Tag: review
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New Keepers Of The Water Towers – Infernal Machine
I’ve heard New Keepers of the Water Towers being compared to Mastodon, and there is some truth in this. They do share some attributes with Mastodon circa, say, Crack The Skye, where their prog influences were much more to the fore than they are now, sadly. But really they derive far more influence from Pink…
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Vektor – Pillars of Sand
They’re Ba-ack! Building to their first full studio release since 2011, Arizona thrashers Vektor are giving your earholes a tasty morsel of sonic deliciousness with “Pillars of Sand,” a new track from their upcoming album Terminal Redux. This song though. The band teases with a melodic intro reminiscent of “Enter Sandman,” before enacting the bait…
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Wrong – self-titled
This Miami noise-rock outfit features former members of Torche and Kylesa, but musically, Wrong are more like Unsane or the Melvins’ old-school slowcore, with just a dash of punk rock fury. Either way, you can’t really go wrong… Their self-titled Relapse debut has 11 tracks clocking in at an even half-hour; when it comes to song…
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Abnormality – Mechanisms of Omniscience
It’s been four years since Massachusetts’s Abnormality released their debut Contaminating the Hive Mind, which is a long time for a band dedicated to technical-flavored, ‘droid-stomping death metal. You’d think that the speed of the music (and label requirements) would lead to more frequent releases, but thit isn’t the case. Surprisingly, Abnormality are already a…
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Miss Lava – Sonic Debris
This Portuguese stoner-rock outfit has actually been on my radar for quite some time, ever since they sent me a copy of their first CD back in ’09. (And yes, they still sent physical copies in those days!) Since then, they’ve opened for some big-name bands in their home country, played a few major fests…
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Blaak Heat – Shifting Mirrors
What do you get when you take an L.A. based French guitarist with Middle Eastern psychedelic influences and a seven-man backing band? You get Blaak Heat, the latest signing to Tee Pee Records. Shifting Mirrors sounds sorta like the last couple OM albums, if they were being covered by Tia Carrerra. The chill, oriental vibes…
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Sinistro – Semente
Sinistro is the second Portuguese outfit to hit my inbox in the past couple weeks, but they are two very different entities. Unlike Miss Lava, Sinistro is actually female-fronted, and their influences lean more heavily towards Neurosis than Kyuss. They also seem to sing in their mother tongue, judging by the song titles. Semente, their…
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Warsnake – self-titled
Back in the day, I used to be AF Analog’s biggest fan. The short-lived local sludge band was never a household name outside their own households, but in ’07/’08, they were the closest thing to Crowbar around this neck of the woods. Now a couple of those guys are in this new outfit, Warsnake, which…
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Rob Zombie – The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser
At first glance, one might assume that everything is just business as usual for Rob Zombie on his sixth solo studio album. Its title, The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser, reads like a compilation of words pulled from the titles of his other albums and seems a little laughable and ridiculous, at…
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Short Cuts: Seven Recent Self-Released Albums That You Should Crank To 11
You know the drill (and if ya don’t, pay attention, hotshot): these days more than ever time is money, or relative, or something like that — hence the consolidated capsule review format, dig? Regardless, never loan money to relatives, or else time will be your only remaining (if fleeting) capital (in lieu of patience, and,…