From the swamps of Louisiana, legendary New Orleans sludgelords Crowbar return with another collection of songs so uncompromisingly heavy that each one arrives with its own gravitational pull. As entirely expected, Zero and Below (MNRK Heavy), the band’s twelfth full-length studio release pulls absolutely no punches, delivering even more high-quality riffage with the same single-minded determination that saw them smash their way onto the scene over thirty years ago.
Simply put: Allegaeon manifested 10 dizzying tracks of utter brilliance; gave (further) proof the band is profusely proficient as a whole and individually; and created a Technical Melodic Death Metal album packed with so much aggression and speed, it sounds like Monster fornicated with Red Bull.
Twenty-plus years into a career doing anything in the world might make you take your foot off the gas pedal, especially an industry as brutal as the music industry. However, Manitoba’s Comeback Kid continue to challenge themselves to keep refining their sound, and sharpening their focus over a series of releases. The bands’ new album Heavy Steps (Nuclear Blast/New Damage) shows the veteran band of the scene lifting up the rest of us up with defiant music set on highlighting what makes life worth fighting for. uniting us.
If you are missing some new Thrash Metal then I would gladly invite you to give the new album from Bay Area Thrashers Infex a listen. I came into this review with no idea at all who Infex was, but now I know! This album is in a word, thrashtastic. I love to write about a band that’s all about riffage and crafting around said riff. This album took me back to when I was playing in a “Threath band” (thrash/death metal), a term coined by my former singer.
Late 2020, the somber Seattle slayers of Sun Crow released their debut album, Quest For Oblivion. Though Ghost Cult missed the initial release, we’re happily taking advantage of the album’s re-release on Ripple Music. It’s no surprise the record topped doom charts, as it’s a perfect showcase of doom and gloom mastery.
Long established as one of the greatest live acts on Earth, Amenra has also always had great, purposeful albums with heady concepts. Following their Mass titled albums I through VI, released over fourteen years, the band has rebirthed itself into a new final form. De Doorn begins their association with the mighty Relapse Records, continuously the arbiter of good taste for extreme music. From epic post-Metal, pastoral Folk motifs, moody post-Rock moments, to wicked eruptions of pain and grief stricken movements; Amenra’s music simultaneously feeds the brain and soul.
After a year and change of no live shows, every single band on the planet has got to adapt themselves into the world of live streaming. The few live stream concerts I’ve seen have portrayed each band’s unique style and vision, but none as bizarre as The Melvins’ Volume 3: Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! which aired last Saturday, May 1st. The complete show is exactly what you would expect from this legendary band. The live stream started with acoustic versions of ‘Dark Brown Teeth’, a King Buzzo cover, and ‘Up The Dumper’. The most interesting and funny aspect of this particular live stream is that it felt like you were hanging out with the band in between songs. Each transition from song to song had a small interview that started with the whole band, then with Buzz Osborne, followed by Steven McDonald, and finishing with Dale Crover. Each interview featured hilarious stories of the band and their lives that covered the usage of masks to, of course, weed. The overall performance of the band was superb with a sound the sound quality you would expect from a band like The Melvins and the visuals were in the more psychedelic side that went along well with each of the played tracks. Overall this was a fun and refreshing way of conducting a live stream event and one that only sets up for the upcoming return of live shows.Continue reading
Fear Factory, by Melina D Photography
Fear Factory has shared a video teaser for upcoming single “Disruptor” and revealed the art work for new album Aggression Continuum due out this year via Nuclear Blast Records. Last week,, Dino Cazares has posted a snippet of him playing “Disruptor.” Watch a teaser for the “Disruptor” video created by Finland’s Riivata Visuals below. Also available is the “Aggression Continuum” cover art, designed by Light The Torch guitarist Francesco Artusato. Cazares has been posting a lot on Twitter to stay in touch with his fans, and we are likely to learn the identity of the new vocalist for the band next week as well, replacing Burton C. Bell, who announced his departure from the group after thirty years last month.
Of all the bands on the Gothic Rock/Heavy Metal fusion bandwagon, Poltergeist may be the most committed to those Post-Punk aesthetics. The style on their third EP remains closer to Joy Division than Judas Priest with a heavy emphasis on chilling synths, stiff bass-heavy rhythms, and disinterested vampiric baritones. This is especially true on the first two tracks as the opening ‘Electricity’ goes full Synthwave and ‘Through Clouded Eyes’ follows it up in ominously subdued fashion.
Fear Factory, by Melina D Photography
In a new video announcement to social media, Fear Factory has announced a new album Aggression Continuum due out this year via Nuclear Blast Records. Last week,, Dino Cazares has posted a snippet of him playing a new song, now dubbed “Disruptor.” Cazares has been posting a lot on Twitter to stay in touch with his fans, and we are likely to learn the identity of the new vocalist for the band next week as well, replacing Burton C. Bell, who announced his departure from the group after thirty years last month.