Eyehategod
Eyehategod
Housecore (2014)
With their first full-length album in 14 years (save for an EP of sorts in 2005 and a 7" in 2012), it's almost one's gut instinct to remark that Eyehategod haven't missed a beat in all that time and sound as lethal now as they did on 2000's Confederacy of Ruined Lives. However, to gloss over those nearly 15 years … Read more
FKA Twigs
LP1
Young Turks (2014)
Tahliah Barnett, who looks something of an art-school alien, first descended into the tellurian realm as a Grimes incarnate: girl with space-cadet aesthetics turned one-woman powerhouse. twig’s status as Robert Pattinson’s new beau, her paint-smeared, caricatured album cover, and inclination for the grotesque have a way of garnering the important questions. Who is she? Is the breadth of her facial … Read more
Flagpolers
Arse Ways EP
Self Released (2014)
Sometimes the RIYL doesn’t lie. When Vancouver punks Flagpolers list Tiltwheel as an influence, it comes across clearly on the four song EP Arse Ways. The songs are built in that Davey Tiltwheel guitar style and then the lyrics are pelted atop in a gruff and staggering delivery. It’s rough hewn, coarse, and alternately beautiful—a fitting tribute to the aforementioned … Read more
Flotsam and Jetsam
No Place For Disgrace 2014
Metal Blade (2014)
I can remember very clearly when I first heard of Flotsam and Jetsam. As a young hesher growing up outside of Vancouver, Canada in 1986, some bands were on my radar and some were not. Flotsam and Jetsam were the latter. Until the end of that year, when I heard that their bassist, a certain Mr. Jason Newsted had left … Read more
Foetus
Soak
Ectopic Ents (2014)
When you hear the term "industrial" in regards to music from the likes of Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein or Ministry, Foetus (a.k.a. Jim Thirlwell) is who you have to thank. Making cacophonies of the highest order since the early eighties, Thirlwell's music in all its incarnations has become more and more visual. Visual, that is, in the sense of the … Read more
Foo Fighters
Sonic Highways
RCA (2014)
With their newest release, Sonic Highways, we aptly find Foo Fighters at an apparent crossroads and no longer content to write and record music in a traditional fashion. Sonic Highways is an album conceived and written as a companion piece to the HBO series of the same name, and directed by Dave Grohl himself. The concept of the show? Go … Read more
Foxygen
...And Starpower
Jagjaguwar (2014)
Since the first time I heard the dewy-eyed lyric, “I caught you sipping milkshakes in the parlor of the hotel,” I’ve been somewhat smitten with the psychedelic princes behind Foxygen’s screwball absurdum: moody-broody Jonathan Rado and Kevin Barnes incarnate, Sam France. Following the release of their hugely successful breakout album, 21st Century Ambassadors, it seems Rado and France decidedly opened … Read more
Fucked Up
Glass Boys
Matador (2014)
Even though I’ve listened to some of their material, I hadn't really plunged deep into Fucked Up-mania. It wasn’t until I checked out their new song “Paper The House” that I became captivated by the music of this tumultuous, rudely-named band. The tribal drum intro, the ecstatic guitar duel, and barechested frontman Damian Abraham’s face-melting, guttural howls make Glass Boys’ … Read more
Full Of Hell & Merzbow
Full Of Hell & Merzbow
Profound Lore (2014)
Full of Hell paved their way with their two previous albums, Roots of Earth Are Consuming My Home and Rudiments of Multilation, establishing the band as a force to be reckoned with in the grindcore scene. Their mixture of the hardcore/crust with their grind core has proven golden so far, and now they are unleashing their third full-length, and their … Read more
GG Allin
(un)Censored Live 1993
MVD Visual (2014)
Despite the fact that the man’s been dead for more than two decades at this point, the reputation of GG Allin, self-described “public animal #1” who aimed to bring the danger back into rock and roll through live performances that existed somewhere in the netherworld between punk rock shows and performance art pieces, has only continued to grow over the … Read more
Gholas
Litanies
Dullest Records (2014)
Taking their name from the universe of Dune, this intriguing band releases its latest record, Litanies. Post metal might be the easiest way of describing Gholas but that would be unfair to their much deeper and more complex nature.The beginning of the album comes in and hits you straight in the face with “…And the Lives Come Flooding,” as the … Read more
Girl Scout
Self Titled EP
Independent (2014)
Musically tight and lyrically inventive, Pittsburgh, PA-based, self-proclaimed “slacker rock” group Girl Scout seems to draw inspiration from various indie rock groups of the ‘90s and early 2000s - it doesn’t at all seem a coincidence that the band included a cover of Pavement’s “Cut Your Hair” as the b-side to their first single. Built around Jeremy Zerbe’s vulnerable voice … Read more
Glue
Glue EP
Katorga Works/Video Disease (2014)
With an extremely downbeat and aggressive sound, Austin, Texas four-piece band Glue follows up their noisy and vulgar 2012 demo with a 2014 self-titled 7” that picks up right where the demo left off. The first of four tracks featured here is the brief “Enemy,” which operates at a moderate pace and includes a sort of diabolical, horror movie chord … Read more
Gog
Gog
King Of Monsters (2014)
I had the fortitude to come across GOG’s previous album, Ironworks, and was astonished with what I discovered. On his previous album, Michael Bjella (the man behind GOG) explored the noise and industrial scenes with much precision and no hesitation when it comes to how extreme a musical offering can be. The ability of Bjella to retain the harsh industrial … Read more
Green Day
Demolicious
Reprise (2014)
Many people don't realize it, but Green Day released a trio of albums throughout the fourth quarter of 2012. However, due to some personal problems and a public breakdown at a festival from frontman, Billie-Joe, promotion for the albums was put on hold. Those albums, Uno!, Dos!, and Tre!, had their share of lackluster songs, but they also contained some … Read more
Grouper
Ruins
Kranky (2014)
Though I’ve been familiar with the name Grouper for some time, perhaps it’s not entirely coincidental that the solo project from Portland, Oregon-based artist and musician Liz Harris has never quite made an impression on me. While many of today’s groups strive to work their way into a listeners head, Grouper almost seems to be trying to achieve the opposite, … 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
Helms Alee
Sleepwalking Sailors
Sargent House (2014)
Helms Alee’s Sleepwalking Sailors is a ferocious asteroid of post-hardcore, doom metal, and noise rock. The Seattle-based trio’s third album, released on Sargent House Records, hurls you through a deathly metal ocean, into the Earth’s burning core, and back out again; it’s Michael Bay making rock music.“Pleasure Center” puts the 11-song fireball into motion. Starting with synchronized guitars and drums, … Read more
