Metal playlists from the underground
Long Island alternative metal troupe Tragic Orange remember the time when melodic hard rock bands didn’t deprive the music of its balls by watering down their output with sappy ballads. Firing on all cylinders while implementing the old school attitude into their modern metal paradigm, this unit isn’t just another MTV-fed mall rock band despite […]
Most bands wait until they make it big before they start their own clothing line, but don’t tell the shape-shifting quintet Ruby Q, as they’ve jumped the step and coincide their latest release with a line of new clothes.They also walk the musical tightrope with the grace necessary on the catwalk, letting everything hang loose on […]
Thanks in part to an exceptional production by metal guru Tue Madsen, Portuguese metal giants Moonspell have struck the perfect balance of clarity and brutality on their latest endeavor Night Eternal. This nine-track descent into darkness yields an intense ride, chock full of dastardly black metal chord progressions, ethreal Gothic rock passages, and the authentic […]
New Hampshire quartet Transistor Transistor return with a stirring one-two punch of angular hardcore and menacing punk rock with Ruined Lives. Armed with jagged riffs, malicious yowls, and debilitating rhythms that give bands like The Bronx and Every Time I Die a run for their money, this unit’s motive to emote their innermost sensitivities never […]
UK electronic rock duo The Black Ghosts truly embody the spirit of the digital age, as these former members of Simian and Wiseguys initially met via the Internet and have only recently met face to face. Nonetheless, they put their best foot forward to place your booty on the dance floor with their hodgepodge eponymous […]
Yiddish folk metal meets Rammstein on Sidur, the latest offering from Gevolt. This Sephardic septet’s 11-track excursion meshes traditional styles of Israel with an industrial strain of metal chock-full of effected keyboards, that ultimately leaves an unearthly Gothic aftertaste, on cuts like “Liturgia” and the sinewy “Na More.” Providing a dose of klezmer with dark […]
The German troupe Suidakara sound as if they could obliterate the whole cast of Riverdance in one fell swoop, judging by the title of their latest disc. This clan’s collection of songs is a compilation stemming from this veteran act’s releases through the years — demonstrating the unit’s blend of traditional folk on “An Dudlachd,” brazen […]
Southern space rock? Hell yes, courtesy of Gideon Smith, whose swampy swagger goes galactic on South Side of the Moon, this eclectic artist’s latest 13-track endeavor. Meshing down south jukin’ with the trippy acumen of Hawkwind sounds daunting, yet Smith and his backing band, The Dixie Damned (consisting of members of Novadriver and Big Chief) […]
It’s no surprise that Long Island native John Sullivan takes quite a few cues from a certain famous Long Island piano man on the 12-track album A Sound Opportunity For Your Last Music Purchase. However, the five piece The John Sullivan Brigade rounds out the obvious influence with a slew of other classic rock luminaries […]
Louisiana quartet Another Big Machine takes the well paved pop-rock route of Nickelback and Daughtry, and mixes it with dollops of country twang and Warped Tour edge on their latest offering ABM. Successfully soaring with lush instrumentation, a la sellout-era Aerosmith, should garnish a slew of pop-rock interest for this unit — but there’s a […]