Tag Archives: Country

CLASSIC ALBUMS REVISITED: Alice In Chains’ Self-Titled Album Turns 25

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In 1995, Alice In Chains had been feeling good on the success of their first #1 album on the charts, 1994’s Jar of Flies EP, the first EP to ever debut at #1. At the same time, they were in peril as a band, with issues stemming from Layne Staley’s addiction to heroin and other band turmoil. The band did not tour to support Jar of Flies as Layne was in rehab and they took part of 1995 off. The lost opportunities from this period, including a massive Metallica/Danzig/Suicidal Tendencies tour and a near-top-of-the bill split at Woodstock 1994 (which I am still mad about) almost killed the band. They broke up briefly too, according to Sean Kinney. Little did we know they were crafting a great album, Alice in Chains (Columbia), to wash all that pain and disappointment away for a brief moment in time.

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ALBUM REVIEW: In The Company Of Serpents – Lux

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Denver Stoner/Sludge outfit In The Company Of Serpents has spent most of its eight years as a fluctuating two-piece, with only vocalist and guitarist Grant Netzorg as the constant. The arrival of Vermin Womb‘s JP Damron to the drumseat has seen an expansion to a trio with the addition of ex-Black Sheep of Kali stringman Ben Pitts and, maybe as a result, fourth album Lux (Self-Release) adds elements of invention and atmosphere to the core sound, demonstrating welcome growth.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Woorms – Twitching, As Prey

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‘Twas a mere fifteen months ago that Baton Rouge, Louisiana trio Woorms released debut album Slake (Sludgelord Records), its grooves twisted into nasty bites of hostile Sludge Metal. Follow-up Twitching, As Prey (Sludgelord Records), stays hot on the heels of that initial full-length, both chronologically and in temperament, but shows a maturity and an inventiveness far beyond its predecessor.Continue reading →


ALBUM REVIEW: Insect Ark – The Vanishing

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For over eight years, Dana Schechter and Ashley Spungin created heavy, eerie soundscapes as Brooklyn-based duo Insect Ark. When this fragmented last year, with a new album and US tour in the pipeline, leading force Schechter found herself in a tight corner until a serendipitous union with former SubRosa drummer Andy Patterson enabled the renewed probability of both. Tour almost complete, it’s time for the fourth album The Vanishing (Profound Lore Records) to hit the airwaves and Patterson’s influence, together with a more intense writing process, sees the band’s sound throb with added weight.Continue reading →


Marilyn Manson Shares New Single and Video “God’s Gonna Cut You Down”

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Marilyn Manson, currently finishing his new album with Shooter Jennings has released a new single and music video for his take on the classic American folk song, ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’. Manson teamed again with director Tim Mattia once again for the cinematic black-and-white video filmed in Joshua Tree, California. ‘God’s Gonna Cut You Down’ was recorded with producer Tyler Bates, who worked on 2015’s The Pale Emperor and 2017’s Heaven Upside Down. The track may be an indicator of what to expect from the new Manson album. The song is available to pre-order now on limited-pressing picture disc featuring one of Manson’s original watercolor paintings.

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Forty Years Ago – Led Zeppelin Released “In Through The Out Door”

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On this day forty years ago, Led Zeppelin signaled the begging of the end when they released their final studio album, In Through The Out Door (Atlantic). That title alone should have been then first clue really, that this was not your older brother’s Zep album. The turmoil stricken members fought through loss, and injury, and drugs, and excess, but wound up still making fine music. ITTOD is a solid album with moments of greatness. It’s definitely a late-era gem in their catalog in many ways, but also a signpost to the fatigue they were feeling after over a decade on top of rock’s peak. Drummer John Bonham would pass away just thirteen months and two weeks after this release, more or less ending the band as a regular unit. Continue reading →


Pelican – Nighttime Stories

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Some things in life carry a level of excitement and anticipation that seems life-changing, almost transcendental: marriage; the birth of a child; a pilgrimage. It seems over-trivialising to compare the release of a Pelican album to any of the above, but after six long years, a new offering from the iconic post-Metal instrumentalists is akin to the herald of a new dawn. Nighttime Stories (Southern Lord Recordings) is an emotional, dramatic and involving as one would expect it to be.Continue reading →


Earth – Full Upon Her Burning Lips

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Despite being heralded as a paragon of minimalist Drone, Dylan Carlson and his fluctuating incarnations of Earth have eschewed the usual expectations of such music, moving through variations on the theme throughout their thirty-year existence. Ninth studio album Full Upon Her Burning Lips (Sargent House) sees the band return to its core of Carlson and percussionist Adrienne Davies, leading to a partial revisit of earlier days.Continue reading →


Texas Hippie Coalition – High In The Saddle

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When you get an album with the band name Texas Hippie Coalition, you have a set of expectations about what it’s going to sound like. A mental image of the music pops into your brain. Texas Hippie Coalition did not disappoint with High In The Saddle (Entertainment One). True to form, it’s Texas-style southern rock with a scruffy “edge” to the lyrics and followable 4/4 beats. If you like listening to Down, Black Label Society, or Southern Train Gypsy, Texas Hippie Coalition is almost but not quite totally unlike that. High In The Saddle straddles the line of rock and roll and country and does so admirably. Continue reading →


Duel – Valley Of Shadows

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It’s a soulful, heavy trip with Texan quartet Duel. Formed largely from the ashes of Groove rockers Scorpion Child, new album Valley Of Shadows (Heavy Psych Sounds) is their third album in three years but despite the prolific nature, there remains a certain impact from the tracks on offer here.Continue reading →