Without a doubt, As Tradition Dies Slowly is easily the most metal record that Revelation ever put out (at least so far); and the idea of them even touching this album and even Morning Again as a whole with a ten foot pole really just blew me away back in the day (when this came out), and, at the time, … Read more
Mark Gill's England Is Mine introduces Morrissey while he's on the cusp of adulthood, an enigma of cocksure arrogance presented in the body of a slightly hunched over, uncomfortable young man. A number of key characters in the Mancunian singer's formative years, including the often overlooked Anji Hardy (Katherine Pearce), who died of leukaemia in 1977 and was a strong … Read more
Age gives you a great sense of proportion. You can be very hard on yourself when you're younger but now I just think...well everybody's absolutely mad and I'm doing quite well. Age shouldn't affect you. It's just like the size of your shoes - they don't determine how you live your life! You're either marvelous or you're boring, regardless of … Read more
How does one introduce Morrissey? By no means am I intending to put the seasoned vocalist on a pedestal of godlike caliber it's just that, well, pretty much everything that can be said about the man has already been said, or in this case, written. Rather than waste time with some whimsical anecdote, I'll instead jump right into his latest … Read more
The short-form progressive album seems to be a dying art. Bands who venture into the genre are few and far between; more infrequent still are those who can do it well. There's just something about progressive music that compels bands to push themselves longer and longer, and while that's not unwelcome, there's something to be said for fitting all of … Read more
Hailing from New Jersey (which as The Nerve Agents put it is the "Heart of Hardcore"), Mother Night drops a wicked set of jams on Lifestyle / Deathstyle for us to listen to their abundance of energy and enthusiasm. An honest band that exudes New Jersey in all its harshness, these guys come from a very typical Jersey background of … Read more
How did I sleep on this band? I remember hearing about Mother of Mercy when their No Eden 7" was released, but I never took the time to follow up. Hailing from the greater Philadelphia area, this band took me by surprise with their debut full-length III. Mother of Mercy comes from the ashes of the now-defunct Let Down, who … Read more
Mothlite's Daniel O'Sullivan has spent his time away from his personal project collaborating with some of the world's most well known post-progressive acts. Ulver, Æthenor, Guapo and Grumbling Fur are but a few of the groups O'Sullivan has somehow found time to participate in but Mothlite is his completely and as such the second record from this project, Dark Age, … Read more
Noisy manic hardcore from Poland in the vein of Deadguy, Botch, or Norma Jean. Once again completely not my thing but Mothra seem to know what they are doing with their mathy assault. I wish I had more to say about this but I really don't have any frame of reference and it's too easy for me to make Polack … Read more
If you're like me, the state of Minnesota is automatically associated with one of two things: 1) Mall of America and 2) Fargo. One is awesome because it has rollercoasters in it while the other single-handedly made me scared to ever visit the states of North Dakota and Minnesota for fear of ending up in a wood-chipper. Motion City Soundtrack … Read more
OK, picture the following: Reggie & the Full Effect are traveling east in a train going from California at 120 MPH. Third Eye Blind are traveling west in a train that is headed west from New York at 80 MPH. When will they hit? I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to that. However, I can tell you that … Read more
Sometimes you just want to tear something down, rip it to shreds. To have that attitude when reviewing an album is fucked up, no question. The promo for the new Mötley Crüe album was claimed for such a reason. Preconceived notions are just that - preconceptions. Sometimes they're accurate, sometimes not. Thinking that an album from schlock-meisters Mötley Crüe will … Read more
Motörhead have the blues. Sure, they've worn their influences on their sleeves for the entirety of their 40 year career. But on Aftershock, the band's 21st studio release, the ghosts of Chuck Berry, Robert Johnson and Little Richard come home to roost like never before.This doesn't mean that they've slowed down, of course. From beginning to end, Aftershock is an … Read more
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
Over the past two decades, Phil Elverum has established himself as one of the most consistently outstanding artists working in the indie rock spectrum, yet I could almost be convinced that he purposely tries to slip under the radar at every opportunity. 2001’s The Glow Pt. 2, recorded under the guise of The Microphones, positioned the singer and multi-instrumentalist as … Read more
Mountain Man’s debut full-length, Grief, is a concept album about the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally, acceptance. While certainly not the most original or ambitious concept for an album, Mountain Man (hailing from Worcester, MA) give us 17 tracks of dark, blistering hardcore. Musically and lyrically, this album channels all five stages of grief. But … Read more
Ambient music is a genre that I have been a pretty big fan of for some time now. Something I have found with Ambient music though, it's not exactly the easiest accessible music out there. Small record labels putting out releases are everywhere. Just when you thought you knew quite a bit about the genre, you find 15 more labels … Read more
Coming out of Spain, this group can come up with some seriously good tunes. Mourn started out as a duo act by Jazz Rodriguez Bueno and Carla Perez Vas, but it soon grew into a quartet with the inclusion of drummer Antonio Postius and bassist Leia Rodriguez. The really crazy part of all this: these guys are teenagers. Three of … Read more
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