Will Haven have been as low as they can go. Since the late 90s the Sacramento outfit have mined a seam of thick, dark, downtuned metal that, despite the changing scenes around them, has remained untainted by outside influence and uniquely, instantly recognisably, their own. They peaked (or descended if you like) with 2001’s ‘Carpe Diem’, a titanic slab of […]
Read moreMetal records often work best when they sound as if they’re being played live. The massive, monstrous, sprawling debut effort from Ssanahtes couldn’t do any better without the French five-piece knocking on your door and plugging into your living room. Opener ‘Kumaru’ sets the pace- over 10 minutes of doom-laden post-metal that fills every available space in the mix and […]
Read moreMusic travels well. And it can move faster and farther than the most avid sightseer. For example, at some point in the last decade the emo of the American Midwest made it to the other side of the world, all the way to Wuhan, China. There, the excellently-named Chinese Football started experimenting with dreamy emo and jazzy licks. And they’ve […]
Read moreMuch like Randy Moss, Wild Cat Strike aren’t afraid to go long. The Brighton-based dudes play with quiet melodies, big crescendos, poetic, gut-punch lyrics, gang vocals and other familiar emo techniques, but unfurl them with post-rock patience. It’s an excellent mix. Extra kudos too for going by the name Mild Cat Strike when they play acoustic shows.
Read moreFrom JR Ewing to Kvelertak, Blood Command to Honningbarna, Norway has a fantastic habit of producing bands capable of combining hardcore fury with colossal hooks. Ondt Blod don’t let the side down. ‘Natur’, the quintet’s second full-length, starts with a Sami chant before accelerating to include punk rage and stomping riffs. Then, bursting out from behind the feedback comes a […]
Read moreModern Rituals have got it going on. Their debut EP was a fine hello but new single ‘Hermit Kuppling’ is a double A-side of impossible-to-ignore noise. It’s still indie rock to my ears, but loaded with weight and layers- there’s hardcore spit and vinegar, buried melodies, and ten million pounds of sludge from New York and New Jersey all rolling […]
Read moreConjurer shouldn’t sound this composed. Ok, so maybe composed isn’t the right word- the York five-piece thrash and gnarl at the lines between sludge, doom, and death metal like a feral bear at belly flesh. But ‘Mire’ is only the band’s debut full-length, and it constantly and consistently belies their youth and inexperience. Opener ‘Choke’ is a landslide of increasing […]
Read moreSomewhere in the middle of last year I made my monthly Spotify playlist– something that used to be just for me- more official. Now it’s a curated mixtape of what is on the Moderate Rock stereo, updated all month, new every month. It tends to grow every Friday with the new releases but it isn’t limited to that. For example, […]
Read more‘Teeth’, the debut effort from Texas four-piece Easy Prey, is a record you would cross the street to avoid. It’s a lurching, lumbering, bastard of a thing that seems like it might spit out blood as quickly as riffs. The opening title track sounds like a rust-bucket deathtrap revving into life before thrashing itself apart, ‘Weak Knees’ is a battering […]
Read moreRolo Tomassi have been on quite the adventure. Since 2005 the Sheffield outfit have been making a brilliant racket- defying stereotypes, expectations, and genre tick boxes alike. If their early work was adrenalized, amplified youthful exuberance then their most recent album, ‘Grievances’, was a decidedly grown-up affair, laden with weight and rage and regret. In between they leapt forward and […]
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