Tag Archives: punk rock

…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – IX

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In their 20 year history, Austin, Texas act …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead have never been a by the book kind of band, always shifting and turning in unpredictable directions. An incredibly hard band to pigeonhole, one that has over time been adorned tags such from hardcore, to prog, to indie rock and even mathcore; trying to quickly define this band is a waste of time.

This ‘trend’ of the unexpected continues on ninth album, IX (Superball Music), with songs that were originally intended for use in film and television as instrumentals, before the creative rivers flowed some more. Also surprisingly is how refined and near simplistic it all is (in comparison to previous work at least). Still far from being an AC/DC template like band but IX does relinquish their sense of indulgence and expansion for a more streamlined approach, somewhere between their punk influences and indie rock, with the merest suggestion of prog. ‘A Million Random Digits’ is one of the more up tempo moments and has an aggressive streak in comparison to the synth driven ‘Jaded Apostles’ that precedes it.

On the first instrumental effort, ‘How To Avoid Huge Ships’ is where we are reminded just how bombastic this band can be when they turn up the prog; with piano and strings bolstering and building the song over its course, bigger and bigger. It is in this latter half of the album where the band’s extravagant side rears its head again, with these instrumentals and the long players like ‘Lost In The Grand Scheme’, in contrast to the short and sharper blocks in the previous half.

IX is another turn in this band’s very winding road and one that sees many of their sides come together, and at times in an all new perspective. There are signs of their punk like volatility and their whimsical prog side and a little in between. Another fine addition to their already captivating catalogue; this band simply refuses to be boring.

 

7.0/10

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CHRIS TIPPELL

 

 

 


Obliterations – Poison Everything

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Emerging like a bile fuelled viper, Poison Everything (Southern Lord) is the third release from Californian based hardcore four piece Obliterations is a frenetic, dirty and all round in-your-face release that doesn’t let go from the second it sinks its teeth into you.

Taking influence from across the hardcore genre, from the organised precise chaos of Converge to the back to basics approach of classic Henry Rollins fronted Black Flag. To even some hooks and groovy riffs that is reminiscent of the first two The Bronx albums.

The record flies by with its run time of just over half an hour with its old school Black Flag influence running through the albums run time from its first second to its last. The Hardcore fury is nicely countered with a large slice of doomy Black Sabbath riffage in the albums more groove orientated moments, as well as its rumbling bass sound which chugs its way through the album making the record sound like a hardcore punk Motorhead.

The vocals are where the album steps into its stride, switching between Henry Rollins snarls and barks to Jacob Bannon shrieks and screams almost instantaneously.  Front man Sam James Velde pulls off these vocals seamlessly, sounding as if for his album preparation he gargled glass for a decade beforehand in order to transfer as much savagery into his delivery as possible.

Overall, Poison Everything is a great hardcore release from the band and is easily their best record to date. With all the snarl and aggression that you would want from bands such as Converge or Black Flag, Poison Everything does exactly what the band set out to do. The Sabbath riffs and Motorhead rumble and pace add all new depth to the release and lift it amongst most hardcore releases.

7.0/10

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DAN O’BRIEN

 

 


Nick Oliveri’s Uncontrollable – Leave Me Alone

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Stoner rock firebrand Nick Oliveri is well versed in the art of reckless abandonment. Since his departure from Queens Of The Stone Age and Kyuss Lives! (Now Vista Chino) Oliveri has terrorised stages the word over playing bass with Cali punks Bl’ast and his raucous one man unplugged show.

‘Leave Me Alone’ see’s Nick in full stoner punk mode working through the full on rawk aspects of repertoire from the bar fight frenzy of ‘Human Cannonball’ to  vicious barrage of ‘Come And You’re Gone’ which recalls the bombast of Turbonegro, Nick O grabs you and does not let go.

At a lean and trim nine songs ‘Uncontrollable’ does not mess around. There are no build up’s, excess jam sections save the somewhat pointless yet pretty acoustic segue way of ‘Leave Me Alone’ itself which soon gives way to the anarcho blast of ‘The Void’. It’s familiar territory but an approach which plays well to Nick’s strengths. Those familiar with his work as Mondo Generator will know what to expect. A pull-no-punches knock down drag out affair which provides plenty of shout along hooks.

Several of Nick’s mates have got it on the act too with Blag Dahlia of The Dwarves, Kyuss Lives! Bruno Fevery and Mötorhead’s Phil Campbell all putting in an appearance to support their good buddy and while the tempos tend to wonder off, this is grass roots punk rock with a true DIY ethos and real character.

Sure there is none of the pop nous of Nick’s work in QOTSA this is a blunt instrument by which stoner rock’s Oliver Reed delivers a sermon of true punk rock zeal.

Tailor-made for the live arena the album remains up-tempo save the mid paced riot of ‘Robot Man’ complete with sirens and lyrics referring to the swat team, perhaps a tongue-in-cheek reference to one of Nick’s more infamous brushes with the law of late when he held police at gunpoint from his home after a neighbour reported a disturbance at his residence.

Oliveri is a true hellraiser in the classic mould, but where his reputation for destruction may proceed him the bloke can pen some good tunes.

 

7/10

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ROSS BAKER


Lecherous Gaze – Zeta Reticuli Blues

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When the band began life as Annihilation Time, a punk/hardcore band from California 13 years ago, there would have been few people that could have predicted its progression to Lecherous Gaze and Zeta Reticuli Blues (Tee Pee). While the band still retain their attitude, the music took a radically different path, with the band more aptly describing it as ‘psycho-delic shred-tastic ultra-hyphened rock-punk heavy jams’. The album has a serious throwback sound, taking heavy inspirations anywhere from the rock n roll of the 50s to psychedelic rock and punk from the 60s and 70s, all tied together perfectly with the rasped vocals of Zaryan Zaidi.

The album opens on ‘End Rising’ diving straight into huge riffing with a distinctly retro sound. The myriad of influences ensure that each song has its own distinct sound, with ‘Animal Brain’ screaming Chuck Berry meets the Ramones, while ‘Zeta Reticuli Blues’ steps back for a hazy psychedelic Hendrix style instrumental. The music may dance between genres, but it’s Zaidis vocals that really highlight the straight up punk attitude to the music with his distinctly graveled tones.

While you could endlessly pick out and analyze the genres and painstakingly list each of the influences you’d be missing what this album is really about. The music is the culmination of decades of drug-fueled, mind-altering and downright sleazy musical endeavors. It is the lovechild of everyone from Motorhead to Black Flag to MC5. This is drinking and whisky music. This is trashed motels and vomit stained carpets. This is a record for those looking for a solid injection of partying straight back into punk.

8.0/10.0

 

Lecherous Gaze on Facebook

 

CAITLIN SMITH


Soul Rebels- Max Cavalera of Killer Be Killed

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Lightning can in fact strike twice. Perennially hard-working metal legend Max Cavalera has been a prolific writer and frequent collaborator, both in his for band Sepultura, but also in his other projects such as the long running Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy. Twenty years ago Max formed a partnership with Fudge Tunnel’s Alex Newport and Nailbomb was born. One of the best heavy albums ever, the true spirit of creativity and melding the styles of the artists involved. Along the same lines, but conscious of not repeating the past, Max has a new group in Killer Be Killed, featuring leaders of the heavy music scene like Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Troy Sanders of Mastodon, and Dave Elitch (ex-The Mars Volta) to create something truly unique, heavy, yet quite melodic. We caught up with Max by phone at his home in Arizona, and in the many times we have chatted with the man, he has rarely sounded this excited about a new project.

 

Several years in the making and now poised to come out, Killer Be Killed has been the buzz of the metal press for sometime yet. Max was positively jubilant discussing the album and the final results.

“I love how Killer Be Killed came out. I really love the blend of all the melody and thrash. I really love all the guys in the band, Troy, Greg, and Dave. We made the best record we could possibly make. Only a few times in life you get a chance to make a special album like Killer Be Killed. I love hearing all the great reviews coming in from all over, really great people are talking about it, and that the people really love the record. It’s really amazing to me that the album is getting this great praise, and I’m very excited for it.”

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Instantly noticeable upon hearing the album is how melodic the album is, without sacrificing any of the heaviness. We asked Max what the genesis of the sound was and if this element was pre-planned:

 

“It came naturally to us, but we really wanted it. You know Greg and me have a side to us that has, an attitude like Nailbomb, really really aggressive and we wanted it to keep it on the cutting edge of heavy music. So part of Killer Be Killed is a part that very fast, thrash and on cutting edge kind of vibe. The other influences that come from Mastodon and Dillinger Escape Plan. There are some vocal melodies and parts Greg singing his ass off on on this record, throwing on some of these really catchy choruses. Really beautiful, beautiful melodies. I don’t even think he does that kind of stuff in Dillinger. He did it especially for Killer Be Killed. Then Troy was just amazing man. He has such an amazing voice, with the parts he put on. It was so amazing. Even I was surprised at how great it was and I am so stoked for how the record came out.”

 

For all the deserved hype surrounding the big name guys coming together to make this record, Dave Elitch put down a brutal and classic performance on this album, almost like a secret weapon. Max weighed in on this: “Dave’s a great guy and a great drummer. He tore it up with (The) Mars Volta. I totally agree with you, he is really like the secret weapon of the band. He really shined on this recording as a killer drummer. Some of the fills he did were just unbelievable on this record. He really did some Dave Lombardo stuff. I so happy that he got to do that and he contributed that. It’s great to have someone who can play technical and fast. Dave can really do it all. It was super cool and really great having him in the band. He killed it!”

 

Even though Max purposefully wanted to evade any musical references to Nailbomb, aside from his own writing style, the KBK album does have a fire political angst running through it. We asked if the album was meant to be so forward and radical in its philosophy.

 

“There is a political side to the album, it’s very much against police brutality. Like ‘Setting Fire To Your Flag’ is very political. There is a song, ‘Forbidden Fire’, about kids in The Middle East who can not listen to metal. There is a level of a lot of political stuff that is similar to Nailbomb. Even how it started, the project started with ‘Face Down’, that was the first song we wrote for the record, and ‘Face Down’ is a Nailbomb type of song. And the second song we wrote I.E.D., is also Nailbomb type of song.”

 

“But what I think is cool is that Killer Be Killed is different than Nailbomb too, and has a different vibe. I think what is cool is that it is different than Nailbomb; there is a lot more melody. I am so glad that Killer Be Killed is its own thing. I didn’t want to just make another Nailbomb. Nailbomb was already done and I’m really proud that this album has its own set of values and its own sound, and its own identity, and is its own thing. It was very important to me.”

 

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Max is very fond of producing his own albums, so we were intrigued as to why he was comfortable handing the reigns over to someone else. Picking Josh Wilbur, whom Max had never worked with before, seemed to be a very inspired choice:

“Yeah was a great guy. You know he did a great job on the Gojira album and the Lamb of God records. He was a big guy in the studio for us. He is fan of all of ours. He was a huge Sepeultura fan, and he learned everything he knows from Andy Wallace, which is to me, he is really the master of production. He produced Chaos A.D. (Roadrunner). So Josh really came from that school. So to me working with Josh was like working with Andy, in the sonic field. I also think Josh took it very seriously, to make a really great record. He tried to get something really special out of all of us, who are very established musicians. Sometimes its hard to take established musicians and get something great out of them. It can be very hard to do. Sometimes you get lazy and you don’t really want to do a lot of the work to get the best out of it. Josh did that. He really drilled the work out of us. He somehow made everybody excited and get the best out of us, to make a great album. He got the best out of all of us: out of me, out of Greg, out out of Troy. At the end of the day it was the right choice to make the record with Josh. I think he did a fantastic job.”

 

“I love the sound of the record. Especially a lot of the rhythm guitar work. I wrote 80% of the rhythm guitars. And also I played most of the riffs on the album, on the recording. So I worked very hard on the writing of the record and the creation of the songs. I worked very hard with Josh to get the right sound.”

 

“You know I like to do it all. I like to produce my own stuff, and I also like to work with different producers. You can get really cool stuff from working with different producers. It was really important for this record to have a guy who can get stuff that you might not get naturally, and you need the right guy to get that out of you. And Josh was the right guy for it. “

 

Much has been talked about the punk-rock vibe and guerrilla style used to put the album together with, but Max demystified that idea a little and gave us a breakdown of how the album was really created:

 

“It was done in different phases. In the first phase it was just me and Greg, and we wrote some songs. Then where was a phase where it was just me and Dave, and we wrote some more songs. Then it was me, Greg, and Troy and we wrote even more songs! And then we entered the studio and we wrote more songs, and we used some of the old songs, and some of the stuff just came out in the studio. Like ‘Fire…’, it was born in the studio. And its got new stuff like ‘Robots…’, and ‘Forbidden Fire’ and ’12 Labors’… they are newer songs, that we gave the same treatment as the older songs. In the end, even though the album was made quite fast, when you hear the songs they sound quite elaborate. We worked for a long time on the record, much more than it seems like it really was.”

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In spite of the success of creating this special album, fans of KBK will have to wait until 2015 to see them live on a stage as a touring entity.

“Yeah, next year man. It’s going to have to be next year. Greg is on the road with Dillinger. Troy is on the road with Mastodon. I am going on tour with Korn in Russia. Next year we are all going to dedicate some time only for Kill or Be Kill, and try and get to play some of this music live for people.”

 

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KEITH (KEEFY) CHACHKES

 

 

 

 


Red Fang – The Shrine – Lord Dying: Live at Effenaar, Eindhoven NL

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This time we traveled to Eindhoven in the south of the Netherlands for a blasting show with Red Fang, The Shrine and Lord Dying. All three bands I got very stoked about, as soon I saw the flyer I knew I had to review this and share this epic moments with the audience. The weather was nice, and after sitting in the sun for a while we hopped into the venue. Three bands on a European tour, the day before they were in Belgium. Now they are all ours! Lets see what they have to give to us.

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First on stage was the foggy and swampy band Lord Dying, after bringing out their first album Summon the Faithless I was already totally excited to see this band perform. I was not disappointed. They give a blasting and amazingly energetic show that blew my mind. You not often see a band that clearly has defined influences, but are absolutely doing their own thing. Their music is very heavy, but definitely in the louder register, it just shouts headbanging all over the place. Good groovy riffs intertwine with well placed solo’s, a deep bass ,and some good old-fashioned feedback. The venue was already getting pretty full with bearded men and women (?) and beer was richly flowing. It was a good opener but I wouldn’t mind at all if they would play a little bit longer or had another spot on the bill. Maybe next time. It was way to early when this band was done playing. I was left wanting more.

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The Shrine was the second band and you can describe them as Motörhead if they would play stoner with a little hint of some old-school punk feeling. The music gives you a happy vibe and are not dragging at all, a downside of this sound is that it began to nag in my head after a few songs, but hey. As soon they start to play they immediately pulled the throttle and smashed a squishy, but swinging vibe in your face. The Shrine gives you strong and simple lyrics that are pretty easy to sing along with, what makes it kind of enjoyable. I have to give the bass player a +1 for the Rickenbacker by the way, it is not that often you see one. The Shrine is a pleasant band to listen to, but it is a bit simple. I wouldn’t mind seeing them again, but I think this band will have a better vibe in a smaller venue.

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And for the moment we were all be waiting for, Red Fang. We all know the album Whales and Leeches they came out with recently, and this definitely is the best material the band has made to date. I wasn’t the only one who thought about seeing this band tonight. The venue was pretty full at this time and you know you are doing good when the audience is completely smashed and are only shouting for more. Well, this exactly thing was happening at Red Fang. These bearded Portlanders are totally grooving all over the place and unstoppable. You can describe this band in very few words: awesome riffing and a huge feeling of groove. They really showed this time that they can totally enchant the audience and make them move all over the place. You could feel the heat and energy coming at you all over the place, a good thing if you ask me, since it is getting harder and harder to enjoy the Dutch audience. And for the seal on this review a little tip for the next time you are going to see Red Fang: hold on to your beards, things are going to get messed up!

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Words by Kaat Van Doremalen

Photos by Susanne A. Maathuis