Latest Reviews - June 18, 2018
Zahir
(What Noise?)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 8.4 of 11
Genre: Noise rock
Sounds Like: Craw, The Jesus Lizard, Barkmarket
Zahir’s debut albumWhat Noise is a bludgeoning of aggressive noise-filled fuzz. Much akin to Jesus Lizard’s David Yow, Tambet Jurno does a wonderful job at the helm with an onslaught of steady vocal discord and dismay. The Estonian natives do a nice job of keeping things on track and not...
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We Came From Space
(While You Were Away)
2018
Staff Rating: Turn this to 4.6 of 11
Genre: Progressive rock
Sounds Like: Porcupine Tree, Spock's Beard, Styx
The debut album from Pennsylvania's We Came From Space is a hodgepodge of choppy stabs at different progressive styles. Is this a concept album? Perhaps an attempt, but the flow is just painful to get through in one full rotation. A common theme we see from fly by night progressive rock band's is pu...
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Witchskull
(Coven's Will)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 10.5 of 11
| Editor's Pick
Genre: Metal
Sounds Like: Dio, The Sword, Wounded Giant
There is something to be said for heartfelt, genuine, straight-shooting fucking heavy metal. Lead singer Marcus DePasquale is a diamond in the rough absolutely shining on WitchSkull’s sophomore release
Coven’s Will. The Canberra, Australia natives deliver in a big way on their s...
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Khan
(Vale)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 9.3 of 11
| Editor's Pick
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Sounds Like: JIRM, 3rd Ear Experience
The prolific trio from Melbourne Australia have already put out their fourth release since their debut in February 2016. Their latest
Vale is a full length heavy-psyche quest that navigates elaborately rich bass-lines through plenty of meandering yet complex psychedelic fuzz.
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Turtle Skull
(ST)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 8.4 of 11
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Sounds Like: The Black Angels, The Warlocks, Rancho Relaxo
Australia has been a huge breeding ground for up and coming independent rock artists within the past couple years. Heavy psych rockers Turtle Skull are the latest to hit our radar. The five-piece from Sydney, Australia bring that hazy, repetitive fuzz sound on this debut release. The production is s...
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Hashteroid
(ST)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 9.6 of 11
| Editor's Pick
Genre: Space metal
Sounds Like: Saviours, Fu Manchu, War Cloud
We are starting to see a comeback of the thrash metal scene as many stoner rock acts are diving headfirst in to this style. It’s stimulating and inspiring when these two genres collide. Hashteroid from Vancouver, British Columbia have unleashed a refreshing brand of stoner thrash upon us with ...
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Cosmic Fall
(In Search of Outer Space)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 9.2 of 11
| Editor's Pick
Genre: Heavy psych rock, Stoner rock, Psychedelic
Sounds Like: Earthless, 3rd Ear Experience, Samsara Blues Experiment
Third full length album in three years, these guys could be the busiest instrumental psych rock band today. With the release of
First Fall (2016),
Kick Out The Jams (2017) and now
In Search of Outer Space, we have a beautiful array of mind-expanding rich tunes to get lost ...
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Sea of Flame
(Ballast)
2018
Staff Rating: Turn this to 5.5 of 11
Genre: Hard rock
Sounds Like: Orange Goblin, Alabama Thunderpussy, Disturbed
Sea of Flame hailing from Denver, Colorado throw down some homegrown hard rockin tunes on their latest release
Ballast. The foursome let loose five tracks of bluesy rock on this album, think of a lite version of Orange Goblin or Alabama Thunderpussy. Vocalist Miles Skoog resembles a bluesy ...
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Green Altar
(Heavy Side of the River)
2018
Staff Rating: Turn this to 4.9 of 11
Genre: Doom, Black Metal
Sounds Like: Diamanda Galas, Grave Upheaval, Eyehategod
We were digging the album title and ominous bass doom metal undercurrent from the opening track, but those fucking vocals … eesh. While we do have the patience of saints when it comes to previewing new music, we felt beaten up after this one. All hail Green Altar from Sioux Falls South Dakota...
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Pyraweed
(Green Jinn)
2018
Staff Rating: Crank this to 9.8 of 11
| Editor's Pick
Genre: Doom, Sludge
Sounds Like: Sleep, YOB, Bongzilla
Since 2015 the trio from Baku, Azerbaijan have flown well under our radar. Perhaps they fell victim to the ‘weed’ titled band pool that had become so saturated in the last decade and we sluffed them off. Boy were we fucking remiss. Behold Pyraweed and their sensational 38 minutes 3 song ...
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