Media Plow-er
All you need to know about math-metal masters, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s latest, One of Us is the Killer, can be told by Microsoft’s Windows Media Player. The psychedelic designs that aver to represent your music visually is at a loss when it comes to these songs. Sharp straight lines? Rotating stars shooting jagged Fallopian tubes? Spinning flattening spirals? Each of these and all of these images describe the experience of listening to this album: violent, confusing, schizophrenic, but also compelling.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in High Fidelity, Reviews The Dillinger Escape Plan
Meant for the Stage
If The Circle and the Blue Door isn’t a concept album, one can presume that Purson has one in them somewhere. The London five-piece, led by former Ipso Factso frontwoman Rosalie Cunningham, has given their all to this debut release, and that includes pooling influences from all over the rock and roll map with a concentration on the theatrical. Person describes themselves as “Vaudeville Carny Psych,” but that moniker, clever as it may be, sells this band a little short.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Purson, Rosalie Cunningham
Jeff Hanneman 1964-2013
Imagine yourself, 16 years old, dirty, riding around in your friend’s rusty pick-up listening to warbled Sabbath tapes, smoking dumpster weed, and generally not giving a fuck– until he pulls out a half-mangled Reign in Blood cassette. Your life was never the same after hearing those first ten seconds of adrenaline pumping, tallboy-induced thrash magic that is “Angel of Death.” Then, that middle part with the chugs and grit comes on and Tom is screaming, “WHEN YOUR BLOOD STARTS TO BOIL,” and you power-frown for the first time ever. You buy a guitar and hang posters of Dimebag, Kerry and Jeff, Hammett, Ian, Mustaine, etc., and these are those you see as larger than life – Gods amongst men – ageless guitar exemplars. Yep, that’s the story of most Slayer fans, or anyone who grew up on metal.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Features Jeff Hanneman, Slayer
Sausage for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert
How do the Melvins do it? How do Buzz Osborne and company keep releasing album after album, well into their third decade, while keeping things fresh and interesting? The band answers these questions and more with their latest release, an all-covers album, Everybody Loves Sausages. In these thirteen tracks, the boys show who influenced (and continues to influence) their sound, reveal the company they currently keep (peers and heroes), and demonstrate their ability to interpret existing songs to fit their own sound. The goal of Sausages was not necessarily to record the best collection of tributes, but rather to give fans a peek into the internal psyche of The Melvins.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Melvins
Rising, but not Above
Scottish five-piece Deathcore outfit, Bleed from Within, offers no surprises or disappointments on its third full-length album, Uprising. There may be room for growth in this genre, but Bleed from Within has no aspirations towards that end. Its purpose is to deliver loud, ear-splitting, tight music that fits right in with bands like The Black Dahlia Murder and In Thy Dreams, but does not stand out, and Uprising accomplishes this goal.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Bleed from Within
More Musical Than Lyrical
LA progressive-metal group Intronaut couldn’t have thought of a better subtitle for its fifth studio album. Lyrics notwithstanding, the music itself fits the song titles in an abstract way, like the names of modern paintings. Comprised of former members of Anibus Rising and Uphill Battle, Intronaut has outgrown comparisons to bands like Mastadon and Lamb of God. On Habitual Levitations: Instilling Words with Tones the band has solidified its own sound that combines an Alice In Chains-like vocal tandem with a full range of dynamics while maintaining an air of accessibility.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Intronaut
Basement Metal
The year is 1986. You are hanging out in the basement with your older brother and three of his friends as they attempt to decode their metal heroes and write their own music. The band members were not selected by a rigorous audition and interview process, but rather out of convenience: your brother, the drummer, has a kit and a cellar large enough for everyone to practice; the bass player owns a van; the singer has a PA system; and the guitarist — the only one who is actively taking lessons — has the “vision.” Try as they may, they are unable to reproduce even a hint of what Judas Priest, Black Sabbath and their other influences have done, but thanks to the inability to record their attempts on anything but a boom box and a Maxell cassette tape, they remain blissfully unaware of their limitations. Such is Sweeden’s Death Wolf, but the year is 2013 and this is their second album; what’s their excuse?
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews death wolf
Forget Francis; Saint James Is In the House
The common thread across most psychedelic metal bands is the presence of long, droning, self-indulgent songs that are best enjoyed live and under the influence. Rarely does a band make an album of short, well-crafted, yet still stoner-friendly tunes, but that’s just what the Austin, Texas five-piece, The Saint James Society, has done on its debut LP, Bab(a/y)lon Rising. Infusing a healthy dose of garage-rock fuzz, this is an album that has the power to introduce newcomers to a muddied and under-appreciated sub-genre of hard rock.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Show Reviews The Saint James Society
Simplified but Not Simple
Eight Bells is the incestuous offspring of San Francisco-based psychedelic-improvisational hard rock band, SubArachnoid Space. SAS’s last album, released in 2009, was titled Eight Bells, and former members Melynda Jackson (guitars, vocals) and Christopher VanHuffel (drums) started their own outfit, recruiting bassist Haley Westeiner along the way. Eight Bells’ debut release, The Captain’s Daughter, shows that the mission of the offshoot is to offer a simpler, yet no less experimental, version of the original.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Eight Bells, SubArachnoid Space
Using the Entire Toolbox
There is an art to parody, just as there is danger in taking oneself too seriously. Tool’s Maynard James Keenan understands this. Although side project Puscifer may have started out as a joke, it has become a repository for a level of experimentation that can only be attempted outside the confines of Keenan’s main band. Album titles like 2007’s “V” is for Vagina deceive, and the music is surprising with its complexity and innovation. The band’s latest EP, Donkey Punch the Night, combines these cerebral elements with familiar tones, and also offers a glimpse into the production process.
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By Chad Gorn Posted in Reviews Maynard James Keenan, Puscifer, Tool
