Contributions
A Hero A Fake - The Future Again
A Hero A Fake The Future Again The third album from North Carolina deathcore quintet A Hero A Fake feels like the band wants to be heavier than they are. Justin Brown’s harsh vocals don’t have the impact of, say, Frankie Palmeri of Emmure; he just sounds like he’s trying to battle through a particularly […]
Bury Tomorrow - The Union Of Crowns
Bury Tomorrow The Union Of Crowns British metalcore five-piece Bury Tomorrow have given almost every song on their second album a title having something to do with royalty, chivalry or life in medieval times—“Lionheart,” “Message To A King,” “Knight Life,” “Royal Blood,” “Abdication Of Power,” “Vacant Throne” and on and on, with the sole (and […]
Abandon All Ships - Infamous
Abandon All Ships Infamous Do you like Emmure’s brand of chest-thumping, knuckle-dragging, psychotically bragging deathcore? Do you also like I See Stars’ teen-girl-bait style of trance-screamo? Then you are gonna love Abandon All Ships, who bounce merrily from roaring just-this-side-of-misogynistic threats over downtuned chugga-chugga riffs to crooning rapturous love lyrics over delicate keyboards and whooshing […]
Job For A Cowboy - Demonocracy
Job For A Cowboy Demonocracy Job For A Cowboy are one of the best technical death-metal bands in America right now, and Demonocracy—while not quite as mind-blowing as 2009’s Ruination—is nevertheless an ass-kicking, skull-cracking record. Frontman Jonny Davy remains one of the most unique and recognizable vocalists in metal; his mix of low and high […]
Trash Talk - Awake EP
Trash Talk Awake EP Five songs in just under nine minutes. Competing vocalists—the high-pitched, nearly breathless scream of frontman Lee Spielman versus the chest-thumping roar of bassist Spencer Pollard. Guitar like a giant can opener peeling the roof off the garden shed you’re living in because your parents got sick of hearing punk rock blaring […]
Stray From The Path - Rising Sun
Stray From The Path Rising Sun Stray From The Path’s latest album offers no stylistic breakthroughs or weird left turns—and that’s a good thing. Anybody who enjoyed 2009’s Make Your Own History will like Rising Sun a lot, as all the crucial elements of their sound remain in place. Vocalist Drew York screams with a […]
Death Valley High - Doom, In Full Bloom
Death Valley High Doom, In Full Bloom The debut album by this California-based quartet is a high-energy blast of post-punk-meets-modern rock, like a particularly edgy Queens Of The Stone Age album with a few stolen At The Drive-In moves thrown in, and the occasional high-pitched, Wolfmother-ish howl. There’s a slightly noised-up version of Katy […]
Helms Alee - Weatherhead
Helms Alee Weatherhead This Seattle-based trio fronted by Ben Verellen, formerly of sludgy rumblers Harkonen, can get heavy when they feel like it, but just as often, if not more so, they drift into more psychedelic, shoegazey spaces. Verellen is supported by bassist Dana James and drummer Hozoji Matheson-Margullis, each of whom also sing. In […]
I Set My Friends On Fire - Astral Rejection
I Set My Friends On Fire Astral Rejection The second song on I Set My Friends On Fire’s sophomore (and sophomoric) album is called “Infinite Suck.” As they say in Hollywood, the joke writes itself. The duo of Matt Mehana and Nabil Moo is now the duo of Mehana and Chris Lent, with production […]