Closed For Business

I am off to New Zealand for 3 weeks.

I will try to post some reviews before I go.

Stop crying - I return early November.

Nonagon - The Last Hydronaut

Living in the murky world of post-hardcore, AmRep
sensibilities and a chaotic math-like riff frenzy,
Nonagon are back with 6 new tracks of controlled noise rock.

I reviewed their 2012 release - People Live Everywhere and
am glad to report that business is as usual.

The music is all about unreleased tension. Circular riffs spiral
in tight chord/note clusters over which John yelps and gibbers
in a frantic, strained voice which holds hints of anger and
frustration.

Once again, the technical side of the band delivers the chops
required to drive the frantic songs along without getting
bogged down in fretboard wankery.

It's fast, aggressive, short, uncomfortable - hey, it's punk rock, baby!

Go get some!

Buy from Controlled Burn Records

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Listen to new Melvins track

This sounds really good - cannot wait for the album!

RARELYUNABLE PRESS RELEASE

THE MELVINS PREMIERE "CITY DUMP" VIA THE QUIETUS; TRES CABRONES PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE

Time for another audible insight into the Melvins' brand new album, Tres Cabrones, as we share "City Dump", "a typically juddering slice of guitars dredged from the sewers and rock-solid drumming", so say The Quietus who have premiered the track this week: (http://thequietus.com/articles/13535-melvins-city-dump)

Listen and share via this direct link: https://soundcloud.com/ipecacrecordings/city-dump

Pre-order at the following link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/tres-cabrones/id704834408

Unlike recent Melvins line-ups, on Tres Cabrones the group returns to a former, near original incarnation with Mike Dillard on drums, Dale on Bass and Buzz on guitar - all sharing vocal duties.

Tres Cabrones is an album of completely new material, written with these 'Tres Cabrones' in mind so says Buzz…"Tres Cabrones is as close as we’re willing to get to the Melvins 1983 line-up,” explained Osborne. “The best part is it’s all new songs. I specifically wrote tunes that would be good for these guys to play and it worked out great. We had no interest in rehashing tunes we wrote 30 years ago and chose instead to simply create NEW songs. It worked out perfectly.”

The result is a splendidly playful album which, as Zero Tolerance magazine so aptly write in their recent review, "irregularly switches between straight-as-they-get-punk-glammetal ("Stick 'Em Up Bitch"), riotous violent pop ("City Dump"), and excursions into comic oddness ("You're In The Army Now"), all done through the filter of a distorto worldview. Unstoppable."

Relapse Records - 26 Track Fall Sampler

Relapse Records have put together a killer compilation of
the bands that they handle. Free download, loads of
great tracks - whatcha waiting for!

Relapse Records has released a 26 song label sampler for free download via Bandcamp and Amazon MP3.  The sampler showcases the label's eclectic roster across all realms of dark and heavy music including death metal, grindcore, thrash metal, stoner rock, shoegaze, drone, black metal, sludge metal, doom metal, hardcore, and experimental music.  A complete tracklisting is included below. 

1. Red Fang - Blood Like Cream 

2. Toxic Holocaust - Awaken The Serpent 

3. Windhand - Orchard 

4. Revocation - Invidious 

5. Exhumed - Necrocracy 

6. True Widow - HW:R 

7. Nothing - Dig 

8. ASG - Day's Work

9. Ulcerate - Confronting Entropy 

10. Obliteration - Goat Skull Crown 

11. Baroness - The Line Between (BBC Live) 

12. Black Tusk - In Days of Woe

13. Inter Arma - Destroyer 

14. Lord Dying - In A Frightful State of Gnawed Dismemberment 

15. Howl - Attrition 

16. Coffins - The Vacant Pale Vessel 

17. Devourment - 50 Ton War Machine 

18. Primitive Man - Rags 

19. Locrian - Exiting the Hall of Vapor and Light 

20. Wolvserpent - In Mirrors of Water 

21. Horseback - On The Eclipse 

22. Unkind - Kehtoon Tapetut 

23. Call of the Void - Napalm Lungs 

24. Mumakil - Death From Below 

25. Blockheads - Pro-Lifers 

26. Weekend Nachos - Satan Sucker 

Relapse Records is an independent label formed in 1990 that specializes in forward-thinking heavy music.  Current and former artists include Mastodon, Baroness, Neurosis, Red Fang, Dying Fetus, Pig Destroyer, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Suffocation, Toxic Holocaust, Pentagram, Death and many more!

Egypt - Become The Sun

From North Dakota USA

Another one of this years best releases so far....hugely satisfying

 heavy blues stoner of the highest order. Great big riffs to get your head 

nodding along ...a really good variety of songs with aggressive but 

clear vocals. Excellent atmospheric production and guitar work. 

Also includes a very fine cover version of Deep Purple's Black Night. 

The see what these guys are all about go to Facebook

Buy from Bandcamp

And to experience the second track on the album, The Village Is Silent,
have a listen below:

...you won't regret it !!

Doug E Dogg

Leather Nun America - Kult Occult 2011

One you might of missed.

From San Diego USA

They describe themselves as " 3 guys making Doom and Metal 

that they like to listen to".....

.....this I take to mean that if anyone outside 

of the band doesn't like it then tough shit !!....a good ethos to have.

Strange choice of name given the legendary status of Swedish 

rockers The Leather Nun, but then who am I to query such a thing 

given my own track record of band names ie....... Ruptured Dog!

Their dense sound is very mid-70's Sabbath with plenty of growling 

bass and searing guitar throughout. There is a pleasing variety in the 

pacing with quieter numbers not feeling out of place. The production is 

excellent throughout with loads going on under the main action to 

concentrate your ears. 

I always like to see how any band I review performs live and in 

this case it was rather a disappointment as the YouTube clips are all 

of poor sound quality with the band seemingly struggling to reproduce 

their material with the same ferocity as in the studio.  

Listen to a very fine track from the album entitled "Indra", 

which will give you a good idea of what they are all about.

Doug E Dogg

Black Plastic Caskets - S/T

As I sit here in the lofty heights of Black Insect Towers,

preparing words of musical wisdom for you, the little people -

I sometimes think that the underground world that we lurk

in can get bogged down in genres/sub-genres/sub-sub genres etc.

As there is no existing tag called "sludgeblueshardcoremelodicfuzz"

here are some things you need to know about Black Plastic Caskets.

They play sludge based riffs with a sound that mixes Killing Joke,

Neurosis and Cough together into a massive sound.

The solos are distorted, crazed blues flurries that have the

authentic classic feel of the late '60's.

The vocals have a hard, aggressive southern feel but with no 

cookie monster growls, being cleaner, you can hear the anger and 

passion much more.

The lyrics have a much more personal feel to them - instead of yet

more songs about rage, hate and blackness, we hear about fat half

sisters, swapping spit and the boredom and frustration of everyday

life in the middle of nowhere.

The album is fucking great.

That is all you need to know - go get it!

Thanks to Artus at Archiv Hate blog for bringing this to my attention.

Name your price at Bandcamp

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Paranoid Hitsophrenic Doom Chart

Once again Lucas has brought out all the stops to produce his

excellent monthly Doom Chart, showing you what you should be

playing or listening to.

Read it Here

Archiv Hate Magazine No. 6

Artus has produced another excellent issue of the

Archiv Hate web-magazine. Check out this always

visually stunning feast - Here

Brand new series of ARCHIV HATE interview magazine! On this episode interview with Nomadic Rituals, 3-piece doom/ sludge band from Belfast and Synsophony, dark ambient duo. Transylvania dark art by Luciana Nedelea Artworks. Latvian underground culture "The Media" by Inese Tone. Series of Jason Cantu (of SLAVES BC) haiku reviews and Danial Gambler reviews. Cover art by Janis Burmeisters (TESA). Enjoy!

The Freeks - Full On

"Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa" - so spake Rob Tyner on the legendary
Kick Out The Jams album. The Freeks are blazing the same trail
as the MC5 ..... 

Whilst not quite the mission statement of "Dope, Guns and
Fucking in the Street" - the incendiary rock'n'roll of the Motor
City Five + the burning attack of The Stooges have left a burning
legacy that few bands have ever managed to equal.

But - and this is a big "but" - The Freeks have taken the banner
and produced an album full of passion and high-octane punk
rock'n'roll that many bands have tried before but never with
such results as this.

Psych garage rock played with heart and soul - what's not
to like? Screaming fuzzed-wah solos are machine gunned out
over the cranked up riffs with deadly results. Reverb vocals yelp
and groan with an infectious groove and let's not forget the tunes .....
melody combined with power and catchiness making each quick-fire
track an event worth playing over and over.

The Freeks also know when to embrace their slower, more trippy
side - several songs have Electric Prune/The Nazz type vibe complete
with Hawkwind space effects to really get things cosmic.

As a side note, the band contains ex-members of Fu Manchu, Nebula &
Roadsaw. Rather than combing into a "super-stoner band", they have
to be praised for following their own path.
This is highly recommended to anyone into proto-punk/garage rock.

Many thanks to the band for sending this to me.

Also thanks to the always tremendous Heavy Planet for turning me onto these guys.

Order from the Freek store Here

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