Review / 200 Words Or Less
Apiary
Lost In Focus

Ironclad/Metal Blade (2006) Kevin Fitzpatrick

Apiary – Lost In Focus cover artwork
Apiary – Lost In Focus — Ironclad/Metal Blade, 2006

Lost in Focus is the debut release from a Southern California five-piece know as Apiary. I listen to a lot of music, and have jaded fucking ears that just don't prick up the way they used to. It takes a good shot of aural Viagra to get my attention. My attention was grabbed not long into "Pain Is The Reason" when I realized that this was probably the best drum sound I've heard in a long, long time - something that's sorely lacking with a lot of today's heavy music. Not to mention, when you have a drummer as good as Adam Elliot behind the kit - this is always a good plan. What came to my mind halfway through "Extract", the third song on the album is that these guys are fucking brutal. In the good sense. In short, Apiary is wicked good. To summarize for the lazy reader: ...think God Forbid meets Dillinger Escape Plan. A great heavy album that makes you want to drive into a wall, steal another car and then do it all over again. Buy this album.

Apiary – Lost In Focus cover artwork
Apiary – Lost In Focus — Ironclad/Metal Blade, 2006

Recently-posted album reviews

The Flyboys

Complete Flyboys 1979-1980
Frontiers Records (2026)

The archival hunt for the "missing links" of first-wave California punk usually leads through a trail of grainy handbill Xeroxes and tape traders' overdubbed copies. But with The Flyboys, the story has always been a bit more elegant—and a lot more colourful. Long before they were swept into the gravity of the Hollywood scene, frontman John Curry was already performing … Read more

Ultrabomb

The Bridges That We Burn
DC-Jam Records, Virgin (2026)

Ultrabomb just detonated. The Bridges That We Burn isn't some polite "heritage act" victory lap. It smells like a hand-rolled cigarette lit with a blowtorch in a damp Minneapolis alleyway. No reunion uranium glow here—just three lifers who’ve spent their lives in vans and aren’t interested in anything but the friction prediction. The DNA is legendary, but they aren’t coasting … Read more

Sweat

Tear it on Down
Vitriol (2026)

Tear It On Down is the third record from Sweat and it picks up where the last two left off. It's aggressive hardcore punk, but with a playful groove or swagger that really makes it feel uplifting, even when the content is not. Case in point: "Surveillance State," which rolls kind of like a call-and-response song, except that lead vocalist … Read more