(written by Islander) Three years ago we introduced the premiere of a Suffering Quota song with these words: “Adjectives like ‘terrorizing’ and ‘explosive’ have tended to surround the music of the Dutch grindcore band Suffering Quota like swarms of angry hornets. Of course, sensations of fury and violence are endemic to a lot of grindcore, […]
The post AN NCE PREMIERE: SUFFERING QUOTA — “OVERPOWERING WEIGHT” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.
The Green Day road-trip comedy looms ever-closer. The band worked with Live Nation to produce Nimrods, a new movie about a punk band who goes on a desperate trek to open for Green Day, who naturally appear as themselves. We posted the trailer a little while ago, and the movie hits theaters next month. Today, Green Day announce the Nimrods soundtrack, and they share a new song the they recorded for the picture.
The post Green Day – “I’m Never Gonna R.I.P.” appeared first on Stereogum.
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
It’s only after the brief opening chimed bells of “Downward” do you get to hear what Portland, Oregon’s Slow Goat are all about. As second track “Fallen Child” comes to life around the minute mark, it makes you wonder why they needed the opening at all, as they generate enough heavy fuzzed out guitar to keep the listener entertained.
The quartet are led by Rosie Peterson on vocals, and this debut album has taken shape and been refined over the last four years. The band have commented that the album draws on “personal experience and a compulsion to look inward” but they want the listeners to look for their own meanings behind the songs. Next track “Visions/Fell Ritual” has a long and winding melody with a beautiful guitar sound from Daniel Black that really sets the mood and tone for what follows.
They delve into that wonderful doom/stoner rock intensity and blend it with a psychedelic edge to compliment the ethereal vocals, which don’t appear until much later but the rhythm of drummer Eric Bllombaum and bassist Adam Carter, take full control of this song as it flows effortlessly. “Love Like Water” has more power behind it, with that desert rock swagger as the bass crunches all over the composition and gets my head moving along in no time. You can sense that raw, gritty edge which lies behind their music and this is a big, powerful song.
Across their music you get a variety of vocal ranges from Peterson, and on the initially slower paced offering “Dark Procession” you get a softer presence, almost sinister at times, but it doesn’t overpower the solos and riff that are pouring out of the Black’s guitar. The pace picks up in the middle section to create a meandering song before it slows back down and leads into “Wilting”, which kicks off with a simple, but pleasing guitar tone and follows a similar pattern with a strong vocal over a hard-hitting rhythm.
Penultimate song “Sisyphus” has a more raucous feel about it, well, as raucous as a doom ladened riff can get I suppose. It adds more weight and heaviness to their overall sound, and is probably my favourite song on the album, before they end with “Under The Glass” as the brooding sound builds into a heavier, more evil sounding track. There’s a ghostly, yet soft and appealing vocal presence over the beastly bass and pounding drums. It’s another example of them mixing their styles extremely well and they’ve produced a great song to finish off their debut album with.
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The post Album Review: Slow Goat – Where The Wisest Fear To Tread appeared first on The Razor's Edge.
It’s been almost six years since Told Slant released Point The Flashlight And Walk, our Album Of The Week. Now, Felix Walworth is back with the announcement of a new record endearingly titled What’s Up. The lead single, “Manhattan,” is out today.
The post Told Slant Announces New Album <em>What’s Up</em>: Hear “Manhattan” appeared first on Stereogum.
Reviewed by Matthew Williams
As soon as I saw the word Cowpunk typed in the Genre box attached to the promos, I was genuinely intrigued by what this and wanted to review it. I was completely unfamiliar with the genre and had no idea what to expect from the long running Kentucky hard rockers Nine Pound Hammer.
Digging deeper into their biography, the quintet released their demo back in 1987, and I’ve seen one of them live before many years ago, Blaine Cartwright of Nashville Pussy fame, so I was even more curious about what lay before me. They have 4 new tracks, written by Cartwright and vocalist Scott Luallen, alongside two covers as the singer commented that “we were sick and tired of the so-called outlaw music and wanted to call out the Jellyrollization of our beloved genre”.
It begins with the album title track, as a swinging country guitar gets fired out and you can’t help but nod along to it. The drum beat from Josh Love is simple and straightforward but gives the song some umph and the guitars from Cartwright and Earl Crim swing back and forth. Across the album there’s further input from John Haywood (fiddle, banjo, vocals), Ian Thomas (pedal steel) and vocalist Sheri McGee, as “Burn The Whole World Down” see the country kickers continue their accomplished style and my feet are tapping along in no time.
Next up is their version of Billy Joe Shaver’s “Black Rose” and it has a splintered, rockier riff that just comes at you, before the rhythm gets your head moving. Whatever you might think of country music, this is nothing but fun to listen to and I’m enjoying the simplicity of it all. I really like the vocals on “Tonight I Let The Bottle Down” as it’s got nice harmonies before the guitar solo intercepts and drives the whole thing forward.
With these songs, you still get that hard rock attitude seeping into their alt-country soundscapes and “Out of My League” is the perfect hoedown music with a great solo and humorous lyrics that will make you smile. The rhythm section keeps ticking along, with bassist Mark Hendricks doing a great job and they end with “Little Ole Wine Drinker Me”, a cover of the Hank Mills and Dick Jennings song, and is a little ripper of a track, that zips along with ease. Maybe this “cowpunk” genre is worth a further investigation after all!!
For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.
The post Album Review: Nine Pound Hammer – Too Outlaw For Outlaw Country appeared first on The Razor's Edge.
In April, Nation Of Language released a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Tougher Than The Rest” for a limited edition 7″. Now, the Brooklyn synthpop trio is finally sharing the B-side, an unreleased track called “The Conversation.”
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