Ziltoid crash lands on Planet Earth once again with Z2!

18 November 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

A metal icon, a prog innovator, and now the progenitor of the modern rock opera?!?! It’s true! Devin Townsend adds another chit to his belt with the beyond epic Z2 double album. Yep, you read that right: Double. Album. Years in the making and finally fully realized thanks to fans who over-contributed to Townsend’s Casualties Of Cool campaign, Z2 is the epitome of all that has come over the last several years. There’s bits of the 4 album concept in here along with Epicloud and even hints of Casualties Of Cool. [Read more…]

Child Bite offer up some Strange Waste on latest EP

18 November 2014 By jesse 1 Comment

Their frontman looks like Neil Fallon but sounds like Jello Biafra, the band slams down some rawk and/or roll meets punk meets rockabilly, and their latest EP is 9 tracks long but barely clocks in at 20 minutes. They’re called Child Bite out of the great state of Michigan and if that opening statement wasn’t a dead giveaway, they’re here to blow your freaking minds. [Read more…]

The Ape Of God is better than anything your band will ever put out. Ever.

17 November 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that Old Man Gloom albums are somewhat of a cathartic, almost religious, experience. Despite the exercises in sonic extremes, OMG always litter their albums with a certain ambiance that tempers the brutality making the music they create collectively not only unlike anything heard in their respective “day jobs” (Isis, Cave In, Doomriders, Zozobra, Converge, etc.) but also unlike anything out in current heavy music today. Is it magic when these four gentlemen convene in a room together? If The Ape Of God is the sole evidence then the answer is decidedly “yes!” [Read more…]

“You never forget your first time…” (It’s our 1st anniversary! 11/6/14)

6 November 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

A year already? Almost 6,000 page views (Where you at Facebook and Twitter?!?!?) and 150 posts mostly done by my lonesome from a site born out of creative frustration based off the opening line from Streets Of Fire. I’d say that’s an accomplishment, wouldn’t you? In that time we’ve started some semi-regular columns (“Jokes!”, “Untitled Metal Column”, “What’s In A Name?”), reviewed quite a bunch of records and talked to some fantastic artists. [Read more…]

I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness choose darkness again on Dust

30 October 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

Surprise albums make for the best albums. You know which ones I’m talking about: Those ones that seemingly come out of nowhere from a band you really love who maybe hasn’t produced an album in, say, eight years or so?

Which brings me to I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness. [Read more…]

Black Map enter the heavy fray with …And We Explode

21 October 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

What do you get when you put the singer/guitarist from The Trophy Fire, the drummer from Far, and the bassist for dredg in a room to create some new music? Definitely not what you’d expect. On the debut album from Black Map, this trio blows away all expectations and takes listeners on a sonic journey that’s a little bit prog, a little bit hard rock, and a whole lotta heavy with a healthy dose of space rawk thrown in for good measure. [Read more…]

Untitled Metal Column: Volume 9.1 (Slipknot, .5: The Gray Chapter)

20 October 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

I’m not saying this is the greatest Slipknot album yet…but it kinda is. An album that should not be is now less than 24 hours from being released. Fueled by death and inner turmoil, .5: The Gray Chapter is a fury-filled fuck you to naysayers and a triumphant step forward for the nine.

It’s also a giant fuck you to fired founding member Joey Jordison who many believed was the driving force as far as songwriting was concerned. Just listen to “The Negative One”, Slipknot’s first tease from the album released back in August. Never mind the obvious jab in the song name (“One” was Jordison’s number) all you have to do is take one listen to any of the lyrics within: “I hope you live/To see the day/When your world comes up in flames/And as you die/You see my face/You’re the only one to blame”. And that’s just one refrain. Stylistically this “gift to the fans” showed off strong songwriting with a vicious track that captured the raw ferocity of Slipknot merged with modern technology. [Read more…]

Kele fully realizes electronica urges on Trick

20 October 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

Make no mistake, I love Bloc Party. I do. But there was always something about that band and certain aspects that didn’t gel. Especially in the latter days and the more electronic aspects when vocalist Kele Okereke seemed to push in a different direction. Then came his solo outings and songs like “Tenderoni” and “What Did I Do” and you could just tell: this is what he’s supposed to do. [Read more…]

Video View: Youth Code, “Consuming Guilt”

17 October 2014 By jesse Leave a Comment

At some point there must’ve been a timewarp that brought back early Skinny Puppy into the present day or at the very least, Youth Code is some alternate universe version of SP. Regardless of what higher power brought this Los Angeles duo to industrial’s doorstep just be thankful that they’re here. They’re vicious, they’re danceable, and they have a message. The lead single off their latest EP, A Place To Stand, “Consuming Guilt” has all of those parts and more. [Read more…]

KMFDM celebrate 30 years of the Ultra Heavy Beat on latest album Our Time Will Come

14 October 2014 By jesse 1 Comment

Thirty freaking years of the Ultra Heavy Beat. Think about this people. Thirty. Freaking. Years. Through numerous line up changes, band dissolutions, reformations, and finally coming up with a proper “band”, KMFDM have endured and celebrate such a momentous occasion the only way they can by not dwelling on the past but by instead looking to the future with a brand spankin’ new collection of Ultra Heavy Beats. [Read more…]