Jesu’s Ascension in one word: boring. The worst part is on my Itunes, immediately following Ascension is the “Annul” single from last year which is sooooo good. There’s no life here. For a guy who just resurrected his industrial alter-ego Godflesh for a handful of shows last year and again this summer, you’d think that some of that visceral, raw energy would spill over into Jesu. Nope. It seems like all the projects Justin Broadrick has his hands in may […]
Metal Monday
Metal Monday Volume 17 (5.9.11)
Anomie is an album that has somehow managed to encapsulate all that Tim Skold is up to this point (Shotgun Messiah, KMFDM, Marilyn Manson, etc) yet go above and beyond into the future with guns blazin’. Teased for almost 2 years now and 15 years since his debut, Anomie is a brilliant return for Tim Skold . Starting with “(This Is My) Elephant”, Anomie gives off a vibe more in the vein of Alice Cooper’s “I’m Eighteen” then say, “Chaos”, the lead song off […]
KMFDM…Doin’ it Again!
I always get incredibly excited when a new KMFDM is announced. They are definitely the AC/DC of industrial metal i.e. they do what they do and they do it well. Love ’em or hate ’em. For some reason when WTF?! was announced a few months ago, I got a little more excited than I usually do. They released “Rebels in Control” in December in support of Julian Assange of WikiLeaks and “Krank” soon followed. They weren’t reinventing the wheel or anything but they definitely […]
Metal Monday Volume 16 (5.2.11)
Can we all agree that Nivek Ogre is one of the most underrated wordsmiths of our time? His flows are alien. His voice is unmistakable. He is a showman in every aspect of his being. Seriously, if Kanye West would’ve made a song like “comedown” (Or at least come up with the beats) and put it on 808’s & Heartbreaks, it would be huge. Such is the case when it come to the truly talented and by that, I mean never appreciated […]
Metal Monday Volume 15 (4.25.11)
Eric Powell is one of the most unappreciated architects of industrial music. If you are a fan of industrial music and don’t know who 16Volt are then you should be ashamed of yourself. I got into the band later in their career when SuperCoolNothing was released in 1998 and have followed them religiously ever since. On a side note, I literally got into them the day after they came to Boston on some Slipdisc package tour on Lansdowne Street. Seeing that […]
Metal Monday Volume 14 (4.18.11)
I did this 30 Day Song Challenge on Facebook a few weeks ago and one of the categories was “Song You Listen To When You’re Angry” or something like that. At the time I put something from Strapping Young Lad because the ferocity of American Head Charge completely slipped my mind at the time. I should’ve put “All Wrapped Up” by AHC. Of course, a more fitting category then would be “A Song You Listen To While Murdering Someone”. The song is brutal. […]
Peter Steele (1962-2010)
I cannot express in words how much Type O Negative’s music has meant to me through the years. Their music helped me deal with some unexpected deaths in my family during my teen years as well as some other trying times during my life and I’ve always been appreciative to them for that. To this day, I still love their music. Every album is different. No two songs sound the same. I never got sick of seeing them and […]
Metal Monday Volume 13 (4.11.11)
Do you miss the ass-kickery of Pantera? Lynyrd Skynyrd not hard enough for ya? Is the 2011 line-up of Crowbar a little too slimmed down from the ’90’s version you grew up with? Miss Zakk Wylde’s Pride & Glory? Sounds like you’re in serious need of Texas Hippie Coalition , my friend! I know, I know. You’re skeptical of a metal band with “Hippie” in the title, right? So was I. One listen through their debut Rollin, though, and you’ll be a convert […]
Metal Monday Volume 12 (4.4.11)
The Industrial Revolution has arrived. I love me some industrial metal. My musical appreciation began around 1992 when Ministry released Psalm 69 and NIN had just released Broken . After them, I discovered Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and a slew of others and I’ve been an avid fan of the genre ever since. The last few years have definitely produced some solid industrial albums but I don’t think there’s been a release schedule like May 10th in a very long time. May […]
Metal Monday Volume 11.5 (4.1.11)
The year was 1986. The most bad ass band on the planet had released Mosaic which featured the massively hugetastic single “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”. That band was Wang Chung and the story doesn’t end with “Everybody…” Wang Chung ‘s story began years before when they were known simply as Huang Chung and unleashed their self-titled debut in March of 1982. A little bit New Wave, a little bit electro, and a whole lotta rawk, Huang Chung flew under the radar like John Matrix’s […]
Goes Cube Goes for the Throat (Metal Monday sidebar)
Too much good metal in 2011! Brain can’t take it. In Tides And Drifts came out of left field for me. I had heard some hype on Goes Cube’s debut full-length, Another Day Has Passed, in 2009 but I never got into them and then In Tides And Drifts crossed my path. It’s a must own for EVERY metal fan this year. Take the diversity of Converge songs like “Grim Heart/Black Rose”, “Cruel Bloom”, and “Wretched World”; mix them with the musical […]
Metal Monday Volume 11 (3.28.11)
2011 is proving to be the year where bands say “Fuck You!” to the sophomore slump. Regardless of the band members’ metal veteran status, even Cavalera Conspiracy could be prone to slip up on album number two. Luckily that’s not the case with Blunt Force Trauma. On Blunt Force Trauma, the brothers Cavalera up the ante to a trillion. It’s a thrash record. It’s a metal record. It’s a punk record. No frills, no world influence. Just straight up, […]