Pop, Punk Rock, Ska, and… Hip-Hop?! Alright, I’m in! Gilford, New Hampshire was host to what is probably the most fun-loving tour of the summer, the co-headlining tour of California’s The Dirty Heads and Nebraska’s own 311, along with The Interrupters, Bikini Trill, and Dreamers.Continue reading
It’s time for another video by ” The Punk Rock MBA” Finn McKenty, YouTuber, music marketing expert, music critic, and fan. He’s back with a new video analyzing how My Chemical Romance went from unknown, to a dominant force in popular music, and then disbanded. Check it out!Continue reading
One of the best things about reviewing music, in my opinion, is having a music-savvy senior editor that encourages me to review music that is not in my wheelhouse. I have realized that if I was left to my own devices, I would likely stay in my little Heavy Metal utopia, reviewing only what I picked. I received the promo email from my editor about doing a review of Japanese act HYDE. Full disclosure, the only musical act I was familiar with from Japan was Babymetal. So, when I got the promo of HYDE’s new album, Anti, (UMG), I felt a tiny twinge of trepidation. After all, what do I know about Japanese music? Absolutely nada. How was I going to do a fair an accurate review of this music was my query. As soon as the first track off of Anti, started playing, all my fears of doing an inadequate review dissipated. The music that came pouring into my earbuds was the kind of music that bridges all humanity. HYDE’s music possesses a universal sound that almost any person can enjoy or relate to. On a personal note, I broke out in goosebumps from about 5 seconds into listening to the album, an involuntary reaction my body reserves for only the best soul touching music.Continue reading
Well-known singer, Daniel Tompkins kicked down doors as the vocalist for progressive music scene bands like TesseracT and Skyharbor. He has a legion of fans and has managed to reinvent himself on every release in his career. In the background, he has been working on solo material what would eventually become his debut solo album. Finding common ground with Russian producer Dmitry Stepanov, Tompkins is ready to shatter fans expectations for what they have come to expect from him, revealing new levels of artistry only hinted at. Freed from the genre rules or really any expectations, Castles (Kscope) arrives free of conventions or any other weird airs most signers fall prey to when they create a solo album. Continue reading
Continuing to be a prominent figure for the past decade in British hard rock, Frank Carter has remained one heck of a frontman throughout different projects. Since 2015, he’s put his efforts tantalizing the scene with the Rattlesnakes. Alongside slaying guitarist, Dean Richardson continues to succeed finding their softer side with End of Suffering (International Death Cult).
With the numbers they put up with debut LP Lifelines and the warm reception they received at Warped Tour, I Prevail clearly has designs on going mainstream. How grand are these designs? Well if Lifelines was them knocking at the door of stardom, Trauma (Fearless Records) is an urban assault vehicle demolishing the front gate and making its way through mainstream America.
A debut album should stand as a bold statement of intent. Some bands absolutely nail the formula that they will rigidly stick to for their illustrious careers like Slayer did with Show No Mercy (Metal Blade Records). For others, it can be the start of a journey that is a mystery yet to unfold as they explore their own sounds and find comfort in their own abilities, see Undertow (Zoo Entertainment) by Prog Metal maestros, Tool. With their first full-length and self-titled effort (Sharptone), where do Holding Absence sit?Continue reading
Sometimes modern bands can forget the lineage of Progressive Rock – if we go back in time to the seventies and early eighties, it was an experimental style of music that often incorporated twinges of Psychedelia, Pop and Rock whilst still allowing for extensive sonic exploration with elements of Blues, Folk, and Jazz along with constructs such as longer song formats.Continue reading
Amongst the packed djent arena, Danish troupe Ghost Iris has always been a strong and reliable act that have never quite managed to step up to the heady heights of the scenes leading lights, such as Monuments. In the face of a fast-moving scene, how can Ghost Iris now adapt? To use a wrestling metaphor, latest album Apple Of Discord (Long Branch Records) is the plucky and ever decent mid-carder suddenly about to make the main event push.Continue reading
Confession time: I came late to the letlive. party. So late, in fact, that the band were just about to call it a day when I decided that they were, you know, more than just pretty good. Yes, that kind of late. Despite the break-up, and whatever the reasons and rationales behind it, you always had a sense that an artist as talented and inquisitive as Jason Aalon Butler would soon return to the music scene in some form or another. And so it has proven with Fever 333, his latest project and passion.Continue reading