I don’t why I thought it’d be a good idea to do both an end of the year list and preview list reflecting the year they’re happening in….but here we are. Our list of twenty one albums and change has already posted (Which you can read here) so now it’s time to close the book on 2021 and look to the future with 22 albums we think will make this year sound even better than the last…and change.
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I tend to avoid reviews of any sort upon a release date passing because who needs my opinion when you can make one yourself with the materials literally in the palm of your hand in most cases. However, in some cases like with this post, a track or body of music just yearns to be augmented a little more amongst the vast amount of music being perpetually amplified into your earholes. Like the latest from Combichrist which, I think, is one of the best pieces of modern Electro that the Aggrotech titans have been associated with in probably a decade or so.
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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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Night Club is one of those bands that I felt I just missed the bus with. I received a press release for their most recent single in advance of some live dates with Combichrist and I’ll admit, I was intrigued. But I just missed the mark with coverage save for a few advance notices on our Facebook page and a rave or two after the fact.
Lucky me, and you, because Night Club ain’t done with us yet as a new album is almost here and offers us a chance to redeem ourselves and regale you readers with why you should really pay attention this time.
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One quick perusal through the comments section on Facebook after the announcement and a sampler were posted for This Is Where Death Begins, Combichrist’s 8th album, and it’s pretty obvious that the Combi camp falls into two very passionate categories: [Read more…]
If you’re like me, you’ve waited for this for a long time. You followed the teases, the slow reveals, heard the snippets, ordered the shirts…everything! Well now my friends, the wait is finally over. But after all the hype, all the teases, all the build up…is Primitive Race, the album, ultimately worth the wait? If you’re into fan-fucking-tatsic electronic/industrial music then the answer is a definitive and resounding “Yes!!!!” [Read more…]
Silent So Long, the second album from Emigrate, is akin to Soulfly’s sophomore outing in that it’s chock filled with high-profile guests that could easily overpower the band underneath. Luckily the strength of Richard Z. Kruspe’s songwriting and track sequencing skills insures that on this album, Emigrate always shines through. [Read more…]
Editor’s note: Running a blog by yourself can be hard. Especially coming up with new content to compete with every other Tom, Dick, & Jane out there. Sometimes you can’t cover everything you want and in some cases, by the time you get around to covering something you really, really want to time and relevancy pass you by.
This was the case with a write-up I started on Combichrist’s Boston stop of the “We Love You” tour in April of this year. Life just got in the way. I covered the album release in advance along with “From My Cold Dead Hands” before that but by the time I got to finishing this piece, the first leg of the tour was just about done and I felt the late show review was irrelevant.
But I digress.
Yesterday Combichrist announced the second North American leg of the “We Love You” tour (No MA date. Obviously because I didn’t post my piece!) with openers Blood On The Dance Floor as direct support. If you know the history of the allegations about this band and its front “person” then you can imagine the uproar it caused from longtime supporters of Combichrist. In a bold move and a rare show of integrity in this day and age, Combichrist listened to you and subsequently released this statement on Facebook.
I was a fan of the band before but a move like this guarantees I’ll be a fan for life along with countless others already in their legion. As a “thanks”, I felt it was appropriate to share what fans will bear witness to this fall with my account of the show back in April. If you thought Combichrist showed balls yesterday, just wait ’til you see them live:
“For a band that makes hyper aggressive industrial music like Combichrist, the band were anything but on Tuesday evening at Boston’s Paradise Rock Club. They were quite the opposite, actually, as smiles were shining from ear to ear despite chants of “Hate! Dishonor! Love Destroy!” Combichrist having fun as a band? How very un-industrial! Appearances by Unearth’s Ken Susi during “Follow The Trail Of Blood” and Nick from support act New Year’s Day (who got “hazed” during encore “What The Fuck Is Wrong With You?”) only added to the fun vibe. Joe Letz proved to be a real monster behind the kit bringing to mind the Ginger Fish poundings on Antichrist Superstar but less mechanical, more maniacal. Andy LaPlegua is the definitive front man commanding the audience from the second his masked lit up face makes an appearance during “We Were Made To Love You”. And who doesn’t love a good reprise? That’s right, kiddies, Combichrist brought it back to the beginning as a chant of “Hate! Dishonor! Love! Destroy!” reared its’ ugly little industrial head at the tail end of closer “Sent To Destroy”.”
All in all, a show not to be missed and one which I can only imagine will be ten times greater when they return stateside this fall.
Catch Combichrist on the second Blood On The Dance Floor-less leg of The “We Love You” tour here, We Love You is, of course, is out now through Metropolis Records.
Now die.
The most aggressive band in industrial music today is back with We Love You, an album that throws everything AND the kitchen sink into the mix. If you liked the guitar-heavy hyper-intensity of last year’s No Redemption soundtrack yet yearned for the more club friendly numbers then We Love You is the solution to all your problems.
It’s like the Daleks are narrating the Doctor Who meets Flash Gordon synth overtones of “We Were Made To Love You” which opens the apocalyptical album. “We Were Made To Love You” is the logical comedown after last year’s abrasive No Redemption album featuring a disjointed swirl of electronics and guitars after the narration ends and the sonic shitstorm begins.
From there it sounds like business as usual (The KMFDM electro romp “Every Day is War”, chaotic thumper “Can’t Control”) but if there’s one thing that listeners should take away from WLY, it is this: Nothing is as it seems. Like the press release states: “Everything is farther, faster, and darker. There are more guitars, pounding drums, heavier electronics, further experimentation, lots more anger…” This means for every “Satan’s Propaganda” there’s a song like “Fuck Unicorns” (Think Daft Punk with some seriously dark undertones and frontman Andy LaPlegua acting as a demented ringleader/televangelist) or the acoustic-driven, pensive “The Evil In Me” waiting in the wings to expand their sound even further.
We Love You also features some of the most straight up rawk tunes Combichrist has ever laid down as well as being the most sing-a-long album to date. “Maggots At The Party” is up first (Followed by “Love Is A Razorblade” later on) and is a straight banger. You can almost picture the Beastie Boys “You Gotta Fight…” meets Lamb Of God’s “Redneck”-style video that should accompany the song with drummer Joe Letz just wailing away at the kit while LaPlegua forces his way through some cluttered crowd at a house party,
The tail end of WLY is where the magic really happens, though. “From My Cold Dead Hands” is a blessing. Easily one of the best industrial songs of the year, the effects-laden robot trading verses with LaPlegua’s monstrous growl is serene. That leads into the equally impressive “We Rule The World Motherfuckers” (Sure to be a hit on the goth dance floor and during their upcoming tour) which is another example of the genius of Combichrist at work. Speaking of genius, that word doesn’t even come close to describing the majestic two part closer “Retreat Hell” with “Part 1” being this monstrous tribal wall of sound and “Part 2” supplementing it with a long running rant by LaPlegua to make the perfect coda to a perfect album.
We Love You is available on March 25th through Metropolis Records. Physical and digital copies are available here and make sure you head on over to their Facebook page to see where you can catch them on their upcoming North American tour with William Control and New Year’s Day.
If I follow this thought process, 2025 is going to be a very long post. Anywho, there’s some new music coming out in 2014 that I really think you should pay attention to. Here goes nothing (No particular order, by the way):
1. He Is Legend (Untitled/TBC)
What kind of a band releases the most amazing album of their career and then disbands? He Is Legend, that’s who! But never fear, HIL is back and has been diligently working away on the follow up to 2009’s It Hates You between bouts of touring which should see the light of day this year. Will it live up to its predecessor? With a new song teased to be dropping imminently, we’ll soon have our answer.
2. Tom Vek (Untitled/TBC)
Um, have you heard Leisure Seizure? If you have then you’ll know why I’m so excited for the third full-length from Tom Vek. The progenitor of Brit-hop makes music in fits and spurts but when it’s finally released it is so worth the wait.
3. Breton: (War Room Stories/February 3)
First single “Envy” has been on a steady rotation in RNRF offices since it was released late last year so the full-length that includes this masterpiece is easily high up there on our most wanted of 2014 list. I can safely tell you, though, that the whole of War Room Stories is brilliant as well. Watch this space for a review soon.
4. Prong (Untitled/TBC)
There is a lot of metal that we’re looking forward to in the new year and Prong is always a proven force of brutality. Their last, Carved Into Stone, managed to capture the entirety of Prong’s illustrious catalog on a single album. Will the follow up be more of the same or a step beyond? Here’s hoping it’s the latter.
5. Maximo Park (Too Much Information/February 3)
“Brain Cells” is the only song you need to hear in 2014 to prove that Maximo Park is not fucking around. Barely a year and a half after the phenomenal A National Health, Too Much Information sounds like an instant classic from the two or three songs released so far.
6. Reverend & The Makers (Thirty Two/February 24)
No song hit me like “Bassline” and the Youth-produced (He, of the mighty Killing Joke who might releasing a new rekkid in 2014) @reverend_makers album in 2012. Friends of Alex Turner who sound like an electrified Happy Mondays, Rev & co. is back with another one that’s sure to rule and first single “Your Girl” is the proof.
7. Nate Newton/Max Cavalera goodness (TBC/Throughout 2014)
Let’s see, there’s the just announced new Cavalera Conspiracy album which will have local boy Nate Newton on bass duties, the Max Cavalera, Greg Puciato, Troy Sanders Killer Be Killed supergroup, oh, and a little band called OLD MAN GLOOM featuring Newton, Aaron Turner, Caleb Scofield, and Santos Montano all with albums out this year. Three for one. You’re welcome.
8. Dog Fashion Disco (Untitled/Spring)
Another band that soon disbanded after releasing what was probably the best of their career up to that point, Maryland’s Dog Fashion Disco is back and at it again with their first new record since 2006’s Adultery. Recording begins later this month. Adultery was, hands down, the band’s best which means the follow up can only be better.
9, Primitive Race (Untitled/TBC)
The only industrial album you need to seek out in 2014! The brainchild of Chris Kniker, this veritable supergroup features Raymond Watts (New PIG in 2014 please?), Burton Bell, Chris Vrenna (In some capacity although he’s since left the group/recording project), Graham Crabb of Pop Will Eat Itself, Luc Van Acker, Kourtney Klein…the list goes on. There’s an EP on the way along with, hopefully, a full-length. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook for the latest additions and news.
10. Nachtmystium (The World We Left Behind/ Spring 2014)
The final Nachtmystium album! Blake Judd is sure to go out with a scream and not a whimper when he puts the final nail in the coffin of his black metal/prog band. “Voyager” was released towards the end of 2013 and gives a little taste of the upcoming long player which sounds more like the experimental Assassins: Black Meddle , Part 1 than 2012’s Silencing Machine.
11. Marriages (Untitled/TBC)
Emma Ruth Rundle and the boys are back with another slab of female-fronted Isis-like shoegaze post rock. It’ll be epic and you should buy it.
12. Crowbar (Untitled/TBC)
Kirk Windsrein left Down to focus on Crowbar so you know he means business especially when it comes to their 25th anniversary. 2011’s Sever The Wicked Hand was a refreshing return to form melding the New Orleans sludge of ’93’s Crowbar with the sonic brilliance of Odd Fellows Rest so frankly, the sky’s the limit for this one.
13. Combichrist: (We Love You/March 25)
Aggro-industrial at its best, Combichrist is destined to deliver a wallop on their latest if first single “From My Cold Dead Hands” is even an inkling of an indicator of where the rest of We Love You is headed.
14. Eagulls (Eagulls/March 4)
This is kind of cheating because I have this one but if you’ve heard “Nerve Endings” or “Tough Luck” already then you know that this post-punk outfit means business. The rest of Eagulls is no joke. You’ve been warned.
Also worth your time in 2014 are new albums from: Guster, White Noise Owl, Mastodon, Hank & Cupcakes, Slipknot, Fear Factory, Godflesh, and Bells Into Machines featuring Paul Barker and Chris Connelly