Back to save America from the pandemic and itself, grindcore faction Alpha-o-MAGA is here with their timely new album Keep America Grinding! In a just world, this album would be played on election day, from all the polling places and all political rallies in the future. You can purchase and stream the album at the link below!
Idles have come on in leaps and bounds since their last album Joy As An Act of Resistance (Partisan Records). It’s not even been 5 years since they were playing 100 capacity venues, yet here they are today having sold out giant venues like Alexandra Palace in under a day. With two giant albums under their belt, the big question was how the Bristol band were going to not only top it, but maintain the astronomical growth they’ve been on for the past 3 years.
Punk music continues to be the most outspoken genre of heavy music in terms of political/social issues. This is no different from the hardcore punk/grindcore outfit known simply as Dropdead. Formed back at the beginning of 1991 and has released many recordings over the years, this is only the third studio album, however, it has come about in perfect timing. Simply titled Dropdead 2020 (Armageddon), is a twenty-four-minute sonic attack on all things evil such as the ever-growing right-wing extremists, animal abuse, and overall human stupidity.
Napalm Death choosing to drop Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Century Media) is the definition of perfect timing. For those not keeping score at home, the current leader of the free world is an ass-clown who smears his face daily with greasy self-tanner and fancies white supremacists and McDonald’s food. Oh, and there’s a bit of a global pandemic that has paused the world and crippled economies.
It isn’t looking too good out there, folks.
With bands taking so much time between studio albums these days, it’s astonishing to believe that in the space of just three years, between 1970 and 1973, Brummie icons Black Sabbath released no less than five of the most important records in the annals of heavy metal.
It appears that Protest the Hero have got some thoughts on today’s, let us say shit, political climate. When your opening track is called ‘The Migrant Mother’ it’s a bit of a tell that Palimpsest (Spinefarm Records) has some issues it wants to address. I mean, regardless of subject matter I’d still be all for Palimpsest. Come on, it’s Protest the Hero, I could listen to songs about cooking bacon as long as it’s a new album.
Judging by its title, the latest release by US thrashers Havok is either a bold, singular statement about this being their fifth full-length studio release, or, rather less plausibly, that it’s actually a concept album based on the 1980s sci-fi series about alien lizard people who wear big red jumpsuits. Sadly, it is, in fact, the rather more mundane first option, but that doesn’t stop V (Century Media) from being bigger and almost as frightening than the hairstyles on that show.Continue reading
You gotta face the facts, you will never be as cool as Ice-T. Never. He came from the streets of Los Angeles to become an iconic figure of Hip-Hop, movies and television, and Metal music. For some people, it seems like there is no mountain they can’t climb, and Ice is one of those guys. Sure, he could chill and sit back on the Law and Order: SVU Special Victims Unit money, and all those royalties. In actuality, he has been working harder than ever on music the last decade-plus, specifically for his groundbreaking band Body Count. All the evidence you need is on their new album, Carnivore. (Century Media). Continue reading
Coming from the American Heartland, Alpha-o-MAGA is a grindcore band in the great tradition of reactionaries and outsiders such as grind pioneers such as Napalm Death, Terrorizer, and modern crust punk. Absurdist, furious but surgical, Alpha-o-MAGA is a fist the face of hypocrisy and sycophants. The band has dropped their new video for their new single ‘Americunt’, the latest screed in their prime directive to “Make America Grind Again”! Continue reading
The Extreme/Grindcore/Death Metal act, Cattle Decapitation has been pleasantly surprising modern metal listeners for nearly a decade. Since their record, The Harvest Floor (Metal Blade Records) in 2009, this quintet from San Diego has been pushing barriers in several different metal genres. Their relentless resilience and unabashed creativity throughout the years has been unexpected and still surprises fans today. The band is getting ready to release their eighth studio album, Death Atlas (Metal Blade Records) and the genius that is Cattle Decap is once again pushing the norm. Continue reading