God is War, formed in 2018, is the solo project of Mack Chami. Boogeyman Inc. (Profound Lore) is his latest offering, featuring seven tracks of glitching, abrasive, instrumental industrial noise music.Continue reading
Tag Archives: Los Angeles
ALBUM REVIEW: Today Was Yesterday – Today Was Yesterday
The expert, intricate and intriguing Today Was Yesterday (Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group) finds the eponymous duo spreading their wings, unboxing various goodies and displaying many talents, in cahoots with guitar greats Alex (Rush) Lifeson, guesting on six of the 10 tracks, and Robby (The Doors) Krieger, on another.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Terror – Pain Into Power
When ordering from McDonald’s, you don’t complain about how the burger was grilled. When watching a movie from the Saw franchise, you don’t complain about how gory the film is.
ALBUM REVIEW: Old Blood – Acid Doom
It’s oddly satisfying when an album’s title is also an accurate descriptor for the music it contains. This is more or less the case with Old Blood’s second full-length album, Acid Doom (DHU Records/Metal Assault Records). While the group’s style may not be crushing in the traditional sense, their brand of Heavy Psych has a dark sultriness that should sit well with fans of groups like Uncle Acid and Blood Ceremony. And considering the four-year gap since their self-titled debut, it’s fair to say that things have only gotten more off-the-wall in that time.
ALBUM REVIEW: Stygian Crown – Stygian Crown
Stygian Crown’s full-length debut sits comfortably within the Epic Doom Metal niche, but their particular style comes from a more aggressive mindset than many of their peers. This is especially apparent with the guitar work, which exhibits a grainy tone and bulldozing riff patterns that are chunkier than the Classic Metal-derived fare of more conventional outfits. It never goes full-on Death/Doom but the band’s declaration of a Candlemass meets Bolt Thrower sound certainly makes sense when viewed through this lens.
CONCERT REVIEW: Crobot, ÆGES, and Like Machines at the Viper Room
On a relatively chilly Friday night at the Viper Room, one of the most iconic hole-in-the-wall night clubs on the Sunset strip, Los Angeles hosted a stop on Crobot’s US tour, featuring ÆGES and Like Machines, along with local openers The Jab and Tijuana Bullfight.Continue reading
FEATURE: Facing Life Without Slayer
From the first day of December 2019, we enter a dark, horrifying new era. Life without Slayer.
Sorry. Life without SLAAAAAYYYERRR!!!
There, that’s better.
From the moment I discovered Slayer on a compilation album called Speed Kills back in 1985, my life was changed forever. Just the sound of their name was enough. Everything you needed to know about the band encapsulated in two perfect syllables, especially when screamed at an ear-splitting volume or when chanted with thousands of other like-minded blood-hungry psychopaths.Continue reading
Saint Vitus – Saint Vitus
At what point does a band stop striving and just settles into a never-ending victory lap? Take L.A.’s finest Doom Metal group, Saint Vitus, who’ve been at it since the late seventies, and pretty much defined the genre in the eighties. And yet, here we are, in 2019, and a new self-titled album (Season of Mist) from the band is due out soon. It also sees the return of the band’s first lead singer, Scott Reagers, after a twenty-four-year break.Continue reading
Bad Religion – Age of Unreason
You know what’s the best thing about Bad Religion’s latest studio LP Age of Unreason (Epitaph Records)? How it’s such an honest and pristinely produced slab of melodic punk from a band that’s been rabble rousing since 1980. I mean, it’s futile to expect any different from this legendary Los Angeles outfit, but judging by the verbal ammunition in Age of Unreason’s chamber, it’s clear that today’s urine-soaked politics has clearly irked Bad Religion.Continue reading
Misery Index – Rituals Of Power
I think as Extreme Metal fans we can all agree that we were getting a little antsy awaiting new music from Baltimore’s loudest sons, Misery Index. Watching the news every day through my fingers I know that the world and a certain leader are shit, so I figured Misery Index are in no shortage of material to convert into awesome grind sounds. But wait no more, children; Rituals Of Power (Season of Mist) is finally here.Continue reading