What is hardcore music? At age soon-to-be-29, I think I’m finding out. I had pictured it involving a lot of visors, “junt-junts,” and guitar players squatting angrily while playing their riffs. But as it turns out – I think – it’s much more punk than I’d imagined. Judging from some random shows at the Heirloom,… Continue reading Your Teacher Listens to Hardcore? A Review of Empty Vessels’ Waves of Waves
Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera by Rex Brown & Mark Eglinton
I grabbed this book the second it hit the shelf because I wanted to know the story of Pantera from the perspective of its quietest member, former bass player Rex Brown. All I knew about Pantera were assumptions formed by a series of band interviews and tour videos from over the years. Official Truth, 101… Continue reading Official Truth, 101 Proof: The Inside Story of Pantera by Rex Brown & Mark Eglinton
Bair Grills… Rise and Fall by Continuum
In my opinion, a band is great when they can not only showcase their musicians’ skills, but do so in the confines of composing enjoyable songs. A lot of people can shred but what they write might be bland wankery. And a lot of people write great hooks but don’t blister faces with solos. With… Continue reading Bair Grills… Rise and Fall by Continuum
Review: Monks of Mellonwah’s Sky and the Dark Night
I’ve had the pleasant opportunity to review the new EP entitled Sky and the Dark Night from upcoming Australian progressive indie rock band Monks of Mellonwah. The EP is a single composition split up into three sections, which blend into each other so naturally that I’m almost puzzled as to why they would choose to… Continue reading Review: Monks of Mellonwah’s Sky and the Dark Night
Review: Heavy Breath’s Muddy Life
If you’re trying to get a girl to sleep with you for the first time, Heavy Breath’s Muddy Life is not the album to put on. But if you’ve got an Al Qaeda operative tied up in your basement and you need to find out where the bomb is RIGHT NOW – or if the… Continue reading Review: Heavy Breath’s Muddy Life
Kayotik’s Born Through Brutality
Brutality is a concept oft-discussed in death metal circles. A band releases a new slab of tunes and writers and fans alike immediately hold it up to some hypothetical scale to see if it measures up. Local death/grind merchants Kayotik not only embrace this challenge but laid down the gauntlet in the very name of… Continue reading Kayotik’s Born Through Brutality
Sound, Blood, and Lineup: A Review of Howl’s Bloodlines
Bloodlines, Howl’s second full-length album, is due to be released by Relapse Records April 30th. Fans of the Rhode Island doom metal band will find this work to be just as powerful as Full of Hell, but with some marked differences. The first distinction is that Bloodlines is a lot less sludgy. If Full of… Continue reading Sound, Blood, and Lineup: A Review of Howl’s Bloodlines