Torche – Admission – Review
Torche Admission (Relapse) By Mike Delano Torche always sounds BIG. Not just loud, because any music can be loud with the turn of a dial, but big. “When the Levee Breaks” big. “Bury Me In Smoke” big. It’s a magic that really good bands...
Comeback Kid – Outsider – Review
Comeback Kid Outsider (Nuclear Blast) By Mike Delano Manitoba hardcore punkers Comeback Kid sound razor sharp on Outsider, their first album since 2014’s Die Knowing and debut for Nuclear Blast. It’s more diverse than Die Knowing, which was satisfyingly relentless...
Komrads – Resistor – Review
Komrads Resistor (Self-released) By Mike Delano “This is the Resistor, we are the Resistor!” roars the opening of Komrads’ debut album Resistor. The title track’s mechanical menace and rising tension recalls Combichrist or Burn-era NIN, so you might think you have a...
Metal Massacre 14 – Review
Metal Massacre 14 (Metal Blade) By Mike Delano The CD sampler is fast becoming a thing of the past, what with everything being digital nowadays. Getting handed a mysterious CD on your way out of a concert that you could pop right in the car stereo seemed a much cooler...
The Damned – Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead – Review
The Damned Don’t You Wish That We Were Dead (MVD) By Mike Delano Of all the late ’70s punk godfathers, The Damned always seemed to be the ones to use the nascent punk sound for its purest purpose: To make great music. Not that there wasn’t a metric...
Metalsucks – Review
Metalsucks.net By Mike Delano I gotta say, it’s pretty sweet being able to review new music. I get to hear all kinds of killer stuff, and the stuff that’s not so killer just helps give perspective. Of course, not everyone can cut a deal like this for...
For The Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records – Review
For The Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records by Brian Slagel (BMG) By Mike Delano Heavy metal is associated with a lot of extreme behavior, from church burnings to Sunset Strip debauchery to biting heads off of bats. So it’s funny to think that the...
Culture Shock: We Love Balls – Column
Culture Shock: We Love Balls Photos and captions by Chad Van Wagner, our man in Japan Two years and counting, and I’m still in the middle of what appears to be absurdity. Emphasis on “appears.” It’s easy to slip into arrogant mockery when...
Death Angel – Killing Season – Interview
Death Angel Killing Season (Nuclear Blast) An interview with guitarist/backup vocalist Rob Cavestany By Tim Den I’ll try not to wax nostalgia or dwell too much on the past, since I’m sure you’ve already heard the same questions a million times, but...
Punk Rock Throbbleheads – Review
Punk Rock Throbbleheads (Aggronautix) By Wolf Howling G.O.T.N. Myth and metaphor might do the trick for some, I suppose, if you’re a pussy. But who can settle for anything less who remembers the days when the spirit of “fuck ’em all”...