May 28, 2008

Steve Moore The Henge [3.5/5] Do you have a long attention span and an insatiable appetite for thickly layered analog synthesizers? Do you not scrunch up your face in disgust upon hearing the term “prog rock”? Do you like to ingest things that alter your perception of reality? Yes? Then you may find Steve Moore’s...

Hey Willpower P.D.A. [1.5/5] On paper, Hey Willpower’s full-length debut should be a non-stop party. After all, the duo is Will Schwartz of Imperial Teen-a sugary indie-rock band known for their shimmy-shimmy-shaking-and Tomo Yasuda of Tussle, the San Francisco-based percussion-heavy dance-funk group. But P.D.A.’s retro-electro and ’80s-era hip-hop jams forget the first rule of pop...

Bonde Do Role Marina Gasolina EP [2/5] Who knew that Rio De Janeiro was so louco for hair-metal power chords, hip-hop chants and Casio percussion? Bonde Do Role offer a Brazilian bomb of dirty Portuguese raps just shy of blush-worthy on top of a “totally 80’s” pastiche. It’s like listening to competing car systems down...

Sworn Enemy Maniacal [3/5] If nothing else, the Queens, New York-bred metalcore quintet Sworn Enemy do a fine job expounding upon their influences. For Maniacal, their third release, SE cook up an impressively thick stew of classic ’80s Bay Area thrash metal and textbook, mosh-centric NYHC. Thankfully those influences are impeccable-Maniacal is a face-smashing collision...

Shipwreck A.D. Abyss [3.5/5] Shipwreck A.D.’s Abyss is an extraordinary case of a metallic hardcore band channeling acts like Integrity and Cro-Mags while maintaining some actual integrity and foregoing the Cro-Magnon attitudes. Through brute strength, pounding rhythms and a purely ugly, menacing recording, Abyss follows its narrator’s literal course from the bottom of the ocean...

Pulling Teeth Martyr Immortal [4/5] The nonconformist subject matter on Martyr Immortal details Pulling Teeth’s disgust with mankind’s insatiable greed and consumerism and status-quo complacency. It’s the stuff that will tickle the fancy of many a misanthrope, considering the brutal and oppressive crusty hardcore punk that envelops the disc. Among harsh, crazed blasts like “Ashes...

The Ocean Precambrian [3.5/5] Ambitious and epic, dense and orchestral, the latest album from Germany’s premier thinking man’s metal collective the Ocean features a dizzying array of musical and vocal styles, from Mastodonian prog jags and Fear Factory jackhammer blasts to ethereal electronics and florid classical instrumentation-as well as a dozen vocalists, including Caleb Scofield...

Envy Abyssal EP [4/5] There are certain words often used when describing the type of music instrumental acts play, such as “orchestral,” “cathartic” and “cinematic.” While all of these adjectives are often accurate, over time they become hollow-and, to be honest, there isn’t an adjective in the English language that can accurately describe the emotional...

ASG Win Us Over [4/5] ASG’s latest endeavor, Win Us Over, is a finely crafted follow-up to the thrilling Feeling Good Is Good Enough. Though there might not be anything on the scale of that album’s “Horse Whipper,” Win shows the North Carolina-based band still brandish the rock despite taking down the wildness that drenched...