221 total search results — Page 1 of 12
Kickback – No Surrender
Review — June 9, 2010
Apparently Kickback is from France and is controversial as well as infamous. I'm not trying to doubt these claims but I haven't been able to find any reason why they'd be either of the last two things save for some of their artwork and the music video now streaming on …
Trapped Under Ice – Secrets of the World
Review — October 11, 2009
Normally it would concern me seeing the amount of hype leveled at a band, let alone one with only three short releases to their name. The demo was released only two years ago; it was energetic and capable but not truly breaking any ground. Then they got signed to Reaper …
Broken Patterns – Broken Patterns
Review — October 22, 2009
There's a couple ways to start this one. We could examine the ex members of pedigree, which normally would give you a hint at what is included. While I, just like anyone who was into hardcore in the earlier part of this decade, was suitably excited the band member pedigree …
Streetwalkers – Vile Thoughts
Review — October 22, 2009
It seems as though Six Feet Under is showing its punk roots. Not so surprisingly, so are some collected members of Ceremony. This short release works pretty well in relation to the Broken Patterns release I also reviewed. This takes a more classic hardcore punk route. Back in the mid …
Defeatist – Sharp Blade Sinks Deep into Dull Minds
Review — November 2, 2009
I really hate bringing up the ex-members of thing when talking about records. No, seriously I do. Defeatist is the perfect example as to why. When doing research for this album I found a pedigree of underground metal. Members of Anodyne and Kalibas join forces to create a grindcore band …
Bloodhorse – Horizoner
Review — November 11, 2009
This review has been a long time coming. Translation Loss Records seems to have a knack of finding the best of the recent crop of stoner or post-metal style bands and giving them a home. This band fits nicely into the first category. Made up of members of Boston area …
Dead City – Goddamn the 21st Century
Review — November 12, 2009
To create a preface for the reader I'm going to backtrack a bit. I grew up during an amazing time for metalcore - before Victory Records became giant media whores. So noted I have a very obvious soft spot that style of hardcore. This may be helpful information for you …
White Mice – Ganjahovedose
Review — November 16, 2009
To start I took a whole bunch of notes on White Mice's Ganjahovedose and realized afterward that I missed something kind of big about this band, no guitars. White Mice operates as a three-piece and that may be the only truly normal thing about them. They use drums, bass and …
Struck by Lightning – Serpents
Review — November 23, 2009
I've said it before: Translation Loss has an amazing knack for finding bands that are head and heels over most of the metal world. This time they saved a bunch of trouble. After a fall out between members of another band on the label one of the members left and …
The Low Anthem – Oh My God, Charlie Darwin
Review — December 6, 2009
There where a few things that caught me about this between the record itself and the press release given to me with it. First, this release makes a great issue for continuing to buy records - the CD itself is packaged in a silkscreened cover that looks exactly like a …
As We Let Go – Above the Clouds
Review — December 10, 2009
This EP makes sense to be released by Six Feet Under and hence a member of Blacklisted. This is essentially a Japanese version of that band. Mind you there's nothing wrong with that, it just seems there is nothing to set them apart from that assessment either. I could see …
Backtrack – Deal With the Devil
Review — December 10, 2009
This EP is fairly similar to another recent 6131 release from Bad Seed. This isn't a bad thing. This is a renaissance of sorts for heavy NYHC. Where Bad Seed seems to fail for most is that they don't exploit the grooves they can get into. On the other hand, …
Beartrap – Fueled by Self-Hate
Review — December 10, 2009
This release blazes through the listener at a ridiculously fast clip. Eight tracks of fast punk styled thrash madness. The label compares them to Trash Talk and Black Flag; I can't really disagree. I could see some craziness going down to this. They leave the experimentation to the last song …
Burning Empires – Burning Empires
Review — December 10, 2009
I was admittedly pretty psyched about this as it marks Andy Hurley's (Fall Out Boy) return to hardcore. Unfortunately this ends up sounding like Misery Signals and Darkest Hour joined together to make something incredibly tepid. The musicianship is definitely top notch but the songs don't seem to go anywhere, …
Northless – No Quarter for the Damaged
Review — April 26, 2010
I could start and end this review with just one word: brutal. Unfortunately, I think my editor would prefer a few more words. This is a four-song 12 inch EP of sludge metal transposed over crust punk dynamics. Nothing on this EP goes very fast, the tempos get ramped up …
Balance and Composure – Only Boundaries
Review — April 26, 2010
This is the second EP in as many years from this young band. While they are overwhelmingly young, they are not without experience. Touting members of the recently deceased War Pigs and The Erection Kids - who despite a silly name are best known for a really great split EP …
Liturgy – Renihilation
Review — May 16, 2010
Liturgy is part of what may be referred to the new school of hipster black metal. Sure this is an unfair assessment in reality but when Xasthur gets noted time and again on Pitchfork of all places it may benefit to note what type of black metal each release is. …
The Takers – Taker Easy
Review — May 16, 2010
The Takers are the latest entry in the country revival coming out of the punk scene over the last few years. What sets The Takers apart from most of these bands is their absolute ability to sound like a normal old school country band. That is to say, there isn't …
Actors & Actresses – Arrows
Review — June 9, 2010
There are certain labels as a music fan that I follow wholeheartedly. I could say The Mylene Sheath is one of these labels for me. They have a strong reputation for putting out spacey post-rock with a flair for nice packaging. So I was kind of excited to be able …
