12.31.2009

FEAR FACTORY – “Mechanize”

An unexpected triumph for the band’s (obviously) more important half

“Yeah, of course you’ll say it will be something like two of your best albums”, all of us thought when Burton C. Bell was telling the press how the new Fear Factory will mix the heaviness of “Soul of a New Machine” with the more mature songwriting of “Obsolete”. Turns out, for our complete amazement, that the bastard wasn’t lying at all!

OVERKILL – “Ironbound”

Thrash metal that my fill your small town stadium, but not an arena

While Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and to a lesser extent Anthrax are UEFA Champions League worthy, Exodus, Testament, Kreator and a few other similar bands are good enough for the Europa League, Overkill have always been like a Premier League middle of the table team – with some traditions, a legion of loyal supporters but no glamour whatsoever.

12.21.2009

THE MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES - Pin Points and Gin Joints

Sort of stripped down but still an awesome album

“We are no fuckin’ jukebox”, the angered Dicky Barrett shouted in 2002 as he got tired of fans asking the band to play “The Impression that I Get”. The weight of touring and all the insanity revolving around the music industry took their toll and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones had to take a few years off before the band could find back the drive to play music again.

12.01.2009

EVERGREEN TERRACE: Anarchy = chaos = problems


One of Europe’s biggest hardcore happenings, the Persistence Tour, kicked off last Friday. What better occasion to hook up with Evergreen Terrace, who are touring all over Europe alongside Ignite, Biohazard, Agnostic Front, Walls Of Jericho, Death By Stereo and No Turning Back, and ask them a couple of questions. After all they also have a brand new and simply awesome album called “Almost Home” that came out just a few months ago. So – guitarist and cool clean vocals guy Josh James is good enough to answer:

11.25.2009

CLUTCH – “Strange Cousins from the West”

A nice reminder that this band does exist

Yes, this album came out in the summer, but you also may have noticed how I write about things that aren’t exactly brand new, have you? And in this particular case some website’s lack of attention towards this album is borderline criminal!

11.24.2009

BORN FROM PAIN: Political ideas definitely have a place in the scene


Having been a Born From Pain fan ever since “Reclaiming the Crown” was “the new one” I can’t help being very excited about their upcoming show here. Even though I’ve already seen the band three times. Not long before the show, we get in touch with guitarist Karl and we talk “Survival”, Zeitgeist, conspiracy theories and pretty much everything the band stands for today.

11.23.2009

MISERATION – “The Mirroring Shadow”

Uncompromising, yet quite polished brutal death metal

A Swedish death metal band each of whose members is also part of 2-3 active projects is not a rare thing to see, keeping in mind every third person in that country seems to be a musician. And while side projects and supergroups often suck, this is not the case with Miseration.

11.20.2009

THEM CROOKED VULTURES – “Them Crooked Vultures”

A super album by a super group leaves us super happy

When you are 1/3 Led Zeppelin, 1/3 Nirvana and 1/3 Queens of the Stone Age, fan and media attention, a record deal and the following huge record sales come on their own without you trying too hard.

11.19.2009

NO TURNING BACK: We toured the world without any help from anyone


The second birthday of I Hate Mondays Radio is the occasion around which one of this fall’s most exciting hardcore shows is going to happen. Headliners of the cigarette smoke free еvent are the Netherlands’ No Turning Back, whose frontman and only remaining original member Martijn was nice enough to answer a few questions of mine.

11.18.2009

DESTRUCTION OF A ROSE – “Suspended in Time”

You might as well have already heard this

You have read so many times how melodic metalcore is so big at the moment and how it suffocates everything around it. And of course when you read a review of such an album, the band is not “one of those” and “stands out with something”.

Facebook