Metal playlists from the underground
By Peter O’Brien The marquee hanging over the sidewalk on 42nd Street proudly reads in bold, red, capital letters “BUCKETHEAD.” To the average pedestrian walking down the street the sign has about as much meaning or appeal as a disappointing sideshow outcast, but for those in the know the sign is a beacon attracting a […]
Sticking to their roots, Greek black metal troupe Naer Mataron unfurl an expected mix of blast beat mayhem, evil vocal croaks and shrieks, and wrath-inducing tremolo-picked guitars on their most recent album PRAETORIANS. This 11-track release maintains the authentic black metal template to a fault, retaining the genre’s trademark rawness sans any progressive tendencies. Making […]
Crippling Canadian quartet Beneath the Massacre is a dizzying deathcore troupe whose latest 10-track enterprise DYSTOPIA jackhammers sweeping guitar runs, feral blast beat drums, and vicious vocals into your cranium for over 30 minutes. And when it’s over, what does the listener retain besides one hell of a headache? Not a whole lot, actually, although […]
Featuring six tracks connecting a pulled-back brand of black metal with massive Pagan and symphonic overtones, Polish one-man band Hellveto lays down a multi-layered metallic strike with NEOHERESY. Able to switch from tremolo-picked rage to serenity-laden subdued with relative ease (and more importantly with the audience following along), this disc possesses both a savage grace […]
The Gears of Rock will be down for a few days while I try to figure out what is causing the browser to crash with every new post. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Norwegian metal merchants Enslaved have put out their most progressive album to date with their latest (and tenth!) offering, the eight-track VERTEBRAE. Far removed from their primitive origins, this squad’s psychedelic rock meets black metal approach takes Pink Floyd into the catacombs for a swirling sojourn into lands discovered by the likes of Opeth (“Ground”). […]
German Pagan metal veterans Suidakra are back with a rousing nine-track presentation titled CROGACHT. Authentic Celtic instrumentation (bagpipes and tin whistles) and epic death metal collide to bring the revered Irish myth of Cuchulainn to life with a flurry of orchestral metal providing the dramatic soundtrack. Fortified via a well-balanced mix of crushing Viking metal […]
So I made the decision to pick up a copy of Eminem’s latest album, Relapse—not sure what possessed me to do it, perhaps impulse? Hunger for humorous lyrical play? Anyways, the last Eminem CD I bought with my own money was his debut The Marshall Mathers EP in 2000. The mainstream modern rock stations (K-Rock […]
Newcomers to the neo-classic hard rock stage, Charm City Devils, offer this 11-track debut on Nikki Sixx’s Eleven Seven Music label. The Baltimore outfit summons the energy of early AC/DC (“Let’s Rock N Roll (Endless Road)”), Billy Squire’ s “The Stroke” with a squirt of Zeppelin (“True Love”), and Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” with a […]
After viewing countless promotions for Anvil: The Story of Anvil on VH1’s That Metal Show and reading many rave reviews, I finally had the opportunity to watch the documentary for myself. The film follows the two original members of Anvil, an 80’s thrash metal band that is still trying to find fame and fortune as […]