Tagged: newcd

A hidden gem lies within Grouplove, the latest LA band worth discovering. Like Black Kids and Local Natives before them, Grouplove emerged as the next big band from Los Angeles. Living in Southern California I'm frequently exposed to numerous new, exciting bands like indie rock band Grouplove. Ever since I first heard their single "Colours" off their self-titled EP Grouplove last year I instantly fell in love with them. Released by Canvasback Music and Atlantic Records last January, I knew it would be a matter of time before they debut their first album. Grouplove stands as my favorite [...]

Nephelium is a phenomenal band. They seamlessly blend new techniques with tried-and-true methods of classic death metal. Being labled as "Metal juggarnauts" suits Nephelium , the way they combine classic death metal growls with punishing guitars, and unmerciful drumming. Their newest album, Coils of Entropy harks back to classic death metal bands such as their influencers Death, and Suffocation . They're not just brutal, but slam your head against the wall fantastic. With vocals that often break down to animalistic roars and screeches, punching guitar riffs backed by some of the best double [...]

I would think the purpose of sending out a blanket blast of promos is to get someone's attention, get your album reviewed, and use that press to build up more excitement for your band. So Terrordome , mission accomplished! I received a 5 song blast from Polish thrashers Terrordome , and it hearkens back to the glory days of thrash. This is full-on, mash the accelerator and hold on for dear life music. It goes by in a blur, the average song length is only about 2 minutes, but they manage to pack [...]

My producer gives me a countdown inside my earpiece. "Three, two, one. We're live." "Greetings fellow waveriders. My name is Penfold. Thank you for joining me this evening. If you look back on my writings for The Ripple Effect you'll discover that I enjoy telling a humorous, entertaining yarn. It's true. I count humor as one of my greatest allies in the fight against musical disinterest. Tonight however, I'm here to discuss a very serious topic that affects us all. That's right. Not only does this issue affect [...]

Only one month into the year and I already have my #1 album of 2012. What's a heavy music fan to do? Enjoy it for the rest of my life, that's what. The first time I heard a riff-laden Iron Balls Of Steel, the full-length debut by LOINCLOTH, I was streaming it on the computer, and not too long after that the vinyl was spinning in my record player and the album cover was in my hands. That might have been the quickest music purchase I ever made. In fact, I know it was. I ordered the record [...]

Here's an interview conducted by fearless Ripple Scribe, Boogeyman, that originally ran on his own blog, Long Live Rock N Roll . Pop over there for more insights from the Boogs. Being called Rock's "Come Back Bands of the Year" by Metal Odyssey , and having a string of great reviews from the likes of The Metal Minute, Rocktopia , and The Soda Shop just to name a few, I've been given the great pleasure to interview Iron Claw 's guitarist and one of the band's original [...]

Two of the most beloved albums in the Styx catalog are 1977's The Grand Illusion and 1978's Pieces Of Eight . Now, Eagle Rock Entertainment will release Styx: The Grand Illusion/Pieces Of Eight Live on DVD, Blu-Ray, and DVD/2CD on January 31. This show was recorded November 9, 2010 at the historic Orpheum Theater in Memphis, Tennessee, on the tour that saw them perform both these albums in their entirety for the first time. This 20-song two-hour and 11-minute presentation features [...]

What with their (as of this writing) upcoming album Blood For the Master, I revisited Goatwhore's previous LP, Carving Out the Eyes of God, playing it on tank-like, if outdated, speakers at jet-engine volume. At its best, in other words. "Apocalyptic Havoc" the lead single (see below) opens with all out Venom/Celtic Frost 32nd notes updated for this year (which actually is a pretty good synopsis of the entire album), and contains the immortal line "Who needs a God, when you've got Satan?!" "The All-Destroying," next, is blastbeats then D-beats then flat-out downbeats, and [...]

Easy Action Records in the UK have released some pretty incredible live recordings of The Stooges, Iggy Pop, MC5 and Sonic's Rendezvous Band the past few years and now they bring us this monumental live Hawkwind document. Leave No Star Unturned captures them in January 1972 headlining a show that also featured performances by the Pink Fairies and Syd Barrett at a venue called the Cambridge Corn Exchange. Pretty cool line up. I can only imagine how fried everyone was but their lids must have really flipped once Hawkwind blasted into their intro song "Technicians Of [...]

Man, I love power metal. It's a sub-genre that really doesn't seem to go over too well here in America, and I don't know why. I've heard people say its cheesy, but really, like we don't have any other cheesy things here? Or sometimes I'll hear that it's too "over the top", but have you ever watched WWE or any of that shit? Power metal seems like it would be made for Americans, but most American metal fans just don't seem to get it. Europeans, though, absolutely lose their minds over this stuff. [...]

Regardless of where you live, if you walk the streets of your city/town/village with the sun up or the sun down you will inevitably find something interesting. It might be an interesting sight. It might be an interesting place. In my case it was an interesting person that I discovered while walking downtown one evening on a relatively normal street corner. Standing in front of a nondescript storefront was a man, short of stature, playing an electric guitar. There was a good sized amp set up behind him, with the power cord running through the [...]

Building upon a year that found Ripple Music garnering accolades across the board and album of the year releases by Grifter,Iron Claw, and Trucker Diablo, Ripple is about to invade the European festivals headlong and bring their hard-driving rock attack to the masses. Following their critically praised Ripple release, The Devil Rhythm, Trucker Diablo have their eyes set firmly on making an impact this year. Having already blown away those in attendance at 2011's Download Festival then playing sold out shows in UK/Ireland with Black Stone Cherry, the boys will be steaming the big truck headlong into Hammerfest [...]

Goosebumps cover my body every time I hear his voice. He is the only singer who has ever made me cry when I hear him sing. Arguably one of the greatest singers the world has ever known, very few fondly remember him today outside of certain music circles. I'm talking about Mario Lanza , one of the most talented tenors to ever live. Arturo Toscanini, one of the most acclaimed conductors of all time and best known as the music director of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, dubbed Mario Lanza the "Voice of the Century" and that's no understatement. [...]

Ah, eighties metal. Fun, fun stuff. Virgin Steele takes all that was good from the eighties metal pool and mixed it up to spit out a great record. They have screechy male vocals, indulgent guitar solos, and hard hitting songs. The styles fluctuate throughout the record, some sounding like Iron Maiden while the next song is thrashy like old school Metallica . In the first three seconds of the very first song on Virgin Steele's Age of Consent , I thought, "Wow." And not in a bad way, no [...]

Mini albums are certainly interesting. The more frequently I use the term, the further I enjoy saying "mini album." Lately albums are becoming more difficult to define, both in size and genre. Late Night Paraphernalia by Old Wives' Tale fits perfectly into that category. Don't be fooled by this sophomore album containing only six songs, this genre bending effort is filled with enough energy to entertain you for a long time. Consisting of Brazilian-born and Miami-bred brothers Felipe & Jaime Valencia, Old Wives' Tale is a music duo worth discovering. Their energetic "amphetamine" sound [...]

I love getting weird stuff in the mail. And these 2 CD's that Racer sent me from Alone Records are pretty damn weird. I'd never heard of the label before but they've been around for 10 years and are based out of Spain. Their catalog ranges from experimental/psychedelic to more traditional rock and metal. Definitely a discography I need to explore a bit more. Getting back to the weirdness. Former Can vocalist Damo Suzuki is an acquired taste. His performances on classic Can albums [...]

I walked into the weekly wrap-up meeting with my chin lowered and a defeatist attitude. My boss, I was absolutely certain, was going to publicly browbeat me over my recent lack of production. Who could blame him? It had been three whole weeks since I had turned in my last writing assignment. Every one of my coworkers had been able to continuously churn out articles and stories with what appeared to be little or no effort while I floundered fruitlessly around my uninspired mind. Sure enough the questions began right after I sat down in [...]

So this is that djent music that all the kids are talking about, huh? I have to admit, I like it better than I thought I would. I like Meshuggah, the band that this sub-genre is named for, but any time you get a bunch of instrumental music going on there is always the possibility of band members more concerned about showing off how many notes they can play in a minute instead of writing songs that actually have a beginning, middle and end, and you know, sound like songs. Or you get the sparkling, technical proficiency [...]

"Yeah...right," I remember muttering as I read their press kit. I may have giggled a little bit, too. Ronnie James Dio (rest in peace) was one of the greatest vocalists of all-time, in my opinion, so when Sweden's Astral Doors mentioned, "the sound's unmistakable kinship to Dio-fronted Rainbow and Dio/Martin-fronted Black Sabbath ," when describing their new album, I had more than a few doubts. Then I heard the 11 tracks of power-metal on Jerusalem and all those doubts disappeared. Poof. [...]

There are a lot of bands out there who only get one perfect album in their career. Thrice is not one of those bands. Like a fine wine , Thrice seems to get better with age. It seems they get better every album and constantly offering up something musically refreshing. They are not one to stick to the tried and tested formula of writing a "hit" record they just do it…and damn, they do it well. Their latest album, Major Minor is no exception to the rule that every Thrice album is a good [...]