Music
Review: Eternal North – Children Ov the Cold
This Idahoan group makes me ponder the possibilities if In Flames and Children of Bodom hadn’t “moderned up” their sound. It kind of makes a guy feel like it’s the early ’90s and so many Scandinavian groups hadn’t become shadows of themselves. … read more
Review: Espectrostatic – Self-Titled
Garage rock impresario Alex Cuervo (Hex Dispensers, Feast of Snakes) has faithfully captured the intensity and driving repetition of classic horror movie soundtracks on his newest synth project, Espectrostatic. … read more
Review: East of the Wall – Redaction Artifacts
This album is one big derivative showcase: I hear a shit-ton of Opeth, Tommy Giles, Mastodon and The Ocean among others, so there’s an element of comfortable familiarity when I listen, but that familiarity is at the expense of any originality the band might be capable of. … read more
Review: Drugs of Faith – Architectural Failures
If any genre should be bulletproof to experimentation and expansion, it’s grindcore, but in 2013, strong releases by Call of the Void and Beaten to Death have challenged this notion, and Drugs of Faith are right alongside them. … read more
Review: The Difference Machine – The Psychedelic Sounds of the...
The Difference Machine meld together the meditative effect of psychedelia with urgent rhymes about spiritual awakening. Dr. Conspiracy’s King Geedorah–style, trance-like beat is matched with emcee DT’s seamless flows and Reid Richards’ witty lyrical tour through Marvel Comics superheroes in “Marvel.” … read more
Review: Dead Waves – Take Me Away EP
For their follow up to June’s Kill the Youth EP, this Queens-based trio fleshes out their penchant for abrasive melodies via six songs of fuzz-blasted caterwauling with a nod to early Pixies. … read more
Review: Dead Hand Projekt – Control
First of all, I was completely amazed when I found out that some of the origins of this band are from Casper, Wyo. Luckily, they ventured out of the one-horse town and came across a Southern California influence. … read more
Review: Dave Hause – Devour
The Loved One’s current and Paint It Black’s former guitarist has also been putting out solo material since his stint performing on the PIB 2009 revival tour. It’s obvious that Hause knows how to create a large scope with his songs since each of them are emotional epics that tell Americana-type stories. … read more
Review: Dale Cooper Quartet & the Dictaphones – Quatorze Pièces...
Quatorze Pièces de Menace starts with near perfect treatise explaining a term like “dark jazz” to the masses. This 20-plus minute opus tracks a slow-build progression from dark ambience to slow industrial clang, to Birth of the Cool–era Miles Davis cool jazz, to swells of post-rock guitars and swathes of noise. … read more
Review: Cults – Static
Her high-toned vocals complement the sparkly ’50s-style guitar tunes they lay on, though on tracks like “Always Forever,” they remind me of an excited girl talking to a dog (“Hi, puppy!”). … read more