rock and roll fables

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

20 for ’20: An Exhausting List Of Our Favorite Music That Got Us Through A Truly Exhausting Year

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It’s an understatement that 2020 was a pretty fucked up year, right? Machine Head was the last live band I saw back in February and a few days after that I found myself in an emergency room with some unexpected surgery to be had (Don’t worry, I’m fine now!) followed by the shutdown across the country. There’ve been ups, downs, and everything in between in 2020 but one constant has been the music. Artists have adapted with some keeping those schedules and releasing new albums despite not being able to tour behind them while others are holding off altogether. Some have done well with the new norm of livestreamed concerts and while I’ve checked out a few, personally they’re just not my cuppa.

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Ascension Of The Watchers Return With Gothic Post-Rock Epic Apocrypha

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With the recent announcement that Burton C. Bell is stepping away from Fear Factory to focus on Ascension Of The Watchers, Apocrypha might just be the most important record of Bell’s career. And upon listening through AOTW’s first full-length since 2008’s Numinosum it’s apparent that, regardless of that news, Apocrypha is destined to be something important.

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Combichrist Fire Back At Haters With Viciously Solid One Fire

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Fans of all iterations of aggro tech metallers Combichrist will surely find something to appease their blackened hearts within One Fire‘s diverse walls. And if you can’t then frankly, this isn’t the band for you anymore.

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Pissed Off Uncle Al Really Is The Bee’s Knees As Evidenced On Politically-Charged/45-Bashing AmeriKKKant

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This is one of those after the fact records that stuck with me enough to have thoughts. Especially because I feel the need to defend it against haters. [Read more…]

Burton C. Bell: A Rock And Roll Fables Conversation

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Fear Factory’s latest, and ninth album, is barely a year old yet here they are touring the country playing their iconic sophomore album from front to back. Despite the obvious reasons (Um, 20th anniversary of Demanufacture!), the answer for the current tour is actually quite simple as vocalist Burton C. Bell cordially explains via phone: [Read more…]

Fear Factory Bring It Back To 1995 While Still Looking To The Future During Worcester Stop Of Demanufacture 20th Anniversary Tour

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My first exposure to industrial metallers Fear Factory was back in college and the Mortal Kombat soundtrack which featured “Zero Signal” off a little album called Demanufacture. Something about the synths and the syncopated guitar and drum attacks paired with vocalist Burton C. Bell’s growl to a croon approach immediately stood out to me. And as a fan of bands like Ministry and NIN already, this took me to a new level. [Read more…]