The calm before the storm. The opening instrumental, “Scatology Domine (intro),” sounds like it came out of an upright piano in some mental health rec room. The title track, “Humanure,” barrels out of the speakers like some PCP-addled psycho from a 1970s after-school special. The tight start/stop barrage of drummer Michael Laughlin and bassist Troy […]
Merriam-Webster defines tribulation as “distress or suffering resulting from oppression or persecution; a trying experience”. Ask the decaying old man clutching his Gibson at the crossroads, and he’ll tell you that tribulation is what he eats for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For the Atlanta-based, rag-tag rock quartet The Forty-Fives, tribulation can be described as the […]
In the midst of rapidly changing musical trends, bands breaking up and re-uniting, there’s been one thing you can count on over the last 15 to 20 years. The Reverend Horton Heat will be passing through your town at least once a year, bringing the wildest, rockin’-est, Texas psychobilly freak-out you’ve ever seen to all […]
Tom Araya—bass, vocalsJeff Hanneman—guitarKerry King—guitarDave Lombardo—drums Ozzfest veterans Slayer never disappoint. With a new live DVD on the way (Reign in Blood Live: Still Reigning, due 9/28/04), a current tour with Ozzfest, and the upcoming Jägermeister Music tour in the fall, Slayer is keeping themselves busy in the midst of record label limbo. I was […]
Lost Boys of Sudan (Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk 2004) This documentary makes us not only aware of Africa’s civil war, it takes us into the lives of the orphans from this war, refugee boys that have been living in Kenya with thousands of others like them. These individuals have suffered a fate none of […]
Riding Giants (Stacey Peralta, 2004) Stacey Peralta, known for his documentary on skateboarding, Dogtown & Z-Boys, takes us into the real history of surfing, from it’s Polynesian and Hawaiian roots to when Gidget’s cheeky sitcom in 1966 took surfing into the mainstream, raising the number of surfers from a few thousand to a few million […]
So it’s official. The ‘80s are back. Okay, that’s an understatement because the ‘80s have been back for the past three years now. And thanks to the Sahara Hotnights, the best part about this era’s music is being electrified all over again through their latest release, Kiss and Tell. The Hotnights took a plunge, head […]
This album title is an interesting one for Sparta’s latest creation, in a sense there’s a pure and gleaming sense about the path the group, now on their sophomore release, has taken in 2004. The ghost of Perry Ferrell is felt more than any spirit left from ATDI, which may say something about the fading […]
Head for the basement or the doorjambs as Massachusetts’s metal-core merchants Unearth unleash The Oncoming Storm. The band’s fourth release, first for Metal Blade, is a thunderous, dark, and well-rounded effort. Adam Dutkiewicz’s (Killswitch Engage) bottom-heavy production shines on cuts like the rapid fire, militaristic “Bloodlust of the Human Condition” and “Predetermined Sky,” which features […]
Blackie Lawless and W.A.S.P. have been on an incredible roll since 1997’s K.F.D. Helldorado, Unholy Terror, and Dying for the World. All were all solid efforts, and better than anyone could have expected. This brings us to their new release, The Neon God Part 1—The Rise, a concept album outlined in a forced and badly […]
