Authors: Megan Kennedy
Slipknot @ USANA 08.21 with Lamb of God, Bullet For...
It seems like only yesterday I was a wee lass of 20-something, deep in the throes of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, stoked on what was supposed to be a massive tour date featuring Slipknot, Lamb of God and Shadows Fall. One of the Slipknot dudes got sick and had to cancel the
Local Reviews: Still Sea
Local post-punk/hardcore (goddamn, genres are stupid) outfit Still Sea has just released this five-song EP, and it is a delicious foray into stripped-down, raw, time-changey goodness that’s always one step to the left of the line. … read more
Local Reviews: Zero To Ballistic
Logan-based Zero To Ballistic describe themselves as “modern Paul Reveres with guns at their hips, bullhorns at their lips and instruments at the ready,” and their album reflects this passion for the state of the Union in its revolution-stoking lyrics. … read more
Local Reviews: GAZA
Salt Lake’s own grind-metal heroes have kicked their game up to some intense new heights with this record. Familiar elements of the previous albums prevail: the discordant insanity, the rib-smashing riffs, the harsh, grating screams from some lower bowel of hell. On top of this chaotic primordial soup, the band has planted layers of matured, rhythmic, doom-metal moments that feel like coming up for air before you drown. … read more
Alice In Chains at The Depot 07.20
I don’t think it’s legal, to be perfectly honest, to have such an amazing Monday night. There’s some Constitutional or possibly even galactic law against it. But the awesome simply cannot be contained when Alice in Chains is in town. To that was added the fact they were performing at The Depot, quite possibly the
Vona and The Emergence of (Hope)
From the beautiful Scandinavian shores of Sweden, Vona has sent their debut album, (Hope) out into the world, an exciting mix of pop-punk and post-hardcore that warms your heart while it melts your face. SLUG got on the ol’ interwebs mail with vocalist Alexander Evans to talk about the album and their first major European tour.
Local Reviews: Brad Stock
The Atomic Clock promised a “rare mixing of genres” and life-changing songs that would send my mind reeling into unknown space, but the whole thing plays like generic radio rock you’d hear at the mall. His lyrics are (occasionally laughable) elementary rhymes—“Watch out, this is mace/pointed straight at your face”—and, on track “Conspiracy of 2,” he even rips off George Carlin’s Napalm and Silly Putty book title. … read more
Local Reviews: I Am The Ocean
Post-hardcore outfit I Am The Ocean have delivered a standout and unique EP with Overhead. Their sound is complex and innovative––and hard to pin down and describe. It’s more creative and far-reaching than other contemporary acts, and while it doesn’t hit the crazy, time-changing speeds of some prog metal acts, it carries the same artistic banner of natural experimentation and removal of genre boundaries to build a solid song. … read more
Dead But Dreaming: The Famine
Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to Dead But Dreaming, a humble metal blog broadcast in infamy from the shores of beautiful R’lyeh. In this, our first edition, I interrupt The Famine’s Nick Nowell in the middle of his day job (shockingly, not in the church-burning industry, but at the Dallas-area Habitat For Humanity) to find out how the death metal quintet redeemed themselves from a hellish year with their new album, The Architects of Guilt. … read more
Napalm Flesh: Amon Amarth
Spring has sprung, dear darkhearts, and with the winter’s thaw, your faithful narrator brings you treasure from the Golden Hall: an interview with Swedish death metal demigods Amon Amarth! They’re about to load up their longships and invade our shores once again, touring in support of their newest album, Surtur Rising. … read more
Dead But Dreaming: Dying Fetus
This week’s metal blog features a review rundown of several recently re-issued Dying Fetus releases as well as a guide to all the metal happenings on this Record Store Day weekend. … read more
Dead But Dreaming: Protest The Hero Interview
Happy spring, my little Elder things, and welcome to Dead But Dreaming! In this edition, I sit down with vocalist Rody Walker of the crazy Canadian band Protest The Hero before their highly anticipated Salt Lake show at The Avalon. We talk about their new album, Scurrilous, and why the band will always buck the trends (and pussy vocal rest). I also have web-exclusive reviews of Between the Buried and Me and the always brutal Winds of Plague for you, my dear cultists. Read on! The secrets of metal immortality may or may not be buried within. … read more