13.Jun.2011 Live Review: Earth @ The Grog Shop, Cleveland Heights, OH
This is Earth? Where’s the gear? Where’s the giant six stack of amps? Where’s the pedal array? Where’s the turbulent, gut-shaking rumble? Even as the second phase of guitarist Dylan Carson’s recording career as Earth has focused on slow, deceptively intricate, and contemplative melodies, it was hard to shake to the expectation that the man [...]
15.May.2011 The Rockometer: Ascension by Jesu
Jesu Ascension Calo Verde As a general rule, I wouldn’t recommend the creative path Justin K. Broadrick has chosen with his projects Jesu and Pale Sketcher, steering his heavier music to one (Jesu) and the more electronic based music to the other (Pale Sketcher). Why not have one project that encompasses elements of both, with [...]
The Rockometer: Aesthethica by Liturgy
Liturgy Aesthethica Thrill Jockey Liturgy aren’t a black metal act, but they do play one on stage and in the studio. The Brooklyn-based band don’t walk, talk, or dress the part, and consequently, draw much ire from black metal faithful who prefer their machine gun riffs and guttural growls only when they come replete with [...]
15.Apr.2011 “A Little Death” by Fucked Up
With the second single from the forthcoming David Comes to Life, it’s starting to become apparent that Fucked Up weren’t joking about this being their rock opera. No, lead singer Damian Abraham hasn’t switched out his howl for a more elegant delivery. Rather, the grandness of “A Little Death” comes from its structure and instrumentation. [...]
29.Mar.2011 “Riot Sugar” by Boris
During their long career, the Japanese heavy band, Boris, have taken on doom, drone, metal, blues, and psych and rocked them all. For their last release, the band took on the Cult’s Ian Astbury. It didn’t exactly rock. With Astbury singing about demons and witches and other standard heavy fare, they at times, came off [...]
22.Mar.2011 “High Gold” by Liturgy
Don’t let the term “Black Metal” scare you. And, for that matter, don’t let that upside-down cross on the album cover, scare you, either. There’s a right-side-up cross right next to it, so any badness caused by upside-down one is counteracted by the goodness of the right-side-up one, making it image-neutral in the epic battle [...]
20.Mar.2011 The Rockometer: Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light by Earth
Earth Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light Southern Lord Once regarded as a showcase for guitarist Dylan Carson’s overwhelmingly heavy guitar rumblings, Earth are now, more than ever, a band where each member pulls their weight. The melodies of these five instrumental tracks, collected here on Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1, are just [...]
25.Feb.2011 “Hope” by Boris
With the recent news that all-powerful, Japanese rockers Boris are set to release not one, but two albums on April 26th, I found myself face to face with my worst fear. No, not an airplane full of clowns, but an artist I admire setting themselves up for the double album release, double big fail. It’s [...]
16.Feb.2011 Moving Pictures: “White Limo” by The Foo Fighters
There’s two things I want from a Foo Fighters track — good times and lotsa rockin’ out. Their new single, “White Limo,” has loads of both. This hard chargin’ track has one of the heaviest riffs the Foos have laid down in quite some time and its inspiration, the punk-metal hybrid pioneered by Motorhead, just [...]
14.Jan.2011 “Father Midnight” by Earth
Patient, ominous, heavy, evocative, totally f*ckin’ rad — All of the adjectives which have been used to describe the latter day output of guitarist Dylan Carson, and the work of his pioneering doom-metal band Earth, are also apt here. “Father Midnight,” is the first track to be released from their forthcoming album on Southern Lord [...]
