rock and roll fables

music, comics, and media in a rock'n' roll world

The Shirts And Shoes Deliver A Righteous Riot To Yer Earholes With Sinner Swing

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Well, hot dang! The Shirts And Shoes are not effing around on Sinner Swing, their latest offering, which comes out of the gates, ahem, swinging big with eight seemingly unsuspecting songs that, when combined, create a sure contender for “Best Rawk Album of 2021”. A veritable treasure trove of tumultuous tracks, Sinner Swing evokes feelings so intense that they’re practically palpable so strap in and get comfortable because The Shirts And Shoes has returned and it’s sure to be a bumpy ride!

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Lehnen Drives New Post-Goth Alternative Movement With Effervescent Negative Space

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Combining Space Rawk with elements of Prog as well as Goth and Post-everything tendencies, Lehnen create entire universes within each of the ten tracks presented here on their fourth full-length Negative Space. With their latest opus, words like expansive and epic can barely contain the scope that Lehnen bring to the world of music on an album that’s powerful, poignant, and potentially your next favorite of 2021.

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The Troops Of Doom Expand The Story Of Brazilian Thrash With Bombastic New Chapters On The Absence Of Light

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The Absence Of Light, the latest release from Brazil’s The Troops Of Doom, is a clear-cut and concise collection of cranium splitting Metal that’s not to be missed this year. Born from the creativity and drive of original Sepultura guitarist Jairo “Tormentor” Guedz, The Troops Of Doom takes that Brazilian Thrash that Guedz help engineer and combines it with an aesthetic much like Slayer’s base DNA to make something that’s leaner, meaner, and undeniably heavy.

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Alien Weaponry Usher In A New Global Heaviness With Tangaroa

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Less doubling down on the Sepultura/Gojira aspect of Alien Weaponry’s brand of World Metal, Tangaroa is intent to carve its’ own path by creating a defining moment for the young New Zealand trio and solidify their status as one of the brightest stars in the current heavy music scene.

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Bikini Death Race Transcend Eras And Genres On Eclectic Electro-Centric Refrigerator

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The RIYL section of the press release for Refrigerator from Bikini Death Race mentions Ladytron, Le Tigre, Kap Bambin and Light Aslyum but if you want the whole sonic portrait then you’ve GOT to add The Network, Devo, Wall Of Voodoo, and Shiny Toy Guns in there as well. Does that sound like a lot? Well, it is! But it all works. Especially considering that, despite all those comparisons, Bikini Death Race sound like Bikini Death Race.

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Stone Deaf Enthrall And Excite With Modern Day Desert Rawk Masterpiece Killers

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No other artist out in the wild is making music quite like Queens Of The Stone Age right now. Hell, QOTSA themselves has seemingly graduated to a whole new playing field of musical excellence themselves leaving this gaping hole for a new king or, ahem, queen to step up and lead the sub-genre. Which brings us to today and Colorado’s Stone Deaf who are looking to fill that void left by the California legends with their own brand of Desert Rawk on their third full-length, Killers.

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The Night Flight Orchestra Is A Band Out Of Time On Classic ’70’s And ’80’s-Fueled Rawker Aeromantic II

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Sure there will be the inevitable Toto, Night Ranger, and 38 Special references but diving into Aeromantic II is much more akin to experiencing Genesis’ earlier days with Phil Collins behind the mic (“Domino” Prog stuff especially…or Peter Gabriel’s earlier solo works if we’re on that Genesis line). Regardless of comparisons, with Aeromantic II The Night Flight Orchestra truly orchestrate a record that sounds like nothing being done in the modern music scene. It’s lovely and lively, electric, eccentric, and eclectic!

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Carcass Cement Legacy As Extreme Metal Leaders With Torn Arteries

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My relationship with Carcass is pretty casual meaning I know the Metal maestros but my courtship didn’t actually begin until 2016 after I saw them slay live ahead of, ahem, Slayer. And then followed the inevitable deep dive into their catalog and a new found appreciation for the legendary UK outfit. Cut to today with the legends following up their successful 2013 return (After a 17 year gap in releases) with Torn Arteries, a defining record that cements Carcass’ reign as one of the leaders of Extreme Metal.

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Low Flying Hawks Make A Doom-Filled Desert Rawk Classic With Fuyu

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Artists like Low Flying Hawks, who cause a deep dive in a genre that’s overflowing with hidden gems, is a gem unto itself. In this case, not only did we jump back into LFH’s wealth of releases since 2016 but also poured over greats from Kyuss and recent outings from KIND to really feel the feels of this latest Desert Rawk masterpiece. Which it is because just knowing what came before will in no way prepare you with what’s to come on Fuyu.

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Fotocrime Embrace The Dark On Noir-Filled Post-Punk Odyssey Heart Of Crime

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There’s a certain grace period when it comes to new bands from established vocalists where both fans and the artist are sort of dipping their toes in the water because regardless of the overall sound of a thing, when it comes to vocalists, any new offering is inevitably going to get compared to that other thing. The writing was on the wall with Coliseum’s final evolution and eventual demise following the groundbreaking release of Anxiety’s Kiss in 2015 but that progression didn’t end there for singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Ryan Patterson who returned two years later with Fotocrime which took the foundation of that last Coliseum record and explored some exciting new places.

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