December 22, 2005

Denali, the woefully short-lived project of frontwoman Maura Davis, guitarist Cam DiNunzio, and Engine Down members Jonathan Fuller (drums) and Keeley Davis (bass), have confirmed a release date for their long-awaited DVD, Pinnacle. The DVD, containing a 44-minute concert, videos for "Hold Your Breath" and "Relief," alternate live angles for "The Instinct" and "Normal Days,"...

Recent Punk Core Records signees the Scarred have announced the title and release date for their label debut. The album, titled No Solution, will be released on March 21, 2006, and is the follow-up to the street-punk trio's 2004 debut, Repression, which was released by Shogun77 Records. The band have a few scattered shows...

Pastepunk is reporting that Revelation Records post-hardcore/metal act Will Haven has reunited. The band, whose last release was 2001's Carpe Diem, have their reunion show scheduled for Jan. 14 at the Boardwalk in their hometown of Sacramento, California. After that, the group will head off on a U.K. tour with Crowbar this March [dates below]....

Various Artists We Reach: The Music Of The Melvins [2/5] While it’s doubtful that Fractured Transmitter intended it this way, the 18 covers on We Reach: The Music Of The Melvins confirm what some have long believed: Melvins’ early contribution to modern dirge metal is undeniable, but as a relevant, consistent force, the trio haven’t...

Earth Hex; Or Printing In The Infernal Method [4/5] As fans of this long-dormant Seattle band will tell you, it’s hard enough to believe there are already two new Earth albums out there, both of which are hypnotically rhythmic variations on the post-Black Sabbath drone of the band’s landmark, Earth2; but to get Hex; Or...

Depeche Mode Playing The Angel [4/5] Depeche Mode have been keeping their electronic pop fizzing for the better part of 30 years-around the half-life of the Rolling Stones’ livers, if you’re keeping tabs-and in the process, they’ve stayed more relevant than 60,000 bands described by socially retarded internet dweebs as “scene.” On Playing The Angel,...

Khanate Capture & Release [5/5] For all metal has done to build its own canon of lyric-sheets-as-horror-literature, you can count on one hand the bands that’ve shirked the safer inspirations of H.P. Lovecraft and Italian zombie movies for a leap straight into the abyss of psychopathy. Put more simply, if Mortician’s catalog is the Henry:...

Takk… [3/5] Depending on the scope of your cognitive abilities and attention span, Sigur Rôs’ brand of shapeshifting pop ambience is either hopelessly leaden or the soundtrack to your life. On their 2002 release, ( ), they achieved a level of transcendence with slow-motion guitars and keyboards, and singer Jón Birgisson’s high-pitched “Hopelandish” utterances, forcing...