Me First and the Gimme Gimmes have finally found their true calling: as a Bar Mitzvah band. Think about it. The cover band, featuring NOFX’s Fat Mike, the Swingin’ Utters’ Spike, Dave and Joey from Lagwagon, and Jackson from the Foo Fighters, obviously weren’t meant to be taken seriously, so now they’ve let us in […]
Metal Blade Records is picking up steam these days, putting themselves back on the map with some first-rate acts. Swedish thrashers, Impious are at the head of the pack, taking death metal to the extreme. Considering the complexity of today’s power metal bands, this is no easy feat.
It’s strange how eerily true some clichés can be, but there’s more than enough evidence in music to suggest that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Take these constants, for instance: 1. The UK has been and continues to be the leaders in turning out the world’s greatest bands.2. Despite such […]
Within the first minute of Daysend’s Metal Blade release Severance I was interested. Not blown away mind you, but a bit intrigued because of their production finesse that resulted in a crisp, crystal clear sound. The music follows the current trend of blending melodic modern metal with hardcore while using classic metal guitar leads and […]
Five-piece SoCal rockers Bullets And Octane have been likened to everything from The Misfits to Billy Idol. Between the group’s hard-driving rhythms and vocalist Gene Bullets’ similarities to Glenn Danzig and the aforementioned Mr. Idol, there’s no denying those comparisons. Yet to gain the full picture of Bullets And Octane’s sound requires more than just […]
This isn’t a bad thing: Blanket Music strikes first as the mellow side of the Velvet Underground with a post-op Nico in a Hawaiian shirt. Nearly un-amped guitar accompanies a delicate dusk walk on a beach with well-practiced uneasy vocals–as if the beach is covered with jagged rocks.
This is a first release. Not the worst, mind you. This is hardcore. Not the best, mind you, but not bad. The musical structure is impressive. The guitar licks—believe it or not—could have been Murder City Devils songs. In other words, this is NOT your grandpa’s idea of hardcore. It’s got a sense of southern-rock […]
