Unlike Britain’s flagging public transport system, Melvins are regular as clockwork. In fact, such is the Los Angeles by way of San Francisco by way of Monsanto, Washington outfit’s lust for creating new music, that the fantastic amount of releases put out can be positively overwhelming and hard to keep up with. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Noise
ALBUM REVIEW: Dunn With Lords And Lady Kevin – Last Days at Hot Slit
Since 1987 Kevin Rutmanis has been involved in the production of a steady stream of records with bands such as Minneapolis Noise-Rock legends Cows, Sludge Grunge titans Melvins, supergroup Tomahawk, Hepa/Titus, and now Lord and Lady Kevin.
ALBUM REVIEW: Miracle Blood – Hello Hell
Miracle Blood’s latest album Hello Hell would serve as a standout piece within any punk music lover’s record collection. Their new album Hello Hell, released by Nefarious Industries, is a cacophonous concoction of noise-punk, sludge, and heavy metal. The band’s sophomore LP is strange and unusual, and may be found to be the next underground favorite of those who themselves are strange and unusual.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: God is War – Boogeyman Inc.
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
ALBUM REVIEW: Uniform – American Standard
New York City’s Uniform’s new album American Standard (Dias Records ) finds vocalist Michael Bearden in a soul-baring exploration of his struggles with bulimia. The album serves as Bearden’s catharsis. The strangled snarl of his yelled vocals paints an accurate picture of the self-loathing that comes with this neurosis. This captures a raw emotional tension that lurks under the mood of the songs. This is delivered through their ability as songwriters, which is a somewhat different story. The album begins with a sprawling opening track. For twenty-one minutes you are hit with a pounding drone, at times this grooves at it drones. This is the first of the sonic dichotomies this album is full of, so if you do not appreciate clashing concepts, it might not be for you.
ALBUM REVIEW: Maudissez – Maudissez
What Maudissez are able to do with instruments (at least I assume they’re instruments) is unsettling to the nth degree.
The anonymous and self-described anti-Christian blackened sludge-cum-Death/Doom entity doesn’t simply make music; the four tracks featured within Maudissez (Sentient Ruin Labs) are as raw as a mooing filet mignon. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Fórn – The Departure of Consciousness
Nothing beats a sunny day, a cold beer, and some sludge and doom blasting over the speakers as I melt in the heat. Just in time for summer, Fórn is reissuing The Departure of Consciousness (Persistent Vision Records) for its ten-year anniversary. The Boston-based funeral doom/sludge outfit made their name in the Boston scene by bringing some of the heaviest, most beefy riffs. Now they grace us with a reissue of their debut full-length where those riffs are as tasty as ever.Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Mono – Oath
A sensuous, rapturous and thought-provoking collection of superior, post-rock instrumental music, Oath (Pelagic Records), from Japanese four-piece Mono, was recorded and mixed by late, great and already much-missed engineer Steve Albini, who passed away last month, aged 61.Continue reading
FESTIVAL REVIEW: Roadburn Festival 2024 Part 2 – Various Venues
FESTIVAL REVIEW: Roadburn Festival 2024 Part 1 – Various Venues
Full disclosure there is in no way I can present an unbiased opinion about Roadburn. This is my seventh straight year and I’m gifted a much greater amount of privilege than the average attendee. I’ve earned lifelong friendships. It’s become more than just a music festival for me. It’s a second home for five days out of every year. I’m allowed to work alongside other extremely talented and hard-working photographers and for a limited time at the beginning of every set I’m granted the best spot in the house. For me music is my safe space vs photography which is my special interest.Continue reading