JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates AC/DC co-founder Angus Young’s 71st birthday.
Category: metal
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, Steven Tyler!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s 78th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 63rd Birthday, Jason Newsted!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Jason Newsted’s 63rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy Black History Month!/Happy 68th Birthday, Ice-T!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Ice-T’s 68th birthday.
New Audio: The Wright Valley Trio Share Expansive and Bruising “Leben ist Schmerz”
Deriving their name from one of the most barren and foreboding locations on Earth, a huge, dry valley in Antartica, the Wiesbaden, Germany-based doom metal outfit The Wright Valley Trio — Dominque Fricker (vocals, guitar), Robert Krause (bass, synths)_ and Matthias Rodig (drums) — was founded back in 2013, but can actually trace their origins to working together in different projects over the years.
In their decade-plus history, the trio have released two albums, 2023’s Bitter Alter, a collaborative effort with Blackstaff; and 2021’s Der Wag, as well as three EPs 2017’s Shackleton, 2018’s Submarine Funeral and 2022’s Metal Doom. And through these releases, the German doom trio have developed a sound that seamlessly meshes elements of doom, sludge and post-black metal, anchored around extremely long songs that range from cultivated boredom to heavy riffs and massive walls of sound.
The German trio’s recently released album Leben ist Schmerz is a two-song album that the band explains tells the story of a life with bipolar disorder, exploring the extremes of that condition — and the struggles it brings. Clocking in at a little under 27.30, the album’s first single, album title track “Leben ist Schmerz” is an expansive, slow-burning and downright bruising bit of sludgy doom that captures the album’s central concept with a seemingly lived-in accuracy.
Throwback: Happy 65th Birthday, Vince Neil!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Motley Crüe frontman Vince Neil’s 65th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday, Duff McKagan!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Guns ‘N’ Roses and Velvert Revolver bassist Duff McKagan’s 62nd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 58th Birthday, Mike Patton!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 58th birthday of Mr. Bungle and Faith No More frontman Mike Patton.
Throwback: Happy 71st Birthday, Eddie Van Halen!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 71st anniversary of the birth of Eddie Van Halen.
New Audio: Bronco Forte Shares Bruising “Obvious Alias”
Los Angeles-based stoner rock outfit Bronco Forte — Chris Klepac (vocals, guitar), All Hail the Yeti‘s Sako Inajaian (guitar), White Forest‘s Jen Glomboski (bass), and Batillus‘ and A Storm of Light‘s Geoff Summers (drums) — will be releasing their full-length debut, Lightning Scars on April 3, 2026.
After years of creative toil and preparation, the Los Angeles-based stoner rock quartet’s full-length debut sees the band stepping into the spotlight as a fully-formed heavy rock phenomenon with roots in the classic heavy music of the 1970s — but with a modern sensibility and sonic approach. Lightning Scars was tracked and mixed by engineer Kevin McCombs at The Steakhouse, the studio where Queens of The Stone Age recorded Era Vulgaris. The album was mastered by Nick Townsend, who cut the album to lacquer on his own personal lathe.
Thematically, Lightning Scars chronicle the uncertain lives of ordinary people of California and elsewhere, with the characters each song depicts desperately striving to maintain their integrity and sanity in the face of a rapidly-changing, increasingly dystopian hellscape.
And as a result, the album’s lyrics balance literary style and kitchen-sink realism. The album’s material is anchored around deep, dirty riffs, hard swinging grooves and song structures that are clever without being cluttered or overly complicated. And this is paired by a pop leaning sense of harmony.
Lightning Scars‘ second and latest single “Obvious Alias,” is anchored around the sort of bruising riffage that seemingly channels Queens of the Stone Age, Dirt-era Alice in Chains and Badmotorfinger-era Soundgarden while showcasing a band with an uncanny knack for pairing catchy, melodic-driven hooks, rousingly anthemic hooks and lived-in lyrics.
Throwback: Happy 56th Birthday Zack de la Rocha!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Rage Against The Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha’s 56th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 82nd Birthday, Jimmy Page!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 82nd birthday of the legendary Jimmy Page.
Throwback: Happy 73rd Birthday, Malcolm Young!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 73rd anniversary of the birth of AC/DC co-founder Malcolm Young.
Albums of the Year 2025
JOVM turns 16 this year. And for first handful of years, my Best of List was an annual tradition until about 2014 or so. Between 2014 and 2020, it became sporadic and then it stopped. I haven’t done one of these in several years. There was a part of me that wondered if it really mattered much. And then life happened.
So here we are in 2026. And with the year starting in earnest, let’s check out my best of 2025.
- Big Fish Fyra liter stoft
- Tan Cologne Unknown Beyond
- Moondaddy Dove Tapes
- Sessa Pequena Vertigem de Amor
- Preservation Brass & Preservation Hall Jazz Band For Fat Man
- Silk Daisys S/T
- The Circling Sun Orbits
- Gabriel da Rosa Cacofonia
- Yoo Doo Right, Population II & Nolan Potter Yoo II avec Nolan Potter
- bat zoo The Upward Bird EP
- Public Circuit Modern Church
- L’Eclair Cloud Drifter
- Gloin All of your anger is actually shame (and I bet that makes you angry)
- CIVIC Chrome Dipped
- Population II Maintenant Jamais
- White Birches A New Reign
- Anish Kumar and Hagop Tchaparian Kino EP
- Friendship Commanders BEAR
- The Besnard Lakes The Besnard Lakes are the Ghost Nation
- SHOLTO The Sirens
- S.C.A.B. Somebody In New York Loves You!
- Pierpont & Hegeleson Of Time
- RORO and snapir Colors Left
- St. Panther Strange World
- Nation of Language Dance Called Memory
- Quad90 S/T
- Slumbering Sun Starmony
- Tunde Adebimpe Thee Black Boltz
- Quad90 S/T
- Die Spitz Something To Consume
- debdepan LOVERS & OTHERS EP
__
The Joy of Violent Movement is a completely independent and completely D.I.Y. media outlet. Over the course of this site’s 15+ year history, I’ve used my fiercely independent stance to cover music with an eclectic and global perspective that a lot of other publications just don’t have — and will likely never have.
To that end, I could use your support to continue to keep bringing you my unique global perspective on music. There are a number of ways that you can support this work.
I’ve been told that some people would prefer to make a one-time donation because it’s easy and less of an obligation. So, if you’re able to make a one-time donation, there’s a donation box below.
Make a one-time donation
Choose an amount
$5.00
$15.00
$100.00
Or enter a custom amount
$
Your contribution is appreciated.
Anything you can give is very much appreciated. It can and does make a real difference, y’all.
I know that a lot of folks are struggling to make ends meet in an uncertain and tumultuous economic climate. So there are other, non-financial ways in which you can support this work.
You can follow me on the following social platforms:
X/Twitter: @yankee32879 and @joyofviolent
Instagram: @william_ruben_helms
Threads: @william_ruben_helms
Bluesky: @williamrubenhelms.bsky.social
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheJoyofViolentMovement
As always, if there are posts that you dig, share them with your friends. The more eyeballs on my work, the better.
Throwback: Happy 80th Birthday, John Paul Jones!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones’ 80th birthday.