Metal playlists from the underground
Long Island rock troupe Tauk take their advanced college rock sensibilities and dress them up with a mature platter of jazz and funk on their five-track self-titled offering. Referencing everything from Steely Dan to Phish on cuts like “Roll With the Punches,” this band’s assassin-like solid chops, expert musical interplay between instruments and wonderfully composed […]
So-Cal ska band Reel Big Fish covers Glam Metal and Rock classics on their latest offering FAME FORTUNE AND FORNICATION. The album opens and closes with two Poison covers “Nothing But A Good Time and “Talk Dirty To Me” respectively which serves as a lame gimmick. Also featured are ska versions of Quiet Riot’s “Mama […]
If you ever wanted a true audio history of Heavy Metal music then you might want to consider the Heavy Metal Box released by Rhino Records. The set contains 4 CDs in a neat box shaped as a Marshall head with knobs that go to “11.” The first disc of the compilation covered the heavy […]
Glen Benton and company return with another brutal blast of blasphemy on TILL DEATH DO US PART, the Florida squad’s latest installment of malicious metal. This 10-track offering picks up where THE STENCH OF REDEMPTION left off, with the guitar tandem of Ralph Santolla and Jack Owens returning to shred their way to Satan and […]
NYC hipster noise rockers The Unstoppable Death Machines take the listener on a robotic rock ‘n roll joyride on their eponymous four-track affair. Distorted guitars meet dance rock rhythms with a slew of industrial overtones with a strangely constructed pop sense is the style this trio employs on cuts like “Body Bop” and the body-moving […]
Following in the fine tradition of the multitude of Swedish metal bands that came before them, Scar Symmetry’s third release HOLOGRAPHIC UNIVERSE pays homage to the heroes of the Gothenburg sound yet at the same time helps this quintet establish its own identity. While it’s easy pickings to point out the In Flames chorus or […]
Raunchy stretch the modern sounds of Euro-metal to their limits on the 12-track WASTELAND DISCOTHEQUE. Spitting out nuances from In Flames and Soilwork to Scar Symmetry in succession with traces of Rammstein weaving in and out of the upbeat tempos, there’s a sufficient amount of poppy death metal present to keep the head bobbing for […]
Georgia-based Canvas Solaris ditch one member, pick up 3(!) more and take their instrumental interludes to another level in the process according to the findings audible on THE ATOMIZED DREAM. This eight-track offering still remains steeped with progressive metal grandeur, yet thanks to a larger quantity of quieter moments such as “Photovoltaic,” this disc just […]
36 Crazyfists has been a mainstay in the metalcore genre for over a decade with good reason, as this Alaskan outfit manages to perpetually release quality music that illuminates both their heavy and harmonic side. The latest 11-track endeavor THE TIDE AND ITS TAKERS is no exception, continuing this venerable squad’s soaring melodic metal style […]
Mike SOS offered up the following stellar playlist while excellently playing host on “DIY Radio” last night on Sirius XM Faction. 1. Slayer “Angel of Death” [BUY] “The first song I really could not, not play,” said SOS. 2. Deftones “Bored” [BUY] “They blossomed into a beautiful band,” said SOS. 3. Suicidal Tendencies “Join The […]