J’adore The Exile! The new album (links here) from the latest incarnation of stompers Mares Of Thrace is a long hoped for victory! Blackguard’s Storm and this Mares record are both recent Canada-blessed releases that somehow took nearly as long as Chinese Democracy to arrive. What does it mean, hmmm? I don’t think anything (but all were worth the wait).
The chemistry of the performances and captured takes between vocalist/guitarist Thérèse Lanz add new drummer/bassist Casey Rogers is insane. Be prepared for one of the most satisfying and Earth moving heavy musical expressions of energy in human memory.
VHS¥DEATH is the genre fluid, dark and gothic tinged borderless experimental project of Natalie Wardle (She/They). We checked in with the restlessly inventive UK based creator about the new Corrupted Geisha EP, one of my favorite things so far this year. I know as a writer it is my purported purpose to tell you WHY I like it, but music is also experiental.
For myself, I feel that there is a very wide open palette in play here and it is exciting to not know where a release is going to bring you track to track but being thrilled to trust the artist in the twists and turns/mind warp. There is also a sort of dancing around the edges of limitations, like journaling a transmogrification of pain as messenger to shackle shedding revelatory process via samples, sound collage and just bad ass music that makes you want to get down, freak out and dare to feel things…even if that feeling is vertigo, a chill up your spine, certain doom or the contradictions of human conditions.
The latest Deeper Graves effort The Colossal Sleep is one of our top selections of the month, a post-punk informed shadow work that really demands attention and at the end of the day rides alone genre-wise. Jeff Wilson (also of Chrome Waves, Contrition and a slew of other past bands of varying degrees of notoriety) has made one of his most piercing and lachrymose, yet decidedly unpretentious records yet. Catch the first video HERE.
It was a good time catching up with my friend and learning more about the current state of his life, label and musical endeavors.
UNLEASH THE ARCHERS wowed the world yet again when they dropped Abyss and our pal JD Kleinhans catches up at length with the one and only Britney Slayes in an exclusive video segment for us covering numerous topics. Happy holiday season, everyone. Stay Metal!!!
Our last interview of 2021 is with the enigmatic black metal outfit IRAVU from Malaysia. The occasion is to highlight the excellent Like Shades Of Nightrecent EP (one of our very favorite EPs this year along with also the hardcore band Move’s Freedom Dreamsfrom the USA). And of course we want to spread the word on a very cool up and coming artist as we celebrate worldwide metal. I cannot wait to hear more black metal from this anti-fascist and focused one person group, the brain-child of talented musician Hareesh Kumar Shanggar.
It is honestly an honor to boost new bands like this who are so good and work hard on their craft and from the heart. It gives me hope for the music scene and creativity to create communication and foundations for change.
East Coast extremists FULL OF HELL have forged a formidable path through the underground the last few years and now return with their latest uncompromising collection of anguish and triumph, Garden of Burning Apparitions. This is a towering record that will stop you in your tracks and consume YOU, instead of serving as empty consumption. Parts of this record prove you really can love both your Hammerhead and your Harmony Corruption, kids.
Some of the band stop by today to fill us in on the new and even noisier than ever variant of the band’s evolving sound and just what it means to be FoH in 2021.
A big thanks this week to the Succumb camp for doing this brand new interview with us promoting the new, must hearXXI release. Not quite a “best kept secret” anymore now that their star is rising, but certainly they remain a band you hope thrive yet also whom are so good you almost still want to covet their music to yourself in a secret, blood encrusted cave. I actually was worried they had broken up but still rocked one of their older debut shirt designs anyway cuz they fucking rule even if they HAD been one and done.
Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.
Cheri Musrasrik, of course, is a very enigmatic vocalist but the whole band have stepped things up from their already brilliant early material to deliver a complete knock out punch via this latest release. I knew they were special but always hoped they could be THIS special. If that doesn’t make sense now, it will when you hear the new record from this bleak and bludgeoning crew of cadaver kickers.
Thank you to Derek, Harry, Cheri and Kirk for all participating in this. Read more BELOW.
October 19th will see the release of an amazing self-titled solo release from KIRA. Kira Roessler has always been a bold and inventive player in bands like Black Flag, dos, The Visitors and many other lesser known yet also influential underground acts.
Basically like many punkers I always thought Roessler was one of the coolest people to ever walk the face of this rotten world, so it was awesome to get to chat about the solo record that Kitten Robot Records is releasing after a thirteen year gestation of the material. Roessler has also branched out and been part of sound teams in recent years for Mad Max: Fury Road, Joker, A Star is Born(2018), and Game of Thrones Season 2, in recent years.
Kirawas produced by Kira and Paul Roessler (TSOL, Josie Cotton, Richie Ramone) and is incredibly refreshing and layered, an uncompromising artist’s pure vision that hurdles genres to capture personal horizons.
Stream a taste of the solo album via “The Ghosts”here.
It is always stimulating when a band makes a long term impact by never sacrificing their drive to expand consciousness. Not every band has the guts or resolve to be a Dead Meadow, Kylesa, a Pharmakon or a Skinny Puppy. It is not an easy task to never fail to resist kowtowing to the framework of popular entertainment norms. To make each statement count.
Luminous Rot by metalgaze sound paintersNadja (Leah Buckareff & Aidan Baker) shows the duo remain capable of resisting the autopilot tendencies of many a long running group, whilst still retaining hallmarks that made them appeal to noise hungry weirdos, artsy types and sewer dwelling mutants. It is amongst a short list of my very favorite musical ‘moments’ of the year.
It was truly a Wayne’s World “We’re Not Worthy” checklist moment for me to get to interview the group about one of the year’s most thrilling records, an album that deserves to be revisited often by listeners in 2021. Frankly, it makes a lot of other albums feel semi-amateurish and will go over some people’s heads. What else is new?
We discussed Southern Lord, sci-fi “norms”, David Pajo’s role, pandemic peculiarities and much more. Luminous Rot is particularly compelling in how it effortlessly melds both obtuse and more welcoming musical forms into a cohesive soak.
“We were always clear on wanting this record to sound live and feel like it could have been recorded in an earlier time, and to steer clear of the sort of slick, modern rock sound that some people prefer.” – Jay Lindsey
Richmond, VA doomy psych philosophers BOOK OF WYRMSare a band who completely rocked my socks off the most unexpectedly this year thus far. This is not to say I underestimated them but rather that I had never heard their hearty blend of intensely immersive and vibey riffs, haunting vocals and ‘feels like you are there’ production before. Suffice to say it was an incredible and welcome discovery.
It makes sense such a trippy but earthy band comes from such a beautiful and complicated state.
I knew I had to corral members onto these here blog ‘pages’ and get an interview. Their new full length Occult New Ageis an essential tool for uplifting yourself through heavy and yet empathic creative roads. I work nights and so often have kind of crazy dreams in the day and just woke from one where there was a sort of mentally blocked character who became destructive or was almost choosing to be a killer, I’m trying to remember. He was kind of bullied in a small town for being sensitive to otherworldly forces by his own estimate and so was sort of frantic to prove or discover them around him to show he was telling the truth. But people pushed him down instead of nourishing his gifts so he was also almost resentful of the unknown. It was sad, actually. Waking from that and knowing I was going to publish this piece today, I couldn’t help but wonder what this dream entity/character’s life would have been like in their ‘story’ if they had a record as steeped in channeling and understanding these concerns as Book Of Wyrms have managed to write.
Occult New Age really feels like both a refuge and a tool as much as a place for your mystical, doom loving ears to call home.
One of the few good things about this pandemic life has meant time for people to dig deep and soul search for an even more meaningful sense of self-expression. After all, we have had reminders daily that time is precious and you ought to be true to yourself, right? As a writer it has also been a good chance to have random email convos with incredible and talented cool folks and Suzi Moon is certainly high on the list of radness level as far as “rad people I have gotten to communicate with” in recent times goes.
Suzi Moon radiates the essence of punk attitude and makes the balance of sweet and sour seem effortless in glam gutter songs like “I’m Not A Man” or the rollicking “Nuthin’ To Me” that you can snarl or sing-a-long with like nobodies business. Yes, the Civet and Turbulent Hearts alumna is going solo and has delivered a fantastic video for the instantly memorable “Special Place In Hell” track from upcoming debut EP CALL THE SHOTS.
‘This album is essentially a reflection of the societal ills that hold us back from having the grand culture and community the United States loves to pretend it has.’ – KZ
Hello dear readers and happy Trans Day of Visibility. Hope people are lifting one another up today and feeling good and loved. I need cold water thrown on my face after the inane stupor I entered from just reading an article about how friggin’ Michale Graves might testify on behalf of some loser Proud Boy Jan. 6th insurrectionists. Uh, that’s your character witness? What is he gonna do? Get up there and go ,”You’re lookin’ through the eyes of a Psycho! An American Psycho (Whoa-oh!).” The sad part is I don’t know if that would work in the fash mob defendants favor more or less considering how compromised many of our courts are.
One thing that DOESN’T make me want to scream in frustration (at least not in a bad way) is listening to the cathartic and brilliant new record Modern Grotesque from melodic post-screamo East Coasters Dreamwell, pretty much the most impressive shit I have discovered in a long time. This record , especially after the shared PTSD of 2020 we are all semi-thawing from, just feels like a massive release of hope, heart and triumphant defiance. A cry for a more caring and dignified world for people who are different, sensitive or just genuine… for the lovers, dreamers and you (to get more Kermit than Pepe up in here). It is an album that reminds me that feeling things is not weakness and which has some of the fiery and passionate type of playing that first got me into bands like UOA, At The Drive In or On The Might Of Princes.
Modern Grotesque also boasts some of the most impactful melodic playing I have heard in a long time this side of really good Modest Mouse, moments that just take artful twists and turns that couldn’t have been generated through a cynical aim and only through vibrant and vulnerable love for the music.
Please enjoy my chat with vocalist KZ as much as I did.
Vertigo from Finnish occult psych metal hybrid Jess and the Ancient Ones is nearly here, a brilliant bouquet of bold songwriting, deep mental excavation and explosive creativity. The Svart backed record (order HERE) releases this May in time for some of the finest weather for celebrating the sacred planet we inhabit -and too often regularly abuse- as well as the wider cosmos. It is an album that defies easy categorization even as it revels in nostalgia, riding waves of late 60’s bliss turned to unease through the dark heart of our current disoriented moment of mass ptsd and hopefully out the other side to better horizons. Rarely has escapism sounded so timely and alive, a defiance of folding up and dying without making a joyful, organ-steeped noise.
It is one of the most exciting, colorful and living testaments to rock you will hear this year and is in heavy rotation in my home, one of my favorite releases of 2021 yet by a long shot. The tornado on the cover might seem foreboding byt is also a fitting symbol of the intensity of the soaring vocals and enlightened playing within! It was a pleasure to pick the brain of guitarist Thomas Corpse about the release and other topics related to the band and their orbit.
Upstate, NY heavy hittersSICKBAY have become a staple of the regional heavy scene, putting out material consistently and always upping their dark and deadly game. Death metal with a slight amount of hardcore crossover in the mix, Sickbay are clearly not worried about trends and just intent on creating the special blend of brutality that makes them tick. Jim Sinon stops by Metal Riot today to discuss the band’s history, latest bludgeon-fest Death’s Cold Grip and more BELOW.
Skeletal Remains have built up a reputation for being a reliable source for some of the best death metal around where old school feel and fury and the ‘raw’ stuff manages to coincide with technical aspects without the scales being tipped. Plenty of stuff your Death or Massacre addict could vibe with and champion while still retaining the attention of people looking for something new, The Entombment Of Chaos is a must hear record for anyone who wants to properly get a grasp on a comprehensive list of the best stuff that came out this year. Despite some upheavals, the current incarnation of the band have released their most essential, confident and potentially career defining release yet! Even if you are not some scholarly metal cleric in a dusty tower, you can casually pick this up and find a killer outlet to both channel rage and have fun.
I spoke to Mike about the new album, coping with Covid, being part of the storied history of death metal, love for the fans and more RIGHT HERE!
Escuela Grind is one of the most intense AND fun bands out right now in the extreme metal scene. Anyone who has seen the outfit live knows they put on a careening and death-defying show, blending elements of many of the heaviest sub genres into a world changing charge. It has been awesome discovering truly fired up and creative acts such as them, Habak or Hostilities this year, giving me hope for the next generation of ass kickers. When I heard Indoctrination I was hooked and feel blessed Escuela Grind were one of the first bands I caught live when shows revved up again. Long may they reign.
