Tennessee natives Sadville without a doubt could be the biggest misnomer for a group. These dudes don't play sad bastard emo at all. Instead they play stoner metal with elements of doom and hardcore punk. You can only imagine the relief when I heard the music after looking at their name. Make Ready the Cross is seven tracks long, but it flies by when you put it on your record player. A mixture of southern rock and speeding metal riffs fuels the songs. Most of the songs come off as the unwanted child of Black Sabbath, High on Fire, and Born Against. Sure, this sound has been tackled before, but what they lack in originality they make up for in politically oriented lyrics and in witty song titles. The best are "Your Zao Sticker Won't get you into Heaven Anymore" and "George Walker Bush, Texas Ranger." Sadville delivered an unexpected LP of tunes that I can rock out to. If you're seeking some metal music that'll get your foot tapping as well as your brain thinking, grab a copy of this release. Read more
Brainworms hail from Richmond, VA, a city with a rich hardcore/punk history. So it's not a surprise that the members … Read more
Looking at the cover art to this 7" I was anticipating one of two things: stoner metal or art-metal akin … Read more
Rome Plow Records serves up another offering of under the radar music on this split 7". This time around we've … Read more
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To be honest, I really didn't want to do a review for this CD. I got it the mail, looked at it, and immediately knew two things: This band has a stupid name, and I will probably not like them. Plus, there are other things I could be doing. Camel is coming out with four new brands of cigarettes that I can't wait to try. I would rather do a review on how I love Camel cigarettes, and write about how each different cigarette tastes, and how they are all contributing to me dying. But then I thought, "I write for Scene Point Blank, and goddamnit, I have a certain responsibility to uphold." With that in mind, and my cigarettes the only thing I really wanted, I started listening to … Read more
Two artists from California team up for a split 7". Iamb is the work on single individual - Ross Major - with the help of several friends. On this 7" he offers two songs. The first, "Three Years," is a mixture of indie rock and folk, not unlike the artists of Saddle Creek Records. "One Afternoon," on the other hand … Read more
Los Angeles-based label Oedipus Records is an independent label run out of an apartment. As an individual doing the same thing with my label, I have admiration for the people of Oedipus. The latest release from the label is a split 7" from two folk/indie artists: Foot Foot and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone lead … Read more
Everything I get in for review goes through the same process. The first thing I do after I greedily rip into the manila envelope like a kid on Christmas is check out the layout. You can tell a lot just from a cover of a CD. Usually if the cover depicts a scene of armored knights upon horseback fending off … Read more
Our recent Scene Point Blank reader's poll told us at least two things about you, the reader: (1) you want to see less reviews of "generic hardcore", and (2) hardcore is your favorite genre. (If this doesn't apply to you, sorry; you should've chipped in!) So you love hardcore, but also hold high standards for it; maybe you're sick of … Read more
For The World is Bright and Lonely, New Idea Society's Mike Law walks a fine line between poetry and prose. The lyrical structures are simple and for the most part unchanging, and there is a more simple pattern within it all, almost every line the start of a new thought or idea. But herein lies the genius and creativity that … Read more
Have you ever gone to a movie expecting to see an action movie, but as you watch it, you realize it's a drama? Not quite what you were expecting, but unless you're a meathead you take it for what it is and realize it's still pretty good. This is the case for The Black Atlantic's debut EP Send This Home. … Read more
When a band's name makes reference to sinful pleasures, especially of the herbal nature, it's a sign their sound will be akin to Black Sabbath; the emphasis on slow riffing that sounds even heavier due to down-tuned instruments. Weedeater is a perfect example, taking the suggestive themes of drug abuse and sacrilege made famous by Sabbath to new heights but … Read more
This is the kind record that I enjoy from time to time, a big surprise; it is not what I expected in any way, shape, or form and caught me completely off guard. Mourner is the second full-length, first on Profound Lore, from Caïna, the solo project of Andrew Curtis-Brignell - a twenty-year-old who already has a strong grasp on … Read more
Last year I interviewed New Found Glory drummer Cyrus Bolooki about the possibility of another cover album in similar fashion to the band's From the Screen to Your Stereo. He stated that it was a possibility... Well here we are a year removed from said interview and sitting before me is From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2 And … Read more
I don't know why, but there is something really unsubtle about naming a band Die! Die! Die!. It's like using a nuke to kill a mouse, just a bit too over the top to really ever be needed. It also means that the band has got to do an awful lot to live up to the name, so you can … Read more
Every era has seen the chocolate/peanut butter combination of music and activism mixed together to create the tasty sensation of protest music. Long derided as "hippie shit" by those too lazy to listen, the protest song has been a ubiquitous form spanning the last century. Okay, maybe not the eighties, but every other decade has more than had its share. … Read more
I'm not going to classify Hi Ho Six Shooter! as a gimmick band. Granted they play shows with bandannas wrapped around their neck and sing songs about country twangs and bar room brawls, but knowing some of the members I think it's pretty safe to say that they aren't gun toting Confederates. Rather, I would say that Hi Ho Six … Read more
Rhode Island may be the smallest state in the union, so you would think that with them already delivering Verse, they'd be all out of good hardcore bands. Well, they are not, because Soul Control is equally as, if not more, impressive. The four-piece band delivers a modern take on 90's post-hardcore popularized by the likes of Quicksand and Burn. … Read more
With a few EP's and a couple of renowned festivals under their belt - Lollapalooza and South by Southwest - Cold War Kids have finally released (in late 2006 actually) their full-length album, Robbers and Cowards. Like a few of their indie predecessors, Cold War Kids borrows from 1970's legends like Bob Dylan and The Velvet Underground for their sound, … Read more
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