Tag: review
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Dead Quiet – Grand Rites
Though they might be a new band, Dead Quiet are no strangers to the vaunted Vancouver heavy rock scene. Featuring former members of Barn Burner and 3 Inches of Blood, these dudes have already toured with Anciients and Black Wizard, before issuing their debut album on… a Toronto EDM label??? However, there ain’t no techno…
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Pale Horseman – The Fourth Seal
While Chicago might be more known for progressive post-sludge (think Yakuza, Minsk, The Atlas Moth, et al), it’s nice to hear a band that still plays ‘er low ‘n slow, the way Kirk Windstein intended. This foursome, Pale Horseman, is serving us up a full hour of deep-fried southern sludge on their fourth full-length in…
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Unleash The Archers – Apex
Unleash The Archers play excellent traditional metal, which I very much mean as a compliment. There are occasional diversions into harsher vocal realms, but this is unnecessary when you’ve got a vocalist as good as Brittney Slayes. Like Kobra Paige, she gives her band a strong identity and has a most metal name as an…
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Motherslug – The Electric Dunes of Titan
Admittedly, I don’t know much about the Aussie stoner scene. I mean, there’s never been a Desertfest Australia… although that would probably make more sense than Desertfest Berlin, when you think about it. So I can’t say I knew much about Motherslug before I pushed play. With that said, this album cover screams Nebula, and…
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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…
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Burning Witches – Burning Witches
A band needs a good name, and Burning Witches is an excellent one. This group of five lady metallers truly are on fire! Musically, this is old school metal, à la Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and especially the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Which is to say, your actual songs! There are enough contemporary influences…
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Year of the Cobra – Burn Your Dead
This husband/wife, bass/drums, stoner/doom duo is sorta like Seattle’s answer to Jucifer… only without quite as many amplifiers, I presume. After their debut album dropped last year, they’ve followed it up with this five-song, 25-minute, 12-inch EP on Magnetic Eye Records. “Cold” wastes little time in getting down to business, with a heavy, fuzzy bass…
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Elvis Presley – Boy From Tupelo (3CD box set)
It’s strange but, now forty years after his death, the image of Elvis Presley hasn’t faded but has become pretty two-dimensional. For many, the popular images of Elvis are basically that of the man who swivelled his hips and made women swoon as he sang “Heartbreak Hotel,” and that of the fat man who ate…
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Book reviews by Steve Earles: October 2017
History, medical science, detection and crime Digging in the Dark: A History of the Yorkshire Resurrectionists Written by Ben Johnson Published by Pen & Sword History The progress of medical research depended on a supply of bodies for surgeons to learn their skills from in 18th and 19th-century England. The amount of legally proscribed bodies…
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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…