Tag: heavy metal

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The 80s Horror Movie-Inspired Visuals for Zig Zags’ “Giving Up The Ghost”

With the release of their debut effort In The Red, Los Angeles, CA-based thrash punk trio Zig Zags –-comprised of Jed Maheu (guitar/vocals), Caleb Miller (bass/vocals), and Dane Arnold (drums) — quickly received attention for a blistering, face-melting, no-bullshit thrash metal/thrash punk aesthetic that sounds as though it owes a massive debt to early 80s Metallica, Slayer,Iron Maiden and others. Last month, I wrote about album single “The Sadist,”a single off the trio’s recently released Running Out of Red that helped to further cement the trio’s reputation for pairing scuzzy, face-melting, mosh-pit friendly power chords guitar pyrotechnics, propulsive drumming and shouted vocals. Unsurprisingly, the album’s latest single “Giving Up The Ghost” continues on the exact same vein as “The Sadist” — although the latest single manages to directly channel Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning-era Metallica in such an uncanny way that the songs manages to sound as though it could have been released in 1983.

The recently released music video is deeply indebted to cheap 80s horror flicks as a denim vest wearing zombie stalks an adorable, little skateboarding badass, who narrowly escapes him — in true horror movie fashion.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their critically acclaimed, tenth full-length album Pink a decade ago, Japanese metal trio Boris achieved international attention, outside the tight-kint underground metal community; in fact, the album landed on a number of Best of Lists from underground metal sites, mainstream rock magazines and Pitchfork‘s Best Albums of 2006 list. And adding to the growing attention they received that year, album title track “Farewell” was featured in Jim Jarmusch‘s cult classic film The Limits of Control. 

In order to commemorate the 10th anniversary of its initial release, the band comprised of Atsuo (drums, vocals), Wata (guitar, vocals) and Takeshi (bass, guitar and vocals) along with renowned indie label Sergeant House will be re-issue a deluxe edition of the album as a 3LP and 2CD box set everywhere except Japan on July 8, 2016, featuring several perviously unreleased tracks recorded during the 2004-2005 Pink sessions, three longer edits of truncated album tracks off the original CD release “Farewell,” “Pseudo-Bread,” and “My Machine,” and the original artwork from the Japanese version, created by the band members themselves. Additionally, the box set will include a collection of album tracks that the band re-mixed, re-mastered, re-edited or re-arranged over the course of the past year that the band has viewed as a special director’s cut of their beloved album — and in some way, it may be seen as capturing their original artistic intentions.

 

The deluxe edition’s latest single “SOFUN” finds the band pairing blistering, guitar pyrotechnics, thundering and propulsive drumming reminiscent of metal and grunge but with an ironic, punk rock sneer and howled vocals — and sonically, the song sounds as though it draws equal influence from Motorhead, early Metallica, Bad Religion, and My Vitriol while being mosh pit worthy.

The members of Boris will be embarking on a lengthy North American tour in which they will perform Pink in its entirety. Joining them for all but two Canadian dates will be new labelmates Earth and it’ll include a New York area date at Warsaw. Check out tour dates below.

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BORIS / EARTH / SHITSTORM TOUR 2016:
07/22 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
07/23 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
07/25 Dallas, TX @ Trees
07/26 Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
07/28 Ybor City, FL @ The Orpheum
07/29 Orlando, FL @ The Social
07/30 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
07/31 Asheville, NC @ The Orange Peel
08/01 Nashville, TN @ Third Man Records
08/03 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
08/04 Washington, DC @ 930 Club
08/05 Brooklyn, NY @ Warsaw
08/06 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
08/07 New Haven, CT @ College Street Music Hall
08/09 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
08/10 Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz P.D.B. (no Earth)
08/11 Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace (no Earth)
08/12 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
08/13 Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme
08/14 Chicago, IL @ Metro
08/16 Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater
08/17 Minneapolis, MN @ Fineline Music Cafe
08/18 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theatre
08/19 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
08/20 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
08/22 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s
08/23 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
08/25 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
08/26 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent Theater
08/27 Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Hotel – Psycho Las Vegas (Boris only)
Single Review by William Ruben Helms

With the release of their debut effort In The Red, Los Angeles, CA-based thrash punk trio Zig Zags –comprised of Jed Maheu (guitar/vocals), Caleb Miller (bass/vocals), and Dane Arnold (drums) — quickly received attention for a blistering, face-melting, no-bullshit thrash metal/thrash punk aesthetic that sounds as though it owes a massive debt to early 80s Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden and others. “The Sadist,” the latest single off the soon-to-be released Running Out of Red will further cement the trio’s reputation for pairing scuzzy, face-melting, ass-kicking power chords guitar pyrotechnics, propulsive drumming and shouted vocals. It’s the sound of kids with very little options, shitty lives and shittier jobs, playing in garages and basements, wishing for something — hell, anything to happen to break up the tedium of their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Up until last year, there hadn’t been many comprehensive photo-metal, pre-stoner rock compilations, until the Chicago, IL and Los Angeles, CA-based distributor Permanent Records record store, along with  RidingEasy Records released a carefully curated compilation of incredibly rare photo-metal and pre-stoner rock singles from the 60s and 70s on Brown Acid: The First Trip. Permanent Records co-owner Lance Barresi and RidingEasy Records’ Daniel Hall complied a second volume of rare proto-metal and pre-stoner rock from the 60s and 70s, Brown Acid: The  Second Trip, which is slated (fittingly enough) for release on April 20.

Much like the first volume, the duo not only spent time collecting, compiling and then curating the material, they also spent a great deal of time tracking down the songs creators, often bands who haven’t been together in over 30 or 40 years, and encouraging them to take part in the entire process.  As Barresi explained in press notes for the first compilation, “All of (these songs) could’ve been huge given the right circumstances. But for one reason or another most of these songs fell flat and were forgotten. However, time has been kind in my opinion and I think these songs are as good now or better than they ever were.” And by having the artists actually participate in the entire process, it can give the artists and their songs a second chance at some much deserved attention — if not a second chance at success.

Now, over the past month or two I’ve written about The Second Trip’s first single Ash’s “Midnight Witch,” a single that would likely remind many listeners of Mountain‘s “Mississippi Queen,” Steppenwolf’s “Magic Carpet Ride” and early Black Sabbath as layers of huge, sludgy and bluesy power chords were  paired with a driving rhythm and soulful vocals — but with a deeply psychedelic feel. Amazingly, although the song was originally released more than 35 years ago, it sounds and feels as though it could have been released today as several contemporary bands have adopted a similar sound, including the likes of Ecstatic Vision. The compilation’s second single Crossfield’s “Take It” managed to sound and feel like a surreal amalgamation of Black Sabbath, The Rolling Stones, The Animals (in particular, “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place”) and The Doors  as blistering and scorching guitar chords are paired with soaring keyboard chords and thundering drumming with unusual tempo changes and chord progression changes that make the song feel and sound as though it were a prog rock precursor — all while giving the song an expansive, tripping off hallucinogens in the desert feel and tone. The Second Trip‘s third and latest single Iron Knowledge’s “Show Stopper” meshes elements of glam metal, metal and seemingly hip-hop and funk-inspired hip-hop breakbeats in a song that metalhead and hip-hop DJs would instantly love.

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

If you were frequenting this site last year, you may recall coming across posts on Toronto, ON-based proto-metal/doom metal trio CROSSS. And although the band is rather mysterious and little is publicly known about the band’s personnel I can tell you that the band, which originally began as a Halifax, Nova Scotia-based duo, went through several lineup changes before relocating to Toronto and settling on the band’s current configuration. Since relocating to Toronto, the trio have developed a reputation for crating murky, sludgy and intense dirges that are deeply inspired by proto-done, lo-fi indie rock, noise rock and metal, and as a result bear a sonic resemblance to the likes of Black Sabbath, A Place to Bury Strangers and others — but more bottom heavy and doom-laden as you’ll hear on “Interlocutor,” off their last effort, LO which, was release to quite a bit of attention across the blogosphere.

Naturally, as a result of the attention they received, the Canadian trio opened for the likes of Viet Cong, Built to Spill, Thee Oh Sees, King Tuff, Dirty Beaches, Pop1280,  Oneida, Built to Spill, METZ, Grimes, Fuzz and Moon Duo among a growing list. But adding to a growing profile, CROSSS announced that they had recently signed to Joyful Noise Recordings, who will re-issue the trio’s first two efforts, 2013’s Obsidian Spectre and the aforementioned LO — and they also announced that they’ll be releasing their third full-length effort later on this year. In the meantime, check out “Eye Seance” a doom-laden and lo-fi-leaning dirge  that has the trio pairing rumbling down-tuned bass, enormous power chords with howled vocals in a song that sounds like an existential howl into an indifferent and cruel void.

The band will be embarking on a Stateside tour throughout the end of this month and April, and it includes a NYC area stop. Check out tour dates below.

 

Tour Dates:

3/25-3/26: Indianapolis, IN
3/27: Milwaukee, WI @ Quarters
3/28: Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
4/27: Toronto, ON @ Smiling Buddha
4/20: Montreal, QC @ La Vitrola
4/21: Boston, MA @ O’Briens
4/22: Brooklyn, NY @ The Acheron
4/23: Philadelphia, PA @ TBA
4/24: Baltimore, MD @ The Crown
4/26: Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place

 

 

 

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

Denver-based post-metal, instrumental trio Cult of the Lost Cause have developed a reputation for compositions that eschew solos and jam-based songs and focuses on dynamic songs that balance a sense of beauty with a muscular insistence — and for songs that can stand up to the live concert experience as you’ll hear on the enormous, cinematic, power-chord  driven “All Those Opposed” off the band’s soon to be released Contritions, which is slated for a February 26 release through Sailor Records. Sonically, the song manages to remind me quite a bit of Irata‘s self titled effort; however, without the psychedelic jazz leanings.

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

 

With the release of their 2012 self-titled debut and its follow up 2014’s Mountain, the Visalia, CA-based quartet Slow Season, comprised of Daniel Rice (vocals, guitar), David Kent (guitar), Hayden Doyel (bass), and Cody Tarbell (drums), the Visalia, CA-based quartet Slow Season quickly developed a regional profile for a bluesy and heavy rock sound that’s heavily indebted to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple and others — but without the being soulless mimicry. RidingEasy Records released a remixed and remastered version of their self-titled debut at the end of last year, and while working on their third full-length effort, the Visalia, CA-based quartet released a 7 inch featuring covers of Black Sabbath and Cactus; however, the band released two singles from their debut — the Led Zeppelin “Immigrant Song” channeling guitar line, thundering drums and howled drums of “Heavy” and the slow-burning, bluesy, harmonica-led “Bring It on Home” meets Howlin’ Wolf channeling “DayGlo Sunrise.”

Certainly, if you didn’t know that the band was contemporary, you’d probably think that these two singles were recorded in 1967 and were recently re-discovered by someone who had been digging through the crates of a used record store somewhere.

The band is playing a couple of live dates across Southern California. Check them out below.

LIVE DATES:
02/19 San Diego, CA @ The Merrow  w/ JOY and OVVL
02/20 Visalia, CA @ The Cellar Door  w/ Beastmak
Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: The Trippy, Technicolor Video for All Them Witches’ “Dirt Preachers”

  With the release of their 2012 debut effort, Our Mother Electricity and 2014’s sophomore effort Lightning At The Door, the Nashville, TN-based quartet All Them Witches, comprised of Charles Michael Parks, Jr. (vocals, bass), Ben […]

Video by William Ruben Helms

Live Footage: Deap Vally Performs “Royal Jelly” at Blind Blind Tiger Speakeasy

Comprised of Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards, the Los Angeles-based  grunge-rock duo Deap Vally can trace their origins to when Troy and Edwards met in 2011 at a crochet class. The duo’s debut effort Sistrionix was […]

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Guitarist, composer and (occasional) actor Dweezil Zappa, as we all know is the son of the legendary Frank Zappa. As the story goes, when Dweezil was born, his father Frank listed the boy’s religion as “musician” and gave him a Fender Master when young Dweezil had turned 6. Learning directly from guitar heroes, Steve Vai, Eddie Van Halen and others, Dweezil Zappa became a renowned musician himself, releasing his first album, produced by Eddie Van Halen when he was 12. And although Dweezil has a long-held reputation as a musician in his own right as he won a Grammy in 2008, he has spent the better part of the past decade or so carrying on his father’s musical legacy by performing renditions of his father’s material with Napoleon Murphy Brock, Steve Vai, Terry Bozzio and others in Zappa Plays Zappa.

Dweezil Zappa’s forthcoming album, Via Zammata’ slated for a November 27 release marks his return to his own original music — and the album features collaborations with John Malkovich, who reads Plato’s Allegory of the Cave over one of Dweezil’s original composition and a posthumously released song that Dweezil wrote with his late and legendary father. As Dweezil explained in press notes “This whole record is about finding my own voice in the world of music. I decided to collect songs I had written from the past that I felt had strong bones and build new arrangements around them. I also wanted to write new material that would reflect my current musical state of mind. I’ve learned so much in the past 10 years of playing my father’s music. I wanted to be able to express new compositional, arranging and playing skills with my own new musical vocabulary.”

The album’s first single “Dragon Master” is the only song that Frank and Dweezil had a chance to collaborate on. Frank had written the lyrics back in 1988 and he had asked Dweezil to write music to his lyrics. According to Dweezil: “At that time, heavy metal was topping the charts and my dad was lampooning the genre with his lyrics. For this record, I decided to fully embrace the epic metal-osity of his lyrics and create a deadly serious face melting riff to back them up.” The single begins with an oud, blistering heavy metal power chords and Frank’s utterly ridiculous, 80s-inspired metal lyrics about Satan and other subjects sung by Shawn Albro, who was once a member of U.P.O. Yeah, the song’s lyrics are stupid as hell but holy shit the song kicks ass — and it’s a lot of fun.

New Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Cincinnati’s Electric Citizen Channels 70s Heavy Metal on “Light Years Beyond”

Comprised of Ross Dolan (guitar), Laura Dolan (vocals), Nick Vogelpohl (bass) and Nate Wagner (drums), the Cincinnati, OH-based quartet Electric Citizen have received attention for a sound that channels Led Zeppelin, Rush, early Deep Purple, […]

New Audio by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: The Existential Howl of Spelljammer’s “The Pathfinder”

Over the last few years, the Stockholm, Sweden-based band Spelljammer has gone through a number of lineup changes with its current iteration featuring lead vocalist and founding member Niklas Olsson switching to bass, guitarist Robert Sörling, […]

Uncategorized by William Ruben Helms

Comprised of arguably three of Philadelphia’s most talented and accomplished musicians, Ecstatic Vision have quickly won both national and international attention for a sound that draws from a variety of influences including Krautrock, Fela Kuti, […]