This is kind of like a sonic scrapbook. In fact, there are so many sounds cut-and-pasted into the second Nine of Swords record- unabashed hardcore heaviness, downtuned metallic fuzz, upbeat melodies, big dirges, small doses of electronic calm that I hesitate to call interludes because of just how essential they are, and more- that it should be exploding at the seams. […]
Read moreThis might never have happened. Since 2014’s ‘From Parts Unknown’ the line-up and lives of Every Time I Die have been overturned. The band are used to upheaval of course, they’ve barely gone two years without changing at least one member, but real life kicked in their door with dumb, ugly force at the end of last year. Out on […]
Read moreIt’s no secret that Greg Puciato has a genuine fondness for music that’s pretty far removed from his day job as the frontman for metal firebrands The Dillinger Escape Plan. Check any interview- you can read it in the way he talks glowingly about the invention and experimentation of Trent Reznor and hear it in the way he sings his […]
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 moreWorriedaboutsatan looked like they had run out of steam. Oh, everything they recorded was great, and from post-rock beginnings to IDM-influenced debut album, their evolution was steady and satisfying. But all was not well in the world of Gavin Miller and Tom Ragsdale. Just as Pitchfork said they had arrived, the Manchester-based duo put their project to bed. And when they […]
Read moreDoom at high speeds, this is rock’n’roll for fans of Torche, latter-day Cave In and early Baroness. He Whose Ox Is Gored’s third EP in three years, ‘Rumors’ is more streamlined and melodic than the Seattle quartet have been before and it’s the best they’ve ever sounded. They shift gears between the thick grunge of their home state, serpentine riffing, […]
Read moreEvery Time I Die’s last album was… intense. Ok, so the boys from Buffalo aren’t exactly known for taking things easy but ‘Ex Lives’ was tense and dense and in desperate need of someone telling the band to take a deep breath every once in a while. It broke exciting new ground with a couple of grungy numbers but was […]
Read moreThis shouldn’t have any impact. Shai Hulud’s influence now extends so far that bands are ripping off bands that already ripped off the New York outfit and they don’t even know it. Seriously, had Shai Hulud not recorded their scene-starting debut ‘Hearts Once Nourished with Hope and Compassion’, names like Counterparts, The Ghost Inside (whose frontman guests here), and Hundredth […]
Read moreThis is good. Of course it is, Every Time I Die haven’t released a bad record, like, ever. But the New Yorkers’ sixth full-length feels a little jittery, busy, awkward even. Oh, ‘Ex Lives’ is marked with quality, but, unlike what you may have heard, it’s not the band’s return to the raw punk of old that most rules. Sure, […]
Read more‘Beacons’, the second full-length from Cloudkicker, is a whirlwind of progressive, instrumental rock, dense post-hardcore, and complex metal. It sometimes sounds like two bands playing at once. Impressive then, that it is all the work of just one man. This hasn’t exactly come out of nowhere, Ohio native Ben Sharp has been kicking out solid solo jams for a few […]
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