Issues: Issue 189 - September 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: 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: The Great Depression – Unconscious Pilot
THE GREAT DEPRESSION UNCONSCIOUS PILOT Princess As the name of the band might suggest, The Great Depression, this lot create music with a predominantly mellow and melancholy tone. Not to say that there isn’t some lovely drum work to keep things from bottoming out and the occasional piano bit to swing away from the cascading
Review: Stained – Imperanon
Stained Imperanon Nuclear Blast Stained is the debut from Finland’s Imperanon. With an average age of 20, and considering this album is their debut, you’d expect to hear metal with training wheels, but that’s not the case—not even close. This is ten tracks of highly-technical music that will make you sit up and listen from
Review: S – Puking & Crying
S PUKING & CRYING Suicide Squeeze S are the reversed reflection or negative print of Postal Service with the duo of Josh Wackerly and Jenn Ghetto steering the runaway rollercoaster of songs crafted with female vocals, guitar-driven structures and electronic touches with results that are both intimate and brooding, while only sacrificing the oversaturated pop
Review: Reality Crisis – Who Is Your Messiah?
REALITY CRISIS WHO IS YOUR MESSIAH? Crust War This sounds a lot like Conflict when they used to write two-minute anthems instead of lengthy anarcho-epics. Of course, being a Crust War band, Reality Crisis turns the “crud” settings on their amps up to 11 and gouges eardrums with their Extreme Noise Terror-inspired screaming. Still, there’s
Review: M83 – Dead Cities, Read Seas & Lost Ghosts
M83 DEAD CITIES, READ SEAS & LOST GHOSTS Mute There will be those who would crown this French duo as the anointed kings of highbrow hipness and perhaps, for once, the masses might not be far wrong. M83’s sound is caught directly between Sigur Ros’ stark and soaring beauty and Air’s synthesized warmth. The result
Review: Jim Guthrie – Now, More Than Ever
JIM GUTHRIE NOW, MORE THAN EVER Three Gut Jim Guthrie spins out warm and wistful folk that has received so many fantastic reviews I can’t quite figure out why I’m not moved. Lyrically, it doesn’t strike me as anything close to a Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel or Joni Mitchell. Musically, it doesn’t impress me
Review: Into Eternity – Buried In Oblivion
Into Eternity Buried In Oblivion Century Media Canada’s Into Eternity redefine and set new boundaries for progressive metal with their release, Buried In Oblivion. Layered vocals with a European flair are mixed with a very aggressive, almost death approach. The two styles work well together. Musically, this band plays with the same melodic/heavy mix as