February 3, 2009

Dr. Dog Fate [3.5/5] Since their debut album Easy Beat was released in 2004, the overwhelming stigma with Dr. Dog is their uncanny likeness to a certain legendary Fab Four conglomerate from Liverpool. Boasting fluffy pop harmonies alongside pseudo-’60s psychedelia, Dr. Dog’s contributions to modern music aren’t readily apparent; they simply conjure the feel-good temperament...

With Dead Hands Rising Expect Hell [2.5/5] With Dead Hands Rising’s melodic-death riffs-in conjunction with singer Burke VanRaalte’s vowel-intensive surname-suggest Swedish origins. Instead, the group’s members hail from Minneapolis where they’ve spent the past four years tinkering with metalcore alchemy. On Expect Hell, the quintet ration their breakdowns, serving a few hearty chugs but never...

Spitfire Cult Fiction [4/5] Spitfire’s Cult Fiction depicts an ugly world, with clamorous guitars ringing like sirens. The metallic din and harsh lyrics collaboratively conjure grotesque images: When Jon Spencer shrieks about raw meat, distorted riffs buzz around his words like insect swarms drawn to the carrion. The former Scarlet frontman also waxes apoplectic about...

Soulfly Conquer [4.5/5] Reuniting with his skin-bashing brother Iggor for the Cavalera Conspiracy earlier this year must have launched a red-hot dart up Max Cavalera’s ass. The new Soulfly album is a furious, eclectic (in a good way, not a jam-band way), sonically adventurous metal disc that really should have been his only release of...

Opeth Watershed [3.5/5] There’s a certain gravity to the word “watershed” that sets expectations pretty high, especially when the term is applied in the context of a new recording-even more so when the disc in question is by seasoned Swedish death metallers, Opeth. Vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and the rest of the gang clearly set out...

The Melvins Nude With Boots [4.5/5] It’ll never be on the radio beside Aerosmith, but the Melvins’ 18th proper album is essentially classic rock for 2008-with the band’s trademark abrasion. From leviathan drum rolls to harpoon guitar hooks, cuts like “The Kicking Machine” play like newly unearthed Led Zeppelin studio outtakes with vocal tracks that...

Made Out Of Babies The Ruiner [4.5/5] The Ruiner kicks off with the thunderously discordant metal freakout “Cooker,” which sounds like the Brooklyn combo are actually making something out of babies. Under a lopsided beat, psychedelic keyboards swirl and splash like lava, and frontwoman Julie Christmas yowls warnings, threats and pulses of pure pain as...

Indricothere Indricothere EP [3/5] The challenge of being a true guitar wizard is that too much is almost never enough, and ideas come faster than chances to record them. With his one-man side project, Indricothere, multi-instrumentalist Colin Marston has the opportunity to unleash all the feedback-drenched 32nd notes he wasn’t able to cram into his...