A while back I caught Oiltanker in the midst of the second day of Midwest Hell Fest—a one-off weekend crust punk festival that was happening in, of all places, a sports bar in Kimberly, Wisconsin. I was thoroughly enthralled by the outpouring of anger emanating from the stage while they were up there, yet I was simultaneously battling the inevitable tidal wave of fatigue that washes over even the most well-intended of weekend-long fest goers. Rather than join the growing population of dreadlocked and face-tatted folks passing out with their heads down on high tables, I begrudgingly headed out midway through their set for the comfort of cable TV in my hotel room and the guarantee of cold pizza left over from the previous night’s debauchery. On the way out I snagged their Crusades 7”, which has since held a favorable spot amongst my most-spun records of the last year-and-a-half or so. I had been meaning to pick up their consequent LP, Shadow of Greed, for quite some time but never got around to it. So it comes with vast gladness on my behalf that not only has Southern Lord, continuing their recent crust-cracking mission, assembled both of the aforementioned … Read more
Lymbyc Systym's third studio-album was released September 18th via Western Vinyl. This effort comes three years after the band's Shutter … Read more
Fire & Ice is a groove infused hardcore band out of Richmond, Virginia. Their newest release, Not of This Earth … Read more
Choose a year to view reviews of albums released in that year.
753 reviews
42 reviews
25 reviews
300 reviews
4985 reviews
19 reviews
Despite having been formed in 2006 and having released 3 LPs since, the Portland originated post punk band The Estranged have mostly fallen under the radar and out of public awareness. I myself had never heard of the three man act until the release of their self titled LP this month. Since then, I feel I need to make up for lost time.The album is a bit of a period piece, evoking 80s Brit-Punk so well it could easily be placed in a lineup with the real deal and not seem out of place. Even though there’s an unmistakable high quality polish to it, the band's sound captures an ever so slight matte mutedness that might be heard on a live recording from another, not too distant past. The band … Read more
This French band may have one of the longer band names in recent memory. Let us gloss over this even though through the ever accurate Wikipedia it may refer to a Julian Schnabel record. This band focuses on a slight version of the general post rock template. While most bands tend to forgo vocals and play the line by making … Read more
Enabler managed to make some big noise for themselves very quickly. after 2 eps and numerous splits the band got snatched up by the newly crust leaning Southern Lord. The question is after making such a big splash with these eps could the band manage to make nearly as big of a splash in the full length medium? The band … Read more
8MM has been around for a while now and their sound is maturing with every release from their first EP 2004's Opener to the new album Between The Devil and Two Black Hearts they just keep getting better. Lead by multi-instrumentalist / producer Sean Beavan (Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson, No Doubt) the band was able to raise $40K via … Read more
Masters of the Dark Arts marks the return of La Coka Nostra, a rap supergroup who were last heard from in ’09 on their then long-awaited debut album A Brand You Can Trust. LCN had originally assembled sometime in ’05 as a much larger entity than they are today. With a large contingent of Caucasian members in tow, the original … Read more
So, here we have Split Cranium an interesting project band formed by some of the people behind the acclaimed Circle with the addition of Aaron Turner (of Old Man Gloom, House Of Low Culture, Mamiffer, Jodis and formerly of Isis amongst others); and this band is nothing like anything else that these gentlemen are all known for churning out in … Read more
Oh Behexen....what the hell (pun intended) happened? It was all going so well. My Soul for His Glory was a definite career high....those classic Finnish riffs, the evil sound, demonic undertones and the sense of something quite frightening occurring. Skip forward four years and we have Nightside Emanations – a record so mediocre that even the cover art looks second … Read more
With a name like Ace High Cutthroats, it doesn’t take a lot of imagination to determine what the band is about. On their debut Black Fire, the group delivers rollicking rock with big guitars and a lot of swagger—keeping their rock’n’roll lifestyle close at heart underneath their black leather jackets. The band includes members of Nightgaun and Prosthetics, and the … Read more
I don't really know where to begin with this EP. Its groovy rock sensibilities throw back to 70's glam rock, but without the theatrics and clever satire. I don't think I get it. Part of me thinks it's intentionally a joke, while the other half of me believes it's to be taken seriously. I'm inclined to lean towards the former … Read more
I really wish I had the chance to review more classical music. While I don't consider myself an expert on the genre, I always find that listening to classical gives me musical experiences I truly could not get anywhere else, and when you've been listening to metal all day long, you can find it to be a welcome reprieve. That's … Read more
Joe Jackson’s love of Jazz is no secret; with his new album being a tribute to the Jazz king Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington simply titled The Duke. Joe has been on the scene now for over thirty years putting out hits like his early pop work “Is She Really Going Out With Him” and “Sunday Papers” from the album Look … Read more
I remember distinctly the first time I was introduced to Horseback. It was by their 2012 album Half Blood, and I'm told that my experiences were pretty standard. For the uninitiated, your first few seconds of listening to Horseback will inevitably go something like this:"Hm. This is some pretty interesting post-rocky stuff. Oh, hold on, something's messed up with this … Read more
It's not hard to figure that Vision Of Disorder were one of two Long Island Hardcore bands (along with Glassjaw) that have managed to influence a ridiculous number of current bands while remaining relatively dismissed outside of their scene during their original time as a band. The first 2 Vision of Disorder records had a sound all their own at … Read more
Planet Destroyer, the debut EP from Toronto-based post-rock band Inspire Influence, is unhinged in execution, rising and falling like an endless wave of hopeless determination. Creating an atmosphere of desolation from the initial static of introductory track “Repairing,” the 5-song EP reads like a cohesive tale of intergalactic exploration through repetition, slow build-ups, and eventual climatic bursts of distorted frustration. … Read more
You may never suspect it, but listening to the catalogue of Canadian musician Devin Townsend will cause you to run the gamut of extreme metal, new age, arena rock, ambient, and somehow even more. His last four albums, released under the Devin Townsend Project moniker, were supposed to be an exploration of the vastness of his artistic abilities, and they … Read more
Looking for the SPB logo? You can download it in a range of styles and colours here:
Click anywhere outside this dialog to close it, or press escape.