Year: 2004
Review: Workhouse – The End Of The Pier
WORKHOUSE THE END OF THE PIER Devil in the Woods Workhouse creates an instrumental world of organic soundscapes with more variety and style than you’d find in a dozen releases from a less skilled band. There are bits and pieces that run the gambit of shoegazer influences including nods to My Bloody Valentine, Ride and
Review: Zoe – From Hell
ZOE FROM HELL Crust War They’ve been described as “total Amebix-worshipping raw biker metal punk,” and all I’d have to add is, “with Slayer solos!” The recording is raw but really full. Zoe sounds like they’re always on the verge of full-on thrash metal but constantly stick to straightforward drum beats and riffs instead of
Review: Unleashed – Sworn Allegiance
Unleashed Sworn Allegiance Century Media Sworn Allegiance is the 7th studio album from Unleashed in their 15 years as a band. I never got into these guys in the past because I always considered their output as sub-par. Surprisingly enough to me, I actually enjoyed Sworn Allegiance. This album isn’t great by any means, nor
Review: Totakeke – At The Train Station On A Saturday...
TOTAKEKE AT THE TRAIN STATION ON A SATURDAY EVENING Frozen Empire Media 5/5 Totakeke’s Frank Morkros knows how to please an audience that craves beats and bass with blissfully dark atmospheres. Not even a year has passed since Lament, the first EP, showed us that Morkros’ talent didn’t stop at his other projects, Synth-etik and
Review: Therion – Lemuria
Therion Lemuria Nuclear Blast The last time I received a Therion release, it was a slipcase promotional copy. As if that’s not bad enough, there were only two full songs on the slipcase; the rest were edited to fade out after about a minute. I took the slipcase out of my mailbox, brought it in
Review: The Waxwings – Let’s Make Our Descent
THE WAXWINGS LET’S MAKE OUR DESCENT Rainbow Quartz Although you can hear the garage influences Detroit’s The Waxwings pull a few tricks from the glory days of the Rolling Stones by way of the Dandy Warhols rather than jumping The White Stripes bandwagon. Not that there isn’t any blues to be found, there’s more than
Review: This Morn’ Omina – The Drake Equation
THIS MORN’ OMINA THE DRAKE EQUATION [ECF] Ant Zen 5/5 This Morn’ Omina has elaborated on their now signature sounds. The Drake Equation (the actual equation, not the music) is an interesting concept (more information can be found hidden beneath the CD tray). It estimates the number of communicative civilizations in the Galaxy and it
Review: The Retrosic – God Of Hell
THE RETROSIC GOD OF HELL Metropolis 4.5/5 Prepare yourself for another new act storming into the U.S. industrial scene. The Retrosic has already been named #1 in the German Alternative Charts, “Album of the Month” in several music magazines and the winner of several “soundchecks.” The comparisons are obviously going to be of Wumpscut (even
Review: The Shore – Self-Title
THE SHORE THE SHORE Maverick In a time when labels are scrambling to capitalize on the space Coldplay has left while they record their new album with UK bands like Snow Patrol and Keane it seems fitting that the most suitable replacement should be from California. Not that The Shore are going to be confused
Review: The Thrills – Let’s Bottle Bohemia
THE THRILLS LET’S BOTTLE BOHEMIA Virgin The Thrills debut So Much for the City was greeted with so many fantastic reviews, awards and a wallop of hype that you’d think they’d invented rock’n’roll. I was unimpressed. For Let’s Bottle Bohemia I wiped the slate clean, ignored the inevitable hype and the result? They’re a good