Metal playlists from the underground
Pushing doom metal’s expansive boundaries to the outer limits, Birushanah present a three-track, forty-minute excursion of crushing sonic excess. This Japanese unit embraces its roots wholeheartedly, intertwining native instrumentation (fretless bass and crashing cymbals) with drone metal rhythms, a frenetic multi-percussive assault (whose output includes everything from pounding drums to what sounds like sheets of […]
Fresh off previous effort ENEMY OF GOD, German thrash titans Kreator return sharper and more focused with another batch of devastating thrash metal goodness titled HORDES OF CHAOS. Showing no signs of slowing down, Mille Petrozza and company blast through the gates whether you like it or not with all guns blazing (“Warcurse”), giving contemporaries […]
By Peter O’Brien Henry Rollins once said, “The Clash is the band that U2 always wished they could be.” That may have been the truth once upon a time, when the angst filled, youthful quartet released their debut album Boy almost three decades ago, but now they simply have to settle for being U2. They […]
Left with only one original member in the fold (Andreas Kisser for those keeping score), Sepultura continues to trudge on Cavalera-less with the entity’s latest release A-LEX, a conceptual album based on cult novel A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess. This 18-track affair attacks with the fervor this act has championed since the split in […]
By Peter O’Brien Most bands who perpetually play the same songs for twenty years, and only do an annual “reunion” show would be accused, without question, of beating a dead horse, but most bands aren’t The Horse You Rode In On. Their aptly titled album, Beating, features fifteen original tracks written in the early days […]
By Mike SOS ____________ When speaking with Dug Pinnick from King’s X over the phone a while back, everything from his upbringing to the making of the trio’s latest outstanding disc XV to what aspirations the bassist/vocalist has left was discussed. ____________ SOS: What do you guys do in the studio that helps incite the […]
Classic Irish rockers Thin Lizzy unearthed this powerful live set from 1977 on Still Dangerous. The band blazes through classic cuts “Jailbreak,” “Cowboy Song,” and “The Boys Are Back In Town,” guitar dueling glory included. Recorded at Philadelphia’s Tower Theatre the band seemed careful not to include fancy studio overdubs as heard on many live […]
Rush continues to completely blow my rock and roll mind by infusing the infectious heavy guitars of Alex Lifeson, the exotic vocals of Geddy Lee, and Neil Peart’s aggressive percussion. On Retrospective 3, the band compiles their best material from 1989 to 2008 which includes a devastating remix of “One Little Victory” from 2002’s Vapor […]
For the first time in their 8 year major label career modern rockers Drowning Pool offer an intense live recording in Loudest Common Denominator. Featuring all of the band’s radio friendly hits “Bodies,” “Enemy,” and “Sinner” Loudest will surely please the loyal fans and mainstream radio audience. In addition to the 11 live tracks recorded […]
Norwegian black metal merchants Khold reappear with another scathing release sung in their native tongue in the form of the 11-track HUNDRE AR GAMMAL. Laden with nefarious grooves (“Trolos”) and bolstered by a demonically-charged vocal rasp, tracks such as the slow-crawling to mid-paced maul of “Sann Ditt Svik” resonates with a true sense of dread […]