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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Armored Saint Celebrate Four Decades, Still Absolutely Crush On Punching The Sky

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Confession time: John Bush was my gateway drug into the world of Anthrax. My musical awakening hit around the mid-’90’s where the Big Four was at a crossroads and, in the case of NYC’s resident Thrash titans, going through a major personnel overhaul as well as a musical one. As I got older I appreciated the old stuff but Bush will always be my guy and underrated albums like Volume 8: The Threat Is Real still stand the test of time and remain in my regular rotation to this day.

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Cattle Decapitation Deliver Devilishly Delightful Black Friday Treat With Death Atlas

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Death Atlas, the latest slab of metallic mayhem from Cattle Decapitation is a revelation. As a non-fan, I respected the musicianship and the intense intricacies with what they did but never found myself really getting into them. Before now, that is.

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Sacred Reich Return And Teach The Kiddies How It’s Done On Thrash-tastic Awakening

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Who’dve thunk that in the year 2019 we’d be drooling for the release of Sacred Reich’s first new recorded outing in nearly 23 years? But here we are. Drooling. For a record that is DEFINITELY worth the 23 year gap between full-lengths.

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Killswitch Engage Roar Back With Career Defining Atonement

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Backed by a new label (Metal Blade!) and a seemingly renewed fire ignited under their collective asses, MA metallers Killswitch Engage return with Atonement, an album that might just be the best of their career and easily one that stands as their best effort since the seminal Alive Or Just Breathing record.

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Behemoth Rocks On Decidedly More Metal I Loved You at Your Darkest

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It’s beautifully serene at times. Terrifyingly brutal at others. Add an ominous air overall and you have the recipe for the most exhilarating Behemoth record yet! I Loved You at Your Darkest is also Behemoth’s most diverse collection of songs and easily the most accessible slab of Black Metal for wary fans of the genre or folks looking to find that perfect entry into the world of Behemoth. [Read more…]

LIK Carry The Swedish Metal Torch Proudly On Sophomore Carnage

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Swedish death metal is alive and well and the month of May certainly proves that with new releases from the legendary At The Gates (Watch for our review of that soon) along with our focus today which is LIK’s sophomore offering, Carnage, out on May 4th through Metal Blade Records. [Read more…]

Behemoth Release Relentless Messe Noire: Live Satanist Just In Time For Upcoming Shows With Slayer

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I know shit about Behemoth, okay? I know of them. I have friends who dig them and know I’ll be witnessing them live for the first time when I see Slayer for the last time this summer. And honestly, I feel like going in blind is a great way to experience an unknown-ish band (To me, we’ve established) for the most part. But then Messe Noire: Live Satanist came across my desk and I decided to throw caution to the wind and just dig in. [Read more…]

Gozu Show The Kids How To Properly Worship (And Craft) The Almighty Riff On Equilibrium

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Gozu albums have always been these epic events of expertly executed exercises in the worship of the almighty riff but on Equilibrium, these Boston rawkers set the bar pretty GD high for any hard/heavy band out there who dare to try and match this in 2018. If this one doesn’t propel them to the rawk stratosphere then humanity might truly be lost. [Read more…]

Motor Sister (AKA Mother Superior Take Two) Deliver Ride

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What do you get when you put the guitarist from Anthrax, the bassist from Armored Saint, and the drummer of The Cult in a room with singer Pearl Aday and the former singer of Mother Superior? Simple: So. Much. Rockin’ out! Like a bluesy/more soulful version of Scott Ian’s The Damned Things, Motor Sister is a new band giving a new spin to some overlooked classics. [Read more…]