It’s been a logical progression from the bong-laden wonderment of REZN’s 2017 debut to the band’s newest effort Burden (Sargent House), which finds Chicago’s sonic sorcerers expanding their minds and sound, with their newest offering feeling darker than previous offerings, though in a more hazy moonlit laced with a dopamine deficit-induced depression fashion, as the mood to the underlying themes. Continue reading
Come on, you know what this is. A band shows up with a name like Mutilation Barbecue with an album titled Amalgamations of Gore (Maggot Stomp Records)and you know the Green Day crowd’s ears perked up. This will be the talk of the town on TikTok or wherever else annoying teenagers congregate and commiserate about missing out on Hawthorne Heights’ day in the sun. Hell, this one may even make the playlist at your local Starbucks. You just get a feeling, you know. Continue reading
Covering Slayer is a tricky business. Many bands have tried and failed, and despite displaying obvious reverence to the Californian Thrash legends, only a handful have ever really been able to do real justice to the source material. And of those, it’s the ones who arrive from left field that remain in the memory the most.
From Finnish cellists Apocalyptica to LA rap-metallers Body Count, it’s US singer/pianist Tori Amos who produced arguably the most innovative cross-genre take back in 2001 when she gave the world a very different version of “Raining Blood”. And now it’s the turn of Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch, the stoner metal legend getting the idea after teaching a student how to play “South of Heaven” in a different tuning and, well… Slower.Continue reading
Talent-wise, the sisters of ALT BLK ERA are well beyond their years even if lyrically, it’s just about as cringe-worthy as anyone’s high school diary. Hearing the “nobody understands me” cliche from actual teenagers instead of balding middle-aged men trying for a new demo is a very refreshing change, though!
Most of the world is oblivious to the fact nuclear war is closer to reality now than it was during the Cold War. Thus the increasing need for music that taps into the subconscious to remind us of the grim future looming. 3TEETH’s fourth album “EndEx” (Century Media) has all the End Times anxiety you want. The Los Angeles-based band remains consistent in their sonic vision. They work off of industrial strength grooves to pump the lifeblood of their sound to these songs.
So I went viral on TikTok over the weekend. I know you’re probably tired of me writing about TikTok, but going up 900 followers over the course of a weekend ain’t nothing to sneeze at. So I wanted to break down for you some of how I did that and what I learned in the process.
For the first time in 34 years, there will be no SXSW Festival. After an order by the city of Austin Texas, the festival announced its cancellation over fears from the growing outbreak of the Coronavirus. Many key sponsors and artists had already pulled out. As reported by AdWeek, the event typically draws more than 400,000 attendees and in 2019 brought and added $350M to Austin’s economy. Attendance last year topped 417,400 across all events.Continue reading