OPIUM LORD - 'The Calendrical Cycle: Eye of Earth' review

OPIUM LORD - 'The Calendrical Cycle: Eye of Earth' review

"So Stourbridge doom fiends OPIUM LORD are back with their debut album and follow up to their two track 'Prologue: The Healer'', and right from the opener 'Challenger', we're plunged into the dark and murky depths of crushing riffs, grimey bass, unsettlingly eerie delayed lead guitar, and pounding drums, conjuring comparisons to stuff like MORBID ANGEL or even a doomier ZAO or FALL OF EFRAFA. Vocals are still pretty varied, ranging from harsh, throaty, lizardy screams, to deeper, guttural roars and shouts, spitting out some pretty hellish lyricism. The local Temple of Boom has done a fab job on the recording and mixing, because this is as heavy as anything, and thanks to Dave Mitson's mastering it sounds punishingly huge. Favourite tune for me besides 'Challenger' would have to be 'Crystals' for the great chord progressions, but this is really consistent stuff across the seven tracks, with perpetually colossal riffs, unsettling leads, crushing drum work, and harrowing vocals throughout the predominantly sludgey rhythms. Awesome work, highly recommended for those that like their music crafted in the blackest of forges in the deepest of pits. Beautiful photographic artwork too."

NEW ALASKA - 'Western Corners' review

NEW ALASKA - 'Western Corners'

"Stourbridge's NEW ALASKA are back with another dose of their unique brand of post-punk awesomeness in which you're always guaranteed plenty of angular rhythms, odd chord-work, tight basslines and pounding drum-work, and obscure but intelligent lyricism. I definitely don't think these guys get the credit they deserve; their songs are played with honesty, in a unique style that's as far from any fad or trend as you're ever likely to find, structured with a lot of consideration, are catchy without being poppy or cheesy, and are challenging without being overly technical. They also have an energy and anger that many faster or heavier bands just don't have, and this album is a perfect example of that, as Pete somewhat monotonously shouts his way through these ten new tracks, of which I think the pacey 'Corsairs' is a good, catchy starter, 'Kathy' is also a memorable highlight, and I love the slower, driving chord work towards the end of 'Palehorse', one of the more experimental tracks. Highly recommended for fans of angular post-punk stuff like FUGAZI, THE COMPUTERS, and other local lads WAX FUTURES."

xox

LAGWAGON - 'Hang' review

LAGWAGON - 'Hang' review

"For me, LAGWAGON have always been one of the more interesting Fat Wreck bands; they've been playing skatepunk since the early 90s alongside myriad bands that have become stereotyped within that genre, and though they do play with a fair amount of double-time, work heavily with melody, and use a lot of power chords, what sets them apart are Joey's flawless, virtually genius lyrics and vocal melodies, and their willingness to constantly experiment with and throw almost any genre into the mix of their skatepunk sound; they'll play rock riffs, they'll border on melodic hardcore, they'll play touching acoustics, and they'll even chuck in lounge bridges, without anything ever sounding out of place. 'Hang' definitely still possesses that level of creativity, the first three tracks alone boasting a mix of styles, whilst still retaining their characteristically punk sound. Songs like 'Poison in the Well' and 'Hang' wouldn't have sounded out of place on 'Resolve', 'Burning Out in Style' is classic LAGWAGON, as is 'Reign', if a little harder hitting than openers of previous albums, 'You Know Me' is an interesting experiment in more reserved writing styles and working with dynamics of volume, whereas 'Obsolete Absolute' shows what they're capable of in expanding the boundaries of the genre, combing instrumental rock riffs, big guitar melodies, skate beats, and anthemic choruses into one epic tune. If you already like LAGWAGON or fancy skate-punk with a little more creativity than you're used to, then check this out for sure. Great to see them still going, and writing awesome, genre defining music and still developing their sound over 20 years after they started."

xox

THE FORECAST - 'Everybody Left' review

THE FORECAST - 'Everybody Left' review

So yeah, here's a belated review of THE FORECAST's excellent final album, 'Everybody Left'; hideously under-rated.

"For me, THE FORECAST were / are a terribly under-rated band. Me and my brother first discovered them when we saw the video to 'These Lights' on MTV2 (back when they played the odd decent tune) and we were blown away by the three part vocal harmonies and the belting female vocals in the chorus and ending, and even though what they've written over the years has been big, catchy, and emotional, it's easy to see why they never quite reached the heights that other bands on Victory might have done; they've never followed trends, changed their sound to fit a scene, or really played anything outrageous. However, what they did do is write truly incredible emo / rock mixed with a very Western / saloon vibe, and some face meltingly huge choruses sung by Shannon Burns, probably one of my favourite female singers, and one hell of a bad-ass bassist. They've been described as something like the perfect soundtrack to whiskey-filled nights, and as well as being perfect road trip / driving music, it definitely has that nostalgic, late-night / early hours, talking around the fire / in the bar feel to it that few bands manage to create.

So as far as this goes compared to previous works, despite having fewer huge, belted choruses, this is probably the poppiest, and most consistently catchy set of songs they've done, and also probably the most energetic album of what I imagine would be great tunes to see live. The Western acoustic vibe still runs through it, with tunes like 'Take Me Down' sounding as though THE EAGLES decided to gain a female vocalist and emo-rock things up a bit, and there are some of their best choruses and sing-a-longs in 'Like a Habit', 'Figure It Out', and 'Way We Were'. The two and three part vocal harmonies are as strong as ever throughout, as is the instrumentation, from catchy time changes in the drum work to the country-ish guitar melodies and chord progressions. Fans of THE FORECAST will also love hearing lyrical nods to a lot of older songs, from the line 'you're the one back to your roots, and I'm the dust that lies in you' in 'Sing it Out', to the mentions of many previous song titles like 'Fade In. Fade Out', 'Whiskey's Dead You're Next', and 'You're My Needle' in the closer 'Last Stand', which is a really beautiful and nostalgic link that, if this is to be their final release, is a perfect encore from a band that stuck to their roots, gave us some incredible genuine tunes, and will go down to those that were lucky enough to discover them as one of the most under-rated bands of our time."

xox

DIE WRECKED - 'Mongrel Hordes' CD review

DIE WRECKED - 'Mongrel Hordes' CD review

"First off, I must apologise for the fact that these guys did post me a physical copy of this with a cool little press release printed on bright orange paper, but for the life of me I can't remember where I put it, and am therefore being forced to review this via the less favourable format of Bandcamp. Anyway, DIE WRECKED from Leicester play really awesome pissed-off political hardcore punk with dirty power-chorded riffs, loose but blistering drum-work, and three way vocals (one shouty male, one gruff male, and one high-pitched female) that layer and intersect brilliantly. I wish I still had the CD with the lyrics so I knew exactly what they were singing about, but song titles like 'Middle Class Hypocrisy', 'Get Off the Fence', and 'Privileged Parasite' should give you a pretty good idea of the tone of this. Favourites for me would have to be 'Subhumans', 'Regression of Progression', and aforementioned opener 'Middle Class Hypocrisy', but if you're into short, sharp, noisy, political punk rock that doesn't let up, then you can't go too far wrong with this."

http://diewrecked.bandcamp.com/

xox

CREEPER - self-titled EP review

CREEPER - self-titled EP review

"So I've heard CREEPER get compared to AFI, and though they may look a little like they used to, I'd have to say that's where the comparison ends. Musically this is far more like ALKALINE TRIO, AIDEN, and THE MISFITS crossed with the big choruses of 'Our Darkest Days'-era IGNITE, which results in something quite brilliant. Right from the opener of this five track EP 'We Had a Pact', we're treated to double-time pop-punk with gloomy lyrics in big, catchy sing-a-longs that should please any pop-punk fiends out there. By eschewing that over the top bounce that a lot of bands utilise these days, and instead favouring more straight-forward songwriting, this definitely has a bit of a 90s / 00s feel to it which I love, especially with that semi-gothic lyrical undertone. Looks like these guys are going to be pretty big so you'll no doubt hear about them soon, but in the mean time, check out this quality EP, starting with the catchy second track 'Gloom'."

https://creepercult.bandcamp.com/releases

xox

TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET - 'Tales From Wyoming' CD review

TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET - 'Tales From Wyoming' CD review

So, TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET's drummer Brandon passed away on Friday night after having been in a coma for the past few days. Having been listening to these guys for a good few years now and seeing them live this year, and having reviewed a lot of their stuff, this was pretty upsetting news indeed; I therefore figured this would be a good time to post a review of BOTTLEROCKET's latest effort, 'Tales From Wyoming'.

"Another album from TEENAGE BOTTLEROCKET and another collection of songs that are a perfect combination of the brilliant simplicity of THE RAMONES and the snot and energy of SCREECHING WEASEL. Whether you like it or not, you know exactly what you're going to get when these guys put out a new album, and this one's no exception; super catchy tunes with some humorous lyrics ranging in subject matter from the undead, comic book heroes and villains, haunted houses, Minecraft, and Metallica. Faves on this one would have to be 'They Call Me Steve', the utterly addictive 'Can't Quit You', and the beautiful acoustic (a first for BOTTLEROCKET) closer 'First Time'. Get this and the rest of their back catalogue if you like your pop-punk simple, catchy, and geeky, and that doesn't take itself too seriously. A really fun listen."

RIP Brandon Carlisle.

xox