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Scorpions

MTV Unplugged in Athens
Sony (2014)

In the interest of full disclosure, this reviewer would like to go on record as saying that he loves The Scorpions. They are exceptional musicians and have a catalog of hard rock classics that go far beyond the power-ballads they became synonymous for in the 80's and 90's. There's been the odd misstep over the years (see Eye II Eye) … Read more

Slayer

Repentless
Nuclear Blast (2015)

Since the 1983 release of Slayer's debut album Show No Mercy, guitarists Jeff Hanneman, Kerry King bassist/vocalist Tom Araya and drummer Dave Lombardo have built a long and respectable career by maintaining the number two slot in the Big Four of thrash metal, second only to Metallica. But if the measure was the loyalty of their fan base, one would … Read more

Le Butcherettes

A Raw Youth
Ipecac (2015)

"secret consciousness of power is far more delightful than open domination"Dostoevsky - The Adolescent. Le Butcherettes came seemingly from out of nowhere a few years ago. In this case, nowhere was more specifically Guadalajara, Mexico.Fronted by Teresa Suárez, otherwise known as Teri Gender Bender, the band was quick to gain the attention of music notables and began to appear as … Read more

Dark Oz

¡Piratas!
Independent (2015)

I’m not sure I could come up with a worse scenario for a band than having one of its players pass away while the group was touring, but that’s sadly what occurred in September 2014 when Lorein Bourne, a.k.a. Styx and drummer for Portland, Oregon-based and self-proclaimed “garunge” duo Dark Oz, died of complications from Turner Syndrome after a show … Read more

Desaparecidos

Payola
Epitaph (2015)

Desaparecidos is the Omaha emo outfit led by Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame. Payola is the band’s second album, and it’s been 13 years since they released their first album Read Music/Speak Spanish in 2002. Usually one of two things happens when a band releases an album after a long pause: Often it’s a huge disappointment, but sometimes it’s … Read more

200 Words Or Less

A Perfect Circle

Three Sixty
Virgin (2013)

Buying compilation albums are like going to a family reunion. It starts with a sense of misguided obligation and ends with regret for ever having done so in the first place. A Perfect Circle's Three Sixty blessedly proves that ham-fisted metaphor to be all wrong. At first glance, it's a typical chronological affair, beginning with The Hollow from debut album … Read more

Bruno Sanfilippo

Upon Contact Reworked
ad21 (2015)

Given the never-waning focus among classical music fans on established (and too-frequently, dead) composers, it would seem that the world of modern classical music is one of the most difficult to get a handle on – audiences are left unsure where to even begin, and composers themselves don’t get much attention or many breaks. Meanwhile, except for the occasional article … Read more

Motörhead

Bad Magic
UDR (2015)

It's been 40 years since the world was first introduced to the name of Motörhead. In that 40 years, they have become seemingly invincible. Impervious to the likes of addiction, lineup changes, musical trends and anything else that would have decimated a lesser band. But it would seem that the Motörhead juggernaut may finally be showing signs of slowing. Frontman … Read more

Broken Prayer

Misanthropocentric AKA Droid's Blood
Sorry State (2015)

I incorrectly said this band was from North Carolina when I talked about their last record, when in fact they’re from Chicago. So I’d like to take a moment to say I’m sorry to Broken Prayer. (Up until recently I had a tendency to assume that every band on Sorry State was from North Carolina.) Another thing I said about … Read more

Radioactivity

Silent Kill
Dirtnap (2015)

These guys know how to start off a record, with the rapid fire “Battered” pummeling with riffage for the first minute and then Jeff Burke’s familiar vocals chime in and the record transitions to melodic and punky pop songs—and not the kind of pop that’s usually attached to that word. While a minute isn’t a long time for an instrumental … Read more

Ghost

Meliora
Loma Vista Recordings (2015)

When Ghost first materialized on the scene in 2010 with their debut album Opus Eponymous, they made quite an impression. First there was the image: five "nameless ghouls" performing the music in hooded robes (now silver, horned masks) and vocalist Papa Emeritus, dressed as a sort of anti-pope with a penchant for fog machines and blacklight paint. These aspects of … Read more

200 Words Or Less

Supersuckers

Get The Hell
Acetate Records (2014)

There's very few bands that work as hard to bring the music to the masses as Supersuckers. They're like a sleeper cell. Without warning, they'll come out of hiding in Anytown, U.S.A. and blow shit up. They are a band that everyone needs to see live at least once - and when you do, you'll want to see them every … Read more

The Sonics

This is The Sonics
Revox Records (2015)

Upon hearing that legendary northwest garage rockers The Sonics were releasing a new album – their first in (gulp!) nearly fifty years – in 2015, I didn’t know if I should be excited or very, very afraid. Here was a band that helped to invent the signature, rowdy rock and roll sound in the early-to-mid ‘60s and delivered songs such … Read more

Titus Andronicus

The Most Lamentable Tragedy
Merge (2015)

Titus Andronicus (+@, as they shorten it) is a punk outfit led by Patrick Stickles, an obvious obsessive who has spent the last three +@ albums cramming barrages of references to Pieter Bruegel, Cheers, Nietzsche, and obscure New Jersey baseball teams into angry punk songs. +@’s most-talked-about work is their second album The Monitor, a grandiose, Civil-War-themed account of what’s … Read more

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