.jpg "The Gorgon")
Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat – “Weltuntergangsstimmung” (2012)
By Runesmith | May 7, 2012
A name like Kiss The Anus Of A Black Cat splints together everything the European goth scene is known for – shock, crassness, tacky references to 17th century France demonic rituals – in a bizarrely compelling way.
Unfortunately, Weltuntergangsstimmung isn’t nearly as memorable as the name of the Belgian band who created it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 2010s, Album / Record Reviews, Dark Wave, Gothic Rock, New Wave, Post-Punk, Various (Non-Rock) Genres | No Comments »
Life of Agony – “River Runs Red” (1993)
By Runesmith | March 29, 2012
I almost couldn’t listen to Life of Agony’s “River Runs Red” all the way through the first time. The emotions it brings to the surface are overwhelming, and if I wasn’t lucky, I would’ve ended up with a red eye and a score of existential questions chipping away at my brain before the last note released its grip.
Life of Agony is thinking man’s metal, but not in the way science fiction-minded groups like Voivod and Blue Öyster Cult are. Dropping all intellectual pretenses, Life of Agony is hard-hitting and relatable, streetwise and urbane. Though skilled musicians – enter guitarist Joey Z., who’s buzzsaw riffs hit the listener like brass knuckles to the jaw, NYC style – the band is less concerned with overt display than simply getting their messages across. The way it should always be.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 1990s, Album / Record Reviews, Alternative Metal, Groove Metal, Hard Alternative, Hard Rock, Hardcore Punk, Numetal | 2 Comments »
Xenomorph – “Demagoguery of the Obscurants” (2007)
By Runesmith | March 29, 2012
Give Fox Mulder a pair of PVC pants, a laptop, a windowless bedroom, drop D guitars that can only play power chords, and unlimited access to sound bites from cult films and obscure political speeches and “Demagoguery of the Obscurants” is the album he’d create in a single night of sleeplessness.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 2000s, Album / Record Reviews, Ambient, Dark Wave, Industrial Metal, Various (Non-Rock) Genres | No Comments »
Sisters of Mercy – “Vision Thing” (1990)
By Runesmith | March 15, 2012
A disillusioned goth icon waxes politics on 1990′s “Vision Thing” – or at least he tries to.
Between the ham-fisted references to the Kennedy assassination in the title track and f-bombs that sound even more forced and disposable than the famously censored verses in Radiohead’s “Creep,” lyrical variety is not Eldritch’s strength, even though he obviously strains himself verbally. Lyrics like “you bought a mask, I put it on, you never thought to ask if I wear it when you’re gone” in the arena-made “When You Don’t See Me” fall apart on close inspection. His lyrics are literally a shallow grave: edgy to pick through or stare at as a youth, but not much else. Eldritch writes less for meaning and more for sound, though it isn’t intended: he seems genuinely convinced of his profoundness. Trying too hard, whether in his lyrics or his incredibly limited voice, is Eldritch’s biggest weakness, and it’s especially apparent whenever he attempts to raise his vocals above the commanding bass he’s known for.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 1990s, Album / Record Reviews, Folk Rock, Gothic Rock, Industrial Rock | No Comments »
Adrenaline Mob – Omerta (2012)
By killer_roach | March 14, 2012
When former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy left the band that he helped found, he referred to his departure in terms of divorcing a spouse and leaving a family. If that is the case, “Omerta”, the debut LP from his side project Adrenaline Mob (co-founded with Russell Allen and Mike Orlando), could be classified as his musical midlife crisis, an ostentatious statement of musical defiance and rebellion that seems as gaudy and impulsive as selling the old Hyundai and buying a classic hot rod.
Topics: 2010s, Alternative Metal, Groove Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Numetal | 1 Comment »
Bone Orchard – “Jack” (1984)
By Runesmith | March 14, 2012
“
Bone Orchard’s “Jack” is the soundtrack to a grand guignol musical directed by Arnold Shoenberg, the composer notorious for severe, atonal pieces like the Pierott Lunaire – and the confusion that usually resulted from listening to chaos.
1984′s “Jack” is experimental music brought to its most dramatic knees, doubled over by lead singer Chrissie McGee’s deadpan harpy cries and her band mates’ anti-virtuosic playing. Her band, consisting of a bassist, a guitarist, and a tom-loving drummer, play like seasoned cabaret musicians would approach playing in a jazz band. Beyond adding Joy Division jaggedness to the guitar playing and some extra distortion, none of the instrumentation would be out of place on a more adventurous jazz fusion record, making Bone Orchard unclassifiable even in the 80s underground.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 1980s, Album / Record Reviews, Art Rock, Gothic Rock, Jazz Fusion, Post-Punk | No Comments »
Hospitality – Hospitality (2012)
By Runesmith | February 29, 2012
If I was a Pitchfork reviewer half of my post would be ad hominem snark against Hospitality’s name and cover art, but since I am not writing for them, tonight’s review will actually be about music.
On the Brooklyn-based trio’s first full length album, Hospitality create a sound as warm as their name suggests, although I’m still scratching my head at why they chose that album cover. I could only guess irony or some inside joke on the band’s part was the intended effect. Luckily, Hospitality’s sound is far more gripping than their art suggests.
Hospitality’s most distinctive feature is vocalist Amber Papini. Papini’s a dynamic frontwoman, especially by indie-pop standards, where vocal talent usually hinges upon character or attitude rather than any traditional measure of ability. That’s not to say Papini doesn’t have character or attitude: she certainly does, but her combination of actual vocal chops and attitude is unique for the genre. Whether coquettishly poking fun at the privileged elite amid swooping basslines in “Liberal Arts” or crooning with an orchestra of saxophones in album closer “All Day Today” and stand-out single “Friends of Friends,” Papini balances skill with creative application of her voice throughout the album.
Topics: 2010s, Alternative Rock, College Rock, Indie Pop, Indie Rock, Pop Rock | 2 Comments »
Tiger Trap – Tiger Trap (1993)
By Runesmith | January 26, 2012
Frowning is impossible while listening to twee, the jangly, often punk-speed branch of indie-pop, until you process the lyrics.
As one of the progenitors of twee, the “jauntily dance while you cry” maxim of the genre seems like it was created solely for Tiger Trap and their self-titled album, the band’s only full-length record. Released in 1993, “Tiger Trap,” to put it blithely, bares signs of aging and a tight or non-existent budget right down to it’s vague and amateurishly-cliche album cover.
Topics: 1990s, Album / Record Reviews, Indie Pop, Pop Rock | No Comments »
Random Album Reviews: Hawkwind- Choose Your Masques
By Avaitor | August 13, 2011
Hawkwind is one of the big names in space rock and prog in general, but they have such a wide, divisive history that it’s hard to go through their discography and pick and choose favorite eras, unless you’re very dedicated.
Topics: 1980s, Progressive Rock, Space Rock | 2 Comments »
Random Album Reviews: Atheist- Elements (1993)
By Avaitor | August 11, 2011
So I realized that I’m not exactly pulling my weight on this blog, and I want to change that. I see the rest of the guys handle new reviews better than me, so instead of tackling new stuff, I’ll come out every once in a blue moon to look over a release from an artist I’m familiar with, be it a favorite or less-liked one. First, I’m going to try this out with one act I’ve always looked up to. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 1990s, Album / Record Reviews, Death Metal, Jazz Fusion | 1 Comment »
Concrete Blonde – Bloodletting (1991)
By Runesmith | August 8, 2011
If Stevie Ray Vaughan ditched the cowboy hat for guyliner and formed a band with Heart’s Wilson sisters you’d have Concrete Blonde, the darkest, most Anne Rice-obsessed trio to come out of the 1980s college rock circuit. Concrete Blonde are straight out of Los Angeles but they write songs like they’re from the backwater bayous of New Orleans, an asset as much indebted to the doom-and-gloom of singer/bassist Johnette Napolitano’s lyrics as it is to the bluesy playing style of guitarist Jim Mankey. When coupled with the powerhouse drumming of Paul Thompson, who began his career as the percussionist in British art-rockers Roxy Music, this power trio is responsible for creating one of the most powerful and most consistent alternative rock albums to come out of the 1990s in ’91s ‘Bloodletting’.
Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: 1990s, Alternative Rock, Blues Rock, College Rock, Gothic Rock, Hard Rock, Post-Punk | 3 Comments »
The Halfway Point: 6 Albums from 2011
By Lameboy | July 3, 2011
I’ve been away for a while, doing things on my own, being broke, going to shows. This post will be a bit different, with June over, I felt like I should make a list of 6 albums that I love from this year to mark the halfway point.
Topics: Best of, Lists, Random Thoughts | No Comments »
Dirty Americans – Black Feather (2011)
By killer_roach | June 20, 2011
Michigan-based hard rock band Dirty Americans have taken the scenic route to the point in their careers where they are at now. With three of the four members coming from the long-since-defunct The Workhorse Movement (a band that had some limited success in both Michigan and the UK), Dirty Americans have been performing for roughly a decade, having started off signed to Roadrunner Records before becoming an independent act after the release of their 2004 debut Strange Generation. Seven years and two EPs later (a near-eternity in the music industry), they return with a new full-length album, Black Feather. The immediate reaction, however, is that this isn’t so much a “return” album as it is a “statement”. Dirty Americans have come back and produced a polished, cohesive (albeit short) album that demonstrates that they are in rare form indeed.
Topics: 2010s, Grunge, Hard Rock, Heavy Psych, Sludge, Stoner Rock | 2 Comments »
SubRosa: No Help for the Mighty Ones (2011)
By Fei | June 19, 2011
Album Review: SubRosa, No Help for the Mighty Ones
SubRosa is a Salt Lake City based quintet that have recently released their sophomore album, No Help for the Mighty Ones on Profound Lore Records. SubRosa combines sludge rhythms over eclectic folk rock lead melodies driven be electric violins and three piece harmonic vocals.
Topics: 2010s, Folk Rock, Post-Metal, Sludge | 1 Comment »
Electric Wizard: Black Masses (2010)
By Fei | June 18, 2011
Album Review: Electric Wizard, Black Masses
When it comes to doom metal, specifically stoner doom, one name comes to mind. Electric Wizard. England’s premiere stoner doom metal act delivers something new and different for their seventh full-length LP, Black Masses.
Topics: 2010s, Doom Metal, Heavy Psych, Occult Rock, Stoner Rock | No Comments »
Morbid Angel: Illud Divinum Insanus (2011)
By Fei | June 17, 2011
Album Review: Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus
Morbid Angel has attached and crafted a legendary mantle of wicked reverence in the realm of death metal among many fans of the genre. The group is one of the most exalted bands to come from the late 80s Tampa Florida death metal scene along fellow bands like Obituary, Atheist, Cynic, Deicide, and Malevolent Creation. Original front man, David Vincent, left the band in 1996, solidifying Altars of Madness, Blessed Are the Sick, Covenant, and Domination as some of the opus magnums in all of death metal. Vocalist David Vincent has returned for the first time in 15 years for Illud Divinum Insanus.
Topics: 2010s, Death Metal, Industrial Metal | 1 Comment »
Flashback Friday: Pierre Moerlen’s Gong – Gazeuse! (1976)
By killer_roach | June 17, 2011
The debut album of the first prominent (of what would ultimately be many) spinoff from Canterbury band Gong, Gazeuse! was from a lineup led by French percussionist Pierre Moerlen. While Gazeuse! (Expresso in the US) would be released under the Gong name as part of contract obligations with record label Virgin, the lineup for the album (which included former Magma bassist Francis Moze) would later come to be known as Pierre Moerlen’s Gong.
Topics: 1970s, Jazz Fusion, Progressive Rock | 1 Comment »
Amorphis – The Beginning Of Times (2011)
By killer_roach | June 16, 2011
After 2009′s album Skyforger, one of the more highly regarded metal releases of that year, Amorphis had very little direction to go but down. That being said, somebody could have told them that they didn’t have to move so enthusiastically in a downward direction…
Topics: 2010s, Death Metal, Doom Metal, Folk Metal, Progressive Metal | 2 Comments »
Journey – Eclipse (2011)
By killer_roach | June 15, 2011
Classic rockers extraordinaire, Journey got off to a somewhat rough start with new lead singer Arnel Pineda on their previous album Revelation, a relatively flat release that did nothing to convince people that Journey was anything but a band whose best days were long past. Three years later, they attempt to correct the mistakes of Pineda’s debut.
Topics: 2010s, AOR, Hard Rock | 5 Comments »
Riverside – Memories In My Head EP (2011)
By killer_roach | June 15, 2011
Polish progressive metal act Riverside’s second EP Memories In My Head is the follow-up to their fourth LP, 2009′s Anno Domini High Definition, and a planned palate whetter in advance of a new full-length release next year. The EP is brief, consisting of three tracks and running about thirty-two minutes, so traditional review form will be dispensed with here.
Topics: 2010s, Heavy Prog, Post-Metal, Progressive Metal, Space Rock | 1 Comment »