Review: Therion – Lemuria

Review: Therion – Lemuria
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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

Review: The Waxwings – Let’s Make Our Descent
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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: The Shore – Self-Title

Review: The Shore – Self-Title
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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

Review: The Thrills – Let’s Bottle Bohemia
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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

 
 
Review: Terrorfakt – Cold Steel World

Review: Terrorfakt – Cold Steel World
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TERRORFAKT COLD STEEL WORLD Metropolis 4/5 If you’re not familiar with them already, then now is a good time to discover the caustic rhythms and dance-club war-zone created by Terrorfakt. With only the second release, Cold Steel World, they have raised the bar for acts to follow. Simple yet powerful rhythms compose each of the

Review: Skinlab – Nerve Damage

Review: Skinlab – Nerve Damage
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Skinlab Nerve Damage Century Media As a thank-you to their fans and to mark 10 years as a band, Skinlab are releasing Nerve Damage. What started out originally as an EP of unreleased songs soon turned into a full album of unreleased material, which ultimately morphed into the double album Nerve Damage. This two-disc set

Review: Singapore Sling – Life Is Killing My Rock’N’Roll

Review: Singapore Sling – Life Is Killing My Rock’N’Roll
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SINGAPORE SLING LIFE IS KILLING MY ROCK’N’ROLL Stinky Singapore Sling’s debut album, The Curse of Singapore Sling, was greeted by over-anxious critics who hailed this Icelandic import as the rising sun. I was numbered among those critics. This isn’t to say they weren’t worthy of a little attention. Their sonic wall of distorted haze was

Review: Otep – House Of Secrets

Review: Otep – House Of Secrets
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Otep House Of  Secrets Capitol Otep is back with House of Secrets, the follow-up to their major-label full-length debut, Sevas Tra. The music this band plays revolves around female singer Otep Shamaya’s self-loathing lyrics that tend to get a little stale after a song or two. During “Buried Alive,” Otep hates her life, during “Autopsy

Review: Panzer AG – This Is My Battlefield

Review: Panzer AG – This Is My Battlefield
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PANZER AG THIS IS MY BATTLEFIELD Accession Records 4/5 Somewhere between Icon of Coil and Combichrist, Andy Laplegua finds time for another project, Panzer AG. This first release under the Panzer AG moniker is titled This is my Battlefield and fits comfortably among the sounds of his other two projects. Take the synth stylings of

Review: Nonpoint – Statement

Review: Nonpoint – Statement
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Nonpoint Statement Lava Even from their first album, Struggle, in 1999, the band Nonpoint wasn’t a simple metalcore band. This band’s music has always had substance lyrically, vocally and musically. The band continued their hard-hitting approach on their major label (MCA) debut in 2000 with Statement. I lost touch with the band for a while