“I’m the biggest Eyehategod fan I know, and sludge gets a bad rap. I get it: much like drone, if you just amp up the distortion to an 11/10 and know how to abuse the blues scale, you’ve got it made. Of course, there’s more nuance, like the need for facial hair, flannel, intoxicating substances, a shotgun, and some dark woods in the Deep South, but that’s just pedantic. My point is, you wouldn’t expect Crowbar-esque sludge from some dudes in New York, New York.” Empire expanding.
“Plague Years dole out Slayer grooves with hardcore vocals just like every other modern crossover band, but the beef levels have been turned up to 11 by down-tuning the guitars and adding some death metal elements. If Power Trip is the classic, lean and mean Greek god physique of crossover, Plague Years is the modern-day, steroid-saturated Mr. Olympia.” Circle of power.
“As a reviewer, it always feels good when you correctly identify a band’s influences. Hmm, I thought to myself upon first listening to The Third Kind‘s Man vs Earth debut, this kind of sounds like All Out War. It turns out there’s a good reason for that. Formed in 2015, Kind count All Out War guitarist Taras Apuzzo amongst their ranks, along with other members from a slew of New York hardcore bands.” Earth had it coming.
“Crossover thrash certainly seems to be making an honest effort to have its day in the sun lately. While it has existed since the early 80s and has had its loyal adherents ever since, the genre is suddenly teeming with new life. Bands like Power Trip, High Command, Enforced, and Red Death are capitalizing on the resurgence of interest in the style, and the results have been quite glorious.” Mob violence.
““First to betray / First to disobey / First to stand up / Against tyranny,” screams Sergio Amalfitano on the title track of ACxDC’s second full-length Satan Is King. Delivered in one breath and against a grindcore wall of seesawing guitars and hammering drum blasts, these first few verses are a distillation of the Los Angeles-based powerviolence quartet.” I’m gonna get you, Satan get you!
“Metalcore is controversial term with a broad meaning as evidenced by the fact that it can accurately be applied to any/all of Killswitch Engage, Converge, and The Dillinger Escape Plan. The meaning is so broad, in fact, that it’s essentially meaningless when used as a standalone genre tag.” Warcore.
“Bâ’a is an anonymous French black metal trio, and while pronunciation of the name remains unclear, their debut album Deus Qui Non Mentitur[ rips open the gates with stunning clarity in scorching tremolo, blastbeats, bass riffing, mammoth songwriting, morose atmosphere, and a fiery preacher for a vocalist.” Sheep becomes wolves.
“Normally we don’t review “mini-albums” here, but Collision’s The Final Kill thankfully slipped past the watchful eyes of the promo bin cadaver hounds – I suppose they were kept busy. The reason I decided to run headlong into this is because this is the Dutch band’s final release. I reviewed their oddly named Satanic Surgery a few years ago and didn’t give it a great score – or, honestly, even an okay one. Since we’re all stuck inside anyway, I figured why not shack up with The Final Kill, see the end of a movie that I started watching more than three-quarters through yet somehow found myself invested in.” Plagues make strange bedfellows.
“Loop of Yesterdays enters with a burly thrash riff that gives way in seconds to a lull of shady jazz chords. Two minutes later, Azusa are playing both at once. The record’s dichotomous approach spawns many such treasures, oddities that are hardly surprising considering the source. An Extol/The Dillinger Escape Plan supergroup could hardly produce a pedestrian sound.” The future is fleeting.
“Alright, stop me if you’ve heard this one. Strife, Saint Vitus and Glenn Danzig walk into a bar. Danzig orders an absinthe, Saint Vitus order beers and Strife order Shirley Temples. Bartender says, “You boys can stay, but the penguin has got to go.” Ahhh? Wait, did I mention the penguin in the setup? Let me start over. Strife, Saint V…or maybe it was Earth Crisis. Is it funnier if Earth Crisis, has a penguin?” These are the jokes, kids.
