Kvelertak - Meir

Having enjoyed the first Kvelertak album so much, after 

reading some less than positive reviews of the new release "Meir",

I was apprehensive about playing this.

As always, everyone is wrong and I am right. This is a fucking

masterpiece of modern heavy music that has earned the right

to be one of this years best albums.

This mixes hardcore, black metal influences and filthy punk

rock'n'roll to devastating effect. The tracks barrel along, pissing

over the new crop of metalcore bands doing the rounds. You can

hear passion, anger, beer drinking and something that a lot of

people seem to have forgotten about - some decent tunes!

Taking all the intensity that they showed on their last release,

Kvelertak have expanded their sound with a powerful production,

creative song writing and a joy of making a righteous racket!

Hugely recommended.

Buy CD/Vinyl Here

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Zeppheroin - Howl

It is that time of the year when I unleash some of my music

onto the world. 

Help spread the horrible tunes that exist in my brain!

Still drawing upon my holy scripture of hardcore aggression and 

noise rock discordance, I have slowly been drawn into the fetid 

depths of Riff worship - the slower the better. 

Elements of Doom are now apparent but with my needles 

in-the-red recording technique still favouring slabs of distortion 

rather than clarity or production, it is still lo-fi and rough as fuck. 

All Hail The Riff!

Sea Bastard - S/T

(Before I start this review, my posts have dwindled somewhat - 

this is due to my spare time being taken up with finishing off

some new music I am making - given the choice between

reviewing some bands music or creating my own, this blog

will always come off second best!)

One of the joys about attending something like Desert Fest is

the chance to see a band that you have no expectations of.

Sea Bastard were one of those bands. Coming on at 1.45pm

at the Underworld, they fucking tore the place down with a display

of power, passion and heaviness that put some of the bigger 

bands on that day to shame.

This was sludge/doom/stoner with a swaggering punk attitude

that made my head move up and down uncontrollably. Like

Sleep or Cough, the riffs drive the music, sometimes evolving

into different passages but always keeping the riff worship at full

praise.

Their lastest release has 5 tracks of sonic mayhem, none of

which clock in shorter than 10 minutes. In the hands of some

other bands, this could lead to boredom setting in but these relative

newcomers have the musical chops to keep the atmosphere and immense

heaviness moving along to transport you along into an almost trance-like

state of total involvement with the tracks.

This is hugely recommended - I love it.

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Akimbo - Live To Crush

With this album, Akimbo bow out gracefully and retire. In the

hands of a lesser band, this could of produced some outtakes

and filler but instead Akimbo have left us with one of the

albums of the year.

Carrying on with their brand of noise and hardcore with juddering
walls of feedback puts this album into the "not-to-be-fucked-with"
genre. 

Bass and guitar throw out riffs that cause sonic carnage while the vocals
are spat out with a caustic rage that hold anger as well as disgust. Traces
of sludge are threaded throughout with great effect to produce a collection
of songs that demand to be played at full volume.

Akimbo have left us with a rich legacy that can be celebrated with this album.

Highly recommended.

Band blurb: 

AKIMBO WAS A SEATTLE ROCK BAND. WE PLAYED REAL HARD, 

REAL LOUD, AND CRUSHED SHIT ALL OVER THE WORLD. THE 

MEMBERS CONTINUE TO PLAY KICK ASS SHIT IN OTHER BANDS 

AND STILL THINK INDIE ROCK SUCKS. WE HAD THE GIFT OF FIFTEEN 

BUSY YEARS FILLED WITH VALIANT WARRIORS WHO MADE OUR 

LIVES BETTER AND WILL ALWAYS HAVE OUR PRAISE. OUR GRANDCHILDREN 

WILL KNOW YOUR NAMES. WE WILL SPEAK OF YOUR DEEDS IN 

VALHALLA. YOUR FACES ARE ETCHED INTO OUR AXE HEADS. 

ALL THIS BAND EVER WANTED TO DO WAS PLAY BRUTAL MUSIC AS 

LOUD AS POSSIBLE. LIFE IS BETTER WHEN YOU KEEP IT SIMPLE. STAY 

PURE. GET HIGH, GET DARK, GET LOUD. RAGE HARD. HAVE A GOOD 

TIME ALL THE TIME. DRINK FAST. KISS THE SUN. LICK THE KNIFE. 

KICK OUT THE JAMS OR GET OFF THE 

MOTHERFUCKING STAGE. 

EAT BEER, SHIT RIFFS. 

LIVE TO CRUSH.

Buy from Alternative Tentacles

Koresh - Chump

Koresh play hardcore/noise rock and then stomp over everything

with rage and aggression.

This is wildly ferocious stuff which is played to make your guts 

throb in time to the beats. The vocal howls are buried deep in the 

mix which add to the dark heavy atmosphere created by the 

sonic hurricane of power.

Thick and dense, this pummels your speakers from start to finish. 

This is not for the faint-hearted! When the end of the world comes, this 

will be the soundtrack.

There are flourishes of stoner guitar riffs that flit across your senses

and jerky time changes that ensure that this does not conform to

a musical template. 

This is good shit.

Band Blurb: Listening to Koresh is like being spat on by a tramp, getting kicked in the balls, having your 3 litre bottle of cider taken off you and watching it get thrown at a dog. In the rain. The London five piece make a truly hideous racket; a filth-ridden, booze-drenched thunderstorm of hatred delivered with a shit-eating grin and a firm English middle finger. Channeling the spirit of Iron Monkey after three tabs of acid, Koresh plough through 7 tracks on this new EP 'Chump' and kick up a whirlwind of sludge misery, stoner paranoia, grind chaos and a rock solid hardcore stomp. Bravely captured by John Hannon at No Recording Studio and set for a split release between Witch Hunter and Withered Hand Records, 'Chump' will drag you through piss soaked backstreets by your hair, and you'll be loving every second. 

Recorded by John Hannon at No Recording Studio - October 2nd & 3rd 2012. Front & Rear Artwork by Luke Drozd. Wizard Duck Illustration by Ross Butter. Band photo by Jack Sheen 

A joint release between Withered Hand (Blood Island Raiders, Dead Existence, Pombagira) and Witch Hunter. Limited to 300 copies on a jewel case CD, also available as a pay-what-you-want download through Bandcamp, and the traditional digital outlets such as iTunes, Spotify and Amazon

credits

Released 20 May 2013

Get from Witch Hunter Records

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Thanks to Chris at Witch Hunter for links.

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Old Wounds - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest review

After a handful of singles and EPs, Old Wounds have finally

come up with the album we all knew they were capable of 

producing. 

They have re-recorded some of the tracks from previous EPs

but this is no lazy-filler job - songs you liked before have been

overhauled and given a powerful boost of energy and power

that make the album a full frontal attack from start to finish.

Frenzied hardcore is order of the day with sludge like intensity

running through the tracks making each note heavy and urgent.

Passion is very much evident in this record - not just the vocals

but with the instruments being played with assault like abandon.

Crunching riffs howl along at breakneck speed while the drums and

bass lay down a foundation of sonic destruction that makes me

want to jump around breaking things.

Highly recommended.

Get from Glory Kid Limited

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Rabbits/Arabrot - 7" split

You know what to expect from Rabbits and Arabrot and this

split is no exception - big lung bursting vocals with undercurrents

of promised violence, depth charge riffs that are set to explode

in your brain and a wall of sound that sounds like a black hole

imploding, recorded on a 2-track!

Very loud, very good - highly recommended.

Pre-order now from Eolian Empire

Band blurb: 

Pollutant Portland pack RABBITS prepare to pitch pellets at the European people as a preemptive pounce previous to their petulant split platter with pals Arabrot placates the populous. 

Norway’s intangible, ever-changing, and ever-strange noiseniks ÅRABROT (whose album Solar Anus won the 2011 Spellemannprisen for Norway’s best metal record) meets Portland’s sludge-punk kings RABBITS (whose snarling 2012 album Bite Rites made many a year-end list). As if twins separated at birth with a psychic connection that spans a continent and ocean, both acts have mired themselves in the most base elements of rock and rebuilt these primitive pieces into music of violent, raw beauty. ÅRABROT’s “Blood On Bunny” (no dig at their split partners, they swear) is part industrial, part noise-rock, part sludge and all disturbing, while RABBITS’s “Yr In Luck” shifts between swinging, rolling, droning verses to grinding choruses, interspersed and ending with a pummeling dirge; like two fucked-up sides of the same shitty coin. The split will be pressed on mega-heavy 70-gram wax -- a split release with Rabbits’ label Eolian Empire and Arabrot’s Norwegian label Fysisk Format -- and the first of a series of split-release/split 7” releases between Rabbits/Eolian and their friends from other cities/labels. 

In addition, RABBITS will drop their debut album Lower Forms in a deluxe vinyl repress through Eolian Empire, licensed from Relapse. The loved/loathed debut LP from the band was initially released by Relapse in February 2011 and quickly sold out on vinyl; the repress will see a thicker 180-gram delivery. The full goddamn Lower Forms LP is now streaming at the Eolian Empire Bandcamp. 

Both records will be available in person on the RABBITS/ÅRABROT Euro tour, but if you live within the continent’s boundaries, preorders for both the repress of Lower Forms and the new split 7” are available through Eolian ahead of their release on May 28th. 

Although the members of thetriad toured Europe years ago -- then as part of Pleasure Forever and The VSS who toured there on a multitude of occasions -- this is RABBITS’ first international tour... and they plan on bringing the pain in full-force with this virgin contamination of the lands with their ÅRABROT co-instigators. 

RABBITS European Tour w/ Arabrot: 

5/07/2013 Inkonst - Malmo, Sweden 

5/08/2013 Hafenklang - Hamburg, Germany 

5/09/2013 Hühnermanhattan - Halle, Germany 

5/10/2013 Divadlo Pod Lampou - Plzen, Czech Republic 

5/11/2013 Broumov - Czech Republic 

5/12/2013 Klub c.4 - Hradec Králové, Czech Republic 

5/14/2013 Cafe Schlauthaus - Dornbirn, Austria 

5/15/2013 Pekarna - Maribor, Slovenia 

5/16/2013 Menza Pri Koritu - Ljubjanna, Slovenia 

5/17/2013 Obluda - Bratislava, Slovakia 

5/18/2013 Boro - Brno, Czech Republic 

5/19/2013 007 - Praha, Czech Republic 

5/20/2013 TBA - Germany 

5/21/2013 TBA - Germany 

5/22/2013 Magasin 4 - Brussels, Belgium

Thanks to Earsplit PR for links.

What's on the Car Stereo Part 2

WHAT'S BEEN ON THE CAR STEREO PART 2

Here's a run down of what's been drowning out the sound of my car's engine over the last couple of weeks......its a really mixed bag which might not be to everyone's taste but I've been into music for near on 50 years so you must understand my record/tape/cd collection spans a wide range of styles.....well that's my excuse anyway !!.....here goes.....

SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND (SAHB) - NEXT

Their 1973 album "NEXT" does qualify for "Burnt Into My Brain" status.....it has been one of my favourites since the late 70's when I first heard the track "Faith Healer" and simply had to have it. The track in question is some 7 minutes long with the most hypnotic pulsing beat you will ever hear from a rock band. All the tracks are seriously good, even those that have a more theatrical/burlesque feel to them...this approach was taken with their live performances for which they became rightly famous. Here is them doing the single version of Faith Healer from The Old Grey Whistle Test in '73.....

Not sure if its actually "live"...which would be unusual for the OGWT but this gives you a good idea of what they are about. A word of warning though....they are what could be described as an acquired taste and apart from the odd track and single here and there I find their other albums rather patchy and no where near as full on as this. The guitar sound and general mix is classic early 70's especially the opening riffs to Vambo Marble Eye which are glorious ! I never got to see them live which I regret as I did have the chance in '74 but declined.....doh !! After Alex Harvey died of a heart attack in 1982 the band carried on as SAHB Without Alex....but this was rather like when The Doors carried on after Jim Morrison died.....uninspiring and short lived. I saw their guitarist Zal Cleminson when he guested with Nazareth on a tour of theirs....it was very very odd to see him without his trademark clown get up. A fine guitarist though.

BLOOD OF HEROES 2012

 Not sure how this will go down with the majority of subscribers to this blog as it would be categorised as Drum and Bass.......but it not quite what you would expect from the genre as it is spacey with a heavy edge.....not that far removed from some of Pendulum's (who I will get to in a minute) less commercial album offerings. If you are curious about this style of music then this would be a reasonable intro. Having listened to this I was prompted to get out......

THE PRODIGY - INVADERS MUST DIE 2009
I'm sure you will be vaguely familiar with their unique brand of music but this album is my favourite by a long stretch. Great mix and footstompingly good !!.....I then couldn't help but listen to....

PENDULUM - LIVE AT BRIXTON ACADEMY 2008

This is marvellous from start to finish.....frantic infectious dance/rock played live with guitar, bass and a drummer.....yup....they use keyboards and whole banks of computers to provide all the rest of the backing sound and percussion/noises etc and are fronted by an MC but it all goes together to create a unique blend with crossover appeal to metal/rock fans. Their cover of Metallica's Master of Puppets has to be heard !

I was fortunate to see them some 3 years ago before they started only doing festivals and arenas and it was a gig that will live long in the memory. I fully intended to stand towards the back and stomp my foot and let the mosh pits, circle pits and mayhem go on well out of my way....this lasted about 20 seconds after they started and I found myself on the periphery of the action and was ,by the end , a horrible sweaty mess. I only saw a few people who I thought looked older than myself and indeed I'd estimate that my denim jacket was older than 90% of the audience !!

BURNING LOVE - ROTTEN THING TO SAY 2012

Full on hardcore...really reminded me of ZEKE......total noise but with good tunes and acceptable vocals (not that horrible gutteral Rottweiler with a sore throat style that I hate !). Great riffs and good speedy guitar work.....and no surprise after this album I had to listen to....

ZEKE - DEATH ALLEY 2001

This has always been a favourite of mine since I first heard it many years ago.....astonishingly good......You are left wondering just how they manage to play the guitar riffs that fast....and its very heavy and every song is superb.....not too good if you are out for a quite drive in the country but great if you want to get somewhere quickly !! You MUST check this album out.

MOUNTAIN - CLIMBING 1970 AND NANTUCKET SLEIGHRIDE 1971

Classic early 70's American rock fronted by legendary axeman Leslie West. A good variety of material over these 2 albums ranging from slower moody tracks to big sounding fuzzed guitar outings. Well worth checking out.

SLADE - SLADEST COMPILATION

All their singles and b-sides up to the end of '73. If ever there was a band whose music will put a smile on your face and a stomp in your foot then this is it. I've always loved Slade..ever since I bought Lok Wot You Dun back in early '72.....incidentally the first single I bought with my own money....50p I think it was. If you haven't seen the documentary This Is Slade then I urge you to do so when its next repeated (as its sure to be) on BBC 3 or 4. I wasn't able to see them in their heyday of the early 70's but was treated to a mad afternoon in their company along with 40,000 others when they filled in for Ozzy's Blizzard of Oz at the Reading Festival in 1980. Everyone was a bit miffed when it was announced that Blizzard weren't to be appearing and that Slade would entertain us instead but we'd all forgotten about Ozzy after a couple of songs and were all happily singing along, clapping and jumping up and down. Whilst NOT a favourite of mine Merry Xmas Everybody was sung with gusto by the whole audience....quite bizarre on a balmy August day !! There was also the biggest can/plastic bottle/polypin fight down the front that I've ever seen at a festival!...at one point the sky above our heads was darkened by the sheer number of objects flying about !!

and finally.....

ASTRO QUEEN - INTO SUBMISSION 2001

Fantastic classic stoner rock....awesome bass sound.....absolutely superb throughout....my only complaint is that the songs aren't long enough !! 11 tracks in 48 fun filled minutes.

Well....I hope that might have inspired you to check out some of my selections....if you do and you liked them or hated them then let us know !!

Until the next time.......

Doug E Dogg

Braille - Four Adult Males

Band request from Philedelphia.

Braille are Dustin and Andrew from those heavy bastards 

Bubonic Bear, Sean from Ape! and John from Pleasure Island.

Influenced by a lot of 90's noise rock stuff and dischord records,

this is all angular rhythms and riffs, the vocalist yelping and shouting

like a David Yow sound-a-like trying to emulate the manic style 

of the guy from Crystal Antlers.

The lyrics sit wonderfully over the top of the harsh melodies 

and feedback that are interwoven in with technical stop starts - 

think the Ladder Devils with Shellac song arrangements.

The powerful guitar barrage has a fantastic thick aggressive sound 

but never descends into your standard hardcore sameness.

Come on you lazy gits, give me an albums worth of material!

This is great stuff - highly recommended.

Name your price at Bandcamp

Thinning The Herd - Freedom From The Known

Fusing all that is great about dirty punk rock'n'roll, Thinning

The Herd sound like the satan-spawned bastard offspring between

Electric Frankenstein, Motorhead and early Suicidal Tendencies - 

which is to say fucking brilliant.

This is punk blues powered by high octane riffs that are cranked

out with scant disregard for niceties, urged on by a cleanish

vocal style that has a passionate and urgent rasp to it.

Precision, scalpel sharp solos are strewn over the songs in

all the right places, giving you a collection of tunes that demand

to be played again and again. 

And for a bonus in this day and age of heavier than thou, 

someone has remembered to write tracks with decent hook-lines

that make the whole album scream by in a satisfying blur of

foot-stomping thuggery.

Band blurb: Following a tumultuous several months of hardships and hard work, once again restructuring the band for the second time in a year, NYC’s THINNING THE HERD this week confirms the details of the band’s pending second full-length, Freedom From The Known. 

Founding vocalist/guitarist Gavin Spielman had replaced the crew on TTH’s 2011-released debut full-length, Oceans Rise, recruiting a new rhythm section in 2012 with bassist Wes Edmonds and drummer Rick Cimato (ex-Locked In A Vacancy). The ultra-solid new lineup honed the newest songs, and shipped out to Chicago last Summer to record the sophomore album Freedom From The Known at Electrical Audio Studios with studio guru Steven Albini. The trio filmed a new video for the album, and as they were preparing to release the best THINNING THE HERD material yet, Rick Cimato was tragically killed in a head-on collision over the 2012 holiday season. 

Mourning the loss of their friend, Spielman and Edmonds hosted several local listening parties of the album for local fans and friends to honor Rick and his family, then started the process of bringing yet another lineup together to execute the new songs live, proudly, as Cimato would have wished. Spielman recently crossed paths with Brooklyn drummer Garth Macaleavey, and after hitting it off, brought Garth into the THINNING THE HERD camp. 

With nearly forty-five minutes of brand new material, the varied Freedom From The Known continues the THINNING THE HERD tradition of avoiding genre pigeonholing, merging their blues, jam, sludge and NYHC influences into their expansive doom/rock foundation. Lyrically the band explores as wide an array of topics; surviving everyday life, achieving a higher consciousness through transcendentalism, the existence of alien and otherworldly life forms and more. This is where party-hard buildups melt into boundary-free jam sessions; THINNING THE HERD is the pinnacle of prime underground New York City rock. Freedom From The Known will finally be released on the band’s own Saint Marks Records, just as their previous EP and Oceans Rise full-length were, on May 9th, 2013. 

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