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Violence is Golden
Dim Mak (2006)

You, faithful SPB readers as I, listen and tend to prefer music that can best be described as "heavy". This is quite possibly the music you exclusively listen to. Perhaps you put on The Locust and Gorgoroth when you want to get pumped and juiced and rocked and whatever proactive analogy you can think of and then, when you're done, … Read more

Rhymefest

Blue Collar
J Records (2006)

Honestly, Blue Collar could have been one of the best hip-hop albums of the year. A few months ago, when he first caught my attention, around two-dozen Rhymefest songs were already circulating the Internet. More than half of these are undeniably some of the best mainstream hip-hop tracks in recent history. Rhymefest, who is already a Grammy winner as co-writer … Read more

Muse

Black Holes and Revelations
Warner Bros. (2006)

If you asked me six years ago to name a band that at this time would seem about to take over the world I really don't think Muse would have even been in my top 50 choices. Then they had just released the very Radiohead sounding Showbiz and seemed almost destined to spend their career being compared to the Oxford … Read more

Starkweather

Croatoan
Candlelight (2006)

The enigmatic metal behemoth that is Starkweather has been erratically dropping musical bombs sporadically for well over a decade. An uncompromising band of musicians that set out to artistically satisfy their own predilections rather than satisfy any kind of musical "market", Starkweather has been lauded in the underground metal and hardcore community for quite a long time. They have been … Read more

Outbreak

Failure
Bridge Nine (2006)

The first time I saw Outbreak was at the "last" Suicide File show at the ICC Church in Boston during the baseball playoffs of '03. I had no clue whom Outbreak was except the fact that they were from Maine of all places and the kids went absolutely ape shit for them. After that show they were quickly signed to … Read more

Weekend Nachos

Torture
Tooth Decay (2006)

Remember that kid in middle and high school you pushed around, called him a fag, and turned his great day to shit? Well, that kid rests in me. And that kid rests singer John Caution, and that kid means more to me than your insults ever will. The torturous years of withholding rage are now released and pressed on analog … Read more

Witch

Witch
Tee Pee (2006)

If you've seen An Inconvenient Truth, the summer's biggest blockbuster hit, you know shit is hitting the fan. Carbon dioxide is seeping out from every industrial pore and the long-term effects of this are outright frightening. In terms of the short term, Al Gore put a major emphasis on an increase of heavy music. Not that Black Sabbath was ever … Read more

Zao

The Fear is What Keeps Us Here
Ferret (2006)

The Fear is What Keeps Us Here is the umpteenth full-length from this chaotic and erratic off and on metalcore act. The fact that they are still producing albums boggles my mind. I have always considered this band to be a guilty pleasure (in part anyway). That last album The Funeral of God was an awful example of what they … Read more

Set Your Goals

Mutiny!
Eulogy (2006)

The debut full-length from Set Your Goals has been one of the most anticipated releases for myself and countless others for the year of 2006. It's been a long time coming since they first popped up on the hardcore/punk scene two years ago, though it seems like it has been so much longer. Well after a patient wait, which saw … Read more

The Drama Summer

Make a Move
Eulogy (2006)

For me, The Drama Summer was always one of those bands that I heard the name of every few months, but never sat down and listened to. In the oversaturated genre that is melodic rock, a band must really stand out to get heard and receive respect. Upon listening to The Drama Summer's debut EP on Eulogy Recordings, I can … Read more

United States

Divorce Songs
Iron Pier (2006)

United States are back, following up their Fuck It Tapes cassette release with an pseudo-urgent catcall of angular and somewhat disjointed full-length tunes on an album entitled Divorce Songs. The band is from Brooklyn and these songs, according to the one sheet, are about "surviving the city, struggling in the city and learning in the city." The lyrical content definitely … Read more

End of a Year

Sincerely
Revelation (2006)

I have decided that a review for End of a Year's Sincerely should mimic the album's defining characteristics. So this review will be written quickly with an abundance of energy and a smattering of thought. Sincerely is an album that is so engulfed by its own influences that it almost seems like it doesn't even exist. But it does. End … Read more

Bomb the Music Industry!

Goodbye Cool World
Quote Unquote (2006)

A couple months ago I was sitting next to a window at Inn-N-Out, pissed about my cheeseburger (they put nothing I wanted on it and everything I didn't.) My friend James is telling me a story about his band, Guns of Autumn, playing a show with the Arrogant Sons of Bitches. I'd never heard Arrogant Songs of Bitches and I … Read more

Celtic Frost

Monotheist
Century Media (2006)

There are few bands that had as much of an impact on my youth as Celtic Frost. Rising from the ashes of Hellhammer, Thomas Gabriel Fischer and Martin Eric Ain released the seminal album Morbid Tales. The year was 1984 and to say this album fascinated me was an understatement. Even though I had been listening to the heavier side … Read more

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