Category: Metal

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.

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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.

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Clutch release new version of “Passive Restraints” with guest co-vocals from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe.

Clutch has released its new single “Passive Restraints” today. “Passive Restraints” originally appeared as the title track to the bands 2nd EP released in 1992. This newly recorded version is part of the Weathermaker Vault Series and features guest vocals by Randy Blythe from Lamb of God. Clutch and Blythe have collaborated on this track live for several years now, the last time at European festival appearances in the summer of 2019. The song can be streamed on Spotify at this location: https://orcd.co/passiverestraints and on the band’s official YouTube Channel: https://tinyurl.com/yy2575t7 

The official video for the song was directed by David Brodsky (The Black Dahlia Murder, Papa Roach). 

“Passive Restraints’ was one of the first Clutch songs I wrote lyrics to,” states frontman Neil Fallon. “It was a staple of Clutch sets for years but fell by the wayside as we wrote more and more songs over the years. When we toured with Lamb of God a few years back, Randy would often ask us to bring it back into rotation. We dragged our feet, and finally, we caved. And we were glad we did. The last time Clutch played Copenhell, Randy joined us on stage to perform the song. We decided to re-record it for the WM Vault Series and thought it was only fitting to have Randy join us.” 

“When Clutch asked if I wanted to sing an older song with them during our 2016 tour together, I knew immediately which one I wanted to do- ‘Passive Restraints‘ adds Blythe. “We performed it in Milwaukee, then again a few years later at Copenhell Fest in Denmark, and I had a blast both times. I think they were a bit surprised I chose a song released in 1992, but I’ve been a fan for a long time. I’ve followed their development as a band since the early days and have enjoyed every album, but as a musician, I know sometimes it’s fun to dust off something you haven’t played in many years and see how it sounds. The song holds up to this day, and I was honored to sing on its re-release.”   

The single “Passive Restraints” comes from the upcoming album “WeatherMaker Vault Series Vol. I” out on Friday November 27th. 

CLUTCH:Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar / Tim Sult – Guitar / Dan Maines – Bass/ Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion   

For more information, check out the band’s website:www.pro-rock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/clutchband

Instagram: www.instagram.com/clutchofficial

Twitter: www.twitter.com/clutchofficial

Official: www.pro-rock.com

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

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[Thanks to Doug at New Ocean Media.]

Review: The Death Wheelers – Divine Filth

What do you get when you combine Mötorhead, The Cramps, Misfits, surf rock, grindhouse movies, hallucinogens, guitar, bass, and drums? You get The Death Wheelers and their new album, Divine Filth.

The album is pretty much the soundtrack to a lost post-apocalyptic movie involving bikers fighting the living dead, or a Satanic cult, or an evil corporation, or all three. The Death Wheelers are known for creating albums like this, and their records make you wish you had some sort of teleportation device that could take you to the alternate dimension where these films exist.

“Welcome to Spurcity” opens the album with deep synth-wave bass that brings to mind 1980’s slasher films (and the power tool guitars certainly help), and then the guitars, bass, and drums kick in with stoner-doom power to set you back on your heels. It ends with the sound of the bands’ motorcycles racing off into a zombie wasteland. “Ditchfinder General,” a nice play on the Vincent Price film Witchfinder General, is brilliant thrash metal that transitions into spaghetti western rock. It works, believe me.

“DTA (Sucicycle Tendencies)” begins with instructions on how to smoke a joint before thudding bass, agile guitar shredding, and military march drums come in to cause a miniature riot. The title track comes at you like machine gun fire after we hear a group of men declare war on another gang who’s been picking them off one by one. It’s non-stop after this little bit of dialogue. You can hardly catch your breath for four minutes.

“Lobotomobile,” believe it or not, brings in surf rock elements. “Born mean. Savage servants of the devil!” is the opening line to the raucous “Corps Mortis” – which seems to up the bass and swap the metal guitar riffs with 1960s garage rock grooves. The drumming on it, by the way, is batshit crazy.

The opening lines of “Murder Machines – Biker Mortis” are, “It is the biker’s drug. / How dangerous is it? / It’s very dangerous.” That pretty much sums up the whole album, not just the song. Everything on Divine Filth has a rusty saw blade edge to it (but look and listen carefully and you’ll see the rest of that blade is highly polished by expert craftsmen). “Motörgasm – Carnal Pleasures Pt. 1” is a wild, sexy, psychedelic, and, yes, funky jam that must’ve been just as fun for them to play as it is for us to hear.

“Chopped Back to Life” sounds like a bar fight that leads to a foot chase that then leads to a motorcycle chase that ends up in a junkyard next to a cemetery where the people in the fight end up having to team up to fight zombies from next door – but still end up finishing their fight once the zombies are dead (again). “Road Rite” starts with a quote from, if I’m not mistaken, Pink Flamingos, so The Death Wheelers’ love of trash and exploitation cinema crosses multiple boundaries – which only makes me appreciate them more. The album’s closer, “Nitrus,” would make Dick Dale proud – as it sizzles with his style of playing and frantic surf drums that send the record off on a roaring note.

I should mention that this wild, face-shredding instrumental album was recorded in two days. This hardly seems possibly when you hear it. A live Death Wheelers performance must be like standing in front of an open blast furnace if they can make an album this powerful in 48 hours or less.

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[Thanks to Dave as US / THEM Group.]

Review: Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

Any album by the Newcastle quintet Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs should come with a roll of duct tape to secure your face to your head due to the constant threat of band’s booming, fuzzed-out riffs blasting it to smithereens. Their newest record, Viscerals, is no exception.

Beginning with mosh-pit inducing drums by Christopher Morley, “Reducer” takes off like an experimental rocket car across desolate salt flats. It shifts momentarily into bass-heavy sludge from John-Michael Hedley and echoing vocals by Matt Baty telling us that “Ego kills everything.” He’s right, of course, and that statement is woefully apparent in the 2020 political climate. The swirling guitars of Ian Sykes and Sam Grant on “Rubbernecker” produce a pulsing effect that creeps up your spine and settles somewhere in your amygdala.

“I’m dancing with the devil with his two left feet,” Baty sings on the creepy, jarring “New Body,” which is over seven minutes of controlled chaos as Baty yells, “I don’t feel a thing!” to a red-tinged harvest moon while standing in a thaumaturgic circle. Or at least the ceiling in the recording studio while standing in comfy sneakers. I’m not sure. The short “Blood and Butter” is a haunting spoken word track that melts into the thrash metal-like “World Crust,” which sounds heavy enough to crack its namesake.

“Death is in bloom!” Baty shouts on the doom-psych killer cut “Crazy in Blood.” It’s a standout track on a standout record and the type of song that makes everyone stop and listen. “Halloween Bolson” is bubbles like a witch’s cauldron and then builds to a rapid boil of space rock guitars and enough fuzzy bass to awaken a hibernating grizzly. The song crunches for nine straight minutes and, just when it lets you catch your breath, it cracks you in the head again with another massive riff. The closer “Hell’s Teeth” is a great shout-and-response track (“Let’s rock! In peace!”) that is both radio friendly and potentially speaker-damaging.

Viscerals is true to its name, as every song is either savage or seething, often both. It’s a powerful record for bizarre times that brings things into focus through fuzz.

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Rewind Review: Mars Red Sky – self-titled (2012)

Any album that is (apart from two songs) recorded in a Spanish national park is bound to be interesting. Any album recorded in a Spanish national park that is also as heavy as Mars Red Sky‘s self-titled debut album is stunning.

I mean, good heavens, the first lines of the first track, “Strong Reflection,” are “Dead stars are burning in the sky, their light reflecting in your eyes, and here the ravens don’t show. Where I’ve been, you don’t want to know.” That alone is metal AF, so the heavy bass that moves like a mastodon, the drums that hammer like its heart, and the guitar that wails like its trumpet blast is heavy enough to knock down your garage. “Curse” is a throwback to 1970’s stoner rock with its echoing lyrics, fuzzed-out guitars, and lyrics about acid rain and how “The greatest fun, it’s not fun at all.”

“Falls” is a wild instrumental blending guitar psychedelia with thunderstorm-like drumming and bass so gritty that you could probably sand lumber with it. “Way to Rome” is a tale of gladiators (or slaves, or both since they were often one and the same) preparing for death. You can’t go wrong with lyrics like “Ride the dark horse through the fire, through the storm, as we’re set to die in the heart of the sun.” Again, metal AF, and the song shifts like sand dunes back and forth between psychedelic rock, stoner metal, and even a bit of krautrock.

“Saddle Point” is another cool instrumental, and “Marble Sky” is a harrowing tale of burning entrails, crushed mountains, and beings emerging from holes in the sky. The vocals are covered in reverb through this track, bringing to mind Black Sabbath tracks. The guitar also takes on a bit of a blues flavor as well, which is a great touch. The closer, “Up the Stairs,” is a fuzz-heavy track about climbing what seems to be an endless stairwell into space and away from the “evil sound” of Earth. That was eight years ago. Where is this stairwell in 2020? I’d like to take a walk.

This was an auspicious debut in 2012. MRS are working on a new full-length album. Let’s hope it comes soon. The world needs heavy stuff like this to shake it awake.

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