Foo Fighters

Dust Bolt – Sound & Fury Review

Dust Bolt – Sound & Fury Review

“As we’ve discussed countless times, the dreaded pandemic affected many bands and their music. In Dust Bolt’s case, the band decided to take that time away from record labels, concerts, and the noise of the business to rediscover themselves. The result is a reinvigoration, bringing back the excitement the band had when they first broke out on the scene. Brace yourselves.” Dust or bust.

Transit Method – Othervoid Review

Transit Method – Othervoid Review

Transit Method delivers to us their newest amplified declaration, Othervoid. And it’s prog! Is that not what you expected? Truthfully, Othervoid carries prog rock that reminds me of stuff that doesn’t necessarily qualify as the most heady music—less 70s Rush and more 90s Rush if you catch my drift.” Mass prog transit.

American Anymen – Cities Changing Names Review

American Anymen – Cities Changing Names Review

“We’re no stranger to bands who claim more sub-genres than they have members (or fans). You’ll routinely see tags for things like “symphonic doom” and “blackened death” and “hardcore Viking sludge.” It’s also not surprising when musicians change course from one album to the next. We’ve all perused reviews about a band with an established sound veering off into wildly new directions. Really, adding new sub-genres seems to come with the territory. But what happens when a non-metal band takes a running leap into the dark side? Such is the case with New York-based act American Anymen, a group that, up until very recently, played a vitriolic form of anti-folk on a slew of singles, EPs, splits and one full-length. Now, it appears they’ve leapt headlong into the metal game with Cities Changing Names.” Duct tape-core.

Duel – In Carne Persona Review

Duel – In Carne Persona Review

“Hailing from Austin, Texas, Duel have spent their relatively short lifespan building a strong body of work in the stoner/doom metal/rock style. In Carne Persona is the band’s fourth full-length album since 2016 and follows in the footsteps of 2019’s strong effort, Valley of Shadows. Take a whiff of Duel’s sound, and you’ll detect notes of pure doom in the tradition of Sabbath mixed with the melodic sensibilities of Thin Lizzy and the creepy, doomy rock of Danzig.” Flavored stones.

Doctor Smoke – Dreamers and the Dead Review

Doctor Smoke – Dreamers and the Dead Review

Ghost created quite the marketable niche for themselves when they introduced the whole “faceless ghouls and demon Pope paying homage to Blue Oyster Cult and Mercyful Fate” schtick. It shouldn’t have worked as well as it did, but their notoriety speaks for itself. Other bands tried similar recipes with varying degrees of success but none came close to capturing the secret ingredients in Ghost’s unholy special sauce. Ohio-based Doctor Smoke aren’t trying to ape those nameless ghouls so much as borrow the best parts of their sound to season their own proprietary slurry composed of hair metal, hard rock, NWoBHM, and a vague Foo Fighters appreciation.” Smoky bones and Ghost loans.

Blackballed – Elephant in the Room Review

Blackballed – Elephant in the Room Review

“Standing on my shelf next to other “non-metal” records, like Captain Beyond, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits, Waylon Jennings, Blue Öyster Cult, and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, you’ll find albums from B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Joe Bonamassa, Robert Johnson, and John Lee Hooker. Am I trying to say I’m an expert in the field? Heavens, no. But this would explain my odd selection of (typically) straight-forward, go-nowhere blues/hard rock promos for review. And here’s yet another.” Blues balls.

Josh Todd and the Conflict – Year of the Tiger Review

Josh Todd and the Conflict – Year of the Tiger Review

“Hard rock not-quites Buckcherry were never really that important a band, releasing one popular song that was vulgar, catchy, and immensely irritating. I was surprised, then, when frontman Josh Todd formed Josh Todd and the Conflict (hereafter JTC) and released their debut record Year of the Tiger.” Conflicted.

Wailin Storms – One Foot in the Flesh Grave Review

Wailin Storms – One Foot in the Flesh Grave Review

One Foot in the Flesh Grave’s take on doom punk and swamp rock is just the kind of experience I was hoping for. Formed in the cruel, unrelenting heat of Corpus Christi (Texas), Wailin Storms must have quickly realized that to stand out, their sound needed more than just the country and rockabilly twang they were being exposed to.” Music for misfits and serial killers.

Newsted – Heavy Metal Music Review

Newsted – Heavy Metal Music Review

“By now most of you are familiar with the dysfunctional soap opera that led Jason Newsted to jump ship from Metallica prior to their execrable St. Anger album. Anyone who watched the shockumentary Some Kind of Monster can see why he bailed and most probably wonder why he didn’t beat copious amounts of Danish ass and kick over the Hetfield Table™ on his way out the door. Since his exodus, Jason has shown himself to be a productive and versatile musician’s musician, recording with Voivod, playing with Ozzy Osbourne, keeping his Echobrain project running and finding time to launch his eponymous solo project Newsted.” Jason Newsted has this solo thing going on and finally released the debut album. Steel Druhm gives you the lowdown as Lars and James download it illegally out of spite.