Tagged: newcd

Click Poster to Enter Candlelight Records today confirms March 12 as the North American release date for A Eulogy For the Fans-Orange Goblin Live 2012. The CD/DVD is the first proper live recording from ORANGE GOBLIN and will be released in tandem with the band’s first full stateside tour in over eight years. The special recording kicks off a planned year of non-stop touring and continues the success found in 2012 in which [...]

RIPPLE MUSIC is proud to announce the signing of acclaimed, hard-hitting American Doom rockers, DEVIL TO PAY to their ever-expanding roster! The band’s fourth, as of yet untitled, album is set for worldwide release on RIPPLE MUSIC in the coming months and the band will subsequently tour to knock the crowds out of their skulls, including appearances in all the major heavy rock/doom festivals. DEVIL TO PAY commented yesterday upon the new alliance; “We are stoked to be a part of the Ripple family and to work with one of the most genuine heavy rock [...]

Or: why the "change" pocket in cargo shorts is truly, genuinely great and useful: Said pocket holds an iPod nano nearly perfectly, which in turn holds the digital version of the above record, which in turn-- allows Radio Music Society to permeate me while I go about my normal day: washing dishes, vacuuming and whatnot... Radio Music Society is undeniably "pop" music (a term I'd normally consider an insult) at its very best (perhaps hence Esperanza's recent Grammy win): innovative music with clever, inspirational lyrics, while still melodically memorable: it's George Clinton-- if he [...]

What? New Malice? New songs? New takes on old songs as well? O.k. before you read more please be aware that I was a malice fan from way back. I have the famed cd, Metal Massacre which features a then almost unknown Metallica. I saw Vice Versa and went nuts during the Malice concert part. This album is chock full of reworked hits and some new songs. Most notable is “new breed of Godz.” This killer track sounds like a freight train smashing right out of the 80’s and into the modern world. I would argue [...]

I stood staring out the open door, watching the earth move 15,000 feet below me. I'd taken many a dive before, so I had no reason to be anxious, but as the wind belted my face, I couldn't help but think something terribly wrong was about to happen. Fastening the earbuds into my ears, I hit my iPod and the Pagan Folk Metal of Dutch band, Heidevolk, burst into my ears. It seemed like the perfect accompaniment to my jump. Swallowing my fear, I leaped from the plane, flinging myself into the vastness of the [...]

The first time I heard the phrase “Nine Pound Gun” was when I was partridge and pheasant hunting near the Madison River in Montana. As we practiced with 12 gauge shotguns on some skeet before heading out into the fields near the river, one of the guides pulled out an old Civil War-era Springfield rifle and quickly hit, reloaded and hit, two clays. The second guide, who had been tending to the dogs, yelled back at the group of us hootin’ and hollerin’ over the accomplishment and said “Hey, Eagle-Eye, showing off with your 9 lb gun?” [...]

As of the date of my submission, there's no downloadable content available from Sleep. Which means I have to stream it to hear it at all. It's not like the album's called Dopesmoker, or anything... that implies one would do well to listen to this one NOT chained via headphones to their computer.... Fine! I'll stream it! Anything to just hear it! Because I am a whore for Sleep! And Southern Lord in general! I even bought a freaking Sleep shirt for my wife, who doesn't even like metal! And she wears it! And [...]

This is one of the easiest reviews I'll ever get to write. Cortez is one of my favorite contemporary bands playing mid-tempo heavy rock. They have a new DOUBLE ALBUM on 180-gram vinyl with great cover art that's worthy of acrylic on denim. All the kick ass songs I've been hearing them blast out at shows the past 4 years are now documented and now I know what the songs are actually called. It's the full meal deal! Be warned, there isn't a parental advisory sticker on the cover but there are a lot of pottymouth lyrics. [...]

Tenacity and perseverance…two of the most essential personality traits to have as a rock musician in this day and age. As the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again. This is no more pertinent than when discussing a certain Jack Dickinson. In 2006 Jack put together the initial line-up for Stubb; a hard rocking stoner/psych/jamming three piece. Fronting the band and cranking his guitar, Stubb very quickly built up a strong live reputation in the UK scene but no sooner had the train started rolling when the wheels fell off and Jack found himself [...]

Alestorm's genre was listed as Scottish Pirate Metal. I am not kidding you. This is possibly the coolest, weirdest thing I have ever had the fortune to stumble upon. And the album cover of Back Through Time fits perfectly within the genre description. A bloodied skeleton warrior wielding a sword that's impaling a severed head, you really cannot get any cooler than that. Well, maybe add a bit more corpes and spookiness, but you get the idea. Back Through Time starts with the sound of wind whistling through sails while gutteral voices shout admidst cannon sounds. No, I'm [...]

There I was - an American in Barcelona in the late 1970’s. I paid for a small habitación off Las Ramblas. The city was, and is, a dizzyingly strange merger of cultures. The Romans conquered it and it is said to have been settled by the crew of one of the nine ships of Hercules and Jason and the Argonauts when they shipwrecked in search of the Golden Fleece. The City has been run by the Christians, overrun by the Visigoths, conquered by the Muslim Moors, and tended by the French. All that cultural [...]

Acephalix' last full-length, Interminable Night, was my no. 7 album of last year, so I was excited to hear this one. It's very similar to Black Breath's newest, in that there's a marriage of Entombed to New York City Hardcore-- the difference here is that Acephalix are much closer to Entombed than the NYHC-- they're boldly detuned, and overall slower than BB. "Tomb of Our Fathers" is the first standout, with its groovy, Asphyx-like riffing and completely unintelligible lyrics... "Raw Life" is a lurching, undead-Golem of a riff/song, and highlights one of the qualities of this [...]

Black Earth. Dwell on the words for a second. Imagine it. Inhale it. Feel it in your hands. Black. Rich. Pungent. Dirty. Fertile. Moist. Six words that best describe the uber talented shit kickin’ powerhouse three piece from Austin, Texas. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Black Earth. The essence of our existence is the earth itself. Where all good things come from. Under the sun. Holding the water. The earth. Black loam. The kind that gets under the nails [...]

Hailing from the Midwest, (I’ve seen that they are from Kansas and Kansas City, and there is a Kansas City, Kansas, so both could be right), we have Stonehaven. They’ve come through Seattle a couple of times in the past year but unfortunately I did not catch their live shows, but I will rectify that in short order the next time they come through town, because this is the good stuff. The Midwest is not known as a stronghold of black metal, but these guys certainly own what they do. This is as grim and frosty [...]

Mark my words. When future music historians look back at the the career of Swiss sci-fi-toned stoner, heavy rockers, Feuerzeug , they're gonna to look at the album Dead Wahines and Tsumanis as the crux point of their career. Feuerzeug (swiss for the lighter ) blew me away with their hyper-charged stoner debut Drive Fast and Crash which I likened to "a herd of a thousand brontosaurs rampaging in your living room." As best I can tell, the whole stoner community got right in line [...]

If you like faster Sabbath-rock that hails from the realm of Acid King and Sleep, then Dark Earth is something you'd dig. The demo is on The Book of Faces. Check out the link below. The first and self-titled track reminded me of Orange Goblin. Right on. 'Evil King' is a fast and driving slap-in-the-face of a track - kinda thrashy, even. And, to close a sweet demo, '42012' blasts off into the outer rims of the Riff Galaxy, leaving me to soar into head space. In true northern Cali fashion, [...]

Exceptional experimental musicians make me ecstatic. Every so often there comes a wave of really good music and an argument can be made the most recent occurrence came on January 31, 2012. Two of my favorite albums of the year, Gotye’s Making Mirrors and Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die, were released on the same day. You can argue its pure coincidence, but I think not. The old proverb “all good things come in threes” comes to mind when discussing this auspicious occurrence and Grimes latest album Visions, which was also released on January 31, 2012, proves my [...]

Folk music is just that - the music of common folk. The life of the vagabond, wanderer, hobo, itinerant farm worker, equipped with an old acoustic guitar, travelling the country, seeking temporary work, telling it like it is - that is the origin of folk music. It is simply about folks’ daily lives and concerns. It is the music of the downtrodden and has historically gained popularity during difficult times. Slavery and the Civil War brought folk to the forefront with popular tunes like Down By The Riverside and We Shall Overcome. It experienced [...]

So here's my thesis: Death/grind is the new thrash metal, updated from around 1985, to now: it's sophisticated in terms of musical structure, rapid key changes, and challenging melodic (riff) formations-- it's hard to play, yet blisteringly furious (i.e., aggressive and fast)... a great balance of savagery and technical ability: witness Danny Lilker's definition: technical and yet intense.... So, I got the advance copy and promptly burned into onto a blank CD and played it at jet-engine volume on my Tank-like If Outdated Speakers ©... because I know one thing, and I know it [...]

I went to a metal show last night and it just hit me how much I really love metal. I hadn’t been to a show for a while, as I’ve mostly been attending shows on the mellower side of the spectrum. It was in a sweaty little bar, on a Monday night, the bands were either locals or out of town with just enough resources to put a small tour together. There weren’t any big name bands, there were maybe 75 of my fellow metal heads there, but it was just awesome. I listen to a [...]