Good things come to those who wait. It's a cliché, yes, but for Clad in Darkness that old adage rings wholly true. Having formed at least fifteen years ago, the band have taken their sweet, sweet time in releasing their debut record. A couple of EPs have seen the light but for this Chicago based band, a full length was a long time coming. Decathect is worth that extended wait and while a few of the songs on the album have been kicking about in some form or other - "Revelries and Silence" from Amidst Her Shadows or "Nepenthe" which is often played live - Clad in Darkness have brought a freshness to the music that allows those songs to weave into the fabric of the record and be at one with newer material. "Foreword" steps from a gorgeous instrumental to a harshly rendered vocal which lifts the track into more interesting territory. Echoing and sorrowful guitar leads lace the song with a melancholy that is ripped through the atmosphere by destructive screams and guttural growls, playing off the beauty of the music and contrasting the two sides of the band in one swift movement. Clad in Darkness are essentially … Read more
It may be an antiquated notion, but there are just some names that you can trust. Names that were built … Read more
Big Action Records doesn’t pump out a ton of releases and, when they do, they run the geographical gamut. The … Read more
Bands are seemingly judged differently on their sophomore outings: where does it change, does it meet expectation, does it show … Read more
Showing up a few years after the group’s 2009 debut Aloha, Diarrhea Planet’s 2011 three-track EP Yama-Uba is a more … Read more
Formed in 2009, Nashville, Tennessee’s Diarrhea Planet initially were known for their goofy name more than anything else, but with … Read more
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In case you’re missing the old Alkaline Trio, the East Bay’s Civil War Rust is calling your name. Not to say the band is strictly derivative of the Matt Skiba-fronted band, but they wear their influences on their sleeve and a number of the songs on The Fun and the Lonely not only recall Alk3’s punkier moments, even the vocal inflections resonate in that familiar timbre. Civil War Rust sets themselves apart with a more driving, energetic take and amble dropping of gang choruses, giving the band a more positive feel that replaces the melancholy with a cathartic, communal essence in place. Still, the band pairs up numerous elements and it gets impossible not to think of influences in tracks like “Mayday” or “Hymns of the Canary,” the latter of … Read more
When a band or label is as difficult to track down as Olekranon or Inam Records, then you know you're in for an experience. The chap behind Olekranon - Ryan Huber - is also the chap behind the label but getting a hold of them via the magic of the internet has proved to be a fruitless endeavour. There's a … Read more
It has been quite a time since one could easily quantify Ulver and what they do as a unit. Garm has made no secret that he remains generally uninterested in what Ulver began as and remains focussed on following whatever muse may take him. So for the early years when there was an emphasis on Black Metal to the middle … Read more
Taking their name from the universe of Dune, this intriguing band releases its latest record, Litanies. Post metal might be the easiest way of describing Gholas but that would be unfair to their much deeper and more complex nature.The beginning of the album comes in and hits you straight in the face with “…And the Lives Come Flooding,” as the … Read more
With their first full-length album in 14 years (save for an EP of sorts in 2005 and a 7" in 2012), it's almost one's gut instinct to remark that Eyehategod haven't missed a beat in all that time and sound as lethal now as they did on 2000's Confederacy of Ruined Lives. However, to gloss over those nearly 15 years … Read more
Deep Fantasy is pissed off, but it could still use a good angry howl every so often.The record, the third from Vancouver’s White Lung, is their first on Domino Records and was recorded as a trio (though they still tour as a quartet). The band has seen its fair share of comparisons to Pretty Girls Make Graves and this release … Read more
Milwaukee's Northless have long been trudging within their brand a somewhat sprawling sludge. The band have consistently input further measures of post rock textures into their sound to create something a little bit more different from the norm. While still remaining mostly true to sludge on the whole the band seem to create something a little bit more tuneful and … Read more
Andrew Jackson Jihad make a return on their new label home, Side One Dummy, after a long tenure on Asian Man Records. Usually when a band makes a jump after a long run, many find a cause for concern. I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. The lyrics are as offbeat as ever and the compositions are still whimsical … Read more
If you find yourself loving classical or orchestral pieces, but would just enjoy something with a little more electronic funky vibe this is what you’re looking for. I imagine such wide varieties for this music and it can fit with many of my moods. None of these songs have lyrics but the music speaks for itself. I find myself lost … Read more
I generally hate punctuation in a band name, but it’s uncommonly fitting with Off!. Sure, they only included it to keep the pesticide theme going, but every scrap of vitriol that Keith Morris shouts out in the lyrics deserves to be followed with the exclamation point. It’s loud, shocked, and direct as hell. Almost every song uses the first or … Read more
Four years on in a career that’s seen them work on perfecting the brand of quirky 1990s alt rock of bands like the acclaimed Pavement and not-so-fondly-remembered Harvey Danger, Brooklyn’s Parquet Courts return with 2014’s Sunbathing Animal, an album that may be most surprising for the fact that it’s very nearly the equal of the band’s well-received debut, 2012’s Light … Read more
It has been literally years since I have been so taken with a hardcore record, and I am not talking about saying that you love a record with all your being; but rather I am talking about living with the record and sleeping with the record still going on in your desperate feverish brain while some batch of loveable hooligans … Read more
Omen Ex Simulacra is a difficult record - one that twists and forms new shapes as it progresses, one that falls into an unfathomable abyss and crawls back out again. It’s dark, overwhelming and grossly pregnant with malevolence and the base duo of Ævangelist are masters of noise control, giving their record a cacophony of sounds to work with and … Read more
Even though I’ve listened to some of their material, I hadn't really plunged deep into Fucked Up-mania. It wasn’t until I checked out their new song “Paper The House” that I became captivated by the music of this tumultuous, rudely-named band. The tribal drum intro, the ecstatic guitar duel, and barechested frontman Damian Abraham’s face-melting, guttural howls make Glass Boys’ … Read more
We all have our dark places and those journeys to and through and from those midnight shores in the bleak silence of night can produce some of the most meaningful moments of one’s life whether it be a conversation with a person that you barely know or just sitting with your cat staring into its eyes wondering what its thinking … Read more
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