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Category: news

  • There’s More…

     


    DESERT COLLIDER:
    GENERATION SHIP: ENDLESS DRIFT THROUGH INFINITY

    Small Stone Records may not put out as many records in a year as Heavy Psych Sounds or Ripple Music, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality.  This Italian band is new to me, but this album is already one of my favorites for 2026.  Great classic fuzz guitar sound and excellent songwriting make this a must-own album for stoner rock fans.  
    Here are two of my favorites:



    Desert Collider are:
    Federico Costanzo: guitars, vocals, percussio, synthesizers
    Federico Gianfanti: vocals, synthesizers
    Manuel Colucci: bass
    Andrea Casagranda: drums, percussion







    BLACK LUNG: FOREVER BEYOND

    Baltimore’s Black Lung only put out great albums, so this one was a no-brainer of a purchase for me.  Really different songwriting, with a unique sound, every song on this album has wormed its way into my brain and made it a better place.  Here are a couple of my faves:



    Black Lung are:

    Charles Braese:  Bass
    Dave Fullerton:  Guitar
    Elias Mays Shutzman:  Drums
    Dave Cavalier:  Guitar, Vocals


  • There’s More…

     


    DESERT COLLIDER:
    GENERATION SHIP: ENDLESS DRIFT THROUGH INFINITY

    Small Stone Records may not put out as many records in a year as Heavy Psych Sounds or Ripple Music, but what they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality.  This Italian band is new to me, but this album is already one of my favorites for 2026.  Great classic fuzz guitar sound and excellent songwriting make this a must-own album for stoner rock fans.  
    Here are two of my favorites:



    Desert Collider are:
    Federico Costanzo: guitars, vocals, percussio, synthesizers
    Federico Gianfanti: vocals, synthesizers
    Manuel Colucci: bass
    Andrea Casagranda: drums, percussion







    BLACK LUNG: FOREVER BEYOND

    Baltimore’s Black Lung only put out great albums, so this one was a no-brainer of a purchase for me.  Really different songwriting, with a unique sound, every song on this album has wormed its way into my brain and made it a better place.  Here are a couple of my faves:



    Black Lung are:

    Charles Braese:  Bass
    Dave Fullerton:  Guitar
    Elias Mays Shutzman:  Drums
    Dave Cavalier:  Guitar, Vocals


  • Alissa White-Gluz’s new project Blue Medusa releases “Checkmate”

    Blue Medusa has released their debut single, Checkmate. The track is the first offering from Alissa White-Gluz’s new project, where she is joined by guitarists Alyssa Day and Dani Sophia. It is a heavy anthem that focuses on the cold mechanics of power and the struggle for identity.

    Review

    “Checkmate” is a powerful debut that perfectly introduces the Blue Medusa sound. Alissa White-Gluz delivers her signature aggressive vocals over a heavy, technical foundation laid down by guitarists Alyssa Day and Dani Sophia. The chess-themed lyrics provide a solid conceptual edge to the track, making it feel like a calculated anthem rather than just another metal release.

    Watch the “Checkmate” music video below.

    The post Alissa White-Gluz’s new project Blue Medusa releases “Checkmate” first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

  • Aerosmith | Aerosmith (Legendary Edition) – Reissue Review

    Aerosmith celebrate more than the half-decade anniversary release of their self-titled debut with Aerosmith (Legendary Edition), a newly expanded, remastered, and remixed package presented in various formats. Featuring previously unreleased tracks, new artwork, photos, liner notes, and the original album both remastered and remixed, this is a gem for any fan who has been with the “Bad Boys from Boston” since their inception.

    The original eight tunes of the album are presented first, coming from a 2024 remaster of Aerosmith. Although I am not a big fan of remixes, the remix second piece of this pie (dating from the same time) was headed by Aerosmith co-founders Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, with Grammy Award-nominated producer and mixer Zakk Cervini and Grammy Award-winning producer Steve Berkowitz. With the ex-Toxic Twins onboard, I’ll admit the remix touches seem subtle, with the instruments separated nicely and the vocals especially clear. A tune like “One Way Street,” especially benefits, although I’m not sure the extra sweetening is necessary on “Dream On” (I think I hear strings, and certainly another single-line counter guitar). The horn bleating in the middle of “Mama Kin” kind of kills what has always been one of my favorites from this band.

    I have to assume that for most fans, the cream on top of this rich rockin’ cake is its last two pieces; a 10-song live performance capture of the band’s show on March 20, 1973 at Paul’s Mall, a Boston jazz and blues club that operated from 1963 to 1978, and six bonus tracks. I won’t kid you: the Paul Mall stuff sounds a bit raggy, as much from how loose the band is at times to the overall sound quality. Yet it is a fantastic document of the early days of Tyler, Perry, second guitarist Brad Whitford, bassist Tom Hamilton and drummer Joey Kramer.

    It’s Kramer who shines brightest on the live material, clearly capturing this particular skin-man in a shining moment. I have seen Aerosmith lots of times through the years, including at a small New Jersey club with a different drummer. Joey Kramer was surely missed, as I feel he is the in-the-pocket glue that has always kept this band together. He and the rest of the original band rock through this live stuff though, uneven sounding though it might be, with an extra helping of sax their wailing cover of “Mother Popcorn (You Got to Have a Mother for Me)” showing what deeper funk this band would someday mine. The crowd really explodes on last tune “Mama Kin,” which does indeed explode here.

    The bonus tracks comprise a half dozen of alternate takes plus an instrumental, pretty much harmonica and bass only “Harmonica Bass Jam Jelly,” what is called an Aerojam tune “Joined At The Hip.” This poppy big beat instrumental workout includes parts of a very recognizable walking-up-the-scale riff of “Sweet Emotion,” and is actually one of the better tunes across this massive collection. There’s lots to like about Aerosmith (Legendary Edition), plenty of goodies for “Blue Army” members, as well as causal fans to dig their ears and eyes into across this full celebration of the band’s first flight.

    ~ Ralph Greco, Jr.

    Purchase
    Aerosmith (Legendary Edition)  

  • MONSTROSITY: Screams From Beneath The Surface

    Out NOW Via Metal Blade Records Words by: Courtney Stark Fort Lauderdale’s underground extreme metal overlords Monstrosity have long been cemented as one of the genre’s more vicious forces, and like many within the metal sphere, Friday the 13th of March 202666 has proven to be a nexus point — a date where both established […]

  • “I was working with Pete Townshend just after Moon died. I said: ‘Have you got anybody? I’ll leave Genesis’”: Phil Collins comes clean about wanting to join The Who, Led Zeppelin at Live Aid and the young rock legend who sent him a letter of support

    A candid interview with Phil Collins from 2016

  • NUCTEMERON: Demonic Sceptre

    Out NOW Via I Hate Records Words by: Courtney Stark Trier is a city in Germany more readily associated with its wine-soaked reputation and its moniker as the ‘second Rome,’ owed to its time as a capital of the Roman Empire in the late 1st century BC. It lays claim to Germany’s oldest church and […]

  • Body-Cam Footage of Justin Timberlake’s DWI Arrest Is Released

    A glassy-eyed and slurring Mr. Timberlake alternates between disbelief, annoyance and occasional humor during his 2024 arrest in Sag Harbor, N.Y.

  • The Melmacs – "Lazy Hearts"

    Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love The Melmacs any more, they’re back with another new single that shoots straight to my heart. Now the band’s fourth single released in advance of the forthcoming album EUPHANCHOLIA, “Lazy Hearts” is perhaps its purest pop song to date. It’s a total earworm. I’m not sure it’s humanly possible to create a song catchier than this one — this tune is like caffeine for the soul! You could be having the worst day ever, and then this song comes on, and suddenly your possibilities are endless and your hopes are bright. The band puts so much energy into this musical performance, and Bimmi sings every note with absolute joy. 

    This song resonates with me because it’s an anthem of encouragement to all those people out there who feel like failures because they haven’t yet accomplished the things that society expects of them. But the twist is that they’re not failures since they hold on to their dreams and cling to the belief that there has to be more to life than having lots of money and status. The band has dedicated this song to the “stamped daydreamers and true believers” who ultimately make this world a better place. So cheers to all the “lazy boys, all the lazy girls” with their hearts full of gold, and cheers to The Melmacs for making music that restores my faith in humanity. I’ve been playing this track on repeat and getting pumped for EUPHANCHOLIA, which will be out April 10th on Bakraufarfita Records & Wanda Records in Germany, Spaghetty Town Records in the USA, and Beluga Records in Sweden. I can’t wait! 

  • The Melmacs – "Lazy Hearts"

    Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love The Melmacs any more, they’re back with another new single that shoots straight to my heart. Now the band’s fourth single released in advance of the forthcoming album EUPHANCHOLIA, “Lazy Hearts” is perhaps its purest pop song to date. It’s a total earworm. I’m not sure it’s humanly possible to create a song catchier than this one — this tune is like caffeine for the soul! You could be having the worst day ever, and then this song comes on, and suddenly your possibilities are endless and your hopes are bright. The band puts so much energy into this musical performance, and Bimmi sings every note with absolute joy. 

    This song resonates with me because it’s an anthem of encouragement to all those people out there who feel like failures because they haven’t yet accomplished the things that society expects of them. But the twist is that they’re not failures since they hold on to their dreams and cling to the belief that there has to be more to life than having lots of money and status. The band has dedicated this song to the “stamped daydreamers and true believers” who ultimately make this world a better place. So cheers to all the “lazy boys, all the lazy girls” with their hearts full of gold, and cheers to The Melmacs for making music that restores my faith in humanity. I’ve been playing this track on repeat and getting pumped for EUPHANCHOLIA, which will be out April 10th on Bakraufarfita Records & Wanda Records in Germany, Spaghetty Town Records in the USA, and Beluga Records in Sweden. I can’t wait!