With his sophomore album, Willis Earl Beal has shown that he can deliver powerful hits without sacrificing the raw honesty that was delivered through CD-Rs scattered throughout Albuquerque before he got a record deal. … read more
Review: Warmaster – The End of Humanity
Chunky, even what I’d describe as blocky, riffs dominate the album, with a bottom-end filled out by a syrupy thick bass sound continuously rip out the riffs to satisfy any old school death metal fan’s palate. … read more
Review: Widowspeak – The Swamps EP
It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence that The Swamps’ release date is just a few days before Halloween. Spiderwebbed banjo layered with Molly Hamilton’s blustery, beautiful vocals and crisp, distant guitar riffs make this a quintessential fall release. … read more
Review: Warmaster/Humiliation – Self-Titled Split
Disregard the full-length’s display—this is a track-exclusive release and meant to be played on turntables pumping the deadskin collection that continuously builds up in your speakers back into your nasal cavity. Vinyl hoarders take note: This release is on nice, blood-splattered wax and limited to 500 copies. … read more
Review: Weekend Nachos – Still
John Hoffman’s vocal plasticity, which ranges from harrowing shrieks to guttural bellowing and intermittent grooving (“Yes Way” and “Broken Mirror”), compares to others of the ilk. Ultimately, though, the band plies their wares where the most bread gets buttered: punishing power violence with an occasional metal flourish. … read more
Review: Weird Owl – Healing
Brooklyn psych band with personal and label support from Anton Newcombe—that tagline should be enough of a selling point for many people interested in this record. Reverb and overdrive are more prominent effects than fuzz on Healing, setting it apart somewhat from previous Weird Owl releases. … read more
Review: Warbringer – IV: Empires Collapse
Though Empires Collapse is certainly a capital “T” Thrash record, it also incorporate more doom, punk and even industrial influences than any previous record, as made evident on ominous pounders like “The Turning of the Gears” and “Leviathan.” … read more
Review: VNV Nation – Transnational
Remaining true to their sound, VNV Nation have stuck with their trendy, almost mainstream, future pop style that created their popularity. … read more
Review: Windhand – Soma
Soma echoes the smoke-wreathed incantations of Electric Wizard with their heavy, powerful riffing and foreboding atmosphere. However, Windhand tones down the grooviness of the British black wizards, aiming instead for something closer to a traditional doom sound. … read more
Review: Winkie – One Day We Pretended To Be Ghosts
Winkie’s inclination toward the melodic structure buried beneath the fuzz is what places them alongside their already established peers. Was mbv too full of love for your horizontal head? Eat at Winkie’s! … read more
Review: William Fitzsimmons – Lions
Musically minimal and delicate, juxtaposed with dense lyrics, William Fitzsimmons manages to create an album that is both contemplative and intense without being dull or impenetrable. It is clean without being overproduced, emotional without being cliché and is personal while still being relatable. … read more
Review: Wax Fang – The Astronaut
While you may roll your eyes at the pretense of a concept album about an astronaut emerging from a black hole as a limitless superbeing, it is hard to fault the ambitious scope of this project—two musicians from Louisville, KY scoring these massive, soaring, 10-minute-plus epics with symphonic scores, brawny psych guitar work and droning atmospherics. … read more
