Rocks and Attention Please, set for release May 24th on Sargent House.
Motörhead – Overkill
Overkill is the album that spawned all your favorite bands. Overkill is the album that gave way to the ‘Trick Question, Lemmy IS god!’ punch line. Overkill is the album that earned Motörhead their rightful, center-throne seat as one-third of the Holy Triumvirate of Rock’n’Roll. It goes without saying, but Overkill should be mandatory listening for any child who displays even the slightest notion of interest in rock and roll, perhaps even at as early a stage as the womb. Only calling Overkill ‘essential’ is half-hearted and weak, because Overkill is the be-all, end-all of Motörhead.
Motörhead – Stone Deaf Forever!
Minor quibbles aside, this is a great collection that features enough rarities and previously unreleased material (including a great four song Peel session from 1980 and BBC sessions from ’80 and ’86) that on musical merits alone this would be worth purchasing.
Blue Aside – The Orange Tree
Whereas other sludge bands who deal in cosmic themes, like Zoroaster and The Atlas Moth, use harsh black-metal vocals to get their message across, Abrams’ warm, clean tones give Blue Aside a big boost. Their deftly executed blending of sludgy doom grooves with spacy guitar (and occasional synth) passages provides the missing link between Sleep and Hawkwind, YOB and Captain Beyond, Sons of OTIS and Secret Saucer… You get the idea.
Zoroaster – Matador
While this is a pretty decent record in its own right, I’m somewhat saddened that Zoroaster has moved away from its own unique take on
southern sludge towards a sound that can be filed next to Farflung, The Atlas Moth, and countless other bands.
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.
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