Within the canon of American countercultural rock bands of the 1960s, there is hardly one that stands out more than The Doors - not merely because of their musical output but due to the controversy the trailblazing riddle hidden an enigma that was their frontman Jim Morrison embodied with his …
I like to consider myself pretty versed in rock - I listen to a lot of stuff and a good amount of variety. But, every so often, I'll get something that I just can't categorize or explain well. That's not a bad thing at all. In fact, it's a pretty …
One cannot exactly claim that Nick Cave’s life and his oeuvre at large are being disregarded – au contraire, the interpretations and coverage of his emissions of the man, the myth, the legend is manifold. All the more interesting it is when a book emerges that tackles the life of …
The first words to leap out at you on the sophomore LP by the Strokes are "I want to be forgotten." How literally this can be taken is anyone's guess, but for a band under the amount of pressure the Strokes have been, Julian Casablancas' turn of phrase might be …
Super producer of such illustrious bands as McLusky, Nirvana, and Bush, (SERIOUSLY STEVE WTF?) Steve Albini recently said that McLusky is the best band working in England right now. Yeah, that may be his characteristic bravado and showmanship, but it also may be pretty close to the truth. On their …
Following on from Zen Summer in 2015 and 2013s Comfort Songs, Cloud’s Plays With Fire moves Tyler Taormina’s sound firmly into the assured category. Where his debut was weighed down with a little too much padding, Plays With Fire takes a somewhat sprightlier turn into sadness, reducing the runtime …
Now this is a shock, another Hayaino Daisuki release by which to have all of our brains melted in short order following this hitting our stereos. The band, made of most of the members of Gridlink (featuring former members of Discordance Axis, Human Remains, Burnt By The Sun, and others), …
Jimmy Cliff sounds pretty spry for a 63 year-old. The reggae legend is a Rock and Roll Hall of Famer (whatever that means) and holds England’s esteemed Order of Merit in addition to releasing several notable albums. Cliff hasn’t released a record since 2004’s Black Magic, but this teaser …
"Ladies and gentlemen, set yourself on fire!" exclaims novelist Ibi Kaslik on the inside cover of Stars's sophomore album, Set Yourself on Fire. This begins a rather brief but punchy tirade about how we should not laze about while fascist dictators, ahem Bush, are in power. While there are …
"Evolution is the key to survival." I don't know which famous individual stated this, but I am quoting them both out of respect as well as out of fear of getting sued. Whoever that wiseman was, he was absolutely correct. History has taught us that a failure to evolve - …
One of the best jokes ever created was "rap metal." A suburban fusion between nu-metal (i.e. Korn) with a frontman that yelled out words in a "rap" fashion. The result was a golden age of LOL. Remember Limp Bizkit? If you didn't prior to clicking this review, you sure do …
Ah, the long awaited return - at least among Discordance Axis fans - of Jon Chang the vocalist of the regrettably extinct grind outfit Discordance Axis. Hayaino Daisuki is one of two new groups (Gridlink being the other) for which Chang is providing vocals and words. And if these lyrics …
Fire on Corridor X, the debut full-length from this Atlanta, GA three-piece swirls up their influences in a Bass-O-Matic and shotguns the remains. I hear some Ride, some Swervedriver, even a little Jesus and Mary Chain. "Sheffield" starts this one off with a bang, and the band just let the …
Doghouse Records used to be one of my favorite labels. Their early roster included Endpoint, Falling Forward, Split Lip, etc. who in the 90's defined the vastly underrated Louisville/Midwest hardcore sound. It was emotive but heavy, melodic but hard; the sound was just everything great about the middle part of …
Erie has a long-standing tradition of hardcore: xDisciplex A.D., Brothers Keeper, Shockwave, and Abnegation. Continuing that tradition is War of Ages, though they definitely mix their hardcore influences with a significant amount of metal riffage.
Fire from the Tomb is actually a re-recording of the band's debut effort. Some might …
OSI are extremely tough to nail down, and that's not just because they seem to have ins with every major progressive band in the books. Jim Matheos and Kevin Moore, the only two actual members of the band, come from such Fates Warning and Dream Theater respectively, and their guest …
In 2005, former members of Grade and Confine, among others, resurfaced with a new project To the Lions. The band issued up a demo recording of metal-infused hardcore in the vein of 90's greats Unbroken and Integrity. Being just a demo there were the obvious flaws, but two years later …
With the indefinite hiatus of Azure Ray, the duo of Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink ventured into the lives of solo recording artists with different intentions. Maria offered up her 11:11 album, which was more or less a continuation of the established Azure Ray sound, focusing on the vaguely folk …
Clinging To The Tress Of A Forest Fire (hereafter referred to as CTTTOAFF for ease) hail from Denver, Colorado and deal in heavy as hell grind in all it's misanthropic glory. Coming to my attention only recently (sorry, I completely missed the boat on this band initially), they just released …
High on Fire
Manning Bar
Sydney, AUS
February 21, 2016
The Swiss label Off the Disk Records was founded by Thomas Mölch and Erich Keller (Fear of God fame, breaker of Henry Rollins’ microphone, and now renowned academic) in 1988, which is when they released …