New Will Haven is like a warm blanket. I want it to be more, I really do, the dudes in this band deserve such high praise for their consistency and staying power, but ‘Open the Mind to Discomfort’ is more of the same shifting sheet metal they’ve always done. That’s not to say they don’t do it well, not at […]
Read moreWell damn, there’s nothing minor about the opening track here. After a beat of almost-silence just long enough to have people foolishly slide up their volume bar, the third album from Melbourne six-piece Fourteen Nights at Sea explodes into life. Like being hit by a tidal wave, ‘Teeth Marks’ packs a ferocious first punch and then rolls on and on […]
Read moreIt’s difficult to talk about this record without talking about the circumstances behind it. Perhaps ‘Purple’, the fourth Baroness album, is borne from the Georgia band’s usual creative places. There’s a chance, of course. Or maybe, just maybe, this is a record indelibly marked by the bus crash that nearly killed them. The 2012 accident violently broke bones, some so […]
Read moreLet’s get something out of the way quickly. No Devotion is the new band from old members of Lostprophets. Based on the ad campaign and the artwork here, that’s not something they want you to focus on though. And to be fair, you almost certainly wouldn’t guess it simply by listening to ‘Permanence’. Just as the boys in the band […]
Read moreEverything sounds the same. At least that’s what people unfamiliar with the far ends of alternative rock might say should they pass Fernhill Farm this weekend and only briefly listen in. But for two amazing years already ArcTanGent has proven the exact opposite. Under a (weather appropriate this year) umbrella of noise, math and post-rock the festival has presented a […]
Read moreThe bad news first. In what feels like a less and less frequent but no less painful experience for bands to go through, Her Name Is Calla have been robbed. Computers, recording equipment and a decade of work were among what was taken, including some material recorded for an upcoming album. They’ve since uploaded some demos of their latest music and […]
Read moreHardcore stalwarts Boysetsfire will release their new album on September 25th. You can hear the first taste of the self-titled effort, the band’s sixth full-length, via a lucky fan’s Facebook page. This is yet another example of the band connecting directly with their fan’s in a direct and unique way, and you should watch out for further sounds spread in […]
Read morePerhaps the post-rock scene is softening in its old age, the purists less vocal, or maybe, just maybe, the internet now dissipates rather than focuses group disappointment, but there has been way lass harrumphing about this record than I predicted. Toe, see, aren’t supposed to do things this way. ‘Hear You’ is the Japanese five-piece’s first album on the American […]
Read moreWelcome on to the City of Ships. Or, no, wait- welcome into the City of Ships? Whatever. Just know that the third full-length from this two-city three-piece is their most accessible yet, made to ensnare you, shouting “join us”. That means ‘Ultraliminal’ is almost completely devoid of the darkest, most Neurosisian elements found on the band’s debut, and instead filled with the […]
Read moreThere’s just no clue in that name. It’s so damn unassuming. And the boys in the band look like they’d rather have a friendly chat about the Kinsella family back catalogue than ever really raise their voice. Ok, perhaps it should’ve been a clue when bassist Ryan McKenna asked for “more bass, everywhere” during his sound check but it just […]
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