Nearly thirty years of diving headfirst into the void, and Church of Misery are back with Tatsu Mikami once more giving worship to the Blackest of Sabbath’s, acolyte to ‘The Riff’ and servant to the retro groove once more on Born Under A Mad Sign (Rise Above). Joined once again after a twenty-five-year absence by original vocalist Kazuhiro Asaeda, there is a fine sense of anticipation about the Japanese doom merchants seventh full-length.
For more than a decade, music fans have gathered at the Junebug Boogie Ranch in Cookeville, Tennessee for the Muddy Roots Festival. An aggressively DIY event, Muddy Roots celebrates Punk, Roots, Metal, Folk, and just about everything in between.Continue reading
Clutch, the irrepressible quartet from Maryland, America have just graced our ears with a new record Sunrise On Slaughter Beach (Weathermarker) – their thirteenth record, coming four years after Book Of Bad Decisions. It is unmistakably a Clutch album, full of hearty riffs and deft turns of phrase, but it is a shorter and more varied one than its predecessor.
Never a country to be worried about being viewed as a bit strange, Japan has always enjoyed a rich history of unnaturally jarring cultural opposites. For every Spirited Away, Rashomon or Ponyo there’s a Battle Royale, Suicide Club, or Tokyo Gore Police, and for every bouncy and sickeningly wholesome J-Pop band there’s a Corrupted, Bathtub Shitter, and Flagitious Idiosyncrasy in the Dilapidation.Continue reading
Corey Taylor – CMFB…sides (Roadrunner)
Say what you like about Slipknot / Stone Sour vocalist Corey Taylor, whose ubiquity and happiness to share his thoughts on any and every subject put before him may well have contributed to his divisive standing, his love of music and willingness to represent the full spectrum of his tastes in his output is to be admired. And, while relentless touring may have previously restrained the recorded output, making the most of the opportunity to spend more time in the studio, the past couple of years have seen a rawkier debut solo record, and this sister piece.
Lucifer – Lucifer IV
With Lucifer releasing albums of a consistent style at a workman’s pace, it’s easy to overlook the underlying trajectory that’s been gradually in motion. There’s not much of those Occult Doom roots left on Lucifer IV (Century Media Records) as the band has seemingly completed their transformation from female-fronted Uncle Acid to what sounds like Karen Carpenter singing over KISS riffs. Fortunately, it’s hardly a drastic change as Johanna Sadonis’ sultry croon and the freerolling grooves remain as common denominators.Continue reading
It’s fair to say that Kal-El’s fifth full-length is easily their most elaborate outing yet. The Norwegian quartet’s previous efforts have presented their brand of Stoner Metal with an increasingly spacy edge that seemed to peak with 2019’s Witches Of Mars. However, Dark Majesty (Majestic Mountain Records) sees the last signs of restraint fade into the ether; its eight tracks reach sprawling eight to ten-minute lengths that culminate to an hour-long experience, far eclipsing the runtime of albums past.
Stoner-Doom royalty Nick Oliveri (Mondo Generator, Stoner, Dwarves, Death Machine, ex- Kyuss, Queens of The Stone Age) will release a new album, N.O. Hits At All Volume 7 compilation on Heavy Psych Sounds, July 2nd. Jam out to “I Am Your Sun” right now.
Following up a breakthrough album, such as Boss Keloid’s last opus Melted On The Inch (Holy Roar) which finished at #4 in Ghost Cult’s Album of the Year poll in 2018, is a challenging proposition. Stray too far from the magic formula and you risk undoing that giant stride taken forwards (even without being a band that has always taken efforts to ensure development and evolution of their sound is a given); repeat the previous approach and accusations of diminishing returns, or playing it safe, abound along with an invariably inferior product. Continue reading
Shows are starting to come back as both the pandemic is lessening vaccination rates are going up, as well as bands and fans have the desperate itch to rock out again. As long as it continues to be safe, we’ll see more socially distanced smaller gigs and even bigger theater shows and festivals start happening. One such return to the stage was Crowbar who performed a pair of shows near their hometown of New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Southport Music Hall. The band played some crushing classics as they get tight for more live demonstrations of their power soon. They were even joined by former band member Sammy Duet of Goatwhore! n their way to releasing new music later this year or early next year via eOne Music. Check out this photo set from Evil Robb Photography who was there in person to document the night!