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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Executioner’s Mask Ready Aptly Titled Anti-Summer Soundtrack With Despair Anthems

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If you need something to keep you cool through what is sure to be one helluva hot ass summer, then check out the ice cold temperatures exuding from the sounds of Executioner’s Mask and their new full-length, Despair Anthems. Or as the band tells it, they’re “like drinking an ice cold zima on a hot summer day” which is a fairly accurate descriptor as well.

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Fotocrime Find Their Footing On Modern Post-Punk Classic South of Heaven

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When I initially sat down to type up the review to Fotocrime’s sophomore record, South of Heaven, I was wearing my most favorite tee which happens to be a Coliseum one and I had plans to loosely compare it to Slayer’s album of the same name and the similar moods within each. But after listening through several times, former Coliseum mouthpiece/guitarist Ryan Patterson deserves to be seen in his own light on an album that defies the mold and finds Patterson’s true voice.

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Lord Mantis Begin A New Religion On Devilishly Delightful Sonic Soliloquy Universal Death Church

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Grimy and grungy with Black Metal tendencies and an undeniable penchant for gettin’ it done in the overall loudness department, the fourth barnstormer from Lord Mantis easily stands out as one of the heavier highlights of 2019 and a sure contender for our best of year end list.

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Soft Kill Ready Emotionally Heavy, Sonically Vibrant Savior For Release

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The first half of 2018 is filling up with more favorites than I can keep track of. Like Soft Kill who I came across thanks to Decibel, the only magazine I still read, simply because they shared the same review space as Fotocrime (We’ll mention that band again a little later) for coverage of their latest magnum opus Savior. [Read more…]

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

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omg

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…]