Phil Freeman

Contributions

10 Slipknot tracks that don't fit in with the rest of their catalog

Twenty years into their career, you probably think you know what Slipknot sound like. Corey Taylor’s roars of rage, savage post-death metal guitar riffing, blasting drums, beer-keg percussion and a few splashes of synth and turntable here and there. But across their six studio albums, including their latest, We Are Not Your Kind, they’ve sprinkled […]

Here Lies Man nod to Nigerian funk and psychedelic sound in new album

Here Lies Man Here Lies Man FILE UNDER: Afro-Latin Acid Funk ROCKS LIKE: Brownout, Antibalas, Funkadelic WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Guitarist/vocalist Marcos Garcia (of Brooklyn-based Afrobeat ensemble Antibalas) is exploring heavy acid funk with this new project. Fuzzed-out guitar and organ riffs thick as a mud-coated shag carpet lay on top of complex polyrhythms that’ll readjust your […]

Wear Your Wounds emerge with genuine, heartfelt sound

Wear Your Wounds WYW FILE UNDER: Depressive Art-Rock ROCKS LIKE: Neurosis, Swans, Pink Floyd WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Wear Your Wounds is Converge frontman Jake Bannon’s new project. The songs started out as lo-fi home recordings, but have been filled out by Converge’s Kurt Ballou, the Red Chord’s Mike McKenzie, Trap Them’s Chris Maggio and Hatebreed’s F. […]

Obituary's new album showcases new guitar talent

Obituary Obituary FILE UNDER: Swamp Death ROCKS LIKE: Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, Autopsy WHAT'S DIFFERENT: Obituary’s doomy, swamp-water-logged brand of death metal has always been as much about groove as grind. John Tardy’s unhinged vocals and his brother Donald’s thunderous, jackhammer drumming are bolstered by face-punching guitars and deep, gut-churning bass. There’s plenty of down-tuned […]

Darkness Divided - Written In Blood

Darkness Divided Written In Blood San Antonio-based Christian metalcore family band Darkness Divided make their full-length and Victory Records debut with this 34-minute slab. Three brothers—vocalist Gerard, guitarist Christopher and bassist Joseph Mora—are joined by drummer Israel Hernandez for a crushingly heavy but also surprisingly moody album of frantic sweep picking, chugging Pro Tools breakdowns, […]

Darkest Hour - Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour Darkest Hour After five albums on Victory, Washington, D.C.’s Darkest Hour signed with eOne for 2011’s The Human Romance. It was a strong effort, making positive changes to their old-school metalcore sound, but now they’re on Sumerian, with new bassist Aaron Deal and drummer Travis Orbin—and all the change seems to have once […]

Crown The Empire - The Resistance: The Rise Of The Runaways

Crown The Empire The Resistance: The Rise Of The Runaways A young band’s second album is a big hurdle to clear. The music business cliché is that you’ve got your whole life to write your first album, and a year to write your second. Well, Dallas-based six-piece Crown The Empire have stepped up in a […]

Vanna - Void

Vanna Void Some bands shouldn’t use clean vocals, and Boston’s Vanna are one of them. The opening title track on their fifth album (and Pure Noise debut) is a grinding blast of pure rage, Davey Muise’s genuinely unhinged-sounding vocals perched atop jagged noisecore riffs. It promises a hate-blast of an album aimed straight at fans […]

Body Count - Manslaughter

Body Count Manslaughter Twenty-two years after their debut, rapper-turned-actor/author/philosopher-king Ice-T’s thrashcore band, Body Count, are back…with their fifth album. Some history, for younger readers: In 1991, Ice-T devoted a track on his O.G. Original Gangster album to introducing Body Count, an all-black metal band he’d formed with friends from high school. They made their full-length […]
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