Blog: The Ripple Effect

French death/black metal outfit SVART CROWN has set May 21st as the North American release date for their third full-length, Profane. SVART CROWN is a that band has been willing to break the genre boundaries enhancing lethal grooves in a sadistic manner that won't leave any listener in a safe and comfy world. The main theme on Profane is full-introspection about humanity sickness and SVART CROWN deliver the soundtrack of a bleak world that has already ended to their eyes with this album. Album artwork was made by designer Stefan Thanneur (RUINS). Profane was recorded, [...]

We arrived early on a crisp New England night. The sidewalks still piled high with last week's blizzard. We had our tickets already so one quick frisk at the door and we entered the Worcester Palladium. The night had fallen. Leather,hair,denim patched jackets mixed with the smell of sweat and stale beer. The line to the men's room, insanity. The end result with in those stalls, horrifying. All the makings of a great night of thrashy metal. 4 arm, from Australia did not disappoint. They are what a good thrash band is meant to be. The guitarist stage [...]

Some bands don't need an introduction, and Diamond Head is one of them. Legends of the NWOBHM, Metallica has cited them as a major influence in their creation. Now the boys are back and still rocking just as hard, so we asked them to stop by the red Ripple couch and chat about rock, NWOBHM and life in general. When I was a kid, growing up in a house with Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, and Simon and Garfunkel, the first time I ever heard Kiss's "Detroit Rock City," it was a moment of musical [...]

Swedish death metallers TORMENTED have posted a promo video featuring the title track off their forthcoming release Death Awaits. The song is currently streaming on the Listenable Records YouTube Channel at this location. Death Awaits will be out in Europe on March 25th via Listenable Records. The North American release date will be announced soon. "As the hour of doom approaches, raise your hands to the pestilent sky, sinking deeper into the grave that is [...]

California death horde GRAVEHILL will hit the road with death/thrash legends DECEASED tomorrow (Saturday, March 9th) on the "March of the Cadavers 2013 Tour." GRAVEHILL vocalist Mike Abominator commented, "We look forward to killing out on the road with the mighty DECEASED. THE POWER OF THESE STINKY CADAVERS COMPELS YOU!" DECEASED founder and frontman King Fowley added, "It's time to smash it to the fucking wall! DECEASED and GRAVEHILL on the [...]

Last year in Ripple Tech, I reviewed the Bassbuds earbuds which blew me away with their clarity and sound. Quickly, Bassbuds became my "go to" earphones and I never leave home without them. Being on the road a lot, I also like to carry a portable speaker with me, to fill the hotel room with sound, rather than be tied down by headphones. So when I heard that the makers of Bassbuds were also putting out a Bluetooth portable speaker, I waited in eager anticipation for my review copy to arrive. And boy, [...]

ALL TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY, MARCH 8TH Following three previously announced dates, MÖTLEY CRÜE unveil today three additional shows for their first US run of 2013. The CRÜE are currently rounding out eight shows in Australia with Kiss before heading out on their biggest headlining Canadian run ever with special guests, Big Wreck. The seven US dates begin on May 16th in Bangor, ME and will also be routing through Gilford, NH; Uncasville, CT; two shows [...]

Until I was nine years old I lived on the East Coast. My family home was in northern New Jersey within daily commuting distance to New York City. Consequently, I was a big New York sports fan. This led to a serious misunderstanding of the term "Celtic." My first acquaintance with the term came from watching the futility of the mid-1960's Knicks as they played against a Boston basketball team that was on its way to eleven championships in thirteen years. I thought the term started with a soft "c" and presumed [...]

Daemonicus - Deadwork Old style death metal from Sweden and although Daemonicus aren't reinventing the wheel Deadwork is excellent fast, furious death that puts so-called modern-day death metal to shame. This is how it should be! Throughout Deadwork the band never lets off speed keeping the pedal to the metal which could have made the album boring. But the skillful musicianship and a great knack for changing things up at the right moment keeps it fresh and vibrant. Another thing that makes me like the album is the sound and feel of the mighty [...]

Labelling a band is a "must" amongst music scribes I guess, just to make it easier for us when reviewing albums. Sometimes the labelling is spot on, sometimes it's utterly wrong. As is the case with Iceland's Kontinuum, who according to the press release from their record label are a progressive post black metal band. I can agree with the progressive post metal part but as far as black metal goes, the track Lightbearer is as close as it gets, that's all. Maybe Pornea, the band that morphed into Kontinuum were black metal. I honestly don't know but if this [...]

Stratovarius is one of the best European metal bands out there. Hands down. The genre seems to be over loaded with these types of bands although the Europeans never seem to tire of them. Here in the states, symphonic metal and classical speed metal fall on seemingly deaf ears. Absolutely zero radio airplay(who really listens to the radio anymore anyways). " Nemesis" captures the traditional Stratovarius mood and structure and kicks you in the face. This is the standard upon which all other bands in this genre need to play up to. My first listen [...]

You try. Every day you go to a job you hate, but at least it's a job, right? You bust your ass, you do your absolute best, and no one notices, no one cares that you do more than the slackers you work with. You do it because its the right thing to do, but the only raise you ever get is when the minimum wage goes up. It starts. After work you go back to your shitty apartment. You hate it, you never want to take anyone there, you don't want anyone [...]

One of the main things that initially fueled the creation of this beast we've all come to know and love as The Ripple Effect, was Pope's and my obsessive penchant for digging through bargain bins, spelunking for lost treasures. To be fair, not every item unearthed was a gem. Or even a piece of fool's gold. We've turned up a few stinkers. But that's part of the fun. Spend a buck, take a chance, discover or jewel or use it as a skeet shooting target. "Pull!" I've been writing recently about some of [...]

“Phenomenal”, concluded one of thousands who were exalted enough to enjoy the triumphant return of the once and hopefully future kings of grunge/alternative metal/hard rock/Seattle swagger or whatever else sort of label you want to try to hurl at Soundgarden and see if it sticks. Truer word… So one might have expected Chris Cornell and company to string together a series of (too?) familiar radio-friendly hits like “Black Hole Sun” and “Spoonman” to please the across-the-generations masses? Errrr, not exactly. Try the likes of “Blind Dogs”, [...]

(L- R) - Alex “Shmalex” Dontre – Drums | Rob “Rawrb” Kersey – Vocals | Matty J “Moose” – Bass | Josh “The J” Key – Guitar The originators of humorcore, Psychostick who's latest single and music video ' Dogs Like Socks ' has hundreds of thousands of views within weeks of posting, are proud to announce additional dates for 'Our Tour Can Beat Up Your Tour' , which includes various dates with Polkadot Cadaver and [...]

Hello again. It is I, Horn. Nice to see you. Perhaps you'd like to come in...? Maybe you would like some Shom-pahn-yah? There, relax. Have a seat, and help yourself to some pigs in blankets whilst I regale you, Herman Melville-style, with my two tales of extreme doom. It comes in two forms, this doom. The first is Batillus and their newest, Concrete Sustain . Batillus are like Godflesh playing Sonic Youth, or Helmet covering the Pixies. There are very cool. I hated this at first; I was expecting [...]

I am fond of vanilla ice cream, however, it has to be real vanilla. No artificial flavoring. For me, a creamy vanilla with that yellow tint of real egg yolk, infused with pieces of real vanilla bean, is a thoroughly calming, satisfying, plain concoction. You can't make a steady diet out of it. So I only imbibe in the best I can find. I like adult oriented rock albums the same way I like vanilla ice cream. I can only listen to it occasionally but, when I do, I prefer music with substance [...]

Ok, cards on the table time, I love Five Horse Johnson…big time!!! I would like to meet Small Stone head honcho Scott Hamilton, shake his hand and buy him a beer, not least for the fact that his label is an almost constant yardstick for awesome rock and roll, but because he has given us seven, count ‘em, seven slabs of pure unadulterated blues rock joy in the form of this band’s back catalogue. So, with that in mind, I apologise in advance that this review will NOT be biased and impartial and you know what, it doesn’t need to [...]

This is one of my toughest reviews to date. When I first listened to this band, Gone by Daylight, I was immediately in love with the vocals and classic rock sound mixed with some common pop accessibility. I’m not usually into “track by track” reviews, but this album seems to warrant it. The whole album was a good listen. It was an intoxicating mix of catchy hooks and fun lyrics. This EP begins with an absolutely great song. The title track “Big Riff”. It’s an excellent choice and has tons of [...]

There are few artists you can single-handedly point to as being a trailblazers of a specific musical style. But when it comes to American heavy metal, Dust is one such band. Comprised of singer/guitarist/songwriter Richie Wise, bassist Kenny Aaronson, and drummer Marc Bell (with Kenny Kerner supplying lyrics and sharing songwriting and production duties), the band issued a pair of cult classic albums - 1971's self-titled debut and 1972's 'Hard Attack' - before splitting up. Both albums have been long out-of-print, but headbangers will now get a chance to discover the [...]