Nirvana

Idiot Robot – Anti Pop Culture Review

Idiot Robot – Anti Pop Culture Review

By Saunders on March 14, 2024 in Reviews, 32 comments

“Perusing the promo sump, I stumbled across Idiot Robot, intrigued by the grunge tag they were saddled with. Being an avid fan of the ’80’s/’90’s grunge scene, Seattle rock movement and ’90’s alt-rock in general, I’m a sucker for this shit. Hell, even 2023’s Somnuri album, which kicked endless arse, sealed my love with its earwormy grunge hooks and melodies. Under closer investigation, I realized our resident spongey friend Kenstrosity reviewed the Floridian duo’s self-titled debut album in 2020, where despite endearing elements of nostalgia, the end result was something akin to a dumpster fire. Nearly four years have passed, and everyone has room for improvement, right?” Robot problems.

Rosy Finch – Scarlet Review

Rosy Finch – Scarlet Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on March 9, 2020 in 2020, Discos Macarras, LaRubia Producciones, Lay Bare Recordings, Reviews, Sludge, Spanish Metal, Spinda Records, Stoner Metal, Sludge, Stoner Metal, 37 comments

“The hallway that led to my office in grad school was red. Both walls. I shit you not. To make matters worse the hellish tunnel narrowed as you approached its end—where, to no one’s surprise, you could find my office. Trust me when I tell you that five years of red walls can fuck with a person. Like grad schools, animals also use the color red to ward off people. Red can represent everything from lovers to the most gruesome of deaths. And Spain’s grrrl sludge group, Rosy Finch, is every bit as varying in its topics and delivery. With artwork that looks as though poor Carrie got it again, this is Scarlet.” Red is a slow color.

Quayde LaHüe – Love out of Darkness Review

Quayde LaHüe – Love out of Darkness Review

By Holdeneye on November 22, 2019 in 2019, Adult Fantasy Records, American Metal, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, K Records, Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, 26 comments

“I was saddened to learn that by skipping the first day of Eliminator Fest, I’d missed a performance by the band that I find myself covering today: Olympia, Washington’s Quayde LaHüe. After spending time with their debut album Love out of Darkness, I’m vowing to catch them live at some point, because these guys and gal kick some serious olde school ass.” Love in a dark place.

Elder – Reflections of a Floating World Review

Elder – Reflections of a Floating World Review

By Dr. Wvrm on June 5, 2017 in 2017, American Metal, Armageddon Label, Progressive Metal, Reviews, Stickman Records, Stoner Metal, Progressive Metal, Stoner Metal, 89 comments

“Every so often, an album comes out of nowhere and truck sticks you into next Tuesday. Elder’s 2015 opus Lore did that for me. Their complex brand of New England stoner metal featured the right amount of proggy psych stylings to land in my personal Top Ten. Lore has been a constant friend these last two years, and I expected that topping it would be tough, given its lofty heights and incredible riffcraft. Leave it to Reflections of a Floating World to prove me so incredibly wrong.” Respect your Elder.

Område – Nåde Review

Område – Nåde Review

By Dr. A.N. Grier on May 28, 2017 in 2017, Avante Garde, Electronica Metal, French Metal, My Kingdom Music, Reviews, Avante Garde, Electronica Metal, 47 comments

“Well, Område have done it again. Two years ago, I opened their Edari review talking about the marriage of an album to its artwork. What seems simplistic turns out to quite difficult. Finding the right artist and the right piece of art to match an album’s character is like food presentation. For instance, if not careful, you’ll turn your entire family against your amazing chili dogs. I thought the artwork of Område’s debut was the perfect match to its sound, but Nåde takes the cake (or, in this case, a foot-long chili coney).” Of trippy music and penis-shaped meats.

90s Metal Weirdness: Bruce Dickinson – Skunkworks

90s Metal Weirdness: Bruce Dickinson – Skunkworks

By Dr. Fisting on January 26, 2015 in 90s Metal Weirdness, Blog Posts, English Metal, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal, 34 comments

“Cast your minds back to a time when metal music was not cool. Nay, indeed, a time when metal was anathema to all that was considered to be “chic” and “in.” A time when your favorite bands were actually encouraged by the music industry to play slower, cut their hair, and write sensitive lyrics about their childhoods. Yes, this unfortunately really happened. Our new semi-irregular feature “90s Metal Weirdness” focuses on albums released between 1992 and 2001 and which we all probably would rather forget. But in the service of publicly shaming the musicians involved, we have pushed forward.” And how dare we accuse the Crown Prince of NWoBHM of weirdness? Oh, we dare, but it’s all very British and polite like.

Indefensible Positions: Steel Druhm Defends Stomp 442

Indefensible Positions: Steel Druhm Defends Stomp 442

By Steel Druhm on February 5, 2014 in Blog Posts, Indefensible Positions, 20 comments

Every once in a while the metal scene collectively pisses on a band or record and someone needs to step up and defend why they like it. I normally don’t spend a lot of time defending shitty records, but sometimes genuinely interesting or good records get lampooned by an overly conservative heavy metal scene and that calls for a professional contrarian to defend it! If ever there was a professional contrarian, it would be me. So here I am to re-hash a record from my past that I still love that everyone else seems to have soured on (or never liked in the first place). This time it’s Stomp 442 by Anthrax.