Down-Stares
Cobras & Matadors
T.Rex Ate My Face (2008)
A couple of years ago, through my involvement with this website, I crossed paths with Down-Stares' independently released album The Watershed. This was an album that pushed me to my limits as a music critic because, as someone who prefers neatly defined genre categories and, even more so, inaccessibility in my music, Down-Stares is a challenge because of its blatant … Read more
Down-Stares
The Watershed
Independent (2006)
There is a parenthetical addition to this album's title that states "This Might Take More Than You Can Brave." Ironically, this statement has turned out to describe all too well my experience with reviewing it. Before I say anything more, I have to level with you guys (not just the readers, but the band as well if they ever happen … Read more
Downfall Of Gaia
Atrophy
Metal Blade (2016)
Downfall of Gaia is a prime example of the underground post-hardcore and post-crust scenes. Starting off in 2008, the band came into the prominence with their debut full-length, Epos, a record that introduced the potential of the band, the elements that would later bloom into making them what they are today. It is no coincidence that Metal Blade snatched them, … Read more
Downpresser
Age of Ignorance
Triple B (2009)
Hailing from Santa Barbara, CA is the metallic hardcore attack of Downpresser. Six tracks of down-tuned, head cracking, thick skulled hardcore in the vein of early Merauder or any other band that you wouldn't be surprised supporting thick hair braids, bandannas, and stomach tattoos. Age of Ignorance toes the "Slayer-line," an imaginary line in which a band straddles being a … Read more
Downtown Struts
Victoria!
Pirates Press (2012)
Pop-punk, Americana infused rock 'n' roll isn't really something I'd usually find myself listening to, but occasionally it's quite nice to break free of the norm and invest your time in something a little different. Downtown Struts are one such investment, and it was very much time well spent. Riding the coattails of bands such as Against Me!, The Gaslight … Read more
Dr. Acula
Dr. Acula
Silent Pendulum Records (2022)
First of all, I can’t believe Dr. Acula is back! When I saw the promo from Silent Pendulum that there’s a new album on the way, I had to triple check and listen to the single a couple of times. It still took a while for the reality to sink in and I’m not going to lie, I had some … Read more
Dr. Dog
Be The Void
Anti (2012)
These days, few musicians are fortunate enough to have released seven consistently pleasing albums, thrive on live performance, partake in the DIY method of surviving making music for a living and have a blast doing so. The Philadelphia bred Dr. Dog manage to do just this.Anyone can compare a modern band drawing influences from 60’s and 70’s baroque pop and … Read more
Drag the River
Bad at Breaking Up
Suburban Home (2009)
"I know I'm not the easiest lover," Drag the River admits in "Jeff Black Song." That honest and simple line over a minimal acoustic track tells you as much as you need to know about Drag the River. The alt-country band started as a side project, grew into a full-time band, and fell apart as band members went in different … Read more
Dragonforce
Inhuman Rampage
Sanctuary (2006)
Usually, when a band tries to surpass their previous musical efforts, especially when the stage is set to such a high standard, they hit a block of musical creativity. This block sounds like an attempt at something new and original but falls quite short of that, and what you hear makes you look back at the CD case to see … Read more
Dragonforce
The Power Within
Roadrunner (2012)
Okay, I'll just come out and say it--I like DragonForce.I know, I know; just saying 'DragonForce' is a one-liner joke in of itself. Whether its the plague of terrible performances that prevailed during the Inhuman Rampage tour, or the observation that the band can only play at two speeds: metal and ballad, or simply the fact that fantasy-based power metal … Read more
Dragonland
Starfall
Cleopatra (2005)
I'll be honest. I expected certain things when I attended Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force show at the Hammersmith Apollo this past spring. I was prepared for all the aging rock couples of London, with their teased hair and blue eyeliner, and for the teenaged spotty hoards in Children of Bodom shirts; the ancient and loyal, mixing with the curious and … Read more
Drain
California Cursed
Revelation (2020)
Santa Cruz is a convoluted place. It feels like the rest of the country erroneously thinks Santa Cruz is just like Santa Monica. It’s much more of a town than a city, and in a lot of ways it’s a microcosm of everything in California: conflicted and nuanced, beauty found at a high price with an oft-ignored grimy underbelly. Is … Read more
Drain the Sky
Haunted by Rivers
Level Plane (2008)
"Haunted by Rivers" begins Drain the Sky's first release on Level Plane Records. Use of repetition, low vocal pitches, and no percussion make the song oppressive. However, the rest of Haunted by Rivers does not follow in the same fashion. "Sightless" increases tempo and dabbles in hardcore punk. I really like the juxtaposition between the first two tracks. Everything about … Read more
Drakulas
Drunk Dial #10
Drunk Dial Records (2022)
My first thought on seeing that Drakulas cover The Jim Carroll Band on this was, “Huh, that’s a weird choice.” But about 10-seconds in, everything clicks. You see, Drakulas is a concept band, set in a dystopian, Warriors-esque world of broken streetlights, shenanigans, violence and smut. And, well, let’s just say that 1970s New York inspired a lot of that … Read more
Drakulas
Raw Wave
Dirtnap (2016)
At this point Riverboat Gamblers have enough side projects that there’s almost an expectation of sound before listening, that unifying factor between all the different bands that have spidered from the source band. Introduce Drakulas, who released an EP on Red Scare Industries last year and now come with a full-length Raw Wave debut on Dirtnap Records. Not only does … Read more
Drakulas
Terminal Amusements
Dine Alone (2020)
Pre-album press releases for the latest Drakulas album pushed the “art-punk” label. Based on Drakulas’ earlier work, I got it – but I also thought it was a little bit off. They’ve always had elements of some deeper conceptual stuff going on, but it always felt too straight-forward and rollicking to me. Right or wrong, I associate art-punk as being … Read more
Drawers
Self Titled
Katotoxin Records (2014)
When it comes to thinking about "heavy" music, it's virtually impossible to not immediately think of titans of the genre Sleep and their epic 63 minute long Dopesmoker and the opening lines "Drop out of life, bong in hand/Follow the smoke toward the riff-filled land." On their self-titled second album for Kaotoxin Records, French sludge outfit Drawers shoot for a … Read more
Drawing Voices
Drawing Voices
Double H Noise/Hydra Head (2007)
Drawing Voices is easily one the most experimental and groundbreaking projects that I have come across in all my years of listening to and reviewing music. Mastermind Craig Dongoski with help of Aaron Turner of Isis/House of Low Culture has taken the art of drawing and writing and transformed it into an auditory experience. The two as Drawing Voices have … Read more
