ALBUM REVIEW: Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds – Wild God


It can not be said that Nick Cave’s career has not aged gracefully. Sure, The Birthday Party feels like another life, but with each album released in the past two decades, Cave has successfully moved towards filling the gap Leonard Cohen’s death would leave. Wild God (Play it Again Sam) continues to uphold his legacy while carrying the hopeful shimmer of a life not met with the kind of tragedy Cave has known. After the death of his son, he is moving past the kind of grief that haunted some of his more recent work. Even at 66 years old, Nick’s vocals have held up, even if the title track is more spoken than sung.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Kingcrow – Hopium


Hailing from Rome and with a name inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s poem Raven is Kingcrow, after a six-year gap between albums they are back with Hopium (Season of Mist). Theirs is an emotive brand of Prog Rock but the Metal of the previous album The Persistence, has been dialled down with atmospheric, ambient, Electronic, and Alt Rock elements playing a larger part. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Malconfort – Humanism


In a world where you can never keep on top of everything being released, we can be pretty confident that there isn’t anything else in 2024 quite like Malconfort and the band’s debut, Humanism (Transcending Obscurity Records).Continue reading


Season Three of “The Bear” Features Nine Inch Nails, Beastie Boys, Refused, Smashing Pumpkins, James, Radiohead, and More


Season three of the acclaimed FX/Hulu show The Bear is streaming all of its episodes. The series, set in the world of restaurants and chefs in Chicago has always had excellent music and this season is no different. The new episodes feature songs from Nine Inch Nails (and several tracks by Oscar winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross), Beastie Boys, Refused, Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Taylor Swift (a repeat artist over three seasons), Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, The Rolling Stones, Kate Bush, and more. Starring Jeremy Allen White (Shameless, star of the upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic), and also counts celebrity cher and Hardcore Metalhead Matty Matheson in the cast as well.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


ALBUM REVIEW: Sundrifter – An Earlier Time


Small Stone Recordings, which is famous for the renowned Acid King and Wo Fat listed in their roster, sure got their thing going by releasing An Earlier Time (Small Stone Records), the third studio album of none other than Sundrifter. Having been around since 2012, the Boston-based desert rock trio has left significant marks through their 2016 debut Not Coming Back, and their 2019 sophomore album Visitations. They have also shared stages with a wide range of fellow heavy psychedelic units, King Buffalo and GozuContinue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: ZAHN – Adria


 

German instrumental three-piece ZAHN (featuring members of Einstürzende Neubauten and Heads) combines musical elements that might seem strange on paper, but make perfect sense on record. 

Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Svalbard – The Weight Of The Mask


 

I’ve been looking forward to wrapping my ears around Svalbard’s new material after catching snippets of what was to come when I caught them live supporting Russian Circles and Cult Of Luna over in Berlin earlier in 2023. And landing that European tour signified a fine start to a year which has also seen the Bristol based band sign for Nuclear Blast Records, with The Weight Of The Mask their first album for the prestigious new label and their first collection of new songs since the excellent When I Die, Will I Get Better? which was released on Church Road Records back in 2020. 

Continue reading


Svalbard Shares a New Single and Video “Faking It” – New Album Incoming


UK Blackend Death Metal band Svalbard are proud to announce their ardently anticipated new studio album, The Weight Of The Mask, due out on October 6th via Nuclear Blast Records. White-hot new single ‘Faking It’ has also been revealed, accompanied by a video. The track lays bare a poignant, candid account of dealing with depression and coming to the realization that you are “faking it” to just get by. Watch the video now and pre-order the album at the links below. 

Continue reading