Category: Metal

Review: Mötorhead – Louder Than Noise…Live in Berlin

Recorded on December 05, 2012 in front of an audience of about 12,000 fans, Mötorhead‘s Louder Than Noise…Live in Berlin is a good record of the band’s power and ferocity. The trio of Phil Campbell (guitar), Mikkey Dee (drums), and Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (bass and vocals) was the longest-running Mötorhead lineup, and their locked-in energy is palpable throughout the show.

The show begins with Kilmister yelling, “Guten abend! How you doin’? All right? We are Mötorhead…Phillip, if you would be so kind?” in his signature bourbon-and-cigarettes-laced voice before they rip into the snarky “I Know How to Die.” “Damage Case” swings with a bluesy groove that is made dangerous by Kilmister’s growls and Campbell’s rock riffs. It rolls right into “Stay Clean” thanks to Dee’s relentless yet effortless drum fills.

They give the crowd and the listener a brief break before rolling out “Metropolis,” which starts like a stoner metal track and then two sharp snare cracks from Dee turn it into a fuzzy rocker. Kilmister dedicates “Over the Top” to Campbell, probably because Campbell shreds for almost three minutes straight on it. “Doctor Rock” is just as fun and fast and furious as you hope it will be. Campbell plays a nice two-minute solo (“String Theory”) and then his bandmates join him in the classic “The Chase Is Better Than the Catch.”

“Rock It” comes after the band takes a quick drink of…something, and then it rolls into the wicked, dark blues cut “You Better Run,” which I’m sure had the mosh pit amped up even more than it was at the start of the show. “The One to Sing the Blues” has some of Dee’s most ferocious drumming, including a tremendous solo. The whole track sounds like Mötorhead are daring any challengers to their throne of skulls.

“Now, then, this is a rock and roll song,” Kilmister says before they launch into the swinging, blazing “Going to Brazil” (as if all the other songs aren’t). “Killed by Death” brings plenty of fuzz and power to warm you up (if you’re not already sweating) for, of course, “Ace of Spades” to close the main set. “Remember? We’re deaf!” Kilmister yells to the audience after the song ends. I’m sure the whole audience was, too. “Overkill” is the crazy, wild finale, with Dee going for broke and Campbell and Kilmister doing their best to blow the back of the joint.

It’s a fun recording, and I wish I could’ve seen them live before Kilmister left for the giant after-party in the sky. This is a good substitute, however.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Review: Brown Acid – The 12th Trip

RidingEasy Records is back with another round of obscure, rare stoner rock, metal, and psychedelia on Brown Acid: The Twelfth Trip. This one brings you ten tunes that stretch from Hawaii to Belgium in terms of their places of origin.

First up is the fuzz-filled “Mother Samwell” by Louisville, Kentucy’s The Water. It’s like T. Rex meets The Guess Who and 1969 southern rock. It fades out far too soon and makes you wish The Water had stuck around after 1972. Hamilton, Ontario’s Village S.T.O.P. brings us the trippy, melting, fuzzy freak-out “Vibrations.” The drums sound like they were recorded in another room with walls of chicken wire and mud, and I mean that in the best way possible.

The bass on White Lightning‘s (hailing from Minneapolis) “1930” is so fat you could stick it on a Parliament track. Shane drops the funky, yet heavy “Woman (Don’t You Go)” from the San Francisco Bay area in 1968…and nothing else. They broke up not long after releasing the track, which is a shame because it sounds like they could’ve been a pretty successful psych-funk band.

Dallas’ Ace Song Service unleashes a hefty Hammond B3 organ on “Persuasion,” and combines it with a sizzling guitar solo. Opus Est is the Belgian band on the record, and their heady song “Bed” is about sex and, apparently, and drugs and rock and roll (Go figure.). The aforementioned Hawaiian band is The Mopptops, who are described in the liner notes as “the Blues Magoos meets Iron Butterfly.” I don’t think I can sum it up better than that (or that wild guitar solo!).

Do you need more cowbell? Youngstown, Ohio’s Artist gives you plenty of it (and plenty of mega-riffs) on “Every Lady Does It.” “Comin’ Home” by Carthage, Missouri’s Stagefright is akin to a MC5 track with its wild drumming, fuzzy vocals, and heavy guitar and bass. The closing track is the wonderfully bizarre, ultra-rare “Don’t Talk About My Music” by Dickens – a band made up of members of and roadies for NRBQ who barely knew how to play the instruments they jam with and recorded in an impromptu session after Jim Nabors cancelled some studio time. The result is a trippy, fun jam of which only fifty or so known copies are in existence. It’s a great treat to end a wild anthology.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Deathchant unleash “Holy Roller” from upcoming album due June 25th.

L.A. quartet Deathchant share the first single from their forthcoming sophomore album Waste today via Metal Injection. Waste is the band’s debut on RidingEasy Records. Hear and share “Holy Roller” HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)
Heavy music’s evolution has always been a murky swamp of sub-genres. So, combining Thin Lizzy’s glistening twin guitar harmonies with Melvins-grade sludge and a hearty dose of proto-metal psych probably shouldn’t sound so revolutionary as it does in the hands of L.A. quartet Deathchant. But theirs is a special, transcendent sound.

Waste, the band’s sophomore album and first for RidingEasy Records, is anything but. The 33-minute, 7-song blast flows seamlessly from song to song, aided by droning segues, while simultaneously slithering between genres and moods. Rumbling noise, chiming guitar melodies, bluesy boogie, NWOBHM thrash, COC grunge and punk fury all rear their head at times, sometimes all at once. 

Though you wouldn’t be able to tell by the concise structures and well-crafted songs, a lot of Deathchant’s music is improvised, both in the studio and live. That’s not to suggest their songs are jammy — they’re very tightly organized compositions. But the four musicians have that special musical telepathy that allows them to keep the song structures open-ended.

“Improv is a huge things for us and always has been,” singer/guitarist T.J. Lemieux says. “The musical freedom to look at the other dudes in the band and be able to take things wherever we want to go is magical. I like the feel of flying off the hinges.”
Likewise, the band itself is similarly amorphous in its membership. “We run the band with an open door. No lineup is definitive,” Lemieux explains. On Waste, the lineup is: Lemieux, George Camacho on bass, Colin Fahrner on drums, and John Belino on second guitar. 

Waste was recorded live in a rented cabin in the mountains of Big Bear, CA. “We packed a big-ass van and set up in the living room and kitchen,” Lemieux says. “Tracked it live, with overdubs after.” The whole album was recorded over two separate weekends, engineered by Steve Schroeder, who also recorded the band’s 2019 self-titled debut album. 

“I’d say it has sort of a DIY LA punk aesthetic,” he adds. “Very ironically going hand in hand with a classic metal vibe: Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, classic Deep Purple, Uriah Heep and other melodic heavy rock bands.” 

Waste will be available on LP, CD and download on June 25th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. 

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Mac Sabbath stars in a new pop-up book. Yes, really.

MAC SABBATH has revealed details on their first book, Drive Thru Metal, but don’t expect a stereotypical biography from the fast food-themed parody kings. There’s plenty of “juice” inside, albeit in the form of burgers cooking in the kitchen as the four members of MAC SABBATH take fans on a journey through a dystopian fast-food world polluted by its own waste in an innovative hybrid pop-up book.
Mysterious MAC SABBATH frontman Ronald Osbourne comments on the book, “What’s that? A pop-up book is not what you were expecting? Well SUFFER! ….and you’re welcome.”

Watch an amazing teaser video for the book here.

Available via Poposition Press, Drive Thru Metal features illustrations by Gris Grimly, well-known for his darkly whimsical children’s books and the upcoming Netflix film adaptation of his Pinocchio book, and will be available in Regular and Special Editions. Both editions are available in limited quantities, so be sure to pre-order now to reserve a copy of this piece of Drive Thru Metal history! Pre-orders are available at https://macsabbath.bigcartel.com/.

Both editions of Drive Thru Metal include pop-up scenes highlighting “The Factory,” “The Ascension” and “Utopia” and include a special vinyl surprise with seven MAC SABBATH stories, including “Organic Funeral,” Sweet Beef” and “N.I.B.B.L.E.” The Special Edition is a super limited version complete with a foil stamped cover, a Gris Grimly art print and ketchup and mustard splattered vinyl surprise.

Mixing raucous comedy with borderline-horrific theatrics, the only thing more petrifying than impending health problems resulting from years of overeating is a MAC SABBATH show. MAC SABBATH puts on a theatrical, multimedia stage show – complete with a smoking grill, laser-eyed clowns, bouncing burgers and many more magical surprises… basically anything and everything an unwary show-goer could ever want in their wildest dreams. The band has been named by Buzzfeed as one of the “13 Metal Bands You Didn’t Know How to React To”, and as LA’s “Best Tribute Band” by LA Weekly.

MAC SABBATH online:

www.facebook.com/macsabbath/

https://twitter.com/macsabbath

www.instagram.com/officialmacsabbath

Tumblr: macsabbath

TikTok: @macsabbath

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Warish release wild new single from upcoming album.

Southern California trio Warish share a new video & single from their anticipated sophomore full length, Next To Pay (RidingEasy Records) today via Kerrang! Watch and share “Second Hand Misery” HERE. (Direct YouTube and Bandcamp.)
Consequence of Sound recently shared the single “Seeing Red” HERE. Revolver Magazine premiered the video for “Say To Please” HERE. (Direct YouTube.)

About the video, Riley says:“This video came to mind when I heard the ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ song by Barney playing somewhere while I was in a bad mood and was thinking, this song is kinda evil sounding. Then I went home and instantly started editing the video to the track S.H.M. Because it’s the polar opposite of If You Are Happy And You Know it. It fit nicely I thought, hah.” 

With a name like Warish, the San Diego noisy punk-metal trio assured listeners they were in for a maniacal bludgeoning from the get-go. But the band has never been as dark and bitingly vicious as the wholly ominous Next To Pay. The band’s mix of early AmRep skronk, dark horror rock and budget doom antipathy is taken to a whole new level on this 13-song invective. 

“‘Next To Pay’ is about a sense of imminent doom, everyone is going to die,” vocalist/guitarist Riley Hawk says. “It’s not the happiest record, I guess.” To say the least. On the title track opener, Hawk screams through shredded vocal chords with the tuneful rage of Kill ‘Em All era James Hetfield and the seething desperation of Kurt Cobain. 

“This album is more of an evolution, it’s a little more punk-heavy,” Hawk says of the group quickly founded in 2018. “We figured out what our sound was.” And with that evolution comes a change in the lineup. Original drummer Nick (Broose) McDonnell plays on about half of the songs, while new drummer Justin de la Vega brings an even tighter urgency to the remaining, more recent tracks. Bassist Alex Bassaj joined after the debut album was recorded and here showcases muscular and melodic low end previously missing. Riley Hawk is also the pro-skater son of Tony Hawk. 

Inspired by early-Nirvana, The Misfits, The Spits and Master of Reality-era Black Sabbath, Next To Pay keeps things heavy and pummeling at all times. The guitars are heavy and powerful, though decidedly not straightforward cookie cutter punk; more like Greg Ginn’s and Buzz Osbourne’s wiry contortions, and occasionally drenched in chorus effects. The rhythms bash right through it all with aggressive force ensuring that nothing gets overly complicated. Warish’s cover of 80s DischordRecords punks Gray Matter turns the emotive flail of “Burn No Bridges” into a Motorhead style basher. 

Next To Pay will be available on LP, CD and download on April 30th, 2021 via RidingEasy Records. Pre-orders are available HERE.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Top 40 albums of 2016 – 2020: #’s 5 – 1

Here we are at the top of the music mountain. Again, putting this list together wasn’t easy. It went through at least four drafts before it felt “right.”

#5: BODEGA – Endless Scroll (2018)

This post-punk record by the Brooklyn band took a good chunk of the world by storm, receiving a lot of airplay in England and across U.S. alternative radio stations and being played at Paris fashion shows. It’s full of great hooks, scathing lyrics about hipsters, death, perceptions of masculinity, sex, and people willingly enslaving themselves to technology. BODEGA instantly became my favorite band of 2018 when I heard this.

#4: Flat Worms – Antarctica (2020)

This wild psych-punk (and I’m not sure that’s an accurate description) album unleashes raw power from the get-go and doesn’t let up for the entire run. It takes subjects like consumerism, rich elitism, racism, existential angst, and xenophobia head-on with hammering guitars and drums as heavy as a glacier. This album was locked into my #1 spot for Best Albums of 2020 after its release.

#3: The Well – Death and Consolation (2019)

This doom metal album from Austin, Texas’ The Well was my favorite album to send to fellow doom-lovers for Christmas in 2019. It hits hard in all the right ways – chugging bass and guitars, fierce yet in-the-pocket drumming, and lyrics about mortality, horrible things that lie beyond the veil, epic mystical battles, and overcoming fear of such things to transcend this illusionary existence. Heavy stuff? Yes, but The Well carry it with the ease of Hercules.

#2: Kelly Lee Owens – (self-titled) (2017)

This album made me want to create electronic music even more than I already did. I hadn’t touched my digital turntables in months, and then Kelly Lee Owens releases her self-titled debut of house, ambient, and synthwave music and slaps me awake with it. Seeing her live at the 2018 Pitchfork Music Festival only slapped me harder. The problem? She’s so good, and this album is such a strong debut, that it’s tempting to hear it and think, “Damn, why should I even bother?” I’ll be happy if I can create something a fifth as good as this.

#1: David Bowie – Blackstar (2016)

I mean, come on, was there any doubt? David Bowie’s final album is a masterpiece. I can’t say it any better than that. He faced his mortality with introspection, acceptance, and even humor. His backing jazz band is outstanding on this, and every song carries extra weight when viewed with the hindsight of knowing the Thin White Duke was getting ready to head back into the brilliant dimension that spawned him.

Thanks for all the good music, everyone.

Keep your mind open.

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Top 35 albums of 2020: #’s 10 – 6

We’ve reached the top 10 (of nearly 80) albums I reviewed in 2020. Who made the cut? Read on…

#10: The Wants – Container

The only thing bad about this album is that The Wants didn’t get to extensively tour to promote it. Screw you, 2020. Container deserves to be heard by everyone, especially post-punk fans or anyone else who likes their rock with a slight goth edge. I was lucky enough to see them in February 2020 before the country and touring and venues shut down. I hope they’re able to get back to the road soon, because hearing this record live is even better.

#9: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

This album is so heavy that it might break your turntable if you have it on vinyl. The Black Sabbath influences are evident, but Pigs X7 sound like they had fun while making an album to unleash their wrath upon Brexit, COVID-19, politicians across the pond, and jackasses in general.

#8: Frankie and the Witch Fingers – Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters…

I’d only heard a few tracks by Frankie and the Witch Fingers from earlier records before hearing their new album, Monsters Eating People Eating Monsters… Holy crap. This record floored me. It’s double-album-full of prime psychedelia, shoegaze, and garage rock jams. Let this album consume you.

#7: BRANDY – The Gift of Repetition

I don’t remember where I first heard BRANDY’s music, but I’m glad I did because this is the most fun punk record I heard all year. The repetition mentioned in the album’s title is used to great effect throughout the record with killer beats, riffs, and choruses.

#6: Hum – Inlet

The biggest surprise release of the year also turned out to be one of the best albums of the year. No one expected or even considered a new, full-length album by 1990s shoegaze legends Hum, but along came Inlet to knock off our socks and remind us that these guys can mop the floor with just about any other band out there.

Only five more to go! Who takes the title of best album of 2020? Come back tomorrow to find out.

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Top 35 albums of 2020: #’s 30 – 26

Let’s get right to it. Shall we?

#30: The Death Wheelers – Divine Filth

It’s a soundtrack for a post-apocalyptic / zombie / biker film that doesn’t exist (but should) made by four dudes who can swing musical styles (metal, doom, surf, prog) on a dime and love B-movies. You can’t miss.

#29: Oh Sees – Levitation Sessions

The folks at the Reverb Appreciation Society came up with a great idea this year – live-streamed shows that would coincide with a release of the live show in various formats (digital, vinyl, cassette). This one from Osees / Oh Sees was the first one I watched this year, and it was a blast. My wife, cat, and I were dancing around our house to the wall of sound at one point.

#28: King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard – Chunky Shrapnel

Speaking of live music and prolific bands, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released one of several live albums this year, and this one was the soundtrack to a concert film that saw a limited streaming release and will hopefully be in theaters at some point. Like any live KGATLW show, it shreds.

#27: Damaged Bug – Bug on Yonkers

John Dwyer, lead cat in Oh Sees, not only released several Oh Sees projects in 2020, he also released a new Damaged Bug record – this one a tribute to outsider musician Michael Yonkers. The whole record is full of Yonkers covers, and all of them are great and make you want to search out his other work.

#26: Teenager – Good Time

This is a fun post-punk record and one of the singles from it, “Romance for Rent,” is one of my favorite songs of 2020. The whole album gets in your head and you won’t want it to leave.

Come back tomorrow to see who’s in the top 25!

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Wenches release “Bad Man” from upcoming album.

Bloomington, IN quartet Wenches (ex-members of Racebannon) share the first video single from their forthcoming debut album Effin’ Gnarly today via Metal Injection. Watch and share “Bad Man” video HERE. (Direct YouTube and stream the single via Bandcamp.)


Assembled from broken bits and leftover chunks of various known and unknown groups in the punk, metal and post-hardcore world, Wenches hail from Bloomington, Indiana in the heart of the Midwest. Described by No Echo as “raw, no bullshit…undiluted rock realness” and in the vein of proto-punk bands like MC5 and The Stooges, the debut album Effin’ Gnarly is slated for a February 2021 release. 
Tracked at Russian Recording (Built to Spill, Tortoise, of Montreal) and mastered by James Plotkin(Sunn O))), Pelican, Earth, ISIS), the band portrays the album as “high-energy screaming hard rock played the only way long-haired punk metalheads know how. “After a rotating door of bassists and drummers, the band has finally landed on what hopes to be a lasting lineup. Effin’ Gnarly follows a previously sold out 3-song “demo” cassette and precedes the release of a limited edition 7″ single entitled State Fair Hair. 


Effin’ Gnarly will be available on LP and download on February 26, 2021 via Master Kontrol Audio. Limited edition cassettes will be released by Small Hand Factory. Pre-orders are available HERE.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Review: All Them Witches – Nothing As the Ideal

Nashville power-psych trio All Them Witches came back this year with one of their heaviest and possibly most philosophical albums yet – Nothing As the Ideal. The album’s title suggest either that there is nothing ideal out there, or, as I suspect, nothingness / emptiness / stillness is the ideal. It’s what we should all dwell in at least a few minutes a day to remind us that the moment around us is the only thing there is. All Them Witches make this point by flattening you with rock.

“Saturnine & Iron Jaw” has a title like a Heavy Metal comic and hits as hard as, well, iron. It begins with creepy synths and bells, bubbling like a cauldron about to come to boil, which the song does with metal riffs that would make make many bands jealous. Singer / bassist Michael Parks, Jr. sings about higher forces of perception and nothing as the ideal as the “gentle hand of confusion” leads him back to himself. “Enemy of My Enemy” chugs along with the best doom bands out there as Parks warns us to beware his power and drummer Robby Staebler puts down serious, serious fills. “Everest” is a guitar solo from Ben McLeod that lasts just over two minutes and gives us time to breathe (and admire his playing).

The loops of someone saying hi to their friends or relatives at the beginning of “See You Next Fall” is downright creepy, and the synths that go with it are something out of a horror film. Soon, Parks is asking if he “should lay the hammer down” as he lays down a wicked bass groove. “The Children of Coyote Woman” continues the “Coyote Woman” saga that has been told across multiple ATW albums by now. It covers one of the band’s favorite topics – mythology and tall tales.

If you believe Douglas Adams, then “41” is just short of the answer to life, the universe, and everything. ATW might be looking for the answer amid their shredding riffs and thunderous drumming, but they also might not want to know it. Sometimes the mystery is better, and could mere mortals truly comprehend such knowledge? “Lights Out” chugs along like a barely controlled eighteen-wheeler hauling a tanker of gasoline while being chased by a werewolf motorcycle gang.

The closer, “Rats in Ruin,” is over nine minutes of simmering psychedelia that puts just enough reverb on Parks’ vocals to make them sound like he’s a ghost living underwater singing about the inevitability of death and the folly of worrying about it. The song almost fades out and then builds back up into a soaring, majestic track with McLeod’s guitar flying over you like a roc and Staebler’s drums roaring like a bison herd.

The album gives you a lot in a short time, leaving you with more questions than answers. The questions are ones of self-exploration, however, and, if you come up with nothing at the end of the search…Well, that’s ideal.

Keep your mind open.

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