Hannahband
Retirement
Art As Catharsis (2015)
Calling it folk-punk isn’t right, but I’m not sure I agree with the post-punk tag slapped on their onesheet either. Hannahband, from Sydney, Australia, have a gritty garage element, making them fall somewhere in between folk-punk minimalism and Murder City Devils coarseness, all while wallowing in lo-fi production that makes the songs even harsher (and more beautiful).Those styles pull together … Read more
Hanoi Rocks
Oriental Beat (40th Anniversary)
Svart Records (2023)
Hanoi Rocks has always been pigeonholed as a hair metal band along the lines of bands like Faster Pussycat, Poison, LA Guns, Ratt, Warrant etc.. However, their allegiance has always been more so with forefathers in the skin of the New York Dolls. Drawing from the Doll's panache for wearing women's attire, high heels and carefully fixated palate of pancake … Read more
Happy Mondays
Uncle Dysfunktional
Sanctuary (2007)
This review is dedicated to Anthony H. Wilson. Fuck Keith and Mick, Fuck the Toxic Twins of Aerosmith, and fuck Britney Spears. The greatest rock and roll survivor of all time is one Shaun William Ryder. Here is a man that hasn't made a penny since he was sued by his former managers, a man that helped introduce ecstasy into … Read more
Haram
Drescher
Lovitt (2008)
It's pretty ridiculous to look back on the career of Pg.99 and sort through all the bands that came out of their existence and their ever-rotating members. While many were short lived or are defunct, there are handfuls that still are actively playing. One of these is Haram, with Mike Taylor and Kevin Longendyke moving on from Pg.99 to conqueror … Read more
Hard Girls
Floating Now
Asian Man Records / Specialist Subject Records (2017)
Hard Girls are a complex band – or maybe they’re not. They sing about hard life choices, serious moments, and buying candy and cigarettes. A post-punk influence and precise arrangement style seamlessly blend into a more traditional pop structure. At its simplest definition they’re a punk band, but that doesn’t feel like it hits at the fact that both vocalists … Read more
Hard- Fi
Stars of CCTV
WEA (2006)
The preamble about Hard-Fi is something about DIY, self-financing, self-promotion and the dole. There's something about the middle-English wastelands in which the band live. Something else about inner city tower blocks adds weight to the working class credentials about which, no doubt, Virginia Woolf would have something or other to say. Some quasi-pretentious blurb about wanting to sell records in … Read more
Harkonen
Dancing
Initial (2004)
When I first undertook the task of writing the review for Dancing, I wanted to make sure I did the job right the first time. I own Shake Harder Boy, but something about this album was different to me. After a few listens to the album, I was able to establish that there was more experimentation this time around. While … Read more
Harkonen & These Arms Are Snakes
Like a Virgin
Hydra Head (2004)
When I was in the sixth grade I had a birthday party and for some reason one of my classmates, his name was Seth, gave me a copy of Sir Mix-A-Lot's album Mack Daddy. I didn't ask for it, I guess he just assumed it was something I would enjoy. Anyways, contained on said album is a track entitled "Seattle … Read more
Harsh Realms
CVLT
Shield Recordings (2023)
For some reason I never checked this band out, even though they always had a spot on my to check list. After several years they got lower and lower on that list. CVLT, their new album after six years of silence and nine years after their debut album catapulted them to the top of my list. Could they win me … Read more
Harvestman
In a Dark Tongue
Neurot (2009)
Being a side project of a member of Neurosis always lends an air of cache to such musical project, and Harvestman is one that is certainly intriguing as it could be considered an almost psychedelic (an insane description of music if ever I heard one, although there are worse) outfit, which gives me the impression of Neurosis minus the heaviness. … Read more
Harvestman
Music For Megaliths
Neurot Recordings (2017)
Harvestman is Steve Von Till's musical bridge. Through his main band, Neurosis, he explores the experimental side of heavy music, while with his solo project, under his own name, he regresses back to the folk origin. Harvestman connects the two, firmly standing on folk ground, but also with an adventurous mindset, wondering into more diverse areas. Historically, Harvestman presented a … Read more
Harvey Milk
Special Wishes
Megablade/Troubleman Unlimited (2006)
In 1955, photographer Robert Frank received a grant from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to travel the country photographing the American people in all their multiplicity and uniqueness. He was unable to find an American publisher for the resulting book, The Americans, and had to have it published first in France - the reason being that his pictures portrayed … Read more
Hasta
Botanique
Kitsuné Music (2015)
While electronic music used to be a rather exclusive club that only those with access to (expensive) equipment could hope to break into, in recent years, the increased availability of technology has allowed anyone with a will and/or a way to become an electronic producer. Theoretically, this has enabled more talented people to express themselves through music, and there is … Read more
Hatebreed
Rise of Brutality
Universal (2003)
I'm confused how a band can take themselves seriously whatsoever, and have an album called Rise Of Brutality. Although Hatebreed doesn't talk about their large amount of bitches they are keeping in check or forties they are consuming in the club, the whole feel of this music reminds me of gangsta rap, trying so damn hard to act tough and … Read more
Hatebreed
Supremacy
Roadrunner (2006)
To me, Hatebreed mark the pinnacle, as well as the end of an era for Victory Records. Satisfaction is the Death of Desire was the epitome of mid-90's hardcore: mosh heavy, distrusting, and pissed. Since then, Hatebreed as well as Victory Records have not necessarily become less credible (Victory had none anyways), but definitely watered down and weaker than their … Read more
Have a Nice Life
Deathconsciousness
Enemies List (2008)
Have a Nice Life is a two-piece outfit from Connecticut that includes a member of the hardcore band, In Pieces; although, this double CD collection has nothing in the way of sound that can compare to that outfit in any sense of the word. Instead, Have a Nice Life actually has a sound that pulls from a variety of influences … Read more
Have a Nice Life
Sea of Worry
Flenser (2019)
Time changes us all. As people we are bound to the rules of time and how it moves regardless of whether we want it to or not. Music changes us. However, the rules surrounding how music moves us is on a different scale to that of time - one piece of music will affect ten people differently. Have a Nice … Read more
Have a Nice Life
The Unnatural World
Enemies List / The Flenser (2014)
Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga’s original gloom-filled masterpiece deathconsciousness managed to pique the interest of the collective interweb persona back in 2008, where an eager audience received the monolithic double-release with a certain trepidatious appreciation. Inaccessible to many thanks to the duo’s characteristically abject bleakness and startlingly desolate atmosphere, it went on to become an instant classic among the cult … Read more
