June 2, 2008

Warbringer War Without End [4/5] The thrash revival is in full–well, “swing” isn’t the word for music this head-down and full-speed, but it’s going strong, with bands across the globe cranking out the palm-muted riffs their forefathers played at the dawn of the ’80s. Los Angeles’ Warbringer aren’t as explicitly retro as Fueled By Fire,...

Vverevvolf Grehv Zombie Aesthetics [2/5] On paper, at least, it seems like an interesting idea: Guitarist Dapose of Omaha, Nebraska, nü-new-wavers the Faint creates a death-metal-inspired electronica record with nothing more than six strings and a laptop, incorporating the phantasmagoric version of the band-moniker animal du jour, and releases the digitized corpse via indie-metal powerhouse...

On A Pale Horse A Generation Of Vipers [2.5/5] On A Pale Horse, who formed in 2003 and released one album prior to (the overlong) A Generation Of Vipers, are being hyped with “ex-members of Slipknot” fanfare, but in reality, who cares? Take this band for what they are: An entirely separate entity taking a...

Hermano …Into The Exam Room [3.5/5] Kyuss, for all their greasy, sand-in-the-gears riffage, were one of the smartest bands in rock history-if the projects their various ex-members have initiated ex post facto are any indication. Former Kyuss drummer Brant Bjork’s deceptively simple albums under his own name, as well as the new wave-tinged Brant Bjork...

Gwen Stacy The Life I Know [1.5/5] Gwen Stacy partake in the most overly dull and generic modern metalcore practices so well, they make Avenged Sevenfold seem like progressive luminaries. After so many good cop/bad cop vocal interrogations, incredibly tedious breakdowns and egregiously constructed riffs, you’re merely left wondering what sort of royalties From Autumn...

Dub Trio Another Sound Is Dying [4/5] Just as Refused turned aggressive rock music on its ear with The Shape Of Punk To Come, so follows the intoxicating formula of Dub Trio’s third album, Another Sound Is Dying. The otherworldly coupling of droning guitars, punishing skin work and healthy inflections of dub snare accents catapult...

Dead To Fall Are You Serious? [3.5/5] It’s not just the hellfire riffage and vocalist Jonathan Hunt’s terrifying gurgle that make Are You Serious? one of 2008’s essential headbangers. It’s that Dead To Fall are unpretentious enough to kick off the record with a song called “Stupid?” in which they adopt the persona of a...

Vampire Weekend Vampire Weekend [3.5/5] New York City’s music scene tends to live in a bubble, and with the exception of a few breakout acts (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio), most of the time the buzz on a band has already cooled by the time they make it to the Midwest. Hopefully that...

These United States A Picture Of The Three Of Us At The Gate To The Garden Of Eden [4/5] A Washington, D.C.-based singer/songwriter described as a “gonzo-journalist-turned-troubador,” Jesse Elliott is destined for indie-rock deity status. Mark our words. We see a lofty Metacritic rating, collabs with Devendra Banhart and numerous Bob Dylan (or at least...