Six years (where did that time go?) after their Grammy award-winning album Electric Messiah, comes High On Fire’s latest effort Cometh The Storm (MNRK heavy). Gone is the ferocious, Thrash-like assault of the last album, replacing it is their trademark sludgy, Stoner Metal, but with a broadened palette. Can this record live up to its revered predecessor? Continue reading
Tanith have perfectly the sound and feel of seventies Hard Rock and Heavy Metal with their latest album, Voyage (Metal Blade). Imagine traveling in a VW bus that is painted with brightly colored dragons and wizards with plenty of magic smoke billowing out the windows. Tanith would be the soundtrack of choice as you travel back in time.
From the moment of Royal Blood’s self-titled debut seven years ago, the Bristolian duo’s rise was meteoric. Their music is simple, brutal, and effective – taking inspiration from Queens of the Stone Age and The White Stripes and combining big hooks, tasty riffs, and volume to full effect. This beefed-up take on indie rock can only take you so far though, so on the new album Typhoons (Warner Records), they looked toward Dance and Disco to broaden their sound. Continue reading
Japan’s Sonic Flower began in the early 2000s as an offshoot of Church of Misery. They released one self-titled album in 2003 and then broke up in 2005 following some aborted recording sessions. Reforming briefly in 2007, only to break up again the same year, Sonic Flower lay dormant for 14 years until they finally reformed again in 2019. A full-length album with a new lineup including a vocalist is scheduled for later in 2021. To whet their fans’ appetite in the meantime, the band are first releasing Rides Again (Heavy Psych Sounds Records), which consists entirely of tracks recorded in 2005 from the aforementioned aborted sessions.
New Jersey’s Pyre Fyre have released their fierce new single “Trash Man” in an exclusive world premiere via the leaders of DIY and underground music culture, The Obelisk today! A music video for the track “Trash Man” will follow soon. Check out the track right now!
Milwaukee Rock duo Hi-Jack has teamed up with Ghost Cult today to stream their new release, Rank and File, out this week! Formed by drummer Ron “Hi” Terrell and guitarist/vocalist Max “Jack” Liam in Milwaukee’s underground music scene in 2014, the music they make sizzles with power. With all the baddass low-fi fury of Iggy and The Stooges, The MC 5, and the great lineage of midwestern proto-punk and heavy rock rawness, this band is a throwback in the best way. Check out their unadulterated jams, so purchase and stream the new EP right now! Continue reading
Forty years ago today Van Halen dropped their second album less than a year after their debut Van Halen set the music world on fire. In just a year, the band had become a household name, and headliner nationally, and Eddie Van Halen, in particular, had graced the cover of many magazines for his sweet shred skills. Wanting to strike while the iron was hot, the band came right back with Van Halen II (Warner Bros.), made up of their infamous pre-record deal demos made with Gene Simmons and Ted Templeman, and a few new songs. Van Halen II had the unenviable task of following one of the greatest debut albums ever.Continue reading
Led Zeppelin has few peers on record in their fiery but brief career. Born from the crowded blues-rock wave, post-British Invasion 1960s, the band expertly and cleverly guess the tastes and whims of the growing music world and capitalized on them. Long gestated in Jimmy Page’s brain as a way to create his own band with a distinct identity that could touch many music bases, but not be commercial and weak. Page created Led Zeppelin and the album Led Zeppelin I (Atlantic) on the back of years of writing, planning, and plotting. The marriage of Jimmy Page’s writing and Robert Plant’s voice, in particular, is the secret sauce of the album and the early era of the band and what makes their debut one of the all-time greats. Continue reading