Neil Young

Oceanlord – Kingdom Cold Review

Oceanlord – Kingdom Cold Review

“For someone who holds all forms of doom metal in high esteem, I must admit I’ve struggled to connect with anything of the stoner/psych variety ever since Italy’s Ufomammut put their amp fuzz out to pasture a few years back. As the oldest of all metal forms, predictability is baked into its very DNA. No matter how full of piss and vinegar a young band may be, if they play stoner doom, they fight the perceptions of a tired genre.” Tides aturning.

The Vagaband – Beautiful World Review

The Vagaband – Beautiful World Review

“I was given an unexpected shipment of lemons when I picked up The Vagaband’s fourth LP, Beautiful World, mistakenly labeled by our promo overlords as “Gothic Folk.” Turns out, there’s not a lick of metal—and only a hint of gothic—to be found on Beautiful World, but there’s a helluva lot of folk. With a brave heart and an uncertain spirit, I ventured forth despite the total lack of blog relevance possessed by these songs. Maybe I could make a nice, refreshing pitcher of lemonade out of this after all?” Beautiful accidents.

Lord Buffalo – Tohu Wa Bohu Review

Lord Buffalo – Tohu Wa Bohu Review

Tohu Wa Bohu, a Hebrew phrase found in Genesis describing the Earth as “formless and empty” before the creation of light, is the second album from this Texan quartet, and it’s chock full of earthy darkness. First track “Raziel” creaks into the world sounding like a lost track from Nick Cave and Warren EllisThe Proposition soundtrack crossed with Low Estate era 16 Horsepower.” Lost in Americana.

Today is the Day – No Good to Anyone Review

Today is the Day – No Good to Anyone Review

“Steve Austin personifies the definition of the word “driven.” For 30 years, as the vocalist, guitarist, and mastermind of Maine’s Today is the Day, Austin had to deal with homelessness, abandonment, and the ever-changing and fickle nature of the music business. In doing so, he’s crafted such amazing albums like In the Eyes of God and Yer Metal is Olde inductee Temple of the Morning Star, becoming one of underground noise-rock and metal’s endearing and enduring heroes. “Enduring” is a mild understatement.” Music to persevere with.

Yer Metal Is Olde: Kiss – Love Gun

Yer Metal Is Olde: Kiss – Love Gun

“August 1977. A small boy is on vacation in the Big City with his family — once a year they make the eight-hour drive, to buy new corduroy pants and wide-striped shirts. But that’s not what is exciting the boy today in the shopping mall. He spent the summer picking bottles in the alleyways of his hometown and managed to save up seven dollars. And now he was in a record store, staring at a display on the wall that he could hardly get over. He knew he was looking at a record — after all, his parents had plenty of albums, from Neil Young to Engelbert Humperdinck — but he had never seen one that also looked like a comic book. And the price on it was $6.98: he had to have this.” Love is a battlefield, Kiss is the army.

Prong – Songs From The Black Hole Review

Prong – Songs From The Black Hole Review

“Being a Prong fan can be a confusing exercise in cognitive dissonance. I am acutely aware of their many musical shortcomings, and yet I keep coming back for the awesome riffs and mosh-worthy aggression. The band’s track record with other people’s songs is pretty bizarre, and when I saw the tracklist for their covers album Songs From The Black Hole, my initial reaction was equal parts glee and dread. This has the potential to either be fucking awesome, or hilariously bad.” Read along as Mr. Fisting attacks the black hole that is an album of cover tunes by Prong.

Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II Review

Earth – Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II Review

To those in the know, the arrival of a new Earth record comes with a lot of baggage, mostly due to bandleader Dylan Carlson’s well-known personal struggles and his infamous role in Kurt Cobain’s untimely demise. More significantly, there’s the fact that Earth’s recent output is surprisingly laid back, and bears almost no resemblance to their pioneering doom-drone works of the ’90s. Old-school Earth fans can forgive Carlson for giving Kurt that shotgun, but they cannot abide by this mellow hippie shit, man. So with the release of Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light II, the question becomes: will Carlson a) give the people what they want, or b) continue with the current musical direction, unencumbered by giving a fuck about what people think?